Jasper County Democrat, Volume 11, Number 71, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 February 1909 — BUMPERS TALKS AND IS CHEERED [ARTICLE]

BUMPERS TALKS AND IS CHEERED

Says That They Can Have j Pound of Flesh. ‘NO YELIOW STREAK IN IT’

Federation President Declares That "For a Court to Throw Itaejf Into a Spasm Because the Word, (Boycott,) Is Not Euphoniue Is Almost Incomprehensible to Rational Beings”— Addresses Ethical Social League in New York. New York, Jan. 29.—“ As good men have been*in jail as any of the three of üb. If they want their pound of flesh they may have it, but they’ll find no yellow streak in it.” President Samuel Gompers of the American Federation of Labor told the Ethical Social League this and the audience cheered. He said:

“If there is to come a better day, is it to come by a cataclysm, a revolution or by a quiet, orderly trades union movement? It by legislation or by judicial interpretation of laws trades unions are to be outlawed, if we are not to be permitted to carry on our work for special uplift, then what? Labor is not typified by the man with the hoe—it stands erect and demands nothing but justice and equality. Refers to $29,000,000 Fine. “We have been trying to get legislation that will treat men and women differently from coal and pork, and they accuse us of wanting class and special legislation. The words come with poor grace considering the class and special legislation of the last half century. See how easily a great corporation gets rid of a $29,000,000 fine. “In regard to the strikes and the boycott, I do not like strikes, but a dog that can bite is safe from many a kick. “I don’t like to boycott. There Is not a man, woman or child toward whom I have ill will; but there are some I won’t deal with, some to whom I prefer to give my trade rather than to others. When two people agrqe to do this it is a boycott. “Revolutionary American.” “Our forefathers wouldn’t buy English tea or buy from those who bought it talk about secondary boycotts. They tell us the boycott is a foreign invention. It’s not; it’s Revolutionary American. From Adam’s time it has been a natural weapon of mankind, and for a court to throw itself into a spasm because the word is not euphonious is almost incomprehensible to rational beings. # “I have said and hope I may retain my sanity to repeat again and again,” continued the speaker, impressively, “that when it comes to a choice between obeying a court order that infringes the constitution, I shall have no hesitation in upholding the constitutional guarantee. Freedom of speech and of the press Is a natural right. We shall continue to uphold that right, and if some men have to bear the consequence, there are others.”