The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-08-22
UNIoNIsM AND PUBLIC OPINION.


If all labor leaders take the sensible view
OF Mr.. Parry's agitation that is voiced
by John c. Mitchell, president of the Sta
tionary Firemens Union, Mr.. Parry's work
will accomplish good in a very unexpected
way. After declaring that the Parry move
ment for organization of employers and
solidarity OF interest between employers
and unorganized workmen is gaining rapid
| Roadway. and that organized labor is but
small percentage of the whole body of
labor, Mr.. Mitchell continues:
There is only one way for the unions to
act They must organize perfectly and they
must learn to respect all classes and TO ar
pirate have found In my travels during
the year in this country, Canada, Mexico
and Europe, that arbitration is of essential
value. strike should be the last resort,
when all other means have failed. The
| trouble with the unions is that there Is too
much jealousy among the members and too
little regard for the rights of others. They
go too far in their demands at times. and
| then become too stifnecked about meeting
| the other fellow half way. But they will
have to do 1t or eventually get the worst
of IL.
| IN general way this covers the ground
pretty completely. and marks out the lines
along which the labor unions may re-estaD-
lish themselves In public regard. where, it
must be admitted, they have distinctly lost
| ground during the past decade. not on &C
count of the attacks of Mr.. Parry. but
through "too little regard for the rights
of Others" and through going "too far In
their demands at times" The general pub
lie does not discriminate very closely. A
/ few years ago II regarded anything with
| the union label behind 1t as all right. Any
kind OF demand was proper. just so it was
made in the name of organized labor, and
| any employer disposed to dispute such de-
| mands was set down forthwith as a tyrant.
The public was even disposed to accept the
| boycott as proper weapon, and was al
most on the point Of tolerating the disgust
cent of the workmen of the country be-
cause they did not belong to unions.
The change in public opinion is very
marked. and the present danger is that the
pendulum may swing too far the other way
| and result in indiscriminate condemnation
of unionism. no matter what the purposes
of the particular union or the lines upon
which it may be conducted. This would be
| a mistake. The labor union is an economic
necessity, and may be productive Of great
good if conducted along right lines. In
these days of large organizations of capital
and plants in which thousands of men are
employed the personal touch between en-
ployer and individual employee is out of the
question. In some cases the average en-
ploye never sees the man that owns the
plant, except possibly at a distance. He
deals with other employees of the company
who have authority over him and whose
positions depend on their ability to bring
about economies of production. And. since
labor cost is the big item, the tendency IL
always toward reduction of this expense
When this reduction takes the form of q
cut in wages or failure to provide proper
facilities for work, proper sanitation, light
or what not, the individual employe is pow.
erless. but. by acting collectively, employees
can usually obtain justice In all these
things. Hence the need of the union, blu,
when men get drunk with the power they
have thus obtained by united action anC
"go too far in their demands and show
too little regard for the rights Of others,
when they apply the boycott, when they
deny the right of other men to work, wher
they try to limit the efficiency Of the indi
vidual workman. when they cut down tn,
capacity of plants. when they insist OF
wages that make whole line of business
unprofitable-a situation that threatens phi
iron production just now and has cripple,
building operations for more than year
when they permi. themselves to be controlled
by leaders shown to be corrupt like Parks Ii
New York; when they commit these blund
ers, the public must in time wonder If tn
remedy for the natural tendency to Gu
} wages is not worse than the disease. /
has begun to wonder now, and, as Mitchell
points out, it is in imminent danger o
making up it's mind that the whole schem
of labor organization is wrong. 1t lies Wit
the unions themselves TO win back by wis
conduct the ground they have lost.
! REASONS FOR COMPARISONS.