THE END
By the Same Author
A STRIKE OF MILLIONAIRES AGAINST MINERS
OR, THE
Story of Spring Valley
AN OPEN LETTER TO THE MILLIONAIRES
Notices by the Press
The Springfield (Mass.)Republican(editorial).
Those who keep note of passing events will not have forgotten the lock-out of coal miners at Spring Valley, Illinois, in the early months of 1889, and the sufferings of the families of the workmen in consequence.This sad story of corporate inhumanity has been effectively told by Henry D. Lloyd in a book entitledA Strike of Millionaires against Miners. It merits no less a volume than this. It is not an isolated case—an industrial phenomenon springing from conditions rarely repeated—but one of many similar cases, a part only of the whole story of coal mining in the United States. More than this, it is an aggravated illustration of the soullessness of the corporation in general, through the agency of which the bulk of the producing powers of the nation is working.Behind this legal fiction men hide and do deeds of grasping cruelty that disgrace manhood, and are fast bringing the industrial organism into contempt. In the case of Spring Valley, the directors and stockholders of the Chicago and North-Western Railroad and the Spring Valley Coal Company—controlled by the same men—are as responsible for the sufferings and death from starvation of miners in Spring Valley in 1889 as if they had all been personally present and assisted in the business of bringing men from a distance to work in their mines on assurance of steady employment, and then of locking them out without warning, to starve them into submission to lower wages, for the sake of higher profits on their stock. This is the conclusion of Mr. Lloyd, and we see no escape from it.If the corporation is to be considered an impersonality without moral responsibility, it will either have to go, or the industrial system which makes it an essential part will have to go. All the power of government, or wealth, or vested interests cannot maintain that system which, resting as our present system must on the charitable instincts of men, offers a way of escape from the responsibilities imposed thereby to the most powerful factors of the society. Against that system "the pulses of men will beat until they beat it down." What must be the condition of that society which allows the wealthy capitalists who starved these thousands of miners not only to go unpunished, but to move in the very highest circles of business power and social influence? And one of them in particular is to-day figuring upon representing the Democratic party of Pennsylvania in the United States Senate.
Those who keep note of passing events will not have forgotten the lock-out of coal miners at Spring Valley, Illinois, in the early months of 1889, and the sufferings of the families of the workmen in consequence.
This sad story of corporate inhumanity has been effectively told by Henry D. Lloyd in a book entitledA Strike of Millionaires against Miners. It merits no less a volume than this. It is not an isolated case—an industrial phenomenon springing from conditions rarely repeated—but one of many similar cases, a part only of the whole story of coal mining in the United States. More than this, it is an aggravated illustration of the soullessness of the corporation in general, through the agency of which the bulk of the producing powers of the nation is working.
Behind this legal fiction men hide and do deeds of grasping cruelty that disgrace manhood, and are fast bringing the industrial organism into contempt. In the case of Spring Valley, the directors and stockholders of the Chicago and North-Western Railroad and the Spring Valley Coal Company—controlled by the same men—are as responsible for the sufferings and death from starvation of miners in Spring Valley in 1889 as if they had all been personally present and assisted in the business of bringing men from a distance to work in their mines on assurance of steady employment, and then of locking them out without warning, to starve them into submission to lower wages, for the sake of higher profits on their stock. This is the conclusion of Mr. Lloyd, and we see no escape from it.
If the corporation is to be considered an impersonality without moral responsibility, it will either have to go, or the industrial system which makes it an essential part will have to go. All the power of government, or wealth, or vested interests cannot maintain that system which, resting as our present system must on the charitable instincts of men, offers a way of escape from the responsibilities imposed thereby to the most powerful factors of the society. Against that system "the pulses of men will beat until they beat it down." What must be the condition of that society which allows the wealthy capitalists who starved these thousands of miners not only to go unpunished, but to move in the very highest circles of business power and social influence? And one of them in particular is to-day figuring upon representing the Democratic party of Pennsylvania in the United States Senate.
The New YorkCommercial Advertiser(editorial).
It is to be remembered that Mr. Lloyd's book does not profess to be a dispassionate review of the situation. It is an indictment. The corporation's side should be given a fair hearing. But it must be heard soon. Mr. Lloyd's charges are too important, his formulation of them too worthy of respect to be treated with silent contempt. To ignore them is to confess their truth. Should such a reply be made, the readers of this column will be informed of it.A Strike of Millionaires against Minersdescribes the poverty, the suffering, the utter misery among the miners in Spring Valley, Illinois, during the past year. In the simplicity and restraint of his style, and in the massing of his facts, Mr. Lloyd shows genuine literary power. There is no attempt at rhetoric in his narrative. He depends upon statements of facts, many of them incontrovertible, to rouse the hot indignation of his readers. If the story is true, and it bears every appearance of truth, the Spring Valley mine owners have been guilty of damnable treachery and cruelty to their fellow-men.
