The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1908-05-02

Rev. Father Ryan Addresses Meet.
ing at Auditorium in st.
Paul on Sunday.
Urges United Action Along Poll
tica1 Lines for all Trade

Unlonists.
At. a meeting held in st. Paul on
Sunday evening to make formal pro-
test against sthelrecent decisions of the
supreme court he Rev. Father Ryan
of that city spd e as follows:
'~ Father Ryan. Address.
LAS catnolkc priest I am glad to
express my SYMPATHY with the pur-
pose of this meeting. That purpose
is to obtain Reasonable relief for le Dor
through legislat tion. e During the. Mid
die Ages the Church, encouraged that
Legislation which made the Guilds 80
powerful for good, and she has al
ways. advocated the Intervention of the
state to secure justice to the laborer.
She has alwaya opposed (see for ex-
ample, the: Encyclical Of Pope Leo
XIII on the condition. Of labor') the
doctrine of sunMmited freedom of con-
tract and of dk1npetition. And it. is
because Of thee hold which these two
false doctrines have long had On the
popular mind thnt meetings like this
of tonight are necessary. A large
section Of the people is still Of the
opinion that this unlimited. and ex-
cessive freedom Is a good thing for
industry and 4yenss for the laborer.
Hence the soaposition' Of many we'll
meaning persons 5>to such methods of
U~ionism as the close shop and the
boycott. = is
Freedom Of Contract.
These persons. do not realize that
the freedom Of contract, which they
advocate in opposition to these prac-
tices; is an unreasonable freedom, is
in fact a htndrance to real and useful
freedom. Likewise the judges Of our
various courts frequently give deci-
sions adverse to the methods Of Union
ism because they are still under the
influence Of: this most irrational and
destructive theory OF unlimited free
dom In industry So, for example, we
find our United States Supreme Court
deciding that the New York bake shop
law was unconstitutional because it
deprived women OF the freedom to
work in bake shops at night; and that
freedom Of trade which is assumed to
be SO valuable according to this extra
ordinary theory kf industrial liberty.
Moved by the same theory, other
judges have ranted :. injunctions
against .picketink and against strikes,
ana have annuifea child labor laws and
eight hour laws. It. seems to. Inc; that
this theory Of unlimited, freedom has
been responsible for the most mon
strous crimes that have ever been
committed In the name of liberty.
Labor Must Unite.
Il have dwelt on this phase Of the
situation In order to make as strong
as possible my advice that the labor
ers unite to fight their, own battles
both industrial and political. They
cannot rely upon the good will Of the
general public because the general
public is still to a deplorable extent
misled by this fallacy Of industrial
freedom. The laborers .must force
their demands, their needs, and their
viewpoint upon the notice Of the pub
lie. and of lawmaker~ by agitation,
education, and political activity. Both
the general public and the lawmakers
are for the most part ignorant Of the
actual results Of the industrial free
dom which they SO admire. The ma
jority Of the lawmakers belong to the
professional and business classes, and
therefore are incapable Of seeing from
the laborer's VIEWPOINT unless they
are forced to do so.
Iilusive FalIacies. ,-
'Well-meanfng newspapers condemn
the entrance of Union labor into poll
tics on the ground that this is an at
tempt to secure class legislation. II
these journals were not blinded by an
unreasonable and fillusive. theory of
industrial liberty and industrial equal
ity, they would realize that practical
ly all legislation has the effect of ia
voring some class or classes. They
do not realize that as long as the
laboring class seeks only reasonable
legislation (as it is doing at presently
1t ought to be encouraged. And the
laborers will never secure reasonable
legislation until they demand it by
organized effort both before and after
election. I am not speaking now of
an Independent labor party. That is
a matter Of expediency and of detail
into which do not wish to enter. All
wish to insist upon is that laborers
have a right to such legislation as
| will render impossible those intoler-
able conditions which follow from a
regime Of excessive industrial free
dom, which will give than a real free
dom Of opportunity; and that they car
get such legislation only through unit
ed effort politically as we'll as indus
trially.'' x
L HOBBEs' TEMPERANCE.
From the Washington Gazette: