The Government Versus the Labor Unions
By L. A. S.
A MOMENTOUS question is up for settlement in this nation,—a question never dreamed of by the men who thought to establish here a lasting government of the people by the people for the people. It is this, Is the federal government supreme in the nation, or are the labor unions supreme? The labor unions are attempting to dictate terms to the government. It remains to be seen whether the government will yield to their dictation. Some time ago a foreman in the government printing plant was dismissed from the government employ at the dictation of the labor union to which he had formerly belonged. This union had found him guilty of “flagrant non-unionism,” and he had been expelled from that organization accordingly. In the government printing office expulsion from the union had hitherto been equivalent to dismissal from the government employ, and the foreman’s dismissal naturally followed. But he appealed his case to President Roosevelt, and by order of the latter he was reinstated. The president declared that the laws of the labor unions must yield precedence to the laws of the United States government, whereupon the Washington Central Labor Bureau, with the indorsement and approval of the American Federation of Labor, sent circulars to more than five hundred Central Labor Unions throughout the United States, making a statement the pith of which is the following:— Whereas, The president of the United States has seen fit to reinstate W. A. Miller, who is an expelled member of a trades organization, notwithstanding the overwhelming evidence of his moral turpitude, and has also committed himself to the policy of the open shop, as shown by his letters,— Resolved, That the order of the president can not be regarded in any but an unfriendly light. This statement is somewhat misleading, since the history of the case shows that the alleged moral turpitude was a secondary and later consideration on the part of the union, action having been taken in the first place on the ground that Mr. Miller had been guilty of “flagrant non-unionism.” That was the issue upon which he was reinstated by the president. The question is that of the “open shop.” The president says that all shops shall be open; the labor unions say that there shall be no shops for the non-unionist. In the award rendered by the coal commission appointed by the president to settle the great coal strike of last year, it is declared that “no person shall be refused employment or in any way discriminated against on account of membership or non-membership in any labor organization.” Of this the president has declared his “hearty approval.” Upon this issue the battle for supremacy is to be waged. The Washington Central Labor Union has appealed to the labor unions throughout the States, which claim a membership of about two and a half millions of working men. These bodies will all stand together on the issue to which appeal to them has been made. They will exercise their united power to uphold the strictly union policy by which they seek to obtain exclusive control of the industries of the country; for by this policy they stand or fall. The “open shop” is the greatest obstacle in their way. Hence their determination to force the government to indorse exclusive unionism. It is in the political arena that the battle will be fought. The labor-union vote will be cast for a candidate who will have pledged himself to stand against the “open shop.” To all human appearance this will be a feature of the coming political campaign. And thus it is that to-day in this government of the United States the amazing question is raised whether the government is indeed the government, or whether there is something superior to the government, in the form of a union of labor organizations, which, while promising liberty and prosperity to the people, endeavors to force every working man to come to its terms, and to this end ruthlessly invades every right which this republic was created to uphold. It is a dragon voice which is heard speaking in the nation to-day, and this voice will sound more and more loudly as the great conflict between good and evil in the world draws to its final climax.