Imperial Valley press., 1944-11-05
Editorials and Comment
EVERY ONE SHOULD VOTE
YES" ON PROPOSITION Il.

ftS ON PROPOSllION IL.
There is no proposition on the NOvem-
Der ballot more deserving of a Yes"
vote, than Proposition No. p In fact.
it may well be said that there is no issue
involved in the election of any greater
importance than the issue involved in
this initiative constitutional amendment.
Proposition II puts the people of Cali
fornia face-to-face with a fundamental
freedom which should be guaranteed the
people of the United States on equal
footing with freedom of speech, freedom
of religion, freedom of the pursuit of
happiness, freedom from slavery, and
all other freedoms guaranteed by the ma
tional constitution.
It seems strange indeed that in a coun-
try where so many established freedoms
exist that there is no guarantee of free
dom Of employment. Proposition y is
designed to correct this missing link in
the foundation stones of American De-
mocracy.
By adopting into its constitution such
a freedom Of employment guarantee.
California may initiate rapid swing of
all the states and the country as a whole
toward correction of this evil.
If, in establishing this fundamental
concept. the proposition also upsets some
old habits to which the American people
have become more or less accustomed,
such changing of old traditions does not
comprise an argument against the basic
justice of the popular edict.
Elimination of slavery upset many old
traditions of the South. But slavery had
to go and did 90.
Elimination of so much in American
history has always been attended by the
abolishment of customs improperly
founded in the first place.
II is therefore mistake to condemn
the freedom Oh employment idea on
grounds that it may change this or that
in the habits of labor unions. Those hab-
its founded apOn unjust original concept.
are wrong Houses built upon sand must
sooner or later fall, and the belief that
a man or woman must belong to some
group in order to work for livelihood
is lust as wrong as believing that the same
man or woman must belong to partl-
cular religion. particular race, or boast
some specified political afflllatlon
In effect. establishment of Proposition
~ would eliminate the closed. shop 1t
would not. however. sound any death
knell over unionism. On the contrary 1t
well may be the most beneficial develop
ment in the growth of unlOnlSm IN TINS
country by eliminating the basis of most
Objectionable union Slrlle, DS eIdulCdtIllS
the weeds of labor racketeering, by plac-
ing union competition on a clean, moral,
ethical basis, by opening the way for
cooperation between employers and en-
ployes. and by doing away with the
weapon of coercive force to which the
public at large objects with all con-
science.
There are other immediate effects, es
pecially with respect to returning service
men. Under the, compulsory national
labor laws and edcts, hundreds of thous-
sands and maybe millions of returning
fighters will find that they must join
organizations they don't want to join,
pay dues they don't want to pay, be sub
iect to conditions for which they certain
" were not fighting. This can only lead
to labor war and internal troubles in
these United States.
This country should move toward
greater union between its people, less
class and group hatred more cooperation
and mutual interest. AS long as union
ism with all its merits is permitted to use
a type Of force and compulsiOn which is
foundationally lly unjust and which IS, IN
itself, an implement of class war, Just
that long will the hope Of attaining the
higher national purposes be minimiZed.
That's why there is no more import
ant issue involved in this election than
Proposition u, which deserves the Yes
vote Of every voter in Imperial county,
union member or non-uniOn member.