The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-10-16
OPEN SHOP
 ISDISCUSSED Meeting of Civic Fed
 eratiOn.
  MITCHELL IN OPPOSITION
Miners President Argues for
 Straight Uni0niSm.
Oscar s. straus Says Labor's Use of the Boycott and the Blud- geon is Sure to React
 Against it.


 question of the open shop by representa- dves of labor and of capital took up the 9reater part of the first session today of the National Civic Federation conference which is endeavoring to establish more amicable relations between employers and employed and to end strife
 Various phases of the matter of free dom of employment which is now asitat- Ing the industrial world were presented by interested persons. The discussion will be continued tomorrow.
 During his talk on "open shops today John Mitchell, President of the United Mine Workers. strongly denounced non- unionists and the strike breaker whom he ukened to a criminal.
 Henry c. Hunter of New York. it was announced, would be among the speakers on the open shop at tomorrows ses- sion, at which Samuel Gompers, Presi- dent of the American Federation of La- bor is expected to preside. Senator Han pa-,it was said. would be in charge of Saturdays meeting. In his speech, oscar s. straus today sand:
 The E-essage of Straus. The value of trade unions in raising the standard of living and in guarding the interests of labor. in regulating the hours and condition of work are bene- its which organization has unquestion- ably promoted. The great hope of our industrial future is that the working classes, whose powers for good and for evil have been so strengthened by organ ization, will be guided by enlightened principles and abstain from seeking prox- innate benefits in contravention of un- doubted experiences and at the cost of Fundamental rights. . s.r.
 ITO the extent they misuse their great power of arbitrarily curtailing the rights of their fellow laborers or their employ CTS, they array themselves against pub lie sefatiment, and from that day their power and their usefulness will, decline. Even if labor organiza tons eomprised the entire number of wage-workers in the country riigs would give them no right to either override the personal liberty of those within or beyond their ranks to in- sist upon special privileges or inimunities: They must rely upon the justness, or their cause and to the extent that force is used the boycott or the bludgeon in comneliin9 others to unite with them. to that extent they negative their own claim to being a brotherhood organization,wnose purpose is to elevate and benent the wage earning class. But, as matter or tact' while labor organizations are very strons In some industries. they include only aho,,t 1b per cent of the wage-earners or the country and 1t must not be forgoeten tho@ oreanization, however powerful can no+ he given the right to curtail the per- 1nnai liberty of the remaining S5 per cent ot the waxe-earners of the country.
 General Public Is Larger.
 ..yvb,la the greatly increased organiza- tiors of both employees ana employers ID fact which must be taken ihto con, .taaration in discussing the inoustrpai future. it must not be overiookeo thaI houaver powerful these great interests ,.sav grovv. they can only embrace frac- .ion of the people in any country. The s-onoraI nublic is greater and many times Ssars numerous than these two powerful bodies combined, and upon 1t must rah .ha heaviest losses that grow out or in- dustrial war. IT.. ,
 "The general public is patient, long sufrering and enduring. It's only or ganization is the general government- municinal. State and national-for the nrotection of the public welfare.
 "public opinion demands that the great .r nuhlic service corporations not only shail perforn their function, but also they vhall not be obstructed in that perform ance. and it also demands that the great avenue of supplies and distribution or Inc necessities of life shall not DC aroi- trarily cut of to test the relative strength and enduring power Of the eontenoing forces. -. tal are in a formative state. They are both new to their acquired power. With lime and experience a reaction in favor of conservatism will make itself felt ana In the meantime conciliation will help rather than hinder a moro reliable and permanent remedy"
 The "open Shop"
 At the afternoon session the question or The Open shop was taken up and dis- russed.
 John M. Stahl, secretary of the Farm are National Congress spoke of "The Public. by a Farmer touching upon tbe freedom of employment. saving the Snen shop should be allowed and deprecat- Ing violence on the part of the union man.
 Thomas woodlock of New York spoke upon the principle of ''open shop"
 Francis L. Robbins, president of a pittsburg coal company, believed har- mony between capital and labor Is pos tible Compulsory arbitration he de- elared impracticable, but favored com pulsory education in the matter.
 John Mitchell spoke in opposition to khe "open shop going into an extended review of the question. He spoke of khe refusal of the unionist to work with ! non-union man and compared it with lhe right of a church or any organlza- lion to reject a member obnoxious to It. The unionist, he asserted. had the legal md moral right to refuse to work with non-unionists but 1t was not always Dolitic to exercise this right.
 The strike breaker, he said, was little removed from a criminal
 The afternoon session of the conference closed with the address of Edward A. Moffett of New York on The open vs Inc closed shop"