Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1913-12-11
Mass Meeting
In .VVe||Sburq

WellsburS, Wednesday, afternoon
proved the solidarity Of the strikin,
miners OF the West Virginia ana Pitts
burgh Coal Company mines and ais,
proved that the sympathy of the pee
pie Of Wellsburg and Follansbee is OF
the side Of theb rave strikers and the,
families. "a
No arrests were made, although i
was freely predicted that the meetin,
would be construed violation of tn,
injunction granted the, compan,
against the United Mine Workers b.
Judge Dayton and that those partici
pating in the meeting would be JAILED
| Hilton Speaks.
| Walter B. Hilton, of Wheeling. wa.
announced as the speaker of the meet
ing, which was held in the Bartl
Opera House. He was introduced By
Pat Duffy. veteran in the Labor
movement, on both the Industrial anC
political lines. The advice of the at
torney was to the effete that none OF
the United Mine Worker organizers, OF
of those who had already been citeC
for contempt of court should speak
and although the strikers and theil
leaders felt in their hearts that the
injunction was so palpably unjust and
unreasonable and SO subversive of all
human rights that it should be ignored
| they submitted to the advice of the
attorney, and it was agreed that Hill
ton, being neither United Mine
Worker, foreign" citizen, rim con
tempt of this particular case in court
should speak.
He made "a few remarks He en-
deavored to point out that always the
path of the workers toward more free
dom had been blocked by the powers
OF the masters of society, first by
brute force and later on by the tnel
developments of that force, such as
the subsidized newspapers, the bribed
politicians, the fd0natea clergy, and
the twisted professors, and finally, By
the law. The law. he explained. was
not solid unchanging thing, 1t could
not be described as always was and
always will be- but was constantly
changing, and reflected at all times
the attempt of society to protect Itself
from dangers learned by its exper
fence. The law, he said, was made by
humans, and enforced by humans
And these humans were very much
like other humans, influenced by their
environment and training, so that they
would interpret and enforce the law
according to their own personal de.
sires. Courts would conform, he said
in the last analysis, to public opinion
because the law itself was but .codified
public opinion, although usually the
opinion of past age, because public
nnininT oIWoUc cnunro1 lone ohnof q
of the law. He told them that all the
injunctions in the world could not
bring a pound of coal out of the mines
and all the deputy marshalls and
hired thugs could not load car OF
coal. He said that the very expense
of securing injuncGohs and hiring
thugs came from the profit of the coal
dug by the miners. Therefore, as long
as the miners withheld their power
and did not dig coal, the coal com
panies, with all the influence of money
and all the enginery of the courts, were
helpless He advised the workers tc
stay away from work until their un
ion was recognized and their demands
granted, injunction or no injunction
and to forget their differences Of race
and creed and language. and to re
member only the words: Stick
Brother, Stick"
Others Join.
At the conclusions of these re
marks" they were interpreted in the
Italian language by John D. Bello, {
glassworker.
Harry Griffith Speaks.
Harry Griffith, the leader of the
1 ysIl - - 81 a,i
ed Association, which has kept the
Pope mill tied shut still, was the mex
speaker. He received in logical array
the forces that make for oppression
and exploitation of the workers in this
land today and urged the workers tt
stand fast in their labor unions ant
| to vote themselves into Office to make
| their own laws and interpret them too
I He said that they could expect no hell
from any source except from them
selves, that their only salvation lay il
their own organization.
| Fannie Sellins.
| Immediately afterWard Fannie Sell
ms, representative of the Unitet
Garment Workers, took the platform
The chairman had, in accordance witt
the advice of the attorney, declined t
introduce her, but she said that sh,
had talked from platforms all owe
this country, and that she could no
believe that she had reached a stat
of this union where free speech wa
denied her. She had been enjoined b,
Judge Dayton and cited for contemp
of court, but she refused to recogniz
his right to deny her what the cor
stitution of the United States alread
lgranted her.
when l was a little GIRL" she said
81 sat at tn efamily Preside and hear
Iabout my grandfather and my fathe
lgoing out to fight for what they BIZ
lIieyed to be freedom, in the civil wal
4 That war gained freedom for tn
Slaves; and as I.sat here l thought
would be admitting that that war wa
! fought for nothing, and all the war
before it were fought for nothing, II
was to be denied the right that wa
W0n M the shedding az hIood for tn