. . . When we have 10,000 members we shall have
the sympathy and support of 20,000 other workingmen. This party,"
concluded the pronouncement, "will exhaust all peaceable means of
attaining its ends, but it will not be denied justice, when it
has the power to enforce it. It will encourage no riot or
outrage, but it will not volunteer to repress or put down or
arrest or prosecute the hungry and impatient, who manifest their
hatred of the Chinamen by a crusade against 'John,' or those who
employ him. Let those who raise the storm by their selfishness,
suppress it themselves. If they dare raise the devil, let them
meet him face to face. We will not help them." In advocating
these views, Kearney held meeting after meeting each rhetorically
more violent than the last, until on the 3d of November he was
arrested. This martyrdom in the cause of labor increased his
power, and when he was released he was drawn by his followers in
triumph through the streets on one of his own drays. His language
became more and more extreme. He bludgeoned the "thieving
politicians" and the "bloodsucking capitalists," and he advocated
"judicious hanging" and "discretionary shooting." The City
Council passed an ordinance intended to gag him; the legislature
enacted an extremely harsh riot act; a body of volunteers
patrolled the streets of the city; a committee of safety was
organized. On January 5, 1878, Kearney and a number of associates
were indicted, arrested, and released on bail.
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