The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1925-01-12
DETROIT !. A. M.
GETS A DOSE OF
BROWNS EMETIC
Says He Is Glad Union
Lost Membership
BY ALFRED GoETz.
especial TO The Daily Workerj

Quet IN nOnOf OF the lnsLhlidLlOu VI inc
officers of it's component lodges at
the Wolverine Hotel, Detroit, for the
purpose of getting the members Of the
organization better acquainted with
one another When the eats had final
ly been disposed of and the dishes
cleared away, the audience was treat
ed TO what Chairman Bait called "a
mental feeding"
The first speaker called upon was
President F. X Martel Of the Detroit
Federation of Labor, who, after a few
remarks intended to be funny, brought
out the important point that the
chamber Of commerce, the Rotarian
and Kiwanis Club were continually
having just such get-together meet
ings and that as a matter Of fact
every banquet, every dance or social
affair was being utilized to talk
shop" and to cement the opposition
to organized labor. He exhorted us to
go and do likewise.
"RadeaI Jags" DIsIlked by Faker.
This seemed to be the keynote for
all the speakers that followed him
They all harped on the same subject
in precisely the same way, and in al
most the same words. Martel also
pointed out that the Detroit machin-
lists PASSED thru, what he called a
radical jag" during the war and that
at that time their principle aim was
to save the world" instead of try
ing to build up the organization, but,
he continued, they are safely out OF
it now, they have now quietly set for
themselves the task Of organizing.
This is all very nice, the only
trouble is that Martel forgets that
when the Detroit machinists passed
thru that radical jag" they got thou
sands of members into the unions
and now that they are safely over it,
the district numbers only hundreds.
where formerly there were thousands.
Browns Usual Platltudes.
The main speaker Of the evening,
however, was Henry Brown, interna-
tional vice-president of the I. A. Of NJ.
OAOWA oNdA ICu W ACA0cnAu6 GIL ln6
tiresome platitudes Of the preceding
speakers and finally branched out to
touch a few of the more important
problems confronting the unions. He
spoke in glowing terms of the 3. ana
o. plan, which he claims should be
known as the Johnston PLAN" after
the man who fathered it. This wonder
full plan which is opposed only by
those who do not understand il and
which is merely application Of COM
mon sense to industry" Capitalist
common senseO, would ultimately do
away with that crude weapon-THE
STRIKE"
Is it not marvellous? All we have
to do is to use a little Common
sense" apply it to industry, get the
bosses to understand the advantage
OF it, to him T.. and goodbye strikes
and lockout, suffering, picket lines and
injunctions! Simple, isn't IL? Too
bad Johnston couldn't have thought Of
this remarkable plan before.
The Fewer lhe Members, the Better
the unlonI
There were many other things said
by Brown, for he talked fast and
long, but none were so significant
as this. He told us to stick to the or
ganization and, flying in the face OF
experience, he said that il times got
hard enough the workers would be
more than glad to join the ranks OF
the organization. He informed ms
that he was not sorry to see that the
rapid gains in membership which
marked the war days were Lost. as
they represented mushroom
growth" that could not be retained by
the organization.
The fact that most Of those who
Joined during the war left the organ
ization because of the do-nothins
policy Of the Johnston-Brown com
bine, was considered not at all nv
the speaker. who holds the workers.
alone responsible for not being IN the
unions. He said much more on he
same line and spoke so long that the
end OF the speech was enthusiasticaI.
ly appreciated by every one.
This gathering was called for the
purpose Of inspiring the members Of
the organization to greater effort dur.
ing the new year. But as an inspira-
ton affair IL was a fiat failure. In
stead OF a short analysis, showing
past mistakes and defects, we were
treated TO long explanation OF "un-
fortunate combinations OF circum.
stances over which we had no con-
troll" and too much radicalismv
instead OF clear clarion call 70 strug-
gle' we we're asked to apply common
sense to industry and wait for the
day when we could discard the "crude
weapon OF the strike"
Truly have the labor takers OF the
Johnston machine shown their com.
plete bankruptcy, their complete lack
OF leadership in the |. A. OF M.