It is to be remembered that Mr. Lloyd's book does not profess to be a dispassionate review of the situation. It is an indictment. The corporation's side should be given a fair hearing. But it must be heard soon. Mr. Lloyd's charges are too important, his formulation of them too worthy of respect to be treated with silent contempt. To ignore them is to confess their truth. Should such a reply be made, the readers of this column will be informed of it.A Strike of Millionaires against Minersdescribes the poverty, the suffering, the utter misery among the miners in Spring Valley, Illinois, during the past year. In the simplicity and restraint of his style, and in the massing of his facts, Mr. Lloyd shows genuine literary power. There is no attempt at rhetoric in his narrative. He depends upon statements of facts, many of them incontrovertible, to rouse the hot indignation of his readers. If the story is true, and it bears every appearance of truth, the Spring Valley mine owners have been guilty of damnable treachery and cruelty to their fellow-men.
ChicagoHerald(editorial).
TheHeraldcommends to the attention of its readers the open letter in another column, from Henry D. Lloyd, addressed to various millionaires of New York, Chicago, and St. Paul. It contains what theHeraldbelieves to be the truth as to the Spring Valley scandal, and while in most respects it is a plain statement of facts, it is nevertheless one of the most powerful appeals for justice, and one of the most eloquent denunciations of wrong, which has come under the public eye in many a day.Mr. Lloyd's high character, his superb attainments, and his well-known philanthropy give force to the arraignment it might not otherwise possess. His letter is a history of a crime—a crime resulting, no doubt, from an infamous conspiracy—and the story leads naturally and inevitably to the conclusion which Mr. Lloyd avows, that there must be conspiracy laws for millionaires as well as for working-men.Civilization must be bottomed on justice, or it cannot endure. A society which permits such inhuman outrages as that at Spring Valley is either asleep or in an advanced stage of decay. The money god cannot crush out the lives of human beings with impunity. Let its devotees look well to the ground on which they stand. The wise and humane will be warned in time. The foolish and insatiate must be left to the stern judgment of their fellow-men, who must some day pass upon their act.
TheHeraldcommends to the attention of its readers the open letter in another column, from Henry D. Lloyd, addressed to various millionaires of New York, Chicago, and St. Paul. It contains what theHeraldbelieves to be the truth as to the Spring Valley scandal, and while in most respects it is a plain statement of facts, it is nevertheless one of the most powerful appeals for justice, and one of the most eloquent denunciations of wrong, which has come under the public eye in many a day.
Mr. Lloyd's high character, his superb attainments, and his well-known philanthropy give force to the arraignment it might not otherwise possess. His letter is a history of a crime—a crime resulting, no doubt, from an infamous conspiracy—and the story leads naturally and inevitably to the conclusion which Mr. Lloyd avows, that there must be conspiracy laws for millionaires as well as for working-men.
Civilization must be bottomed on justice, or it cannot endure. A society which permits such inhuman outrages as that at Spring Valley is either asleep or in an advanced stage of decay. The money god cannot crush out the lives of human beings with impunity. Let its devotees look well to the ground on which they stand. The wise and humane will be warned in time. The foolish and insatiate must be left to the stern judgment of their fellow-men, who must some day pass upon their act.
TheLabor World, London, England.
What does Mr. Andrew Carnegie, who chants vulgar pæans to "Triumphant Democracy" say to such a book as this of Mr. Lloyd? This story of the robbery and betrayal of thousands of working miners in Illinois by a great millionaire corporation is one of the worst things we have read for a long time, and is a terribly scathing satire on American "democracy."Let us hear no more trash about "free" America as compared with down-trodden Europe. Both continents are down-trodden by the rich men who own the raw material out of which wealth is created by human labor. When the land of the United States is all absorbed by private persons, as it will be in twenty years' time, there will not be a pin to choose between America and Europe, so far as wage-workers are concerned. Wages may be higher in America, but the increased cost of living there will nearly equalize the condition of the two continents; while for swindling, lying, and merciless oppression many American capitalists leave their European brethren far behind. Mr. Lloyd's book, which is the first of a new "Bad Wealth Series," ought to open men's eyes to the fact that true freedom is impossible when a few men have a right to appropriate to themselves the raw material of the globe.
What does Mr. Andrew Carnegie, who chants vulgar pæans to "Triumphant Democracy" say to such a book as this of Mr. Lloyd? This story of the robbery and betrayal of thousands of working miners in Illinois by a great millionaire corporation is one of the worst things we have read for a long time, and is a terribly scathing satire on American "democracy."
