The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1914-01-01
SOME STRIKE THOUGHTS

There Is growing tendency to In
volve the government in labor troubles
Labor unions make demands upon their
employers; the latter refuse to grant
all that is demanded; the union men
strike; the managers hire other men to
do the work; the union men and their
| sympathizers become riotous; trouble re-
suits and there is bloodshed, the mill
| tia is called out and the business men
of the afflicted community organize for
protection and to uphold the law. That
is the usual chain of occurrences.
Then follow ordinations and recrim.
nations and demagogic politicians prick
up their ears and look for a chance to
further their interests by making a pre-
tense of taking an interest in the well
fare of the laboring man. Then comes
the demand for a congressional inquiry
It is right and proper that the depart
ment of commerce and labor should
make full investigation of all such dis
putes and make an impartial report
thereon. It is one of the duties of that
department and the great mass of citi-
zens have no fault to find. What they
do object to is the activity Of Ger
tain class of smalIbore politicians in
the premises and the invasion of the
rights Of the states
IT is the manifest duty of the state
to protect the lives and property of its
citizens, to subdue Instructions by
force il need be. If it is unable to do
this then it is time enough for the gov
ernment to step in and exert its au-
thority. Until the state is remiss in
its duty the government should keep
out.
The laborer is worthy of his hire; he
is entitled to fair compensation and rea-
sonable hours; to the same guarantee of
life, liberty and pursuit Of happiness
that all citizens of the United States
enjoy. But he is not entitled to any
more than that.
Strikes rarely accomplish any good;
at the same time there is no law COM
pelling man to work if he doesn u
want to, or any body Of men who have
banded themselves together in union
to continue to labor under unfair condi-
tions, There the matter stops 30 far
as the law is concerned. The man who
does not belong to a union has the same
natural rights as the man who carries
a card, but he takes his life in his hands |
If he accepts place vacated by a
striker in many instances.
The trust problem. when all is said
and done, is trifling when compared
with the labor problem. Most people
are ready TO concede that unions have
accomplished great good along certain
lines, but no one is ready to concede
that the members thereof have any
more rights than appertain to the rest
of the citizens Of the United States.
If we are to have congressional in.
terrerence in strikes, let congress pass |
laws for the incorporation of the unions,
defining their rights and duties and fx.
ing a boundary line beyond which they |
may not go. This would prevent the |
Of contracts and keep men of |
the Meyer aud Haywood stamp within |
the limits of the law. If that is OBJ |
jec ctionable, and there are very many,
uon-union as well as union, who would |
oppose IT, let the states require incom-
corporation under the laws of one of |
them and license to do business in |
the others. There ought to be RESPONSE