| Show Methods of Labor Unions That is an awful report that comes from Pittsburg It is scarcely credible If it is true that nonunion men have been poisoned at Homestead by cooks who mingled poison with their food itisal most beyond belief that it was done at the instigation of any labor organization If there is any foundation for the story told bv the criminal who did the poisoners work it will prove one of the heaviest blows against labor unions that has ever come upon them We shall not accept the statement unless it is corroborated by stronger evidence than has yet appeared ap-peared No matter how much capitalists and big corporations may be opposed to the organization of labor the general public will see no wrong in the principle of the thing nor harm in its practice within the lines of Jaw and the rights of man Labor unions have become necessary in the conflict with capital And employers unions have been considered equally necessary in the issues with organized or-ganized labor Both may exist and be defended by their promoters with good arguments while they are kept inside legitimate limits When they overstep these bounds they not only come within the jurisdiction of legal punitive force but they place themselves beyond the pale of public toleration No labor union has the right to compel or try to compel people to become its members nor to hinder nonmembers from obtaining employment nor to subject sub-ject them to indignities because they do not choose to conform to union rules It is the resort to compulsion no matter in what form it is exercised that the people of the United States will resist and ultimately ulti-mately put down This is a free country and in it labor must be free Just as free to keep out of labor unions as to organize them or join them Employers must be free to engage labor at such wages as they are willing to pay and workmen are willing to receive Laborers must be free to accept such remuneration re-muneration as satisfies them no matter what other laborers may do or think Lessthan this is bondage The whole power of the government must be exerted when necessary to preserve i pre-serve this liberty If labor unions would preserve thefr usefulness or if they would preserve their existence they must understand un-derstand and keep within legal bounds While we cannot believe that such murderous mur-derous methods as are disclosed in the the press dispatches have been adopted by any recognized labor union in the country coun-try it is a fact that they sometimes step I over the line of the rights of others and therein is to themselves i danger as well as to the welfare of society Let them mark i well the point beyond which they may not i justly go I |