Let us hear no more trash about "free" America as compared with down-trodden Europe. Both continents are down-trodden by the rich men who own the raw material out of which wealth is created by human labor. When the land of the United States is all absorbed by private persons, as it will be in twenty years' time, there will not be a pin to choose between America and Europe, so far as wage-workers are concerned. Wages may be higher in America, but the increased cost of living there will nearly equalize the condition of the two continents; while for swindling, lying, and merciless oppression many American capitalists leave their European brethren far behind. Mr. Lloyd's book, which is the first of a new "Bad Wealth Series," ought to open men's eyes to the fact that true freedom is impossible when a few men have a right to appropriate to themselves the raw material of the globe.
ChicagoDaily Inter-Ocean.
Mr. Lloyd's reputation as a writer on economic questions is sustained in the manner of handling the usually dry statistical matter which tells the story of strikes and lock-outs. He makes the story interesting and often graphic, while he gives the facts and figures relating to the intricacy of contracts in a way to be easily understood by the ordinary reader. The book is a valuable compilation of the facts gathered relating to this shameless abuse of corporative power in Spring Valley.
Mr. Lloyd's reputation as a writer on economic questions is sustained in the manner of handling the usually dry statistical matter which tells the story of strikes and lock-outs. He makes the story interesting and often graphic, while he gives the facts and figures relating to the intricacy of contracts in a way to be easily understood by the ordinary reader. The book is a valuable compilation of the facts gathered relating to this shameless abuse of corporative power in Spring Valley.
TheNew Ideal.
Mr. Lloyd has been until recently on the editorial staff of the ChicagoTribune, and is now devoting his time to first-hand investigations into labor troubles. This book gives an account of a lock-out in one of the mining districts of Illinois, and is the more forcible and eloquent an arraignment of the "millionaires," as the statements are throughout verifiable. As Mr. Lloyd in effect says, professors of political economy do not come near enough to realities to discover such details as he portrays, and the working-men do not know how to bring them before public opinion. Hence the necessity of a mediator, who shall thoroughly investigate the facts and at the same time give them to the public, not in statistical reports, but in a form that compels its attention. Mr. Lloyd is a practised writer; no one can read this narrative without being profoundly moved, and for the directors and stockholders of the Spring Valley Coal Company (and, besides, of the Chicago and North-Western Railway, an aider and abettor of the nefarious business) the effect must be to set their blood on fire—so far as they are blessed (or unblessed) with any moral sensitiveness. Every thoughtful citizen—whether man or woman—should read this book, and have fully brought home to him or her the problems it suggests. It belongs to the literature both of fact and of power.
Mr. Lloyd has been until recently on the editorial staff of the ChicagoTribune, and is now devoting his time to first-hand investigations into labor troubles. This book gives an account of a lock-out in one of the mining districts of Illinois, and is the more forcible and eloquent an arraignment of the "millionaires," as the statements are throughout verifiable. As Mr. Lloyd in effect says, professors of political economy do not come near enough to realities to discover such details as he portrays, and the working-men do not know how to bring them before public opinion. Hence the necessity of a mediator, who shall thoroughly investigate the facts and at the same time give them to the public, not in statistical reports, but in a form that compels its attention. Mr. Lloyd is a practised writer; no one can read this narrative without being profoundly moved, and for the directors and stockholders of the Spring Valley Coal Company (and, besides, of the Chicago and North-Western Railway, an aider and abettor of the nefarious business) the effect must be to set their blood on fire—so far as they are blessed (or unblessed) with any moral sensitiveness. Every thoughtful citizen—whether man or woman—should read this book, and have fully brought home to him or her the problems it suggests. It belongs to the literature both of fact and of power.
TheReligio-Philosophical Journal.
Mr. Lloyd admits that Spring Valley and its miseries and wrongs were, at the beginning, but the conception and achievement of one or two of the leading owners of railroad and other companies who did the planning, secured the approval of the Board of Directors, and the active influence of the railroads through whom, by special freights, the business of competitors was stolen, coal land was bought, and the scheme was invented by which fortunes were to be made from working-men's necessities and the misuse of the powers of the common carrier. But none of the directors, none of the stockholders, who received the profits of the scheme, protested against it; on the contrary, all accepted unprotestingly their "share of the guilt and gilt." Mr. Lloyd gives a mass of facts and figures which prove, on the part of corporations employing men at Spring Valley, an amount of greed and heartlessness which seems incredible in an enlightened country.Mr. Lloyd is a literary artist as well as a man of deep feeling, and he combines felicity of diction with fervor and eloquence of expression, and writes with effectiveness and power. The book should be read by all who are interested in the labor question—the practical issue of the hour.
Mr. Lloyd admits that Spring Valley and its miseries and wrongs were, at the beginning, but the conception and achievement of one or two of the leading owners of railroad and other companies who did the planning, secured the approval of the Board of Directors, and the active influence of the railroads through whom, by special freights, the business of competitors was stolen, coal land was bought, and the scheme was invented by which fortunes were to be made from working-men's necessities and the misuse of the powers of the common carrier. But none of the directors, none of the stockholders, who received the profits of the scheme, protested against it; on the contrary, all accepted unprotestingly their "share of the guilt and gilt." Mr. Lloyd gives a mass of facts and figures which prove, on the part of corporations employing men at Spring Valley, an amount of greed and heartlessness which seems incredible in an enlightened country.
