THE CRIPPLE CREEK STRIKE.
r- The greatest grievance that capital ever had against labor has been that labor sometimes commits acts of intimidation and violence in the effort to win a strike. Possibly capital, at different times, has had just grounds for complaints of this nature, and has been entitled to the protection of the State.
The Cripple Creek strike presents a picture of a different nature, and a close inspection discloses that the characters have changed roles. It is labor which is being crushed in the name of "law and order" by the State Government and a number of other powerful factors in direct violation of the fundamental laws of the United States and the State of Colorado. The laws of the state and the land were impudently trampled upon for two years by the men who had sworn to uphold them, in order to exterminate the Miners' Federation.
Within a month after the inauguration of the general strike in the Cripple Creek district. Governor Peabody was requested by the Mine Owners' Association to send the militia into the district.
At this time everything was quiet and peaceful in the gold camp, and far from violence being threatened, the Federation had effected an amicable settlement with James F. Burns, president of the Portland Gold Mining Company, with the result that over 500 men returned to work. Mr. Bums, it should be explained, was not, and is not now a member of the Mine Owners' Association, and has always been friendly to the Western Federation and other labor unions.
It is more than probable that the call for troops was a direct result of the Federation's settlement with Mr. Bums, as the mine owners knew that