The evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1907-1908, 1907-11-30
THE CLOSED SHOP"
DISCUSSION OF SUBJECT BY
REV. E. A. WATSON.
Law, Medicine and the Ministry All
Recognized as Legal and Ante
dating the Claims Of Labor.


Episcopal Church. of which he is rector,
has an article on the closed and opcn shop,
in which he compares professional men
with Rorkmen in closed shops and shows
how. in his opinion. the professions, as
closed shops. are recognized under law and
custom. He says:
The theory OF the open shop is that
every citizen should have the right to sell
his services to whoever will buy them
without let or hindrance. The transaction
is the exclusive concern of. the buyer and
seller. No third party has the least right
to intervene. let alone TO coerce. This per-
feet freedom OF contract is of the very
essence of liberty; and may be counted on
to produce the best results to both buyer
and seller as well as to society in gen
erai. There will, OF course, be possibilities
OF fraud. but these very possibilities will
sharpen the wits Of both sides, and the
fraud will in the long run be detected and
punished. This is the great American
principle tany principle that for the mo-
ment strikes the fancy is 'Amerlcan').
Now let me take advantage of this
freedom Of contract. / happen to have
read extensively in the law. OIL have
read a little, Or l have not read at ALL
1t does not matter which. But I offer my
services as a lawyer to a a who is
Se6hlUk leEdl GOuIiSGt. L pSTbuduC hthl
ttat I can do his business FOR him. We
agree on the terms. Everything Is reci-
procsliy satisfactory. And I start out to
fulfil my end OF the contract.
"But hold! What is thisl Who Is this
interloper. this braEen intruder, this impu-
dent third party who obtrudes his hated
presence between us, both, and dictates
to me. and blackmails me for what he calls
a fine. and even threatens 10 put me In
jail IL I protest? Who is it?
why, 1t is the State; 1t is society.
And my crime. it seems, is practising law
without its permission; or, as 1t puts 1t,
without a license. The State presumes to
grant or withhold permission to dispose of
my services as I see At. 1t interferes in
and vetoes a private arrangement salts
factory to both parties In interest. 1t
calls on me to pass a hateful examine
ton. which I cannot pass. and to undergo
certain formalities which it dictates. be-
fore / may practise. law.
VIVA has become of the great PAL
iadium of our liberties, this sacred free
dom Of contract? As long az. my client
and I are satisfied. whose business is 1t
anyway? But, alas!i so it is. The open
shop is disavowed. A man is not at liberty
to employ whom he pleases as a lawyer.
but only to choose from a very select, ex-
elusive list dictated to him by a third
party who is ever more hateful than the
walking delegate; for the walking delegate
Is at least a next friend to one OF the
parties. but the State has no interest in
either, though 1t processes a p%aternal In
terest In both. But when you are talking
about open shops, don't forget that the law
Is a closed shop.
1.-THE most eminent physician in the
world Is irresistibly drawn by the attrac-
lions OF Newark and settles down among
us to practise his profession. The whole
world knows of his skill, and he comes
laden with legends, Our loss 10 Newark's
gain Yet, what is this? Two policemen
in plain clothes call at his office with a
warrant for his arrest. and hale him forth
In the very act of relieving sufferers to
the Court House, there TO answer a
charge of practising medicine without a
license.
What! Hasn't a man the right to sell
his services to any buyer he can find?
Where is this great palladium, the free
dom of contracts? What business Is it
of anyone else II a physician contracts
with a gentleman. for a satisfactory con-
sideration, to remove that gentleman's APP
pendix? Certainly his skill Is his own
property. Certainly the appendix is the
gentleman's sole and undivided property.
And cannot q man 10 Wnat ne VIII win
his own? All, the sacred palladium Is a
heap of ruins. For the sad truth Is that
is a closed shop.
Nor may l even accept a quarter FOR
extracting a friends aching tooth with
out being bullied and punished by this
hateful walking delegate. the State; FOR
dentistry Is a closed shop.
"And our ministry is a closed shop. Can
you credit it that no Episcopal minister
dare even preach the Gospel on n street
corner anywhere near st. Stephens Church
without first coming and getting my. per-
mission? II he did he could be severely
punished. And one of the most distin-
guished ministers OF our church. the Rev.
Dir. stephen H. Tying, was many years
ago disciplined for just such an offense.
Why, we ministers have closed not only
the shop, but also the whole neighborhood.
And it Is well to remember that his
toricaliy the motive in these restrictions
was not the public welfare, but the selfish
interest OF the corporation or guild. The
members already IN wished TO keep others
out that there might be less competition,
and more business and profit to divide
among themselves. The law, medicine,
dentistry, the ministry, and such, are
| really m~onopolies, originated and actuated
by the same motive as other m~onopoltes,
I'm talking of the closed shops of b
unions, therefore, let us in fairness not
forget that they were long antedated and
are now o~vershadowed by other closed
shops organized and managed by their bet
ters."