El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-11-13


the courts and to promptly prosecute
those men most closely concerned IN
their wrongful and illegal arrest. rms
call met immediate response IN Jne
ranks Of labor throughout the country
THE activity of our enemies was quick
" shown in the circulation and publ
cation in the press Of exaggerated
statements of the immense sums or
money which were to be contributed
for this defence fund, the transparent
purpose being to fOrestall the coIlec-
ton Of the money necessary.
at the conference In Indianapolis,
June %, a large number OF oIIlcers
of international unions were in attend
the defence Of the Mcnamara PROM
ers and the prosecution Of the kid
napers was thoroughly gone into
After the discussion of all the Iacus
of the case developed up to that time
confidence in the innocence Of the I'M
prfsoned men was felt and unanimously
expressed. It was decided that not
ONLY should the kidnapers be prose
cuted, but that every effort be MADE
to prevent a recurrence Of such out
RACES in the future. The unions were
urged to advance the amount equal to
% cents per member at once TO the
secretary Of the American federation
of labor, reimbursing the treasures
by subsequent collections from the
members.
lieves that the McNamaras are inno-
cent. Upon that belief there devolves
upon us another duty. The accused
men are WOrkmen, without means OF
their own to provide proper deIence'
The assault is made against organ
lied labor equally with the McNamaras-
If we are true to the obligations we
have assumed, If it is hoped TO forever
settle this system Of malicious prose
cutiOn Of the men Of labor, our duty
is plain.
Every man who was connected with
the kidnapine Of the McNamaras will
be prosecuted to the full limit OF the
law. 1t is proposed that the interests
OF organized labor shall be Iully pIo-
tected and punishment meLeo out 70
detective agencies that assume 70 pc
superior to the law. The rights or the
men Of labor must shall be, preserved
scientific Management" Denounced
OF the new gospel Of efficiency OF
so called Scientific management
president GOmperS says;
"This new economic gospel has It's
prophets and its policies. and Tor q
brief time had its crusade Wnlle us
leaders prOfessed that its objects com
prfsed many reforms in management,
arguments in favor Of what came 10 pc
popularity called efficiency principally
turned upon the idea Of getting more
product out of the toll OF the laDOIeI.
The phases Of efficiency presented 70
TENS long known, both to indoor ana
outdoor workers. Included in the
scheme were the bonus ana piece
systems, together with methods or
contracting and OF filming Whlcn nave
long been fought by trade unions ana
also q method Of sweating, by which
If a stated task were not competed
the promised bonus for il was entirely
lost and wages fell to point at Wnlcn
they would have stood on the ordinary
MANY absurd or unfounded claims
were for q time advanced in support
of the so called Scientific manage
ment.' It was said, for example, that
in the course Of its application, now
extending over more than a decade, IL
had never occasioned a strike. The
truth is that only during the last year
its attempted introduction has brought
on a series Of labor disputes, the en-
ployes in the navy yards and on other
against it by the means Immediately at
their hand. namely, an appeal to con-
gress against the changes, and espec-
tally the sweating, the system brings
into practice.
AS one book after another. OF one
pamphlet after another, was issued on
the subject, numerous public addresses
being made meantime by its sppOrters,
it became more and more evident that
the men whose names were chiefly
associated with it were not in agree
ment as to the principles Of efficiency
and its application. 1t is TO be said TO-
day that the system has been Tar from
uniformly successful It has been
abandoned in some Of the largest works
where some years ago It was adopted.
The fallacy in the statement that
wages were increased by the applica-
tiOn Of scientific management is now
generally recognized For the time
being. after its adoption, the wages Of
raised whereas much Of the work
usually done by skilled men is turned
over to unskilled helpers, working far
below the wages paid to mechanics
1T is plain that the system is not
to most OF the wOrk done on
time Tt has been said that In America
50, 0CO persons were working under the
system. If so the fact cannot be proved
by any detailed statistics taken by
any census, so far as trade uniOnists
have been able to ascertain. 1t Ori-
gfnated in. and has been chiefly con-
fined to. the work shops Of certain
large companies which have been no
tOrfous EMPLOYERS Of nOn-UniOn and
shops il has long been known that
certain operations which are performed
without variation day after day may
only require a low wage machine at
tendant, and If the preliminary stages
Of the work have been systematlzed,
Of course the output will be large at
a low cost. In small shops, however,
and in Industries in which the shop
work is not the main factor, the field
for the pyramidal labor arrangement
or organization, Of scientific manage
ment Is small.
Moreover, the promoters Of the sys-
TEN have so extravagantly advertised its
claims, and especially their charges Of
wiIful loafing against American labor
ers, that the general conclusion is
that they are mere discoveries Of
mares nest They have expected the
public to give. credence to the absurd
itv that WOrkmen in general soldier
to the extent Of one third or even one
half Of a proper days work The
public has refused to believe this
SANDER on the American WOrNingman,
and the workers themselves have
everywhere challenged these traducers
to bring forward proofs Of their as
sertions. In view Of the fact that
workers are the greatest
producers per man in the aggregate in
the whole world. it is an offence
against the common sense Of men to
ask them to believe that in shops
where fOremen are ever on the alert,
where the penalty for loafing is dis
charge. where all the men strive to
be among those kept on dull times,
where the great majority Of them are
responsible fathers or supporting mem
bers OF families, the workers would