Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1905-02-11

that guarantees freedom from strikes,
lockouts and labor warfare is Battle
Creek, Mich.
The story? The work people. mer-
chants, lawyers, doctors and other citi-
zens became aroused and indignant at
the efforts of the labor unions through
out the country to destroy the bust
ness of one of our largest industries
the Postum Cereal Co, Ltd. and at the
open threats in the official union pa
pers that the entire power of the Ma
tional and State Federations of Labor
was being brought to bear to punish
the industries 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 purchase 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
labor OF the labor trust. 1t seems
rule of the unions to conspire to ruin
anyone who does not purchase from
them upon their own terms.
An inkmaker or papermaker who
failed to sell ink or paper would have
the same reason to order Post to help
ruin these publishers. So the ped
dler in the street might stone you if
you refused to buy his apples; the
cabman to run over you if you refused
to ride with him; the grocer order the
manufacturer to discharge certain
people because 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, but 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 innocentiy
thinks he has a right to put little
paint on his own house finds he must
have that paint taken off and put on
again ny lie uIllOIl OT oil 81. 10 VI
dire things happen to him, his en-
ployer is ordered to discharge him, his
grocer is boycotted if he furnishes
him supplies, his family followed and
insulted and his life made more mis-
cradle than that of black slave be-
fore the war. If he drives nail to
repair the house or barn the carpen-
terS' union" hounds him. He takes
pipe wrench to stop leaking pipe
and prevent damage to his property
and the plumbers union" does things
to him He cannot put little mortar
to loose brick on his chimney or
the bricklayers', plasterers' or bod
carriers 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 succeeded 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. picket
ing, assaults, dynamiting of property
and murder to enforce their orders and
rule the people. They have gone far
enough to order the President to re-
move certain citizens from office be-
cause 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 Execu-
tive.
This is 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 desper-
ate men as shown in their defiance of
law and support of 1awbreakers.
The union" record of assaults.
| children, destruction of property and
murder of American citizens during
! the past two years is perhaps ten
times the volume of crime and abuse
perpetrated by slave owners during
any two years previous to the civil
war. We are in horrible period of
| lethargy, which permits us to stand
| idly nv while our American rifizon.s