3
VOL.2
, lilXCOLST, NEBRASKA, DECEMBER 22, 1905
so. 37
A. BUSINESS MAN'S
mi
11 aE H
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DEFENSE
OF
UNIONISM
(The following paper was read by Mr. William
lardy of the Hardy Furniture Co., before a
recent meeting of the Candlelight Club in Lin
coln.) The consideration of labor unions really
means the consideration of our present wage
.system, because labor unions are simply an
incident or phase of our present industrial life.
We must recognize that the payment of
wages is a very modern system in the world's
development, and that it is not necessarily a
permanent one. The laborers have been under
three conditions: first, slaves; second, serfs,
and now wage earners. Slavery lasted well
down to the Tenth century and the serfs of
Kussia were freed in 1801, so that we must
keep in mind that our present factory system
and the payment of wages for labor are devel
opments of the last hundred years.
We cannot 'Claim that this system is per
fect, or that agitation and discussion will not
improve it, but we can claim that it is an im
provement over serfdom and slavery. The two
old systems passed away largely because they
were repugnant to the deepest instincts and
highest ideals of the human race ; and also be
. cause any system of bondage is uneconomic
and wasteful. We must notice here that as
slave or serf the laborer had at least a minimum
of food, clothes and shelter until death, while
under our wage system he is not assured even
of this.
As the feudal system disintegrated, industry
passed to the free cities and the trade guilds ,
were organized. Under the guilds master and
workman labored togther generally in the mas- i
ter's house, and every workman looked forward
to a shop of his own. The old time guilds did
in a small way for industry what the labor un
ions are trying to do. now. "They controlled
the trade and no man could work who was not
a member' of that guild. They prevented con
victs of interests, guaranteed the quality of
goods, stimulated the organization and divis
ion of labor, trained skilled workmen, regulated
apprenticeship, gave a moral and educational
impetus to the workman, and were the great
benefit societies of the middle ages, lessening
papperism, promoting thrift and cultivating in
their members the qualities of good workman
ship and active citizenship.' ,
The -guild system differed from the present
in the one vital fact that under the guilds mas
ter and laborer were in the same organization
and their interest!-were considered mutual.
Within the hundred years of the wage and
factory system we have developed a highly
capitalized form of industry where few are
masters and many are workers. The vast ma
jority of workers must always be workers, and
as John Mitchell says: 'The average wage earn
er has made up his mind that he must always
remain a wage earner."
It is folly to hold out to the worker that
thrift and industry and perseverance will place
him in the master's class. It cannot be, only for
the one in a million, and even now many of
the masters are dropping back among the wage
earners as industry is centralized and com
bined. So it is the class who were slaves jn the
time of the Greeks and the Romans who were
serfs in the, middle ages, and who are wage
earners today that we want to benefit by labor
, unions.
With the advent of the wage and factory
system in the Nineteenth century came com
petition, and as Ruskin well says, "Competition
is death ; co-operation is life." In the competi
tion between master and worker, the worker'al
ways is ill treated, underpaid and the vitality of
hi life used up in the fewest possible number
of years. The indentured servants of the Eigh
teenth century were treated worse than ani
mals. "The sick servant was neglected lest the
doctor's charge should exceed the value of his
remaining service ; and one thrifty master in
Maryland required a servant, sick of a mortal
disease, to dig his own grave in advance in or
der to save the other men's time." These were
harsh times. The master class has nothing to
be proud of in the history of the last hundred
years. It is marked by brutality and blood and
an ever-readiness to hold human life cheaper
than money.
I quote from Walker: "The beginning of the
present century found children of five and even
three years of age, in England, working in fac
tories and brick vards ; women working under
ground in mines, harnessed with mules to carts,
drawing heavy loads ; found the hours of labor
whatever the avarice of individual mill own
ers might exact, were it thirteen or fourteen or
fifteen: found no guards about machinery to
protect life and limb; found the air of the
factory fouler than language can describe, even
could human ears bear to hear the story. The
waste of human life in the manufactories to
which the children were consigned was simply
frightful. Day and night the machinery was
kept going ; one gang of children working it by
day and another set by night, while in, times of
pressure the same children were-kept working
day1 and night byi remorseless taskmasters."
I simply quote so much of this record of the
masters to show why organized labor came in
to being, why it favors abolishing child labor,
and demands fair conditions for women's work.
