Saturday, May 14th, a large meeting of representatives of the building
trades met at the Builders' and Traders' exchange. The spacious rooms
were crowded to their full capacity. George Tapper presided. The
sentiments of the meeting were fully expressed in the following
statement and resolutions, which were unanimously adopted:
The members of the Builders' and Traders' exchange of Chicago, in
special meeting assembled, in their capacity as citizens and as
employers of labor, believe the time ripe to protest against the
arrogant interference of labor organizations with business and the
rights of man as guaranteed by the constitution of the United
States. From year to year this evil of foreign importation has
grown worse and worse, because the people, whose duty as citizens
it is to uphold and enforce the laws, have not taken the time to
oppose actively the aggressions and outrages committed in the name
and by the instigation of the various labor organizations. We have
seen this evil brought to and planted in our soil; we have allowed
it to sprout and grow, and put forth new and stronger shoots every
year, until now it is plain that it must either be stamped out by
the active co-operation of all law-abiding citizens or it will
overwhelm and destroy our very form of government. The dividing
line between the permissible and objectionable, between right and
wrong, should be clearly and unmistakably drawn, and the voice of
the community should be heard with proper earnestness and
determination, saying to the ignorant as well as the vicious, "thus
far shall you go, but go no farther." We believe that the large
majority sin from ignorance. Others have seen the wrong exist and
tolerated, and wrong-doers prosper, until their moral perceptions
are dulled and blunted. Those who know better, whose opportunity
and education is superior, have neglected their duty to their
misled fellow-citizens full long enough. A crusade must be
inaugurated, and should be participated in by each and all who love
and desire the perpetuation of this government, founded, in the
words of the immortal Lincoln, "of the people, for the people, by
the people." Let all unite and stand shoulder to shoulder in solid
phalanx for the right and frown down the spirit of anarchy now
rampant, and ere long the rights of the individual shall again be
respected, and this country shall again and in fact become the
"home of the free."
_Whereas_, We recognize that the Master Masons' and Builders'
association has taken a proper stand in its opposition to the
arbitrary dictates of organized labor, and that its battle is our
battle, and in the belief that the more complete the cessation of
all building work during the present strike the shorter will be the
interference with business; now, therefore, be it
_Resolved_, That we indorse the action of said Master Masons'
association and make its position our own, and will actively aid
and assist it in and during this strike.
_Resolved_, That while we condemn and oppose improper actions by
trades unions, we still recognize that there are many opportunities
for good in associations of workmen, and shall aid and assist them
in all just and honorable purposes; that while upon fundamental
principles it would be useless to confer or arbitrate, there are
still many points upon which conference and arbitration are
perfectly right and proper, and that upon such points it is a
manifest duty to take advantage of the opportunities afforded by
associations to confer together to the end that strikes, lockouts,
and other disturbances may be prevented.
_Resolved_, That this exchange do, and it does hereby, call upon
all contractors and builders, be they members of this exchange or
not, for co-operation and active assistance; it calls upon all
architects; upon the owners of buildings in course of construction
or about to be started; upon the press and pulpit; upon each and
every citizen, and particularly upon all mechanics and laborers who
believe that absolute personal independence of the individual to
work or not to work, to employ or not to employ, is a fundamental
principle which should never be questioned or assailed; that upon
it depends the security of our whole social fabric and business
prosperity, and that employer and workman should be equally
interested in its defense and preservation.
Each association in the building trades, and the Illinois State
Association of Architects, and the Chicago Real Estate board were
requested to appoint three delegates to be present at a conference
of building trades on Monday, May 19th.
Mr. Prussing was asked to state the position of the Master Masons. In
doing so he said: "It is no more walking delegate! [Cheers.] No more
interference with the boy who wishes to learn a trade that he may earn
an honest living. [Cheers.] But why ask for particulars? We ask that the
wrongs and outrages perpetrated by the trades unions be wiped out, and
we ask every minister in his pulpit and every editor in his chair to aid
us. If we present a solid and united front the victory will soon be won.
* * * * The spirit of anarchy is rampant and must be put down, or it
will put you down." [Applause.]
Just as the meeting adjourned a telegram was received from Boston,
signed by William H. Sayward, secretary of the National Association of
Builders. The assembly waited to hear it. It read as follows:
We are watching your course with great sympathy and interest. Individual
liberty must be preserved at any cost.
It was received with a burst of applause, followed by three cheers and a
"tiger."