The Connecticut labor news., 1923-07-13
TRADE UNIONISM AND AND
 GROW TOGETHER
By OLIVER E. cARRUTH.

By oLlV ELK E. SARKO Il. Trade unionism blooms in the soil of democracy; it droops and often dies in the soil of autocracy and bu- reaucracy.
 Italy, where the reaction reigns su- preme under Mussolini and his black shirted hordes, gives the latest dem onstration that autocracy Is bad medicine" for labor unionisn
 Since the Fascist have been in pow CT, the once strong Italian trade there seems little chance that they will regain their rightfu1 place in the nations industrial life until the Fas- cisti are deposed or their rule greatly modified
 But it was not necessary to wait for Italy to show that labor unions thrive under democracy and languish under autocracy. History for the last hundred years has been demonstrat- ing that democracy and labor union ism go hand in hand.
 Great Britain, where modern trade unionism began, has been steadily growing more democratic for a cen tury. With every increase of democ- racy, the British trade unions have gained in power and influence.
 In the United States, republic founded on democratic principles, the unions have attained a numerical strength second to those of Great Britain and an actual strength and influence second to none
 France, under the republic, has seen a steady growth of trade unionism Belgium, Holland and the Scandinav- ian countries, all democratic despite survival of fgure-head kings, have witnessed a. continuous growth of trade unionism.
 In Russia, under the rule of the czar and under the rule of the Bolsheviki, the opposite has been the case. The czar's government did all in it's power to crush trade unionism and the or ganized labor movement contained only a small fraction of the million, of toilets in the Russian empire.
 The bolsheviki took a leaf from the czar's book and brook no unions ex- cept those thoroughly in sympathy with communist aims. AS a result, millions of toilers are denied the right to organize on lines of their own choosing.
 In reactionary Spain, where auto cracy and ignorance rule, the unions are weak and can do little to improve the condition of the workers. Vio- fence from above has begotten vio- lence from below and many of the Spanish workers have been driven to take refuge in anarchism, revolution ary syndicalism and other philosophies of violence and despair
 Perhaps among modern nations Germany under the kaiser has been the only nation in which trade union ism grew under autocracy. There, the government, after first trying to smother the unions, permitted them to grow and won their support by paternalistic legislation. The govern ment reaped it's reward by using some of the unions to promote it's imperial istic schemes abroad
 Democracies are the best friends of trade unionism, which explains why organized labor in the United States fights autocracy, whether it comes from the "left" of revolutionary rad icalism or the fright" of reactionary stand-patism. Labor knows that in democracy and it's extension lies the hope of trade unionism. So 1t strives for more and more democracy and encourages every move to make the government more responsive to the will of the people.