Men and women of America, there is much work to be done. If you hate
injustice and tyranny, if you love liberty and beauty, there is work for
you. If oppression rouses your indignation, and the sight of misery and
ugliness makes you unhappy, there is work for you. If your country is
dear to you and the people your kin, there is work for you. There is
much to be done.
Whoever you are, artist or educator, writer or worker—be you but a true
man or true woman—there is important work for you. Let not prejudice and
narrow-mindedness blind you. Let not a false press mislead you. Permit
not this country to sink to the depths of despotism. Do not stand
supinely by, while every passing day strengthens reaction. Rouse
yourself and others to resent injustice and every outrage on liberty.
Demand an open mind and fair hearing for every idea. Hold sacred the
right of expression: protect the freedom of speech and press. Suffer not
Thought to be forcibly limited and opinions proscribed. Make conscience
free, undisciplined. Allow no curtailment of aspirations and ideals.
These are the levers of progress, the fountain-head of joy and beauty.
Join your efforts, lovers of humanity. Do not uphold the hand that
strangles Life. Align yourselves with the dreamers of the Better Day.
The cause is worthy, the need urgent. The future looks towards you, its
voice calls you, calls.
May it not call in vain.
And you, fellow workers in factory, mine, and field, a great mission is
yours. You, the feeders of the world and the creators of its wealth, you
are the most interested in the fate of your country. The menace of
despotism is greatest to you. Long has your masters’ service humiliated
and degraded you. Will you permit yourselves to be driven into still
more abject slavery? Your emancipation is _your_ work. Others may help,
but you alone can win. In shop and union, take up this your greatest
problem. Let not the least of you be victimized. Remember, an injury to
one is the concern of all. No worker can stand alone in the face of
organized capitalism with all its legislative and military weapons.
Learn solidarity: each with a common purpose, all with a common effort.
Know your enemy: there is no “mutual interest” between the robber and
the robbed. Understand your true friends. You’ll always find them
maligned and persecuted by _your_ enemies. The idealists, the seekers of
the slaveless world, speak from _your_ heart. Give them hearing.
Your fate, the fate of the country, is in _your_ hands. Yours is the
mightiest power. There is no strength in the Government, except you give
it. No strength in your masters, except you suffer it. The only true
mastery is in you, the working class, in your power to feed and clothe
the world and make it joyous. The greatest power, for good or evil. Use
it for liberty, for justice. Allow no suppression of the freedom of
thought and speech, for it is a snare for _your_ undoing. Sooner or
later every suppression comes home to labor, for its greater
enslavement. Realize the menace of deportation, of the principle of
banishment and exile. ’Tis the latest method of the American plutocracy
to silence the discontent of the workers. Lose no time. It is of the
most vital importance to you. It threatens you, your union, your very
existence. Take the matter up in your organizations. The fortunes of
labor in America are at stake. Only your united effort can conquer the
peril that menaces you. Take action. Rouse the workers of the whole
country. In union and solidarity, in clear purpose and courage is your
only salvation.
Quotations from American and Foreign Authors Which Would Fall Under the
Criminal Anarchy Law, Espionage Law, Etc.
These authors, distinguished thinkers, philosophers and humanitarians of
world-wide renown would, if still alive and of foreign birth, not be
permitted on American shores if they tried to land here, or, if born
Americans, they would be threatened by deportation to the Island of
Guam.