Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1916-03-15
JOHN HORTON BELIEVES
IN LABOR ORGANIZING
am strongly in favor of labor

and unite with his fellow man for
tions in general. No man will dis
putc this as a general proposition
1t is as natural for the men to org IL
izC for the general uplift Of all and
for the bettering OF conditions aIu
surroundings as it is for water to
run down hill.
Let's look around, at our very doors
and see what we find along this line.
The cotton mills, doctors, dcutists
lawyers, merchants, bankers and
hundreds Of other trades and pro-
fessions have their organizations.
Thon why is it wrong for the mill
operatives to organize? Why is he
alone singled out as the one class Of
our citizens, "whO shall not organ
iZc' for the betterment Of his con
ditions? 1t seems to me to be very
short sighted policy Of some OF our
mill presidents to pursue the policy
some lave the past months. Would it
not be better for them to say to their
help, Yes, so ahead and organize,
try and select the best men from
your ranks for the officers and COM
mttcemen to represent you, and
when YOU have any grievance OF
complaint to make, we will meet you
half way. We will talk the matter
over hear your side OF the case.
| hnt md
bic men we can get together and ad-
| just the NATTER" This seems TO me
to be the right course to pursue and
when anything is founded upon
right you stand upon very high
ground. 1t is a shameful state Of
affairs when white men, living in Il
free country, 1.-The land of the free
and home OF the brave" are ar;u-
ally afraid to mention a word, above
a whisper, in favor OF labor uEions
for fear OF being Immediately turned
Off and thrown out of employment.
| do not vouch for the tru;hfulnesS
OF the following, but it is generally
talked tnat if a man takes any part
in the getting up of a union. or even
speaks favorably Of them. his job is
gone. And it is a very difficult MAI
ter to get another position with any
cf the mills OF this section. Ii this
be true, it is rankest sort OF opprcs-
sion and should not be tolerated. |
hope it is not true, for it is hard to
believe business men would act SO
foolishly. Any person who would
transmit, by phone Or letter, the
name Of any man who had been dis
charged for the reason he was in
sympathy with labor unions ought to
be liable criminally and any mill who
co'ntcnances any such act should be
liable for damages. 1T is an outrage
that free white men should be
bounded from pillar to post in any
such manner when he is only eXcr-
cising his right as citizen Of this
great country-the freedom OF
which we boast so much about
say to the mill operatives to or
ganize. The longer you put it off
Just so long are you standing in
your own light. The masses Of the
| people, both town and country, are
at your back. If our mills continue
the course in which they have start
ed they will soon find themselves in
the very unenviahle position the
railroads deliberately placed them
| selves by the way and manner thew
tratcd the public a few years ago.
| They soon discovered the short
sight cdness Of their policy and set
about putting their house in order.
But it took a long time and they had
| to reap their bitter reward. | have
heard that some Of the mills Of the
Piedmont section of the State have
decided it is the wrong policy to
fight the organization OF their help
and to accept the situation and meet
it as men should. This would seem
to be the only rational course for
them to pursue. 1t is not much
trouble to get along with men who
actually work Tor a living when you
treat them like human beings. The
majority Of the help in many Of the
mills in this section when shown that
conditions did not warrant any ad-
vance in wages, would accept the
situation gracefully.
All they would want, and they have
| q perfect right to be shown, that