LABOR'S PRISONERS
Debs, Theodore
LABOR'S PRISONERS By THEODORE DEBS IN THE celebration and general rejoicing of Labor Day let us not forget that more than a hundred working-class agitatori lie in prison because of their...
...In California, scores of workers are serving what amount to life sentences for simply belonging to a Labor organization, a condition that utterly impeaches and discredits the capitalist courts in which they were convicted...
...Of course, there ia the old consolation of history moving shesd, of psople learning by exp?rience, etc...
...To know what is just and not to practice it is cowardice.—Confucius...
...The anti-sedition snd criminel syndicslism laws, so-called, an admixture of idiocy and iron-heel despotism, under which many of these workers were convicted, would hsve ditgrseed Russia in her darkest days under her Czars, and that these infamous enactments sre permitted to blaoken the statute books of "the land of the free and the home of the brave" is s sufficient commentary on ths wesknsss snd insufficiency of ths Lsbor movement...
...Neither hsve the lead ars of Ameriesn Lsbor lesrned any thing during the past year They aweari anew by the policy of punishing enemies and rswsrding friends snd they don't sesm to rsslise the futility of such policy...
...can do nothing better calculated to stir the blood of the dormant, indifferent workers, nothing thst will better serve to arouse and strengthen the Lsbor movement, both economic and political, than by proclaiming the determination of organised Lsbor to defend its defenders, snd by demanding in s united voice loud enough to be heard the liberation of every elats-war prisoner and the repeal of evety infamous statute enacted st the behest of the ruling robbers to suppress free speech snd to strsngle the voice of protest end opposition by the exploited workers...
...The speskers st our Lsbor Day celebration can render ths csuse of Lsbor no greater service...
...Certainly it is so, but when a fellow Is compelled to take an accommoda tion train instead of sn express, hs is entitled to be a little grouchy...
...LABOR'S PRISONERS By THEODORE DEBS IN THE celebration and general rejoicing of Labor Day let us not forget that more than a hundred working-class agitatori lie in prison because of their service to the Labor movement...
...We sll, know this snd we know, moreover^ thst without sn exception these men sre Isnguishing in foul prison pens for no other resson then thst their activities in behalf of ths working class could be suppressed in no other way...
...To punish by imprisonment involving torture in svsry conceivsble form is s most trsgie phase in the annals of mankind.—Eugene Debs...
...If the Labor movement lacks ths courage to defend its defenders, to stand by those who hsvs gons to prison fighting for its principles sad ideals, its wesknsss becomes its accuser snd proclaims its guilt, and it is no wonder the Chamber of Commerce, the Manufacturers' Association, snd other organised bodies ef the exploiting clsss, hold it in scorn snd trost it with contempt...
...i Not Much to Be Proud Of By B. C. VLADECK -,— 'TWERE isn't much in this A year's Labor Day to gladden one's heart or to strengthen one's hopes...
...Let us hops thst ths ne*t yesr will hs richer in expeiienee, in excitement snd—in accomplishment...
...It should not matter in the least to us what they are or what they are not, nor should their sflliition or non-affilistion concern us, so lone sa we know thst they sre is jail or in s State prison or Pedersl peni tentisry ss victims of the clsss straggle...
...We may be moving ahead but ths train ws are moving by is wssting too much time st junctions snd way stations...
...There is not one among these many fighters for the working elass who is guilty of sly overt set, or of committing sny crime whstsoever sgsinst life or property...
...Or to mske it short, there is nothing now under ths sun and nothing exciting...
...Msn is the only snimsl thst constructs s csge for his neighbor and puts him in it...
...Organization is low...
...Let ths cause of ths imprisoned workers snd those threatened with prison sentences be the inspiring theme of our orstors on Labor Dsy, and let the demand for their liberation be thundered from a thousand platforms in the United States...
...Some are trade unionists, some I. W. W. s, some Socialists, and «ome Communists and Anarchists...
...Wages are low and the workers in the textile mills were only recently robbed of another 10 per cent of their earnings...
...Crest mssass of ths Americsn working men still romein unorgsnized and no threst of immediate organization affects the disposition or the dividends of our industrisl magnates...
...Labor has accomplished during the year nothing to be proud of, nothing to brag about...
Vol. 2 • September 1925 • No. 36
