Connecticut workman., 1901-10-24

l
 1 They compel their operatives to
 work for starving wages, especially in
 mining districts and factories. where
 protests have but a feeble echo,. and
 are easily stihed by intimidation In many places the corporations are l said to have the monopoly of stores of ] supply, where exorbitant prices are charged for the necessaries of life: bllls are contracted, which the work
 men are unable to pay from their scanty wages, ard their forced insoI- vency places them entirely at the mer- l cy of their taskmasters. To such Shylocks may we'll be ap- piled the words of the apostle: Go to TOW, ye rich men: weep and howl for your miseries which shall come upon you you have stored up to
 yourselves wrath against the last days Behold the hire of the labcrers
 which, by fraud, hath been kept back by you, crieth, and the cry of them hath entered into the ears of the God of Sabbath
 In the beginning of the last century
 Mr. Pitt uttered in the House of Com
 mons the following words, which re- veal the far-seeing mind of that great statesman:
 The time will come when manufac- lures will have been so long establish ed, and the opel atives not having any
 other business to fee to, that it will be in the power of any one man in a. town to reduce the wages, and all the other manufacturers must follow. Then, when you are goaded with re duct1oas and willing to flee your coun- try, France and America will receive you with open arms, and then farewell to our commercial state. If ever if
 does arrive to this pitch, Parliament
 (if 1t be not then sitting) ought to be called together, and if it cannot re- dress your grievances, it's power is at an end. Tell me not that Parliament
 cannot; it is onanipotent to protect
 How forcibly this language applies now to our own country, and how earnestly the warning should be heed ed by the constituted authorities
 The supreme law of the land should
 be Vindicated and enforced, and ample protection should be afforded to legiti- mate competing corporations, as we'll as to the laboring classes, against un- scrupulous moncpo1ies
 1t would be also Q humane measure if the Government interposed it's au- thority in forbidding both capitalists and parents to employ children under Q certain age, and at a period of life which ought to be devoted to their physical, intellectual and moral devel- opnnent.
 OBLIGATIONS OF LABOR UNIONS
 But if labor organizations have rights tD be vindicated and grievances to he redressed it is manifest that they have also sacred obligations to be full filled and dangers to guard against
 AS these societies are composed of members very formidable in numbers, valied in character, temperament and nationality. they are, in the nature of things, more unwieldy, more difficult to manage, more liable to disintegra- tlon than corporations of capitalists, and they have need Of leaders possess ed Of great firmness, tact and superior executive ability, who will honestly aim at consulting the welfare of the society they represent, without infring- iEg on the rights of their employers
 They should exercise unceasing vigi- lance !n securing their body from the control of designing dcnag agogues who would make it subservient to their own selfish ends, CT convert it into a. political engine.
 They should also be jealous of the reputation and good name of the rank and file of the society, as we'll as of it's chosen leaders.
 For while the organization is enno- bled and commands the respect of the public by the moral and civic virtues Of it's mem berS, the scandalous and unworthy conduct of even a few of them is apt to bring reproach on the whole body and to excite the distrust Of the community .
 They should therefore be careful to exclude from their ranks that turbu- lent element composed of men who boldly preach the gospel of anarchy, socialism and nihilism; those land pT- Iates who are preying on the industry, commerce and trade of the country " hose mission is to pull down and not to build up; who, instead of up holding the hands of the government that protects them, are bent upon it's destruction, and instead of blessing the mother that opens her arms to vel come them, insult and defy her.
 If such revolutionists had their way. despotism would supplant legitimate authority, license would reign without liberty, and gaunt poverty would stalk throughout the land.
 BOYCOTTING CONDEMNED.
 I am persuaded that the system. of boycotting, by which members of labor unions are instructed rot to patronize certain obnoxious business houses, is not only disappToved of by an i'm parual Publ1c sentiment but that it 1oes not commend itself to the more thoughtful and conservative portion of .he guilds themselves
 Every man is free indeed to select he establishment with which he wish 7s to deal, and in purchasing from 1ne in preference to another he is not violating justice
 But the case is altered when by a. of the society he is debarred rom buying from particular firm.
 Such prohibition assails the liberty ,f the purchaser and the rights of the seller, and is an unwarrantab1e eva sion of the commercial privileges guar lnteed by the government to business concerns