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Show TRADE UNION AND ITS ENEMY. Monday last, was generally observed as a national nation-al holiday. It was Labor day. In obedience to popular sentiment, business was .suspended on that day. Editorials written upon the subject usually began by saying it was a day for relaxation, a day of pleasure for the toilers. That does not half express ex-press the idea of Labor day. On the part of those who participate, it' is the showing they make in parade which comprehends Labor day. It is the. pride of development in organization, the strength exhibited in numbers. If this we're not presented, there would be no Labor day. The trades unionist would take his relaxation in some other way. It is observed that trades unions "are the only ones to celebrate Labor day. Legislation made it a national na-tional holiday for them especially. Standing on the sidewalk to watch the procession proces-sion go by. one who is at all meditative cannot help turning over various mental queries. Does he find the answer in the procession going by? Every year these displays are larger, the number in line greater than the one preceding. Merchants and manufacturers supplement- the display with floats advertising their business. Does this argue the mutual interdependence of the one class upon the other ? Is it a public recognition of such? Again, how many of the men marching behind the trades union banner are socialists'? ready to change the prosperity which the trades unionist now enjoys into a visionary something which justifies the trade of a bird in the hand for two in the bush. Neither the state nor the church, civil society nor religion need indulge in any apprehension over the growing strength of these trades unions. Nothing Noth-ing in their laws is inimical or inharmonious with good citizenship and exalted patriotism. Rather have individual members of unions in great number given evidence of their love of country by sacrificing sacrific-ing their lives for it. Weak, indeed, would be our national defense in time of peril did the skill and brawn of organized labor refuse-to volunteer. Therefore should it be encouraged to better its condition con-dition by all reasonable and lawful means, because the greater the happiness that is distributed aatong the common people, the greater the incentive to tight for a country that is worth fighting for. If any socialists were in the Labor day parade, as individual members of the cult, it was a sign that they are not yet ready-to trade the bird in the hand for two in the bush. It was a recognition, forced though that recognition be, that the trade union held the upper hand in the economy of the wage-earner. wage-earner. There is a broad difference between trade unionism union-ism and socialism. The' trade union is a tangible proposition. It is with us and has been with us for years. Good in most respects, it can he good in all respects; cxil only where its aims arc perverted.' per-verted.' Socialism is not a tangible proposition. Its theories have received jao practical demonstration anywhere. Its presence as a political party, its success in electing individual partisans- to office, have only advanced an idea, not produced a concrete. con-crete. Is it good? We know not; it has not been tried. Is it. bad ? If it proves so, it is easy to get rid of it. An idea does not long survive after practical demonstration of its inutility. The trades union is the natural antithesis of socialism. The practical philosophy of the trades is a greater obstacle to the spread of socialism than the hostility of religion. Hence' the success of socialism so-cialism depends upon the destruction of trades unionism first; and this because the one makes for happiness through higher wage scales and shorter hours of labor, while the other insists that greater happiness is secured through, total abolition of wage labor. The two ideas are irreconciliable. The wage system in America encourages opportunity! rewards skill and invention,- inspires , ambition to . become master in place of man all natural and human hu-man desires. The other system (or-rather idea, for system is not crystallized) strikes down individuality, individual-ity, enforces equality regardless of talent, establishes estab-lishes common ownership, acknowledges no master except the state, no God, no morals that interfere with sensual pleasure. , Upon that rock it will split if ever it reaches the stage of experiment. Nothing brings the ; world to its senses so quickly as an object lesson. God may permit this idea of socialism to expand until it controls a nation whose people have embraced em-braced it because they reasoned the change could be no worse than the condition and king they overthrew. over-threw. There are some nations to whom socialism would be a relief, for awhile. There is one, however, how-ever, where it can never take root the one that , holds out opportunity to the toiler. The one which encourages trades unions. The one which has made Labor day a national holiday, ' |
