The Glenwood post., 1906-08-04
UNIONISM OR
RABIES, WHICH

Nominating in secret convention,
on July 4. the nations day of indie
pendence, man for governor of Colo
ado whose record is not immaculate
and who is now charged with being
an accompice to the assassination of
ex' Governor Steunenberg of Idaho, sug
gests the spirit of anarchy. Sane men
and we are glad to learn there are
many among the members of the West
EN- Federation of Miners-will ques-
ton the mental balance of one Mar
tin, who, when nominating VIM D.
Haywood now in prison at Caldwell,
Idaho for completely in the murder
of the governor of one of the richest
mining states in the Union, is reported
to to have said: They refuse to re.
lease him, we may feel impeIled to
march to Idaho and take our chief ex
ecutive by force, if necessary, ont of
the teeth of the dogs of capitalism
and carry him in triumph to our state
house. Can ii be that Martin has
the rabIes2.
1t is deplorable, if not disgraceful,
that an organization with the funda-
mental principle we believe of law
and order, and the welfare of the
miner at heart, should be brought into
i'll repute by the torch of discomfort
through the melodramatic oratory of
men whose bump of destructiveness is
so large that their better faculties have
been dwarfed, mhammatory agita-
ton by so-called unionists has been
burning the candle of progress at both
ends so long that there now remains
little to light the way of this class
of questionable citizens Modern Gus
tom demands intelligent and diplo-
matte discourse between labor and
capital, not the threats of men whose
early text book was the dime novel
Let labor, especially the walking dele
gate, look around him for evidence of
the new era, whose prototype is John
Mitchell the Chesterfield of unionisln.
1t was his diplomacy that gained for
the anthracite coal minels through the
president s arbitration committee the
much needed betterment of their con
dition and higher wages than had
been paid for years Had the coal
miners leader shouldered the gun to
argue decisively with the operators, ii
is very likely that the public sent-
ment would have been anything but
amicable, and our Rough Rider Presi-
dent would have exercised his power
other than as an arbitrator. Fortu-
nately, Mitchell learned by experience
of Others that logic and a civil tongue
only can win in the present battle for
bread and butter.
To be sure, the workman needs the
protection that will guarantee him an
equitable share in the fruits of his
labors; but to rely upon a pickle
tongue orator to smooth his path
through the labyrinth of industry we
think is suicidal. Every miner should
think for himself, judge the character
of the walking delegate independently
of the opinions of his colleagues, and
the executive committee of the union
should consider it an obligation to
coach its representatives, in the more
up-t o-date methods of settling labor
disputes. The walking delegate should
be firm but modest in his argument.
and, if he exercises only a little diplo-
macy, may win from the employer
more than could conveniently be done
by sword play.
1t is to be sincerely hoped that labor
leaders may benefit by righting the
errors of their predecessors and that
the future tribunal of justice between
capital and labor shall be arbitration
Mining World.
That Fishing Trip