The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1915-05-28
THE BEAST AND THE JUNGLE

/ "NHA ~ LAWSUIT, SOlOTdQO SJrlKe
leader, has been convicted by a Colo
RADIO jury of first degree murder in
connection with the death of John
MINNIE, a deputy sheriff killed in a
clash between mine guards and strik-
ing miners, and sentenced to life i'm
prisonment. 1t was not claimed that
Lawson did the killing himself or was
near the slain man, but that he was
in command of the strikers. BY the
same logic John D. Rockefeller, jr.,
is guilty of first degree murder, as
he was in command of the deputy
sheriffs that shot down the eleven
children and two women in the tent
colony at Ludlow.
The lawson verdict trumpets abroad
the existing conditions in Colorado.
1t shows how complete is the domino
ton Of what Ben Lindsey aptly term
ed the Beast and the Jungle" Gov
ernor and Legislators, militia and
peace officers, courts and jurors sub
serviently strive to carry out the
orders of the Beast, whose mark is on
them ALL
Lawsons real crime is daring to
organize the strikers, daring to defy
the powerful mine-owners, daring to
oppose Standard Oil. His temerity
must be punished, and an example
made of him that will effectually deter
other liberty-loving souls from at
tempting to assert the rights of man
in a Colorado mine or a Rockefeller
camp. Hence the persecution-hence
the travesty on justice.
To try Lawson, a special act of the
legislature was necessary-and of
course forthcoming A special judge,
formerly attorney for mineowners
named. The prosecutor is also a
former mine-owners' attorney. The
witnesses are special detectives and
deputies who admit on the stand that
they have been employed to get"
Lawson. And the jury proved to be
we'll chosen. Lawson may appeal, but
his appeal will probably be in vain.
Many times in the past the Beast has
shown absolute control of the courts
in Colorado.
One thing the Beast does not under
stand, that unjust persecution reacts
and destroys the prosecutor. Misuse
and abuse of power undermines and
eventually causes it's collapse. Law
son, the martyr in labor's cause, be-
comes national figure when lawson
the strike leader, was a local person
age. The persecution of organized la
Dor stimulates it's growth by throwing
its grievances into the limelight and
arousing public opinion to demand the
eradication of abuses. The conviction
Of Lawson, like the massacre of Lud-
| low, proves the power of the mine
owners, but it also proves their folly,
for they lose all they strive to gain,
and more besides.
There are none so blind as those
who will not see. Because Ben Lind
sey exposed the rotteness of Colorado,
the Beast set out to destroy him. In
twelve years he has been elected or
appointed to office ten times. He has
faced two recalls. He has lived down
calumny and Misrepresentation. He
has been legislated out of office. Be.
cause he spoke on the Shame of Colo
RADIO" in the east and exposed the
feudal system of the coal barons and
the horrors Of the strike, the last legis-
lature abolished his office, but the
governor was forced to veto the bill.
| The persecution of Lindsey has made
him famous and his majority grows
with every fresh attempt to retire
him. Yet the Beast, learning nothing
by failure, blindly pursues its brutal
tactics
And what part did John D. jr., that
mincing Miss Nancy of the Sunday
school, take in the Lawson parody =?
Undoubtedly the same part he took
in the conduct of the strike-secretly
approving every cruel move to crush
by might all opponents, while with
SNUG hypocrisy protesting innocence
and mumbling platitudes-that is the
Rockefeller way.-Medford Mail-Tri-
bune. Medford, Ore. (Not a labor