Amador ledger., 1904-05-27
INJURIOUS ADVERTISING.

'All men seeking work are requested
to keep away from Amador City, as
there are 200 men out of work.
We find the above statement con-
tanned in printed notice posted
outside of the miners union hall in
Jackson, announcing that a labor
strike exists at the Fremont Con-
solidated mine near Amador City.
The placard is issued by authority
of the local union at Amador City,
as it bears the names of the presi-
dent and secretary of that organiza-
ton. We may also safely draw
another conclusion, namely that
these placards have been circulated
by the labor unions affiliated with
the Western Federation in other
labor centers, for the sole purpose
of deterring men in search of work
from drifting to Amador City in the
hope of finding employment. The
sentence above quoted is incomplete
and indefinite, whether intention
ally so or not we are not prepared
to say. It does not state that
there are 200 men out of employ
ment at Amador City alone, but
of course that is the natural in
ference to be drawn, and there is no
question that that was the idea in
tended to be conveyed. We do not
desire at this time to discuss the
merits of the labor controversy at
the Fremont. The position of the
Ledger on such matters is we'll
known. 1t contends for the right of
employees to quit work, Individually
or collectively as union men, when
ever they are dissatisfied with the
terms or nature of their employment.
That is basic principle. 1t cannot
be surrendered without at the same
time surrendering our rights as free
and sovereign citizens. tits equally
fundamental, however, that the priv
ilege of the laborer to sell his SER
vices to whoever will pay an accept
able price therefor shall neither be
abridged nor denied. The palpable
tendency of the posting of strike
notices like the one herein referred
to, is to undermine this last stated
privilege, and to that extent it is
mischievous and revolutionary. 1t
is contrary to the spirit, if not to
the letter of the law. We have that
faith in human nature that the time
will come when the publishing and
posting of such placards, with the
design of preventing an individual
or company from conducting law
full business, will be made mis-
demeanor under our laws. Twenty
years ago the Ledger denounced the
boycott as opposed to the spirit of
law and the dictates of humanity.
1t was at that time new-found
weapon, and an organized movement
was started to make it Instruments
in solving the Chinese problem.
Politicians tried to make it the
means of aiding them in their aspira
tions after Office. But the agita-
tion was short-lived, and to-day the
concensus of opinion, backed by the
verdict of the courts, brands the
boycott as a device contrary to law.
Even the labor unions are gradually
settling down to the conviction that
it is a double-edged weapon, more
apt to injure those who resort to it
than those against whom it is aimed.
Confronted as we are with the Oft
repeated posting of such notices of
no work to be had as the one quoted
above, is it not time for the working
men themselves to seriously ponder
over the situation. 1t affects not
merely the toilers in the mines, but
the people of Amador county gen
orally. Probably the placards are
not intended as stumbling blocks in
the way of Amador's Industrial pro-
gress, but that is what they really
are.
But furthermore the statement at
the head of this article is either true
or untrue, and in either case it leads
up to very damaging predicament.
Admitting for the sake of argument
that 200 men are out of work in
Amador district alone, it behooves
every toiler in Amador county to ask
himself the question, What has
brought about such an Industrial
calamity? Why is it that men here
tofore happily and conten tedly en-
ployed at satisfactory wages, are
now walking the streets in idleness?
What blighting influence has thus
dried up the fountains of industry?
Is it the true friend of the laboring
man that brings about such stag
nation, or is it the work of mis-
guided demagogues and agitators?
Has there ever been a time in the