eagerly. They got more and more excited. When had it started, this habit of seizing workers like puppies and throwing them into prison for no reason whatever?
“Look here, the law says—‘It is forbidden to enter anyone’s house without permission of the occupants, understand—against the will of those living in a house, either after or before sunrise, except in cases where the life, health or property of the population is endangered.’ This law applies to all save gambling dens and brothels. And what are they doing to us? They have attacked us in the middle of the night, when we were sleeping peacefully, and arrested us without giving any reason for it. The police allow themselves all sorts of licence.”
The workers listened attentively to Rinkichi Ogawa. Sometimes they shouted excitedly and stamped their feet.
Rinkichi added:
“It says in our constitution, comrades—‘No Japanese subject can be arrested, imprisoned or punished without lawful reason.’ And how do things really stand? We have never done anything that could be regarded as lawful reason for arrest. We have been thrown into prison without trial and sentence. Our laws and constitution are a network of lies and fraud.”
His words found their mark easily, since the workers themselves felt the injustice of their treatment. At the realization of their helplessness they shuddered, as one shudders when a nerve is laid bare.
