The star-progress. (Opelousas, La.) 1917-1921, 1919-12-13


was one of Emma Goldman's hus-
bands for awhile could write another
book about "To Hell and Back"-if
mother strikes.
! These trolley fellows say that the
reason they are on strike is that they
have grievances. If that be true,
then mother should have been out on
strike ever Size Tubal Cain was an APP
prentice in a blacksmith shop. She
! has had grievances ever since Noah
! stepped out of the ark and got drunk.
! And she has grievances now worse
than ever.
Go on, mother. Strike! Strike for
fair and tie up the whole works from
Dan to Beersheba and from He'll to
Omaha! Let's see strike that is a
strike!
But, as far as that is concerned, we
would like to ask who it is that hasn't
got grievances? Why, man, life in all
its walks and rides, life in all it's an
giles and circumstances and condi-
tions, is one vast grievance.
There are so many grievances in
this world as there are grounds for
divorce. And that's more than any
man can count.
Everybody has grievances. The pro-
Queer has a grievance against the
wholesaler, the wholesaler has a griev-
ance against the retailer, and the re-
taller has a grievance against the
consumer. And the consumer has
grievance against the whole world
In the labor unions the walking del
egates have a grievance against the
pay envelopes. So we see that griev-
ances are common. They are univer-
sal, immemorial and perpetual.
Grievance contracts run to the end of
time.
And it is well. We couldn't get
along without grievances. They are
the spices of life. They are our
safety valves, our exhaust pipes with
out which we would blow up and bust.
When Gladstone put disestablish-
ment through and Presbyterians and
Catholics in Ireland didn't have to pay
tithes to the Church Of England any
longer or didn't have to go to church
at all if they didn't want to, which
some of them naturally didn't, there
was an orator at big meeting who
praised Gladstone eloquently for his
great act.
But man arose in the meeting and
said: Gladstone be damned he took
away from US the grandest grievance
we ever had" He was a man from
Tipperary, and he spoke the truth.
Wherefore, since a grievance is q
ground for strikes, and since we all
have grievance let's all go on strike.
Let's sprag not only trolley wheels,
but, while we're at it, let's sprag ev-
cry other wheel! Let's sprag every
thing from a wheel in watch to the
wheels in the heads of the parlor so
cialists.
You see, there would be some way
to get along, just the same. If no
body worked, not excepting father,
and nobody baked bread and nobody
washed clothes or made them and no
body had any money we would all be
on an equal footing, and the dream
of socialism would come true
Then would dawn that delightful
Utopian age when one man could
starve to death as easily as another
and as quickly.
The earth would then return into
the possession of jackrabbits, gophers,
wild cats, horned toads and Indians.
Which would be all right. 1t was
theirs first!
The thing will probably have to be
tried out sooner or later, else we shall
have no peace. So why not try it out
now? Perhaps it is cowardly of US
to slough the experiment off on an
other geenration. Let's all strike and
be done with it!
We should not let the walking dele
gates bluff US. If they are game, let
us be game, too. He is indeed poor
sport who is not willing to try any
thing once.
Let's everybody srtike! Last of
all, the undertakers!-Los Angeles
California Times.
THE WAR ISN'T OVER