United labor bulletin., 1914-05-02

a drenching rain on the steps and ter
races of the State Capitol Sunday after
noon while speakers vigorously de-
claimed against outrages committed by
the state militia in the southern Colo
RADIO coal strike district. Governor Am
mons and Lieutenant Governor Fitzgar-
raid We're branded as traitors to the
state, while Adjutant General Chase was
denounced a puppet of the coal mine
operators. The arrest of Major Ham
rock and Lieutenant Linderfelt on the
charge of numbering women and chill
dren at Ludlow was demanded and ap-
proved by mighty chorus of voices.
Immediate deportation of gunmen
brought into Colorado by Rockefeller's
agents for the purpose of killing men
who dared to assert their rights and
protest against non-enforcement of the
state mining laws was proclaimed by all
the speakers.
During the entire day the sky was a
canopy of clouds and in the afternoon
rain poured down steadily, as if the
God in heaven was expressing sorrow
for the victims of the Ludlow massacre
and their friends, thus placing a bene-
diction upon their brave defenders as
sembled in open meeting to give ex-
preston Of public protest over one of
the most diaboIical crimes ever record
ed in human history.
While the rain deferred thousands
who otherwise would have been present
TO swell the volume of mighty protest
for Ludlow and the demand for indus
trial justice the great mass meeting in
the rain was, perhaps, the most sincere
and effective public demonstration ever
witnessed in the West II not in the
entire nation.
hU L linn al nfsas4r
band Of IS pieces. composed Of mem
bers Of the Denver Musicians Union No
90 rendered patriotic airs. while Others
stood hy and held ortspread umbrellas
over their instruments. As n large dele
cation Of striking union miners headed
BY American flag and The famous Lud-
low banner. marched up the tcrraccd
steps from Broadway the band crashed
out the Marselleise and the assembled
ihrong gave vent to a shout that fairly
shook the Capitol dome.
Later in the meeting the rsin soaked
crowd made another great demonstration
when that hattle-scarrcd warrior for
human rights. Mother Jones. ap-
pearcd. She had just arrived in Denver
from Washington at l;3o o'clock and
after brief rest at Miners headquar-
tcrs came directly to the Capitol
grounds meeting.
c. A. Ahlstrom Of the Machinis,s'
Union. recently chosen president of the
Workers Defense League. under whose
auspices the meeting was called, opened
with a brief address and introduced the
speakers. who were George Creel. former
police commissioner of Denver; Clint c.
Houston of the typographical Union
and editor Of The United Labor Buile-
tin: John NJ o'Ncill. editor Western
-. xf -
man Ross. general organizer Bakery
Worker Union; I'D l.. Doyle. secretary
District No. 10 United Mine Workers.
and Mother" Jones.
Jessc Netter read the demands pre-
pared by the Workers Defense League,
and they were adopted by three roaring
cheers. while uplifted hats and umbrellas
waved in the downpour of rain. The
statement was devoid of thu usual
whcrcascs and resolves, and clothed in
forcsful Language. follows:
TO All Peopie-This meeting. gath
cred under the open skies, cries to the
world the record OF industrial wrongs
that found CHASTITY elimination in the
wanton massacre of men, women and
children under the burning tents at
Ludlow.
There are laws upon the statute
books OF Colorado that guarantee to
miners the eight-hour day, cash pay
ments for work, semi. monthly pay days,
the right TO unionization. check weigh
men and the protection of safety de-
vices.
Absent landlords. operating on land
stolen from the school children Of Colo
rado, their humanity stifled by avaricc,
have defied every one of these laws con-
tinuously and openly. More than 1000
I...s l....l A.. ...s L..
last 20 years because dividends could
not be lcsscncd by the expense OF i'm
provcments, and their families. denied
the right to collect damages. have been
doomed to squalor and despair.
This cruel control has been obtained
by the purchase of state, county and
municipal officials. seizure OF the cleo
tion machinery. the pconagc of employees,
the use of hired despcradocs and the
constant threat of the state militia, all
to the end that justice has been crushed
and a sovereign state buried in shame
and disaster.
"RcTolt has come at last. Twelve
thoIsanf wretchcd men, speaking 30
different tongues. have found common
voice in cry of despair that shakes
the world. II is to their relief that we
dedicate our lives and our liberties.
1--WE demand the instant seizure of
the coal mines by the state. pending an
agreement between the operators and
the strikers.
I'VE demand that the leases of 1926
acres OF school land, for which the com.
panics pay bcggarly rental, be can
cclled at once and plans laid instantly
for development by the state of the 473,-
600 acres of coal land owned by the
state.
I'VE demand n constitutional amend
mcnt repeating the infamous Meyer de-
cision. rendered by corrupt judges to rob
A L.. u..I ~ ll,<ix