The Northwest worker. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1915-1917, 1917-05-03
CRIES
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| ly 1T rises from the other side of
the continent; it is taken up by
toiling millions. As it's ever in
crcasng volume sweeps westward,
! its plaintive note finds response i'm
every town, every city of the coun-
try till it leaps mountains, spans
plains, and bursts on us here with
tempestuous force. And here in
the great free west that cry is
echoed back from thousands of
hearts, from thousands Of souls,
yes even from thousands of ton
CUES. Think and listen and that
cry will bear in upon your hearts,
with all its plaintiveness, with all
it's pathos. Hear the cry, eve
want bread"
Consider minute, my friends,
from whence this cry comes. is
it another army of the CoXcy type?
No! it is mott Does it come from
throats of buns, vagabonds and
drunkards? 1t does not! Is it
shricked by the wives of drunken
husbands? Far from it, No, it
comes from the very souls Of the
workers wives, it is wrmg from
the throbbing hearts of working
class mothers, it is breathed from
the loving breasts Of the mothers
of our future citizens. 1t is a ma
ton of mothers, appealing for
food that their half starved babies
which they hold to their bosoms
need not die.
As the cry rings in our ears let US
remember that this country in the
year 1916 produced over 1872 million
bushels of wheat. Besides produc-
ing that enormous amount Of wheat,
| our coke production increased over
that of 1915 by $40 million tons, our
coke production by 81 million tons,
and the other industries accordingly.
AS the cry still bears in upon US, let
us recollect that not bushel Of
wheat, not an ounce Of copper, not a
pound of iron, not ton of coke was
produced by any means except by la
| Dor. The husbands of those mothers
produced every bit of these oommodi-
ties. The father Of those babies ere
ated every cent of this wealth. But
the babies are starving, the mothers
have no food the fathers can buy
none.
Listen to the cry and then remem-
Der that goods valued at 1920, $780,
III We're SHIPPED out of this country
in 1916. The European nations sent
gold to America by the boat load. Our
workers have not enough money to
buy food for their wives and children
Listen again, and that cry will burn
itself on our hearts and minds.
But we hear another cry. 1t comes
not from the t6ilers of the world; not
from the thinkers of the nation; not
from the mothers of future America.
1t rises from those who never toll,
but who always reap the benefit Of
the toilers' labor; from those who
cause this wheat and other goods to
be shipped away; from those who re-
ceive and hoard the loads of gold
that come in return. AS it sweeps
across the country, every ranting
politician, every flattering servant Of
an industrial master, every jangling,
mentally prostituted lingo editor
takes up the cry, and it's blazoned,
blaring din bursts in upon us. And
everywhere, that cry is echoed in the
passions and hates of baffled peo-
pie. Need | repeat it? eve must
fight to protect our national honor"
Observe that scene with me, my
friends. See those ragged, shivering
mothers, clutching fondly to their
hungry breasts their only earthly
treasures, and appealing to some one
for food which their husbands have
| P'NNNCCNJ III CllC IOOu WIlCIl 10 uGulGu
them in order that few may be en-
riched; for the food that alone can
save to them their only treasure, their
babies. View that scene and then
! ask yourself: What honor has a ma
ton to lose that permits this condi-
tion, nation that builds immense
navies to protect those who ship this
food away, nation that protects
the eXploiter in his exploitation
against any possible protest of the
workers? What honor has that ma
ton to lose?
The true enemies Of this people
are not across the ocean. They are in
the U. S. A. But it would be a fine
thing for the captains of industry
If they could get US workers so
crazed with hate of an imaginary
foe, SO frenzied with a lust to kill,
that we would forget about our own
starving children, and protect their
foreign interests.
viii we allow the last cry to SOW
Il 1 t