The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-01-02

nOn-uniOniSm. Another. and q most
notable factor, arose with the appear
ance Of labor organization. It was
made possible through the crudities
in the form and operations OF n
first organizations and the natural
blunders of their representatives.
blunders which persist, on occasions.
to the present time, when the organ
lied are under an improved discip-
line.
In the Old World the uprising of
labor in any form through political
parties or through trade organiza-
tons, could not be met by the arSu-
mentS. springing from equality in VOt-
ing or in material opportunity, which
in this country once had in them
some show Of reason. In the thickly
settled countries of Europe the masses
have had few opportunities, even IN
education; there has been no SEM
blance Of equality among the citizens.
except as the poor were equally and
miserably poor; the economists and
other teacher Of the public Of
Europe nave therefore favored, rather
than discouraged, labor organization.
Non-unionism, with It's w~age-wOrkers,
was never a normal or natural stu
alton. CnioniS1n. as SOC as SerfdOm
was actually put aside, was a logical
outcome of W~orking-clasS liberty. In
America. on the other hand. the
white masses of Wage-WOrkerS nave
passed from the stage of cOmparative
economic freedom Of forty years 6
to q social stage apprOximating that
Of the industrial countries Of Europe.
Consequently the area. social and
geOgrap hical, for the American non
unioni3t. has been contempOraneously
narrowing. The premises for his
reasoning. in self-defense or apology,
have been gradually disappearing.
His leftover maNims, fitting to a
period Of crude and mistaken indi-
5 vidualism, are no longer appropriate
[ to the times, The lot of one man,
l year in and year out. in any Of our
, great industries, is the lot of the mass
7 in nine cases - ten; in nineteen III
[ twenty; or in ninety-nine in one hun
. dred.
With few exceptions the day for the
industrial Wage-Worker to study
purely personal advantage, the over
reaching OF his fellows, or promotion
! and finally partnership through race
= horse strain and effort, has gone by.
: The mass Of the worker have COW
. cred the whole am of climbing up,
on the shoulders Of others, as taught
g in the circles which profit by 1t, with
a a full set Of queries. A few Of these
are: What proportion of US can
q possibly win the few glittering prizes
ever dangled before the eyes Of us
all? OF what profit is it to the rest
L when one Of us, or a score in a thou.
sand, is set up above the others? Why
should we not study, for the com
mon betterment, the methods which
Will surely yield equal benefits to thu
entire brotherhood?
II While the hardships Of daily ex
perlence have been divesting tn.
IS w~age-worker himself of the supersti
at ton that the conditions Of half a cen
l. tury ago still survive as guides ane
g. bases for his hopes, his plans, his &C
I'd tlvities in getting along in the world
Id converting him from ~non-unionist t.
as unionist, the theoretical territory o
Of non-unionism- nat Is, individualisn
y, still has strd ngholds in our court
V and our colleges. The lawyer. deal
Ing in precedents, and the professo,
looking to history, are apt to Sc
an what was instead OF what Is. TIL
wase-Worker, on the contrary, know
n by contact with his tasks Of lob
lst hunting and job-holding what actua
lSt conditions are. Hence. while the co
SIS ieSe president emeritus has praise 70
at the non-unionist, the union worke
n regards him as usually unfaithful
We his class. though granting that occs
IS slona!iy he ma yet be a product {
LC NhS koINilIolS SURVIVING IN the ST.
On currents Of agricultural or industri;
lie, HE where the general social situate
IL OF times gone by has been still
lal some extent perpetuated.
OF In this survey Of the origin an
1e- progress Of the two sentiments-no,
en- union and union, individual and G,
a operatIve-Which in this country be;
ide upon the organization OF labor u
the arrive at an understanding Of II
uc- possibilities Of honesty and princip
Am anlmaung men on either side. r,
vas judge on the bench may be acting
; a a~ccordance with his lights, which a
M legal tones, in rander,,o 1,aa-.
an that are absurd when viewed fro
ne the standpoint OF the spirit and soci
needs or today, The old-time &C
d iese professor, 8 closet man. NAV
the Royal to ideals Of citizenship Will,
M were possible. when his favorite a
us thorities in sociology gave the wor
ere their heavy volumes. The coTo