I don’t know of anything more tragic and pitiful than the superstition
that “Justice will triumph.” What this metaphysical conception of
“justice” really signifies, how it is to be expressed in applicable
terms, is impossible to determine in view of the multiplicity of
individual antagonisms and class interests.
But somehow we all believe in “justice”; yet the criterion of each is
the degree of the attainment of his own purpose.
From time immemorial we humans have been clamoring for “justice,” divine
and earthly. Hence our slavery. And Kaiser and Czar both claim justice
on their side, and millions are slaughtering each other to attain the
particular justice of their respective masters.
In this blessed land of ours, justice is ranked high, and labor is
constantly basing its appeals and demands on justice. But perhaps—let us
hope—the John Lawson case has somewhat jolted the popular faith in the
metaphysical conception, at least so far as it manifests itself in the
Colorado courts. It is safe to say that there is no intelligent man in
that state who does not know that the stage for Lawson’s conviction had
been set long before his trial. He was an intelligent, active agitator.
He sought to crystallize the rebellious dissatisfaction of the miners
into effective action:—sufficient reason for the Rockefeller-controlled
state to eliminate, most emphatically, such an undesirable element.
In Colorado, as well as throughout the rest of the country, most people
know that a great “injustice was done Lawson.” What are the people of
Colorado doing about it? Not a thing. The cheerful idiot, otherwise
known as the good citizen, cares for justice only in the degree in which
it affects his own pocket. And the masses of labor who do feel
themselves and their cause injured by the railroading of Lawson to
prison—they call the verdict a “miscarriage of justice”—applaud
Professor Brewster who wired Lawson: “Unbelievable. Counsel friends keep
cool. Justice will be done.”
And the people of Colorado remain inactive, in the belief that the
Supreme Court, the Governor, or maybe the Holy Ghost will see to it that
justice is done.
Yet the Lawson lesson has not been entirely lost. It is possible that it
has shed a light that will reflect itself on coming fights between labor
and capital. It is more than probable that the lesson has already borne
fruit in the more aggressive attitude of labor in some parts of the
country. It has helped ever-growing numbers to realize that to expect
“justice” in the struggle between labor and capital means to doom the
toilers to defeat.
It will be highly interesting to watch the effect of the Lawson outrage
upon the approaching trial of David Caplan and Mathew Schmidt, the
aftermath of the McNamara case, in Los Angeles, California. The history
of this case is illuminating of our legal and social “justice”:
The labor unions in California have for the last nine years fought a
bitter fight against the Merchants and Manufacturers’ Association, the
Western branch of the Steel Trust. Every means, legal and illegal, has
been used by the employers to exterminate the unions and paralyze the
workers. And they have practically succeeded in breaking every labor
organization in the Steel Industry from New York to San Francisco.
Where twenty years ago we had a powerful union—for instance, in
Pennsylvania: the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel
Workers—today nothing but a pitiful remnant is left. Only _one_ union in
the steel industry has survived: the Structural Iron Workers. They
survived because they contested every inch of ground against the
Merchants and Manufacturers’ Association. The result of that fight was a
long war between capital and labor on the Coast. Every form of
persecution and violence was used against labor, and labor was forced to
defend itself. In consequence the Structural Iron Workers increased
their wages from $2.40 a day to $4.40, and reduced their hours from ten
to eight. Organized capital resorted to every trick to strangle the
workers, and in Los Angeles a special law was passed prohibiting
picketing. But the union defied the law, and five hundred men went to
prison during the general strike of the metal trades in Southern
California in 1910. During this fight the Los Angeles _Times_, the most
relentless enemy of labor and of humanity, was destroyed. The brothers
McNamara were arrested, as a result, and then the masters made the
solemn promise that the war would be stopped and that all further
prosecutions of labor men would cease if the McNamaras would plead
guilty. It was only on the strength of this promise that the McNamaras
were finally induced to plead guilty.
Hardly ten days passed, when the Merchants and Manufacturers’
Association broke every promise they made. They began the prosecution of
labor men in Los Angeles and Indianapolis, and did everything in their
power to railroad to prison the most effective members of the unions.
And now, four and a half years later, they have arrested David Caplan in
Seattle and Mathew Schmidt in New York, and brought them across the
country to Los Angeles to put them on trial for complicity with the
McNamaras.
This perfidious activity of organized capital has made labor in
California realize that the courts are controlled by the employers, and
that labor cannot expect justice. They now understand what a fatal
mistake was made in the case of John Lawson. The workers depended on the
innocence of Lawson for his acquittal. They failed to act, expecting
justice to be done.
At least some of the labor elements on the Coast are awakening to the
situation. They feel that they cannot expect justice from the courts of
the exploiters. They have now determined that more aggressive and
militant action is necessary, if labor is not to be submerged by the
oppression of capital. They are beginning to see that throughout the
country the masters are picking out the most effective and intelligent
fighters from the ranks of the workers and railroading them to prison,
to terrorize labor and stifle the spirit of liberty and independence.
The Lawson case, the case of Ford and Suhr, of Rangel and Cline, of Joe
Hill, and the many other cases now pending in the courts of New York and
elsewhere, all show what capital intends to do to labor.
Is labor really going to keep quiet and submit to this persecution and
slavery? The unions on the Coast have determined that they will not.
They are calling upon every one in sympathy with labor to join the great
movement to stop the aggression of capital. They have decided on strong
militant tactics to defend the workingman, his family and his union
against the tyranny of the bosses.
They have issued the call to every central body, affiliated unions and
radical organizations, to join hands at this most critical moment. This
is not a question of theory or of philosophic ism. It is the great war
of labor against capital, a struggle of life and death. In this struggle
all local and theoretic differences may be safely forgotten, and all
friends of labor make common cause.
I have been sent as a special delegate by some of the California unions
to help organize the solidaric and militant forces of labor throughout
the country. It is evident how significant this case is for the workers
in general. It is imperative that they combine in solidaric unity in
this vital matter, to register in mighty accents the sentiments and
determination of the oppressed. Thus were Haywood, Moyer, and Pettibone
torn from the clutches of the jungle beast. Thus were returned to
liberty Ettor and Giovannitti, Carlo Tresca, and other fighters for the
better day. But whenever the workers failed to sound the tocsin of
solidarity and make their gesture of protest, their prisoners of war
have invariably remained the hostages of the enemy.
Organizations and individuals who are willing to give us their moral and
financial assistance, should immediately send resolutions and funds to
Tom Barker, Secretary Building Trades Council of Los Angeles, and
Treasurer of the Caplan-Schmidt Defense Fund. Address, 201 Labor Temple,
Los Angeles, California. My own address for the present is 917 Fine Arts
Building.