The wageworker. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1904-????, 1906-02-23
FROM THE union STANDPOINT
Ministerial Union Listens to Union Man s
Presentation of the Claims of Unionism-
Lincoln Preachers Show by Word and Ac-
tion That They are Friendly to Trades
Unionism = Only One Discordant Note
Heard

Last Monday morning the Ministerial Union
met in regular session at the City Library, the
attendance being larger than usual on account
of the announcement that Rev. Charles Stelzle
would talk on ''Trades Unonism from the
Standpoint of Trades Unionist.' Ii trades
unionists who heard Mr.. Stelzle Sunday after
noon were pleased with his address,. they would
have rejoiced even more had they heard his
address before the ministerial union. 1t was
4 square, fair, earnest and forceful presenta-
ton of the claims of trades unionism. and it
I,ac a splendid effect on the minds of the min
iste.w present. Mr.. Stelzle frankly admitted
that he spoke IA trades unionist.
Rv Mr.. Marshall, whose views are well
known to Lincoln unionsts, struck the only
discordant note. He doesn't believe that a
Christian workingman should belong to labor
union in which non-C Christian workingmen hold
membership, and he repeated his position
again But his position was an isolated one,
for none of the ministers took stand with
him.
"All that is Utopian," declared Mr.. Stezle.
''Let the employers, with his supposedly bet
ter information, his better advantages and his
better opportunities, take the lead, and don't
expect the workingman to make all the conces-
sions and all the advances
The Monday Evening News contained good
abstract of the address, and it is here given:
Rev. Charles Stelzle of Chicago, who adj
dressed the men s mass meeting at the Oliver
theatre yesterday, read paper before the
ministerial association this morning ON The
Ethical Value of Trades Unionis1n,' and
number of the preachers entered into discus
sion on the subject. motion presented by
Rev. Samuel Y. Batten that the association ex-
press their appreciation to Rev. Stelzle for the
address was carried. The paper met with the
approval of the preachers present
Nothing is ever gained by mere denuncia-
ton of the trades union" began the speaker.
<1xy ,1,rf
Carlyle has called the universal vital prob
lem of the world Ordinarily trades unionism
is judged by newspaper item which has It's
birth in an insignificant strike event, but which
was nurtured by the irresponsible reporter OF
q sensational newspaper
Sometimes the story OF tyranny or lawless-
ness practiced by some trades unions is true,
but this lawessness is not an essential part OF
trades unionism, any more than class ruShes or
hazing are essential parts of the college cur
riculum. l frankly confess that labor unions
not ideal.
"It is sometimes forgotten that the labor
union is not the labor question. II every labor
union in existence were to be wiped out, the
labor question would still be present and that,
too, in more aggravated form than it is to-
day 1t cannot be denied that in spite of it's
shortcomings, trades uniOnlsm has brought us
nearer solution of the industrial problem. 1t
is easier and far more satisfactory to deal with
men collectively than to attempt to deal with
them as individuals AS matter of fact, in
this day of great corporate interests, individual
contracting has practically gone out of prac-
tice. Furthermore, if workingmen were to be
denied the right to organize and to elect rep
resentatives to care for their interests such
denial could only result in state of indvid-
ualism which would end in chaos and anarchy.
1t is the fact that this right still belongs to
them that makes our American life free
from the so-caled anarchistic propaganda, and
which accounts for the small response the
part of American workingmen to such appeals.
1t seems almost superfiuous to add that trades
unionism does not endorse the plan for the dis
ruption of our American form of government.
Nowhere can be found more loyal citizens than
in the ranks of organized labor.
Trades dnionism is not a labor trust. A
trust excludes the many for the benefit of the
few Trades unionism opens wide it's door
to every workingman in the craft, frequently
reducing or abrOgating the initiation fee in
order to make it easier for the candidate. A
trust is a close corporation; trades union dill
gently seeks new members. It's officers are
not high salaried officials. They usually
ilnder-paid, when considers the character
of the work and the other demands which are
made upon them. The business agent of la
Dor union receives as his salary only the rate
of wages which prevails in this craft
"The principle Of the so-called closed shop
is accepted in everyday business life The
dealer will agree with the manufacturer to
handle only certain kind of goods. This is
considered perfectly legitimate. Why does il
seem unconstitutional when precisely the same
bargain is entered into between the employer
and his employees? Logically, then, the rea
open shop is the union snop, because any one
may enter it.
s'The trades union is unincorporated, sc
that an employer cannot hold it to it's contrac
while he himself is liable to damages. This i
not true Tt~is well known that an nnincor
poratcd concefa> can neither sue nor be sued
so that the employer and the trades uniol