International Socialist Review (1900) Vol 17

270 MORE "LAW AND ORDER"
more of deputies presented no legal evidence
against any one for rioting, or for
unlawful assemblage, or related offenses,
and consequently the bills
called
had
the
to be
sheriff
We ignored. . . .
himself before the grand jury, and found
that his testimony was worthless. . . .
These cases were so important that I took
the precaution to have the testimony
taken down, and after the testimony was
all in, all parts that the jury desired to
have read to it were read. . . . There
was not a man on the jury who was not
disgusted with the way Phillips had
handled this entire matter. . . . The
sheriff's evidence not only failed to make
out a case of the graver crime of riot, but
failed even to make out a case of the pettiest
misdemeanor known to the law."
"Sheriff Phillips blundered all through
this matter. Any official clothed with a
little brief authority can make raids, but
when such an official makes raids without
legal cause, he himself becomes a lawbreaker
and subjects himself to the law's
pains and penalties."
The motive behind the raid is a desire
on the part of the coal mine owners of
Pennsylvania to break by force of arms
and legal machinations the growing solidarity
of the miners. Industrial Union
principles, as expressed in the I. W. W.,
have been traveling as fast as prairie fires
during the past few months. Hence the
enthusiasm of Law and Order to stamp
out this militant organization. How
eagerly the business men in any strike
zone form mobs to raid and fight organized
labor!
Speed the day when every working man
will realize the full meaning of industrial
organization. The revolver, the riot club
and the jail are the last resorts of the
rulers.
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