Custer County Republican. (Broken Bow, Neb.) 1882-1921, 1905-03-16
IN CRUSHING UNIONS.
Omaha Business Mons Asspslatlou
Corrects a Ealnn Innnr~unior,.

thAt tne business Menh assoeAHUn, recenN
" organized 10 Omaha, il oeHt,yn erdsisns
cut the labor unions Of ttsis cfk aiid IL st.
nliated IN some way with a naugaal BODY
slrniIaFly inimlcd to organized iaNuv.
statement receptay issue0 by tire authnrity
OF the Omaha Business Mos association
denies this completely. ana nitthsr shows
that even In the closed dhceaags 6f The 60
ISOLATION the speeches or nsnsors have al
ways been marked by the most respectful
attitude toward the laborlng man, and not
= word has been said that would guner
from public repetition.
The conference between the labor lead
eSs and the special committee or the Bust.
ness Mems association that was called BY
Governor Mickey brought ont a clear and
emphatic statement OF the position
Of the two bodies, as shown by the
stenographic report, which has Just been
transcribed. II has been claimed In some
quarters that this conference was barren
Or results, but the exact alignment Of posi-.
tlons obtained through IL should AFFORD con
siderable satisfaction, even II no advance
was made toward arbitration VI the dis
pute.
This conference seems early to have set
tied down to an effort on the part of Hon.
II. ]. Mahoney, the attorney Of the Busi-
ness Mems association, to pin the repressn.
tatives Of labor 10 definite aud explicit
statement OF the position and aims OF tho
strike then on In Omaha. Ia tails he seems
To have succeeded very well, though ut
times calling upon himself approximations
from Mr. Bell, the president Of the Central
Labor union. who Insisted that he was not
witness to be cross-questionsd, and that
Mr. Mahoney used very harsh terms In de-
hnins their position.
In the first place Mr.. Mahoney stated to
the conference that the Business Mems as
ISOLATION had never questioned the right Of
the laboring man 10 organize In unions nor
did they now question the rights OF such
unions 10 exist, but he wished to establish
the corollary Of this by ascertaIning
whether The representatives OF labor there
present would also acknowledge the right
or existence to unorganized labor. This
right was thereupon admitted by Mr.. Bell
and his associates, but they stoutly main
tained the union men could not be expect
ed to associate With OF work alongside OF
nonpnion men. They would not deny the
right Of employers TO hire nonunon men,
but they wonld Insist that such men ut
, ence make application to enter the union.
employees into union ranks, thus In reality
driving out the nonunlon men, the reply
was made that they had no desire to crush
| him, they ''only wanted to get hold OF him
| ana talk To him and make man OF
| him"
1t was finally brought out however, ana
| IN most uneQuivocal terms, that the repre-
esntatives Of the labor unions present
would never he willing TO submit to arbi.
| tration the three salient points Of the dis
pute: a. The right OF the employer Co
| hire both union and nsnunion men with
cut discrimination; (2) the use OF the boy
sott, and CD the sympathetic strike. They
| assisted that these were their weapons
land perfectly legitimate weapons) In their
warfare against the nonunlon man; as they
expressed Il, warfare against the man
who resists the onward march Of organized
tsbor.' II was further maintained with
considerable show Of effrontery that in the
laboring world the majority 10 to rule and
the minority must eventually yield. Final
~ Mr.. Bell declared, qnite hotly, .Iyha
time has gone by In this community when
Che Individual has any very material rights
/ left"
On the part of the Business Meas assoois.
tion, on the other hand, the point was very
clearly made that they do not refuse to
grant to the unions that much sought Tor
| recognition" II such recognition Implies
simply an acknowledgment Of their legal
existence, or even an agreement to settle
questions Affecting wages and hours with
the officers or committees representing
such unions; but the association, In com.
mon with similar bodies of business men
In Denver, Kansas City, Chicago, New
York and other cities, does refuse to rec
ognize'' the unions II that recognition can
be accomplished only by signing contracts
| In which the employer Is pledged to en-
ploy union men exclusively and to refuse
supplies, merchandise or service to any In
dividuRi, firm or corporation that may be
| pronounced at any time unfair" by the
unions.
The kernel Of the whole dispute seems to
lie In this. The union men believe, or pre-.
tend they believe that their unions are In
danger Of disruption IL they concede these
principles to their employers. The latter,
while absolutely refusing to surrender to
such dictatorship, have sndeavored to point
cut that there viii still be left much for
organized labor to accomplish In this world
without trying to run on union lines both
! the employees and the employers ends of
the entire business Of the community
| This position was voiced recently by q
well known buslRess man Of Omaha, who
said: Where would this sort OF thing
| lead US, were tue unions to win out In their
striker 1t would result In q form of oil
Garchy, 10 WHICH the dictators would be a
few men sitting behind a table in Labor
| Temple, little government within the gov.
ernment, issuing their mandates to the
business mon, the professional men, the
| moneyed men, the statesmen Of Nebraska
Not laborcr could ind work who did not
belong to union; nor could he OH the
| other hand, belong to a union unless that
union saw ft to elect him. Nor could any
! employer offer work unless he agreed To
abide by all the rules that the union might
create, OF the justice and equity Of which
the union should be the sole arbiter."
The daily press OF Omaha has attempted
to cloud the Issue. BY skillful use of head
lines and juggling with the facts these
papers have given out the impression, fol
reasons best known to themselves, that II
many cases the strikes had been won BY
the men, and that In other instances the
scale" had been signed up" by the EN-
ployers. Such defectlons have only oc
Cured among the smaller establishments
and have not In any way affected the gen
erhl result. The terms on which the vast
majority OF strikers have returned to worl
In Omaha indicate complete surrender oi
their demands. Indeed. there have beer
no terms ut all, except that the men tax,
their places and continue their employ
ment as before, wages not having seemed