The Washington times., 1922-06-25
Imported Thugs Are
Blamed for Massacres
BY Socialist Paper

by SOCldllSt L IdPef
NEW YORK, June 24.-Thugs i'm
ported by mine owners at Herrin. H..
are blamed for the recent masbscre
Of nonunion miners by the New York
Call. Socialist paper. IN an editorial
on the first page today. The editorial
follows: ..
1t Is too early to pass final Judg.
ment upon the affair In the coal
fislds, OF southern Illinois. One
thousand state troops have been
mobilized by order Of the governor
20 move into the zone OF the strike
ct q moments notice. Some forty
men are said to have been killed In
the battle at the Lester strip Mine
near Herrih. The mine is said 10
have been destroyed, while tracks,
buildings and equipment were
blown up. H.
But whatever the final judgment
may be, there are certain facts thnt
cannot be ignored. The company
followed the custom Of employing
/. thugs OF q private detective agency.
Wherever these scoundrels are
found. trouble always follows.
3 They must Justify their employ
nent. and riot and murder give
this justification. According to
the New York World account, re-
porting an interview with one of
the injured men. most Of the
guards were tough fellows sent by
D Chicago detective agency"
Joseph O'Rourke, Of Chicago,
who was sent to serve a. q com
MISERY clerk at the mine, said
that "the guards prepared for
fight. Most OF US workers wanted
to surrender" He had no idea OF
what he twas running into" for
I'VE were unknowingly being used
rs dupes to keep them (the miners,
from their jobs" injured a. he
was, O'Rourke said, II don't much
blame the miners for attacking
u.s." He went on TO say. IT under.
stand the miners sent us warn
ings to leave the town or We would
be run out. We never got them:
perhaps the bosses did." A ma
chine gun was also m the hands
Of the thugs.
The statements OF this man are
Invaluable. He was badly injured
at tie hands Of the miners, yet
while bleeding from his wounds
he places little blame on the
miners. The mine owners were
permitted to employ dirty crea-
lures of q private detective agency,
arm them. and permit them to
usurp police powers. A warning
sent to those who had taken tke
places Of the miners was probably
intercepted by the bosses.
Out Of this situation came the
, battle at Herrin. At Ludlow the
thugs massacred miners, their
women and children. Tents were
fired and children were suffocated
IN holes In the ground. In West
Virginia miners were shot on the
highway and in the streets Of
towns by the hired mercenaries.
The scoundrels guilty of there
crimes have gone unhung. Legal
machinery has been prostituted to
serve this foul trade OF hired thugs.
For the first time in labor his
tory the thugs have been the vic.
tins of their own murderous
Tins Of their own murderous
trade. Unfortunately innocent
men have also gone to their death.
The miners also have probably
been maneuvered into O terrible
position. The capitalist journals
Of the country. the same Journals
which have been able to view with
resignation the slaughters at Lud.
low and in West Virginia, will
yelp for the blood OF these miners.
The yelps Of the pack are already
heard. The affair will b. used
against the strike Of the miners.
1t will react against the claims
Of the railroad workers.
An equal share Of blame rests
with the rsactionary press and
politicians. They have glorified
force and murder for five years
They have contributed to the rise
Of the Ku Klux Khan with it's
code or mobism and violence. They
eiorffied the legion when It ran
emuck. substituting its force for
the power OF executives and
courts. They yawped the virtues
q Palmer and his crew Of NAid-
&. srs, whose code was q compound
Of q sixteenth century pirate ana
. modern yegg. 3
Here is an example Of your
handiwork, gentlemen. Had the
thugs massacred miners and their
families In accord with the usual
custom you would do no more
than to "deplore" what had hap
psned. But this violence which
you have unleashed and encour.
aesd has returned home to plague
you and you demand q vindioa-
ton Of law and order" Your
INV and order" Is like Janus Of
Roman mythology. 1t haG two
faces. A smiling one turned to
the thugs OF the masters Of In.
austry and q scowling one turned
A ,rane.utnrLar hs, strika --N1Axa