The Connecticut labor news., 1921-07-22
PROFESSIONAL SECRETARIES ARE CAUSE OF LABOR TROUBLES, SAYS
 LARGE WESTERN MANUFACTURER
Should Be Producing: and Not Stirring Up Strife By Open Shop Agitation to HOl d Their Jobs, He Says.

All employers are not opprcssOrs of labor and advocates of the "Open shop. There are far-sighted, earnest men Tn industry who are travelling as rapidly as conditions will permit the road that leads to industrial democ- racy. They recognize in the campaign that is being Waged b ycertain large employers a danger that strikes at the foundations of society.
 Notable deliVcrances on the rela- tlons of employer and employe come from Oliver T. Remmcrs, one Ot the largest If not the largest, employer Tn St. Louis, and MerWin W. Hansen, leading Ohio contractor and dealer. MT. Remmers was addressing the Chamber of Commerce of St. Louis Tn opposition to a resolution commit ting that organization to the "Open shop" campaign and he influenced the members to vote it down. MT. Han sen spoke before the convention of the Ohio State Association of klec- trical Contractors and Dealers, at Springfield.
 Both consider the "open shop" cam paign as ill-advised and un-American, and insist that intelligent employers should encourage labor organizations and deal with them fairly and freely. Work of Professional Secretaries
 The resolution before the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce was de nounced by MT. Remmers as paid propaganda" stimulated by 'profes sional secretaries" who "should be producing instead of agitating and stirring up strife"
 They seek to perpetuate their jobs" said MT. Remmers. "This reso- lution, which has been read, was not prepared by any member of this or ganization, but, in newspaper par lance, is boiler plate or canned mat ter If we adopt the resolution the fellows in the propaganda office will pat themselves on the back, reassem- ble the mutual admiration society, and get out a sheet announcing the great work they are doing for the cause, sublimely indifferent to the strife 1t might cause"
 Agreat deal is said about walking delegates" Mr. Remmers reminded his associates, but he could not join in the chorus of denunciation. "Ihe labor delegate is a paid representative of his fellowmen to obtain for him decent working conditions and better wages, to help his family live and have at least a few comforts and edu- cate his children. If he can not gain
 
 logic or justice, he must resort to his only Weapon-the strike. But these paid secretaries are delegates or hire lings for capital to suppress and op- press labor with honeyed words. So- ciet ycan not tolerate them with safety"
 Unions Safeguard Peace
 These gentry had found chambers of commerce fruitful soil i'll which to plant the seeds of hate, MT. Remmers declared, and he thought 1t was time to call a halt on their activities. "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 dictator ship, whether of an organized auto cracy or a misguided section ot the working people, is a strong, intelll- gent and well-organized trade-unlon movement.
 "Industry owes an everlasting debt of gratitude to the conservative mem bers of organized labor" he con tinued. These leaders have, by sen sible and reasonable control, sup pressed the dangerous elements in their ranks, and as soon as the pres ent labor movement IS repudlated we will really learn what hell IS.
 Collective Bargaining Needed
 "The best way to deal with organ ized labor is to work with and not against it. Collective bargaining, which the so-called American plan seeks to suppress, is the cornerstone of organized labor. Collective bar gaining is the only practical proposal for adjusting relations between the managers and the workers, securing fair deal to both sides. There are al ways,two sides to an argument. In dustriaI peace can be secured only by the righting of the wrongs suffered bv the workers If the body of work CTS has a grievance it can be adjusted only through cooperation between the employer and the employees rep resentative As all can not meet the employer at one time, 1t IS necessary for the men to select representatives to carry out their will as expressed collectively. This right IS identical with that always held by the employ CT and never challenged by the laws or the publc.'
 Pointing out that labor is always patriotic and that is had just recently worked earnestly, honestly, efficiently and unselfishly for the passage ot legislation supported by the chamber, MT. Remmers sounded the warning: "Labor does not easily forget 1t IS ever vigilant, and sometimes resent ful and vindictive. The continuation of cumulative resolutions on this sub ject will definitely stamp this chamber as q nenemy of labor, and all aca- demic words and sophomoric expres- sions will not change the opinion of labor. Loud denials will not help; neither vii the lamentations of Jere- miah be heard. Let us not play with fire by attempting to suppress orderly evolution. To do so means reVolu- tion. Let us retain the good will of our neighbors-we might need them, for greater things in the future"
 BACK TO THE FARM.
 Gentleman Farmer (returning to