The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1921-09-12
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1921
SOMETHING TO CONSIDER.

ed in the editorial of The State o
Saturday, under the heading, 9Th
Worst of Crimes in Georgia." Th'
Press and Banner believes that th'
true facts in the matter would justi
fly The State in bringing a further
indictment against some of the strik
ers in this matter. In the view of the
Press and Banner, strikes cannot be
promoted and made successful ex.
cept through unlawful force and by
unlawful methods. We, therefore, be.
1ieve that every strike is more OF
less a conspiracy to defy the law.
But it is true, as stated by The
State, that not all the men in a Civ
en- case take part in the violent meth
DDS which are adopted. Perhaps
large numbers of them persuade
themselves that such methods axe not
to be resorted to. Perhaps only a
handful of the many hundreds in
volved in a given strike resort to
such methods. But, it is equally true,
as pointed out by The States edito-
rial, that all the strikers share the
wages which such methods, are de-
signed to command. How then may
a law-abiding citizen give his con-
sent to become, or to remain, part
of an organization which profits by
murder and dynamite? That is ques-
tion which a great many people are
asking. It is one which the law-abid-
ing element in the labor unions must
answer satisfactorily if they are to
continue to be considered "men of a
high order of intelligence and char
acter." In every other crime the man
who receives the loot is considered
as bad as the man who goes out and
gets it.
The editorial referred to is given
at length. 1t should be pondered and
considered by everybody. The State
says: ......'..... "
"No more Infamous crime has ever
been done in the South than the dy-
namiting of a freight train on the
Atlanta, Birmingham & Atlantic rail-
road, the killing Of John Morris, the
engineer, and the injuring of three
trainmen. Railroad transportation
has been called key industry
When felons attack train they aim,
not solely at the men who operate
and ride in it, but at all men, women
and children. If trains can be dyna-
mited, men, women and children can
be starved and left to perish with
cold.
"The railroad company. has offered
q reward of $4,000 for the arrest of
the felons who placed the dynamite
and the Governor of Georgia has Of
fered another reward of $500. The
life of the state of Georgia is at stake
"Lynching is a crime evil enough,
but man may be lynched in Georgia
without serious interference with
the processes by which other men
live and earn. If trains are to be
dynamited in Georgia, the decent peo-
pie of the state would better move
out and abandon it's territory to the
savages who are content with saw
age conditions and can cope with
them.
"The strike of some of the railroad
operators had nothing to do with the
principle involved in this matter. The
question is whether the people of
Georgia have right to travel on /
railroads and ship and receive goods
hauled by them. If an engineman
can not run his engine without the ;
consent of other men and must suffer
death because he disobeys them, civ
ilization in Georgia is at an end.
"Strike leaders in Atlanta vigor- /
uosly disclaim knowledge of the out
rage and J.. R. Larrisy, an officer and
railroad conductor, declares that the
union chiefs have sought to conduct
an orderly strike We are entirely
willing to accept those statements as |;
true but it is the business of the