The Association of Manufacturers in Metals met Saturday, May 28th, and
unanimously adopted the following resolutions:
_Whereas_, We know there are organizations existing which deny the
rights of the individual as guaranteed by the constitution of the
United States; and
_Whereas_, We believe it our duty as citizens to range ourselves
with others in the assertion and defense of the rights of man, be
he employer or workman; now, therefore,
We affirm 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 employers and workmen should be equally
interested in its defense and preservation.
We recognize that there are many opportunities for good in
associations of workmen, and we will 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 conferences and arbitrations are perfectly right
and proper, and that upon such points it is a manifest duty to
avail ourselves of the opportunities afforded by associations to
confer together to the end that strikes, lockouts, and other
disturbances may be prevented.
We recognize that permanent harmony between employer and workman
can only exist when both agree on the justice and right of the
principles set forth. Now, therefore, be it
_Resolved_, That all members of the Association of Manufacturers
in Metals be, and they are hereby requested to display in office
and workshop, the above declaration and the following code of
principles:
"I recognize the right of every man to decide for himself, with
employers, without dictation or interference, when he shall work or
cease to work, where he shall work, how many hours he shall work,
and for what wages he shall work.
"I recognize the right of the employer to decide for himself whom
he shall employ or cease to employ, and regulate and manage his
business with perfect independence, provided only that he deal
lawfully, justly and honorably with all men.
"I recognize the right of every father to have his son taught, and
of every son to learn any lawful trade, to be the same as his right
to a knowledge of reading and writing, or any other branch of
learning, which should be subject to regulations only by the laws
of the land.
"By accepting employment I agree in all my relations and
intercourse with my employers and fellow-workmen to maintain and
live up to these principles."
_Resolved_, That full powers be and they are hereby granted to the
executive committee to take all steps by them deemed necessary to
carry into effect the principles heretofore set forth and to
express the concurrence of this association with the position taken
by the Master Masons' and Builders' Association.
This action, it was stated during the discussion of the resolutions, was
not the outgrowth of sympathy only, but caused by the fact that Metal
men were suffering just as much as anybody under the then existing
trouble in the building trades. There were not cast seventy-five tons of
building ironwork a day in the city when there ought to have been three
hundred tons at least. The depression of trade was so marked that two
foundries shut down, throwing 250 men out of work, and all the
establishments were glad to have a pretext for closing.