The Lancaster news. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1905-current, 1919-10-07
William Il. Foster, Under Grill
ing Fire of Questions, Makes
Weak Witness.
HE HAS HIS OWN IDEAS
But He Says Views Expressed in
His Previous Writings Are
Not Now Entertained-Heard
by Committee.

Washington, Oct. 6-William z.
Foster. secretary of the general com
mittee conducting the steel strike,
when confronted before the senate
labor committee with his writings ad-
vocating various forms Of revolution.
ary socialism, declared under a grill.
ing fire of questions that his views
had changed.
How much they had changed, Fos-
ter declined to tell the senator's, un.
less they excluded newspaper cor,
respondents from the room while he
did 1t. This the committee did not
do.
Armed with books, which Foster
had written during his career in labor
circles, which advocated revolution.
ary socialism and sabotage. and with
copies of the l. w. w. organ "Solida.
rity." containing articles contributed
by him from Europe, where he went
in 1911 as a representative of that
organization, Foster was pressed into
a lengthy explanation of the doctrines
and views he advocated in 1914 and
earlier years.
Foster first ATTEMPTED to parry the
questions, at the outset refusing IN
answer until newspaper reporters
were excluded from the room on the
grounds that Lying, prejudiced news.
papers have misconstrued and mis-
represented my personal opinions
with the whole idea of iniuring the
cause of 100000 steel workers" He
was finally crowded into a declara.
tion when Senator McKellar, demo
crat. of Tennessee, reading MANY
quotations from his works, demand
ed that he say whether or not he still
adhered to his beliefs.
Those are not my views now" he
said, in subdued tone, after lieten
ING to his own words repeated, de
claring "the state to be meddling
capitalistic institution" and advocat
ing violence in strikers. and calm ac-
ceptance of bloodshed as necessary to
the forwarding of the revolutionary
cause.
President Gompers of the American
Federation of Labor. broke into the
examination in irritated fashion a,
one point, when Foster was standing
on his objection to newspaper reports
OF his testimony
We'll, they can't say ANYTHING
worse about you than they have. =
the aged head of the labor fedora
ton adjured him.
Foster would not, however, com
pletely abjure his old works, and
prefaced one line to the effect "tha,
the syndicalist workers will not be
held back from direct action by the
capitalistic crowd of ethics, duty.
honor, patriotism" he told the com
mittee.
Put quotation marks around some
or those. and I'll stand by them yet
They'll show how the words are used
Other excerpts from later writings
stating that government as we know
1t will shrivel up and die" and Gin
dustries now in the hands of the state
municipalities and the nation. will
be given completely over to the work
ers in them he was quite well pre-
pared to defend
Il have my own ideas about gov
ernment," he said of the first. and OF
the second:
That's not so startling nowadays. -
well, that's syndicalism, pure and
simple, isn't it?" Senator Sterling
republican, of South Dakota, one of
his most persistent intrrogaters, de.
manded.
II think not" Foster said.
The witness endorsed his own ad
vocacy OF race suicide with the state.
ment that lit is foolishness for work.
men to undertake to raise big famil.
les"
Mayor of Raleigh Dead.