The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1913-01-17
NTHE CIVIC LEAGUE OPPOSES
GOVERNMENT BY THE PEOPLE
State Meeting of the Open Shop Inter
ests Held at Seattle for the Pur-
pose of Organizing Their Fight
on Popular Measures Be-
for the Legislature.
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monopolies, manufacturers, municipal
contractors rings, and all the kindred
interests that fatten off the products
of all classes of working men, from
wage earners to farmers. Earl G.
| Constantine, secretary of the Spokane
Builders Exchange, a strictly open
shop organization whose fight on or
gained labor has made Spokane the
deadest town in the state, is secretary
of the state league and it's official
spokesman, whose duty it appears, is
to give out most indefinite brand of
information as to the specific things
that the league proposes to do. He
does this very deftly by the statement
that they will oppose all freak" leg
1slation-the statement is SO general
and has such a sound and conserva-
tive tone that it is felt the populace
will at once be chloroformed into a
sense of absolute security under this
splendid protection so generously Of
fered They are OF a class of men
whose life purpose and training has
been to get by with all their schemes
by fooling the people. Their tactics
are those of the wolf in sleeps cloth
ing"
What the state civic league means
by freak legislation and the way in
which they have stood for progress
sive measures in the past, is very
clear to any one who has given the
least attention to the past actions OF
the men who make up the member
ship Of this organization. The fact is
that the whole crowd Of them are re
dictionaries of the first water, and the
claim they now make that they have
stood by progressive legislation is the
never been piece of progressive leg
islation proposed in the history Of this
state that has not received the bitter
est kind Of opposition at the hands of
these men.
The eight hour law for women, fac
tory inspection, the direct primary,
the initiative and referendum, the
workingman's compensation act, and
every other particle of reform legisla-
ton that the people have been able to
secure in the past has been classified
by the membership OF the civic league
as freak" legislation and they were
out at all time to defeat its enactment
by any and all kinds of methods.
Their emissaries are in Olympia
now for the purpose OF defeating the
legislation proposed by the Washing
ton State Federation of Labor, the
State Grange and the Farmers Union.
Nor will their methods of fighting be
clean and above board They will
stab in the dark. They will make I'M
holy alliances with any kind of vic
ious interest that will trade with
them. They do nothing in the open.
1t will be the same stealthy, treacher-
Gus methods that characterize big
business the world over. They will
not meet the issue in open discussion,
or do anything that will give the peo-
pie a statewide knowledge Of what is
being done or why.
In remarkable contrast to these PEG
pie and their methods are the tactics
of the labor people who are here work
ing for the success of their program.
Every measure proposed by the labor
forces-the State Federation, the
Grange and the Farmers UNIONS
free of selfish bias. Every measure
has for its object the general better
ment and the enlargement OF the op-
portunities of the whole people, to
establish equality, to protect the lives
and health of the people, to educate
the youth of the state, and to guard
us all from the encroachment of sor-
did private greed. The headquarters
of these forces of the common people
are wide open to everybody. There
are no widespread consultations or
dark-lantern work of any kind or char
acter. Everything is open and above
board. There is no trading or prom
Uses of favors. Every proposal must
stand upon its merits. Arguments,
facts and figures are the weapons en-
ployed. By such methods these meas
ures must be successful, and if by
any chance they should be knitted to
death for this session by the interests,
rest assured that they will come back
to life for future sessions stronger
than ever, while the people of the
state will relegate their bertayers to
private life. The people who are
here representing the labor organiza-
lions will be alert and will keep the
people we'll informed as to the records
and the work of their representatives.
If nothing else suffices we at least
have the initiative and referendum to
| fall back upon as a last resort in Sc
curing legislation in the interests of