The Sisseton weekly standard. (Sisseton, Roberts County, S.D.) 1892-1929, 1921-07-15
'MERCENARIES BACK
OPEN SHOPFORGAIN
EMPLOYERCHARGES
ST. LOUIS MANUFACTURER DE-
CLAREs PAID SECRETARIES;
l ARE KEEPING MOVE ALIVE
By Charles NJ. Kelley

BY Charles NJ. Kelley
All employers are not oppressors
VI labor and advocates of the "open
;nh0p." There are far-sighted, earn
~ men in industry who are travel
sinS as rapidly as conditions will per-
16it the road that leads to industrial
Slmocracy. They recognize in the
s u Smpaign that is being waged by
y 9sseertain large employers danger
that strikes at the foundations OF
4 society.
Notable deliverances on the rela-
ttons of employer and employe come
from oliver T. Remmers, one of the
1Srgest, If not the largest, employer
II St. Louis, and Mervin w. Hansen,
IVY leading Ohio contractor and deal
u. MT. Remmers was addressing
the Chamber of Commerce. of st.
Louis in opposition to resolution
i committing that organization to the
assopen shop campaign and he In
N fiuenced members to vote it down.
y Mr.. Hanson spoke before the con-
h vention of the Ohio State Associa-
tion, at Springfield.
Both consider the "open shop"
campaign as ill.advised and un-
American, and insist that intelligent
employers SHOULD encourage labor
organizations and deal with them
fairly and freely.
4 Work of "PrOfessiOnal Secretaries"
The resolution before the st.
Louis Chamber of Commerce was de-
nounced by Mr.. Remmer as "pa:d
propaganda" stimulated by s'pro-
fessional secretaries" who should
be producing instead of agitating
and stirring up strife"
"They seek to perpetuate their
Jobs" said Mr.. Remmers. "1hls
resolution. which has been read. was
not prepared by any member of this
organization, but in newspaper par
lance, is boiler plate or canned
mate-.' If we adopt the resolution
Il the fellows in the propaganda Office
will pat themselves on the back, re-
a assemble the mutual admiration So
ciety. and get out sheet announc-
ing the great work they are doing
for the cause, sublimely Indifferent
to the strife it might cause"
A great deal is said about "walk-
ing delegates" Mr.. Remmers re-
Z, minded his associates, but he could
s not join in the chorus of denuncta-
\ ton. s.The labor delegate is paid
I representative of his fellowman to
obtain for him decent working con-
ditions and better wages, to help his
family live and have at least few
comforts and educate his children.
If he can not gain these through
ordinary suasion or logic or Justice.
he must resort to his only weapon
the strike. But these paid secre-
taries are delegates or hirelings for
capital to suppress and oppress labor
with honeyed words. Society can
not tolerate them with safety"
Unions Safeguard Peace
These gentry had found chambers.
of commerce fruitful soil in which
to plant the seeds Of hate, Mr.. REM
mers declared, and he thought 1t was
time to call halt on tseir activi-
ties. s'The chambers paramount
duty is to foster peace and harmony
and it should not meddle in private
industrial affairs,' he said. '.The
best safeguard of any nation against
autocracy and dictatorship, whether
of an organized autocracy or mis-
guided section Of the working peo-
pie, is a strong, intelligent and we'll
organized trade-union movement.
'tIndustry owes an everlasting e
debt OF gratitude to the conservative
members Of organized labor" ne
continued. "These leaders have, by
sensible and reasonable control,
suppressed the dangerous elements
In their ranks, and as soon as the
present labor movement is repudi-
ated we will really learn what hell
is.
Collective Bargaining Needed
.The best way to deal with organ
ICED labor Is to work with and not
asainst 1t. Collective bargaining.
CONTINUED ON PAGE ~