Mr. Lloyd is a literary artist as well as a man of deep feeling, and he combines felicity of diction with fervor and eloquence of expression, and writes with effectiveness and power. The book should be read by all who are interested in the labor question—the practical issue of the hour.
ChicagoTimes.
It is a pitiful story, a heart-breaking story, and Mr. Lloyd tells it with a great deal of force and earnestness.
It is a pitiful story, a heart-breaking story, and Mr. Lloyd tells it with a great deal of force and earnestness.
TheDawn.
Can it be possible in these happier days among men who share the Christian civilization of the very eve of the twentieth century, that there can exist any analogy to this relentless war of savagery, this cruel and cowardly subjugation of a competitor, not in honest, open combat, but by taking advantage of a position to deny him food, shelter, and the very necessaries of life? For an answer, such as would bring indignant emotion to every heart not indurated by avarice of gold, and shame to every cheek not rendered incapable of blushing by hardened selfishness, we refer to the terrible facts, so calmly told with the severity of simple truth by Mr. Lloyd.Starved Rock and Spring Valley are not isolated instances. The malady is constitutional, not local. "The whole head is sick and the whole heart faint," may be said of our modern system of business.
Can it be possible in these happier days among men who share the Christian civilization of the very eve of the twentieth century, that there can exist any analogy to this relentless war of savagery, this cruel and cowardly subjugation of a competitor, not in honest, open combat, but by taking advantage of a position to deny him food, shelter, and the very necessaries of life? For an answer, such as would bring indignant emotion to every heart not indurated by avarice of gold, and shame to every cheek not rendered incapable of blushing by hardened selfishness, we refer to the terrible facts, so calmly told with the severity of simple truth by Mr. Lloyd.
Starved Rock and Spring Valley are not isolated instances. The malady is constitutional, not local. "The whole head is sick and the whole heart faint," may be said of our modern system of business.
TheNationalist.
In this age of strikes it is not always the workers who strike, as is indicated by the title of Mr. Lloyd's book. That brilliant and great-hearted journalist and publicist several months ago, in the shape of an open letter of several columns, printed in the ChicagoHerald, told the story of the criminal and cold-blooded conspiracy of a group of enormously rich men against a body of honest and industrious workingmen. That letter he has made the basis of the present volume, which deserves a wide circulation among patriotic citizens of the United States. The strong and truthful words here uttered ought to ring throughout the land and arouse the people to a realizing sense of the greatest danger that has ever threatened our republic—the danger of its conversion into the worst of despotisms, that of rule by an irresponsible plutocracy.
In this age of strikes it is not always the workers who strike, as is indicated by the title of Mr. Lloyd's book. That brilliant and great-hearted journalist and publicist several months ago, in the shape of an open letter of several columns, printed in the ChicagoHerald, told the story of the criminal and cold-blooded conspiracy of a group of enormously rich men against a body of honest and industrious workingmen. That letter he has made the basis of the present volume, which deserves a wide circulation among patriotic citizens of the United States. The strong and truthful words here uttered ought to ring throughout the land and arouse the people to a realizing sense of the greatest danger that has ever threatened our republic—the danger of its conversion into the worst of despotisms, that of rule by an irresponsible plutocracy.
The BurlingtonHawkeye.
Mr. Lloyd proves every charge he makes, the testimony he brings forward being so presented as to leave no question as to its absolute correctness. In all the dark record of tyranny, cruelty, and brutality made by the coal barons of this country there is not a blacker chapter than that which tells of their crimes against the miners of Spring Valley in the year 1889. This is not the verdict of the "labor crank" alone; the people of Chicago and the whole of northern Illinois, in the press and pulpit and on the platform, have denounced the outrage, and the cooler judgment of to-day, when the lock-out is about worn out and the majority of the old miners are scattered all over the country, is in accord with the denunciation made by Mr. Lloyd.
Mr. Lloyd proves every charge he makes, the testimony he brings forward being so presented as to leave no question as to its absolute correctness. In all the dark record of tyranny, cruelty, and brutality made by the coal barons of this country there is not a blacker chapter than that which tells of their crimes against the miners of Spring Valley in the year 1889. This is not the verdict of the "labor crank" alone; the people of Chicago and the whole of northern Illinois, in the press and pulpit and on the platform, have denounced the outrage, and the cooler judgment of to-day, when the lock-out is about worn out and the majority of the old miners are scattered all over the country, is in accord with the denunciation made by Mr. Lloyd.
TheRock Islander, Rock Island, Ill.
