Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1912-08-15
SOCIALISM AND
TRADE UNIONS
Well Known Labor Leader
Denounces Socialism as
Enemy of Unions
UNIONIST WANTS PEACE
Socialism Teaches Destruc-
ton --- Unionism Stands
for Construction

That socialism is the greatest en-
envy of the trade union movement
ami that Il generates class hatred,
is the contention Of Peter w. Col
lins, formerly international secretary
OF the brotherhood of Electrical En-
gineers. The above views were eX-
pressed by Mr. Collins in an inter
view published in the New York
World recently, part OF which is as
follows:
You never hear the socialist ora
.Cr l.'oclalm is tue theory Of Narl
.,4arE that religion. private property
and marriage stands in the way oi
socialism, and that the socialist state
can only be established when these
three factions have been eliminated; !;
and yet this is the cardinal principle
Of socialism.
"The proposal of the socialists to
destroy everything in order to get
rid of the unsatisfactory conditions
which they love to dwell upon is pre-
cisely that of the man who, when he
discovers a leak in one of the water
pipes in his house declares that he
will burn down the house in order
to get even with the leak.
LAS a matter of fact socialism has
never laid brick in any construc.
tive work. And the reason for this
may very we'll lie in the striking fact,
upon which sufficient stress has never
he laid by ant!-sociai.st Writer'S
that socialism has rot grown Uo ;,s
creed amc"s NE workers as the
result cf tA2 ohse:yati,!.. ,.p rieuc,
and thlUEht. uut nas been imp3s (.
a.. .nf
forta0ly fixed irttllectUals who have
~cVtr done any work themselves ana
have no tirst-hand knowledge of the
working classes, such as can only
be gained by working among work.
ers as a co-worker. In support OF
this point it is only necessary to re-
call the leading names of socialism
Marx. LaSalle, Leibknecht, La
fargue. Aveling, Engels, Bebel. Sing
er. Hindman, Belfort, Bax, Kautsky
IIillquit, Stokes, Paterson and Way
land group of university students
and rich men.
Contrast this with the parentage
of trades uniouism. The trades union
movement originated with the work
ing men. was developed by them, and
exists today as a living force in oul
lnuuStflaI lie Only because UlllllOnS
of workers have given their adhesion
to the movement and regard it as the
right arm of their defense against
unfair treatment
"NOW. the greatest enemy of trades
UniOniSm is socialism. for while the
former bases its action upon the the
ory that the interests of the employ
er and those of the worker are tC
considerable extent reconcilahle
the latter acts upon the assumption
that these interests are absolutely op
posed and irreconcilable. The trade.
unionist believes in peace, in indus
try. in corciliation. and in trad'
agreements. in arbitration, and il
collective bargaining; the socialist op
poses these ideas and oXpedients
and for Il most discreditable reason
namely. that the more employers anC
workers are brought together the
more disputes are settled by actua
concession, the less il will be pos
sible for the socialists to preach sue
cessfully the doctrine OF class hat
red, upon which the fultillment o
their hopes depends.