Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1912-01-25
STRIKERS FAIL To
MEET THE OWNERS
Representatives of the Lawrence
Mills Held Aloof from
tho Conference.
HAYWOOD IS ON THE SCENE
Leader Tells Great Audience of
Unemployed That He Never
Saw Strike Defeated
by Soldiers.


an early aena~ol settlement Of the strike
Of l5.Hu textile workers IN this city look.
ed dim ,o-nivh, when the mill owners
representatives re:GL.d 20 enter a confer
cncc with comrl.,tsr of as strikers in
the presence o: H. state board OF arbi-
t.ation at city han The hitch in the
PROCEEDINGS "ame Jpoarcntly from the
.act 'ha. the n,il oficis's Who appeared
at c,ty hall we're empowered only 10 meet
committee of tho striking employees II
the mills which each represented instead
Of Il general committee
Indications that the American Wooien
company might come 10 terms with its
employees. independently OF the other cor
porat:ons affected. were given IL a state
nlent which was made by the representa-
tivcs of that COMPANY to the State board
OF arbitration prior to the meeting This
statement said
"Nc are not authorized by the board
Of directors to mako any statement or
settlement to bind the company. We are
informed that committee of our own
men was coming IN Mr.. Wood with
regard 10 a settlement. and had AN APP
pointment whch they would have kept,
except for this meeting. We are now eX-
pecting them to come and we are going
to confer with them in an endeavor TO
settle"
While the strikers committe head
ed by Jos. j. Ettor of New York and
William D. Haywood. the western
strike leader took their places in the
aldcrmanic chamber where the confer
ence was to be held. and discussed the
situation with the members OF the
state board Of arbitration the repre-
sentatives Of the mill owners kept to
themselves in the private Office OF
Mayor Scanlon All refused to enter
the conference.
VIM. n. Haywood arrived here at
noon to-day from New York to assist
Ettor in conducting the strike. When
Mr. Haywood stepped off the train he
was greeted by several thousand
strikers and sympathizcrs Three
bands and drum corps played pop
uiar airs and the crowd shouting and
to greet Haywood personally par
adc was formed and with Haywood in
the lead the strikers marched to the
Headquarters of the strike committee
II was estimated that five thousand
persons were in line. Several thousand
strikers massed on the common this
afternoon and listened for an hour TO
tho speeches of various leaders Mr..
haywood urged them to remain firm,
in their demands and said that he IN
tends to go West in short time and
solicit aid for them
II have read in one Of the news
papers" he said. that Lawrence was
AFRAID Of me 1t is not the people Of
Lawrence who are fearful of me: IL is
the superintendent. agents and own
ers of the mills was not afraid TO
come even though the city be guarded
by soldiers | have been in other
strikes where soldiers were at hand
hut | never saw n strike defeated by
soldiers.
"All You have to do il keep the
check upon yourselves and don't give
tHe other side chance to get you.
if we must keep this strike on. we
VIII do our best to shut Off all rail-
road traffic to Lawrence"
MAY STARVE OUT SOLDIERS.
He went on to say that the strike
leaders would work so hard that he
felt ii would he possible to stop coal
and other necessities coming to law
renee. so that there would he no light
or heat in the mills. He also was of
the opinion that, ii it were found
necessary the soldiers could be
starved out of Lawrence. Then Mr..
Ettor addressed the crowd He asked
how many would he in favor of con-
tinuing the strike should no agree
ment be reached at to-night's confer
enre' The vote was practically unani-
nous to continue the light
The shoe Workers Protective union
of Havcrhill presented the strikers
with $500 at the meeting
Following the open air meeting the
strikers paraded through the city
streets. All business on Essex street
was brought to a standstill while the
marcherS We're passing through