The wageworker. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1904-????, 1906-09-07
The Trades Union
And the Church

Sunday was observed at the Second
Presbyterian church in Lincoln as
Labor Sunday" the pastor, Rev. B. M.
Long, preaching on the subject, The
Workingman and the Church." at the
morning service. In the evening Fred
w Nickel and Will M Maupin, mem
bers of Lincoln Typographical Union,
occupied the pulpit by invitation of
Rev. Mr. Long. A large audience as
Sembled and was seemingly interested
in the remarks of the speakers. Fol-
lowing is the address of Mr.. Maupin,
who took for his subject. The Trades
Union and the Church"
shall take for the text of my re-
marks this evening on the subject of
THE Trades Union and the Church."
the twenty-ffth verse of the first chap
ter OF the General Epistle of James:
But whose looketh into the perfect
law of liberty, and continueth therein,
he being not a forgetful hearer, but
doer of the work, this man shall be
blessed in his deed
l take it for granted that majority
OF my hearers this evening are much
more familiar with the work of the
church than with the work of the
the greater portion of the brief time
at my command to a general, and
necessarily hurried, explanation of the
objects and aims of trades unions.
The trades unions of today are but the
natural development of the guilds Of
ancient times. These guilds came into
existence in Rome centuries before the
birth of Christ, and were then made
up generally of merchants banding
themselves together for mutual protec-
ton. These guilds gradually grew in
strength until they became the basis
of municipal constitutions, and all who
government were Obliged to join these
guilds. Guilds introduced the demo-
cratic element into society and became
the bulwark of the citizens liberty.
tory of these guilds from the Middle
Ages. One OF the earliest of these
guilds of which we have any clear
knowledge was organized by the shoe
makers of Mandelburg in 1857. The
guilds grew in numbers and influence
until they acquired great political
power, and before the. close of the
Fourteenth century their power coun
terbalanced that of the mobiles and
gave the common people something
like an even chance. From these guilds
has sprung the modern trades Union.
A trades union is an organized body
or industrial occupation, associated to-
gether for the promotion of their COM
mon interests. The New Standard En-
cyclopedia says: Specific aims may
vary in different unions, but generally
speaking, the aims of these organiza-
tions are the provision and distribu-
tion of funds, and by other means to
regulate the conditions of labor in the
relations of it's members with them;
to promote the general and material
welfare of it's members; to assist them
when out of work and in distressed
circumstances; to support them in case
OF sickness, accident or superannua-
tion, and loss of tools by fire; to pro-
vide for their burial and the burial of
their wives; and to aid other trades
societies having for t1.--r objects, or
one of them, the promotion of the in
terests OF workingmen."
This is very fair and comprehen-
sive description of the objects of the
modern trades union. | leave it to
the judgment of my unprejudiced and
thoughtful hearers if there is anything
therein that the church of Jesus Christ
cannot endorse.
The modern trades union is the re-
suit of an evolution that has been go
ing on in every department of society
during the last three. centuries. For
the reason that trades unions are
their mistakes are many, often costly,
and often vicious in their results. But
I am ready to stand or fall by the
declaration that all of the crimes that
have been, justly or unjustly, laid at
the doors of trades unionism, may with
equal truth be laid at the doors of the
church. All of the assaults, all of the
pillage, all of the bloodshed that has
been charged against trades unionisnl
are but drop in the bucket compared
with the assaults, the pillage and the
bloodshed perpetrated by those who
have professed themselves to be the
followers of the meek and lowly Jesus