The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1902-08-29

A/A/ that DefOre luDOr unions
can attain the best re-
suits for themselves and
for the public interest they will need to
become incorporated. Labor unions seek
to share with capital unions the con-
troll of industry. But capital unions are
responsible at law, while labor unions
are not. Until this discrepancy shall
be bridged, the large employing inter-
ests will continue in many instances to
resist the advances of the labor unions,
especially when they take the form or
demands for term contracts Some
unions are so conservatively managed
that resistance from employers to con-
tract agreements with them has partly
or wholly Disappeared; but the number
of such is small in comparison with
the number of those which have not
yet won recognition and the honest
confidence Of the businesss world.
We notice that George Shiras, jr..
Justice of the United States Supreme
court. is credited with en- opinion to
the same effect. Speaking in Pittsburg
Wednesday to a reporter concerning
the anthracite miners strike, he said:
Arbitration is the logical method OF
settling labor troubles such as this one,
which affects the general prosperity
and comfort of q great section of the
country. The method and enforcement
of this arbitration is a subject for the
lawmakers of the nation; but arbitIa-
ton itself is logical. There is now one
great difficulty standing in the way Of
an arbitration law. Many of the labor
unions are not incorporated. Until they
are no law can be made binding, as no
contract or agreement could be en-
forced upon them, while the operators,
on the other hand, could be held liable.
Incorporation of all labor unions is the
primary step toward the passage of an
arbitration law. The unions must be
responsible for the carrying out of an
agreement, and until they are there Is
little hope for compulsory arbitration
of labor troubles"
It is plainly anomalous that in a civ
ilized country, where courts are open
for the peaceful redress of most of the
grievances of life, no adequate provis-
ion exists under seal Of law for the
protection Of business rights in the
event of wholesale conflict between
capital and labor. A husband and wife
who, by prolonged quarreling, should
disturb the peace and comfort of a
community could, Notwithstanding the
legal safeguards surrounding the right
of domicile, be compelled to appear in
a court of justice to answer for their
beaigerency. But the owners Of large
industry and their employees may dis
agree, fight, and injure not only them
selves but likewise hundreds of thou
sands of neutrals, and there is no ef-
fective form of governmental interven-
ton, though in the latter instance the
need for it is manifestly larger and
more imperative than in the former.
President Roosevelt in his incisive
speeches in New England is calling
public attention TO the growing need of
federal supervisory control over the
great interpretations, commonly called
trusts, which in recent years have
sprung up with enormous power, alike
for good and for evil; and in the gen.
eral view he is interpreted to refer to
combinations OF capitalists for enter
prise or for eXtortion. But nothing
which he says as to the possibilities of
mischief in vast centralizations of capi-
tai is inapplicable likewise to the i'm
mense unions of laboring men recently
come into being; nor can either be
overlooked If the law Is to treat all
citizens and groups of citizens impair
TALLY.
When men combine to found an in
dustry. their incorporation is. or should
be, public and tangible guarantee OF
good faith. 1t commits them, under the
law. Ia. well defined responsibility and
liability III the law surrounding their
Incorporation is not sufficiently exact
to protect public interest and afford
safeguards against public evil doing,
amendment Of the law is always pcs
sible when sufficiently demanded by
public sentiment. But the average labor
union today has legally no such posi-
tion. 1t can neither sue nor be sued
The consequence Is that when it gets
into the control of unfit men, its sub
stantial members are frequently power
less to bring it into a correct attitude
and many employers are afraid to
trust 1t.