Newark leader. ([Newark, Ohio]) 1917-1946, 1921-01-07
WAR OF ORGANIZED CAPITAL
AGAINST THE PEOPLE
By Senator Robert M. LaFollette

| The labor organizations or Cne
country are to be smashed The de-
cree has been entered. The orders
have been issued. The drive is on.
The railroad corporations, the
street car companies, and other pub
lie utilities; the big industrial cor
porations, the coal, copper, and oil
combinations, the affiliated CONNER
cial and financial groups-the mer-
chants and manufacturers associa-
tions, the chambers of commerce,
boards of trade, bankers associations,
and in fact all large intere-related or
ganizations representing capital are
mobilizing for a war of extermina-
tion on all labor organizations in the
United States.
The object is two-fold. First of all,
organized capital would destroy or
ganized labor because of it's growing
political power. The activity Of the
sixteen railroad organizations and
their alliance with associations of
farmers in the late campaigns is a
real menace to the political control of
Big Business in the near future.
Second, organized capital would de-
stroy organized labor in order to de-
prive the wage Garner of the collec-
tive bargaining strength which he de-
rives from his organization. This
would leave him in a position where,
as one of the representatives of a
large business concern recently de-
clared-"The employee would have to
eat out of the employers hand"
Already the kept press of these
masters of business and government
are feeding the public the right kind
of propaganda to poison its mind
against the Tyranny of the Labor
| Trust"
This war on labor organizations, is
to be waged upon the hypocritical pre-
tense that it is for "the Individual
freedom of the wage Garner"
The "Open Shop" is to be the slogan.
1t is an alluring battle cry. 1t sug
gests liberty. 1t breathes the Ameri-
can spirit 1T IS GOOD DOPE FOR
GULLS.
The "Open Shop" 1t recalls "Open
Covenants openly" etc.
And that reminds us that we have
just finished with war, throughout
which a lot of people believed in, and
were thrilled by the slogan that we
were fighting to "make the world safe
for democracy"
And now we are to fire the heart
of the nation with war for the
"Open Shop"
Behold the real leadership of this
army as it is marshalled to fight the
Labor Trust!" Here we should have
the imposing figure of General Gary
United States Steel. He will be an
admirable selection for Commander
n-Chief."
He wears the laurels won in the re-
cent steel strike where he succeeded
in maintaining the "Open Shop" for
the Steel Corporation and it's right to
work sixty-nine thousand of its men
TWELVE HOURS A DAY.
Seventy thousand of the Corpora
tion's men receive the LOWEST
WAGE, OR COMMON LABOR PAY.
ONE-HALF OF ALL EMPLOYEES
OF THIS CORPORATION WORK
TWELVE HOURS A DAY and ONE
HALF OF THESE MEN ARE RE-
QUIRED to WORK SEVEN DAYS
A WEEK.
The annual earnings of more than
one-third of all productive iron and
steel workers ARE AND FOR
YEARS HAVE BEEN BELOW THE
LEVEL SET BY GOVERNMENT
EXPERTS AS THE MINIMUM OF
SUBSISTENCE STANDARD FOR
FAMILIES OF FIVE.
There you have the "Open Shop"
and all that goes with it in steel
mill which is akin to the bottomless
pit.
Do you marvel that the U. S. Steel
Corporation resists with bludgeon and
bayonet every attempt on the part
of the employees to secure the right
to bargain collectively for better
hours and wages?
Do you not see why this corpora
tion and all of it's kind are determined
to crush labor organizations, estab-
lish the "Open Shop" and arbitrarily
DEAL WITH HELPLESS EMPLOY
EES INDIVIDUALLY?
There are today more than five
million wage earners in the ranks of