A Strike of Millionaires against Miners, or the Story of Spring Valley.The above is the title of a beautifully printed volume of 264 pages, by Henry D. Lloyd. Its prelude is the story of the starved Indians of Starved Rock, and it proceeds to parallel that by the starvation of labor by the millionaires. The story of Spring Valley is given in detail, with official proof of its truthfulness, and is graphically told by Mr. Lloyd. Its exposure of the oppressors of labor is terrific. It shows who they are; who has done this thing; how the town was boomed; how it was doomed; how the ghost of Starved Rock walks abroad; and how people are bought and enslaved in this boasted free country. It gives Governor Fifer a deserved slap for not going in person to the scene of starvation, and it roasts his military toady of the rich (Adjutant-General Vance) who was sent there by the governor to investigate, and whose report is proven to be a tissue of sneers at the poor, and falsehoods in regard to them and their situation. He quotes freely and approvingly from the report of Judge Gould and Mr. Wines, proving all that was claimed for the suffering there. He shows (page 66) that the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad Company generously acknowledged the necessity for help by hiring a physician for its miners at Braceville, and sending supplies of necessaries for sick women and children to be given out by its agent there. He shows up the campaign of slander against Spring Valley, which was carried on through capitalistic newspapers and corporation tools; says the Spring Valley case is only a preliminary skirmish of capital against labor, and, after showing the first fruits, asks what the last will be. He closes with a chapter giving part of the moral. An appendix is added, showing what the millionaires said of themselves, and the replies by the miners and the press. Everybody should read this most remarkable and ably prepared story of the crime of capital upon labor.
A Strike of Millionaires against Miners, or the Story of Spring Valley.The above is the title of a beautifully printed volume of 264 pages, by Henry D. Lloyd. Its prelude is the story of the starved Indians of Starved Rock, and it proceeds to parallel that by the starvation of labor by the millionaires. The story of Spring Valley is given in detail, with official proof of its truthfulness, and is graphically told by Mr. Lloyd. Its exposure of the oppressors of labor is terrific. It shows who they are; who has done this thing; how the town was boomed; how it was doomed; how the ghost of Starved Rock walks abroad; and how people are bought and enslaved in this boasted free country. It gives Governor Fifer a deserved slap for not going in person to the scene of starvation, and it roasts his military toady of the rich (Adjutant-General Vance) who was sent there by the governor to investigate, and whose report is proven to be a tissue of sneers at the poor, and falsehoods in regard to them and their situation. He quotes freely and approvingly from the report of Judge Gould and Mr. Wines, proving all that was claimed for the suffering there. He shows (page 66) that the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad Company generously acknowledged the necessity for help by hiring a physician for its miners at Braceville, and sending supplies of necessaries for sick women and children to be given out by its agent there. He shows up the campaign of slander against Spring Valley, which was carried on through capitalistic newspapers and corporation tools; says the Spring Valley case is only a preliminary skirmish of capital against labor, and, after showing the first fruits, asks what the last will be. He closes with a chapter giving part of the moral. An appendix is added, showing what the millionaires said of themselves, and the replies by the miners and the press. Everybody should read this most remarkable and ably prepared story of the crime of capital upon labor.
Seed-Time(London), the organ of the New Fellowship.
Perhaps the most striking of all the American object-lessons on the tendencies of capitalism has been given us by Mr. Henry D. Lloyd, of Chicago, who has recently published a book entitled,A Strike of Millionaires against Miners, or the Story of Spring Valley. A more complete exposure of the tyranny and cruelty of capitalism has never before been made. Its great importance for us, however, lies in the fact that all the tyranny and wrong he witnessed and describes are but the natural outcomes of the principles of commercialism when those principles are carried to their logical conclusion, and capitalism has unchecked sway. Such terrible scenes do not occur everywhere, simply because capitalism is held in check by other social forces, and has not everywhere attained that full and unfettered development which discloses the evils which in its more undeveloped stage lie concealed.
Perhaps the most striking of all the American object-lessons on the tendencies of capitalism has been given us by Mr. Henry D. Lloyd, of Chicago, who has recently published a book entitled,A Strike of Millionaires against Miners, or the Story of Spring Valley. A more complete exposure of the tyranny and cruelty of capitalism has never before been made. Its great importance for us, however, lies in the fact that all the tyranny and wrong he witnessed and describes are but the natural outcomes of the principles of commercialism when those principles are carried to their logical conclusion, and capitalism has unchecked sway. Such terrible scenes do not occur everywhere, simply because capitalism is held in check by other social forces, and has not everywhere attained that full and unfettered development which discloses the evils which in its more undeveloped stage lie concealed.
TheTwentieth Century.
