Let me again emphasize the motives which actuate our citizens in this present struggle.

We are not arguing for or against the steel company which employs some 15,000 of our citizens and furnishes the economic life blood of this community through its one-half million dollar weekly pay roll.

We take our stand in defense of two fundamental American liberties-the right of local self-government, and the right of every worker to pursue his occupation peaceably and within the law.

The present strike is entirely an organizing strike. There was no dispute about wages, hours, or working conditions of the employees.

The strike was called by the C. I. O. in spite of the fact that an overwhelming majority of the workers did not want it. And it had as its sole object the forcing of workers to join the C. I. O.

I repeat, we are not against labor. Rather, we will not tolerate interference with the majority of employees of this plant in their legal right to work.

We would not have objected to picketing if the picketing had been done by men from the mills. But as everyone knows, the C. I. O. strength was so slight that there would have been no picketing at all if that had been the rule. What we have objected to is the idea of bringing thousands of men from the coal mines of neighboring counties to picket our steel mills, and keep our men away from work. What possible interest can they have in this community except that of disrupting it? What right have they to come here to create disturbances by their presence?

For it is an undeniable fact that crowds spell trouble. We have been opposed from the start to any large gatherings, of whichever side, just because we all know that only a spark is needed to set trouble in motion. And there is always the possibility that some hot-headed act will provide that spark. We saw it happen a week or so ago. We know perfectly well that it can happen again. We do not intend that it shall, if we can help it, and if the Governor of this Commonwealth will give us the protection to human life to which we are entitled under the Constitution and laws of this State.

Late last night rumor flew swiftly to the effect that a large horde of union coal miners was advancing upon Johnstown again and would invade the city and lay siege to the mills at 5 or 5:30 o'clock in the morning. The report proved true. Daylight had scarcely come when thousands of motor horns signalled the arrival of the first contingent. Before long, an estimated total of 4,000 had arrived, hundreds of them being assigned to man a close-knit picket line. With part of the State police force about to be withdrawn, with martial law being lifted officially at 7 o'clock the same morning, was it any wonder that the citizens of this community were greatly disturbed? And if they were disturbed, the citizens who had nothing directly to do with the steel mills, what of the men who have been pleading for a chance to go back to work in them? They have plenty of courage. That was shown when thousands of them continued to go to work despite picketing. But to have a new invasion come on the heels of the lifting of martial law, to feel that perhaps this new development might lead only to new spilling of blood and the possibility of martial law again being proclaimed, with the mills once more closed. * * * Can you visualize how the workers felt early this morning as they heard the miners' caravan pass their homes on its way into the city?

And yet, ladies and gentlemen-for these men do not turn back easily-morning had scarcely begun before the loyal workers of the mills were on duty in seven of the city's schools, taking signatures to petitions, and other workers were streaming into those schools, so that the additional signatures of those men eager to return to work, asking only that the mills be opened, added more thousands. And tonight we realize-what the workers told us from the start-that really only a few hundred men ever were affected by the C. I. O. agitation. Of the 15,000 men who have jobs in the Cambria mills, fully 12,000 wish to have nothing to do with any union, but want the right granted under the Constitution of the United States the right to have a job and earn a livelihood for their families, without interference, without question, certainly without reference to any group outside the mills or the county, or the State.

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Our whole attitude in this situation well may be expressed through the reported declaration of Governor Davey of Ohio as carried in today's dispatches:

"We cannot waver. Our clear duty is to give every assistance to the local authorities to prevent lawlessness of every description. The rights of all citizens must be protected.

"The people as a whole sustain the Government and make its continuity possible. Government must not abdicate its sovereign powers and responsibility to any who challenge its existence. "The right to work is sacred. The right to strike is equally valid. Those who want to return to their employment shall enjoy the privilege, without being molested. Those who wish to remain on strike certainly are entitled to do so, and to continue any and all lawful practices.

"Law and order are so elemental in their relation to the rights of man and the preservation of organized society, that they rise above every other consideration among a free people. The safeguarding of our liberties, individually and collectively, is a priceless heritage for our children and the millions of future Americans yet unborn."

If those who seemingly seek the destruction of our community should succeed in their efforts, it would be one of the greatest tragedies in the history of our country. For, if this thing can happen in Johnstown, it can happen anywhere.

The world at large knows the tragedies of which Johnstown has been victim: floods which twice rendered our community prostrate and a depression from which we are just beginning to emerge. Notwithstanding these distresses, Johnstown people consistently have shown heroism and a faith in their city that nowhere can be excelled. And this heroism and faith will win through in the situation now inflicted upon us by a strike.

