Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-06-25

I public men anxious to retain offices of
] honor and trust has been found IN the
/ fact that in several communities it votes
/ soltdly in blocks of scores or hundreds
/ for those who cater to II and against
/ those who refuse to bow to its demands;
/ but call your attention to the fact
| that besides multitudes in the cities
and towns whose interests are leopard
/ lied by its eXactions, there are upward
II 200, 600 voters in the rural portions of
| his State whose welfare can only be
/ protected by holding the members Of
\ the labor union to the same nOn-interfer-
/ ence with the rights of others and the
same accountability to law which they
| admit as governing themselves. They
I Will certainly claim that the labor union
/ men, individually and collectively, are
| no better and have no greater rights
! than they.
will add that it is no answer at all to
say that labor can not get its rights
! IN any other way than by a strike and
| boycott The courts are as open to the
/ labor union man as to the farmer and
/ after should be required to settle his
/ difference in the States way, which in
/ lures no third party, and that the labor
! union man be left free to damage every
'ody else While settling his difference
J by a strike.
He, therefore. who would remain in
| public life would do well to merit the
approval of those myriads of law-abid-
/ ing and peaceloving citizens beside
| whose numbers the labor unions is a
| triie.
| Calls 1t Labor Trust"
| Finally. on this subject, l will observe
| that the trend of the laws Of the present
day is to the suppression of combina-
| tons, generally styled trusts organized
! for the restraint Of trade. These trusts
are condemned by law because they
endeaVOr to force from business all com.
petitors save those in their guild and to
exact out Of the people unduly high
prices for products they handle.
Yet, While II is matter Of public note
! hat the labor trust is the most wide
spread and aggressively exacting trust in
America, politicians pander to IT, states
men stand in awe of #, and the public
seems helpless in its grasp. Why? Be
cause it votes in blocks OF thousands in
almost every State in the Union It is
composed of allied organizations which
stand as one man against all other ele-
nonts of society.
Recent events have shown that some
| of the leaders of one of these organiza-
! tons have been sentenced by a United
states Court to Imprisonment for
crimes or violence against those who
did not yield to their exactions, and the
members have bailed them out and re-
elected them to high offices in the or
ganlzation. Such development is APP
! palling to every lover of law. Yet ii is
an object lesson which tells more Wv
idly than words that the labor union
law
Unions In Minority.
The labor unions have but small
minority of the people of Georgia, yet,
by combinations which work through
strikes and kindred methods, they are
aggressilvely levying> a toll upon all the
other elements Of our citizenship In
other words, they have organized
trust and demand that all other people
ouy labor at whatever price they choose
70 put upon it--and that price is higher
nf FfnrLrT ~
receive and higher by far than the peo-
pie have ever paid before And con-
temporaneously, they are endeavoring
TO force from employment all similar
Morkmen who do not join their orders
To attempt, as non-union men, to COM
pete with them as laborers means to be
treated with open cOntumely, attended
sometimes by personal violence. To
hlre non union men means for employ
ers TO be boycOttec and not infrequent-
property.
Equal Opportunity choked.
Therefore, as the labor unions have
combined against all other classes in
thelr determination TO defeat the equal
lty OF opportunity assured by the laws
OF the state the necessity Is forced
all other classes to stand together
in the refusal to concede to the unions
| the preferential privileges they are en-
deaYoring to exact for themselves alone
And, as the unions have their pass
zens should be: The Law"
1t Is not improper here for me to de-
care that not all of the members Of
the labor unions are wilful yiolators OF
law. A very large percentage of them
love their State and would not know
lngly do any one an injustice Yet they
are the victims Of a system which Is
| breeding anarchy which has already
put the States Constitution in con.
! tempt. which has relentlesly WronRed
hundreds OF thousands Of their fellow
| ciuzens who have not offended them
winch, IN plain words, has applied
lynch law methods to millions OF dol
lars worth of property. I pass no harsh
criticism on them, but every person
who reyerences the law must condemn
the reckless disregard of the rights OF
the public which has characterized
their leaders. And the State must
| with unmistakable c1earnes, not only
| Sondenn these acts, but must force the
doors Of them as clearly. to know that
she viii not suffer such occurrences to
be repeated.
Law Should Protect"
1t is cardinal principle Of civiliza-
ton that law abiding people should be
protected in the enjoyments of life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness
me state does not interfere with her
| orderly citizens in the possession of
these rights, and it is the intent of her
Constitution that no one within her
borders shall be permitted so to inter-
I have no more interest in this matter
than has any other average citizen OF
Georgia, but. as her Chief Executive
whose duty to obey her laws BY en-
forcing them is supreme over every
ambition and personal interest, | have
, noted the recurring instances of open
contempt Of her Constitution, of incon-
yenience and damage recklessly in
flcted upon multitudes Of her citizens
by one class, and OF brutal assaults upon
working men who were engaged in obey
Ing her laws and serving the people BY
operating the public utilities which she
had chartered and whose operation she
had commanded, and I would be I'M
worthy OF the confidence with which the
electorate has honored me should / faf
TO lay these facts before YOU and call
upon you 10 enact such statutes as win
force all classes and all individuals to
equal allegiance to the State and equal
obedience 10 her laws.
Upwards Of two millions Of people in
Georgia viii look with no patience upon
the continuance OF a condition which
leaves their basic rights In life at the
mercy of the star chamber of the labor
union.
Compulsory Arbitration.
Under the conditions I have por-
trayed it has been made the duty OF
the State, therefore, to protect her citi-