The Marietta journal and courier. (Marietta, Ga.) 1909-1918, 1914-07-17
LAWLESSNESS OF UNIONS

LAWLESSNESS OF UNIONS
The platform in full follows:
To the People of Georgia: The
strength of government of a free
people lies in the deliberate making
and the fearless and impartial en-
foTcement of just laws Preference
for a class and fear of a class by
those who make and administer the
laws are alike odiu3 to all who hold
justice as basic principle and not
the temporary expedient of the op-
portunist
In our own state and Throughout
the United States within the past
few years there has come to the
front one organization, within a
class, whose practices are here un-
dermining and there openly defying
the laws of the state and the general
government. This organization Is
made up of varions brotherhood5.
orders and associations which are
popularity known as trade unions,
or labor unions, by which latter
title | shall designate them.
Labor unionism is a foreign inn
portation into this country; the vast
majority of is membership is COM
posed of foreign born people, many
of them not even naturalized as
American citizens, and the head of
the general federation who is him
self foreign born, in a speech to his
associates last November, urged them
to Make the immigrants union
members as fast as they come in"
This, if done, will, of course, still
further strengthen this foreign or
ganization in it's fight upon Ameri-
can people and American laws.
This federation of organizations
does not even pretend to include
more than one third of the labor ele-
ment of the United States, yet it ar
| rogates to itself the privilege land
claims it as righD to dominate the
status of labor and concurrently to
establish class dominance over all
.he other elements of American citi-
lenshp. 1t has supplanted the pro-
cess of law with the process of the
| club, the brickbat, the revolver, the
dynamite stick, the torch and the
| other instruments of anarchy. 1t
! 'Picllets" the public utilities and the
industrial establishments upon which
! it has ordered strikes and by threats
OF open violence terrorizes those who
desire to work, 1t exercises the
! power Of paralyZing the public utili-
| ties to the serious inconvenience and
/ damage of millions of people who
| have no interest in it's quarrels with
its employers. 1t claims the right
! of its members to quit their employ
! ers at will but resists the right of
of employers to discharge them AT
! will. 1t is, in fact, a labor trust,
which is militnattaonshrdlcm cmfw
! which is militantly striving to GUST
from the arenas wherein it works all
rival labOrers. When terrorism does
not coerce, its monthly record proves
that it does not hesitate to use
bloodshed to enforce its monopoly.
Anarchistic Practices.
Therefore, inasmuch as the gener-
al government exercises mandatory
powers over the owners of public
utilities, which do interstate bust
ness, and enforces those powers with
adequate penalties, it should exercise
similar powers over the employees OF
those public utilities, Observation-Disclosures
those public utilities, to the end that
a stop be put to their anarchistiC
practices in paralyzing those utili-
ties which the government commands
to operate. We cannot allow any or
ganization within the United States
to enforce its will over the laws. We
cannot tolerate the practice of the
labor unions members in yielding
!
bel than they do to the great seal
of state.
Hence, if elected by you to the
United States Senate, l pledge my
self to use all endeavors practicable
to secure the enactment of law, OF
laws, to force the incorporation OF
the labor unions whose members op-
crate the public utilities on such
basis as will protect the public con
venince and interest while safeguard.
ing the rights of employers and en-
ployees. To this end each 'officer
and employee of public utility
should be required to take oath that
he will neither singly nor by com
bination do any act to impair the