United labor bulletin. (Denver, Colo.) 19??-1915, 1910-02-25
ORGANIZED LABOR and
DIRECT LEGISLATION
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and even a concerted refusal to trade
with the oppressors of labor-is counted
as illegal by the tools OF corporate greed
Peacefully to persuade man to quit
work where strike is in progress or
even publishing circulars notifying work
men and women of the existence of a
strike is used against peaceful, law
abiding American workingmen as evil
dence of conspiracy to ruin a business.
Think minute How dark, how hope
less the future is for the women, men
and children who must toll in order to
live. The murmurings unheeded, their
hands tied by "law." their most earnest
and manly endeavors to procure-not the
full product of their toil-but mere sus.
tenance for themselves and for those de-
pending on them brought often to naught.
A brutal disregard for the lives and
property of the common" people, the
piling up of wealth procured by the most
shameless means, debauchery OF morals
full disregard of law everywhere, are
these not all familiar signs of our pres
ent rotten social and economic life?
Let the working class-the people
bring the necessary changes about, one
by one, by the aid of direct legislation.
These are sound and reasonable argu-
ments why every true trade unionist
should agitate for direct legislation,
which is certainly in the interest of a
truer democracy-that will bring more
freedom to the workers.
1t is the disunion, the division, the
working at cross-purposes, each separate
mass for itself, that binders the advance
ment of the working people. They must
be welded into perfect unity for a grand,
noble, supreme effort, that will give us
direct legislation. and with it the eman-
cipation of all the workers from wage
slavery.
Then. having the means. the method
the instrument in their possession. the
working people will call into being these
measures that shall prove their economic.
moral and practical wenbeing. Mistakes
will be made certainly. but they will not
coat the people fraction of the amount
our laundering representative system
fieeces us out of at present.
Our honored friend, Judge Ben b..
Lindsay, wisely says in 'Everybody's"
in his last article on THE Beast and the
Jungle: What we most need, is not
laws against trusts and corporations lin
iting their powers and restraining their
activities, but laws for the people, per-
hitting them to use their power and re-
storing to them the tools of democracy.
which the corporations have taken from
them. 1t is useless to agitate for govern
ment control of trusts long as the
trusts are able through our machinery
of elections. to control the government
that is to control them. Once let us re-
gain control of our legislatures our
courts. and our public oficials-by re-
gaining control of the process OF electing
them
Judge Lindsay tells in his article Of
meeting once William r. Freeman. cor
poratIon lobbyist. who in reply to argu-
ments made by Judge Lindsay for re-
form of the election laws. said: Yes,
they do give us the power to rule the
people but why shouldn't we have 1t?
You know the corporations give this
state good government. Look what Speer
has done for Denver. Suppose the cor
porations have got millions of dollars
worth of franchises; they know how to
use them and the people don't. Now be
honest. You know the people aren't fit
to govern themselves. If the corporation
of this state didn't do it for them, what
kind of state would we have?"