The herald., 1913-07-24
A step BACKWARD
What a Return to IndivlduallSm
Would Mean.
TREND IS TO COLLECTIVISM.

| The Trade Union Idea of Arbitration
| Most Logical Method Of Settling In
| dustrial Disputes-8ased on Common
| Sense and Social Sanity.
/ At the recent dinner Of the BrOcktOn
Economic club General President To-
| bin Of the Boot and Shoe Workers un-
/ ion delivered an address reported in
the Brockton Times in part as follows:
The present day solution of problems
Of labor is the best and most logical
| form Of trade union formed Oh the
| platform of the American federation.
! Offering logical, peaceful. business
! like vehicle Of adjustment for the Is
sues that arise between employer and
| employee. preserving and bettering the
earning opportunity of those who work.
| the business Of the employer and pros
perity for the community. The right Of
| labor TO organize has been conceded
Wise men agree that has come TO stay
We are In the infancy of the move
ment
BrocktOn offers one of the most nOta
BILE examples in the world Of the bene,
fits a community derives from a safe
and sane form of trade union, protect
ing the wages OF the workers and at
the same time presenting an obstacle
/ a., Of Of Wi
Sequent loss of earnings for the work
erS. business for the employer and the
tremendous economic loss that indus
trial warfare imposes on a community.
We have but to point back few years
to offer BruCktOn's present prosperity
as an Illustration of the benefits that
| come to an Industrial city by the APP
pliCation of logical trade unioniSm
My friend Mr.. Hugo. who is to
speak later. runs an open shop in BOs-
ton; hence his interest in the prin-
ciples that are opposed TO what we call
the better way Of treating with indus
trial issues He is one of the type OF
employer who opposes organization of
tlBIltA It's MS " l't VI tlilI - NIOII-
for the reason that it is IN inherent
right of mankind to organize Labor
that opposes organization of employers
simply on the ground of antaGOniSm to
the organization OF employees. and the
employer that opposes organization of
his employees are equal blundcrS in
present day society. Such factors are
Inconsistent and illogical
Long study by those who gave birth
to the idea OF the American trade
union and who pilOted its practices in
days gone by have led TO arbitration as
the most logical method of solving
present day problems of industrial re
Iations. Arbitration is based on com
mon practices of business dealing. and
II is an unsOund program that attempts
10 knock down arbitration and set up
in the place of compromise a theory on
a pedestal and call il the principle Of
individual liberty Trading horses is a
form of arbitration. agreeing TO bar
gain is arbitration or compromise. and
when employer and employee are IN
able to agree on the extreme demands
of one side or the other "a Che basis Of
adjudication. then compromise or a
middle ground is the natural. logical
method of settlement. based absolutely
on the law of common sense and social
sanity.
Before the days of collectivism or
collective bargaining of the trade union
idea. as fostered by the American Fed
ration of Labor. employers associa-
tons like that which Mr.. Hugo repre-
sents did the thinking for those who
worked. and the workers had nothing
to say as to the standard Of their wage
or of the conditions under which they
should be employed That was in the
days when the individual liberty OF
which we hear so much was the rule.
and the employer dealt with the iDdi-
vidual and gave him what he pleased
The trade union idea has suppIanted
this, protecting the wage and securing
uplift for the many. to the advantage
of society generally. We could not re-
turn to the individualism of which my
friend Mr. Hugo often speaks in pub
lie without taking step backward. A
trend Of the times has been and Is to
collectivism.
Labor unionlsm Is not perfection.
The movement is new, green and IN
tried in many ways. We have a great
many religious beliefs: the same dis
cussion as TO the best denomination
takes place every day. each hour. The
same differences Of opinion exist re-
garding the trade union. Men Of vary
ing minds differ as to the best form
But the trade union movement is not
made up Of picked men. physically or
mentally. 1t must necessarily accept
men Of all calibers, of all creeds and
Of all nationalitiaJ. No other organiza-
ton is subject to the same cosmopoli-
tan character Of membership or to the
same variety OF opinions. We are not
selected risxs: we are from the hum
blest worker to the most skilled in the
trade. 1t is not strange. then. that we
should have imperfections For this
reason the trade union movement
should be encouraged If labor maps out
q safe and sane policy i'm dealing with