The tailors' strike of 1910 was marked by bloodshed. A hireling of a firm involved in the struggle--himself a worker--shot a striker. The strike-breaker attempted to justify his murderous action by stating that he killed the striker in self-defense, when he was attacked and beaten while returning from a shop where there was a strike.

Conditions are sad when one worker proceeds to take employment away from his fellow worker, but they are even sadder when, in addition to that, he is armed in order to protect his miserable life against the violent acts of strikers who, by the use of physical force and coercion, endeavor to convince strikebreakers that they should not work at places where there is a strike. Such incidents always end tragically for one party or another; either a strikebreaker wounds or kills a striker or a striker slays a 2strikebreaker. In such cases one worker opposes another--the one has a card and union privileges, the other is not willing to recognize the labor organization, although it exists for his own good. The employer, a capitalist, naturally does not suffer because of his employees' combats. On the contrary, he is exceptionally well satisfied with such occurrences; they give him a pretext to condemn workers as instigators and murderers. Unenlightened workers should be taught by convincing arguments that they should not deprive of employment those who strive for better living conditions for all workers.

Socialist agents who, unfortunately, are of Polish descent, shamelessly dare to assert that only they are true friends of the working class. To hear them talk one would think that they have a patent and a monopoly on friendship and work for the working people--they who hate work of any type and avoid it as if it were some disease. None of these half-wits has ever attempted hard work, has ever had a shovel, a hammer, or even a needle in his hand. They have never even as much as looked into the factory hells or into the subterranean 3passages of mines. Never have they donated money for labor's cause. They do not belong to any labor organization. Despite all this, such socialistic agents pose as friends and defenders of exploited workers. In the opinion of such empty-heads--indigents and racketeers--all nationalists, clergymen, members of the Polish Falcon organization, Republicans, Democrats, Polish businessmen, and even Polish singers and artists are avowed enemies of labor, its worst foes. Only they, the poor, silly socialistic jackasses, are the exclusive friends, saviors, and caretakers of the workingman. What impertinence and shamelessness in these blackguards who boast economic ideals of which they themselves lack the slightest concept.

And who are these self-styled great friends and saviors of workers, who dare to call themselves labor's caretakers and leaders? Ask them what they have accomplished in Europe and here for labor's cause. Where have they ever formed any labor organization or where have they contributed even a cent for its upkeep? Where have they ever brought about an actual victory, where have they exposed themselves physically when a workingman was fighting for his rights?

They expose only....their greediness and throatiness. They collect contributions for workers, but the greater part of these donations is for their propaganda, for their abhorrent, blasphemous, poisonous periodicals advocating use of armed violence and resistance. They themselves give nothing for labor's cause, but they collect donations from nationalists, churchmen, Falcons, and singers--people whom they hate and against whom they cast slanderous and poisonous remarks at every opportunity. The only thing these agents are capable of doing is perhaps to force knives and clubs into the hands of less-enlightened workers and force them against the guns and clubs of the police, or even force them to attack other workers, while they themselves remain in safe locations and look upon the results of their miserable tactics and propaganda.

We admire the true heroes and martyrs of labor's cause, people who expose themselves for the benefit of all members of the working class. But which of these socialistic blackguards, who call themselves friends of the worker, is such a hero and martyr? Which of these has exposed himself physically in defense of the oppressed and exploited? What have they contributed to the 5laboring masses besides empty, vain, and throaty words and abusive terms, cast at other workers who were attempting to correct economic conditions and to better the existence of a worker, but not according to the methods of these socialists?....True, they make collections at every opportunity. But how much of this money have the poor and destitute workers received? Less than ten per cent of what these agents collected. While hunger and misery oppress the poor strikers in Chicago, the gentlemen socialists collect contributions with which to defend themselves... in a legal suit which the postal authorities of this country brought against them for using the mails to distribute their obscenely illustrated periodical. They extorted about six hundred dollars from the poor workers in order to defend in court one socialistic troublemaker, who under the cloak of Labor committed some debauchery, and against whom even the Government is forced to take drastic measures. The "comrades" collected a ransom from the working people in order to defend one half-wit....but how much was contributed to alleviate the misery of suffering workers? Several thousands of dollars were collected here, in Chicago, for the striking tailors and 6their families, but how much of that came from these "comrades"? If they did not "profit" heavily on this business, at least they did not lose even one dollar.

They have also resorted to a well-planned system of selling their socialistic rag, the profit from which was supposed to have been turned over for the relief of strikers. They were not, however, so much concerned about the strikers as about publicizing themselves and their newspaper as the sole friends and defenders of the workingman. The "comrades" attempted to make profit even on this! Nationalists, clergymen, members of the Falcons, businessmen and other middle-class people bought this rag, not because they were desirous of socialistic literature (it was immediately thrown into wastebaskets) but to give their pennies to aid the poor families of strikers. They paid no attention to who collected the offerings. The sincerity of heart and nobleness of emotions of this "Polish bourgeoisie" made them trust the socialistic agents who detested them, to bring assistance to the suffering. For this reason the degenerates who call themselves Polish socialists 7besmirch our generous, nonsocialistic-minded society. According to them, whoever is not a socialist--not a noisy and unruly person--is an enemy of labor! The entire conservative, national, and decent Polish press, composed of fifty daily newspapers, weeklies, and monthlies, is (according to the socialists) nothing more than rags antagonistically inclined toward labor and only their own two miserable sheets, saturated with filth and filled with abusive terms, are defenders and representatives of labor's cause. To them, all nationalists, conservatives, Falcons, businessmen, members of the Polish Military Alliance, and the like, are nothing more than "scoundrels," "unenlightened motley" and "hirelings of capitalism," and they, the Polish socialists, numbering seventy-five people, are the only friends of several million workers. What an idiotic opinion these socialistic "comrades" have of their worth and ability.