SOME PERTINENT FACTS ABOUT THE "OPEN SHOP
While much is being said about the union
shop, it is highly improbable that there
will be any attempt to force the change
on a large scale. As yet the opponents of
the union shop have made all the noise.
But the arguments advanced are so super
ficial, and the alleged statements of facts
so palpably unfair that many unionists do
not think them worthy of reply.
The talk we hear about the "inalien
able right to work" is pure buncombe, as
such a right does not exist, except in the
sense that a book agent has to sell his
wares. It is patent to the most obtuse that
there would be no involuntary idleness
no long, weary tramps from shop to shop
in quest of a job if workingmen had "a
right to work." What the luckless unem
ployed do enjoy is the right to seek employ
ment, which is a far cry from the much
talked of "right to work."
Another form of stating the anti-union
cause is to say the closed shop infringes on
an employer's right to hire whomsoever he
may please. This is one of those half
truths which are more misleading than a
falsehood cut from the whole cloth. No
one, and last of all the sensible trades
unionist, seriously denies the exercise of
this right to an employer; but this conces
sion in no way impairs the right of ten or
a hundred employes to refuse to work with
an obnoxious craftsman. That is what
union men do in some instances; they do
not in reality ask that such a man be dis
charged, but simply refuse to work with
him. Associations of lawyers and physi
cians do the same thiug, saying the objec
tionable one has been guilty of "unprofes
sional couduct" or "violation of the ethical
code," while the unsophisticated workmen,
with commendable frankness, but deplor
able lack of finesse, blurt out that the ob
ject of their hostility "is a scab." The un
derlying cause and the purpose in view are
the same in both instances, but few, if any,
seem to find fault with the professional
associations. The homely admonition that
"it is not so mueh what yon do as the man
ner in which yon da it," seems to apply
here.
Many good reasons are advanced in de
fense of the union policy, but it is not
the purpose to discuss or even outline
them here. There is abundant evidence
that these arguments presented fairly, ap
peal with force to the general public.
A well-known educationalist, who has
made a special study of labor unions, says
he finds it easier to convince people of the
mercantile and professional classes with
whom he conies in contact of the fairness
of the card shop policy than of any other
phase of militant unionism. The writer al
so knows of a club of 20 or 30 men, not
one of whom has a remote connection with
the wage earning class, who, after inves
tigation, think the strict union policy is jus
tifiable, if not a necessity, under existing
conditions. Some of this is due to the feel
ing of revulsion that accompanies the dis
covery that what has been written on the
subject is a riot of misrepresentation. This
also demonstrates that unions will not be
without forceful and friendmaking argu
ments if the matters get beyond the aca
demic stage.
It is stated above that in many in
stances union men refuse to work with
non-unionists. In explanation of this it
.nrast be remembered that, contrary to cur
rent general belief, exclusion of non-unionists
from the workshop is not a cardinal
principle of all unions. The members of
some organizations work with non-unionists,
and though it may be true that many of
these are weak sisters, yet some of the
strongest and most successful unions are in
this category. The determining factor in
shaping the policy of the various unions
will be found to be the economic condi
tions surrounding the various industries.
If an industry is conducted in such a
manner that non-unionists cannot be utilized
to menace the position of the unionists, the
lines are not drawn tightly, and the most
efficient and determined opponents of the
closed shop are among the unionists of
such crafts. On the other hand, if circum
stances are such that the non-members may
be instrumental in endangering wages or
working conditions, their employment is
looked on with disfavor.
Trades unionists are aware that this poli
cy has its weaknesses, the principal one be
ing the impressment into the union of men
who are unconvinced of its efficiency or de
sirability, and who are consequently far
from being a source of strength. There are
also unionists in the printing trade or
ganizations for whom the open shop has
no terrors. They believe any possible tem
porary decrement in membership following
its institution would be more than offset
by the progressiveness resultant from re
lief from the load of dead wood. It is
a surety that unions would have to 4 'spruce
up" and pay more attention to those fea
tures that attract non-unionists. But this
unterrified minority is seldom heard from,
for its dreamy speculations are answered
by the assertion that the open shop in the
printing trade would lead to the adoption
of unfair practices and reduction in wages
by tmscrupulous employers, with the inevi
table climax that fair and generous em
ployers would be compelled to do likewise.
