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One Law for the Rich
The recent arrest of the camp delegate of the Lumber Workers at Creighton is a good example of the lawless use of the law by the rich men of the country. A local constable, who no doubt received his appointment from political pull in the neighborhood, was put up to make an arrest of a man who was attending to his lawful business. The local magistrate, party of the same parish-politics machine, lent himself to the illegal scheme, of getting rid of one who was obnoxious to the business man who resented interference with the accustomed methods by which he had been skinning labor. The magistrate and the constable were willing to oblige the good citizen who was building up the country and bringing prosperity into the community.
At the same time that this was happening in one community, in a nearby town there was going on an investigation into the thievery and perjury which had come to be part of the accredited methods of the lumber business. Judge Riddell* is a man of character and unblemished reputation, even when the old standards are applied. It is therefore exceedingly awkward when Judge Riddell is appointed to conduct a probe into the conduct of the lumber business which has been carried on as the ruthless capacity of the business man dictated that it should be carried on.
There is a bunch of farmers in the seats of the government in Ontario. These men are loud in their protestations against thievery and graft. Here is a chance for these professed moralists—and we are not casting any doubt on their honesty, at least not yet to display the faith that is in them.
We call on the Attorney General of Ontario to investigate the case of the arrest of this man Monaldi and if there has been the slightest deviation from the letter of the law in the matter to make instant dismissals of these who men who are reported to have acted irregularly and illegally, by the lawyer from Winnipeg, who took up this man’s case. We are sending a marked copy of this paper to the Attorney General.
Page revised: 6 August 2013
