Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-01-16
SQUARE deal
TAFT POLICY
SECRETARY SAYS EMPLOYERS
SHOULD RECOGNIZE UNIONS
HITS VIOLENCE.


candidate for the republican presiden-
tial nomination, Secretary Taft faced
New York audience and set forth in
detail his stand on the pertinent ques-
tion of the relative interests and
rights Of labor and capital.
He pointed out the dependence, one
upon the other, of capital and labor.
He declared great aggregations of
wealthy, properly employed, widened~
the field of labor and were to be well
coined, while wealth improperly used
was to be condemned.
He advocated unionism insofar as
sympathy and resultant cooperation
made for common good He insisted
that labor needs capital to secure the
| best production, while capital needs
| labor in producing anything. Both
elements must work together. They
are dependent upon each other for
success.
Labor Needs Capital.
The labOrer should be theslast to OBJ
| ject to an accumulation of wealth be-
cause great capital is necessary to adj
vance the enterprises that employ Ia
4 Dor, and the greater the capital the
/ chances for the employment of labor
is proportionately increased.
The worlkingman who entertains O
prejudice against the lawful capitalist
because he is wealthy, who votes with
| uIction for men who are urging un-
just legislation against him and who
makes demagogic appeals to acquire
popular support in what they are do
ing. is standing in mis- own light, is
blind to his own interests and is cut
blind to his own interests and is cut
ting off the limb on which he sits, said
the speaker.
For Fair Treatment.
ct is greatly in the interest Of
the workingman," he continued, that
corporate capital should be fairly
treated. Any injustice done to ii, acts
directly upon the wage earners that
must look to corporate wealth for
their employment. Take the large
/ body of railroad employees. Any dras-
tic legislation which tends unJustily
to reduce the legitimate earnings Of
the railroad must in the end fall
with heavy weight upon the employees
Of that railroad, because the manager
will ultimately turn toward the wages
as the place where economy can be eff
I fected So in respect to taxation, If
the corporation is made to bear more
than its share of public burdens, it re-
acts directly first upon its stockhold-
ers. and then upon it's employees,
Union Hare to Stay,
He pointed out that the labor union
is permanent condition in the indus
trial world and that under the exist
ing conditions the blindest course the
! employer of labor can pursue Is to de-
cline to recognize labor unions as the
: controlling influence in the labor mar
ket and to insist upon dealing only
with his particular employees 3
The wise manager, he said, would
!, receive the representatives of unions
3 and listen to their arguments as they
would to the managers of any other
corporation enterprise with whom
, they were to make an important CON
tract affecting the business between
/, them.
Taft frowned upon the spirit of ar,
: rogance sometimes displayed by labor
, leaders There also is often a dis
play of arrogance on the other side.
It is harmful in both instances.
Condemns Violence.
While upholding the legal right OF
f men to form union, to strike and te
$ put the employer to great inconve
nience in order to compel him to &C
1 cede to their demands, Taft condemn
: ed the resort to violence and argued
: in favor of arbitration in the settle
ment of labor difficulties.
3 The secretary denounced combina
: lions Of capital formed for the pur
pose of keeping up the prices of the
: necessities Of life which necessarily
\ reduces the purchasing power of tho
wages, which the laborers receive. He
v urged workingmen to assist the gov
?. eminent in stamping out this class o
ID corporations.