I firmly believe in the manhood and womanhood of Johnstown-that its people who have lived here all their lives and who, through hard work and thrift have acquired homes, will not permit foreign invasion of any kind to rob them of their earnings of a lifetime.

We who love our city and our country will continue to protest and fight against tyranny such as that which brought this Nation into being, and in waging this battle we ask your continued assistance and support in order that the thing so many are coming to dread shall not happen here.

I suppose many of you saw and read the full-page advertisement of protest which the Citizens Committee prepared and published in 40 newspapers in 25 of the large cities east of the Mississippi. You may have wondered what effect this would have, what results would be obtained in responses to the appeal. To tell the truth, we have all been so busy that we have almost lost sight of these responses * * * but they have been tremendous.

More than 1,000 letters of commendation, most of them containing contributions, have been received from nearly every State east of the Mississippi, since the advertisement was published on Thursday.

A thousand or more such messages, many with gifts, hundreds with signed coupons enrolling in the Citizens Committee, have been received, and more coming in every mail.

Seventeen persons signed this telegram from New York: "We, as citizens of the United States, congratulate you on your courageous stand for law and order against tyranny and coercion-the stand made necessary by the failure of public authority to defend our constitutional rights."

From Philadelphia: "It is encouraging to know that we have citizens with courage enough to fight."

From Detroit we have this telegram: "Let me add my protest to the intolerable treatment which has been given Johnstown by the State government."

Boston, Mass.: "Every American should do his best to help you and our cause." Brooklyn, N. Y.: From 21 citizens who "understand what Americanism means.' This is also accompanied by a contribution of considerable size.

New York: "The citizens of your community are now in a plight more terrible than your recent flood disaster. Then their lives and property were endangered by powers over which human elements had little control. Now their lives, liberty, and the right to enjoy happiness are endangered by powers that can and will be controlled when fair-minded, honest Americans are aroused to action."

I submit to you, men and women of Johnstown, and Pennsylvania, do you begin to fathom the depth of feeling that lies in human beings, both oppressed and defenders? We shall not soon forget this response, from people who understand that it is a principle for which we are fighting the right of a man to work.

Martial law was lifted from our city at 7 this morning. Prior to that hour several thousand miners invaded our city-for what purpose? Why and under what authority should this army be sent to a peaceful city?

Ta i pusthle can it be possible that John L. Lewis has gained ascendency in Bie degree that he is free to inflict an army on any people he may select?

Does John L. Lewis now have vested authority greater than that of the Governor?

Is John L. Lewis now actually a dictator for the American people? If he is, should not the Governor and all others vested with civil authority resign? This would remove a great tax burden from our taxpayers.

Of course if this were done it might be that thousands more would be on the dole list, but why not? Is their right to work and receive pay greater than that of our millworkers, who were not only willing to work, but who were so determined to work, that they endured the slurs and abuses of the picket line as they fought their way through the lines until they got through the mill gates?

Those who are unwilling to work have that right, but in doing so they should not inflict their maintenance on those who are working. As a matter of fact, they have chosen the easier life, which is all right if they can get away with it. Ever since the days of Adam, man has been required by his great Creator to work as a punishment for his disobedience. So far as I know, that command has not been rescinded by the one who gave it.

I wish it were otherwise, if it would work out satisfactorily. I have worked hard for 50 years and the honest truth is, I am tired, and were it not for my interest in behalf of our country, humanity, and self-respect, I would strike also. But if I did, I assure you that I would not wantonly molest those who wanted to work, for my intelligence convinces me that I would have to depend on them for my existence.

Finally, the sole object of the Citizens Committee is to assist our civil authorities in their problems of maintaining law and order; then, too, we are intensely interested in the peaceful welfare of every other community throughout our land and in the preservation of our Government itself, and may God assist us in preserving America for Americans.

Good night.

SPEECH BY DR. STANTON, JUNE 27, 1937

My friends, it was almost 1 year ago that the C. I. O. organizers first descended upon Johnstown to work among the men employed in the mills of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation and to try to induce them to sign up with their organization. They have worked here during the past 12 months without opposition from either the citizens of Johnstown or the steel company. They have been free to go to the homes of the steel workers, to address meetings of them and to influence them in any proper manner that they could. You would expect that after almost 12 months of effort, if they had a story worth telling, and an organization that was worth joining, they would have met with at least fair success in getting members. But the fact is that the steel workers, who as a group are not men to be easily led, did not respond with any enthusiam to the efforts of the organizers.

