Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-09-26
NO QUESTION OF SLAVERY INVOLVED,

Samuel Gompers contributes an article to the
symposium on labor problems appearing in 1.-The
Rotarian." the official publication of the Rotary
clubs. MIR. Gompers discusses the principles under
lying the Kansas industrial court law and similar
measures, actual or proposed, and, as On other occa-
slons, ne opposes all such legislation as being an in
vaslon OF the inherent right of the laborer to do as
he pleases with his own time. He says, among other
things:
"A strike is not a conspiracy to close the
factory. If the workers find it impossible to
accept proposals made by the employer they
cease to work. Labor asserts that in thus
ceaslng to work, the workers are exercising a
lawful, constitutional, and moral right. Labor
also maintains that the right to quit work
must be retained inviolate if freedom is to
be preserved. The essential difference be-
tween tree men and slaves is that free men
may quit work and may move from place to
place in accordance with their own will and
regardless of either the wishes of the employ
er or the state. No matter with what fine
phraseology the Kansas idea may be cloaked.
the truth is that it seeks to establish a condi-
ton OF involuntary servitude, a condition
wherein men may not of their own free will
leave their work and go elsewhere.
Mr.. 1omPers persists in confusing the right to
quit and go sewhere with the right to strike for the
purpose Of returning to work in the same place and
Tor the same employers, and under conditions made
more advantageous by the deliberate and organized
coercion imposed by the. strike. So
Wo conditions are essential to the success of
every large strike. First the industry must be Grip
pied, so that the earnings of the employer are in
Jur1ously affected. Second, the general public must
be deprived of service which it must have.
The man who "quits and goes elsewhere" has
severed relations with his employer. He has no
further interest in the business with which he was
connected. He has exercised his unquestioned right
to take a step which he believes will better his con
dltlon. That is not a strike. 1t does not even re-
motely resemble a strike. s.
The miners who struck last April did not seek
or desire other employment. They expected to re-
turn to work on terms better than they could OBJ
tam without a strike, and they intended to compel
the closing OF the mines and shut off the supply of
fuel from the public as a means Of enforcing their
demands, Otherwise there would have been no e.
tort to prevent other men from going to work in
the ne mines, and there would have been no such in
.c1dents as the Herrin massacre.
Surely there is no one so obtuse as to be unable
to distinguish between quitting and striking. M
one mas ever proposed to interfere with the right OF
the individual to quit. How far. society NAV %
Justly and wisely, in the prevention of the concerted
action which is called a strike is another matter. II
MI. Gompers is right in maintaining, as it is evident
that ne does, that the right to strike is absolute and
unlimited, then why not the .ole big union which
ne has always opposed, and the. universal strike
mat Would be the effective arrangement. Let al
the wage workers be organized under a single d-
|recting head, and whenever it is necessary to en-.
force a demand, let all the members strike at 4 pyiven
moment. Everyiindustry would be tied up instantly
"a g paralysis which would speedily result in death
1T the demand were not granted.
Obviously, society could not exist under s,,ct
conditions, and because society has. 4 right to taxi
such steps as may be necessary to maintain its own
existence, 1T must have a frights to prevent q strik.
lofS such propporrtions "a denying the right 1of fss