214 SCIENCE SKETCHES. 
asleep at his door, insisted on an immediate divi- 
sion of his personal property, — which he was only 
too willing to grant,—and next morning they 
found themselves in jail, charged with robbery 
and murder. 
There was again excitement at-Issoire. The 
workingmen held mass-meetings at the Lion d’Or, 
and passed resolutions of sympathy and defiance. 
The wives and daughters of the members of the 
Common Council sent bouquets and baskets of 
fruit to the prisoners, and the mayor said that he 
loved them as though they were his own sons. 
But the law in France is in higher hands than those 
of the municipality. It is swift and sure. The 
prisoners were taken to the capital city, Clermont,~ 
to be tried. The sympathies of the judge were on 
the side of capital, and he paid little attention to 
the plea of organized labor. ‘If your theory is 
true,” said the judge, “ you have no sort of claim 
on the boots you have demanded from the Presi- 
dent of the Equitable Confidence Society. All 
this labor you talk of is simply the moving of 
things back and forth. How can this confer value? 
The real work is done by the cow; and the herds- 
men on the mountains, who are her heirs and 
assigns, are the only persons who have a natural 
lien on the boots which are made from her hide 
when she is dead. This claim the herdsmen have 
assigned to capital, and to capital, therefore, all 
the boots belong.” 
It is hard to fight against monopolies. The men 
were condemned. The red flag was raised in the 
Golden Lion. A good deal was said, but nothing 
