Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About Will Maupin's weekly. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1911-1912 | View Entire Issue (March 3, 1911)
hiE CLOSE D SHOP. places Capital and Labor Upon an Equal Footing. ' VALUE OF ORGANIZATION. .Increases the Wageworkers' Power For Regulating Conditions of Toil The -,. Open Shop Means Dependence, Weakness and Poverty. Is not meant that the unions Khali manage the situation in a few indus tries scattered here and there over the country, as we now have in the build in?,' trades, the printing shops, the foundry shops and a few others. These are but pioneers iu a great movement. And even in such an in complete and fragmentary state of or ganization as labor is at the present, only 10 per cent. I am not able to find a single case in which the fact that labor is completely organized in any particular trade U inimical to Mm in. -terests of the wage earners at work in that particular industry. But even it such a case exists it does not follow that the evils now incident to a union shop would continue under a univer sal poncy. I or it Is highly probable that labor associations, maintaining a closed shop under present conditions, ivrnu iv irauu iv measures wnicn .would be altogether unnecessary ii f - Vl UJj'Vl L, KJL 1 11C whole wage earning class. The prac tice of carrying organization to its log ical completeness is based upon a deep principle. It is the element of unity in ;niodern life. But so long as laboi is divided against itself it must reap the fruits of disunion. Indeed, the wonderful growth and development which labor has achieved tnrougn organization in the last decade nu jluciuj uujiuuit'B wiiicn nave bisected its path have scarcely had their parallel in history. The problems which have presented themselves to such men as (Joinpers and Mitchell uaic nceu numerous anu. intricate. With one hand they have successfully gained concessions from capital. Fre quently, however, they have been fore id to resort to the instruments of wai -the strike and the boycott which at 1mo2 h.OVO hoan nr cwMiirliirl r,n 1 tt Vvtt 1 ' - v-m i'i v-iuuuv vfixiy ujr LUC they have grappled with the problem Of .disunion among their own mem bers; Out of such incongruous condi tions the laboring class is being mold id into a homogeneous unit. jf h common state and those destined to a common fate into a unity of ac tion for the purpose of securing mu tual benefits, is odiously styled the pol Icy , of the "closed shop." But it sim- zations, a union of unions, national, state and local. Certainly every wage earner should be a member of that union which deals directly with his own craft. And out of the different trade unions in any given industry should be formed an industrial union. These would serve as a foundation upon which to build the superstruc ture of a more perfect organization, embracing every trade and labor asso ciation, including all grades of arti sans, skilled and unskilled, and bring ing together labor in whatever form it may be found. . There-are some today who contend to work iu an "open shop" and live under rules and regulations made in the employer's office, where labor is not represented. The same spirit which animated the American colo nists to take up arms against tho Dry ish crown is tTie same spirit' win-Pi Is causing the laboring class to fight foi the control of labor. The "open shop" means that the wage earner must submit to the rul ings of his employer and at the same time meet the fierce competition of oth-r workmen. In short, it means dependence, weakness, poverty. Under such conditions labor is limited to the strike and teoyeott as means or instru ments for defending its just claims. But the union shop eliminates cut throat competition, places capital and lahor upon an equal footing, and to the wageworkers it brings independ ence, strength, prosperity. These are valuable assets to any class. Com plete organization, adds to the poten tiality of the unions, increases their power for regulating conditions of work, gives definiteness and eoneiete riess to their aims and remunerates concerted action with visible and tan gible returns. And not until both cap ital and labor are strong enough to command the respect of the other can Arbitration be substituted for conten tion and negotiation for strife. But with capital strongly organized and labor united under a democratic fed eration the two can then moot upon common grounds and settle I'r dis putes without violence or witnout do ing hurt to either side. The whole argumeut for the union shop clusters about the one question, Who shall control labor shall it be in the hands of the employers or shall the laborers control themselves? Be cause a man Is a laborer he is no less fit to be free. Honest work is no bar to industrial citizenship. Because a man is a wage earner he is no less a patriot. No country can be free which allows its workmen, the men who sup port it, to be oppressed. No class in civilized society can be free in which the principle of absolute individualism Is the basis of action. Every workman is a vital part of the wage earning class, and the good of the whole de mands that he shall act in harmony with his organic relations. W. P. Sta cy in American Federationist, The Writ of Injunction. In the federal courts Judge Taft long ago paved the way and built the foun dation for the abuse and perversion of the injunction writ. He issued this species of injunction while judge, and he defended it during his presidential campaign and in bis inaugural ad dress, in his speeches at Worcester, Mass., and Passaic. N. J., last year and again in his message to the pres ent session of congress. The fact of the matter is that the Moon bill, the enactment of which the president urged, would not remove one wrong or rectify one jot of the injunction abuse and perversion. Its enactment would simply have this one effect it would legalize and give statutory au thority for the issuance of these in junctions. It would put on the statute books in the form