The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1906-07-14
SOME POINTS ON HOW
TO START NEW UNION
A Good Start is Half the Battle.
Members Must Be Active
and Do Things.
Dom t Be Afraid to Make Mistakes
If up Against it Back up
and Try Again.

snuff" If they labor under the impress.
sion that the charter and outfit shtpp-
ed from the general office contain all
the necessary ingredients, hustle and
labor, to bring forth improved con-
ditiOns or advanced remuneration.
A good start is half the battle. You
cannot get a bang-up, right-off-the-
reel movement by wondering what all
Of the books are for and commenting
on the pretty charter that came along
as a portion of the outfit for the new
local. A point is here made, and that
Is, that the successful union is made
so by reason of the fact that Its mem
do things; not by reason OF any Pc
culiar talisman or good luck stone or
insignia sent out from the general
office with its charter and outfit.
Unfortunately, some of the unions
are not successes, and the reason for
their lack of progress Is due almost
wholly to lack Of self-assertiveness
confidence and the essentials that go
to make up what we call an independ-
ent unit Of a community. One of the
peculiar features of affairs generally
Is that the majority of men attend to
their own business quite satisfactorily
to themselves, but just as soon as
they establish membership in a local
union all Of that confidence and push
seems to ooze out of them, leaving
them absolutely without initiative.
Why this should be-. Is indeed prob.
lem. On the other hand, take that
same individual. Let him combine
with others and have them go into
business for themselves. You don't
l.ear of them writing to some 1ndivid-
ual or concern or firm, asking how
they should do this, that or some
thing else. They don't hunt around
bookstores and search libraries for
pointers.
Cn the contrary, they Immediately
LGOIt lglss end ests.blisn system
t-vlt;- $40 C-7sr tne concern that they
7an"ss<At - live - pz12encs. They
'trA.el ytod- cno Suc, lee ct-b-
|aet sIs ',l5t lE,rt, sSzTSit - tI.aE aaney
harc .tt7lan |att,cle. to dffpoxe O..
Nct * w ..La>y O. our new and
sars' ~ IAs cldsr nA.onG. Thsy- rome
-, .: ftb,r 1;e~% o. i1c. .5artn9
;Hings are ,<eirS to hspys9 o, their
WE s,coord,. s,11> vs,en they discover
TIT the thlns they call the union is
MI at tie ro~t. they begin to yell
J r. i1spar @tion, Tor ed, for. some one
;r other to help them out They write
either to the general office or to one
Of the general executive board and
appeal for some sort of inspiration.
some method to overcome what they
pitingly call ''our approaching disso-
luton; and still If these very men
were left to themselves, compelled to
depend upon their own resources,
that latent independence that lies DOR
mant, so to speak, in the majority of
Individuals, would assert itself. They
would necessarily dc something to
either make their local success or
destroy It once and for ALL
That union that stops still-that
neither goes ahead nor recedes-is
indeed in a bad shape. A successful
man Is not born with a silver spoon
In his mouth, nor as( indicated In the
forepart of this article) is the union
that eventually proves successful
pushed off on it's voyage with rab-
bits foot or some other alleged lucky
talisman that guided 1t safely and
finally launched 1t as a winner in the
end.
Envy of another local don't get you
anything. Don't envy the live, get
there local. On the contrary, It
would be better If you were to watch
their movements, how they manage
their affairs, and instead of showing
that you hate to see some one sue
cessful. just go right ahead and imi-
tate them. There have been more
failures In the local on account of the
men who were afraid to initiate than
almost any other solitary thing that
we recall. Don't refuse to do things
because some other union has done
the same thing and profited thereby
II you wait until you manage to, orig.
mate new ideas and plans to brinp
your union onto the road of success
mark this prediction, you never viii
['nd the road, much less discover
whether 1t is paved with cohh1a
stones or hard-boiled eggs,
lou ana your associates don't have
to be geniuses. All you have got tn
possess is a little horse sense and
hustle. with these ingredients nron.
erly amaigamated and fair sprink.
ling OF time, you can build a local
union worth WHILE, and have Tho
pleasing satisfaction of watching the
fellow that never would see anvthino q
In unions throw double-jointed fif
and tear the sides of his pockets eet
thing out his coin to pay his initiation
Don't be afraid to make mistalrea
Nothing that ever looked like the reai
thing was ever nrnducod ,,,.4,
something having gone wrong VIII
the works first shot. II you see that
you are up against it in one direc.
ton, back up and turn in another
way You know the old savine.
There are more ways than one t.
KILL cat than to choke 1t with
mush." So, too, with a union; there
are any number of methods to em.
ploy in order to pull It up at the
head OF the procession a winner.
R nrnA sVnyan 1.,,lYx -