It is a mind-agitating and heart-rending tale, and unless I am much mistaken the publication of it will create an epoch in economic thinking and social regeneration. What is the remedy for such crimes as Mr. Lloyd has exposed? The remedy will be found if open-minded persons will read such books as Mr. Lloyd's, and keep themselves informed as to what is being done to reduce a people to servitude. This single book ought to produce such a revulsion of feeling against the monstrous millionaires who perpetrated this awful crime that they would be looked upon by all decent people with abhorrence.If you will read Mr. Lloyd's book I think you will agree with me that if before long, as many persons believe, this county is to be deluged in the blood of revolution, the catastrophe will be brought on by condoning such crimes as that at Spring Valley; it will be brought on because you and I read such stories as this, and, knowing they are true, straightway forget all about them; it will be brought on because editors and preachers, and others who have the public ear, keep silent through negligence or fear of the rich who misrule the land. If people will not think, if they will not care, you may depend upon it that the price of their indifference will be slavery or war.
It is a mind-agitating and heart-rending tale, and unless I am much mistaken the publication of it will create an epoch in economic thinking and social regeneration. What is the remedy for such crimes as Mr. Lloyd has exposed? The remedy will be found if open-minded persons will read such books as Mr. Lloyd's, and keep themselves informed as to what is being done to reduce a people to servitude. This single book ought to produce such a revulsion of feeling against the monstrous millionaires who perpetrated this awful crime that they would be looked upon by all decent people with abhorrence.
If you will read Mr. Lloyd's book I think you will agree with me that if before long, as many persons believe, this county is to be deluged in the blood of revolution, the catastrophe will be brought on by condoning such crimes as that at Spring Valley; it will be brought on because you and I read such stories as this, and, knowing they are true, straightway forget all about them; it will be brought on because editors and preachers, and others who have the public ear, keep silent through negligence or fear of the rich who misrule the land. If people will not think, if they will not care, you may depend upon it that the price of their indifference will be slavery or war.
From a letter to theTwentieth Century.
Your article, and the extracts from Mr. Lloyd's book in your issue of June 12, portraying the outrageous injustice inflicted on the Spring Valley coal miners by the railway and coal-mining barons, was read before our club by Judge Frank T. Reid, of this city, a member of the club, at its regular weekly meeting, Monday, June 23. A resolution was unanimously passed and sent to the General Executive Board of the Nationalist clubs at Boston, requesting it to get up a memorial to the Government Bureau of Labor, petitioning that body to institute a special inquiry into the outrages; that this be done with a view of publishing these crimes to the whole country, under the proper authority, and also with the view of memorializing Congress for the government to work either all or part of the coal-mining industry on the same principle that it works the postal service, the government printing-office at Washington, and other industries, as the present method of running the coal mines by corporations has resulted, and will continue to result, in rioting and bloodshed, and imperils the very existence of society. We would suggest that copies of the memorial be sent to all the Nationalist clubs for signatures, and also to the Federated trades, Knights of Labor, and other organized bodies and to individuals. Might we also suggest that you kindly communicate with the Executive Board of Boston, and with our worthy and earnest brothers, Messrs. Bellamy, Bliss, and others?Yours fraternally,J.L. Johnson,Secretary Nationalist Club.
Your article, and the extracts from Mr. Lloyd's book in your issue of June 12, portraying the outrageous injustice inflicted on the Spring Valley coal miners by the railway and coal-mining barons, was read before our club by Judge Frank T. Reid, of this city, a member of the club, at its regular weekly meeting, Monday, June 23. A resolution was unanimously passed and sent to the General Executive Board of the Nationalist clubs at Boston, requesting it to get up a memorial to the Government Bureau of Labor, petitioning that body to institute a special inquiry into the outrages; that this be done with a view of publishing these crimes to the whole country, under the proper authority, and also with the view of memorializing Congress for the government to work either all or part of the coal-mining industry on the same principle that it works the postal service, the government printing-office at Washington, and other industries, as the present method of running the coal mines by corporations has resulted, and will continue to result, in rioting and bloodshed, and imperils the very existence of society. We would suggest that copies of the memorial be sent to all the Nationalist clubs for signatures, and also to the Federated trades, Knights of Labor, and other organized bodies and to individuals. Might we also suggest that you kindly communicate with the Executive Board of Boston, and with our worthy and earnest brothers, Messrs. Bellamy, Bliss, and others?
Yours fraternally,J.L. Johnson,Secretary Nationalist Club.
Tacoma, Wash. #/
Tacoma, Wash. #/
TheOpen Court.
The story of Spring Valley will make every American citizen of healthy morals uncomfortable and ashamed.... A story which must be read, and the lesson of it heeded, or worse things come.
The story of Spring Valley will make every American citizen of healthy morals uncomfortable and ashamed.... A story which must be read, and the lesson of it heeded, or worse things come.
The St. LouisRepublic.
