Injurious Organization

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Injurious Organization

Injurious Organization.—Every man should avoid organizations which are injurious to men. Now what is the general principle of labor unions respecting apprenticeship? It is that the right to learn a trade does not belong to boys and young men as human beings, but is in control of the union; may be given to certain people, and denied to others. Here is a man who owns a linotype machine, and he would like to have his brother or his son learn to operate it. But before he can arrange this he must get permission from some union, or imperil his business as publisher. Typographical unions say that if too many men learn, the wages will go down, and therefore they try to prevent men from learning. The owners of machines which they operate can not teach their own children without the consent of the union. This is a denial of one of the fundamental rights of man, which is to fairly earn his living as he may be able. It puts the typographical union in the place of God to all those young men who would like to learn to operate these machines.—President Blanchard, in Cynosure.