The Gem worker and the Idaho labor herald. (Boise, Idaho) 1914-1917, 1916-02-03
THAT WAGE INCREASE
Labor Through Organization Obtains Measure
of Justice
(By Marcus Dayl

and at the same time punish crime
committed by organized laborers no
organized business of great complex
ity, such as steel, coal, iron, etc. can
force union labor to terms. 1t must
have governmental support in the use
of force.
One of the common errors of
thought in connection with labor wars
and which is much played upon in
times of strikes by the press which
abuses labor for hire is that strike
breakers can be found in sufficinet
numbers to re-people any industry in
the country. This is only true of
unskilled workers The latter is used
as club to force the skilled operators
to submission at any given point of
attack--if the strike is widespread
over several labor centers there is not
sufficinet skilled labor to cover half
the field outside of the union ranks.
| hC POWCl vi tlS SdJltdllSl - tHc use
of the secret boycott which holds
union-labor outlawed to any other
than his own immediate district The
cure for this is simple and labor has
at last adopted it--a general strike in
all districts where a certain monopoly
interest is attacked and a drawing
| Of c,DOort 6ropc;a1i,, fro,,, oti,a~ Ga1ds
of labor while the war lasts Here
is where the necessity of disinterest-
edness on the part of governmental
servants comes into play to the adj
vantage of one side or the other. If
the government is under the Admins
tration of Taft whose sympathes
are with the employer, the riots which
are engineered by detectives in the
service of employers work in unison
with subsidized press appeals to pas
sion to discredit labor in the eyes of
the general public of affected districts
and pave the way for state interfer-
ence with troops in order to put down
alleged violence on the part of union
labor If union-laborers do not COM
NIT outrages the detectives do the nee
essary thing in such situaton-hire
thugs to do the work 1t is any
thing to gain forcible control by state
military in order to reduce the effec
tiveness of picketing and put up tenn
porary bluff. The great monopolistic
employers do not want to drive their
skilled workmen permanently out of
employment-they are just as anxious
to have him back as be is to return to
work except that both want independ-
ence more than they want anything
else The employer wants perfect inde-
pendence for himself and slavery for
skilled workman-the skilled work
man wants equality with the employer
and justice in his relations. Whenever
he demands more than justice he in
jures the cause of labor generally but
whether he does or does not demand
more than he is entitled to, the press
which is owned or controlled by the
employers will certainly attempt to
create the opinion that the union-la-
borer is asking for arbitrary power
and extravagant wages.
Labor has so perfected its organiza-
tion over wide fields that it is reaching
the point where in times Of great pros
perity it can almost dictate to the EN-
ployer. 1t is remarkable that it has
shown so much forbearance in dealing
with the smployer because with its
present position with the employing
class reversed, who can doubt but that
the nhonopolistic employer would take
relentless action?
Union-labor is useing the proper
method of agressiveness suited TO the
peculiar situation and will refrain
from over-stepping demands that are
unsuited to the times until the ques-
tion of ownership of industry is taken
by the country at the polls. Its
present true course is forbearance
without surrender, to accept every op-
portunity to press its demands upon
capital when the latter is forced to
yield rather than lose meney by the
loss of business in times of great busi-
ness activity, to avoid asking too
much. to build up its moral support
in the country by better behavior
than the monopolist INDUCES in
against it and to steadily spread its
organization.