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

/ public men anxious to retain offices Of
honor and trust has been found In the
fact that in several communities it votes
solidly 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
Of 100000 voters in the rural portions Of
this 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
viii certainly claim that the labor union
men, individually and collectively, are
no better and have no greater rights
than they.
viii add that It is no answer at all to
say that labor can not get It's 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
there is not the slightest reason why the
latter should be required to settle his
difference in the States way, which in
1ureS no third party, and that the labor
union man be left free to damage every
body else while settling his difference
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
trifie.
Calls It Labor Trust"
Finally, on this subject, I will observe
that the trend of the laws OF the present
day is to the suppression of cOmbina
lions, generally styled trusts, organized
for the restraint Of trade These trusts
are condemned by law because they
endeavor to force from business all com.
those Dd IN
exact out of the people unduly high
prices for products they handle
Yet, while ii is a matter of public note
that the labor trust is the most wide
spread and aggressively eXacting trust in
America, politicians pander to it, states
men stand in awe of It, and the public
seems helpless in its grasp. Why? Be
cause 1t votes in blocks Of thousands in
almost every state in the Union. It is
composed of allied organiza tions which
stand as one man against all other ele-
ments 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
ganization. Such a development is ap-
palling to every lover of law. Yet ii Is
an object lesson which tells more Wv
lNig AIldu WOTuS lldI Iue LABOR union
law.
Unions In Minority.
The labor unions have but a small
minority of the people of Georgia. yet
by combinations which work through
strikes and kindred methods, they are
aggresslvely levying a toll upon all the
other elements of our citizenship. In
other words, they have organized a
trust and demand that all other people
a hOT af hat
to put upon it-and that price is higher
than other workmen in like occupations
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
Workmen who do not join their orders
10 attempt, as non-union men, to COM
pete with them as laborers means to be
sometimes by personal violence To
hlre non-union men means for employ
ers to be boycotted and not infreauent-
~ to suffer serious damage to their
property.
Equal Opportunity choked.
Therefore, as the labor unions have
combined against all other classes in
their 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
words, the password of all other citi-
zens should be: The Law"
1t is not improper here for me to de-
clare that not all of the members Of
the labor unions are wilful violators 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 system which is
Dreedlng anarchy. which has already
put the States Constitution in con-
tempt. which has relentlesly wronged
hundreds of thousands of their fellow
cltlzenS who have not offended them
which, in plain words, has applied
iynch law methods to millions of dol
lars worth of property. l pass no harsh
criticism on them, but every person
VINO reVerences 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
condemn 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 a cardinal principle of civiliza-
ton that law abiding people should be
protected in the enjoyments of life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness
The state does not interfere with her
orderly citizens in the possession of
these rights, and it is the intent of her
CONSTITUTION InaI no one within her
borders shall be permitted so to inter-
fere.
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, I have
noted the recurring instances of open
contempt Of her Constitution, of incon-
yenience and damage recklessly in
tlicted 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 l would be I'M
worthy of the confidence with which the
electorate has honored me should | fail
to lay these facts before YOU and call
upon you to enact such statutes as will
force all classes and all individuals to
equal allegiance TO the State and equal
obedience to 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-