The labor world., 1922-07-15

IN Duluth the men are not going
near the shops or railroad yards.
They are meeting daily at Woodmen
hall where every man is required to
report and register. The meetings
are held in. the mornings. after
which the men usually go to their
homes where they. find plenty to do
TO keep them busy. 'tinkering about
their houses and gardens. -
There are a number of women
among the strikers. sThey represent
the coach cleaners. They are util-
lied in such employment during the
war and many Of them worked up
until the day the strike was called.
They are among the staunchest OF
the strikers. .>'':
-. Calm and Solemn.
The editor Of The Labor World
visited the strike headquarters one
day during the week. A joint meet
Ing of the six crafts on strike was
being held. The hall contained near
lys1O0O men and women, all hold
INK cards in union. One would
think it was church semblage.
1t was as quiet and peaceable, and
almost as solemn as a religious
gathering.
The attendants listened attentive
ly to the speakers. A number of re-
ports were read from other cities.
There was occasional applause when
speaker had driven home a telling
point, and when the meeting ad-
iourned all passed out as quietly and
as orderly as they had entered.
Keeps Election Pledge.
And such is the kind of people the
Harding administration would train
It's guns on. But why dwell on that?
Everyone familiar with the inside of
politics knows that the old guard
in the Republican party promised in
the last campaign to ""bring labor
where 1t belongs" which was anoth-
er way of saying that the Harding
administration would put union Ia
Dor out of business. which it has
been undertaking to do.
A study Of the daily news reports
indicates that the strikers are as
peaceful everywhere as they are in
Duluth. It Is amusing to read the
stories in the daily papers about al
legged disorders in the strike. Here
Is one from Tuesday evenings Her
adj:
Shooting Frame Ups.
At Bloomington, ILL.,, some time
about 3 a. m., Tuesday two men
hidden In a gully north Of the Chi
cayo & Alton shops fired twice at
sentries. Three hundred rounds
from automatic rifles were poured
In the gulley. At day break the place
was searched. but no trace of the
snipers found. None Of the soldiers
was wounded"
And that is the kind of news
the papers are headlining to induce
the public to believe that there is
considerable violence attending the
shopmens' strike. Even if there were
two shots fired from ambush in
Z Bloomington it does not follow that
union men fired them. There is a
chance that the militia officers and
the railroad officials in charge know
more about where those shots came
from than the union men do.
But Little Violence.
News reports covering the entire
country tell only of stray violation
Of law here and there. In no case has
1t been stated that the accused vio-
lator was striker. The term, "strike
sympathizers" is frequently used. In
sptte of the fact that the shopmens
strike is one of the most orderly in
labor history the newspapers, with
their misleading headlines, are do.
ing their utmost to lead, the public
to believe that violenc9is general. +
There is practically no violence
And that is what makes it hard te
: find excuses for the presence OF
troops at strike scenes or the issu.
ance Of injuncti6ns by. state, or fed.
sral+ courts. INK, j
rhe ST.. Paul and Minneapolis pa.
pers, ever; since. the, strike began
have been doing their utmost to mis-.
lead the public, and weaken the
morale Of the striking shopmen will,
false stories Of the strike. III
Fake News Stories. p.
On July I there appeared in two
Minneapolis papers an account of
ths stoning OF strikebreakers the day
before out near the 500 shops. Rep.
resentatives and friends Of the strik-