The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1869-04-24
A WORD WITH SoN.UsIoNIsrs.-.I,

Friends-We desire 10 secure your atten.
tion for n few weeks and we don's want
you for moment to imagine that We are 60
ing 70 insult you, ppbrAid you for the course
you have heretofore pursued. or read you .
lecture long a. the moral law. We are 60
ing to do nothing Of the kind. We desire
70 lee b. -gOnss be by-gones; to taxa you BY
'hS hand /; 70 have kindly familiar chit
chat to reason with yOn, aud il possible to
find the key to Jour heart and show you
the error Of yoar ways. Listen to rs then,
and we will try and do you good.
OF course you leel suspicious about listen
ing to our palaver, or it may be you suspect
the motives which now prompt these ad-
VGnces. We have felt It our duty in
the past 20 speak words Of scherness and
truth, and whils doing 50 it is possible
quite possible, we may lave tread upon your
corns somewhat roughly or used some sx-
pressions which yCu may have taken a. per-
sonal. But never mind the pasl-look to
the future. Weigh he arguments We shall
aim 10 present on their ooa merits, irrespec-
tive VI all likes or dislikes. II we have the
weakest side Of the argument, our columns
shall, at all times, be opeu to your replies
and cart ainly no opponent can ask or expect
more. Discussion Is what we crave. We
do not believe that every anti-trsdes unionist
is a coward, botch or scoundrel. " no
means. Many are double s honss 10 their
opposition many have been compelled
to assume an antagOnistic position by petty
maignity or persecution many sin through
ignorance, rather than design while it is
possible a necessity, which knows no law,
mag have driven others into forbidden paths.
At least, for the sase of argument and the
good Of the cause, we are willing to allow
these pAlliAting circumstances al the lenity
which their representatives can tasirs.
Of course, we expect to encounter q class
Of men upon whom argument and entreaty
viii be alike thrown away. Men whose mo-
lives and instincts are essentially NAL who
glory il their shame, and court the unenvia-
bic notoriety which their misdeeds have
secured. It is not, however, to such repre-
sentatives we desire to address our remarks.
1t is the great mass Of erring, unthinking
men-whose hearts and whose impulses are
right, and who desire to be governed BY that
right, who have been negligent of their duty,
or carried away by the special pleading of
the backslider or the coward, until they
have come to work upon trades unlonlsts and
their advocates as . standiD- menace to
their success in life. This Is ell wrong, and
as il is, in almost every instance, the selfish
interests of employers opposed to these insti
tutions, to encourage, rather thar dispel these
decisions, we propose to meet Them on their
own vantage ground, to show the fallacy Of
" their arguments by facts and statements
which admit Of no denial.
II trades unions areas have been Claimed
by some-the nurseries OF crime; If they
tend to disorganize society, or create an an
tagohism between the rich and the poor, an
honest investigation should be courted by
every law abiding citizen. II these charges
are correct, and can be authenticated, their
failure is merely question of time; and it is
well that it should be so. What we propose,
then, is 40 inyestigs ion into the soundness
Of the arguments advanced BY anti-trades
unionists. If they are correct, we or,
wrong-if we are correct, they are wrong;
and, as our mission is to defend the
right and expose the wrong, we intend to do
what we conceive to be our duty 10 the prem
ises, and leave our readers to form their own
conclusions.