The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1922-06-28
WASHINGTON, D. c., June rs.

I delivered to almost full mem
! bership of the House of Repre-
j sentatives late Monday evening,
4 Representative Wells Goodykoontz
of West Virginia took as his sub
ject the recent wholesale murder
OF forty unarmed. defenseless
men in the coal fields of Illinois.
Representing congressional
} district which is one of the rich
1 est productive coal areas in the
! United States, and the scene of
! mine warfare that attracted ma
ttion-wide attention, discussion and
even congressional investigation,
the member from the fifth district
had no trouble in securing the
! listening ear of a full ouse
when he started to speak the
Illinois massacre,
Mr.. Speaker" he said i'll be-
ginning, ION last Thursday in the
coal fields of Illinois there were
murdered more than forty I'M
armed, defenseless men. The kill
ing of these men was accomplish
ed by overpowering numbers and
characterized by acts of extreme
(cruelty. There We're no palliating
facts, no mitigating circumstances.
No crime ever committed could
I have been more inhuman or re-
voting in its nature.
.Condign punishment upon
| those confessedly guilty of the
/ malicious and premeditated kill
ing of those working men should
be swift and certain. The So
called coroner's jury verdict, pre-
tending to eXculpate those re-
sponsible for the destruction OF
human life, indicates that these
processes of the law.
atrocious felonies-to which 1
have alluded-have been laugh
ing up their sleeves, and. if the
nublic press is to be believed.
| their women folk, elated and
| gloating over the bloody work,
gave palpable evidence of salts
faction and joy, as they passed IN
lreview of the more than two
score pallid. mangled. silent vic
tins, lying before them.
THAT labor has the right to
organize 2 have never doubted;
that necessity self-defense-requ
this to be done seems to me be-
yond question; that unionism has
done much to ameHorate Inc
handicaps and improve the physl-
cal. ethical and financial condition
of the working man, is not less
true.
Not long ago, five thousand
members of the Mine Workers or
sanitation undertook to invade
! Logan County in my district, nut
they were successfully resisted:
| Had they succeeded the fate OF
/ the miners in Logan County and
the property of the operators
! there would have shared the same
fate as befell the people in IL
/ linois.
Goal operators, oil producers,
I farmers. carriers. manufacturers
merchants, publishers, bankers
professional men--an groups
| have their organizations, known
as associations but these, gen
/ orally, recognize the limitations
! Of the law, and do not resort to
the use of dynamite or the WIN
chester rifle to accomplish their
objects and purposes.
i UNLESS the directing heads OF
I the United Mine Workers OF
| America shall unite with the Of
| ficials of the state OF ILLINOIS IN
/ successfully prosecuting and ade-
i quately Furnishing their mem Ders
/ who mobbed and brutally killed
\
! Herrin, then that organization
4 will never be able to rise from the
How estate to which certain OF its
own mem ers have caused 1t to
fall.
.tMany labor unions are con-
Quoted by men of brains upon the
4 very highest plane. Members OF
u such unions hate and detest the
dynamiters of the structural
! bridge and iron workers ana the
murderers at Herrin, Illinois, that
have creDt into the Mine Workers
Union.
Editorial utterances from al
most every printing press in the
country are as one great solemn
voice of protest, crying out
} against the hideousness and
enormity of the crime, and call
ing for the visitation OF PUNISH
ment upon those responsible LOT
! its preparation.
; thoughtful persons are not
blind to the fact that lawlessness
during recent years, has been
t. gaining ground. Every crime in
t! the category has been multiplied.
Tho difficulty in securing conV1c-
ton more accentuated. For lynch
ings there are no prosecutions,
much less convictions. For crimes
committed in the name OF the So
called industrial wars, there are
but few prosecutions, and these
result only rarely in convictions.
I appeal to the strong, patriotic
s. men in the unions to take notice
/ of the wrong and injury that VOL
f ence and crime-where it exists
is doing unto them and their
cause, as we'll as to all OF US
) The pendulum must swing
r back before it is forever too late.
4 We have our grievances AT times
/ we are vexed with circumstances;
but let us remember that nowhere
on the earth is there land the
!, equal of ours. Our government
T is the greatest. Our standard OF
| living the highest. Our working
: linen are the best paid. Read1ust-
ments are bound to be made III
order that society may conform II