The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-02-27

of labor unions, he said the working
 men must combine; the individual
 alone was not industrially free. Col ! lective bargaining is necessary, but to
 make good collective bargain labor must control labor market.
 The speaker next took up several par i ticular points and said the effort of ! labor to secure a minimum was desirable; but with a minimum wage
 as it's condition should not go a mini
 mum amount os work. He next spoke.
 of the effect of organized labor on the 1 efficiency of labor. He said the wages of labor has direct relation to pro-
 ductive power of labor Lower the ef- ficiency of labor and ultimately wages will go down with it. Labor unions were often accused of impairing eff1- ciency of labor and tendency to lessen- ! ing of productive power alleged. On the effect of labor unions in linn
 iting the output. he said the imagining that by limiting amount of labor per formed the work will go round farther and last longer was a failacy. Only
 within very limited areas and short time might that happen. The largest productiveness of labor is for the great
 est benefit Of all.
 He took up the cudgels against the boycott and spoke forcibly on the liber- ty to work of non-union men. He fay ed the Painters union for their opposi- ! ton to the militia. and said although it was not treason under the United States constitution it was constructive treason under the common law. Speaking of the bill before the general assembly which will make the incorpo- ration of trades unions compulsory, he said, it was unnecessary, inexpedient and injudicious, and made a suggestion for a bill which he thought would be more just.
 The speaker had ascertained that the Taff Vale decision which has held labor
 unions responsible for damages for un- lawful infringements of the rights of others would probably hold as good law
 also in Connecticut. and that trades
 unions can be held legally responsible
 both in their collective treasury and individually in civil suits. The speaker then suggested the voluntary adoption
 by organized labor of a proviso that in cases of semi-public corporations, such
 as railroads, gas and water companies, etc., employees must give notice of say fourteen days of an intention to strike, 1 together with some, provision for an of
 ficial enquiry into the facts of the al- leged grievance, not for arbitration
 purposes but for the enlightenment of the public, and to give the public time to get necessaries of life that would be shut off in case of strike.
 He appealed to labor unions so to con- duct their affairs as not to compel those who would be their friends to become their enemies. It is folloy to make nat
 ural allies foes. The larger humanity
 was brotherhood, but to have brother
 hood we must first have brothers who
 do right towards one another. (Ap- plause).
 One of the questions asked was whether the medical association, which was organized in the seventeenth cen- tury for the mutual protection of it's members. could be classed as trade union. ~.
 .Answer-It can. But I will not vouch for the efficiency of all the members
 MT. Kelly said it was therefore ineli- gible to membership in the Trades Council,
 Another question Was:r r4 Members of the bar association that offend against
 the amenities of the profession, doctors who do likewise against the medical as- sociation are called quacks, while trade
 unionists who offend against the union
 were called scabs. Do not the trades
 unionist have the same moral right to ostracise these unfair members of their 1 union?
 Answer: They have; so have ministers the same right to so ostracise heretics; but quacks, scabs and feretics have
 rights, ehiee among these is the right to earn a living.
 Enthusiastic speeches were made in
 answer to Dr. Smyth by MT. Frye and
 MT. Silverman. They received the un-
 qualified approval of their hearers if the occasional bursts of applause were
 any criterion.
 In conclusion a vote of thanks from the Council was extended to Dr. Smyth,