A stirring account of the great mining strike, lock-out, and consequent misery at Spring Valley, Illinois, in 1888-89, the main features of which are still familiar to the reading public. Mr. Lloyd lays the blame where it belongs, and shows how the whole transaction worked to the profit of the plutocrats at the expense of their dupes—the enterprising thousands who believed in the promises made in booming the location. The booming of the town was followed by the dooming, and, as theRepublicand many other papers showed at the time, the action of the mine operators all through was "a cruel abuse of intellectual strength to use it to force weakness and ignorance into such a condition of helplessness." The author gives facts and figures, and his account of the matter is borne out by the news columns of the times. It is a sad story, and its truthfulness is a shameful comment upon the tendencies of our day.
A stirring account of the great mining strike, lock-out, and consequent misery at Spring Valley, Illinois, in 1888-89, the main features of which are still familiar to the reading public. Mr. Lloyd lays the blame where it belongs, and shows how the whole transaction worked to the profit of the plutocrats at the expense of their dupes—the enterprising thousands who believed in the promises made in booming the location. The booming of the town was followed by the dooming, and, as theRepublicand many other papers showed at the time, the action of the mine operators all through was "a cruel abuse of intellectual strength to use it to force weakness and ignorance into such a condition of helplessness." The author gives facts and figures, and his account of the matter is borne out by the news columns of the times. It is a sad story, and its truthfulness is a shameful comment upon the tendencies of our day.
The PittsburgLabor Tribune.
A Strike of Millionaires against Miners, or the Story of Spring Valley, is a handsome edition of the important matter written by Henry D. Lloyd when the notable strike was on at the mines located at Spring Valley, Illinois. Our miner readers especially will read with satisfaction the vim and ability with which Mr. Lloyd handles the literary end of that eventful period, and will be pleased to know that he has issued the matter in consecutive form.
A Strike of Millionaires against Miners, or the Story of Spring Valley, is a handsome edition of the important matter written by Henry D. Lloyd when the notable strike was on at the mines located at Spring Valley, Illinois. Our miner readers especially will read with satisfaction the vim and ability with which Mr. Lloyd handles the literary end of that eventful period, and will be pleased to know that he has issued the matter in consecutive form.
TheDemocrat(London).
Bad as the social and industrial condition of Great Britain is, that of the United States threatens to become as bad or even worse unless the power of landlordism there is subjected to popular control. A striking instance of the rapid growth of monopoly and its ruinous effect on industry, as well as its atrocious tyranny over labor, is recorded in a striking little book by Mr. Henry D. Lloyd, of Chicago, calledA Strike of Millionaires against Miners.
Bad as the social and industrial condition of Great Britain is, that of the United States threatens to become as bad or even worse unless the power of landlordism there is subjected to popular control. A striking instance of the rapid growth of monopoly and its ruinous effect on industry, as well as its atrocious tyranny over labor, is recorded in a striking little book by Mr. Henry D. Lloyd, of Chicago, calledA Strike of Millionaires against Miners.
Rights of Labor(Chicago).
This narrative of the rapacity and greed of our coal barons we most earnestly commend to all our readers as a plain, clear statement of facts, admirably put; it deserves the widest circulation.
This narrative of the rapacity and greed of our coal barons we most earnestly commend to all our readers as a plain, clear statement of facts, admirably put; it deserves the widest circulation.
New YorkHerald.
This is one of the saddest, most enraging stories ever put on paper; of course the corporations protested, as corporations always do in such cases, that they were not to blame, but the awful facts cannot be denied or explained away. TheHeraldexpressed its mind editorially at the time. Now that the whole case is presented, theHerald'sreaders can see how easily a scheming gang of heartless scoundrels can quickly reduce thousands of families to a condition worse than old-fashioned African slavery.
This is one of the saddest, most enraging stories ever put on paper; of course the corporations protested, as corporations always do in such cases, that they were not to blame, but the awful facts cannot be denied or explained away. TheHeraldexpressed its mind editorially at the time. Now that the whole case is presented, theHerald'sreaders can see how easily a scheming gang of heartless scoundrels can quickly reduce thousands of families to a condition worse than old-fashioned African slavery.
Tacoma (Washington)Globe.
Among the many books recently published on the labor question and the relations between the rich and the poor, none has excited a deeper interest thanA Strike of Millionaires against Miners. Before the atrocities perpetrated in Spring Valley by the coal mining company, composed of some of the wealthiest men in the United States, the wrongs inflicted on the peasants in Ireland fade into insignificance. This book should have a wide reading, that all may know whither the nation is drifting.
Among the many books recently published on the labor question and the relations between the rich and the poor, none has excited a deeper interest thanA Strike of Millionaires against Miners. Before the atrocities perpetrated in Spring Valley by the coal mining company, composed of some of the wealthiest men in the United States, the wrongs inflicted on the peasants in Ireland fade into insignificance. This book should have a wide reading, that all may know whither the nation is drifting.
BostonHerald.
