Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-07-31
and that the men in his mills
must he granted their human rights.
Calls For Alliance Of Unions


must he granted their human rights.
Calls For Alliance Of Unions
Mr.. Foster leads up to his theory OF
the really radical purpose Of trades
unions BY pointing out that progress
and organisation In the steel industry
arc to be achieved not by splitting the
ranks and dividing the forces. but by
and extending them. The
only rational hope in the situation lies
in a firm federation Of oil the trades in
tho industry. allied with the miners and
railroad men in such fashion that they
will extend help in case of trouble. The
stool workers are fast recovering from
their defeat" He continues:
For those progressives who will look
upon the steel campaign from an evo-
Iutionary standpoint--that ls, by n
comparison with past experiences-it
will stand out in Its true light as
marking a great advance In trade
union methods and practices
But unfortunately there are large
bodies Of progre ssives who do not
Judge from the evolutionary view
point when 1t comes to trade union
ism These range all the way from
the mild liberals and friends of labor
TO the most extreme l. W. VS. They
form an influential group. Theirs is
the idcalistic method; more or lcss
clearly these elements hold In their
minds eye smooth-running. intcil-
gent, imaginary 'one big union"
And the natural result is that, even
in such cases as the steel campaign.
the unions cut a sorry figure.
For many years radicals in this
country have almost universally MAIN
tained that the trade unions are fun
damcntally nonrevolutlonary: that
thy have no real quarrel with
capitalism, but are seeking merely
to rnodify its harshness through a
policy OF mild reform. They have
been pictured as lacking both the In
tcliigrnce to want industrial freedom
and the courage to demand It. And
20 Cften have these ideas been re-
peated. so slight has been the inquiry
nto their soundness, that they nave
come to be accepted in large degree
by virtually the entire left wing of
the labor movement.
Yet their falsity Is readily appar-
ent when one takes into con onsidcration
the real situation. 1t is an indis-
putable fact that the trade unions al
ways act upon the policy of taking all
they can get from their exp
So far as the tendency OF their de-
npsnds Is concerned, there can be no
question about that to any one who
will look at them sIuarely; the trade
unions may he depended upon always
to check exploitation through the
wage system as far as their power
enables them The big question Is
whether or not they will be able to
develop enough power to stop this ex-
ploitation altogether AS for me.
ami confident that they will. In every
country they are constantly adding
TO and solldifyIng their ranks;
utp
tant combinations and throwing them
aihwart the exploiter's path. II is
safe to say that II they cannot finally
stop him 1t will be because II does not
lie within the realms OF possibility
for the working class to produce
sufficiently powerful organizations.
Real Trend Of Movement
These anti capitalistic qualities Of
abor have been ignored thus long, Mr.
Foster believes. because they, like
various other aggressive social move
ments. have more or less instinctively
surrounded themselves with sort Of
camouhage or protective coloring. de-
signed to disguise the movement and
thus TO pacify and disarm the opposi-
ton"
This is the function OF such express
sions as "A fair days pay for a fair
days work. The interests OF capital
and labor are Identical" etc. In actual
TO them They are for foreign con-
sumption. The fact that those who
utter them may actually believe what
they say does not change the situation
n particle. Most movements are blind
to their own goals anyway The. i'm
portant thing is the real trend OF the
movement, which Is indisputably as
| have stated above. on the one hand
constantly expanding organization and
on the other constantly increasing de-
mandS.
This throwing Of dust in the eyes
" the world" by the unions is for a
purpose. says Mr.. Foster. the
elevation of the standard Of well being
for the mass of the people. lie says
that the same principle is applied by
the capitalistiC class TO vicious end.
that OF compelling the whole body OF
the workers to labor in degradation and
and ultimately, II unopposed,
ot robbing "thc people Of every right
they have-frpc speech, free press, Tree
nssemblagp, legislative representation
trial by jury and all the rest.
The author answers the question
''Why should the true nature and ten .
dency Of the trade unions be pointed
out. thus stripping the movement. OF its
philOsOphi" protection and leaving II
bare before its cnemicsF'
lie replies to his own question: Th'
answer Is that tho camOufage works
both ways; il drccivcs friends as wei
a. enemies. II has thus to great ex
tent cost the unions the support OF th'
whole left wing of the labor move
mcnt. Its advantages are outwelshet
by its disadvantages.
In this "lpft wing are large ant
ever increasing numbers Of workers ant
svmpathi2crS who refuse 10 face TIT
prospect Of society forever based up0i
the wage system. These are IN
workers who are turning to the J. W
W. and other radical organizations
says MIR, Foster.
"Thi. belief that the trade union
are inherently conservative bodies. i
the bnsis of the strong conviction tina
thov orc homeless and that they mus
h, .upulnutcd by new organization
aiming 10 abolish the wage system
This ronrrption Is found in some degrc
or other among virtually all radicals
And. it has done incalrulable harm t,
thr uuiOnS. 1t has cost them the sup
mort Of thousand of militants, of tn
best and most intelligent that tn
working class produces;
This "dcvitalizing drain" must b.
stopped, says the, writer, and the radi
Gals must be Son over to whole
hearted support of the unions, which
are making straight for the abolition
Of capitalism and going inromparabl
ftstcr toward this goal than any Of ii,
much advertised. called revolution
nry unions. in spite of the lattcr's gilt
tcring prcamblcS.
HAD HIS OWN PRIVATE FIRE