The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-08-03
LABOR
ABROAD
Labor Leader Attended Fourth of July Reception at American
Misunderstanding Miners for Not Workiag-Visits to Labor
Men and Observations of Weight and Interest.
Letter No. Three.

OhiPiOyC1S, Which, HAS UoSH CONSTRUED
by the employers as al Intention to
leave his service. The miners of Dur
nam certainly come under the law, and
stOngly wishing a day off took it deS-
plte the orders to the contrary. Can
sequently they are being punished for
breach Of contract. Are the business,
the employing classes ever jailed for
such a crime? T o me it seems that
a gross discrimination exists in such
cases against labor. A very capable
and prominent labor man assured me
that he had never known Of an in
stance Of the character in his own
trade. ] had made the inquiry in the
presence of a umbe Of active, stud
iOuS, labor men, officials of labor or
carnations, and who testified differ
emily as to their men in their own
Unions as we'll as others; they men
toned occurrences where men were
fined anu imprisoned in brass work
ing, railroad, gas workers and several
other trades who were fined and i'm
prisoned for absenting themselves
from work for even a day. UndOubt-
edly, an inquiry yill yet be made by
the Trade Unionists whether the
rights under the British Constitution
will permit imprisonment for failure
to fulfill these specific terms of a con-
tract for personal service. When con-
tracts exist between business men
and the party contracting to perform
SS1 toll1 = lSS o11o " O1bI4 I1Io
terms of the contract, he may be sued
in damages. If he cannot respond
to civil damages because of poverty,
the injured party cannot compel the
specific performance of the terms Of
the contract for that service. The
same contention applies to the en-
p1oyer and the employed.
In connection with this, a case just
ended in the courts is to be noted, in
which the British a Dispute Act
of 1906 has not worked out as eN-
pected. An agent of the Musicians
Union at Bristol, after the Union had
Withdrawn it's members from the or
chestra of a local theatre in a strike,
circulated a hand bill asking the pub
lie to patroniZe another theatre which
employed Union men. In the suit
brought by the "unpatrOni7ed" the
atrical manager, he obtained judg-
Musicians Union, but the
who issued the hand bill. The judge
in his decree expressed views strangely
at variance with those entertained
not only by Trade Unionists, but by
all who had any connection with the
enactment of that law Of 1906. The
judge maintained that when the mana
ger OF the theatre succeeded in hiring
a sufficient number of musicians to
satisfy his avowed needs to replace
the men VINO STRUCK tnoTo no longer
existed any dispute : between the
Union and him. While in America
it has been decided that the express
refusal Of Union men to p~atronize
any employer Of non-union labor is
not Illegal, but the coercion of a third
party is the feature necessary to es-
tablish a boycott liable in damages.
This judge in England gave damages
for injury to the plaintiffs business"
With these DEGREES as precedents the
questions arise are the ~"disputes''
which under the Act are legal still
leave Union Treasures liable to
damage suits if the Union takes up
the conflict between an employer and
his own employees? In other words,
is the law to be SO interpreteGbathat 9.
Union cannot have a "dispute' with
al employer when his is running his
establishment with nOn-uniOnists?
Cannot trade-unionists, ~workmen, ap-
peal to the public to decline to pat
ronize an antagonistic employer.
On Wednesday, I visited the "House
Of CALI at the London Society of
Compositors, and addressed several
undre of it's unemployed members.
[ did what I could to inspire those
present with hope n determination,
but really in this country where one
sees so much enforced idleness ana
distress, the words of encouragement
that we are wont to utter with truth
at home, are arrested on our lips.This
printers organization has all the
praiseworthy features that character
ICES the best of trade union. Last
year the unemployed benefits, amount
ed to $4,000 and 1855 recipients:
besides to Ala superannuated members
$4,000 was paid. In 1913 cases of
DEATH, 1880 was given to the next Of
kin. The total number of members
in his local union is 12,202; the So
ciety's freehold building in ST. Brides
street is valued at $4,000. Secretary
T. E. Naylor told me that last year
the expected annual f~iuctuatiOn in
membership and means proved the
great stability of the society. He said,
"When the industrial history of the
year comes to be written, 1908 will be
ranked as one Of the worst ever ex-