The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1916-05-12
QUEER FORM OF EGOTISM
prsfcrs to Believe Bad of His Fellows,
ist-Trade Union Movement Too
streng to Be Wrecked by These Gen.
try or Other Malign influences.

try or Other Malign Influences.
1t has been said that every lC = un-
ion has a calamity bowler. This may
not be true because some local unions
do not seem to have much OF anything
but Ii there is one so poor as not to
have even a calamity howler 1t Is poor
indeed, says the Shoe Workers Journal
Calamity howlers, In trade union
sense, are of numerous kinds. Some
of them believe that everything the
union does is wrong. The extreme of
egotism Is the member of the union
who knows 1t all and comedies nothing
to the combined sense or judgment of
the rest of the membership. The worst
thing about this form of egotism Is
that the member so obSessed Is unable
to convince his fellows that he is
right
IL there are truth aud logic In an In
dependent opinion there is some chance
that 1t may prevail. This thought new
er seems to enter the head of the ca
lamity howler There is a reason for
his inability to entertain this idea.
The reason Is that his brain Is not
constructive He prefers to believe ev-
erything bad OF everybody except him
self Consequently he cannot lead
them TO accept his views. They rec
ognize him as Il knocker or destruc-
ZIONIST and refuse to follow him in any
constructive work. If he can find q
few who will join with him i'll smash
ing things TO pieces that is as far as
he can go In leadership leadership
toward destruction
There IS another kind of calamity
howler not as vicious in intent nor as
destructive In effect, but fully as un-
who says in every industrial disturb
ance that II this particular little fight
or big fight, localized or otherwise, is
lost the entire cause OF organized labor
will be lost. We may as well antici-
pate this sort OF calamity hoWlcr now,
because when the war is over and in
fiated conditions in certain directions
begin to return TO normal we are likely
to hear the expression, This is the
battle OF the predatory interests against
organized labor, and If we lose the en-
tire cause of organized labor Will be
crushed"
In our lifetime we have heard state
ments similar to the above repeated
many, many times We have seen such
contests lost, and still we have seen
the organized labor movement con
stantly growing ana extending beyond
its former bounds, simply proving that
whatever happens IN any one spot or
place or In any one craft or industry
the labor movement as such, being es-
sentially sound in principle and In pur-
pose, will go on and on, no matter
what happens in any one field. The
trade union movement has shown re-
peatedly that it cannot be wrecked by
its foes from without nor by its ca
lamity howlers from within.
We recognize that in every contest
between wage earners and employers
the wage earners are entitled to the
support and to the sympathy and the
material aid OF their fellow unionists,
Out Tue cause OI OfEdIllZeu IdDOF IL not
TO be lost in any one battle or la any
hundred battles. any or all of which
may result from special conditions, and
even while any or many Of such bat
ties may be lost other victories may
be gained. If there are to be contests
In the future as there always have
been In the past, let them be fought
as resolutely as may be, but let none
Of us give men of capital to understand
that under any circumstances what
ever they may expect a complete tri-
umph over the forces Of organized la
Dor. To us there should be no such
word as defeat Some portion Of our
forces may be compelled to retreat at
some point, but the cause of organized
labor can never be defeated, much less
destroyed