The story of the labor disturbances at Spring Valley, Illinois, caused by a shut-down of the mines in 1888, is told by H.D. Lloyd in a thrilling presentation. In perusing the whole history, from the first alluring advertisements of the mining companies to the editorial comments in Chicago papers after the lock-out took place, a dweller in happier laboring regions will hardly believe that so much injustice could have been done in free America.
The story of the labor disturbances at Spring Valley, Illinois, caused by a shut-down of the mines in 1888, is told by H.D. Lloyd in a thrilling presentation. In perusing the whole history, from the first alluring advertisements of the mining companies to the editorial comments in Chicago papers after the lock-out took place, a dweller in happier laboring regions will hardly believe that so much injustice could have been done in free America.
TheWorker(Brisbane, Queensland).
A simple but complete account of a terrible injustice.
A simple but complete account of a terrible injustice.
TheChristian Union.
Six or eight years ago there appeared in theNorth American Reviewan article entitled "The Lords of Industry," by Henry D. Lloyd, which set forth with such power the nature and extent of the combinations to diminish production and increase prices that its author may be said to have initiated the anti-trust agitation of the last few years. Since that time he has gone on in the work thus begun, putting heart and soul into it. TheStrike of Millionaires against Minerscarries perhaps less weight with our intellects than Mr. Lloyd's earlier work, but it appeals so strongly to our hearts that we are carried with him through the volume, and share with him his indignation over the wrongs he describes.
Six or eight years ago there appeared in theNorth American Reviewan article entitled "The Lords of Industry," by Henry D. Lloyd, which set forth with such power the nature and extent of the combinations to diminish production and increase prices that its author may be said to have initiated the anti-trust agitation of the last few years. Since that time he has gone on in the work thus begun, putting heart and soul into it. TheStrike of Millionaires against Minerscarries perhaps less weight with our intellects than Mr. Lloyd's earlier work, but it appeals so strongly to our hearts that we are carried with him through the volume, and share with him his indignation over the wrongs he describes.
Concord, New Hampshire,October 22, 1892.Dear Mr. Lloyd,—I am reading theStudyyou so kindly sent me. I have read most of it, including the "Word to Coal Miners," and what a "study!" What a lesson! What an apocalypse! Through it, "the voice of our brothers' blood cries to us from the ground," literally, and in tones scarcely ever heard before by human or heavenly ear!Would that you could peal out all the seven thunders of Patmos. I wish your work might outsell in numberUncle Tom's Cabin, andRobert Elsmerecombined, till its note filled the earth as the waters the seas. Print the whole of this hasty testimony over my name, if it will be of service to the working man and woman.Faithfully and fraternally yours, for every good thought, word, and work,Parker Pillsbury.
Concord, New Hampshire,October 22, 1892.
Dear Mr. Lloyd,—I am reading theStudyyou so kindly sent me. I have read most of it, including the "Word to Coal Miners," and what a "study!" What a lesson! What an apocalypse! Through it, "the voice of our brothers' blood cries to us from the ground," literally, and in tones scarcely ever heard before by human or heavenly ear!
Would that you could peal out all the seven thunders of Patmos. I wish your work might outsell in numberUncle Tom's Cabin, andRobert Elsmerecombined, till its note filled the earth as the waters the seas. Print the whole of this hasty testimony over my name, if it will be of service to the working man and woman.
Faithfully and fraternally yours, for every good thought, word, and work,
Parker Pillsbury.
A BOOK FOR THE TIMES
THE RAILWAYS AND THE REPUBLIC.
ByJames F. Hudson. 8vo, Cloth, $2 00.
The author studies carefully the evils of the system, inquires into the power of legislation to cure them, and describes the remedies which will preserve the usefulness of the railways, and at the same time protect legitimate investors.—N.Y. Evening Post.
It is seldom the public is given a work at once so timely, so brave, and so able.... Mr. Hudson writes with the most exhaustive knowledge of his subject, and with an unusual ability in setting forth his ideas so that they are easily and clearly understood. There is hardly a more vigorous chapter in modern literature than that in which he discusses the rise and growth of the Standard Company.... The book is everywhere marked by unusual ability, accuracy, and fearlessness, which make it one of the most important contributions of the day to a subject which of necessity engages more and more attention every day. The political principles of the writer are thoroughly sound and practical.—Boston Courier.
The subject is of such vital importance that no man or woman in the country should be ignorant about it.—N.Y. Times.
Mr. Hudson writes in the interests of the people, calmly and without passion, as one who thoroughly understands his subject, and in harmony with many others who have dealt with the same problems.—Critic, N.Y.
Published byHARPER & BROTHERS,New York
For sale by all booksellers, or will be sent by the publishers, postage pre-paid, to any part of the United States, Canada, or Mexico, on receipt of price.
For sale by all booksellers, or will be sent by the publishers, postage pre-paid, to any part of the United States, Canada, or Mexico, on receipt of price.