The avarice of the southern mill owners of to
day (who are mostly residents of the north
ern states) has brought a condition of child
labor into the cotton factories that has a paral
lel only in those of England one hundred years
ago. Children as young as six years are work
ing twelve hours a day. Only a few years ago
Alabama repealed a law which limited to GO
hoursa week the work of children under
twelve years of age. Virginia failed to pass a
' law limiting the hours of women and children
' to ten per day. It, is certainly to the credit
of labor unions that from the first they have
been opposed to child labor, and it is largely
due to their efforts that any laws have been
passed restricting the labor of children. The
master class has always been opposed to any
laws raising the age at which children may be
employed, or in bettering the conditions of
their work. From the glass manufacturers of
Indiana, where the blowers helpers are small
children living in veritable slavery, and from
the owners of the cotton mills of the south
where nearly 15 per cent of their total em
ployes are small children, to the rich depart
ment store owners of. Chicago, the master is
always fighting against laws and conditions
that advance the welfare of the wage earner,
his women or his children. Henry White, one
of the strongest and clearest headed of the la
bor leaders in this country, says : "Instead of
solution, I hope for less injustice, more human
ity, for a larger participation by the average
person in the benefits of civilization.
We find our railroads in this country injur
ing one in eleven of their trainmen ever)' year,
and killing one in every 13T. They oppose all
laws that compel them to safeguard the lives
of their employes with modern appliances and
improvements, while on the other hand they
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have passed wherever possible laws limiting
their liability.
We find the master class ever ready to make
the laborer work 14, (! or even IS hours a day,
and fighting with all their power the laws
which reduced the work day to 1 hours and
then to 10 hours just as they are now fighting
the S hour day. This, same condition has mark
ed the fight of the wage earner for better
wages. One of the earliest strikes recorded in
this country was in 180ri, when the sailors of
New York struck for an increase iii wages
from $10 to $14 per month. Like so many of
the later ones this strike was unsuccessful. It
is worth while to note the wages of 100 years
ago, so as to see what the wage earner has
gained since that time. ,
Laborers on the Pennsylvania canal were
paid $ a year and lodged and fed in the
poorest manner. Hod carriers and mortar
mixers on the work at Washington received $70
per year. The hours of labor were from sun
rise to sunset and in New York wages averaged
40 cents per day. According to-McMaster the
average wage at this time in the United States
was $(55 per year and food and sometimes lodg
ing; but out .of this the w-age earner must
maintain his family. The hundred years of
conflict between master and man has certainly
been of some benefit to the latter, as accord
ing to the accepted authorities today the av
erage wage is $436 per year. ' ',-
So we believe we are fair in saying that the
first 100 years of labor unions have brought
about, first, rise in wages for the wage earner ;
second, shorter hours : third, better conditions
of labor for his women and children, and fourth,
a decrease in child labor. "
There is much question as to the origin of
the labor organizations, but they are generally
considered to be a development of the Nine
teenth century. Beatrice' and Sidney Webb,
the English authorities, claim labor unions as
a product of the capitalization of industry,
which makes the barrier between journeymen
and master practically impassable for the great
majority of workmen.
The first labor unions of which we have posi
tive records in the United States are the Jour
neymen Shipwrights of New York, 180,'3, and
the -Boot and Shoemakers.' Union of Philadel
phia, 180(5. From this time to the present there
has been a remarkably steady growth of labor
F(ino out, ye clear-tonea Christmas bells!
Lacn svnjygi'Qa torque & story Tells
"Of Peace ot L&rfh, to Men GooaWm
From out your deep awl brazen throats
Pe&l forth fly joyous Yuletiae note-s
Till eVry brt shall feel the thrill;
everywhere rr)xrkina &rpl be
fron) envy a.n f rorq striviygi free.
.-'VAT. v "' v
lake cx
vicrory-.
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O'er hill vAleer
Hroci&iro re tytgyc -s, ' ran
Riivj oat the wrqrvjs ' of Hxte da&
Rinn in the Patlerhooi of uo&.
