The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1868-06-13


through ingenious devised systems Of state
and corporate tariffs and taxes.
OUR NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS.
In accordance with our practice we pre-.
sent to our readers q continued synopsis Of
the proceedings Of the National Typograpi-
eel Union, which has lst closed its fifteenth
annual session at Washington, d. G. The
one grand fault to be found with all sue
organisations is the comparatively selfish
and contracted nature Of their deliberations.
While here and there an item of interest to
the general reader may be culled, the pro-
ceedings as q whole attract no attention ex-
eept from Il craft immediately represented.
This we hold TO be a grand error, and trust
that as cur unions increase in numbers, in
telligenee and influence, the evil complained
Of viii be removed.
To be sure there are questions to be dis
cussed, disputes to De settled and grievances
TO be redressed, in the satisfactory arrange
AAOAt VI NAAOA VIC eia0C represented alone
is interested, and consequently large, if
not the major portion Of the time Of the sew
eral conventions viii be thus consumed.
But it is not of this We complain. What We
protest against Is, that matters Of great i'm
portance- questions, in the solution of which
all crafts and caIings are interested, should
be excluded, or at least brushed cut Of sigh,
BY an unmeaning resolution, which is for
gotten till it Is unearthed BY the secretary
at the next annual session. That this has
been the fault of all our labor associations
cannot be denied; thai by so doing they
have pursued blind, suicidal policy, is also
a self-evident fact.
Take, for example, the several questions
Of strikes, arbitration, the apprenticeship
system or cooperation, who 90 qualified to
discuss these matters in a sensible, practical
manner, as the delegates attending our ma
tional unionsl No matter what trade or Sec
ton is represented, with few exceptions, the
same story will be told, tic same causes will
be found to have produced the same ELECTS,
Md the sans remedies to have proved eff
fective.
Ii, for example, system Of arbitration
has been adopted in New Orleans or San
Francisco, the working Of which has proven
beneficial to any particular trade, and the
general spread Of which is calculated to 81.
oercede the cured practice Of striking, to |
What better use can the deliberations of q |
be devoted than in discussing its |
or showing BY what means its
adoption may become universal Z We hold.
lnder these circumstances, it IL the impera-
i've duty of ali such bodies to grapple with
hese questions, as by SO doing public atten-
ion will be aroused, and an interest impart-
d to their proceedings which we Low look
or in vain.
Again, take the question of cooperation.
Ipon which the hope Of the reformer il
'ased. 1t is to be presumed that many Of
hose participating in cur conventions are,
r have been, directly connected with such
Enterprises and the experience Of those
rho have surmounted the dif6cultes upon
Thich others have been wrecked, would
oubHess prove invaluable to many strug-
ling for very existence. The present ap- L
renticeship system, which is little better
ian farce, should also be made question
national legislation. Unrslatable a. the
atement may be, it is nevertheless true, !
lat American mechanics are degenerating I
realty, owing to this fact. We are well .
ware that no uniform, arbitrary standard.
n be adopted for the government Of oil,
1t certain fundamental principles should be !
cognized, which can be observed in any I
anch Of trade, which viii guarantee to the !
mpstent, skilled mechanic, protection alike
ainst the unprincipled enplovsr or the
ulless scab. Ia
To illustrate our position more closely, let q
suppose that the vexed question of strikes 3
d lock-outs was made o specially, for 2
ne at least, in our local organizations. II .
reasonable TO presume that the various o
scussions would develop practicable, ra- b
NAL manner BY which they would be avoid v
, or at least the Odium for their occurrence
ICED where IL rightfully belonged; 6
that when the subject was considered in u
} national conventions, the delegates hay y
! received the benefit .of such discussions, d
uId be prepared to express the deliberate X
formed opinions and the conclusions ar d
edGat BY the several organizations. By p
s means, In all probability, the re- N
'sentatives Of the Labor Congress would n
enabled to reach the root Of the evil and
wide the remedy, instead Of truating 70 u
impulse Of the moment % eeniroI their u
ion. Graphing with such Questions they W