Omaha daily bee., 1903-04-26
pREorlrArINe 4 LABOR CONFLICT.

1t is an open secret hat the bankers,
manufacturers and merchants of, Omaha
who are apprehenslve Of labor trouble
during the coming month, have formed
an offensive and defensive alliance with
the managers of the public utility cor
porations for mutual protection. 1t goes
without saying that employers Of labor
have as much right to combine for the
promotion of mutual interests and for
mutual defense as have the mechanics
employed in the building trades, the
tOilers In mill Inc factory and wage
workers Of any grade or occupation.
There Is grave apprehension, however,
among conservative people familiar with
existing industrial conditions, that the
program laid out for the business mems
association is liable to p~recipitate a clash
with the workers identified and affiliated
with the various labor unions. Such a
conflict would prove costly and damag-
ing to the business interests of Omaha
as well as to thousands of bread win
ners who constitute the bone and sinew
Of Omaha's home trade.
A word of caution to the embattled
employers, who are chatting under the
restraint of union rules and regulations,
and the menace of a labor uprising may
not be out of place at this time. First
and foremost they should bear in mind
that it would be futile and ~fool-hardy
for the owners of mills and factories,
building contractors and large mercan-
tile concerns to prescribe conditions for
their employees that would compel them
to choose between the d%isbanding of
their trades unions and vacating their
places.
Trades unions are an outgrowth of the
modern industrial evolution and they
have come to stay in Omaha as they
have in every other commercial center.
The time has long gone by when en-
ployers of labor can with impunlty hire
whom they please. discharge whom
they please and when they please, or
treat their workmen as mere machines
to run at the will of the owner as many
hours as he may require.
"hSh IhC AC" OuSlncSb LuGDh y dSSOCld-
ton plants itself upon the platform that
It proposes to employ union or nonunion
labor without discrimination It promul.
gates a declaration of war against labor
unions which will inevitably be fol-
lowed by a general strike, or rather a
general lockout. One Of the cardinal
principles Of the trades union is that
its members shall not work side by side
with nonunion men and when any en-
ployer serves notice upon members of
the trades unions that they must either
quit his service or violate their obliga.
don to their union. they have no other
! alternative than to walk out or disband
, the union.
The principle laid down by the bust.
ness mems association that ats mem.
bers propose to enforce their rights tc
handle their respective business in such
: lawful manner as they may deem proper
and ~expedient, and employ such help as
: seems best adapted to their purpose
under such contract as is mutually sat
~isfactory to the parties concerned" woult
have met with no objection fifty year.
t age but In the twentieth century Il
comes into collision with the irresistibI,
e forces Of Industrial organization. TIL,
n motto of the trades union is an injury
to is the concern of all and any at
f tempt to substitute nonunion workmeI
h for union workmen is naturally regarded
as an assault on all trades unions ant
a will be resisted by all so long as the,
possess any vitality.
&c The edict of the new business mem
association that it will not tolerate SYN
,e pathetic strikes or the limitation or re
h strictiOn of the output of mills and fac
D. tories cannot be enforced unless th
complete overthrow of the unions is cor
D. templated.
ir If II be true, as has been currently re
lie ported, that the members of the bus
n ness mems association have entered int
re a compact to deprive every union wag,
it worker, who gOes on a strike or walk
>" out OF a shop or store because he car
" not comply with its cast iron rules, froI
to obtaining credit for food, clothing c
even medicine, and that they propose I
he enforce this drastic boycott upon reta
ps merchants, butchers, bakers and dealer
e. in n~ecessaries Of life by blacklistin
u those who dare TO sell on credit to me
,e- engaged in a strike, and preventing the
a from obtaining merchandise from Il
as Jobbers or loans from the bankers, "
rs. may look for a most deplorable state
ch affairs in Omaha in the very ne
of future.
le- Already the methods pursued by Il
sv- dealers in building materials, who ha'
ret bound themselves not to sell to anybOt
ed but contractors, has done an infni
lie. amount Of damage TO the communi
ur- and II persisted In viii eventually pa