Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-11-23
ORGANIZED LABOR.
BTS FUNDAMENTAL PURPOSE IS TO
 BENEFIT SOCIETY.

Harper's Weekly can hardly be con- sidered as overfriendly to the labor movement, but that it is inclined to be of an article by Ralph M. Easley, chair man of the executive council of the National Civic Federation, in which the writer holds that the purpose of la Dor unions is to benefit society as whole. Mr. Easley says in part:
 "A series of articles upon the labor question by MT. John Keith, recently published in Harper's Weekly, has been of special interest because they are typical of mental attitude to- ward this subject that has become, un- fortunately, frequent among magazine and newspaper writers. The prevalence of this mental attitude is not hard to explain Up to the time of the an- thracite coal strike the public had paid little more than passing notice to the labor question. The direful possibili- ties when zero weather loomed up be- fore the nation with empty coal bins at that time set everybody thinking, talk ing or writing on the great labor prob lem. aa
 Many writers lay undue stress upon the fact that in isolated cases labor unions have broken solemn agree ments with employers. Every trade agreement has in truth all the solem- nity of contract. It is no defense of the gravity of such a condition to point out that 'gentlemen's agree ments,' which railroad officials openly state are ssolemnly' made between themselves. are often broken just as quickly as some of the officials can reach the telephone, or that when goods are sold for future delivery and the price falls large number of buy ers-about 75 per cent, as stated re gently by a prominent wholesale merchant-break their solemn con- tracts through some pretext or other. The point is that while the breaking of contracts by labor unions is a most serious matter it's occurrence is much less common than the public is led to believe. Where one labor union breaks a contract there are 500 broken con- tracts with which organized labor has nothing to do.
 .aThe, critics of labor unions rarely omit the regulation statement that or ganized labor includes only small mi nority of the wage earners of the coun- try. The estimate generally quoted to give force to the claim that it lis .mon- strous tyranny for the small minority &~ 4o%o %o %n %hn saa% yrpmfnrSfv nf workers the wages, hours and condi- tions of their toir is that labor organ izations contain only from to 12 per cent of all wage earners. But if un- ion containing, 95 per cent of the skilled workers in it's craft demands better conditions 1t is no. answer tonsay that | the farm hands or the washerwomen are not organized.
 "The comparison most frequently made credits organized labor with a membership of about 2, 400, 900, which is only 8 per cent of the more than 2o,- GOO, 900 persons engaged in gainful oc- equations in the United States in 1900. But an analysis of the gafnful occu- pations shows the fallacy of the com parison. These 29.O0O, ,OO0 include in agriculture. 1O,OO0,0O0; domestic and personal service, 100000; the profes- gions, 100000. Practically all of these are unorganizable and should be ex- 1 cluded from the comparison. Included also in the 29,OOO,OOO are the 4,700,OOC engaged in trade and transportation. Granting all the charges brought | against labor unions to be true and | multiplying them hundredfold, what is the result? They would prove that some labor unions and some labor lead CTS have committed grave ofenses against society and against themselves
 That proposition is admitted.
 s'But it remains none the less true 1 that the trades unions of this country, no matter what per cent of all the l wage aarners they include or what in cidental crimes they have committed, have fundamental purpose which all l will admit to be for the benefit of SO ciety as whole. They are striving to improve the condition of the working
 masses. Organized labor has been l struggling for this end, not only alone and unaided, but against the general l opposition of employers, individual and organized, and against the misrepre- sentations of prejudiced critics, when, in fact, it deserved the friendly CO operation of them alE Labor has con
 stantly had to evolve its own leader ship. It has made all the mistakes of
 unskilled generalship and undisciplined
 following It makes them still. But 1 the time has come when those who
 have some understanding of the hard.
 ships and misdirections that hamper
 the advance of labor are extending the
 sympathetic aid of their superior in
 telligence.
 ssThere are associations of employers
 who would beat down the advance o1
 labor with a bludgeon. There are oth CT associated employers who would
 come to terms of mutual understand ing. This second method, I am glad te say. receives more and more the ap
 proval of leaders of public opinion and
 of humane and intelligent employers
 Tn the multiplication of concrete ex
 amples of relations between employer
 H-~ Hn~