The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1926-10-30

the last president of the old American Federation of
Labor. He your creature-or the creature Of all
the trusts employers associations which the
same thing, You precipitated the big Closed Shop
Strike Farburg betrayed that strike. You won, and
the old American Federation of Labor crumbled to
pieces You fellows destroyed It, and by doing I'M
did yourselves for right top if it began organ
zaton Of the I. n W.-the biggest and solidest or
ganization OF labor the United States has SEEN
and you responsible for its existence and for the pres
ent general strike You smashed all the old declarations
and drove labor into the l. L. W., and the 1. L. w.
called the general strikestin fighting for the closed
shop And then you the eHrontery to stand here
face to face and tell that you got labor down
and gouged it. Bah
little later met him in the cloak room, leaving,
and gave him a lift home In my machine
Labor caught mapping and struck at our weakest
place. the stomach I'm going get out Of Fran
cisco, Cert Take my advice and get out, too Soon
therel be nothing but starvation in this city for such
as We"
How correct BERTHE Messner was l never dreamed.
The days came and went, and for a time it
humdrum time. Nothing happened The edge of ex-
element had become bunted. The streets not
crowded. The working class did not come up town
any to how taking the strike. San
Francisco lay dead, and did not know whatlwas
happening the rest Of the country But from the
very fact that did know could conclude only
that the rest of the country lay dead San Fran
CISCO From time to time the city placarded with
the proclamations Of organized abor-these had been
printed months before and evidenced how thoroughly
the l. L. w had prepared for the strike Every detail
had been worked out long in advance. No violence
had occurred yet with the exception of the shoot
ing of few wirecuers by the soldiers but the people
of the slums were starving and growing ominously
restless
The business men, the milionafres. and the profess
sonal class held meetings and passed procamations
but there was way of making the proclamations
public. They could not even get them printed.
But with the formation of the bread lines came
troubles. There only much of food reserve
in San Francisco and at the best it could not last
long. Organized labor we knew, had its private
plies nevertheless the whole working class Joined
the bread lines. AS result the provisions General
Folsom had taken possession diminished with per-
ilous rapidly. How were the soldiers going to dis
tnguish between a shabby middleclass man. a member
of the l. L. w. a sumdweller? To make matters
worse the tugs that had been hauling food
from the army depots Mare Island to Angel Island
found food haul. The soldiers received
their rations from the confscaed provisions and they
| received them first.
TINE beginning OF the end in sight. Violence
beginning show its awful face. Law and order
passing away and passing away must confess, among
the sum people and the upper classes Organized la
Dor still maintained perfect order 1t could well af
| ford tot had plenty to eat
1t was about this time that the great panic occurred.
The wealthy classes precpaed the fight and then the
sum people caught the contagon and stampeded wildly
of the city. General Folsom pleased. 1t was
estimated that at least 100000 had deserted San Fran
CISCO and by that much his food problem solved.
| Well do 1 remember that day. In the morning had
eaten a crust of bread. Half Of the afternoon had
stood in the breadne and after dark returned home
tired and miserable carrying quart of rice and slice
| Of bacon.
a gloomy handful Of men that came together
at the Club that morning. There service at all
| The last servant gone. Hanover, Collins and
Dakon Just leaving They leaving the city,
they said on Dakons horses and there spare
Dakon magnificent carriage horses that
he wanted to save and General Folsom had given him
tip that next morning all the horses that remained
in the city to be confscated for food. For that
matter the killing of the army mules and horses for
food had already begun.
Here and there stood automobiles. abandoned where
they had broken down where the gasoline had given
out There sign Of life, for the occas-