Rmn fin the wAkinci echoes bea.r
glorious, tilings everywhere
Tlvxt witl) tbe Ch,mtrna.s d&wr beg&X)
. yTKe lorsg-sougyt BrotKerbooi of M&iv
fmg out, tvf tells. ,
To crrv love
Tfe worlct &.rocnyi,
Ara tell that RJgbt dow le& z
Wh)ite Migot is crasre beneedlj tfye
Fing out, ye elekr-toneel Ch,ristnyL$
Riivj out until jour, lyjusic swells
Ana nils fl)e exrtl witty joy xx
rvQ our rise envj A.na The wire;
Ring loie until evil wrs shall cea.se
Let CVi$ttt&.s carols rina thrill
Around tre wfjole wide worlci until
i idc cur is. riiiea
Wittj jqytul souna
ThAt carries love '
The world around.
Ftirg , Hog e bells, o'er vMe hM
Wirt) peexce cum joy rie wi)oie wona
WILL M.
V
unions. At first there were a large number
of small unions, loosely organized semi-political,
which dissipated their energies in political
reform questions, and went to pieces. Then
old customs would be abandoned and a larger
and stronger union was the outcome. The In
ternational Typographical Union, founded in
'1830. was one of the first of the national un
ions . The National Labor Union, organized in
18(i(i grew in a few years to a total membership
of 040,0(10, but was drawn into politics and the
question of irredeemable paper money, and
perished. The next strong union was the
Knights of Labor. Starting from a small local
union of seven garment cutters in 18(5!), it grew
to (500,000 members in 188G. It had a highly
centralized form of government, and although
starting as a trade union finally admitted to
membership anyone over 1(5 years of age who
was not a lawyer, banker, professional gambler
or liquor dealer. The official policy was to
discourage' strikes and boycotts, and to de
pend ' upon 'political action, co-operation and
education ' -The Knights of Labor became in
volved in the free silver campaign pf the '90's,
and in several costly strikes lost most of its
.membership and is today hardly more than a
name. ',, '.
Upon th ruins of the Knights of Labor was
built the-American Federation of Labor, an or
ganization having today a membership of near-;
ly 2,000,000. The; Federation is organized up
on almost directly opposite principles from the
Knights of Labor. It believes in the trades
unions and the trades union idea as opposed to
the labor union. That is, each trade shall or
ganize the men in that business and form a
union whose membership shall be based upon
every man being a vorker in that particular,
trade. Then each union as a body is a mem
ber of the-Federation and entitled to send dele
gates to central meetings when questions of
policy are decided. The idea of the labor lead
ers today is to have each union control its
local affairs and keep an independent organ-..'
ization, subject only to general broad principles
of policy, as outlined by the' national organ
ization. ; - . , r
Judging by the past history of labor unions
the successful unions of the future must beware
of partisan politics, violence, and socialism. The.
strongest unions everywhere . today are the
ones which have carried the insurance idea
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peace;
the farthest. The strongest of the English
unions pay weekly benefits of from $1.00 to
$:.00 to the unemployed, sick, and those dis
abled by accident. They pay an old age bene
fit for life, and on the death of a member a
certain sum for funeral expenses. It is easy
to see that these features have a very great in
fluence in holding the men together. The
English workman pays about $8.50 a year to
his union. This is more than an American
workman pays, because the insurance feature
is not so fully developed in this country. There
are a good many unions in the United States
paying benefits of one kind or another and it
is only a question of time when, insurance will
be common. America must provide ,for its
working people in sickness and old age" either
through its labor. unions or through som,vgys
tem of state insurance. Under the guidance of
Bismarck, Germany began compulsory 'insur
ance against sickness, accident, invalidity and.
old age for nearly all classes of workmen earn-,
ing less tljan $500 per year. Austria, Denmark,
Belgium, France and Italy have folloiived the
lead of Germany and all have sonie fotm of in-
ihr
f 1. -wr
1
surance for their workpeople against sickness
and old age. In all these 'countries there have
been "some insurance benefits obtained by fraud,
but 'as one writer well says, the question now
is, not as to whether insurance is desirable, but
how to safeguard it and protect it from fraud.
l The labor unions stand upon well " defined
principles, and should- be judged by these prin
ciples, as to their .soundness and benefit to the
community. There has been much lawlessness
much violejLnd many mistakes on the part
of organized laboJijtthese are more than bal
anced by the greedaviieand heartlessness
of thd master class. LabortThiQns must stand
or fall by? the conditions they are striving to
bring about, and the principles and ideals tr
are upholding., Some of the most important of
these are : r irst; Collective ; bargaining for
the sale of labor, as opposed to the individual
contract.; The unions believe that the individ-' .-.
ual in bargaining for the sale of his labor must ...
always accept what the employer will pay, as
the worker must have work or starve, but the .
employer can always get other workman. The
history of labor clearly shows that the unre
stricted employer always tries to get labor at
a less and less wage, and even imports foreign
ers, with their lower standard of living. To .
make collective bargaining successful,- all work
men must be in the union of their trade. -This
has led to the much discussed question of to- .
day, "the open or closed shop.' Labor unions
as a class stand for the closed shop, using this
as a means to get all workmen into the unions.
