The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1921-06-03
STRIKING

Press reports are to the eHect 1haI
the cotton mill operatives in North
Carolina and about Rock Hill have
gone on strike. Everywhere we hear
Of strikes. The truth is that strikes
seem to be more the order Of the day
than good hard, honest work.
The strike should be outlawed. 1t
is immoral and should be declared
illegal. The owners of the cotton
mills, if they banded together for the
purpose Of reducing wages would be
guilty of zan immoral act, and the
act should be, if it is not already,
an illegal act and severely punished
as such. The same is true Of the en-
.ployees Of these mills. They have no
moral right and should have no le-
gal right. to strike. The strike as now
carried out in modern industrial cen.
tres should be prevented by the
strong arm Of the law.
Of course every employer should
have the right, on reasonable notice,
to dispense with the services Of any
employee and every employee should
have the right at anytime for any
reason, or without reason, to quit
the employment of his employer on
like notice. But when he quits, we
+: deny that he has the right to under
take to persuade another worker who
is satisfied with his employment to
quit also. He has no more right to
do this than the employing class has
to blacklist laborer and refuse to
give him employment. A party who
quits the employment of another
should stay quit. This thing Of a
body Of men banding themselves to-
gether for the purpose of striking
and then claiming the right to picket
the property of their former employ
er and prevent other men from 60
ing to work is so contrary to the
principles upon which our govern
ment is founded that none but weak
kneed politician would ever counte-
nance it or allow it. ',
We have stringent federal Laws
against trusts and combines but these
all seek to exempt labor unions from
the penalties provided for infringe
ments of the law. And there is no
excuse which can be offered, we
think, for these exemptions except
that the labor unions have the votes|
and the politicians want them. There
is no reason in either law or morals
why the same law should not apply
to. labor and the resultsof labor (cap-
itaD. The man who has labored and
saved the results of his labor has be-
come an employer. What ne has made
should be as we'll protected by the
law as the money which the laborer
draws down every week. But it is not.
The man who has saved and who has
become an asset to the country by
his industry and economy is branded
as q capitalist, and then as a "male-
factor Of great wealth." and as "un-
desirable" and the politicians and Ia.
bor unions would have US believe
that none are desirable except those
who spend all they make as fast as
they make it, and who are striking,
instead Of working, for more. i
There was never a better time than
now for textile workers to strike in
SO far as the mills ate .eopcernsA,
The cotton mills. are makihg!noths
ing! and they have large amounts of
cotton goods on hands. They
will welcome, we think, the
strike which has been declar-
ed. Only consideration for the
people who work for them has kept
a large number of mills from closing
already in order to stop losses. The
workers do for the mills what the
mills hesitated to do for themselves.
But aside from this we think the day
has come when the strike should be
properly met. This country should
no longer allow itself to be held up
as it was during the war, and as it
will continue to be held up unless the
laws are enforced.
; The strike everywhere can be
whipped if the arm of the law will