Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1941-06-02
Union Leaders Urged
To Measure Up
Writer Charges Them With
Duty to Curb Evil
Of Defense Strikes
To the Editor Of The Star:

| To the Editor Of The Star:
History records the year 1886 as a
milestone in the progress Of organized
labor That year saw the bloody Hay
market riot in Chicago, in which many
persons were killed and scores injured.
| Public reaction against organized labor
was so violent as result of this affair
| that labor unions received a setback
which has taken them years to overcome
The parallel between the conditions
which existed during the decade ending
in 1890 and those of the present time is
so striking as to cause serious observers
to pause and ask themselves what the
present outcome will be.
Without going into detailed sum-
mary of the history of labor unions, one
simple analogy will serve to illustrate
the point and give substance to the
present situation. In 1886 the recently
formed knights of Labor and a group
of associated trade and Socialist unions
struck for the eight-hour day. Asso-
ciated with these groups were several
non-political unions affiliated with the
BLACK" International, an anarchistic
organization introduced into the United
States in the early Dos by the German
labor agitator, Johann Most. These lat
ter organizations, like the Molly Ma
guires" in Pennsylvania, employed
terrorism to achieve their detectives and
are generally credited with instigating
the Haymarket riot. Today's parallel is
found in the fact that a number of la
Dor unions have within their ranks
members of "Communistic" as we'll as
other subversive groups, and the SINH
larity between them and the Black In
ternatlonal of the 1905 lies in their
advocacy of the use of terrorism and
other kinds of force to achieve their ends.
More and more the present-day dis
turbances are striking the tenor of those
earlier disorders. To date little actual
violence has been reported, but this fact
is certainly not because all of the ele-
ments necessary to precipitate rioting
have not been present. If the present
trend continues, serious property dam
age, bloodshed and death are inevitable.
All those in sympathy with organized
labor deplore the tactics being employed
to further the interests of unionism. No
thinking individual criticizes the labor
ing man for striving to improve his lot.
Most individuals grant him the right of
striking to achieve his objective when
other means fail. Individually, the la
boring man needs union. The union
prevents unjust discrimination against
MIN. 1t pleads his grievances for him:
sets standards of fair labor practices;
establishes minimum wage levels. Within
Its ranks it policies the actions of its
members, Is accountable for their rela-
lions with their employer For capital.
the union provides the agency through
which the individual employer negotiates
his labor contracts. The union is re-
sponsible to him for the fulfllment of
the terms OF such contracts Indeed, the
most successful employers today are
those who handle all of their emplove
relations through the unions.
The wave of strikes engulfng the Ma
ton today comes at most inopportune
time. The Nation is facing a perilous
foreign situation. Collectively and in
dividually, the citizens are worried. We
know not which way to turn for security.
Our opinions are divided and we fail to
present united front. With such con-
ditions prevailing, we are like herd of
sheep. buffeted by storm, drifting closer
to the precipice, prey to the wolves.
UNDERSTANDABLE enough, the general
public has remained aloof from the tur-
MOL, judging individual strikes on the
basis of their merit. sympathizing with
some, condemning others. Various sug-
gestions have been made for settling
the problem, chief among them, the en-
actment of legislation outlawing strikes.
However, such legislation is difficult to
enact in peacetime. II conditions should
necessitate the enactment of such legis-
lation and if such legislation could be
so framed as to make it constitutional,
organized labor will find its progress
retarded to a degree greater than that
occasioned by the Haymarket incident.
This fact must appear obvious to all far
seeing, serious minded leaders of labor.
Equitable settlement of the problem is
not to be found in anti-strike legislation.
Neither is it to be found in acts of re-
elimination on the part of labor and
capital. On this point, the pot dares
not call the kettle black. The answer
must come from the source which is
causing the trouble. The problem be-
longs to the leaders of organized labor
and they alone must find the solution.
1t Is time for the unions TO divest them
selves of all subversive elements and
lead the way to unity from within their
own ranks. PAUL D. HAhdMACHER.