Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1912-01-17
TROOPS AWAIT
MAYORS CALL
Two Hundred and Fifty Men
Under Arms IN Lawrence
OPEN THREATS OF VIOLENCE

~ @t saS&&Gt0@
Strike Leader Attacks Mill Owners,
Newspapers and City Hicials-says
There Will Be Trouble, but His
Followers Will Not Be to Blame If
Blood Is Shed--Workers Drawing
Up Their Demands
Lawrence, Mass. Jan. 15.-All
hope OF a peaceful settlement OF the
mill operatives strike has been aban-
dOned, and SO serious does the situa
ton appear that three companies OF
militia, including a battery of artil-
lery, have received orders to stand in
readiness to aid the police in quell-
ing the expected demonstration to-
day.
A repetition Of Fridays riot or
worse is feared. The foreign operatives
have been worked up to high pitch
by their leaders oratory, and seem
to be determined to make trouble for
those who desire to remain at work.
The strikers announced that every
mill will be surrounded by pickets.
They also Will distribute circulars,
printed in various languages. among
all the operatives in the city.
Adjutant General Pearson of the
state militia arrived in Lawrence yes
terday afternoon from Lowell to con-
suit with Mayor Scanlon and Commits
siCner Of Police Lynch. He advised
against ordering out the militia unless
it is absolutely impossible for the pO-
lice to handle the strikers.
The militiamen, some ESQ in num-
| per, reported at the armory at 6
I o'clock this morning. They uonned
| their uniforms, armed themselves and
are ready to respond should Scanlor
issue a precept. The adjutant gen.
eral furnished the mayor with blank
precepts ready to be filed out should
the occasion arise.
Firemen and reserves will increase
the regular police force to nearly $50.
! Every available officer is on duty at
| IllC NIC~Hy VI JIG III &c oSSlAlS
they will draw their clubs at the first
sign Of a disturbance, instead of at
tempting to dispense the mob by per-
suasiOn, as On Friday.
Any pretence of peacefulness has
been thrown aside by the strikers and
their leader, Joseph J. Ettor, nation
al organizer Of the Industrial Workers
Of the World. Several mass meetings
! were held yesterday afternoon and
many Of those in attendance, encour-
aged by the absence Of uniformed pO-
licemen, made open threats of vio-
| lence. In an inf1ammatOry speech
before the French and Italian work.
ers, Ettor attacked the mill owners,
the newspapers and city officials, urg-
ing the strikers to stand up for their
rights and declaring they must win at
whatever cost.
I'VE must keep peace" he said,
but if the mill owners do not keep
their 'watchdogs away from the mills
we can't have it. We must do our
best to keep those scabs from going to
work, regardless of what the police
have to say
The more rabid element of the
strikers appear to have gained COM
plete control. At most of the meet
ings the conservatives, who have
counselled peace, were absent.
There was a violent demonstration
when two strikers with bandaged
heads, participants in Fridays riot,
appeared on the platform. Both made
short speeches, pointing often at their
bandages.
After the close of the meeting Ettor
! reiterated his statements about
trouble.
Undoubtedly there will be trouble, u
, he said. However, the blame for ii
' will lie not upon our shoulders, but
8 upon the shoulders Of the mill own
{ ers. Ii there is any blood shed it will
= be their fault. We are not going tc
allow anyone to work in the MUS"
Ettor advised that the mills be shut
e down until certain demands, which
Il !. a committee of the workers is draw
q mig up, can be presented to the own
: ers. These demands will be a request
e for the same wages as before the cut
= in hours. According to reports sub
7 mitted by the committee of twenty.
- eight to Ettor, 1900 operatives nov
d are out. This, however, includes no
2 only truckers, but the several hundred
l. who have been forced out by The
e WalkOut