The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1901-06-14

TNf NE ISSUE which has been
drawn between the union uf
Il employees and the union of
employers in the iictdl
trades. inyoIving the necessity Of Il
Asht until one side or the other gets
thoroughly whipped and acknowledges
as much in It's tHrms Of Sturcndcr, is
unfortunate in it's depressing effect
upon general Industry aud in lis l'or-
sonal hardshipS. which fall most
heavily upon those least able to bear
thenl. namely. the woman ana chill
dren of the strikers.
Brt it has been plain for months
that III some form this iss>ic would
haze 10 he drawn and settled for a
generation. The various palliativcS
which have been used TO ease the in
dustrial situation have delayed The
inevitable, but have not changed it's
character Wisely or not, organized
labor and organized capital have do
Neloped antagonislnS which must be
eliminated in a finish conflict. \ state
of war has been entered upon. from
which there is no retreat. Questions
of hours and of wages-in themselves
details readily adjustable where a
friendly spirit prevails are now
secondary to the question whether the
labor unions or the employing unions
shall predonlinate in their life and
death struggle for supremacy; and
while fight means widespread tur-
moil and loss. it is by many deemed
preferable TO incessant fdgeting and
uncertainty. Once this fundamental
question is settled. the other questions
can be adjusted OH their merits.
1t is undcniable that the labor or
Ganizations have suffered more in loss
of public sympathy from the cXcesscs
of tlsr own followers than from all
other causes combined The mobs that
hound the nou-uniou workinGman. pur-
suing him from store tn store, intimi-
dating merchants not tn sell to him
the neCesSarc., of life hurling at him
opprobrious names and every little
while actually taking his life, arc not
put up to this laWcss and I'M -.tmcri-
can procedure by tho wiser leaders of
labor. hut they do it in the name and
for the sake Of uDionism, and this fact
is steadily building up public opill-
ion adverse to lnionism which must he
lcckoned with When the final account
ing comes.
Wisely managed, labor unions are
most useful and Naluah bic institutions.
Take, for example. the Typograp phical
union. 1t not only has done great ser
Vice for its members but has been Of
material benefit to publishers. 1t has
succeeded, however, only by putting,
both feet down hard upon the mis-
chicf-making, dema gosca type If agi-
tator and by introducing into its de-
llberatIons the same kind of intelli-
Sence and practical Judgment that
prevail in The conduct of well managed
commercial enterprises II has grown
beyond the period of liability to the
strike fever ana is for the honest keep
ms of AL its agreements, with arbi
tIation of differences of Interpretation.
Unions on this model will live
The contract breaking. boycott using,
"scah" abusing kind viii expire
through natural law, helped, possibly,
by wearied public. And a sharply
defined. quickly ended fight To "A finish
IN the metal trades, cruel as ii is while
in progress, may be the means of clear
ing the atmosphere for wiser vision
and abler counsel on both sides.
our spreference and counsel have
been hr peace and this would have
h?on possible earlier had prudence
prevailed, But since war is the word,
let it be decisive. American industry
can conquer the world when harmoni-
Gus at, home. 1t will lose all it has
sainedsunless harmony comes through
the wisdom of conciliation or the cruz
chile Of conflict.