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 IL 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 l 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
| u 200. 900 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
| viii certainly claim that the labor union
| men, individually and collectively, are
no better and have no greater rights
I 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
| there is not the slightest reason why the
| 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
! 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 peace-loVing citizens beside
| whose numbers the labor unions is a
| trifie.
Calls Il Labor Trust"
Finally, on this subject, 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
! 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 it is matter Of public note
mat the labor trust is the most wide
spread and aggressively exacting trust in
America, politicians pander to It, states
men stand in awe Of II, and the public
seems helpless in its grasp. Why? Be
cause II 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-
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-
palilng to every lover Of law. Yet it is
an object lesson which tells more WV
| idly than words that the labor union
holds itself as being higher than the
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
aggressiYeiy leYying a toll upon all the
other elements Of our citizenship. In
| other words, they have organized a
trust and demand that all other people
buy labor at whatever price they choose
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-
emporaneouSly, they are endeaYoring
TO force from employment all similar
%orkmen who do not join their orders.
10 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
| hire non-union men means for emuloy-
ers to be boycOtted and not infreuuert-
" to suffer serious damage to their
| property.
Equal Opportunity choked.
Therefore, as the labor unions have
com oined 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
/, =, al other classes to stand together
IN IN lne refusal to concede to the unions
| me preferential privileges they are en-
deaYorlng 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 a system which is
| breeding anarchy. which has already
| put the States Constitution in con.
2 w In tneH Ill
hundreds Of thousands of their fellow
citizens who have not offended them.
winch, In plain words, has applied
lynch law methods to millions of dol
criticism on them, but every person
! who reverences the law must condemn
the reckless disregard of the rights Of
/ me public which has characterized
with unmistakable c1earnes, not onlv
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"
II is cardinal principle of civiliza-
ton that law-abiding people should he
protected in the enjoyments Of life.
The 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-
fere.
1 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-
yenlence and damage recklessly in
illcted 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 un-
worthy Of the confidence with which the
electorate has honored me should | faF
to lay these facts before YOU and cal
upon you to enact such statutes as viii
force all classes and all individuals to
equa! allegiance to the State and equal
obedience to her laws
Upwards Of two millions Of people in
Georgia will 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 have nor
trayed ii has been made the duty OF
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