Los Angeles herald., 1908-07-29

other enterprises to borrow money
enough for new construction or recon-
| struction.
We come now to the question of la
| Dor. One important phase of the quail
| ties of the present administration has
been anxiety to secure for the wage
Garner an equality of opportunity and
such positive statutory protection as
will place him on level in dealing
with his employer.
The Republican party has passed an
employers liability law for interstate
railroads, and has established an eight
hour law for government employees and
on government construction. The es-
sence of the reform effected by the for
mer is the abolition of the fellow SER
want rule, and the introduction of the
comparative negligence theory by
which an employe injured in the serv-
ice of his employer does not lose all
his rights to recover because OF slight
negligence on his part.
Then the act providing for compensa-
tion for injury to government employees,
together with the various statutes re-
quiring safety appliances upon inter-
state commerce railroads for the pro-
lection of their employees and limiting
the house of their employment. These
are all the instances Of the efforts of
the Republican party to do justice to
the wage Garner Doubtless q more
conservative measure for compensation
of government employees will be adopt
ed In the future The principle in such
cases has been recognized, and in
necessarily somewhat slow legislation
will be more fully embodied in definite
statutes.
interests Are Natural
The interests of the employer and
employe never differs except when it
comes to a division of the joint profits
of labor and capital into dividends and
wages. This must be constant
source of periodical discussion between
the employer and employe as indeed
are the terms of the employment.
To give to employees their proper posi-
tion in such controversy to enable them
to maintain themselves against en-
ployers having great capital, they may
we'll unite for in unity there is strength
and without it each individual laborer
and employe will be helpless. The
promotion of. industrial peace through
the instrumentality of the trade agree
men is one of the results of such union
when intelligently conducted.
There is a body of laborers, however,
skilled and unskilled, who. are not or
ganized into unions. Their rights be-
fore the law are exactly the same as
those of the union men and are to be
protected with the same watchfulness.
In order to induce their employer in
compliance to their request for changed
conditions of employment worklnen
have the right to strike in a body.
They have a right to use such persua-
sion as they may, provided it does not
reach the point of duress, to lead their
reluctant co-laborers to join them in
their union against their employer and
they have a right if they choose to
accumulate funds to support those on
strike, to delegate to officers the power
to direct the action of the union and to
withdraw themselves and their asso-
ciates from dealing with or giving to
those with whom they are in contro-
versy.
Attacks Boycotters
Labor has not the right to injure
their employers property, to injure
their employers business because Of
threats or methods of physical duress
against those who would work for him,
or deal with him, or by carrying on
what is sometimes known as secon-
dairy boycott against his customer or
those with whom he deals with in busi-
ness. All those who sympathtze with
them may unite to aid them. but they
may not through the instrumentaltty
of a threatened or actual boycott COM
having no interest in their controversy
to come to their assistance. These
principles have for a great many years
been settled by the courts of this
country.
Threatened unlawful injuries to busi-
ness like those above can only be ads-