I do not deny labor the right of organization for the advancement of
its interests. This is legitimate and highly proper so long as the
general interests of society are protected. There is, perhaps, no
country upon the globe which extends greater liberties and protection
to labor than the United States of America. In Alabama and many other
states of the union, the mechanic's lien enables him to compel the
employer to fulfill his obligations, but the employer has no remedy
against the mechanic except in rare cases where bonds have been given
by the contractor.
The cause of the laboring man has kept pace with the march of
civilization and progress, until the order of government has been
reversed and the laboring classes have become the rulers. However, they
are threatened with great danger growing out of the slavery entailed by
labor organizations. Few of them are for the real advancement of the
interests of labor, but mere machines for the personal aggrandizement
of the politicians who stand behind the scenes. The laborer, in
attempting to avoid the imaginary Scylla of capital, may dash his life
out against the terrible Charybdis of demagogy. Our laws all favor the
laborer, and I make this assertion regardless of statements of those
who see gain in keeping labor in a state of excitement. In Egypt,
many hundreds of years ago, the poorer class could not be anything
else. They were not permitted, under heavy penalties, to change their
occupations or locations. A hod carrier was doomed to that work during
his natural life. Other countries more recently oppressed labor just
as severely. I mention this in illustration of the depths from which
labor has come. To-day the laborer may not only change his location
but may change his occupation, and ply a dozen if he choose to do so.
An organization which has for its object the moral and intellectual
advancement of its members, as well as their financial welfare, is not
objectionable and should be encouraged. But where prejudice is aroused
against other forms of labor (as capital, banking, etc., etc.) they are
lawless, dangerous, and should be shunned by every good laboring man.
No organization outside of a benevolent institution should be secret,
and I doubt the propriety of all secret societies. Secrecy is too often
the cloak for evil and scheming. The dark clouds of secrecy have ever
been the means of over-awing or misleading the lower classes. Permit me
to introduce here the following extract from an address bearing upon
this subject. It is so excellent that I will be pardoned for clipping
at length and endorsing it _in toto_:
"The twenty-fourth annual Grand International Convention of the
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers was held in Chicago on the 19th
October, with delegates present from all parts of the Union. The Grand
Chief Engineer, P. M. Arthur, with his usual rare good sense, said in
the course of his annual address: We are enemies only to wrong in its
various devices and garbs, and can assuredly say that political schemes
and aspirations have no place nor part in our association. A mighty
army of men, representing 365 divisions, has gathered about a nucleus
of 12 men who, 24 years ago, assembled in the city of Detroit and
started an organization destined to be more than they knew or dreamed.
To-day we number 25,000 men, and while our numbers are great, we would
not have you consider only the quantity, but the quality as well. To
be a Brotherhood man, four things are requisite, namely: Sobriety,
truth, justice, and morality. This is our motto, and upon this precept
have we based our practice. Taking all things into consideration, our
relations, both to ourselves and with various railroads, employing
Brotherhood men, are amicable. When we consider the dissatisfaction
which is everywhere manifest about us, our few troubles pale in
insignificance. There have been times and incidents when the 'strike'
was the only court of appeals for the workingman, and the evil lay in
the abuse of them and not in the use of them. The methods used to bring
about a successful termination of strikes, the abuse of property and
even of persons, have brought the very name into disrepute, while the
troubles of the laboring man are receiving mere cant, and sympathy for
him is dying out. More and more clearly defined is the line becoming
which divides the honest man, satisfied with a just remuneration which
he has truly earned, until by his own effort he can rise to a higher
position in life, and the loud-voiced 'bomb thrower,' who scarcely able
to speak the English language, seeks to win his own comfortable living
from those who have worked for it, presuming upon the imagination
and arousing false hopes in the hearts of those who are still more
ignorant than himself. Among sensible men the day for all this is past.
Let 'mercy season justice, and justice be tempered with moderation.'
A wise arbitration looks to a long result rather than to immediate
satisfaction, and accomplishes more than intimidation ever can hope to
do.
"'It is not my intention,' said Mr. Arthur, 'to impose upon this
convention any dogma upon the drink question; but I cannot refrain
in honesty to my own convictions from deploring the sad havoc that
intemperance is making in the ranks of our fellow men. So great is this
evil that no man or woman who is striving to improve his fellows can
help taking it into account. It is, indeed, an important factor for
evil in our midst. Not only from the physical and moral standpoint is
it working mischief, but from the standpoint of labor. The man who has
so little self-control that he cannot resist the temptation to degrade
himself is always in danger of bringing disgrace upon his brethren. He
has lost his self-respect and, to some extent, his independence, thus
making an easier victim to the greed of a selfish employer. I would
therefore urge upon you the necessity of abstaining from everything
that will in the slightest degree impair your usefulness as citizens or
your efficiency as locomotive engineers.'"