The bee. (Earlington, Ky.) 1889-19??, 1902-02-27
THURSDAY. FEBRUARY rs. 1902.
The Civic Federation.

The Hon. Oscar l.. Strauss, the
second vice chairman of the Ma
tlonal Civic Federation, has an
interesting article in the Febru-
airy number of Casters Maya
zine, giving the origin and scope
of this organization. Represent
ing the public are the names of a
dozen of Americas most honor
able and distinguished citizens.
To a dozen names Of employers of
labor, are added a dozen names
of leaders of organized labor,
making the thirty-six working
members of the National Civic
Federation. Mr.. Straus says:
This conference and the move
ment it organized were the chrystal-
ization of plan which many earn
est and sagacious men have hoped
for and had under consideration for
years. After all the panaceas of the
reformers were calmly reviewed,
there had been growing up general
feeling that there must be some very
simple and direct way by which SEN
sible men could compose their diff
ferences and live together in indus
: trial peace, giving to natural forces a
free chance to work out their bene-
ficient results"
If the efforts of this federation
are to be confined only to "sen-
sible men" It's task is not diff
cult. The history Of the labor
world shows that sensible men do
not have disputes. The sensible
employer always grants, with the
best treatment, just divisions of
profit to labor and capital, and
the sensible employee accepts and
thrives. This same history shows
many sensible employers and en-
ployes, and with these, strikes
are unheard of.
The Industrial Commission re-
ports the total membership of all
labor organizations in the United
States, July 1901, as 1,400, 900.
The census report for 1900 gives
20,879, 900 men over 81 years of
age IN the United States. There
are over 100000 females engaged
in cotton, wooden and other tex
tile establishments, largely mem
bers of unions, who are included
in the number Of members re-
ported by the commission. Hence
not over six per cent. of the
workingmen over twenty-one
years of age in the United States
are members of labor organiza-
tions. Little of this organized
labor endorses, by it's daily life,
the utterance of Archbishop Ire
land, that "The personal free
dom of the individual citizen is
the most sacred and precious in
heritance of Americans"
Not one of the dozen labor
leaders, active in the federation,
by his daily life and practical
teachings endorses this noble ut
terance. On the other hand, or
ganized labor, the representative
Of only SIX per cent. of the labor
in the country, claims the world
as its own.
Pres. George E. Baer, of the
Reading Railway Company, in
his lecture, "WOrk is Worship"
we'll illustrates this when he
says: To-day there is no greater
absolute despotism and tyranny
on earth than the power that for
bids man to work because of
some other mans quarrels. The
nod of a despot causing the ar
rest of any man in his kingdom
represents no more arbitrary
power than the edict which is
sues in the name of labor, where
by workman without a griev-
ance must stand with folded
arms and see his family suffer
for bread, because he is in terror
of the ostracism, il not the per-
sonal violence which follows an
attempt to be a free man"
We have had practical exper-