The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1917-05-18


Liberty Must Be Inherent and Come
From Wthin-Progress Made In
Emancipation of Labor Has Come
Through Self Sacrificing Men.
History records two striking episodes
in American life when a strong indi-
viduality impressed Itself upon the his
torical armament Of this nation The
month of February seems to have been
the chosen vehicle for the advent OF
two great personalities, though at diff
ferent periods Both came at the most
important and critical periods of the
American nation, Washington and Lin
coin.
1t seems the trainers of the Declara
tion of Independence while declaring
that all men are created equal" did
not include the negro, which was partly
responsible for the civil war. Here
where history records one of the most
instructive lessons that no nation can
become free unless that mutton itself
is imbued with the true spirit Of free
dom-the colonists We're willing enough
to fight against English tyranr
but were not willing to concede 10
others the same freedom Colonial his
tory after the colonial war is only the
dawn of a new slavery With tie de
velopment OF industrial activities in
the northern states the free labor sys-
tenn" or, to use a modern expression.
the wage system" developed along
with it. With the expansion of the
cotton industry, where the lowest paid
labor was in demand the chattel Sys-
TEN fourished in the south iii other
words, Il struggle be Teen the two sys-
TENS, which was inevitable, came into
existence, the 50 called "slaye labor
being IN sharp competition with the
so called free labor
Whatever historical critics may say
one thing is certain that the SO called
free Labor" was no better off than the
so called "chattel slave In some I'M
stances the chattel slave from the eco
nomic standpoint had the advantage
If necessarics Of life are to be cousld-
cred a standard OF well being and eco
nomic security, then The chattel slave
had the best Of the har@aiu.
OF all the ills affecting the work
ers OF this nation the dread OF mem-
ploymeht. with ms train OF misery and
poverty. is the worst The free
wage aborer' was free But where
were the terms aud what was the price
of that liberty: Eithor accept the con
ditfns imposed bl the master or sub
nit to the indiglilies which no free
man would submit 10 or starve.
Another striking lesson. which is
the most important OF all is that free.
dom, the desire for libertE must be
inherent and must be secured by the
class in bondage through its own ef
forts. 1t does not come from the top
who would be free themselves must
strike the blow.
Aside from an philosophical argu-
ments the negro himself was not
ready for emancipation. Moreover
even today thc uegro problem is still
looming high ON the horizon of \meri-
can politics in the south and to very
large extent in the north Every act
OF segregation in tae uortbcrH cities is
ample proof that the negro is ~tiIl tha
football Of the diietUeie retormer Re.
sides it demonstrates the fact that the
emancipation Of amy race or class is
worthless when given as a gift from
without. Freedom and emancipation
must be accomplished from within.
How many OF rs are struck with
this thought when we go ouf ON a mis-
sion to convert the unoreanized the
nonunion men to unionism. 70 make
them see the necessity of organization
the necessity of Joining us and make
common cause with us.
And after pleading and arguing we
find out that all our pleading was in
vain, that all our arguments somehow
or other did not convince In other
words, our efforts We're wasted, our ar
guments fell on fat ears. just as flat as
the ears of the chatel slave when tie
"abolitionists" preached and sacrificed
their all-aye, as John Brown, Love
JOY sacrificed their lives for tne
cause Of emancipation of the chatte
slave Every milepost Of liberty is
strewn with the corpscs of pioneers ot
liberty; every inch OF the ground up0r
which the battles OF liberty have beer