Montana labor news., 1937-09-02
or Tom Mooney and Warren Bill

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lings.
You are met here this Afternoon
to mark what we hope will be tn,
final drive which will bring to lib
erty Tom Mooney and Warren Bill
lings. do hope that this drive viii
gain momentum; | do hope tina
there will be no let-down in thil
drive.
While this great offensive is going
on, judging by the attempt, the low
conspiracy that was entered into re
Gently to break not the will or the
spirit of Tom Mooney-because thai
cannot be done-but to break hin
physically, I do hope that you viii
continue your vigilance, because i
was only by your protests and by
the mass pressure of organized labor
in the United States of America -hat
the courts, the wardens and Other
prison officials, have been compelled
to desist from the diabolical conspir.
acy to break the physical well-beins
of Tom MONEY!
Let the reactionaries and those
who have been responsible for thi:
frame-up, let the courts, the war
dens and other officials, take notice
that while Tom Mooney is the living
victim of reaction terror, at the same
time, Tom Mooney is the living sym
Dol of unity of labor, and an injury
to Tom Mooney is an injury to all
laborl And let them take notice
that if any more of these dastardly
and cowardly attempts are made
against the physical well-being OF
Tom Mooney while he is in Jail, that
this is not 1916-this is 1887. Labor
is on the march!
We won't wait for the Supreme
Court if they try any of their das-
tardly acts, because the public opin-
ion of every liberty loving American
is aroused over the Tom Mooney
case. The sentiment is just as strong
in the City of New York about Tom
Mooney as it is among the workers
in San Francisco.
l met Tom Mooney on Friday. I
was impressed with n thing, and
that is that if Tom Mooney would
have stepped out of that Jail this min
ute, he is ready, willing and able
he is thoroughly prepared to once
again take his place where he is SO
badly needed: In the forefront of
militant labor, in their struggle
against economic royalists of today
My friends, the same people who
framed Tom Mooney, the same war
makers, the same traitors to organ
lied labor, II just as active today.
The fact that Tom Mooney is still in
Jail proves that reaction is still
strong, but the fact that the Ameri-
can people have not forgotten Tom
Mooney, the fact that the movement
for the freedom of Tom Mooney is
always on the increase demonstrates
that the forces of Democracy today
are ready to do battle with the forces
of reaction, and are ready to beat
them to a standstill today, right nowl
Tw~enty-one years have passed,
and a great deal has changed in
twenty-one years. In fact, a rapid
change is taking place in the life of
America during the last two years.
Everything is in flux, everything is
on the change, everything is on the
move. That means, my friends, that
the reactionaries who were defeated
at the polls last November, are still
active, and they want to take adj
vantage of this change that is taking
place. The crisis Of the Tom Moo
ney case comes at a time when his
freedom or incarceration depends on
whether or not organized reaction
today in America is successful or
defeated. If the Tom Girdlers, if
the Liberty Leaguers, if the organ
lied reactionaries throughout the
United States are permitted to win
their fight today on the industrial
battle fronts, then, 1 say that we
will be unable to release Tom Moo
ney!
In order to release Tom Mooney,
we must defeat reaction and we must
defeat American fascism today in
this country, the United States of
Americal
The offense for the freedom of
Tom Mooney must be taken on every
front, and it must be taken in the
courts. l have heard a great deal
about Shutdown strikes" When an
employer of labor is licked because
his workers take possession of his
plant-and I want to say right here
and now, that if an employer of
labor a use his factory and his
plant to violate every law enacted
by the Congress of the United States,
every item in the Bill of Rights of
the Constitution of the United
States, if he can use that plant for
the purposes of hiring thugs, scabs,
and so on, then I say that labor has
a god-given right to occupy that
plant and prevent the use of that
plant for that purposel But when la
Dor does that, you hear these gentle
men with spats and canes come be-