﻿Like Old Times 
 
Reading about the atrocities perpetrated by the enemy, upon our fellow workers, one is almost tempted to think that the present fiendish persecution of the I. W. W. is something new in the annals of the slaves’ struggle for liberation. Such is not the case however. In all ages, the champions of the people have been manhandled, sagged at tortured. But I am getting too morbid. Let me recite the experiences of one Stephen S. Foster, at the hands of the natives of his day. (Although Steve is dead we will let him testify for himself—writing in the “Herald of Freedom,” Jan. 15, 1842). “When I dare look on my shattered form I sometimes think prisons will be needed for me but little longer. Within the last 15 months (Our times they have opened their small cells for my reception. Twenty-four times have my countrymen dragged me from their temples of worship, and twice they have thrown me with great violence from the second story of their buildings, careless of consequences. Once in a Baptist meeting house they gave me an evangelical kick in the side, which left me for weeks an invalid. Times out of memory they have broken up my meetings with violence, and hunted me with brickbats and bad eggs. Once, in a mob of two thousand people, have they deliberately attempted to murder me.” 
Doesn’t it sound natural? Is there any difference in procedure today? Not so you can notice it. If they had had automobiles in those days, they would have dragged Stephen S., even as they dragged cripple Frank Little in Butte— yes indeed. It would almost seem that the very same men are alive today, trying to check the onward rush of progress. 
Slavery flourishes today even so as then—under a new name—employment —wages. 
As to slavery, let us take the word of William Lloyd Garrison. He condemned slavery as a crime and demanded unconditional abolition. In 1831 he wrote, “Liberty for each, for all, and forever,” which indicates he was not stuck on bosses. 
But let us permit him to write: “No person will rule over me with my consent”; “I will rule over no man”; “Enslave the liberty of but one human being and the liberties of the world are put in peril”; “When I look at these crowded thousands, and see them trample on their consciences and the rights of their fellowmen at the bidding of a piece of parchment, I say, ‘My curse be on the’ (cut out by Slim)”; “Why, sir, no freedom of speech or inquiry is conceded to me in this land. Am I not vehemently told both in the North and South that I have no right to meddle with the question of slavery? And my right to speak on any other subject, in opposition to public opinion, is equally denied me. I am aware that many object to the severity of my language, but is there not cause for severity?” “I will be harsh as Truth, and as uncompromising as Justice. On this subject, I do not wish to think, or speak, or write with moderation. No! No! Tell a man whose house is on fire to give a moderate alarm; tell him to moderately rescue his wife from the hands of a ravisher; tell the mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen — but urge me not to use moderation in a cause like the present.” 
“I am in earnest—I will not equivocate—I will not excuse— I will not retreat a single inch — I will be heard.” 
Such were the words of William Lloyd Garrison. He was dragged through the streets of Boston, Mans., but they had no automobile to do it with. 
There was a demand for the abolition of slavery, a great demand for freedom, for liberty, for a square deal; and, as a result, the word slavery was amended to read— wages.—( T-Bone Slim). 
Quotations From Negro Slavery or Crime of the Clergy, by Pasquale Russo.