The Connecticut labor press., 1920-05-08
A. F. OF |. LEADERS
 ANSWER CRY THAT LABOR INCORPORATE
Destruction of Trades Unions Objects Sought, Officials
 Point Out.
TRAITORS IN THE RANKS
Organizations Warned to Watch Scheme Is Not Sneaked
 Over.

engaging the attention of officials of organized labor IS the demand, heard on many sides, that labor unions should be compelled to incorporate. This, 1t IS urged, will make unions liable for viola ton of contracts, and thus do away with unauthorized strikes.
 The Canadian Association of Build ing and Construction Industries puts ln- corporation of labor unions as of prime importance. Their bill of demands, they propose be made the basis of a tri-partite agreement to be signed by the labor unions, employers organlza- tions and Department of Labor of Can ada, for the future guidance of the
 The New York World has followed this up with two editorial demands for the fixing of Tabor responsibility. While the World does not specifically mention incorporation, 1t is obvious that this is what 1t wants. The World says:
 THINKS SYSTEM IS WRONG.
 Successive disastrous failures of strikes in violation of agreement must convince even the extremists of organ ized labor that there is a fundamental error in their system and that public respect for the obligations of contracts is a force that cannot safely be ignored + . While in every other human relation contracts are inviolab1e except for fraud, covenant with labor IS al ways subject to dishonor on the vote of a small faction excited and miSled. The employer can be kept to his agree ment The employer cannot, Labor has acted ill-advisedly in re- sisting legislative measures intended to fix it's responsibility No surer method of defeating union recognition and col~ lective bargaining can be devised than to make them of uncertain value. To negotiate as equals men must be equal and their obligations must be recip- rocal. When by an appropriate en- actment a labor contract shall have been made as sacred as by any other engagement, to be enforced at law if necessary with the usual pains and penalties, there will be an end-of out law strikes and many other industrial troubles. The very security guaranteed by the proceeding, its justice being ad- mitted, cannot fail to make for better relations, from which labor will be the gainer."
 A. F. OF L. ANSWERS.
 "The only object in the minds of
 
 incorporation is the destruction of the trade unions," was the reply of the Platform Committee of the American Federation of Labor National Non Partisan Political Campaign to a ques- tionnaire recently submitted by the Advisory Committee on Polices and Platform of the Republican National Committee.
 "They seek to bring about condi- ton under which trade union treasuries can be mulcted in the hope that such coniscation will destroy the organiza- tion," was labor's official reply to this plan.
 An official of the American Fedora ton of Labor, in discussing the matter of incorporation made the following objections:
 'No friend of labor would advocate such a scheme. What IS the purpose of incorporation? Business corpora tions are organized not for the purpose of assuming liability, but to escape it. No corporation Is responsible for the acts of its members, except when such member is authorized to act for 1t as its agent Likewise, suit for miscon- duct of its members against an incor- porated labor union could not be main tained, unless it could be shown that the union as an organization had au- thorized such misconduct
 TRAITORS IN UNION RANKS.
 Everybody knows that there are persons unfriendly to organized labor within the ranks of the unions. In the past we have had numerous instances of where private detectives gained the confidence of union men by working i'll 4IA succeeded in having themselves elected to office in the union.
 What is to prevent an employer from hiring some agent to work in his plant with the view to being admitted to membership in the union and later, by treacherous acts and depredations, make the union liable for his own acts? If such an agent could succeed in hav- ing himself elected to office in the union-which might easily be fact his chances for damage would be innumerable.
 Nobody will thank the New York World for suggesting editorially that labor unions should urge incorpora- ton for their own good, and in order to minimize the activities of insurgents and malcontents. In making agree ments labor union does not contract lOI IlSClI. IL SlIIIpIy dClS dS LIC ISp- resentative of the individual employees. It stands in much the same position as a firm of brokers which negotiates for its clients Such firm never assumes responsibility for the performance of contracts which it negotiates.
 Employers understand that the union is not binding itself. Neither does the employer agree to hire any number of men, or any men at all. He merely contracts to hire union men exclusively, at a fixed wage, as he may need them. But he may close his plant the next day, and will not be liable to payment of damages to the union or its members, who are his em- ployes. Similarly, therefore, the mem- bers of the union may refuse to work for him.
 EMPLOYER NOT RESPONSIBLE.
 And, lastly, it is not true that the employer who breaks his contract can be held responsible He cannot be sued by his individual workmen, because he did not contract with any individuals And he cannot be sued by the union, because it cannot be shown that the union per SC suffered any damages. Therefore, compulsory incorporation of labor unions in order to make agree ments binding would be very one sided affair.
 T.