Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1920-12-17
LOCALS LOSE DEBATE
HIGH TEAM DEFEATED BY ST.
CLOUD IN DEBATE ON
"OPEN SHOP"

St. Cloud Journal Press, Q0: The ar,
guments advanced by the St.. Cloud
high school debating. team in favor Of
with the Little Fails high school team
in the auditorium of the St. Cloud high
school last evening. according to the
unsn !n vote Of the three ?ud nre.
pared and well organized arguments
in behalf Of their respective conten-
tons the affirmative; upheld by the the
open shop system is preferable to the
closed shop in our industrial system
Eugene Scott Of the St. Cloud high
school opened the debate for the en a1 thnt
the open ahOp is to be preferred 10 the
closed shop on the ground that it In,
creases the output, is more fair to all
s saa He
attention in Particular to the ldeai
condition which exists between capital
and labor in the Ford Motor plant at
Detroit. which. he stated. Is operated
under the open shop labor
TO show that production is greater
under the open than under the closed
proSuctt;o1 ' in open shop American
mines ana closed shop English mines
Similar comparisons were made with
regard to bricklayers un6er the open
Miss Harriet, Shapiro opened the ar
rument for the negative. Her conten-
ton was that the closed shop is essen:
tai to the success Of the union. and
dangerous or conducive to radicalism.
Miss Shapiro traced the organization
Of the workers back to the, medieval
present time. She recited the advan-
tage which the closed shop has brought
to the workers. notably the enactment
aws %s pro4ne ewi os 9Re safe
guarding of life and limb in industrial
plants and child labor laws. Where the
open shop exists. said Miss Shapiro
benefit of the advantages obtained
through the efforts of organized labor.
but does not contribute his share to-
wards securing these benefits: .,o g.
Cloud high school was the second
speaker for the affirmative. She stated
that closed shop industries eXcluded "a
the state militia, that the closed shop is
contrary to the ideals OF democracy
that it destroys ambition and handi-
caps energy. alleging that the WoIker
hold his job, and that the system de-
stroys ali incentive in the worker to
make himself more useful to his en-
plOyer.
Victor Nelson, the second speaker for
the negative, dWelt especially upon
the wretched conditions under which
the employees of the steel corporation
tHISCcu "uCi SACS WIZ p S'NASSN -
organizing by their employers. He cit
I'd an instance of the discharge Of an
"rnploye because he had ATTENDED ~,
existence of effective organization
among labor is possible only where the
closed shop exists. 49,
He auStsa f%eh men as 6SI D. s etr1ne
advocates of collective BARGAINING and
stated that collective bargaining is
possible only where the labOrers are
united in their purpose.
Luther Recklund closed the argu-
ment for the local team. summarizing
the points made by his predecessors
and pointing out that the principle Of
the open shop offered the only check
which would tend to keep the demands
Of labor from going beyond the point
Of reason: that while the affirmative
side had no quarrel with ORGANIZED Ia
Dor. yet that there was tendency for
labor to become too far-reachinE in its
demands just as much as capital when
11Erestrained would be unfair in it's at
titude towards the worker
Ashur Christensen Of Little Falls was
the final speaker for the negative. He
commended that the closed shop did not
tend to decrease production and cited
conditions in a Little Falls paper mill
where. he alleged, one shift works on
the open shop system and the other
shift on the closed shop principle.
An interview with the manager Of the
plant disclosed, he said. that greater
production ''"a secured from the closed
shop workers.
Admitting that strikes are more apt