The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1905-02-03
Of Boycott.

The only place in the United States
that guarantees freedom from strikes,
lockouts and labor warfare is Battle
Creek, Mich.
The story? The work people, mer-
chants, lawyers, doctors and other citl-
zens became aroused and indignant at
the efforts of the labor unions through
out the country to destroy the business
of one of our largest industries-the
Postum Cereal Co., Ltd and at the open
threats in the official union papers, that
the entire power of the National and
State Federatipns of Labor was being
brought to bear to punish" the indus
tries of Battle Creek, and particularly
the Postum Co.
This sprung from the refusal Of G. w.
Post to obey the "orders" of the unions
to take the Postum advertising away
from various papers that refused to pur-
chase labor of the labor trust-the
unions.
Mr.. Post was ordered to join the
unions in their conspiracy to ruin"
and put out of business" these pub
fishers who had worked faithfully for
him for years and helped build up his
business. They had done no wrong,
but had found it inconvenient and
against their best judgment to buy Ia
Dor of the labor trust. 1t seems rule
of the unions to conspire to ruin any
one who does not purchase from them
upon their own terms.
An ink maker or paper maker who
failed to sell ink or paper would have
the same reason to order Post to help
ruin these publishers. So the peddler
in the street might stone you II you
refused to buy his apples; the cabman
to run over you If you refused to ride
with him; the grocer order the manu-
facturer' to- discharge certain people be-
cause they did not patronize him, and
so on to the ridiculous and villainous
limit Of all this boycott nonsense, In
trying to force people to buy what they
do not want.
If a man has labor to sell let him
sell it at the best price he can get just
as he would sell wheat, hut he has no
right to even intimate that he will OBJ
struct, the business, or attempt Its ruin
because the owner will not purchase
of him. .:
The unions have become so tyran-
nous and arrogant with their despot-
ism that a common citizen who has
some time to spare and innocently
thinks he has right to put q little
paint on his own house finds he must
have that paint taken off and put on
again by 1.-THE union or all sorts of
dire things happen to him. his employ
or is ordered to discharge him, his gro
Ger is boycotted il he furnishes him
supplies, his family followed and in
suited and his life made more miser-
able than that Of a black slave before
the war. II he drives nail to repair
the house or barn the carpenters
"union" hounds him. He takes pipe
wrench to stop a leaking pipe and pre-
vent damage to his property and the
plumbers union" does things to him.
He cannot put little mortar to a
loose brick on his chimney or the
bricklayers', plasterers' or hod car
riers' union" is up in arms, and If he
carelessly eats loaf of bread that has
no 'union" label on it the bakers
union" proceeds to make life miser-
able for him.
So the white slave is tied hand and
foot, unable to lift hand to better
himself or do the needful things with
out first obtaining permission from
some naughty, ignorant and abusive
tyrant Of some labor union.
1t would all seem rather like comic
opera, if it did not rob people of their
freedom; that kind Of work will not be
permitted long in America.
Some smooth managers have built up
the labor trust in the last few years, to
bring themselves money and power,
and by managing workmen have sue
ceeded in making it possible for them
to lay down the law in some cities and
force workmen and citizens to "obey"
implicitly, stripping them right and
left of their liberties.
They have used boycotting, picketing,
assaults, dynamiting of property and
murder. to enforce their orders and rule
the people. They have gone far enough
to order the President to remove GER
tain citizens from Office because the
unions" weren't pleased.
That means they propose to make
the law of the unions replace the law
of this government and the union lead
ers dominate even the chief Executive
=, This is a government of and for the
people and no organization or trust
shall displace it. But the unions try it
every now and then, led by desperate
men as shown in their defiance of law
and support of law breakers.
The union" record OF assaults. Grip
ping of men and even women and chill
dren, destruction Of property and muir
der of American citizens during the
past 2 years is perhaps 10 times the
volume of crime and abuse perpetrat-
ed by slave owners during any two
years previous to the civil war. We
are in a>horrible period Of lethargy, 4
which permits us to stand idly by
while orr American citizens are abused.