The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1919-12-12
THE COUNTRY AROUSED.

living in Seattle, and he certainly han
dies the subject as all red-blooded
Americans like to have the subject
treated:
THE Centralia massacre crowds all
other things out of our minds at this
time. 1t was so unreasonably hideous
that it seemed the work of maniacs,
yet there is evidence that it was DELHI
erately planned weeks in advance. The
strongest evidence to me that 1t was
planned outside of Centralia Is the fact
that Immediately apologists have come
forward with lying effort TO confuse
the issue and defend the murderers,
just as Mooney has been defended all
the years since the somewhat similar
massacre in San Francisco. And it is
the same bunch defending this gang.
The spokesman of organized labor In
this town. 1t seems unbelievable that
any body of men could cOndone such a
crime, but the leaders of labor here are
in full sympathy with the /. w. w.,
and all their works, and they hate tho
American Legion with hatred as ven
omous as all hell. They see in the
legion great bulwark for liberty, JUS
tice and law, a school of patriotism
and an organized defense against
treason. Being revolutionists, bent on
overthrowing this government and set
ting up class autocracy, they fear the
legion because they see in it an OBJ
stacle to their ambition. Therefore
they would destroy the legion, but with
the blind passion of the German war
party they have done the one thing
that could put life into the legion. Its
membership has been growing with
leaps and bounds since the Centralia
murders and all who join are doing so
with the thought of fighting this ugly
thing that has reared its head in this
country Before Amistice Day the mo-
tive for belonging to the legion was
largely sentimental. Now, there is
concrete purpose. There is a thing to
fight in this country and 1t Is natural
to turn to the American Legion as the
organization to carry forward that
fight
as challenge from the bolsheviki
party in this country. If these enemies
Of democracy want revolution they
can have 1t. Americans are ready for
them and are anxious to carry the fight
to them. They will find that they have
awakened giant of strength and de-
termination. They had come to believe
that this giant was slothful, Indifferent
and possibly afraid. 1t is we'll that they
deceived themselves. There could never
be better time to have showdown.
If this issue must be fought out In this
country this is the time to fight 1t out.
There can be no question of the issue.
The great majority of union men.
themselves, will refuse to follow red
leaders into open revolution. They
have permitted the more aggressive to
take the leadership out Of their hands
by reason of that same Indifference or
Incidence that has so often made 1t
possible for rotten politicians to cor
rupt great parties in this country. They
simply have refused to compete with
them for place or exercise the constant
vigilance that is necessary to keep
the vicious and the crookedly am
bilious out Of places of influence.
They will not follow these leaders in
to revolution, treason and open war
fare OF course there is large ele-
ment of bolsheviki among organized
labor, but the patriots are in the ma
iority when the issue is defined, be-
lieve.
However the time has come for the
loyal, honest and patriotic union
members to assert themselves and
cleanse their organizations of the vic.
ious element. They are facing the
crisis for unionism today. If they do
not throw out the red leaders and the
red sympathizers the American Fed
GRAFTON of Labor Is doomed to go
down to destruction. If 1t permits it.
self to be made sponsor for and apo
logists for such crimes and criminals
as the Centralia massacre brings to
light it will have to take the ccnse-
quences. The great majority Of the
people of this country will not tole-
rate such organized vice and treason.
Unionism faces an end to its great
power and influence in this country
if it fails now to clean house. All that
it has worked for in the way Of col
lective effort, the whole great struc-
ture that it has built up will be lost
if it does not do its obvious duty
now. In all of its legitimate aspira-
tons, organized labor In this country
has the fullest sympathy Of the pub
lie; better pay, better living condi-
tons, greater opportunity, democratic
organization Of industry, profit shar-
ing, all these things are considered
just by the big majority of the people
Of this country, and organized labor
has been winning steadily in recent
years. But the people of this country
will not tolerate class warfare, class
conscience preachments, class hatred,
class legislation and finally class rev.
olution. No movement built on hatred
can indure and the whole essence Of
bolshevikism is hatred. The whole
preachment Of the I. w. w., the boil
shevikists and the red in this country
is an appeal to the baser passions Of
men. The doctrine is an exaltation Of
the immoral and the dishonest. The
instruction is to lie, to steal, to des-
troy and to murder. 1t starts from a
false premise and reasons falsely
throughout.
"The best treatment possible is to
take every alien among them and
every leader, for that matter, cancell-
ing the citizenship Of those who have
become naturalized or are already
citizens, and send the whole bunch to
the heart of soviet Russia They pro-