El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-09-05
ROOSEVELT ENDORSES PLANKS IN
AMERICAN EEOERATI0N PLATFORM
CONTINUED From Page one.>

Continued /
done by the wage workers in coopera-
ton with one another, and what can be
done by government-that is. by the
instrument through whitehall the peO-
pie work collectively
In Favor of Unions
Wages and other most important
conditions of employment must remain
largely outside Of government control;
must be left for adjustment by free
contract between employers and wage
earners, subject to legislation which
will prevent conditions which compel
man or woman to accept wages repre-
senting less than will ensure decent
living. But to attempt to leave this
merely to individual action means the
absolute destruction of individualism;
for where the Individual is so weak
that he. perforce, has to accept what
ever strongly organized body chooses
to give him, his individual liberty be-
comes mere sham and mockery. II
is indispensably necessary, in order to
preserve to the largest degree our sys-
tenn of individualism, that there should
be effective and organized collective
action. The wage earners must act
Jointly, through the process of collect
i've bargaining, in great industrial en-
terprises Only thus can they be put
upon a plane of economic equality with
their corporate employers.
Only thus is freedom made a real
thing and not a mere legal fiction.
There are occasional occupations where
this is not necessary, but speaking
broadly, it is necessary throughout the
great world of organized industry ]
believe this practice of collective bar
gaining, effective only through such
organizations as the trades unions, to
have been one of the most potent forces
in the past century in promoting the
progress Of the wage earners and in
securing larger social progress for hui
mainly, wherever there is organized
capital on a considerable scale. l be-
lieve in the principle of organized la
Dor and in the practice of collective
bargaining, not merely as a desirable
thing for the wage earners, but as
something which has been demonstrat-
ed to be essential in the long run to
their permanent progress.
Labor Organizations Weak
This does not mean that 1 unequiv-
ocally endorse any or all practices that
labor organizations may happen to
adopt, or any or all principles that they
may choose to enunciate Labor organ
liza tons have the weakness and defects
to all other forms of human
Sometimes they act very
well and sometimes they act very bad
ly; and l am for them when they act
well; and 1 am against them when they
act badly. I believe that their exis-
tence is necessity; I believe that their
aims and purposes are generally good;
and 1 believe that all of them have oc-
casionally made mistakes, and that
some Of them have been guilty of
wrong doing Just in so far as they
are strong and effective, they tempt
Designing men who seek TO control
them for their own interests, and slim
ulate the desires of ambitious leaders
who may be clever crooked men. or
who may be honest hut visionary and
foolish In other words, in treating
Of labor unions, as in treating of cor
porations, or of humanity generally,
we will do well to remember Abraham
Lincoln's saying that there is a deaf
Of human nature in mankind" Wheth-
er ina man or organized body Of men,
the power TO do good means that such
power may be twisted into evil
Necessity For Organizing.
Outside critics should appreciate
the necessity of orga nized labor, and
and sympathize with what
S good in it, instead OF condenfning il
On Hhe other hand,
hose within its ranks should fearlessly
analyze the criticisms directed against
t and ruthlessly eliminate from the
practices of organization those things
which justify such criticism and at
-ack. This is the path, not only of
light, but of wisdom and safety. Public
opinion in the United States is daily be-
coming more alert and more intelligent
md more forceful; and no organization,
whether trades union or corporation, !
whether industrial or non-industriaI, |
an endure or permanently amount to
social force if it does not harmonic /,
With wise and enlightened public !
opinion.
Present Epoch Important
I think that the next quarter of a /
century will be important politically in 1
many ways; and in none more so than 1
n the labor movement. Not only are
he benefits Of labor organizations more /
.learly understood than ever before, but /
my shortcoming or vice displayed in /
Herewith is also more clear /
Y understood and more quickly resent |
ID. The public is growing more and |
more to understand that. in a contest /
between employer and employee cor (
'oration and a trades union-not only |
he interests of the contestants. but the |
interests of the third party-the pub /
ic-must be considered. Anything like /
eYity in provoking a strike, on the /
ne hand or on the other. is certain |
more and more to be resented by the
ublic.
Strikes are sometimes necessary and
roper; sometimes they represent the
My way in which. after all other
Methods have been exhausted, it is pos
ibie for the laboring man to stand for
is rights; but it must be clearly I'M
erstood that a strike is a matter of
asst resort, and of course violence. law
and mob riot must be promptly
nd sternly dealt with, no matter what !
he cause may be that excites them.
'ur social organization is too complex |
or us to fail quickly to condemn those
Tho, with levity or in spirit of wan
on brutality, bring about far-reaching
nd disastrous Interference with its nor.
lal process.
Where men and women are worked |
nder harsh and intolerable conditions.
nd can secure no relief without a
trike, or indeed, where the strike is
learly undertaken for things which
re vitality necessary-and then only as
last resort-the public sympathy will