Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1892-06-30
BENEFITS OF TRADE UNIONS.
Organized Labor, Says George w. Cliids.
Wins Respect and Consideration From
Employers.

pLtEt IL " vi tlNnbL oNlOltOf
Organized Labor, Says George w. Chiids,
Wins Respect and Consideration From
Employers.
San Francisco Examiner.
am a believer in trades unions. II
is my opinion that .hey are of advan-
tage alike to workmen who belong ia
them and to the public at large. All
classes are benefited by them.
Organized labor wins respect, greater
respect and greater consideration than
it could possibly do were it unorganized.
have reached this conclusion after
many years experience, both as an en-
ploye and an employer.
OF all tho unions believe the print
ers' is the most intelligent. The print
ing business is one calculated to en-
tighten probably more than any other.
1t is u trade which keeps one especially
we'll informed and in touch with the
public.
The Oldest union in the United States
Is that Of the Carpenters company in
Philadelphia. IL is over hundred
years old. Their building, Carpenter
Hall, is one in which the early con-
crosses met and is still in good preserya-
ton.
Every year for many years the brick
layers have met ut the beginning of the
season, and on consultation decided
what they could work for each year.
This they always do before the contrac-
tors take their regular contracts. 1t is
In measure the same way with the car
penters there. This the contractors
know exactly how to figure on their
work. OF course il would not be right
for members of those unions to raise
wages after the contracts have been
made. For this reason they act in adj
vance. Ii they think they should have
more than they have previously been
paid they simply notify the contractors
in time, and it can be considered and
acted upon without any Inconvenience
to anybody. This arrangement prevents
needless and often injudicious strikes.
Were IL not for the typographical
union the printers of this country would
Not now be getting what they do for
their work by Mt least one-third
believe i'll equal rights for all classes
and cannot understand why employees
have not as much right to organize as
have their employers.
There is scarcely room for more than
one opinion about labor organizations
on the part of intelligent and impartial
men who have investigated their claims
and thai is favorable to them.
| what human organization is free from
faults2 No organization is entirely
without them.
Labor organizations are not merely
economic organizations in narrow
sense. Well conducted they can, within
certain limits, raise wages or keep wages
from falling. They enable labor Is
make the best of the existing situation
and this can be us clearly proved per.
haps as anything in political economy
Labor organizations are generally active
temperance organizations, many of their
members being total absyainers, if moi
prohibitionists. Furthermore, they arc
educational societies, training their
members in discussion, out of which
proceeds a better understanding of the
questions of the day. They are, finally
social and beneficial organizations, when
the social side Of the nature of theii
members is cultivated, and in the
crowded moderR city this is of special
| importance.
All this makes it plain how a good
deed is done by anyone who helps tc
develop the best features of labor or.
| CARNATIONS.
The following from my friend, Prof
Ely, l heartily indorse:
The experience of Prof. Thorold Roger.
of the University of Oxford is so typica
that it is worth while to quote it here
may say in this place that it is quite sm
lar TO my experience, although presume
do not expect so much from the organiza
ton of labor alone as does Prof. Rogers
These Institutions" says Prof. Rogers
" were repressed with passionate violenc,
| and malignant watchfulness as long as il
was possible to do so.
| When IT was necessary to relax the Sc
verities of the older laws they were still
| prosecuted by legal chicanery, whenever
oppression could on any pretense be justi
| fled.
las they were slowly emancipated They
have constantly been the object Of alarmis
caluninies and sinister predictions. | do
moi, speak OF the language of newspaper.
and reviews. Far graver were the allega
| tons of Senior and Thornton. Even my
| friend, Stuart Mill, treated these forces OF
industrial life with strange indifference
II confess to having at one time vieweC
| them suspiciousy; but u long study of thu
history Of labor has convinced me tina
| they are not only the best friends of work
men, but the best agency for the employer
and the public, and that to the extension
OF these associations political economist.
and statesmen must look for the solution
OF some among the most pressing and tn,
most difficult problems of our times.n
| GEORGE w, CHfLps