The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1904-11-05

contributed an article to the North
American Review, on 1.-THE Present
Crisis in Trade-Union Morals" Miss
Adams Is one o fOrganized labors sin
cerest and staunchest friends, and any
thing she says upon the subject Of un-
1on1sm-its principles. methods. OBJ
jects, activities-is worthy Of careful
| and sympathetic consideration.
| There Is much In the article which is
very complimentary to the labor
movement, and the highest compli-
ments are unsconscious. Miss Adams
expects much from organized and fed
Grated labor; her standards of conduct
and character, with reference to la
Dor, are high indeed.
| Thus, declaring that there is UNI
doubted evidence that many unions are
suffering from the present low stand
ard of public morality, and share the
moral brutal doctrine of commercial
ism which makes man resolve to get
there, despite obstacles from without
| or scruples from Within" Miss Adams
says:
1T Is indeed cold comfort to say that
the methods Of labor organizations are
no worse than the methods adopted
by certain organizations Of capital. If
small body of men become so abso-
lutely engrossed in making money that
| they disregard public rights, that they
bride and browbeat railroads from the
function Of common carriers to that
of grantors of favored one-that Is
certainly deplorable; but, after all,
not so deplorable as when a large boz
dy Of workingmen disregard rights and
involve the honor and moral standard
OF many Of their fellows
That is true; but fortunately for la
Dor and society there is no evidence
whatever that large bodies of working
! men do, as matter OF fact, disregard
public rights. Large bodies Of men
strike now and then, but surely Miss
Adams does not hold that to strike is
to disregard public rights. In other
parts Of the article Miss Adams
speaks of violence and disorder in
| strikes and the corruption in the I'M
ions, but she knows, and would be first
! to testify, that never have either large
or small bodies Of workingmen approx
ed or condoned these things. Mistakes
have been made in the labor move
ment, as in any great movement the
| world has ever seen, but they have
been in most cases mistakes OF the
head, not Of the heart
This brings us to the question sug-
gested by the title Of Miss Adams ar
t1cle. LIS there a crisis In trade-un-
ion morals? There are no facts in the
article to show that there is such a
crisis, that the labor movement has
descended to a lower plane in the last
few years, or that there has been a
change for the worse in the methods or
personnel Of the unions and their lead
ers.
/ We have said before, and we, repeat
nov, hat political, social / and indus
talssnovementss SHOULD ii ir71ess Sbe
jud ged their best, not by theirs worst
aspects: and Representatives Trade
union morality is higher than business
morality Or political morality, when
properly and justly viewed ,as Miss
Adams should know.
Take the one one fact of sympathetic
strikes, which have their Justification
IN the principle of solidarity in the
| truth that an injury to one is the con-
| Germ of all. How much loyalty. SELF
sacrifice, Fellowship these strikes re-
qulre! Commercialism talks a rood
! deal about "enlightened selfishness."
The selfishness we see on every side.
but the enlightenment is very scarce.
The loyalty constantly shown by or
ganized labor argues not only enlieht-
ened self-interest, but generosity and
sympathy. What movement OF equal
| magnitude is morally higher than the
trade-union and labor movement. Com
pare it with party politics, with inter-
national diplomacy, with anything
you please; it will stand the test.
Miss Adams herself recognizes that
not the higher classes, but the mass
es OF UNFRAMED" workingmen are "in-
trusted with the difficult task of In
dustrlal amelioration and adjustment"
and that the union, which are the or
ganlzed expression of that effort are
the most significant organizations in
our midst" We venture to saw that
there is no crisis in the morals of these
most significant organizations" and
that whatever crisis there is. Is in the
morals of society as a whole.
But Miss Adams expresses the fear
tnat the ideallsm OF the unions is in
compatible with, and endangered bv.
the necessity of practical and bust
nesslike" methods. EMPLOYERS COM
plain that workmen are unreasonable
and under the dominion of sentiment
and dogma, and the question put bv
Miss Adams is whether in adoptinr
business principles the union are nor
sa crifictng, and necessar ily, their earlv
idealism.
! We do not think that this must fol-
low. To make contracts and stick to
them' even when they limit Or take
away. the right of striking out of sym-
! pathy, is not to sacrifice idealism, To
consult actual conditions and the dic-
tates OF reasonable expediency before
, striking or making demands upon en-
ployers is not to abandon1 any ideal
ever proposed by intelligent unionists
The "1dealism" of the labor move-
ment consists primarily in this, that
| the organized workmen in striking to
better their own condition and to Sc
cure for themselves more equitable