The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-10-20
LABOR QUESTION
IS CONSIDERED
heport OF Special Committee to
Episcopal Convention.
NOTHING WAS ACCOMPLISHED
CONDITIONS AS VIEWED By THE
CHURCHMEN.

Boston, Oct 19-Both houses Of the
Episcopal general convention which
was opened ON Oct. 5, have voted in
FAVOR Of final adjournment Tuesday
next.
IN the house Of bishops the standing
committee on the relations of capital
ina labor, Of which Bishop Henry c.
Potter of New York is chairman, pre-
scented its report. The commission
was appointed by the general conven-
ton Of 1901 to study the purposes Of
labor organizations to investigate the
causes Of industrial disturbances and to
hold themselves in readinessNto act as
arbitrator should their services be de-
sired. The report says that no request
ford action as arbitrator has been re-
ceived and that the committee has not,
as yet, succeeded in studying IN COM
mon the occasion Of current disturb
ances- I'VE are agreed, however" the
report says, lin the conviction that the
causes OF the violence of the past
three years, in Pennsylvania in Colo
RADIO and in Illinois, are not so much
economical as moral. The strikes COM
monty begins in distrust. The reason
at the heart of it is that the masterd
mas as little confidence in the good will
OF the men as the men have in the good
faith OF the master. Where distrust
and antagonism are well founded,
there is nothing for it, so far as the
church is concerned, except one YER
sion.
Ignorant. of Conditions.
wa parcafr-a $780, 49,. cuor,-,- -, 4
latty alike, much ignorance Cranky
confessed and depIored), as to the
principles which are involved in the
conflicts Of the industrial world. Ev-
cry industrial dispute involves three
parties-the employer, the employed
and the public, and the public eYentu-
ally casts the deciding vote. Thus
serious social responsibility rests upon
every Christian citizen, and more espe-
cially upon the Christian minister.
I'VE call attention to the analogy
between certain Offenses OF the union |
and like offenses. past or present. of |
both the capitalist and the church. |
man. Thus the employers blacklist !
corresponds 10 the unions boycott The /
lockout and the strike are Cf the same |
nature. The question of the closed /
shop is like the question of the closed |
state. Men whose Puritan ancestors
strove TO maintain a state whose priv |
ileges should belong only TO members |
of the church. ought TO be able to I'M
derstsnd the struggle of their brethren !
and 10 maintain a shop in which no
man shall serve except a member Of !
the union.
History Repeats Itself.
They may not agree with these
brethren. but they ought to appreciate
their self-saCrifce. The lab0rer has
learned from the capitalist to despise
order and break law. He has learned
from the churchman TO pursue the dis
senter with menace and violence. The
recent tragedies in Colorado do not fol-
low at a far distance the massacres
which in the sixteenth century ensued
upon the withdrawal of Holland from
the ecclesiastical union.
While. then. we condemn the tyran-
ny and turbulence of the labor union
and call upon The law to preserve the
liberty Of every citizen. to employ
whom he will and to work for whom
he will. we deprecate the hasty temper
which. in condemning the errors of the
unions condemns at the same time the
whole movement with which they are
connected. The Offenses of the union
arc as distinct from the cause for
which the organization of labor stands,
as the inquisition IS distinct from the
gospel
Organized Labor Essential
'In the face Of a prejudice and an
hostility for which there are serious
reasons. we are convinced that the or
ganization OF labor is essential to the
well-being of the working people. It's
purposes il to maintain such a stand
ard of wages. hours and conditions as
shall afford every man an opportunity
20 grow in mind and IN heart. With
out organization the standard cannot
be maintained i'm the midst of our pres
ent commercial conditions
This report in conclusion condemns
the employment of children in factories
and mills.
The report is signed by Henry G. Pot
ter. William Lawrence, Charles P. An
derson. r. II. McKim, George NJ.
Hodges G.. D. Williams, Samuel Ma
Their and Jacob Riis.
The report was accepted and a resOlu-
ton that the commission be continued
was adopted by the house of bishops