El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-10-24
Trade Unionism and the Community;
What~the Union Is Doing For Men
By VIM. Geo. Griffin, typographical Union.

Of the comforts Of life; and that at
least a wage that will keep man and
his family in decency-cOUpled with the
fact that he works for same. We can
not ignore these fair and reasonable
claims. a man cannot sing Home,
Sweet Home" on a starvation wage,
and we are pleased to note that even
governments and state bodies are rec
Ognizing and endorsing this principle
by making it a vital part Of their leg
islation. with undoubtedly far reaching
effects for the future.
We unionists must try to prevent men
being driven to the desperate resort of
strikes. We must reason together in
liberation and with a noble considerR-
ton for the welfare Of the whole com
munity. We must legislate to meet the
changing order of things. We must
try to remove the causes of strikes.
SOciety-the cOmmunity-is undergoing
a Transformation which is the fruit Of
a Century's democratic education and
struggle 1t is far better to make this
Transformation evolutionary than revO-
lUtionary. We must not destroy and
quarrel; we must reconstruct and rec
Oncile. We must use all peaceful means
in our power. Working men are learn
ing, and they must be further taught
along these lines, that the quiet vote is
if properly used, far more serViceable
to their cause thin the turbulent strike.
Employers must remember that the
welfare and the well being of the cOun-
Try IS 10 De COuSluGIeu as We'll as luQL-
TidUal profits
1t cannot be cOntradicted that trade
uniOnism of today is performing a val
liant service for all workers. They are
constantly on the alert guarding the
rights and interests of all workers
therefore the community; millions Of
homes have been frightened, manhood
and womanhOOd and childhood have
been benefited by it and when we
benefit childhood we undoubtedly bene-
fit the community
, And permit me for a moment to
dwell on the subject of children The
American is a humanitarian and ideal
list. No man has such lofty ambitions
for the human ace as the American.
But when it comes to practice we find
that labor uniOnists are taking Aft
not the-mOst prominent part to lift
the stain of exploitation of the labor
of little children. which is a bloody
stain on our reputation as a nation
The LABOR unions are striving
to remove the curse of child labor
They do their utmost to stir the indiS-
nation Of public opinion: they feel that
the worst the most shameless slavery
exists; they would have it mined out.
Society. as a whole, has been favor
ably affected, free government has
been strengthened by the invigOrating
influence III trPde uniOnism- We stand
as the bulwark of the liberties of the
people. Our service is one of the illu-
minating features of the history Of the
world. No other agency has been so
successful IN redressing the wrongs
suffered by the working class-the
community.
Tt hardly seems credible, but never
theless it is an incOnvertible fact
that many so called learned men in the
country are of the opinion that the
working classes have no right to any
thing but drudgery at the barest sub
sistence wage. They are aghast at the
demand for a living wage and work for
all They are tao stupid or too selfish
to see that the life CT the nation de-
ponds upon che welfare of its workers
the community.
Labor unions cannot be destroyed by
the few financial wire pullers" because
wealth would not be without labor
whilst labor could not exist without
wealth. but a community" of today is
a combination of wealth and labor,
therefore, "uniOnism." And all trade
Unionists ask to be treated in that
spirit.