Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-02-06

| right to control his establishment and the
| right to regulate the force and the out
| put. He must be able to make a fair
| profit on his product. whatever it is. be-
| sides earning the annual interest on the
cost or she plant an item never to be left
| out of the account. Unless he is given a
| free hand to accomplish these things he
| cannot do a safe and sound or growing
! business. He cannot thrive himself or
| enable his people to thrive for long. He
| cannot furnish the greatest need of la
| Dor. which is certainty and steadiness of
| employment. fair wages and repose.'
[ Have you ever been laboring man,
| general?''
| Most emphatically So" replied Gen.
| OTIS. Il know what it is to work and SO
| do all my business associates. l began
| life as a farmers boy. learned to read in
| log school house and grew up anon <
| people with whom industry. Trugality and
| free labor We're the rules of life. l am a
| laboring man still. For the past twenty
years. during which l have been building
| up the Los Angeles Tines, / have worked
| more hours daily than most of the men
| In my employ. | have never kept a record
| of my hours nor charged for overtime,
| though l have often put in from twelve
| to sixteen hours per day week in and
| week out. This. however. is merely per-
| sonal matter and of little Importance in
| connection with the question"
The Big Syndicatez and Trusts.
How will the great industrial comona-
i tons affect labor matters?" 1 asked.
! Il see no reason why they should not be
for the good of labor, provided the conbina-
! tions are kept within the plain limitations
| of the law according to the wise policy
! OF President Roosevelt. Great combinations
| can do great things. They can handle in
| dustrial problems which would be beyond
! single individuals or small capitalists. Great
undertakings require great dynamic forces,
! immense machinery and enormous capital.
! They call for many workmen and create
opportunity for wages The real test is
! in the question as to whether the combine
| tons are lawful or unlawful. Outside Of
! this they should not be restricted. They
| should not be crushed merely because They
are big any more than small operators aid
| opera lions should be crushed because they
are small. All are alike entitled to the pro-
J lection of the law Such combinations re-
quire some restraint but that restraint
should be the restraint of the law and not
| of public clamor.''
The Civic Federation.
.tWhat do YOU think of the compromise
and arbitration policy of the Civic Fedora
ton general? l mean the policy advocated
! by Mark Hanna, Samuel Gompers and
| others?'
! II think there is more or less politics In
! it," replied General Otis. at is more
| theoretical than practical. Mr. Hanna and
! his people. ignoring the fact that the law
! is ample to do justice to all, are trying to
| substitute continuance of their own Tor
| the settlement of labor controversies. The
same amount OF effort put forth in enforce
| ing the Constitution and the laws would
| have accomplished more good. Their basic.
| though uneXpressed purpose, seems to be to
| ca jOle or force the employer to give way
| merely in order to stop the row. No such
| plan of settlement can be permanent, for it
| is not right. The side to give way in such
| controversies is the side. whichever it may
be. that has been proved to be in the
| wrong
Uncle Sam and Labor.
How about the labor unions and the
| United States government"
There should be no labor unions among
civil government employees" said General
| Otis. You might as well draft them upon
| the army and navy The government is
and should be supreme. and it cannot take
! the risk of suffering labor unions to dictate
| to it in any particular. The labor unionist
! who enters the government service should
| at once drop his trade union alliances and
! acknowledge his allegiance to Uncle Sam
only"
You are connected with printing general
how should the government act as to or
| gained labor in the government printing
Officer"
Il have substantially answered that" was
the reply. Il don't think the government
should recognize any trades union, directly
! or indirectly, in the government printing
office. President Roosevelt was absolutely
| right in the Miller case when he insisted on
It's beng an open shop. He went to the
core OF the matter in that case and nothing
less than the rules he laid down can pre-
vail unless Uncle Sam intends TO retire from
! the business of public printing. which he
evidently has no notion of doing
| The Government and Non Unionists.
| How far should the government go in its
protection of the non-union MANI"
1T should go the whole length needed to
| protect him in his right to work for whom
and for what he pleases. The non-union
man has every right possessed by the union
man. His rights are. In fact, superior to
the union mans rights so long as he keeps
| himself within the limitations of the law;
| for the union man does not do that He
| breaks out and undertakes to monopolize all
| labor himself and at the same time mall
| treats his non-union brother. | can't see
| now any sane man can support the theory
| that the non union man or any man must
| join the ranks of organized labor in order
! that he may have the protection guaran-
teed by the Constitution and the law
Employers Associations.
What do you think of the associations
of capital now forming to keep representa-
| tives to deal with organized labor mean
the walking delegates of the capitalists?'
Il don't think they should be necessary,
| but they are. They will not be when
| the conditions are normal and where
| the law authorities are watchful
| think the law should protect the en-
| ployer if he is unjustly treated by
| organized labor, as it should also protect
| the employe in n similar situation The
| employer has as much right to such pro-
lection as the humblest workman Associa-
| lions of employers having for their object
the protection of each other by lawful
| means are entirely proper. They are need
ed now more than ever before to deal with
and check the aggressions of organized
labor They require the sinews of war to
carry on their operations and lnusc have
authorized representatives just as Other
| associations"
The Public.
'1f the capitalists and the labor unions
combine, where will the consumers come
in?"
They will have to take to the woods"
said Gen. Otis. But such a combination
will never be made to affect any large
class of consumers. 1t could not last 1t
would be impossible"
what is to be the outcome of this con-
fiict?"
The country replied Gen. Otis-"I mean
the DeOUle-Wll win and win trameodauSIv