The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1919-11-12

membership on the strike situation.
THE government then proceeded to
further invade the rights of the min
iers, not only by restraining the min
!ers, their officers and members from
! ifurthering the purposes for which the
men contended, but went to further
lengths Of demanding from the court
an order commanding the officers OF
the miners union to recall and With
/! draw the notification and the court
tcomplacently complied and issued the
order.
Never in the history of our coun-
try has any such mandatory order
been obtained CT even applied for by
the government Or by any person.
company or corporation.
Both the restraining order and the
injunction, in so far as its proh!bl-
/ tory features are concerned, are pre-
Edicated upon the Lever act, a law en-
acted by congress for the purpose OF
preventing speculation and prohteer-
! ing Of the food and fuel supplies OF
/ the country There never was IN the
minds of the congress in enactlng that
law or in the minds Of the president
when ne signed it that the Lever act
would be applied to workers IN case
Iof strikes or lockouts. Every assur-
ance from the highest authority CT
our government was given that the
law would not be SO applied.
In the course Of Presidents Will
sons address to the Buffalo conven-
ton the American Federation Of La
j Dor, November, 1917, among other
things he said:
While we are fighting for freedom.
we must see among other things that
labor is free. and that means a num-
Der Of interesting things. 1t means
mot only that we must do what we
have declared our purpose to do, see
that the conditions of labor are not
rendered more onerous by the war.
! but also that we shall see to 1t that
1.-THE instrumentalities by which the
conditions of labor are improved are
not blocked or checked. That we
must do"
The autocratic action of our gov
ernnlent in these proceedings is OF
isuch a nature that it staggers the
human mind In free country to
iconceive of government applying for
and obtaining a restraining order pro-
hibitinS the officials of a labor organ
Iization from contributing their o"n
money for the purpose of procuring
food for women and children that
might be starving is something when
known will shock the sensib;litics OF
mon and will cai.se resentment.
Surely the thousands Of men who are
living in France under the soil, whose
blood was offered for the freedom Of
the world, never dreamed that so
shortly afterwards in their own
country $4,000 workers endeavorinG
to better their working conditions
would have the government decide
that they were not entitled TO the as
sstance Of their fellow men and that
their wives and children should starvt
fby order of the government.
"It is a we'll established principle
thai The inherent purpose of the IN
junction processes. where there is no
other adequate remedy at law. was
for the purpose of protecting property
and property rights only, thereby eX-
Iercising the equity power of the
!courts to prevent immediate and ir-
Ireparable injury.
1T was never intended end there is
no warrant of law in all our country
to use the injunction power Of equity
courts to curtail personal rights or
regulate personal relations. Il was
never intended to take the place Of
, low l,,r c,)hC1If;1fing
personal and discretionary govern
ment.
The Lever act provides its own
penalties for vio!ators OF its Drovl-
sicns. The injunction issued in this
case had for its purpose not trial
Iby court and a jury, but an order OF
the court predicted upon the assump-
ton that the law might be violated
and by which the defendants may be
brought before the court fer con-
tempt without any trial by jury.
we declare that the proceedings
in this case arc unwarranted as they
are unparalleled in the history Of our
country, and we declare that 1t is an
injustice which not only the workers
but all liberty loving Americans VIII
reputiiatc and demand redress NJ
citizens Of our country cannot a1tofd
to permit the establishment OF
maintenance of a principle which
strikes at the very foundations of JUS
tice and freedom. To restore the con-
tidence in the institutions of our
country and the respect due the
courts, this injunction should be with
drawn and the records cleansed from
so outrageous q proceeding.
BY all the facts in the case the
miners strike is justified. We en-
dorse it. We are convinced OF th"
Justice Of the miners cause. We
pledge to the miners the full support
OF the American Federation of La
Dor and appeal to the workers ana
the citizenship Of our country to
give like endorsement and aid 10 the
men engaged in this momentous struS-