Ettor and Giovanitti.

Maoriland Worker, Volume 3, Issue 79, 13 September 1912, Page 3

Ettor and Giovanitti.

THE CREAT LAWRENCE STRIKE.

ELECTROCUTION THREATENED

Fellow-workers, over in the jail in Lawrence, Mass., America, two of the most capable and courageous of our fellows are lying awaiting trial for their lives on a got-up charge which is preposterous and absurd in itself, and from a working-man's viewpoint is a threat to strike a staggering blow at the might and power of the workers to organise—a blow from which it will be hard to recover. No intelligent worker-of-Now Zealand will allow Joe Ettor and Arthur Gio- ♦ anitti to.bo*- sent to the electric chair without raisiug his voice in protest; no fair-minded.citizen, whether employer or not, can sanction the shameless tacit ics Ve-r-tt-ted to by: the textile employers" during thesfrugglc which took place in Lawrence early this year. We cannot, however, expect any protest from the employers of this or any other Country, even if they knew the circumstances. The protest must come from us. The majority of people, in New Zealand do not know the circumstances, and the capitalist-controlled press is not likely to publish them, even if it could; in any case, the little news that trickles through into the cable columns is more than likely to be poisoned at its source by the still more corrupt Press Association of America. This is a brief statement of the facts: Last January the textile mill workers of Lawrence, Mass., U.S.A. — 25,000 men, women and children—struck work because they had been ground down to the lowest possible limit of exploitation. Many years of increasing oppression had reduced them to a deplorable condition; long hours, wretched pay, and a vile system of espionage bad made effectives organisation difficult. True, there had been sectional strikes, but. they had been .quickly suppressed, until the employers believed the operatives incapable of rebellion. The State Legislature had passed a bill reducing the hours of labor somewhat in the textile industry, but the employers mot and nullified this by speeding up the already overtaxed workers, and, in addition, cut down the wages. The I.W.W. undertook the apparently hopeless task of harmonising the ma'iy different nationalities employed in the, mills and welding them into an organised body, a task which had been considered impossible by the older and less militant labor organisations and scornfully scoffed at by the employers and their hirelings, but which was accomplished by tlie I.W.W. during a nine weeks' struggle, in which everything in , the nature of violence was carefully discouraged by the speakers and organisers. The employers, however, descended to very scurvy tactics to CREATE violence, so aR to provide a pretext to use the armed militia* in order to fire on and intimidate the suffering mill workers and smash up their organisation.. In one of the minor disturbances started by the hired thugs, while the self-restraint so carefully established by the strike committee and so continually counselled by the organisers was temporarily rela.xed, an apparently excited or nervous policeman fired a shot which fatally hit a defenceless woman, Anna La Rizza by name, who was in the crowd. Ettor and Giovanitti were addressing a meeting miles away from the spot, but they wore arrested later on-and charged with murder—aß "accessories oetore the fact," a legai theory which would be comic in its absurdity were it

Call to New Zealand Workers.

not turned into a threatened tragedy b; the declaration of tbe textile magnates speaking through their legal retainer Dunbar, who says he will "go the limit' to get those two men electrocuted. Dunbar is legal adviser to the Pad fie mills and Morgan railroad interests and attorney-at-law for the Mamifactur ers' Association of Massachusetts. H< is an exceedingly capable and highly paid servant of capital, and is not like ly to let any humane sentiment influence him in his attempt to estahlisl; a legal precedent on the above-mention-ed monstrous legal theory. The object of the millowners is obvious: they have met with crushing defeat for the first time by organised Labor. Their mortification and rage will carry them to any extreme to revenge themselves,., and thej- intend tc sacrifice these two innocent lives, if possible. Their fierce determination is doubtless intensified by their unlimited greed for profit, and they think that if they succeed they will be allowed to still further oppress labor without intefrierence for a further indefinite period. Ettor and Ginvanitti are the selected victims, because they were the most active, capable, and fearless of those who heljyd in the victory. The organised workers of America are arousing the publio to the outrage that is to be attempted in Lawrence, and the cleaner section of the press is helping justice by publishing the truth, but the corruption of the American law courts is proverbial, and the almighty dollar, allied with racial and other prejudice, may result in a packed jury and a verdict of guilty. Strong protests are being forwarded by tho workers of England, France, Germany and other countries, for tho worker's compels tbem to recognise their international community of interests. New Zealand, owing to its'somewhat'unique economic and geographical position, has attracted considerable attention abroad, especially in labor matters, and a protest coming from us may be a factor in helping to free these two innocent men, whoso personal characters and records will bear the closest scrutiny. At any rate, sheer self-interest urges us to help each other internationally, for the economic laws governing commerce and industry are world-wide in their operation, and are so delicate that what- ' ever tends to lower the industrial and consequently the social status of the worker elsewhere must inevitably affect us here sooner or later. The above is only a mild statement of the case for our two fellow-Workers. We have a mass of printed evidence collected from the labor and others papers of America, which can be had on application to J' H. Toorey, sec. I.W.W, Wellesley street, Auckland. Any money collected for tlio legal defence fund may be forwarded direct to William Yates, treasurer Textile Strikers' Defence Fund, 9 Mason street, Lawrence, Mass., U.S.A. The time is getting very short. The trial takes place in September. . Circulars containing a summary of the facts of the case and suggesting protest resolutions have been . posted :to every union in New Zealand. Let every genuine unionist see that they are properly read ou* and-dealt with at, the next meetiug of his union, otherwise they may be unceremoniously tabled. Let a united protest go out from the New Zealand workers so as to let international capital know that Labor is not asleep.—F. HANLON, member Local 175, I.W.W.