The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1921-01-14

ord Hearts of the World" "The
Birth of Nation" and others. 1t
has never been shown in Everett.
1t is a siX-reel film.
of hundred labor men together in
Labor Hall with the agents and lead
ers of the man-hunt present to
watch what was going on, and for
about two hours we poured fire
enough into that bunch to burn
iron to gold. The result was that
the boys found their "guts.' put in
a post of Vets apout 300 strong;
the boys told the agents of the man
hunt that the rough stuff was off,
greed turned yellow, and the fight
against the open shop was won in
Fort Dodge through the combined
efforts of labor and the vets, with
the vets taking the lead. If you
are slow to believe, write to Billy
Reardon of the Union News in that
town.
Take another instance. Labor of
Minneapolis was facing a crisis. The
political powers of city and state
combined with all the other forces
and powers of industrial autocracy
were delivering telling broadsides
against labor. They were refused
permission to hold parades, meetings
were broken up by the blue coats,
leaders were threatened with Jail,
leaders were. thrown in Jail for I'M
concealed contempt of court process.
The World War Veterans sprang
into the breach, for the vets enjoy
nothing so much as a clean, open
scrap for the rights of mankind.
We shot a bit of nervine into the
labor men, got them marshaled by
the thousands, were refused per-
mission to hold a parade at the
same time that the other gang was
staging one. We told the city to
go to hell; and that if they tried
to stop our parade we would kick
their Billies into the mud. Zone of
our posts there numbers some 5000
hard-boiled eX-doughboys). We held
the parade, the rough stuff van
ished quickly. Minneapolis is a
fairly decent American town now.
Ask labor headquarters there.
At Clinton, Iowa, labor was seek
ing to elect a city administration
that would be fair and square to
all. Labor was getting beat up
badly. The World War Vets got the
S. o. S. A couple of our organizers
happened along. We put in post
of some 200 members, all labor
doughboys itching for scrap. The
bullies started the "Bolshevik" name
calling stunt, and also the usual
rough stuff. The first time they
mixed (our men were out peddling
hand-bills advertising a meeting and
the bullies tried to stop them), five
Vets cleaned up II bullies and
cleaned 'em right. Yes, the bills
were spread and the meeting held.
And just to show who was boss,
the day before election some 500
Vets laid off duty for the day, can
vassed that old town from house to
house, store to store, bank to bank,
upside down and backwards. Yes,
labor elected the city government.
Write your secretary there.
What l am trying to tell you is,
that if you have not yet know the
power and efficacy of the organized.
laboring ex-doughboy, you are miss
ing your best bet; and you are
doing your men an injustice by leav-
ing them at the mercy of greed
without our protection.
If the organized labor of Amer
lea will get behind" the World War
Veterans sincerely and in earnest,
as it should, the Vets will pledge
themselves substantially to wreck
this open shop comedy and wreck
it so badly that that comedy will
return to Wall street and play to
the galleries there.
Give US your cooperation and we
will make it so hot for the M. & M.
and kindred organizations that they
will want to go to Hot Springs,
Hades, for three weeks to cool off.
So far the Vets have been play
ing a lone hand. We have had not
a dollar of aid outside our own
pockets, and for labor's cause some
of us have gone down as deep as
$1,000, some $500, some $3.50, and
was received from the World War
Veterans, with headquarters at Min
neapolis. The letter was ordered
printed in The Labor Journal While
it is full of humor there is no doubt
but it means what it says. Read it:
TO Everett Central Labor Council:
Don't read this letter unless you
are fully awake and can see straight.
There will be no profit in our
kidding ourselves. If organized la
Dor can be smashed, it will be
smashed, and smashed utterly by or
ganized greed this year; for, as
Babson has pointed out, greed is
now more greedy than ever before.
And labor and few of the farmer
organizations are the only factors
possible to prevent the perfecting of
actual industrial slavery in Amer
lea, The slogan of this man-hunt
is THE Open Shop" and we think
you know it. The central soviets of
capital and employers are marshal
ing their forces and equipping them
for the fray, and those forces in
clude all that are efficient-social,
industrial, economic, political. mill
tary and financial.
The men of the World War Vet
Grams, 80 per cent of them, went
through fire and blood for America