of a law what is now simply judicial invasion, court made laws. Samuel. Gompers. To Fight Yellow Labor, The International union with which the unions of cooks, waiters and res taurant employees of the country are affiliated has informed the unions of these crafts in San Francisco that it will aid them financially in the fight to exclude all Asiatics from employ ment in saloons and restaurants in that Pity. . - , Convict Labor In Michigan. In its report to the legislature the Michigan commission on. prison indus tries recommends that the contract la bor system now in vogue in the penal institutions of the state be abolished and will urge adoption of the state ac count system or some other loore sat isfactory one than that under winch the convicts are now employed. IN THE WORLD OF SPORT Zbysco, Who May Be Gotch's Next Opoonent. j j This means that each, college will hold its sports as usual, -but will at the same time play against some other 7 ritish college. At Oxford, too, it has been found that there is a lack of keenness about competitions closed to any one of the. many colleges there. ' WTrestling in this country is receiv ing quite a boom this winter. In fact, more bouts have been held in America this season than has been the case for many years. The magnet has been so great that it has attracted nearly all the foreign mat artists of note. Among those here are Hackenschmidt, the "Russian Lion;" Yusuf Mahmout, Tur key's best wrestler, and Zbysco, the Polish champion. All three are travel ing around the country meeting all comers. Later these men will meet in a round robin tournament, the winner to be given a chance to match with Champion Frank Gotch. Syracuse May Have Crew. "We've got to have a crew this year, and we're going to have one," is what every undergraduate of the University of Sj'racuse is saying. Over $1,000 has been pledged, and most of this came from the engineers, who are always the first on duty when it comes to do ing anything for their alma mater. A short meeting was held after chapel Tuesday, and at this time about $700 was raised. It was later voted to im pose a tax of $3.50 on every man in applied science. When you mention the crew situa tion to the Orange student you touch him nearest his heart. The collegians are behind their teams and crews. The matter has had a great deal of discussion from the alumni, and they are expected to chip in and help clear the debt. The situation was put up to the men of the university in plain terms in a recent mass meeting. There were no delays, one speaker succeed ing another, and the remarks were close to the point. Coach Ten Eyck compared the situ ation to that of Columbia recently, when the Morningside men had to raise $8,000 or give up their crew. "If Columbia can do this," he said, "judging from the indications Syra cuse will have a crew on the river in June." Doc John Cunningham has something up his sleeve. lie said he had his eyes on a prominent Syracuse business man who Avould guarantee to raise half the money if the students would raise the other half, the matter of $3,500. Athletic Cup on "Knockout" Plan. Cambridge University Athletic club of England will provide a challenge cup which is to be. competed fy- by each col lege on the "knockout", plan. Hart to Lead Tigers Again. Edward J. Hart of the Princeton football team has been re-elected cap tain. Hart is a member of the class of 1912, and his home is in Exeter, N. II. He is one of the few Princeton players to be elected captain in their junior year and has the further honor of having been elected to lead the var sity football team two years in succession. Football Aids Coffers. With the exception of college base ball, football is the only branch of . , . i- ....... f . . ti . rr I . tt.. ei'ui l i.iict l imy& iui iiseii. i lit; iiai- vard annual report shows that more than $88,000 was earned by the foot ball squad last season, which more than made up a deficiency in other sports. Rowing cost Harvard about C15,000. Trying to Organize Polo League. New York Athletic club swimmers are trying to effect the organization of an intercity water polo league, to in clude Chicago, New York, Philadel phia, Boston, Pittsburg and possibly St. Louis. The idea is to have play during the winter season. West Wants Rowing Regatta. Minnesota university is nursing a movement to establish a western col lege rowing regatta on the Mississippi. Wisconsin, Minnesota, Washington, Nebraska and possibly Michigan will De mviteu to sena crews. English Fighter to Come Over. Digger Stanley, the English bantam weight champion, is about to come to this country for matches. He is ready to meet any of the boys who will make 11G pounds. X PRINCIPLE OF FREEDOM. One principle upon which the union shop is based is that labor 4 shall control itself. And control means organization. Then how can we escape the logic of the union shop? And even in the ! face of a strong public prejudice against the "closed shop" I am so bold as to maintain that the rights of the laboring man are as real, as genuine and as vital as those of his employer. .His struggles for existence have been fought with hardships, dangers and bitter toil. From these he has not shrunk, but, rather, in the enjoyment and the strenuous exercise of the same he has earned for himself t a place in the history of civiliza- T tion. The principle of the union shop is but the principle of free- dom for the laboring man. It is inevitable. It must come be- cause it is but the legitimate : price to be paid for human lib- 4 erty. W. I. Stacy. i- Unionism In Chicago. According to Mac-Donald's Directory of Labor Organizations Chicago labor unions collect and disburse $5,000,000 to $0,000,000 annually. The wages paid to members of labor unions which have obtained recognition by the em ployers vary from 35 to 70 cents an hour. A uniform eight hour day and a half holiday Saturday have been ob tained in most of the building trades. Seventeen international unions are represented in Chicago. There are 700 labor organizations in all. "...