And it was as a result of the failure of these men to get their organization started here by peaceful and pacific means, that they finally resorted to coercion and violence and started calling strikes and endeavoring by every manner which their master strategist John L. Lewis could suggest to them, to force the steel men to affiliate with them.

It was at this point, and only until this point was reached, when violence was resorted to, that the citizens of Johnstown came into the situation, and declared that they were prepared to defend with their collective might and money the right of their fellow citizens, the steel workers, to join the union or stay out; to strike if that was what they wanted or to keep working if that was what they wanted; but at least these men were to be free men to do as they pleased. That was our position when we first organized the Citizens and Steel Workers Committee and that is our position today. And the reason why we are still fighting and intend to keep on fighting for this important point, is that although our mills are now working, and the great majority of our men are back at their jobs, we are still faced with the threat of the men who work in the mines, swooping into our city and trying to disrupt the peace and tranquillity of our city, and to frighten their fellow workmen, the mill workers, away from their jobs. And we hereby serve notice on Mr. Lewis and all of his lieutenants, that as long as they continue to encourage these frequent invasions of our city, we intend to use every facility at our disposal, in our city, State, and country to arouse public indignation and to create public sentiment against them.

There is one thing that people despise everywhere, and that is a poor loser. And if I were John L. Lewis and had taken as sound a licking as he has taken,

during the past 2 weeks in Johnstown, I would acknowledge defeat and try to organize some other industry. There must be a few left that he has not tried to organize. If he cannot get anywhere with the steel workers, why doesn't he start in the pickle makers, or the cheese tasters, or the pretzel benders? But no, his policy apparently is to keep worrying us by assaulting our gates with constant invasions of miners. It accomplishes nothing. It is the last stand of a defeated leader. But regardless of that fact, we as citizens, the mill workers, mothers, and merchants do not intend to surrender our rights to live here without being harassed by these constant threats.

We intend to carry the justice of our cause to the hearts and consciences of the American people until this thing stops. As to the miners themselves, I lived among them for a number of years, I have eaten in their homes, and I admired them immensely. I think that as a group they are just about the finest to he found, and I cannot understand why they permit themselves to be led on these wild raiding expeditions against their fellow laborers, the mill workers. The mil workers and the miners have the same ends in life. They enjoy the same pleasures, eat the same food, and have the same hopes and desires; and I think it is contemptible beyond any words that I could speak that men who have never lived in this region, and whose only interest in Johnstown and vicinity is a very selfish one, should come down into these valleys, and should try to array one class of workers against another. And I do not think that the miners themselves are going to stand for it very long. If I understand their courage and their sense of fair play-as I think I understand them-I predict that in the very near future you are to witness a revolt on the part of the miners themselves against the highhanded and ruthless treatment which they have been receiving from the man who professes to be their friend and leader. I do not think that the miners who have their bills to meet, the mouths of their babies to feed, and their wives to support, and their future to make secure are going to stand much longer for these unrighteous and unwarranted assessments, and the fines they have to pay and the expense and disgrace of these raids against their fellow laborers, the mi workers. Mr. Lewis is going to discover soon, as I believe he is discovering now, that there is a limit to human endurance; that you can fool men for a time, but not forever; and that the miners are not going to stand for being herded like so many cattle, and driven out on a raid. The miners are men of understanding and intelligence. They are loyal to one another, and to all of that great fraternity of American workmen, and because I know those things out of my own experience with them and love of them, I dare to predict that Mr. Lewis is going to find that he is faced with a genuine and determined revolt before many days and weeks have elapsed.

This week the men in Johnstown are going to their work in the mills as they have done for years past, and the merchants are going to their stores, and their children are going to their play. And if the miners decide to come tomorrow, or the next day, or any day-we shall be prepared for anything that may happen: but we shall not allow the normal activity of our business and industrial life to be interfered with. We feel a sense of security in the hands of Mayor Shields and Captain Clark. The citizens and steel workers of Johnstown, and the thousands who have joined with them from Maine to California, are on the march. They are engaged in a crusade for the freedom of the workingman. They believe in the integrity and the majesty of labor. And they intend to keep on saying, 25 they have been saying during recent days, that no man and no organization has a right to possess the soul and the body of the workingman. He is free, and be shall remain free. And no Governor of any State shall take from a man that which God and the laws of our glorious country have guaranteed to him, the right to work. If you believe in the justice of this cause, and if you want to join with us in this crusade, will you send a contribution to George C. Rutledge, treasurer of the Citizens and Steel Workers Committee, Box H, Johnstown. It costs much to tell our story but the cause is a just one and we shall not abandon it. Good night and I thank you for the help I know you will give us.

