Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-01-14
. Secretary Morrison's Address

Secretary Morrison's Address.
secretary Morrison of the American Fed
Grafton of Labor addressed the mass meet
ing of the striking printers yesterday after
noon at 3 O'Clock He said, in part as fol-
lows:
The eight-hour day, SO far as the print
ers are concerned, is now established on the
continent of North America No force can
compel the printers to take a backward
step. IL Is true that an active warfare is
IN existence in a number of cities through
out the country, but the resistance of the
employers Is becoming less forceful and it
will not be very long until they will con-
cede that they have been vanouished and
their struggle in vain.
Ihe printers in strike in WASHINGTON
ana IN other cities throughout the country
nave established record for loyalty to the
principles for which they stand that viii be
long remembered by the employers of labor
The trade union in itself has incor-
porated the very essence of what is ex-
pounded by the believers In the Christian
religion. 1t stands for the brotherhood of
man and equal opportunity for ALL 1t not
only advocates these principles, but through
the unions 1t struggles to attain those ends
We contend that the union stands for all
that is good: that 1t should not be Judged
by the violation of its principles by in
judged by its ideals Neither should the
church be judged by its membership, but il
should be judged by it's ideals.
Talks of Open Shop.
"You hear a great deal about the open
shop. The open shop is one of the most
subtle phrases ever coined by the enemies
OF the trade union movement to bait public
opinion. 1t is nothing more nor less than a
new name for the non-union shop
1T matters not who may champion the
employers Of labor in their effort to destroy
the labor unions. the labor organizations
Will continue in their effort to establish
better conditions and present an unbroken
front to their opponents. The open shop
Is the latest and the most virulent ATTACK
during the past few years. The alliances
or the employers, formed for the purpose
of destroying the labor organizations used
1t on every and all occasions-so much SO
that nearly all other arguments against
the trade union movement We're lost sight
OF for the time. Now that the back bone
of this attack has been broken and the alu
ance has fallen by the wayside, after It's
first fierce onslaught, the older objections
have been brought to the front You hear
those who do not understand for what the
labor movement stands raising the follow
Ing objections: The Limitation of output
the forcing of employers to pay the union
scale to incompetent workmen' the limita-
ton of apprentices the tyranny of the
union laws over its members and a num-
Der of other reasons why unions Should not
exist.
I'VE hear manufacturers accusing the
members of the union of refusing to do
more than limited amount of work each
day. While this charge is made against the
unions, / deny that the American Federa-
ton of Labor, or any national or interna-
tional organization of any craft or calling.
recognizes the right OF a member to do
other than a fair days work for a fair
days pay. 1t has struck me as passing
strange that members of the manufac.
turers' associations. who meet in solemn
md ntInifa ri.
the question of limiting the output of their
factories SO as to sustain the prices of their
goods to the consumer, should accuse or
ganiZed labor OF doing the same thing, and
consider that the employers of labor are
being wrongfully dealt with by their en-
pioyes for so doing.
Declared to Be Untrue.
No phrase more thoroughly misrepresents
the position of the trade union movement
than the phrase. The union compels the
employers to hire incompetent men and pay
them the union scale This statement ia.
In every particular, untrue. The union
does not compel an employer to employ any
particular member, OF to employ any one
whom he considers Incompetent 1t does
say that every employer must pay q mini
mum wage; that Is. the smallest amount
that any union member can receive, but
1t does not prevent the employer recogniz-
ing the superior ability of any particular
craftsman and paying him as much more
as he Is willing to pay, or as much as the
woI knan feels he Is worth
Limitation or apprentices is another
cry that we hear from many quarters
You will not allow the young men to learn
the trade. There are Limitations that the
union has provided for the protection of
the organization itself against the unfair
and INSCRIPTIONS employer. In some in
stances. II rules of that character were
not adhered to, boys would be placed to
work on machinery that is used for GER
tain work of particular craft and calling
and after working a few years would be
no nearer master of the trade or calling
than after he had worked a few months
and If displaced, In time, by another boy