The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1907-07-08
THE TERROR'S DINNER QUESTION OF POLICY,
Why Trades Unions Insist on the
Closed Shop.
Al LESSON or EXPERIENCE.

4
| IL Has Been Demonstrated That Union
ist and Nonunionist Cannot Work
Together In Harmony What Open
Shop Means to the Union Man.
In an address delivered recently at
Los Angeles, Clarence barrow, the
Chicago lawyer, discussed the open
shop. He said In part;
Employers ceased long ago to fight
the unions directly They loudly pro-
claim that they believe In labor
4 unions, but they object to the way the
| labor unions are managed. That is,
/ they believe in the organizations, but
they object to everything they do. II
the men would organize and appoint
| the employers to manage the unions,
the latter would have no objections to
trades unionism, but. Of course, such
an organization would be futile for tho
\ purposes for which 1t is Intended. The
last device of the employer has been to
stand for what they call the "open
shop" with right TO hire whom they
i WILL AtkALQiESc Ul Nv hGlANA AA&y AAN
members of the union or not. AS q
| matter Of law and a matter OF right,
4 within the meaning that is commonly
understood, the employer has perfect
right to say that be will run an .'open
shop" that he will hire union men or
nonunion men, as be sees fit, or hire
1 both or neither, as he sees fit On the
other hand, the worlSingman has an
equal right to say be Will not work UNI
less he belongs to the union and he viii
not work with anybody who does not
belong to the union, and then 1t is a
question OF strength as between the
two.
The only legal way the workingman
can enforce the CLOSED shop" is by re-
fuslng to work with nonunion man,
or, In other words, by ''strike."
There can be no galnsaying his right
to do this. The employer loudly pro-
claims that man has an inalienable
right to work for whom be pleases and
for such price as he pleases. There
never was any inalienable right to
work, and there never can be any In
alienable right TO work under the pres
ent Industrial system. If there were
an inalienable right to work, then there
ought to be an inalienable right to get
a job, and every workngman ought to
have the right to 60 and find that job.
All the inalEenable right a man has Is
to get job if he can.
The question Of an open" or closed
shop is not a question Of law or
question OF right 1t is question Of
policy alone. Labor unions have never
insisted upon the 4closed shop" as
matter Of caprice. 1t has come from
experience and from reason. The un-
ion man and nonunion man never did
and never can work together in peace
and harmony. The interests OF the en-
ployer and the employees are antago-
nistic. The employer and bis boss are
naturally against the union because
from their standpoint the union Is
against their business They interfere
with wages, with hours, with condi-
tons. They are nuisance to the
business.
Put the nonunion man and the union
man together in the same shop. Every
place Of advantage is given to the non
union man; every place Of disadvan-
tage Is given to the union man. The
places Of danger go to the union man,
the places OF safety to the nonunion
man; the extra holidays to the non
union man, the hard task to the union
man; the highest wages to to the nom
union man, the lowest to. the union
man.
When times are hard the union man
IS the frst to walk the plank If he
becomes too active in his unlon-that
is, too industrious over his own af-
fairs and not industrious enough over
his employer's--h Is at once dlscharg-
ed. lie holds his position at his peril
from the moment he takes It. He is
working in shop where the highest
premium IS placed upon man who
does not belong to the union and where
the union man is living upon suffer
anee. He knows that under these cir
cumstanees he cannot maintain his I'M
ion. However much n workingman
may disbelleve in the union, the un.
lon man knows that, II be undergoes
the hardshlps and dangers ana ex-
pensea of a strike aud succeeds, the
nonunion nan IS the first to ask for
the increased pay. He understands
that the trades unionist undergoes all
the dangers, expenses, hardships and
priyntions Incident to unionism, while
the nonunion man reaps oil the re-
wards. No workingman win pay dues.
win suffer privation, win take chances
Of placing his job In jeopardy. while
the nonunion man, and be alone, profits
by his sacrifice.
The open shop IS really n mis-
homer All it ever meant or can mean
under present Industrial conditions IS
an open back door through which the
union man can be turned into the
street at the employers Will
President Neil Exonsratcd