DR. JOHN H. STANTON [2] DC JUNE 28, 1937

My friends, I feel that the first word which is spoken tonight should be one of sincere appreciation and gratitude for the magnificent way in which our fellow citizens throughout the State of Pennsylvania and indeed throughout the Nation have responded and are still responding to Johnstown's appeal for help in her defense of liberty and justice. It has been a wonderful demonstration of the fact

that the American public is fundamentally sound at heart and that it does not intend to surrender its rights and liberties to any person, party, or power. When justice cannot be gained by appealing to constitutional authority, there is always one last resort, which is the bar of public opinion. And the reason why Johnstown was compelled to carry her case and her plight to the public at large was that when she appealed for justice to that source from which she had most reason to expect it, the Governor of our State, she was given an imposed martial law, which closed our steel mills, took bread and butter away from thousands of the steelworkers and their dependents, and virtually paralyzed the business life of our city.

It may be but a school boy's fancy, but I had always supposed that government is instituted for the protection, security, and benefit of the people. And when organized government is represented by the Governor of the State acts to deprive the people of their security and rights as free citizens of a commonwealth, it ceases to be democratic government and becomes autocracy.

And that is exactly the thing that happened in the case of Johnstown a few days ago. Our workers in the Bethlehem Steel Corporation had demonstrated by an overwhelming majority that they did not wish to affiliate with the Committee for Industrial Organization and it is to their eternal credit that they took this stand in the face of tremendous pressure and opposition. I tell you it takes a good deal of courage to keep going back to your job from day to day when you are insulted and cursed and spat upon and when your life and loved ones are being threatened. But steel men are brave men, and with a sublime determination they stuck to their jobs; and the Committee for Industrial Organization so far as Johnstown was concerned, was licked to a frazzle. And it was then that Mr. Lewis played the last card in his pack to save the situation for the Committee for Industrial Organization here. He threatened like Senacherrib of old to sweep down like a beast on the fold with 40,000 miners to demoralize the steel workers and the entire city and to force the closing of the mills. It was only a bluff. We have since checked with many of the mine unions surrounding Johnstown only to discover that most of them had not even been advised of this miners' march on a helpless city. But we did not know this at the time, and an appeal was sent to the Governor for State troops to protect the city from the possible violence which might result from the presence of this vast army of miners in our city. And mind you, the request was not for martial law, and certainly not for the closing of the mills but only for troops that we had a right to ask for in our emergency. And when we discovered that the Governor contemplated taking this drastic, unwarranted, and unnecessary step we entreated him in every possible way not to do it; but it was futile and we awoke in the morning to find the mills closed and evacuated, and State patrolmen guarding the streets with nothing to guard them against and ready to quell disorder that did not exist, for the miners had not come and were not coming. It was all a farce, but a pretty tragic one so far as Johnstown was concerned. You see, something had happened in Johnstown which was almost without parallel in the history of our country. The noble office of Governor had been used not to uphold the expressed will of the majority but to enforce upon our citizens the will of a small minority by the use of the military forces of the State.

And today Johnstown would be in a desperate situation, with business at a standstill, if it were not for that tremendously potent thing called public opinion or rather I should call it public indignation. For when that started to register in the proper place, the martial law was lifted, the mills were permitted to reopen, and the men went back to work by the thousands; and today the mills are operating at almost the same rate as when the strike was first called. And that is the reason why we say that we are so grateful to the great mass of citizens throughout the country who rallied to our side when our rights as citizens were ruthlessly violated. In a controversy such as this one has been, there is always the danger of a good deal of misunderstanding about issues and facts. I have tried to present to you again the facts in the case as you have heard them before and have read them in the newspapers; but I want to take a few moments to try to clarify for you one or two of the pertinent issues in this case.

In the first place many people will ask, as I know they have been asking already, why should the citizens of an industrial city take the side of the corporation against the union, I have received many letters personally asking me that very question. And our reply is that we do not regard the Committee for Industrial Organization as a true union. A labor union is an organization whose aim is to see that the working men receive a larger share of the good things of this world. That means permanence of employment, higher wages, fewer working hours, and pleasanter