The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1920-10-30
CREDIT MEN DO II.

CREDIT MEN DO IT. -.
The Dumth-superior Association Of
Credit Men has gone on record in favor
of the so-called open shop.'' It's &C.
tion was taken following speech by
L. G. Harris of the ~Dulgth Citizens
Alliance, who alleged that Detroit and
Minneapolis owed their great growth
to tho fact that both were "open shop
towns.
OF course the credit men did. not
call for the other side Of tho question.
They, like other organizations Of bust,
ness have recently done,. took snap
Judgment on a lawyer Is plea for his
clients. They are the kind of men who
are crying to labor to be fair, but can
not appreciate that they themselves
would be unfair.
Is there another side to this "open
shop" question: If there is not why
should anyone pay any attention to it,
If there is another side to it, then
credit men ought not to be afraid to
hear it. That is the trouble with most
Of the modern organizations Of bust
ness today; they do not want to hear
anything but the side that tleases
them.
Credit men find it a good thing to
organize. Their meeting room is a
good place to exchange views on ques-
tions affecting their particular line.
They also find their. organization offers
them an advantage to compare notes
on firms which seek credit, and when
ever they find a firm that is on the
ragged edge, bang goes their open shop
'principles," and straightway the
"closed shop'' rule is applied.
Oh, yes, they are just like the others,
like the real estate men, the jobbers,
the commission houses and all, they
want the .tclosed shop" for business,
but the "open shop" for labor. They
do not want tho workers to have
voice or a say about their wages, hours
or conditions surrounding their employ
ment. They want the boss to have all
the say. When they declare for their
so:called t'open shop" they stand for
autocracy in. industry and against de-
mocracy in industry, something the av-
erage business man knows little and
cares less about. If democracy in in
dustry could only be brought home to
business men in terms of dollars they
would understand it better. And yet,
indirectly, its general introduction
would be the very best investment
American business could make.
The chief spokesman for the so-called
"open shop in Duluth is Mr., L. G.
Harris, lawyer who never employed a
laborer in his life. He wants Duluth
to be like Detroit and Minneapolis,
one with its free soup houses at the
first decline in employment, and the
other stepped in: crime and =radicalism.
It is true Duluth may not have grown
as rapidly as some other cities have,
but there is stability about condi!-
lions here in this good old union town
that makes her people very proud Of
her. We have no fear Of bread lines
and we have been able to deal with
radicalism surprisingly well, in spite
of the fact that lately the "open shop
pers'' are breeding it faster than the
constructive labor movement can alb.
sorb and neutralize it.
In another year, predicts Mr.. Harris,
the "open shop'' will be in ef' ct
throughout the entire United States.
That is what big business is saying,
too, and it bases its prediction on the
hope that Senator Harding, the "back
to normally" candidate for president
with reactionary Republican congress
will be in power to throw the influence
of The federal government against
union labor as Governor Allen has done
in the state Of Kansas. It is the only
hope of the "open shoppers" who are
making the fight to perpetuate "Gary.
ism" in America, with it's 12-hour
workday, its armed guards at very fac
tory gate, and its muzzled workers who
are afraid to discuss anything but
sporting events within the realm of its
czardom.