The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1933-10-10

All rights Of republication Of Ill othel
matter herein are also reserved.
Labor's Responsibility and
Handicaps
limitations from many source.
lead to the belief that union labor
feels It can now dominate industry
and trade as 4 result Of the present
attitude Of government and change,
in the laws.
Whether or not this Is true, de-
velopments Of the last few weeks
prove conclusively that 1t should not
be 50. Domination Of the American
scene by organized labor would be
fully as disastrous and as fraught
with hardship for the average indi-
vidual as Is domination by capital and
industry. In any developm mt
which may arise from the new deal
there Is no point to changing masters.
Proof Is offered by the recent strug-
giles in the coal fields Of Illinois and
Pennsylvania.
In each case division Of opinion
among union leaders and union
workers brought on internal strife.
In Illinois 1t was accompanied by .
ferocity reminiscent Of the Herin
massacre. From it developed q cold
blooded armed attack by one set Of
workers on the other which rtvalled
the fighting between opposing armies
in the late war.
In Pennsylvania the situation was
much the same, although there was
less shooting, more resort to natural
weapons Of offense and defense.
The point Of 1t all is that labor
can hardly expect to establish itself
as dominant factor until and unless
it can abide by accepted rules OF So
cial behavior. America is not yet
ready for rule by armed bands whose
only sense Of justice is fixed idea
that their interests are paramount.
X X \
The NRA codes grant to the work
er the right to organize as he chooses
It binds the employer to respect that
right. But it doesn't bind hts fellow
workmen to respect 1t.
Hence, when some Pennsylvania
miners sought to work under their
idea Of q proper agreement, other
workers prevented them from 50 do
ing. Loyal union men, working un-
der their acknowledged leaders, were
prevented from going to work, as
saulted when they tried to do so.
In Illinois, under the same circum-
stances, members Of the United Mine
Workers were shot 1t and half q
score wounded. Employers who reach
ed an agreement with one set OF
workers found they had incurred the
enmity Of another set. The result
ing situation was and Is clearly In
tolerable. Labor Is under obligation
to industry to be fair. Failure to OBJ
serve that obligation will bring pub
lie censure and lack Of confidence.
Lest 1t be inferred that only mine
workers are so troubled, 1t Is only
fair to take . peek at the annual
convention OF the American Fedora.
ton Of Labor, now in session al
washington. Here, too, we find divi-
sion and lack Of unity. Some seen
to have forgotten patriotism entirel,
In their efforts to win work fol
themselves at the expense Of fellow
unionites.
At the bottom Of thousand dis
putes is the effort Of one craft t.
take work from another craft.
Strikes have been called, for exam.
PIE, over the question Of whether .
carpenter or q member Of some other
craft should hang door In build
ing. Each group sought the work a
additional employment for its mem
bers. The builder. employing all I'm.
ion men, nevertheless found himself
between the upper and neither mill
stones Just as surely Is though one
set Of men were union and the othe1
non-lnion.
In the dispute about the employ.
1nent Of fathers on the state capito
building here, North Dakota had /,
mild taste Of the situations which
can arise. A vice president Of tn
Lather's Union. it will be remem
bered, tried to run North Dakot,
workmen off the Job and give tn
employment to outsiders.
The methods used and the situa'
ton which resulted drew from tn
head Of the North Dakota Federation
O1 Labor . statement that It smack
ed Of registering" thus calling 4
mind the numerous reported abuse
Of labor set-ups n Chicago and othe1
large cities. In many cases uniol
disputes have bean settled b. TIL
machine gun and the pineapple.
Tlhe rights and attitude Of the zen
efal public have too frequently bee,
ccmpletely ignored.
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