The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1906-07-27

I cause OF QuarrEG was trivial But Lne
strikes were always successful, be-
cause the country was being flooded
with British money, and the voice Of
the bOOmSter was abroad in the land.
The union leaders were ignorant Of
all economic laws, and they mistOOk
tural prosperity CHATS where they
made their mistake)
''McEachOrn knew better than that
He knew that the burst would come
sooner or later, and he prepared to
attack labor on a falling market He
figured to smash the unions and re-
move the heel OF aggressive demo-
crazy from the throat OF capital. A
partial victory was not what he want
ed He was after the whole hog. He
got it CHATS where he made his
mistake-)
The uniOnists were lions led by
asses MCEachOrn knew that Time
after time the shipping union made
demands upon his company; time af-
ter time he granted these demands
with smiling readiness But day after
day he went on building together the
units of a. force to fight uniOnism that
was destined to sweep organized Ia
! Dor out Of existence The plan was
colossal, but the stolid patience with
which in the meantime he bore the
CALLING exactiOns Of the trades was
quite as great
And then one day he Ioosed his
thunderS and struck hard and straight
and true He chose the time OF bat
tie. the cause Of battle, and the place.
THE unions chose nothing. They
were arrogant with riches
THE cause Of quarrel was childish,
as McEchOrn meant IL should be. A
difference arose between the quarter
master and the steward Of one Of his
cOasting steamers over the charms Of
stewardess. The captain, to settle the
difficulty, as he thought poor man
discharged the sailor. The union de-
manded his reinstatement McEchOrn,
knowing what the reply would be, Of
fered to put him on another ship. The
union demanded reinstatement on the
same ship McEchOrn in very cOurte-
Gus terms, pointed out that that would
be impossible Then the asses who
led the lions told him that unless the
reinstatement was effected within
twenty-fOur hours they would call the
crews of all his ships and order a
general strike
Then, like a flash, McEchorn IN
masked his guns. Back went the re-
ply that the unions might strike and
be damned.
The strike was ordered. And then
there followed a battle grim and
great Union after union was called
out. ship after ship was laid up, state
after state was involved in the quar-
rel. until the whole continent stood
under arms. In less than four weeks
| the fires Of nearly every cOaSting
steamer were drawn
THE trade Of Australia was para
| lyzed- -Four hundred thousand IN
| iOnists were idle, and every man Of
them was drawing half pay. Also ev-
I cry unemployed man who looked like
/ becoming a free labOrer was paid a
weekly allowance from the general
| fund to prevent remaining the ships
But the Shipowners' union that
MCEchOrn had organized didn't even
| try to reman the ships The load
| boom had reached its limit, trade was
declining, very large coal reserves had
been laid up, the funds and member
ship Of the unions were known to a
dollar and a man. The shipOwnerS
simply sat down on their hunkers and
waited
The trades leaders organized pick
cts, but there was nothing for them to
do. The problem was a new one
They couldn't solve it. The owners
were apparently not trying to run
their ships at all. Patterson, who
owned one fleet, wrote to the strike
committee, and in a vein Of pawky
Scotch humOr offered to sell them his
ships.
Then il dawned upon the union
that the strike had become a lock-
out The besiegers were besieged- The
weapon Of capital was. not free Ia
Dor. but starvation
Starvation won easily. Ten weeks
after the first shot the unions capitu-
ldLEu 10 the EElLl roe munger LEldL De-
fore then had bowed the neck Of many
a proud city. McEchOrn had meant
to break the unions, and they were
broken all right
Funds gone, membership desimat-
ed courage Wilted. the once great
trades unions Of Australia were count
ed out The capitulatiOn was annOun-
ced in the biggest hall that labor lead
ers could get John Hancock, big
bodied and big hearted. the finest plat
in ArreNv-u in, E1N
hall Of silent hundreds to tell the men
they must return to work on the best
terms they could get
1T was the shortest and most pTeg-
nant speech he ever made in his life.
Friends, he said. men OF Australia,
we have not been beaten; we have
been starved into submission Union
ism is dead. but anything can happen
in a democracy, and from the ashes Of
the funeral pyTe that the ship owners
have lighted viii rise the phoenix Of
our liberties
Nobody knew what he meant It
is doubtful whether he knew himself.
But It sounded large and fine, and
something with that sort Of a sound
was just what those depressed peO-
pie wanted that night.
But one year later big John Han
cock took his seat in parliament-the
first labor member sent In by the
first political party OF Australia
''VanqUished in the industrial war,
the members OF the battered trades
unions had reOrganized their forces
on a political basis and sought to win
by ballot the privileges capital had de-
MED them Some one discovered that
where all men have votes and the
bulk Of the men are wage-earners,
they only have to decide among them
selves what they want from the state
to get it
That was nearly ten years ago.
and now they have gotten nearly all
they wanted Think OF It Eleven
years ago the unions were battered,
dead, done for Today their direct
lfneal successor owns the whole bless
ed commonwealth OF Australia
They attacked municipal councils
first, and enforced the minimum wage
and eight-hour day on ali OF them
They attacked the state parliament
next and gained factory legislation
and old age pensions and compulsory
arbitration No factory in the cOun-
try can now employ child labor, OF
work its people more than eight hours
per day. or pay less than the mini
mum wage fixed by the wages board
IN two Of the six states the labor par
u are the government IN Office IN
two others they hold the balance OF
H-- TO ,aT-e--z fr~l1vr ara in