The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1907-05-10
A GOOD PAPER.


Mr.. David NJ Parry. president of the
National Manufacturers Association,
recently contributed the following to
the press of the country:
Nations have brain stoi ms as well
as individuals, but the American ma
ton has always a subst3ntlal element
of sanity at the bottom which has ena-
bled II to come safely through every
crisis.
,rhe whole labor question revolves
around the simple proposition w 1sn nr
whether they shall, by common con
sent or by act of government be CIV
en- a special license to override the
law.
IL the laws are wrong, then they
should be chanGed--changed in an or
derly and constitutional way, and not
annulled or disregarded according TO
the caprice of portions of the peo--
pie. This being Granted, the natural
inquiry Is, What law is 1t that union
ism commonly seeks to violate or
abrogate? The answer to this query is
that it is the law of individual liper-
ty
nre 100000 organized men who seek
the overthrow of the law of individual
liberty, the basic law of the republic,
Is enough to shake ones confidence In
the average EoOO judgment OIL mem
But there is one saving grace about
the situation. and that is that the
great majority of the men belonging to
the unions do not understand that I'M
struction of liberty They would be
the last to do anything consciously
that would injure the liberties of the
people, and they would be the first to
offer their lives in defense of those
liberties.
Our government is founded on the
open shop doctrine We declare that
the liberty of the individual Is para
mount to the will of the state.
We think Mr.. Parry Is unduly lib
eral or lenient to the union men when
he argues that the great majority of
them do not understand or intend that
they are to carry their ends by VOL
ence, or that they would he among the
first to offer their lives in defence of
the liberties of the people-those lib
critics, prominent among all others,
being the right of the individual citi-
zen to be his own judge on labor 1ues~
! tions, 1t may be that in its original
conception unionlsm was intended and
! designed to act only by legal and
peaceful methods, but If SO. that time
! has passed. Those who belong to la
Dor unions and all who purpose join
ing them should know that where I'M
ion men fall to get their demands
strike is ordered. and that If the strik-
ers cannot get what they demand 9TH
erwise they will resort to violence and
destruction of life and property.
Mr.. Parry is correct when he de-
clares that our government is found
ed on the open shop doctrine" The
principle of the open shop is the prin-
cipIe of individual liberty under and
within the law, and that is one of the
basic principles upon which the gov
eminent is founded and upon which
II must stand or fail to stand at all
The object of a strike Is TO deprive
union men of the right and privilege
of thinking and acting for themselves
and that is a blow at the very foun-
dalton OF free government.
The news dispatches the past day OF
two have brought accounts of serious
disorders succeeding the organized
strike of street-car men in san Fran
cisco When the company tried to rur
their cars with non union men the cars
and the operators were violently as
saulted and much damage done to per
sons and property. why were these
non-union men thus assaulted? Fol
the simple and only reason that they
were trying to make an honest living
for themselves and their families by
working for those who would give
them employment. No other charge
cou,d be brought against them, ant
tra men who assaulted them were moi
only ]awless disturhers of the peace
but they were robbers in intent. be
canse they We're trying to deprive 9th
cre NJ the right to earn their own liv'
Ing.
What occurred in San Francisco is
but repetition Of what happens In al
most every organized strike where EN-
Movers refuse to yield to the demands
of employees Sometimes these de-
rnands are reasonable and are accedec
N Sometimes the demands are un-
reasonable bat are yielded to because
amnloyers are not in position to have
work stop. At other times the de
mands Of the union men are so thor
oughly and outrageously unjust tina
the employers refuse to yield or com
promise with the employees Then