The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1922-01-27
LAW INDICATED
MA: B. ( CASE.
Conviction Of Frel.t Stubbi Proves
That Every. Man Has Right To
Earn An Honest Living

Atlanta Jan 25-Bdsiness: men
and newspaper editors here and in
Intersections of the State are today
calling attention to the solemn les
sons which follow, the conviction of
first of! the fourteen striking employ
ees Of the A. B. and A. Railroad to
be placed on trial at Fitzgerald in
| connection with the death Of Engin-
eer w. T. Reed.
For the future attitude of labor in
Georgia, as has been pointed out, it
is impossible not to feel a measure of
satisfaction that the dignity of the
law has been indicated.
The conviction of Fred Stubbs,
found guilty of taking part in the at
tack on Engineer Reed, will, accord
ing to various opinions expresse
here, bring it home more forcibly
than ever before that every mar has
a right to earn an honest living in
this country, and to shoot down a
man for no other reason than that he
is seeking to support himself and his
family in an honorable calling, is an
intolerable crime.
1t will be recalled that at one time
the strikers and those whom they lat
err attacked were fellow-workers. The
A. B. and A. found itself unable to
pay the prevailing wages and contin.
ue operations. Any employee who
did not wish to accept a reduction in
wages, it is asserted, had a perfect
right to quit his employment. He had
the right to go elsewhere and engage
in productive industry
"But the men who remained at
work, or outsiders who may have
come in to take the place of the
strikers had an equal right to accept
the wages offered then, and thus to
earn a living" declares Chas j
Bayne, we'll known Macon editor.
"The strikers had not the slightest
claim on the railroad. The idea that
somebody was taking their. jobs was
a total miscomprehension. They had
no jobs because they had voluntarily
given them up. The A. B. and A.
Railroad had given a means of liveli-
hood to practically 1000 persons at
Fitzgerald for many years, but if the
employees chose to. quit, there'w was no
reason in law or morals, why they
should not 60 their way. But it was
an inevitable corollary that the men
who took their places were entitled
to the chance to work and to full
protection while they worked"
Mr. Bayne refers to the repeated
efforts to wreck railroad trains and
to terrorize the employees of the
road and then goes on to say:
at is high time for labor to get
it's proper orientation on this ques-
ton. The organization Of labor and
collective bargaining r natural
rights which no n will undertake
to dispute, but the eternal truth
must be recognized once and for all,
that every other man has an equal
right to work, and that when vio-
lence is used to interfere with him,
the strong arm of the law will step
in, as now, and make the punishment
fit the crime.
The Macon editor points out that
there is still a further lesson in the
obvious fact that the strike does not
pay.
abstract rights cannot alter the
fact that almost without exception
it proves to be a mistake" says Mr.
Bayne. "The former employees of
the A. B. and A. Railroad who spent
months in trying to drive one set of
men from their employment, thus
hindering the processes of produc-
toin, would have done better if they
had gone on their way and Joined the
ranks of the producers themselves,
instead Of remaining to hector and
bully and finally take human life.
"These are solemn lessons, and to
heed them hereafter is the best
atonement that can be made for the
crimes that have already been COM
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