Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1902-11-10
THE LABOR STRIKE.
CHANGES IN RELATION THERETO
DURING RECENT YEARS.

spect For the Right of Labor to Or
gnnize, and This, In Turn, Has
Made Strikes Less WarIike.
[From address delivered before Chautau-
qua at Bloomington. ILL.,, August, 1907
l can say to you that community
which gives to the grievances of or
ganized labor an unprejudiced consid-
Grafton need fear nothing, besides
sometimes unavoidable Inconvenience,
from a trade union strike. To empha-
size my meaning here let me relate an
incident:
There was a strike of street railway
employees in San Francisco. The pub
lie, knowing that the strikers demands
We're reasonable and just, put up with
temporary inconvenience without grum-
bling. The company brought out the
usual scarecrow and declared that it
could run cars if the city would fur
nish police protection. The mayor, a
trades unionist, recently elected, said
there were no evidences of disorder
upon the part of the strikers and re-
fused to put policemen upon the COM
pany's cars. The union announced that
it would furnish guards for any non
union man whom the company could
induce to take out car. In few in
stances the company did find nonunion
men bold enough to man cars, and the
union put q committee of six men on
each car to ward off toughs and boys
who might be inclined to molest the
"scabs." The union also placed watch
ers about the power house to see that
windows were not broken and other
damage done. Meanwhile the people
walked in that billy city, refusing to
patroniZe the few cars the company
succeeded in operating, and the strik-
ers won a complete victory. In New
Haven, more recently, this experience
was practically duplicated.
So, whatever may have been your
feelings in the past, my timid friend,
we have come to time when it is pos
sible to have labor strike free from
of violence. But you
must help us by refusing to aid the
opposition when a little investigation
convinces you that the toiler is in the
right and entitled to all he asks.
In this spirit, realizing that the union
ist is your fellow citizen, interested
with you in the prosperity Of the COM
munity, we ask you to recognize the
strike as the legitimate weapon of the
trade union, to be used only as last
resort to control the only commodity it
has to sell-its labor. We accept John
Stuart Mills view that a strike is
wrong when it is foolish. The trade
union is always willing to arbitrate
and never fails to abide by the de-
cision rendered. But what is to be
done when the boss tilts his naughty
head up another notch and declares
There is nothing to arbitrator" That
expression must certainly have
sound familiar to you.
But what's the use of striking? La
Dor almost always loses and comes out
at the little end of the horn," l think
hear someone say.
There you are mistaken again, be-
cause you have your information from
a biased and untruthful source and
haven't studied the subject for your
self.
The first strike of which we have
any record in this country was that of
the Palatines, laborers In the tar and
turpentine works of New York state in
1T12, occasioned by violation of the
contract made with the laborers, and
this strike ended in q partial victory
for the strikers.
The imperfect records we have Of
strikes since that time down to the
establishment of the national bureau
of labor statistics show that many of
them were successful in immediate re-
suits, to say nothing of the incalcul-
able benefits flowing from every re-
sistance to injustice that have been
felt through two centuries and that
will continue In influence so long as the
wage system lasts.
Mr.. Carroll d. Wright, United States
labor commissioner, not member of
trade union and not recommended by
organized labor for the commissioner
ship, says that 81 per cent of all the
strikes during the past twenty years
have succeeded, that 13 per cent have
partially succeeded and that only SO
per cent have failed. We accept these
figures, but would like to add that no
strike ever fails absolutely, for its edu-
cational influence upon the workers.
employers and the public contributes
something to the advancement toward
that time when there will be no more
strikes.
Then there are the strikes that never
take place and are therefore not on
the record. These are all-and there
are many of them-victories for the
trade union. This statement tests your
credulity. Let me explain. There are