The Tucson citizen., 1902-12-01
Democratic CItu Ticket.
FOLLY or LRBOR AGlTATORS

The city of Schnectady, N. Y, which
is the seat OF Union College, famous
institution of learning, has won consid-
cradle notoriety within few months on
account of the violence of a feud be-
tween employers and laborers. The
dispute began on street railway sys
tenn, and soon spread to nearly all the
Industries of the town.
At the beginning of the contest the
striking laborers were uniformly sue
ceesful and now there is some reason to
believe that their cause has been dam
aged by too much success The leaders
who have been conducting the strike
were evidently carried off their balance
by theirssudden sense of power, and are
now rushing madly down the road that
leads to destruction. AS long as they
confined their quarrels to the parties
with whom it originated, the mass of
their fellow-citizens, though perhaps
discommoded and annoyed, shrugged
their shoulders in the good. nature6
Americansway, and left the whole mat
ter to settle itself with the passage OF
time. But whem q union expelled a
member because he belonged to the
militia, it placed itself in direct antag-
onism to the whole State of New York,
and incidentally to the whole people OF
the United States.
From time immemorial, State govern.
ments have demanded a certain tribute
of service from their citizens, which
might take the form of jury or enlist
ment in the national guard, or in some
communities where the fire department
is still volunteer institution, member
ship in an engine company. If militia
membership is to be regarded as an
avowal of hostility to organized labor,
because the militia are sometimes called
out to dispel mobs when strike is on,
or to protect property from the ravagee
of wnat the orderly and law-abiding
labor unionists themselves denounce as
an irresponsible element, then why
should not a working man be expelled
from union if he becomes a fireman,
lest he might save building possibly
belonging to some tyrant employer on
whom discharged laborer was seeking
hot-headed vengeance? Or why not
pitch one out If he accepts jury service,
and thereby incurs the risk OF joining in
verdict against riotous striker?
1t goes without saying that the best
class of workirgmen. in or out of the
unions, would not stand for the Schnec-
tady idea for minute. Some such
proposal was made at the annual con-
vention of the Typographical union held
at Cincinnati last summer, and was
voted down by an overwhelming major.
ity. All that intelligent union men will
demand-and in this they have the most
intelligent popular sentiment with them
lis that employers and employed shall
be put upon precisely the same footine
in this matter of public service. Ir
other words, if the tyranny.of union ii
to be rebuked as treason when it forbidl
its members to enlist in defense of the
State, in like manner must the tyranny
of an employer be crushed when he dis
charges an employe because of absence
from his post on military, or jury, OF
fire duty. This is sound reasoning, ant
every fair-minded man must 80 recog
nize it.
What would be thought of citizer
who, if the government needed his
house or his land for public use, ant
stood ready to pay him for it whateve
award might be made by regularly
constituted jury. shonld plant himsel
at the entrance of the premises and re
sist by force the threatened trespass 0
the authorities? The exercise of the
States right OF eminent domain is Otter
the occasion of hardship to the individ-
ual property owners affected. but NJ
good citizen ever thinks of questioning
it beyond the preliminaries necessary tt
insure due process of law and proper
compensation. On the same groundl
precisely, the State has a right to de-