第76章

“InoneofmylastletterstoyouIenclosedyouacopyofaletterofmine，inwhichIquotedfrom[Soandso’s]advocacyofmurder。

YoumaybeinterestedtoknowthatheandhisbrotherSocialists——

inrealityanarchists——ofthefranklymurderoustypehavebeenviolentlyattackingmyspeechbecauseofmyallusiontothesympathyexpressedformurder。In/TheSocialist/，ofToledo，Ohio，ofApril21st，forinstance，theattack[onme]isbasedspecificallyonthefollowingparagraphofmyspeech，towhichhetakesviolentexception：

“Wecannomoreandnolessaffordtocondoneevilinthemanofcapitalthanevilinthemanofnocapital。Thewealthymanwhoexultsbecausethereisafailureofjusticeintheefforttobringsometrustmagnatetoanaccountforhismisdeedsisasbadas，andnoworsethan，theso-calledlaborleaderwhoclamorouslystrivestoexciteafoulclassfeelingonbehalfofsomeotherlaborleaderwhoisimplicatedinmurder。Oneattitudeisasbadastheother，andnoworse；ineachcasetheaccusedisentitledtoexactjustice；andinneithercaseisthereneedofactionbyotherswhichcanbeconstruedintoanexpressionofsympathyforcrime。

“RememberthatthiscrowdoflaborleadershavedoneallintheirpowertooverawetheexecutiveandthecourtsofIdahoonbehalfofmenaccusedofmurder，andbeyondquestionincitersofmurderinthepast。”

April26，1906。

“/MydearJudge/：

“IwishthepapershadgivenmoreprominencetowhatIsaidastothemurderpartofmyspeech。Butoh，mydearsir，Iutterlyandradicallydisagreewithyouinwhatyousayaboutlargefortunes。

Iwishitwereinmypowertodevisesomeschemetomakeitincreasinglydifficulttoheapthemupbeyondacertainamount。Asthedifficultiesinthewayofsuchaschemeareverygreat，letusatleastpreventtheirbeingbequeathedafterdeathorgivenduringlifetoanyonemaninexcessiveamount。

“Youandothercapitalistfriends，ononeside，shyoffatwhatI

sayagainstthem。Haveyouseenthefranticarticlesagainstmeby[theanarchistsand]theSocialistsofthebomb-throwingpersuasion，ontheotherside，becauseofwhatIsaidinmyspeechinreferencetothosewho，ineffect，advocatemurder？”

OnanotheroccasionIwasvehementlydenouncedincertaincapitalisticpapersbecauseIhadanumberoflaborleaders，includingminersfromButte，lunchwithmeattheWhiteHouse；andthisattheverytimethattheWesternFederationofMinerswasmostferociousinitsdenunciationofmebecauseofwhatitallegedtobemyunfriendlyattitudetowardlabor。TooneofmycriticsIsetforthmyviewsinthefollowingletter：

November26，1903。

“Ihaveyourletterofthe25thinstant，withenclosure。Thesemen，notallofwhomwereminers，bytheway，camehereandwereatlunchwithme，incompanywithMr。CarrollD。Wright，Mr。WayneMacVeagh，andSecretaryCortelyou。Theyareasdecentasetofmenascanbe。TheyallagreedentirelywithmeinmydenunciationofwhathadbeendoneintheCourtd’Alenecountry；anditappearedthatsomeofthemwereontheplatformwithmewhenIdenouncedthistypeofoutragethreeyearsagoinButte。Thereisnotonemanwhowashere，who，Ibelieve，wasinanyway，shapeorformresponsibleforsuchoutrages。Ifindthattheultra-SocialisticmembersoftheunionsinButtedenouncedthesemenforcominghere，inamannerasviolent——andImaysayasirrational——asthedenunciation[bythecapitalisticwriter]inthearticleyousentme。Doubtlessthegentlemanofwhomyouspeakasyourgeneralmanagerisanadmirableman。I，ofcourse，wasnotalludingtohim；butImostemphatically/was/alludingtomenwhowritesucharticlesasthatyousentme。ThesearticlesaretobeparalleledbythesimilararticlesinthePopulistandSocialistpaperswhentwoyearsagoIhadatdinneratonetimePierpontMorgan，andatanothertimeJ。J。Hill，andatanother，Harriman，andatanothertimeSchiff。Furthermore，theycouldbeparalleledbythearticlesinthesametypeofpaperwhichatthetimeoftheMillerincidentinthePrintingOfficewereinaconditionofnervousanxietybecauseImetthelaborleaderstodiscussit。ItwouldhavebeenagreatmisfortuneifIhadnotmetthem；anditwouldhavebeenanevengreatermisfortuneifaftermeetingthemIhadyieldedtotheirprotestsinthematter。

“YousayinyourletterthatyouknowthatIam’onrecord’asopposedtoviolence。Pardonmysayingthatthisseemstomenottherightwaytoputthematter，ifby’record’youmeanutteranceandnotaction。AsidefromwhathappenedwhenIwasGovernorinconnection，forinstancewiththeCrotondamstrikeriots，allyouhavetodoistoturnbacktowhattookplacelastJuneinArizona——andyoucanfindoutaboutitfrom[Mr。X]ofNewYo