The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1903-10-09

/
A Protest Against Striking Unio
Leaders" Is the title of a paper writ
ten by Hon. Henry T.. Highton, for
merly of San Francisco and now O
Honolulu, u2on the San Franclsc
strikes of 1901. 1t was originally con
tributed to the Overland Monthly,
but had the unusual distinction o
being republished in full in several o
the great dailies and weeklies in Ney
York, Philadelphia and other Ameri
can cities. 1t is as applicable to som
of the present conditions in the Unite,
States as it was two years ago. an,
it is so Just both to employers an,
employees that the Advertiser direct
the attention of it's readers to a brie
synopsis of its contents,
Judge Highton has given mucl
study, both as a lawyer and a citizen
to economic and industrial questions
and has won some great popular vic
tories in the courts. To recapitulat'
the instances in which he has STOOD
up and sometimes taken desperate
chances. in support of popular rights
in no instance assailing the rights Of
capital but maintaining a rigid Ameri
can balance, under the Constitution
and the laws, would be impracticable.
The defeat of the Bulkhead bill, which
proposed to place The entire water
front of San Francisco under the con-
troll of French monopoly, is one in
stance, covering 1859, 1860 and 1861.
The return of a million and half OF
tax money to the City Treasury of Sar
Francisco in 1874, is another. Sandy
Austin, the treasurer, had deposited
this money with a private bank;
Judge Stanley called attention to the
fact, and was denounced by the Cham
ber of Commerce. On this occasion
Mr.. Highton antagonized the Chamber
and great monied influence, as well as
distinguished lawyers.
The collapse of Dennis Kearney
through successful defense when
Judge Hightons client, John Hayes,
threw him off the stage at a public
meeting over which he tried to force
himself as presiding officer, is still
another.
The defeat of the railroads on the
conspiracy charge against Mussel
Slough settlers, when they organized
for mutual protection, is still another.
They We're convicted on the charge of
actual resistance to the U. S. Marshal,
which was the lesser charge. but ac-
quilted on the conspiracy allegation,
which was the railroad point.
The defeat of Huntington's railroad
funding bill was still another.
The support of the sailors of the
country, when Ed. Rosenberg was
somewhat in evidence, was still an
other.
THE LABOR QUESTION.
Mr.. Highton commences his article,
by defining his position thus:
perhaps the views of an ordinary
american citizen upon the present
strikes, a lifelong friend of both labor
and capital, in their legitimate aspects,
and especially of labor, and who is
also unconnected with any body of men
involved in the controversy, may not
be inappropriate"
He then proceeds to summarize the
faults of capitalstic organizations
whenever they use the power of mon
e unjustly to increase hours or lower
wages or in any way tyrannize over
an American community" and adds:
"But the immediate and paramount
question just now Is the right and pow
er Of few labor unions, without any
actual grievance, to derange the busi-
ness and disturb the peace of the
country"
He points out that the great public,
the vast population of the United
States, had been almost entirely dis
regarded and the controversy treated
as though it concerned only the IN
finitesimal minorities nominally con-
cerned, and he proceeds to argue the
question from the standpoint of the
American people, under the constitu-
ton and laws. He emphatically con-
demns the breaking of contracts by
some of the unions, on the ground that
the obligations of their members were
superior to their pledges to their en-
ployers, and especially because the
unions were unincorporated and ire
sponsible and the corporations with
which they had agreed good for the
fulfilment OF all their engagements.
1.-THE binding force of contract and
the right of a man to control his own
business" says Mr.. Highton, ARE fun
damental propositions in Christianity
and in the world" And, calling at
tention to the fact that no one denies
the right of lawful combinations either
to labor or capital, he forcibly con-
trasts the utterances of Pope Leo Kill,
in his encyclical letters, with the vitu-
perations of Father Yorke.
Mr.. Highton proves that the origin
of the San Francisco strikes was the
arrogant determination of a few self
union "leaders' who, un-
der existing rules and regulations, ex-
ercised tyrannical control over thou
sands of unionized wage-earners,
whose practical interests were ignored,
to run the business OF the community.
He cites numerous examples to show
that this determination was expressed
in violent and even brutal language.
and accompanied by criminal acts, suoh
as maltreating non-union teamsters,
removing linch-pins,
cutting traces, impeding stalled teams,
and parading men with ''placarded
collars" in front of stores, which did
not surrender TO the dictation OF the
unions. These methods he character
ICES in very strong terms, as European
and not American, as the attempted
of government by Ignorant
and unprlncipled Cars for American