The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1902-01-25
LABOR MUST Unite
PROFESSIONAL MEN HAVE ORGANl-
CATIONS, WHY NOT LABOR.
They Join Their ORGANIZATION For
the Standing 1t Gives Thcm-ln
Practice the Trade Unions Arc
Identical With Associattons-Cn-
aided by Cooperation Laborer
Would be Reduced to Pitiable
State.

State.
The question is often asked, Why
should workingmen join unions? This
makes it puzzling to workingmen why
it is never asked of doctors, or law
yers, or business men, why they join
unions The physician joins the
medical society, the lawyer the bar as
ISOLATION and the business man the
chamber Of commerce.
These people, says The Tailor, join
the society of their business or profess
sion for the standing it gives them,
for the exchange OF ideas and commu-
nifty of effort along we'll defined lines,
and that the common standard of ex-
cellence is raised thereby and the in
dividual benefited is never questioned.
In practice, the object of trades unions
are Identical with those of the associa-
tons mentioned and many others, and
the inducement for professional or.
business man to Join an organization
of the character indicated is many
times intensified in the case Of the
workingman.
In the keen competition of the bust
ness world expenses Of production must
be kept at the minimum by the en-
ployer who would maintain his posi-
ton. Labor receives no more consid-
GRAFTON than that it is in position to
demand and enforce. This is not the
fault Of the Individual, but Of the sys-
tenn, and many times employers are
forced against their inclinations by
competition to give the screws on labor
one more turn in preference to yielding
the field of trade to less honorable COM
petitors.
Unaided by cooperation of his fel-
lows the individual laborer would be
reduced to pitiable state by the con-
slant encroachment of capital in the
hands of the capitalist. United for a
common object, the workingmen be-
come an effective force; effective In di-
rect ratio to the thoroughness Of their
organization. United, they are in a
position to arbitrate the question of a
just division of the profits of their toll
supplemented and directed by the CAPT.
tai of the employer. One single man,
standing out from his fellows, unaffil-
lated with the union of his craft. sui
lenly accepting it's benefits, or bawling
of his freedom from the tyranny of
trade unions" is breach in the citadel,
and every man but FORCES the chains
to bind himself and his fellows to con-
ditions of serfdom.
That labor unions uniformly secure
better wages, shorter hours of labor,
improved conditions and better treatA
ment for all the men engaged in the
trade or calling within the sphere Of
its influence, needs no demonstration.
to -
enjoy these advantages without will
ingly joining with that union and aid
ing in shaping its policy and assisting
in defraying the necessary expenses of
it's maintenance n the highest condi-
tons Of efficiency. And yet there are
individuals who not only do that very
thing, but abuse the union that helps
to feed them-villify the leaders and
seek favor in the eyes of the employer
by claiming their superior subserviency
to the bosses wishes.
Trade unions make for a higher class
of workmanship. The most skilled ar
tisans of all trades are to be found in
their ranks, and great care is used in
securing new members to the end that
the standard of excellence is not low
cred by the admission of incompetent
men. A union card is an excellent
guarantee of skill. If the unions could
only exercise their powers more fully
than they are allowed to do in nearly
all the trades, the apprentice systems
would be something more than is usu-
ally the case, systems in theory only.
The employer seeks only to produce
goods at low cost. He cares nothing
about the instruction of apprentices.
Trade unions care for their sick and
needy. Hundreds of thousands of dol
lars are poured from their treasures
annually for charity, and of this the
general public never hears a word. It
is done silently, sympathetically and
promptly. They bury the dead and
comfort and aid the widows and Or
phans. There is no proclaiming from
the housetops. They educate their
members on economic lines and without
entering partisan politics teach the
workingmen the true significance Of the
ballot and the fast effective method
for it's use. All social and political re-
forms of Importance spring from and
are disseminated through trade union
agencies.
They are the safety valve for the nat
ural discomfort engendered by the
fierce competitive system. In Euro
pean countries where labor unions are
suppressed and restricted, red anarchy
rears its ugly head. Is