United labor bulletin., 1909-11-19

wickedness combined. The removal of
the obstruction was, of course. a neces-
sity, but necessity to whom? neces-
sity to the public and a necessity to the
railroad company. which had millions of
dollars that would be rendered valueless
unless the tracks were cleared. 1t was
not a necessity to the section man, who
was working for s1.50 day. His only
interest was the slight compensation
which he received for his work The
public had tremendous stake in the re-
movai of the obstruction. The very SOL
vency of the railroad company depended
upon whether or not 1t could be removed,
but the courts OF Colorado, both state
and federal. declared that for these rea-
sons the public should pay nothing; but
the widow of the laboring man should
be deprived of his earnings and her
happy home become a house Of mourn
ing. II that be reasoning, commend me
to the inferno of unreason for the rest
of my days.
But some apologist will say that the
employe voluntarily entered into the
service. Such has been the oft-repeated
declarations of our courts. Voluntarily.
indeed, He had no choice. II he re
| fused to obey orders he would be sum-
marily discharged for disobedience. and
to be summarily discharged for disobedi-
ence is TO be blacklisted by corporations
generally. We are of the opinion
that If the poor. unfortunate men
who were killed by the Florence & Grip
pie Greek r. r. Co. had refused to work
in removing the obstruction from the
track and had subsequently applied to
other corporations for employment.
everyone knows that they would refer TO
the last employers. Questions formu-
lated on printed blanks would have been
submitted TO the Florence a Cripple
Greek r. r. Co and the answer OF that
company would have been. We can not
recommend the applicant. He was dis
charged from our service for disobeying
orders" and the laboring man would
have been denied a job on the ground
that his recommendations were not sat
isfactory." II in the year eO0s some
I faithful historian should relate the story
D
cut near Adelaide, Colo. on the 11th OF
April. 1901. and OF the attempt OF the
widows to recover compensation. 1t is in
conceivable that the readers Of that day
should believe the story. Why should
the men who are compelled to sacrifice
their lives at sl.5O per day to avert i'm
pending disaster TO the public and TO the
railroad company bear all of the bur
dens of such risks. Why should the pub
lie and the United States government
whose mails were obstructed and the
railroad company whose business sue
cess was at stake be relieved from all
risk whatever. while the unfortunate la
boring man who had no interest but to
earn his meager wages. is required to
assume the financial risks as well as the
physical?
Pause and reflect. The laporing man,
so situated may know when he enters
upon his task that there is chance for
him to be killed. But he knows equally
well that IL he refuses the task his en-
ployers will blacklist him; he will be
out Of job; and his family may be re-
ouired to face starvation and want. What
opportunity for choice has he? None
but to choose between the chance of
death and certain starvation. Suppose
that we should then turn our thoughts
to the humble cottage occupied by the
wife we love and the children we adore
| and remember that to disobey meant
starvation for them. Suppose that we
should be troubled by the awful fear
that to lose our job might mean that our
days should be devoted to vain attempts
to get employment and our nights should
he tormented by the walls of hungry
children crying in vain for bread. What
would you and do? We would take the
chance. We would enter the cut, and
continue to work in the place of danger
not from choice, but from necessity.
To say that unde- such circumstances
the employe voluntarily assumes the
risk is to insult the intelligence of man.
kind. But such ia the law. Is there not
something wrong? Ought there not be
remedy Great Britain found a rem
edy Is years ago. Her statesmanship,
unawed by capitalistic greed wrought
that remedy into public law. Much of
the civilized world made haste to follow
her example. Let us hope that America
will sooner or later shake on the yoke
of privilege and do likewise.
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