The Saint Paul globe., 1899-03-20
Mr.. Nnsh's Views.

Louis Nash was called to Chicago last
night. and before going he addressed the
following to the representatives of organ
lied labor now fighting the boycott bill
in the state senate.
Absence from the city will prevent
my appearing before the committee of
the senate, appointed to hear the protests
against Mr.. ONeilTs CD anti-boycott
bill. I therefore take this opportunity.
OF publicly entering my personal opposi-
ton to it and all such outrageous legisla-
ton.
with such a law in existence 1t will
be useless for the humane men and wom-
en- of this state to protest against the
further development of the sweating
system. or the extension of the convict
labor system in The production of articles
in competition with the product of free
labor.
LAS an old member of the Retail
Clerks union, l desire to call the atten-
ton of the public, who stood by US SO
manfully in our fight for early closing,
by bOycotting all such concerns as re-
fused to close III accordance with our
agreement, that each and every one Of
them would have been amenable to such
q law, had there been one in existence at
that time. To the clerks who did picket
duty during those exciting days. such
law would have meant fine or imprison-
ment. The inhuman employer might i'm
pose all the hardships he desired upon
his employees with impunity, if such d
law were in force, and if the public re-
fused to patroniZe him on that account
they would come within the pale of its
provisions.
English syndicate beer might be ship
ped in here by the carload, and if the
St. Paul brewers should ask our citizens,
by circular or otherwise, not to purchase
il, but to stand by our own Industries,
the brewer who made the request and the
citizen who complied Herewith would be
equally guilty under this ONeiu abor-
ton, which Mr.. ONeill informed me he
had introduced at the instigation of the
lawyer who drafted 1t, in behalf of a
client of his whose business had been
ruined through the instrumentality of a
boycott. l don't approve of such legisla-
tiOn and the legal child that is ashamed
of its parentage should receive no con-
sideratiOn, in my opinion, at the hands OF
honest men.
Il believe that when Mr.. O'Nein re-
allies the true animus that lies behind
his measure, he will be one of the first
to dCnounce it; but coming from a coun-
try. district as he does, he can be ox-
cused for introdr cling a measure r,ar has
no interest for his constituency, who, like
himself are, by their natural surround
ings, debarred from viewing such mat
ters, in the light that they appear TO the
interested parties
I'm my conversation with Mr. O'Neill
he demonstrated his utter lack of econ.
omic wisdom by asserting that we, refer
ring to organized labor, did not care how
little the farmer got for his wheat. sc
long rs We could compel him to pay good
big prices for what he had to buy, and
he considered the farmer should have the
privilege of buying as cheaply as he sold
as though men and women working for
starvation wages could afford to buy the
products of the farmer at any higher
rate than they are now paying.
so long as the farmers demand 5O-cent
overalls and 25-cent jumpers, will they
be selling wheat at 60 cents a bushel. be-
cause the people working to produce such
garments can't afford to pay any more
for bread than they pay today, but, II
all the working people were drawing the
union scale of wages, the standard of llv-
ing would rise correspondingly and the
price of the farmers product would rise
with it, along with the prices of all man.
ufactured goods.
1t Is this lack of understanding on The
part of the country members that ac.
counts for their voting so irrationallv or
measures In which neither they nor thei,
constituents have any direct interest.
THAT the measure received but slieh,
investigation in the house is evidences
by the overwhelming vote by which I,
1t the consideration it deserves, in whict
case 1 have no fear Of it's ever gettins
any farther than 1T is today"