The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-06-25

Private war has been wagcd In Butte
for more than week In the cherished
name of labor unlonism. The machin-
cry of law and order is virtually para.
lyzcd and Governor STEWART Of Mon.
tana has requested the President to
send Federal troops to Fort Missoula or
Fort Harrison So that they may be
ready to interfere should the powers OF
the State prove unequal 10 restoring
peace.
In the meantime hostilities rage with
free use of firearms and dynamite.
Men are killed. property is destroyed.
industry is crippled. the State. II not
the country. Is disgraced in the eyes Of
the civilized world. This time the EN-
poyers are not directly involved in the
struggle There are no wrongs. no
grievances. The Indictment to riot and
crime is all from within the body Of
working miners.
The Western Federation ~ Miners
under the leadership OF c. II. MOVER
of lamentabe notoriety has had very
expensive strike on Its hands among
the Michigan mine workers. To sup
port this the men Of the Montana fields
have been heavily assessed The strike
j. now over. hut the assessments con
time. Some OF the men have been pay
ing rs much as $40 month. aud they
are very bitter over 1t.
Al the psychologist moment the l.
W W propaganda takes hold of the
situation. It is far more hostile to the
Federation than tn the mine owners
or operators. II sees chance to get
control of the mine workers with large
financial advantage. In their charac.
tcristic baeful way it's leaders address
themselves To flashing the simple. ig-
norant men into frenzy against their
former chieftains. and the scenes Of
bloodshed and plllage reported almost
daily are the result.
The question is forced Oh the cOun.
/ Try whether we have in the labor I'M
ions of various sorts and kinds forces
which are above and beyond the law,
outside the obligations and liabilities
of other groups of citizens. Warllke
conditions have barely been smoothed
dowlI-one can hardly say suppressed
. in Colorado when the flame of battle
Is kndlcd in Montana. The men con.
cerned In these outbreaks are among
! those who are demanding from Con
gre>s by coercion and threats exemp-
non from penalties under the law for
/ some Of the acts which they nav do in
combination.
As in Colorado the striking miners
arEled themselves for resistance to the
state troops, so in Butte they turn
their weapons on the Sheriff and his
I deputies who endeavor to preserve the
peace and prevent the destruction of
one faction by dynamite in the hands
/ ~ the other The police of the city
M der Socialist administration do moth
ing, we are told. but keep the crowd
! from danger. The rioters take snping
shots al the Sherif's deputies and make
n search for one or two of the most
active to lynch them
Conditions such as are here indica ted
are encouraged and fostered by tolera-
tion> The spirit of riot and defiance
of law fans itself into fiercer glow
l. ii Is not vigorously and radically
stamped out. II Is nearly time that all
In the country who value civilization
and who consider public order worth
preserving should offer united front
against tendency TO make the self
Will, the passlon of class all power
full for good or evil within such bounds
AS IL chooses for itself. Labor Is en-
titled to every advantage that the law
confers Oh any citizen or group of citi-
zens, hut ii should be convinced by the
sternest logic in all quarters that Il Is
amenable to every restriction that the
law imposes for the common good
The lesson should he enforced alike
in the lobbes Of the Capitol ut Wash.
lngton ana in the streets OF Butte. II
Is in the long run unavoidable II the
country Is to escape anarchy The
sooner ana the more emphatlcally a he.
ginning Is made the less difficult will
be the task.