LINES ABOUT LABOUR.

Evening Post, Volume LXVIII, Issue 62, 10 September 1904, Page 12

LINES ABOUT LABOUR.

LABOUR IN AMERICA. Labour in tho United States has not been organised to anything like tho extent thut British labour is organised. But icceiit yeai^s ha-vo seen a notable advance in workmen's combinations in tho States. Few things havo been more remarkable in tho social lifo of America than the sudden and spontaneous uprising of interest on the. part of its working chuHses in the question of combination for purposes of common defence and protection. The anthracite coal strike of 1902 starUed the employers by its revelation of^Ke immeuso and hitherto unsuspected power of trade unionism. In that conflict the working men showed eueh business acumen, such a keen regard for the influence of public opinion, and such political intelligence, that thoy i defeated tho strongest; combination of capital in the country. Employers were so impressed by it that they, too, realised tho necessity of organisation. A writer! in M'Clure's Magazine, Mr. 11. Stan- , nord Baker, treat* of this now phenomenon in the relations of capital and labour. j Mr. Baker finds curious diversities of opinion among emjiloyers as to the effect of trade unions. There ore two classes of employers' associations: First, those which propose to fight the unions. Their leadens emphasise the fact that industry is war. Second: Thoso which seek to deal with the unions. Their leaders emphasise tho fact that industry is business. To the first class belong nearly all the newer organisations, and especially tho Citizens' AlHanow? of the West, which have often sprung into existence with the explosive enthusiasm of a vigilance committee. Nearly every city in the country making any pretence to industrial importance now boasts its fwU-fledged employers' association or citizens' alliance, sometimes both, and 1 these organisations are already agglomerating into Slate and national federations, of which tho Citizens' Industrial Association of America — Mr. D. M. Parry, President— is an excellent type. Scores of local and State organisations and a considerable number of important trade organisations (like the National Meat Trades' Association) are affiliated with this great central organisation. Tho motto of these distinctly fighting bodies may thus be summed' up: — "Yes, wo believe in unionism, but damn the unions." To tho second class of employers' organisations, those organised to deal with the .unions, belong nearly all the older and' more experienced association^ These associations, the leaders of which have long been studying the labour problem, look upon the labour union as an accomplished business fact, and, whilo strong enough to fight, and fijjht hard, if necessary, their prime object is to deal with the unions on an amicable basis. None of these organisations has a secret membership, and their methods aro as open as those of nny business association. A large employer of labour of this school was asked if ho and those who thought with him wonld wipe trade unionism out if they could. "No," ho Mid, "we believe in it. Wo believe it has come to stay. It has been of great value to us, as it has also been to the labourer ; and I say this knowing that there «re many abuses practised which must be stamped out before the miners' union is a thoroughgoing busine.<is organisation, engaged in a legitimate business pursuit — that of selling the best labour of which its members aro capable for the highest wages which trade conditions will permit. Since we hare ongag«d in joint agreements with the United Mino Workers of America — now more than six years — we have never had a general strike in Illinois, nor any local strike of consequence. These agreements havo saved us, ns well as tho mino workers, I am convinced, hundreds of thousands of dollars. Besides doing away with strikes, these contracts enable us to figure accurately on the cost of production of coal, thus placing us all on tho sumo competitive basis as far as the wages of labour is concerned." All employers' associations and citizens' alliances are strong in their denunciation of the sympathetic strike, and yet we find the new associations applying this very device against the unions, using the sympathetic lock-out ruthlessly and effectively. In like manner the employers do not hesitate to boycott, and they treat the "blackleg" employer just ns the trade unions treat tho "blackleg" worker. The statement recently published that thoro wero 1000 skilled artisans unemployed in Balmain (says tho Sydney Telegraph) is apparently true. The distress in the suburb is widespread, and it is stated thnt a number of families are on the verge of starvation. Tho local Ladies' Benevolent Society and other charitable organisations have worked hard to KeTp the unfortunates, but funds becoming depleted, only the more necessitous cas=es can bo provided for. "Ono of tho worst enemies of reasonable compromise ip the discussion of practical matters of business, like wages and contracts, is rhetoric, with its intrusion of metaphor, mythology, and personification in the handling of concrete issues" (writes Mr. Nicholas Paine Oilman, author of "Methods of Industrial Peace"). "To use the language of plain fact, tho trade unions are composed of men Mho havo united, very obviously, to promoto their own material welfare. Thoy seek to drive a better bargain with the employer by means of the combination they have formed than thoy could as individuals, to get higher wages and a shorter day. This is a business matter of immediate self-interest. They are proporly trying to » obtain a larger share of tho national dividend for the families of working men as a class. They havo chosen the Aviso and offectivo way to accomplish their object by uniting their interests. Tho increase of income desired means a more comfortable, a more pleasant, a more satisfactory life for themselves and all who aro dear to them. But getting a larger income is not in itself a holy thing ; the effort to obtain it is not a genuine cnisad« against a world of sin ; enlisting in this army does not stomp a man as highly moral or saintly. A combination of teachers or grocers to increase their incomes would have fundamentally as many reasons as a trade union has for considering itsetf an army of tho living God." The condition of things which still exist* in tho mining region of Colorado appears almost incredible to an outsider, but the little attention it ntracts throughout the country would seem to bo quite ns remarkable. A despatch from Cripple Creek anmtmces that Mr. H. J. Richmond, correspondent in that city of the "Victor Record, was deported by tho "citizens' vigilance committee." The only excuse for the act is that Mr. Richmond was regarded as " personally objectionable." Presumably he hns been telling unwelcome truths regarding doings in tho mining region. I Several correspondents have written to tho Lyttelton Times complaining that the fact of their being Australians hns prevented them from obtaining work in Now Zealand, employers having a rooted prejudice against immigrants from the Commonwealth. Thero are ugly stories afloat in Now York to the effect that the butchers' strike at Chicago was the result of collusion between the Meat Trust and the striko leaders to enable the Trust to dispose of their stocks at an enhanced i price, and concurrently to effect six imImense swvins; in wages.