Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-02-27
Letters TO the Editor
....,,, cuns 10 Uphold order

u..h,ne Guns to Uphold Order
=. ravor Of the Epeninp Public Ledger:
,.sYour editorial in the EVENING
,,c LEDoEn Of February -. en-.
Ii,vnd "Nnchine Guns in Industry
uus,r. several very remarkable state.
s.. and ~ similar views have Deen
nscssed in other of your editorials,
S.p;nC n tendency to make the general
.si,c hclieyc there ~ n resistance on
nort M those who operate industries
tao orrsrn,it equitable settlement OF labor
%sputes, It Is thought they should not
70 unchallenged. ,-,,,,,
a. writer believes are very misleading
snSs r,;schieyous, arc rs follows:
snu s.rT;rst Vet In West Virginia and
p.oic islnnd the machine gun hns ilg-
a.sd most conspicuously as n device for
~ settlement Of labor disputes.
tne SECOND. It is not enough to say that
en- rights Of property and even tne
safety of the owners OF property IN the
eMicted areas were ut stake.
".Thiri. The fault lies with "cp!e
-ho hoye not the foresight or the decent
.snse of responsibility to cooperate IN
the fair and peaceful settlements OF 'aoor
controversies . 1, ,o,,d
As a commentary VI ."CS'. W.
~ we'll to remember that IN potn Mest
virginia and Rhode Island the militGry ir
,,.,e not present to settle labor dis.
nrtss. ~ ma asserted in your editorial. but
~ nrotect lives and property from an
o,tned and ferocious mob. Your state.
a.snt that the safety Of persons and
nrnnerty is not n sufficient explanation
Sor wbnt appears to have been an incip-
isrt RIOT. is quite remarkable from q
nsner usually upholding the law; IL
,rn,,ld be Interesting TO know II such an
srticie would have been written II the
safety of your person and your property
were at stake. u..
r;olent or law,ess, must dcplorc such
i;snlnvs Of unrest and outrage ns the
raccnt occurrences in Rhode Island.
There appears to be two underlying
First. When q strike has occurred,
+hc strikers use every available means
within their power to induce those who
desire to remain at work to abandon 1t
and 10 prevent their former employers
from cnsa ging new help. The first vio.
ience Is always by the strikers against
those who desire to work. This ten.
dency. reasonable in some ways. Is fos-
tered BY many radicals, who unfor-
tunately play on the passions and fears
Of the strikers who see the possibility
Of want for themselves and dependents;
Second. Those who have advocated
and taken part in these violent md un-
lawful acts nre excused, by some ab
being yoadcd 10 disorder by their
wrongs, and this view IL very much en-
cournged when respectable paper like
the EVENING PUBLIo LEDGER prints
such statements as the paragraphs
BEMENT.MILEs WORKS,
Z. II. wRAY. Engineer.
Philadelphia, February "a, 1922.
ln the editorial article in question we
merely contendcd--as we still contend
that the spectacle OF machine guns
turned BY the military upon mixed
crowds of citizens is intolerable In the
eyes Of America. Our argument was
that the fault lies with those who. by
the abuse Of authority. create what
Mr.. Wray picturcsquely ccnlls "an
armed and feroriOus mob As Il peo.
pie we are not usually armed or usually
ferocious. SO 1t is proper to feel that
phenomena like those under discussion n
ought to be studied ut the origin and
not on the surface. We exempt neither
backward minded employers nor wrong
headed labor men.
Mr.. Wray is misleading in one i'm.
portant statement. The "drst violence
In West Virginia was not created by
miners. It was created by deputy sher-
Ifs illegally in tho pay Of the mine
operators. In Rhode Island it hap
pened 10 be the textile workers who
assumed the aggressive. In each case
differences which should have been set :
tied BY rational arbitration on basis
Of fair play were. permitted to lead to
disSracefu violence Of sort which
can settle nothing. II it Is "mischiev.
ous" TO argue for peace rather than
war In industry we shall have to be
content to be called mischievous. 1t Il
unfair to argue. as Mr.. Wray argues,
on basis OF sentences lifted out OF
their context and so narrowed in mean :
1hg.-EdD