The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1928-05-11

On April IA there appeared in the
editorial column Of the Cincinnati
Enquirer an article taking issue, crit
icising and condemning trade union
lists for their stand and efforts in be-
half of the nti-injunction bill now
before congress. The editorial strong
ly urges defeat of the BILL Reply
ing to the article, Stanley Ogg, sec
retary of the Hamilton Trades and
Labor Council, sent the Enquirer edi-
tor letter in which he ably defended
| the stand of the trade unionists. On
last Sunday there appeared in the
Voices From the People" column of
the Enquirer a garbled article pur-
porting to be Ogg's letter and from
which the main features, constitut-
ing Ogg's real jabs, and which no
doubt find little favor with the editor,
were omitted.
Secretary Ogg's answer to the edi-
tor on this momentous question is
thorough and enlightening, and he has
received letters of commentator for
| it from President Green, of the A. F.
of L., and Secretary Thos. J. Donnelly,
of the Ohio State Federation of Labor.
The Press herewith gives the letter
| in full:
Editor Cincinnati Eno,,irar
Cincinnati, Ohio.
Dear Mr.. Editor:
| have read with much interest the
article appearing in the editorial col
umn of the April 14th issue of the
Cincinnati Enquirer relative to the
pending anti-injunction legislation
proposed by the American Federation
of Labor
! am taking the liberty of saying
to the writer of this article that he is
either misinformed or uniformed as
to the purpose of this proposed legis-
lation, and your analysis of it is un-
sound and not based on facts.
The American Federation of Labor
is not attempting to have legislation
passed to make legal mob violence
and are not now or have they ever
been opposed to the protection of
physical, tangible property from
threatened violence or injury. The
purpose of the legislation asked for
is to prevent the abuse of the use
of the injunction insofar that labor
may exercise its constitutional rights
when it is forced to strike against
oppression and injustice.
You appear to have lost sight of the
fact that labor's rights are just as
sacred as property rights, that labor
should be accorded the same protec
ton of the courts as property.
| would respectfully call to your
attention the vigorous dissenting
opinion of Justice Holmes and Justice
Brandeis in the case of the Bedford
Cut Stone Company ct al VS.. Jour
neymen Stone Cutters Association of
North America United States su-
preme court; this was decided April |
II, 1927 Mr.. Justice Brandeis said, |
at would be strange if congress had |,
bv the anti trust act willed that a !
union and it's members be denied the
right to cooperate in simply refrain
ing to work when that course was the
only means of self protection against
the combination of militant and pow
erful employers, it is such writs OF
Injunction asked for by the Bedford
Cut Stone Company that labor is
seeking to have congress pass remed-
ial legislation.
The writ of injunction is some
thing which is entirely different from
all that we know under government
by law. The Judge who is today pre-
siding over his court, governed and
limited by the statutory authority
which placed him there, governed and
limited by the statutes in connection
with the type of case being heard be-
fore him, governed in the case by the
findings of the jury, becomes another
man when he sits in equity, he issues
writs of injunctions that are far
reaching, and in many cases these
iniunctions have restrained the worker
from exercising his constitutional
rights of free speech, peaceful assem-
blage, the right to cease work, to go
on strike when the conditions OF la
Dor become unsatisfactory, inJunc-
tions have been issued compelling men
to remain at work, that the right to
carry on organized efforts has been
restrained and prohibited, and that
furthermore, that when organized
bodies of employers have endeavored
to destroy our trades unions, the
equity courts have issued inJunctlons
restraining US from protecting our
selves; on one hand they deny US the
right to protect our organizations
H. ox,,Y1ouorc fry t0 DESTROY