In this way the workers reduce the ques
tion to a dollar-and-eents proposition, and
that is plainly what it is. Notwithstanding
all their grandiose talk about "sacred
rights," it is as plain as noonday that most
of the advocates of open shops think they
see "money in it." Their love of liberty ii
a newly-found emotion, but the pursuit of
the dollar clean or dirty has been the
ruling passion of their lives, and it is too
much to ask us to believe that their
grand passion has naught to do with their
present hysterical sitnation. W. B. Pres
cott, ex-president International Typograhi
cal Union in Inland Printer.
THE WOMAN WORKER.
Miss Mary McDowell Applies a Few Figures
to Her Case.
"Woman," said a big trade union official
last year, "is the white Chinaman of the
industrial world. She wears a coiled-up
cue, and wherever she goes she cheapens
the worth of human labor." An illustration
follows:
Miss Mary McDowell, of the University
of Chicago Settlement, was observing a
girl who was operating an unusually heavy
and intricate machine iu a large hardware
factory in an Ohio city.
"Strong, clever girl," remarked Miss Mc
Dowell, or words to that effect.
"She's doubled the output of that ma
chine," said the superintendent.
"How did she get such a good job?"
asked Miss McDowell.
"Her father," said the superintendent,
"had the machine before she had it. We
jnst thought we'd try her."
"How much," said Miss McDowell, being
Scotch and suspicious, and not completely
satisfied with this proof of the Advance of
Woman; "how much do you pay her com
pared with what you paid her father?"
"Half," said the superintendent.
This girl, therefore, since she was pro
ducing twice as much, and earning half as
much as her father had produced and
earned, was selling her labor at one-quarter
of the riiasculine market price. It doesn't
seem exactly fair from the standpoint of
society.
"It doesn't seem exactly self-respecting
from the standpoint of the girl," said Miss
McDowell, in discussing the question. Miss
McDowell, who is the head worker in the
University of Chieago Settlement and lives
"just back of the yards," will be the orator
at the Labor Day celebration in Lincoln on
Monday, September 6.
"PROTECTING. AMERICAN LABOR."
You doubtless have heard that before.
It's the plea the big manufacturers put
up. They want a protective tariff because
it enables them to employ American labor
at remunerative wages so they say. We
used to believe it, but we've learned better.
They nse the tariff to rob the consumers,
and then they fill their mills with the cheap
est foreign labor they can import. They
lose all interest in the welfare of the worker
just as soon as they get a tariff license to
rob. If you want to know just how much
these tariff-protected manufacturers think
of the American workingman, just ponder
over this:
The American Steel & Wire Company is
a typical tariff-proteeted institution. It is
also a typical union-hating institution. It
is located at Pittsburg, Pa., the heart of the
tariff-protected district. Its great machines
are run by electric power. Posted every
where around the wires carrying the high
tension currents that drive its wheels the
American Steel & Wire Company has posted
danger signs. In English? Not so. Here's
the way they read for there are no
English-speaking men around:
Xiebezpieezne
Xie Dotaykarj-Idzprecz
Niedraj
Opasno-Xepribliznjse
Farligt
Kor Ieke-Akta Dig
Perieoloso
Toeeare-State Lontano
Veszelyes
Hozza-N nyl ni
The Wageworker
Dollar a Year For Union Worker
DO IT NOW
WHEN YOU MOVE.
Moving is not a pleasant task under the
most favorable circumstances. Why not
make it as pleasant as possible The Lin
coln Transfer Co., with their large, roomy,
padded vans, and expert packers and
helpers, make a specialty of moving house
hold goods. Every day is moving day with
them, and they will make it an easy task
for you. Call at their office. 0:18 I street,
and talk with them on moving. Or phone
Bell 176 or Auto 6495, the next time yon
are going to move.