Union men have been freely criticised for their
refusal to work with non-uniort men. It seems,'
however, that the very life -or death of labor s
unions hinges on this one question. . If the v
unions are working for thebest interests of
the wage earner, then all wage earners should ;
be members, and help in the( work. v
Second Wages:; The unions have always
demanded better wages and;, better standards ; ;
of living for the workman. Much has already
been accomplished, but there is still much 'to-'--
do. John Mitchell believes that the lowest '
paid worker should receive a, minimum wage
of $13.50 per week. When one -looks closely
into the items that make up. a family "tmdget,
and considers that today we want children in a
school until 1(5 years of age, it seems almost,
impossible for a family -.to-live on this -wage.'
If sickness comes, it .almost immediately -.?
plunges them into the poverty class. : I wish .J
-to- plead fop a -standard of living'lfyr-which. every .
family 'may,, have a home and a grass plot, '
where children may be, raised in pwre air and
sunshine, and have thehappy"school days of T
youth, instead of the pinching poverty, its toil-1 t
ing hours, the joyless existence of such a vast )
number of our slum children of today. ' 5
Third Hours of Labor:. The unions stand?
for an , eight hour day, as they stood a few I
years ago for the reduction of hours from 12 r
to 10. Labor is now intense and without doubt :
the . worker of today produces much more in
his eight' hours than was produced by, tKe
worker of 100' year ago in his fourteen hours.
, ! Fourth Conditions of Labor: The labor
unions believe in healthy, sanitary and:-safe
conditions for all labor. It has been largely
through the demands of organized labor, that .
factory inspection laws have 'been passed. The
unions are opposed to the sweat shop system
ot labor, lhey are working today tor laws
compelling manufacturers to have factories
and to have all goods manufactured there, thus
doing away with the working of .women, chil- .
dren and' men in crowded tenement houses.
The sweat shop system is today one of the
greatest evils 'that the master class has to an
swer for, and labor unions are entitled to great
credit for their fight against this condition.
Fifth- Work of Women and Children : The i
employment of women in our! industries is so
extensive and so much a part of our life, thajt
the labor unions, only in rare cases have op
posed their working. The unions rather stand .
for the amelioration of the hardships of wom
en's work, and for equal pay with men fof -equal
work. They oppose women working in :
the industries which require great physical
strength and endurance, as in mines, iron mills "
and foundries. It was largely through the ef
forts of the labor unions in England and this '
country that the working of women in mines '
was done away with, and we hope the unions .,
and the people who believe in a fuller devel
opment of human life will not relax their ef
forts until child labor - in our factories and
mines is a thing of the past.- Women and chil
dren are employed in - the factories because
they will work cheaper than men, and because
there has been such an insane race between
employers to produce goods cheaply. As near
ly as can be determined the average wage for
women in this country is $5.50 per week, ac
cording to the United States Department of .
Labor. As one writer puts it : "Five dollars a '
week means less than a proper amount of noiu
ishing food, less than a room to' herself, less
than sufficient clothing to protect her from the
wet and cold. It means the sacrifice of most
of the comforts and many of the decencies of
life." There is a growing belief now that a ?
healthy, prosperous and satisfied workman will
do more work even in proportion to his wages
than the workwoman. This is because worn- ?
en with few exceptions, consider their work
temporary; they look, forward to marriage and
a home life. .-. .- , ; ''' - "
Sixth Attitude Towards Machinery : There
has always been a more or less determined op- .
position on .the 'part of labor Unions to labor',
saving machinery, but this is passing away
and today the great mass of unionists have
been convinced that prolonged resistance to "
rnachinery is impjssibje, f jand that the. real .
Continued on -Poge PonrJ
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