Omaha daily bee., 1902-09-18

the only obligation imposed upon wage
workers is to do the work faithfully and
diligently for which they are paid. No
body contends that a mechanic belong
ing to a union has a right to slight his
work or refuse to obey his superiors in
the performance Of the work allotted to
him. But every member of the trades
union is presumed to be a man of honor
as much as the president of a railroad
or a bank. When he enters a labor
union he assumes obligations which he
cannot repudiate with honor at any
sacrifice. When members Of a trades
union are locked out by demands with
which they cannot comply without
breaking away from the union or violat-
ing their solemn pledges, a conflict is
not responsible. This is precisely the
condition of the Union Pacific shopmen
who were discharged by Mr.. Burt be-
cause the rules of their union prevented
them from doing piecework. Mr.. Burt
undoubtedly had a right to issue this
mandate, but in doing so he assumed re-
s~ponsibility for all it's consequences.
To denounce the men discharged by
Mr.. Burt as a lot Of tramps who pre-
fer to loaf and guzzle bad whisky to
honest, well paid toll, is only heaping
insult upon injury. The great ma
joritY of these men had been working
day In and day out in the shops for
many years. Many of them are home
owners and taxpayers, whose SONS and
daughters, educated in our public
schools, occupy positions Of trust in vari-
GUS walks of life. The brutal assault
that resulted in the death of the young
Ia imported from Chicago by the
Union Pacific cannot be charged up to
the Union Pacific strikers, although it
is an incident of the strike. The un-
fortunate man could have found en-
ployment in Chicago, but was lured on
by the tempting offer of high wages
held out to strike breakers by the Union
Pacific recruiting officers. The coro-
ner's inquest has developed the fact
that he came to his death not as a vic
tim of a plot or of an assault by
strikers, but in a fray with men EN-
ployed inside of the Union Pacific shop
grounds.
The comparison made between the
Union Pacific strike and that of the
anthracite coal miners only emphasizes
the necessity of curbing the greed of
organized monopoly. The cruelty, wick.
edness and defiance Of public sentiment
of the anthracite coal mine owners is
These multi-millionaires who have
amassed enormous wealth from the
earnings Of labor refuse to recognize
the advance III the price OF bread, meat
and clothing. They not only refuse
their imported laborers the pittance t.
which they are entitled, but have taker
advantage of their enforced idleness t.
double the price Of coal mined at the
old wages before the strike began
While thousands of families are at tht
point Of starvation these soulless mo
nOpolists are levying tribute upon thu
whole country and filling their Golfers
They refuse to listen to any proposal o,
arbitration, under the pretext that they
will not permit their workingmen t.
run their business. If the conservativ,
business men Of the country want t.
head of socialism and anarchy, the!
should protest vigorously against sucl
outrages and endeavor to find u solu
ton for the grave problems that con
front us. rather than attempt to excus,
and palliate the wrongs inflicted on tn,
industrial ~toilers, who constitute tn,
bone and sinew of the land.