In order to inflame the strikers and keep them together they were
frequently regaled by such poisonous talk as the following:
"In a week the men will begin to get uneasy. They will assemble on
the streets. The Internationalists [red-flag bandits] will be among
them, notwithstanding the fact that they are alleged to have
disbanded. Do you suppose that 50,000 or 100,000 men are going to
starve and allow their families to die before their eyes without
lifting a hand? It is against human nature. I am going to leave
Chicago. It is not safe for men of my views to be around in times
like these. If the lockout is continued, the people will arise and
overthrow a system which permits a few men to starve the vast
majority into slavery."
It was of little use to point out to angry and ignorant men the
absurdity of these revolutionary predictions of their worst enemies. It
availed nothing to tell them that Capital had not refused to give them
employment; that Capital was ready and more than willing to employ them,
and was suffering loss every day and hour of their idleness; that
Capital was the best friend they have in the world, a friend that
respected their rights and required of them only that they should have
equal respect for its rights; and that to maintain its rights against
their annoying and persistent attacks was its sole aim in meeting them
on their own ground and fighting them in their own fashion. Their
blatant demagogues asserted the contrary, and they continued to listen
to their blatant demagogues.