The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1900-09-01

III e 0&s sOtl .el ! IS g. b j.
repealed sir 1921, 4 nh
came open org saniza items to Is great ex
tent. The progress of the labor move
ment, though it has met with setbacks
at various times, has been upward In
England since that year.
Labor IN America.
The history Of the trade union move
ment in the United States is similar to
that in England. While the labor stat
utes have not been so severe upon the
unions, it is probable that the decisions
and rulings of the courts have equa'ed
in severity the practices in Great Brit
ain during the period referred to. Up
to within the last decade a majority Of
the people, outside of the workers
themselves, denied that labor had the
right to organize for the purpose of
regulating trade matters. Today the
man who holds to that view is the ex-
ception. This change is due to several
causes, among which are the increased
knowledge acquired by the unionists
and the increasing intimacy of the gen.
eral public with the objects and meth
f:ods of the unions. But probably the
greatest of all causes making for this
change in sentiment is the recent i'm
petus to organization and combination
taken on by the employers of labor
Thinking persons now say, If capital
has the right to organize to protect it's
! interests, why has not labor the same
Fright? Sure enough, why not?
| Labor in the United States has been
Eslowly but surely forging ahead our
ing the century just closing, the great
ker part of it's progress being the work
| of the last dozen years Or so. And
| what I want to impress right here is
| that the advancement has peen almost
| entirely due to the influence of the
trade unions. Congress and the legis-
latures of the states have passed just
and humane laws at the instigation
and under the pressure of the unions,
and while they are not all fully and
honestly enforced, that there is pub:
lie sentiment in their favor is due to
| the educational work inaugurated an6i
| carried forward, frequently in the face
of strong opposition, by the organized
| workingmen.
| Strikes Sometimes Necessary.
1t is true that labor unions strike.
Ah, there's the rub. If the unions
wouldn't strike they would be all
right" have heard more times than
there are seeds in Georgia water~
melon. My answer is. If the unions
don't strike or threaten to strike when
a just demand is refused, they had bet
ter disband. If labor had not struck
] In the past against injustice and in
support of its rights, it would be in a
worse position than it is today. This
Is proved by the fact that the organic
ed workers are better paid and treated
with more consideration than the un-
organized in the same trade. Right
here Is pointer for those who want to
end labor strikes and at the same time
improve the condition of the working
men generally: Let them use their in
fluence to induce every worker to joii,
the union of his trade. With this ac-
complished, strikes will occur very rare
! ly, II at all. Eight years ago Mr.. Car
roll D. Wright of the national labor bu-
lsreau announced to the world that the
fera Of strikes in the United States was
lat an end. puzzled my brain then to
klearns where Mr.. Wright got his tip, but