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Show I PL A YING WITH FIRE 1 fcHERE is in the current utterances of MJi. Gompers and other leaders of organized labor that which tends to seriousness of H m Cmind. When men talk about defying1 the law and of arbitrarily "forcing" issues they are playing with fire. Even though the Presi- H , dent may have trafficked and bartered with Mr. Gompers, it remains that neither the president nor Mr. Gompers, nor both to- H gether, can override the Constitution and "run" the people of the United States when once they are aroused. H Once before in our history the champions of a particular interest ventured to defy the Constitution and the laws ; and now there is H that in the declarations of Mr. Gompers and his associates which recalls the former assault. What followed when the slave power un- H dertook to override the law and "run" the country was not a pleasant experience, nor a cheap one, whether the price he reckoned in blood H or in treasure. But the forces which stood for the Constitution and the laws and their enforcement won. Defiance and presumption were M beaten, humbled, humiliated. To this day they and those who have come after them suffer the penalties. We want no repetition of H that experience. We want no rebellion against the sovereign law. We may be patient under criticism, under impertinence, even under H threats. But in the final show-down wei shall not yield to selfish and reckless arrogance. We shall not yield to M!r. Gompers and his H crew, even though they may reckon the president among the powers under their hand. H The people of the United States have no wifh to deal vigorously or inequitably with labor. They arc just in their intentions, sym- H pathetic in their willingness to hear what is am .,o and will in due process of time and method correct what may be wrong. But the coun- H try will not yield under the demand to stand and surrender. Politicians may show the white feather, but the law is still master and the H heart of the country is still the heart of courage. Mr. Gompers and all others impatient and intolerant of the law would do well to heed Hi this fact. It is the rock upon which our system is founded. And it will not at the call of anyobdy be removed from its firm base. San H Francisco Argonaut. m |