The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1905-04-08
THE. CLEAN RECORD OF
THE LABOR UNION
No Cleaner or More Honorable
Piece Of Cardboard Than a
Paid up Union Gard.
Man That Belongs to Union
Can Hold His Head up
Anywhere
BY HERBERT N. cAssoN.

BY HERBERT N. CASSON.
| If Lawson and Folk and Steffens and
| Miss Tarbell keep up the race, the
| only clean, respectable institution left
! In the country will be trade unionism,
BY the time Miss Tarbell got through
| with Standard OIL trust. it hadn't a
shred Of decency left. The criminal
word "PLUNDER" was written all
! over it. She proved it to a gigantic
| pyramid Of loot and wreckage. The
| popular opinion of Rockefeller today is
not that he is an organizer but a con-
| spirator.
Where she droppd the story Lawson
has pickd let up. He doesn't write
from the outside, like Miss Tarbell.
| He Is an ins1der and knows more about
the tricks OF monopoly. According to
! MIN, the whole gang Of Wall Street
mlllionaires, from Morgan down to
Addicks, is nothing but crowd of
! "sure-thing" gamblers and gold-brick
swindlers.
Even the demi-gods of insurance, who
have ben sitting in the topmost peak
Of responsibility, wearing halos and
pretending to be the protectors of Wild
oWs and orphans, are accused Of being
runners for Wall street gambling con-
Germs.
Folk and Steffens are busy painting
the word GRAF on the leading busi-
ness men of American cities. If what
they say is true, our corrupt politicians
| are only the hired burglars Of our
Chamber OF Commerce. They are sent
into public offices to hand out special
privileges just as a boy is sent into a
bank window by a house-breaker to
hand out the silverware.
| Now what do you think would hap
pen if all these charges had been made
against labor unions? Give Gompers
the reputation Of Addicks, and how
long would he be left at liberty? Give
John Mitchell the black record of John
D. Rockefeller, and what would the
! coal trust do to him in it's righteous
wrath?
If what is now being proved against
the beef trust were proved against the
American Federation of Labor congress
would hold a special session and wipe
it out of existence, Every pulpiteer in
forty-seven states would roar his in
dignation, and the w. c. T. U. would
send in petitions against unionism ten
miles long.
: Suppose that the criminals who were
dug up in st. Louis by Folk had been
! trade union officials, do you think they
would have escaped punishment so
easily? Every one Of them would be
today behind the bars.
Suppose that the death-ship, "Gener-
! al Slocum," had belonged to the ship
! builders union, don't you think that
some one would have been punished for
those 1920 deaths? Suppose the Iro-
| quoise theatre had belonged to the car
| penters' union, do you think such
! tragedy would have ended up in
| general white washing?
! The fact is that rade-unionists have
! to live up to higher standard of mo-
| ra1ity than any other class Of citizens.
! They are under the law, not over it,
like the trusts and the judges and the
lawyers and the politicians If they
make one slip, down comes the net and
they are caught. You may be sure that
| when labor leaders are at large, it is
| because they have a right to be let a.
lone. The same cannot be said of many
millionaires.
Do you know that union officials han
die millions Of dollars every year, yet
! how seldom do you hear of any dis
| honesty. The moulders' union alone
| last year had an income Of over $780,
900 and everything right to penny.
The present treasurer of the brick
layers union has held the job since
before most of the members were born,
and never had cent 60 astray These
are not exceptions, but simply show the
general rule.
| In money matters the record of trade
unionism is better than that Of the
banks or the insurance companies. Did
| you ever hear of union losing its
funds by backing a Wall street game?
Do you know of. one labor organization
that lost money in ''steel Preferred" or
"Amalgamated Copper?" Did YOU ever
hear Of trade union capitalizing itself
at $500,000,000 and selling the stock to
its members? Can you name one prom
inent labor leader who has ever been
caught in such dirty and disreputable
finance as the shipbuilding trust, pro-
noted by that anti-unionist, Charles
NJ Schwab.
In all the probing Of political corrup-
tior that has been going on in the
past few years, have you heard Of any
trade union that has been bribing leg
islatures and stealing franchises? Not
one. There isn't church in the United
States that has cleaner reputation in
this respect. Have you even read Of a
| divorce scandal in true union circles?
There is no cleaner or more honor
able piece Of cardboard in the country
than paid-up union card. No corpor-
alton or. professional diploma can COM
pare with it. The man who belongs to
a union can hold his head high and
say:s Il belong to a straight crowd Of
men who want nothing but what be-
longs to Them"
Both mentally and morally, the skill
ed union worker Of America can take
his stand with the best. Nothing but
modesty keeps him down. few days