Evening star., 1907-09-04
IN LABOR CIRCLES
O.

| In view of the action pending in the local
| courts. which was instituted by the Manu-
! facturers' Association against the Ameri-
| can Federation of Labor, the following de-
| cision, from the Massachusetts Labor Bull
| letin, will be of interest:
In a damage suit brought by o. B. Schulz.
| a master baker OF Racine. Wis. against
| the Trades and Labor Council and affll-
| lated unions of that city, an Injunction was
granted and damages were awarded the
plaintiff account Of boycott against
| his bakery placed by the defendants. It
appeared that in addition to posting the
plaintiffs name upon the unfair list. the
Trades and Labor Council circulated among
various unions. the plaintiffs patrons and
the public generally, or aided In and was
party to such circulation q circular ad-
vising the public not to buy bread of the
plaintiff. AS a result the plaintiff suffered
a considerable injury to his business. In
that An injury to ones business and
trade is on the same footing as an injury
| to his tangible property. and the law fur
other He defined boycott" as "A COM
bination Of many to cause loss to one per-
son by coercing Others against their Will,
to withhold from him their beneficial busi-
ness intercourses. through threats that I'M
less others do 80 the many will cause SINH
lar loss to them" He held that q boy
colt. though free from violence or threats
of violence, Is condemned by law and
that the granting Of an injunction restrain
| ing the defendants from placing the plain
tns name on the unfair list or from
distributing circulars bearing a notice ad-
vising the public not to buy goods Of a
certain person was not in violation Of the
constitutional provision guaranteeing free
ingly he granted an Injunction restraining
the defendants from doing the several spe
cif1c acts Of boycott, or any OF them, for
the purpose % or as means Of diverting or
or trade. AS damages he granted to the
plaintiff $4,000 for loss of profits from the
time Of the commencement of the boy
cotting acts up to the time of trial, and
$500 on account Of Injury to his business
and his property engaged therein as
whole during the same period, or total
Of 5000 damages.
The Labor day celebration. as carried out
by the affiliated trades unions OF the Dis
trict of Columbia. was successful from
every point Of view. One of the most ac-
tive labor leaders In referring to the, affair
said 1T was an object lesson and demon
strated the unity Of the working classes
here"
In connection with the day and its bear
ing on the existing controversy between
the building trades and employers Mr.. Sam
DeNedrey. editor of the Trades Unionist
said:
Those who claim that trade unions are
utterly selfish and antagonistic to the gen.
eral welfare fall to consider that prosperity
and trades unionism have developed side by
side. Here in Washington they have been
SO closely associated as to warrant the as
sumption that trades unions cause pros
perity That they are conservative OF pros
perity there IL certainly reason to believe.
By raising wages thev increase consump-
tion. fill the hopDers of trade and keep the
wheels OF industry in motion. Through
their instrumentaAty labor disputes may be
settled with less friction and more economi-
cally than under the haphazard system
which obtained when labor was disorgan-
lied.
SHOULD the open shop be thoroughly es-
tablished here. it would set back the pros
perity Of the District q quarter of century
at least. During that time Industrial con-
ditions would remain in continued state
of uncertainty until the inevitable reorgani-
zation of the trades was accomplished"
During the present month q number of
conventions OF international unions affiliated
with the American Federation Of Labor
chinists and the post Office clerks were
opened Monday. the former at st. Louis
and the postal clerks at Indianapolis, while
the general meeting of the sawsmiths was
woodsmen and saw mill workers are hold
ing forth at Eureka. Cal. Other oonven-
tions to be held this month are:
September o. Indianapolis. brick tile and
September r. Memphis. Tenn, cement
workers.
September 12. Boston. cotton mule spin
ners.
structural iron workers.
September 16. New York city. wood carv-
srs.
September p, waldon. N. Y, pocket
knife blade grinders and finishers.
Referring to one of the scandals that have
arisen in connection with the organization
Of machinists. the Labor editor Of the Pitts
burg Dispatch writes:
Zone matter Of vital Importance and an
affair that has attracted attention from
coast to coast. where machinfsts are in
volved. will be thoroughly threshed out at
this gathering, the convention Of the inter-
national union now in session at ST. Louis.
1t is the charge that the Erie railroad has
for some years past been paying the OFF,
GERS of the international association a fixed
sum of $4,000, on the understanding that
this company be immune from strikes. Off
GERS Of the association deny the allegation,
but the delegates nave been instructed to
thoroughly investigate the matter"
Facing almost the same conditions as the
machinsts in the way Of strikes are the
bridge and structural iron workers. who
convene at Indianapolis September 10.
These workers have been up against many
strikes during the last twelve-month and
the delegates at this gathering will be
called on to solve number of knotty prob
lens. There is a possibility that after this
conventional Pittsburg man may be found
at the head of the organization as ma
tional president. George Boyd, who was
defeated at the Toronto convention by only
two votes. may again enter the lists On this
occasion with good prospects of success, SO
his friends claim.
The officers Of the international unions in
their reports to the American Federation
of Labor state that conditions of employ
ment are steadily improving and that work
Is plentiful. The hodcarriers and building
laborers have been very active and have
organized a number of new unions recently.
The plumbers report that they have now a
membership Of $4,000.
i Lee M. Hart Of the Theatrical Stage En-
ployes has reported to Secretary Frank
Morrison of the American Federation Of
Labor follows:
Trade frst-class throughout In num-
Der of cities we have secured improved con-
ditions-Cleveland. Toledo. Dayton. Chi
cago, Youngstown. Oakland. San Francisco
and Los Angeles. Our convention which
was held in Norfolk in July. was we'll at
tended and elected the following officers:
President John Suarez, St. Louis Mo-; first
vice president, J. G. Skinner. Brooklyn, N.
Y; second vice president, x. A. Denney,
Houston, Tex; third vice president, w. ].