The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1911-12-31

know that the National Guard will
do its best to thwart their unlawful
plans of violence, and as conse.
quence they lose no opportunity of
seeking to undermine the Guard and
destroy its usefulness.
Let the worhngman he not led
astray by such men, who seek to
destroy all the agencies of the gov
ernment, so as to escape punish
ment for their own msdeeds. Re
member that the National Guards
man is no foreign hireling He is
Your friend and neighbor. a young
fellow who works for his own liv-
Ing. who is training for the defense
OF his country in time of need. and
who has no desire to injure anyone,
but only to do his duty in uphold
ing the law and preserving peace
and order. Remember also that the
man who does not disturb the peace
is in no danger of conflict with
the police powers of state or muniCi-
pality. II is only he who does wrong
that is amenable to pun shment The
duty of the Guard is simply the
preservation of peace and order.
without fear, favor or affection.
This is no attack on union labor
nor on the many high minded and
honorable men who are high in the
councils of union labor nor on those
who believe that the National Guard
is inmiCal to labor, but only an at
tempt to point ont that workingmen
sometimes allow themselves to be mis-
led into wrong ideas. and in partic-
ular that they are mistaken. hon
estly, it may be in regard to the
attitude of the National Guard to-
ward labor They may be honest in
their belief, but one may honestly
believe a thing, and still be mis-
taken.
| have not attempted TO say any
thing as to the adverse economic
conditions against which union la
Dor is contending. nor of the OPP
preston which labor may be suffer
ing at the hands of 'predatory
wealth" That is outside the scope OF
this article But no matter how
many crimes may be committed by
predatory wealth that. in this coun-
try. is no eXCkse for union labor
being led into crime itself Two
wrongs never make on right. The
future salvation of union labor rests
upon law, Justice. tair play, and
regard for the rights Of others, and
if these are wanting, union labor
will fail of its purpose and he rel
egated to oblivion. 1t is ballots.
not bullets or dynamite that will
win for union labor whatever of
victory is cause m""its. Dynamite
will blow up the Times building, but
its use by union labor will also
blow up the structure of union
labor if union labor lends itself to
such methods, or does not effectual-
ly stamp them out when discov-
cred
There is another phase of the la
Dor question that merits attention,
though t 5 not germante to the
present discussions and that is the
of the prOudest boasts of this cOun.
Try has been that there was no
such thing as class distinction. and
that every man IS as good as his
neighbor, and sometimes a little
better We have been taught from
childhood that it was possible to
rise from the lowest depths of pow
erty to the highest station in the
land. 1t was only yesterday that
many hundreds or thousands of peo-
pie made a pilgrimage to that
nj nil -,
shrining an old log cabin, the birth
place of one of the worlds greatest
men, Abraham Lincoln. There is
still pointed out the tow path over
which Garfield drove his nlles, on
what proved to be the road to the
White House
Now Whv this clamor about class
when of all living
men the Workman is the last Who
should desire it? Is the caste system
Of India so desirable to the pariah
that he should wish to draw the
lines any tighter? Is the common
aborer in this country, the uHskiled
workman, so enamored of his lot in
life that he has no desire tC rise
to progress, to enlarge his lotion,
to grow into larger and better
things? He is the man who suffers
most by class distinctions, and the
one who should be the first to wish
TO abolish them Any at "lpt on
his part to draw closer the lines
Of class distinction is to shnt the
door of hope in his own face. and
in the face of his children. May
our country be forever spared the
Dlighting curse of class conscious
ness and class distinctions
"REVElLLE."