Los Angeles herald., 1910-09-06

tue otter factors also of prime Importance;
namely, what can be done by the wage work.
ers in cooperation with one another, ana what
can be done by government-that Is the IN
strument through which all the people work
collectively. wages and other most import
ant conditions Of employment must remain
largely outside Of government control, must
be left for adjustment by free contract be-
tween employers and wage earners, subject TO
IeEislation which will prevent conditions which
compel man or woman to accept wages rep
rsssniing less than will insure decent
living.
But TO attenp. 20 leave this merely to In
dividuai action means the absolute destruc-
ton Of individualism; for where the indi-
vidual is so weak that he perforce has TO ac-
cent whatever a strongly organized body
chooses to give him. his individual liberty be-
comes a mere sham and mockery. 1t is IN
dispensably necessary, in order to preserve
to the largest degree our system OF indi-
vidualism, that there should be effective or
ganized collective action.
The wage earners must act Jointly, through
the process Of collective bargaining, in great
industrial enterprises Only thus they
be put upon a plane of economic equality
with their corporate employers. Only thus is
freedom of contract made a real thing and
not mere legal fiction. There are occasional
occupations where this is not necessary, but
speaking broadly, It is necessary throughout
tho great world Of organized industry. l
believe this practice OF collective bargaining
effective only through such organizations as
the trade unions to have been one OF the most
potent forces in the past century in promot-
ing the progress Of the wage earners and in
securing larger social progress for humanity
wherever there is organized capital on con-
siderable scale.
believe in the principle of organized labor
xand in the practice OF collective bargaining
not merely as a desirable thing for the wage
earners, but as something which has been
demonstrated to be essential in the long run to
their permanent progress.
This does not mean that I unequivocally
indorse any or all practices that labor organ
izations may happen to adopt, or any or all
principles that they may choose to enunciate.
Labor organizations have the weaknesses and
defects common to all other forms Of human
organizations. Sometimes they act very well
and sometimes they act very badly, and l am
for them when they act we'll and am
against them when they act badly. I believe
that their existence is a necessity; believe
that their aims and purposes are generally
good, and I believe that all Of them have
occasionally made mistakes and that some
Of them have been guilty of wrong doing.
Just in far as they are strong and ef-
fective they tempt designing men who seek
stimulate the desires of ambitious leaders who
may be clever, crooked men. or who may
be honest but visionary and foolish. In
other words, IN treating OF labor unions, as
in treating Of corporations or OF humanity
generally, we will do well to remember Abra-
ham Lincoln's saying that there is deal
OF human nature in mankind" Whether In a
man or in organized body Of men, the
power to do good means that such power may
I1a fvrgsF into axiIp ppH In nrff lon a a q
power grows so It becomes steadily more
important that 1t should be handled Alright
Just in proportion IN its proper function
power is important to social progress, so in
its improper function 1t becomes fraught with
social disaster.
Outside critics should appreciate the neces-
sity Of organized labor and understand and
sympathize with what is good in it, instead
Of condemning 1t indlscriminately On the
other hand, those within It's ranks should
fearlessly analyze the criticisms directed
against it and ruthlessly eliminate from the
practices of its organization those things which
justify such criticism and attack. This is
the path not only OF right but Of wisdom
and safety. Public opinion In the United
States Is daily becoming more intelligent and
more forceful; and organization, whether
trades union corporation, whether indus
trial non-industrial, can endure or perma-
nently amount to a social force If it does
not harmonze with a wise and enlightened
public opinion. Hitherto We Americans have
been overoccupied with material things and
have neglected to watch the play OF the so
cial forces about But we awak-
ening from that Indifference; and every form
Of organization representing an important eco
nomic, political or social force must undergo
a closer scrutiny than ever before.
I think that the next quarter Of a century
will be important politically in many ways,
and in more SO than in the labor
movement. Not only the benefits Of labor
organizations more clearly understood than
ever before but any shortcoming or vice dis
played in connection herewith is also more
clearly understood and more quickly resented.
The public Is growing more and more to un-
derstand that in a contest between employer
and employe-a corporation ana trades union
not only the interests of the contestants,
but the interests of the third party-the pub
lic-must be considered. Anything like levity
IN provoking a strike on the one hand or the
other, is certain more and more to be re-
scented by the public. Strikes are sometimes
necessary and proper; sometimes they rep
| resent the only way in which, after all other
methods have been exhausted, It IS possible
for the laborlng man to stand for his rights
| but 1t must be clearly understood that q
| strike is & matter of last resort, and Of course
violence, lawlessness and mob rule must he
! promptly ana Bternly ueaIt WltnI no matter
what the cause may be that excites them.
| Our social organization is too complex for us
/ to fail quickly to condemn those who, with
! leyity in q spirit of wanton brutality
! bring about far-reaching interference with
its normal processes. The public sympathizes
cordially with any movement for a good stand.
ard of living and for moderate hours Of EN-.
! ployment, q personally, for instance, cor
daily believe in eight-hour day and II
] Dn an r1afa T1nnvs
men and women are worked under harsh ant
| intolerabe conditions and can secure no reliei
without a strike. or, indeed. where the strike
is clearly undertaken for things which are
Yitally necessary-the public sympathy will
favor the wage workers.; but it will not favol
them unless such conditions as these are full
filled, and It win condemn them If they resor1
to lawless violence.
Therefore it Is becoming more than evel
| important that the labor movement should
| combine steady far-seeing leadership with
discipline and control IN It's ranks Dishones
leadership is a curse anywhere in American
life, and nowhere is a greater curse thar
in the labor movement. II there is one lessor
which / would rather teach to my fellow
Americans than any other 1t is to hound dowr
the dishonest man-no matter what his con.
dition-and to brush aside with impatient con.
tempt the creature who denounces dishonesty
when It is found in some special social stra.
tum. There are dishonest capitalists, dishonest
labor leaders, dishonest lawyers and dishonest
business men; dishonest men OF great wealth
ana dishonest poor mer, and the man who is a
genuine reformer will decline to single out
any one type for exclusive denunciation, but
will fearlessly attack the dishonest man, as
such, whenever and wherever he Is to be
found.
For many years have been more or les,
IoIo