The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1913-10-04
DARROW CHAMPION
UNION LABOR CAUSE.
Continued FROM, Pave l.,

BY a closed shop is meant that II
the unions were sufficiently strong no
one but union men would be allowed
to work. This h strong proposition,
it Is true. But is it right or wrong.
If 1t were fact as We are assured
by the mouthpieces of capital that
labor and capital are friends, then we
would at once concede the wrong Of
the closed shop. t.. 81 -.
Labor and Capital Enemies.
But we must discuss 1t under the
industrial conditions under. which we
live. Labor and capital are not friends
they are enemies. This is an era Of
industrial warfare.
Let me show you how this works.
We have a man who builds a pillow
FACTORY. To operate it he requires coal,
! and Iron, and wood. and labor. He
goes to the man with coal to buy it
for his factory. The coal man tries
to get as much for his coal as he can,
and the pillow maker tries to buy it
as cheaply as he can. In this trans
action they are not friends, they are
industrial, enemies, each trying to get
the best OF the other.
In orders that he may get the best
OF the bargain the coal man has
formed a combine owning all the coal
In the country, and then has had a
| tariff placed on coal to prevent out
side coal from coming in. Then he
can fix the price where he desires to,
Some people are so foolish as to
mink God put the coal in the earth
| Tor the use of the people. They are
| are wrong, however. The Lord put
the coal in the earth for Mr.. J. Pier
pont Morgan, who organized a coal
trust so that he could sell the coal
at his own price.
People Are Tolerant.
And the people of this country are
such law-abiding cattle that they
would rather freeze than to take this
coal away from Mr.. Morgan, who
happened to get it first.
Similarly they would rather go
without Illuminating oil than not pay
the price fixed by John D Rockefeller
And the coal man, and the iron
man, and the lumberman, each sell
their products to the pillow dealer as
dearly as they can, and he tries to
buy as cheaply as he can. They are
industrial enemies.
1T is this condition that we must
consider when We discuss. the right
and wrong Of the closed shop. It
isn't an ideal condition. It is a con-
dit1on Of industrial warfare. While
congress passes laws to keep out the
cheap products of foreign countries
for the protection of our manufac-
turers, no congress has ever passed
law to keep out cheap foreign labor
for the protection of our workers.
When the worker sells his labor he
must do SO in competition with the
labor Of the world.
SO he organizes his unions. The
unions are efforts to create monop-
oily Of labor SO that the workers will
get better: pay for their labor. I be-
lieve that the unions have; done more
to add to the happiness and comfort
of the workers IN the lasta hundred,
years than any 'other agency. The
unions have done pretty much every
thing that has been done.
Few Own Earth,
"a few men today own the earth
and the tools Of production. They
can fix the price that must be paid
for the necessities of life. 1t will be
but short time when the workers Of
this country will have to be satisfied
with a lower standard of. living. It
is harder for them to secure increased
wages than It is for'the owners to raise
the price Of their products. There
never was a time in the history of
the world when the workers have had
all that they should have.
If the workers are ever to have
that to which they are entitled they
must have solidarity. AS the unions
are organized today we frequently
find one union scabbing on another
union. The workers must unite. closer
than in the past. They must realize
that an injury to one is the concern
Of all. ,.~'
1.-THE workers must learn the need
of political action The members of
the labor unions should forget their
old political parties. The worker
should do as the banker does, and
the manufacturer does vote solely in
the interest Of his own class. -
Nothing will be accomplished un-
til the working class is ready to vote
for that which really stands for them.
II will say here that the only party
the world over that is pledged to the
working man is the Socialist ticket.
The Socialist party is the greatest
political party on earth'-it is the only
| one that stands for the poor, and the
poor alone. I would like to see that
party grow. ~ =
5sst& s.. Not a Socialist. =.
II: am not a member Of the socialist
party, don't think that a man should
always vote party ticket straight.
In the election of, judges tor instance
1t is important that we vote for q
man who will interpret the law to
a. It should be. -: 9s:.i.-< III
Self interest is what the workers
should Consider. and that will gener-
ally make the worker vote the social
list ticket. 49,. -
But we. can't, get everything by
voting for it. There are other methods
| which would also be effective. II
there were such solidarity Of the
working class that all the workers
would stand together they could do
something radical. They could quit
| work for two weeks and ret what thew