Show J j Farmers Farmer C Can Break Labor Labor Mono Monopoly EMERY EMERYL p by DeWITT DeVITT L' L f Editors Editor's Note DeWitt Emery is president of the National Small Business Men's Mens s t DeWitt r Emery J- J Fifty years a ago o the farmers realized that the prices manufactured products deh dey de- de and J they paid for kerosene many h y 1 vended not on competition but rather upon the wishes of ot ota a few men who had certain production monopolies r Organized agriculture fought monopolies in industry and commerce and were successful in getting the trust anti-trust laws enacted i trade unions largely At that time labor unions were f Unlike the present wide industry-wide industrial unions they did yi not have a monopoly over an entire industry such as the steel industry the oil industry coal mining transportation communications and what have you Because o of f their limy lim lim- y J r lied scope and power at the time the trust anti-trust laws were put on the books labor unions were exempted from the v provisions of these laws The intervening fifty years have brought many changes f one one ne of the most significant being the development of the in industrial industrial in- in dust rial union and the resulting wide industry-wide bargaining which puts an entire industry at the mercy of the boss of the union representing that industry In the recent difficulty in the steel industry Phil Murray Murray Murray Mur Mur- ray late head of the Steel Workers Workers' Union gave a very clear demonstration of his absolute domination and control of this industry The industry refused to accept the recommendations lions of a government board and Murray called a strike closing closing closing clos clos- ing every every steel plant in the country except Weirton which has an independent union 1 In a few days Secretary of Com Commerce erce Sawyer acting under orders from the President seized the steel mills and Murray told the men to o go back to work which they did immediately A short time later a federal judge handed down downa a decision which the labor boss didn't like and in a matter of f a few hours Murray again had every steel mill except Weirton shut down This time they stayed down for five fifty-five days notwithstanding the crying need for steel to supply our boys fighting in Korea x Other union bosses notably John L. L Lewis of the United Mine Workers have the same absolute control over the industries their unions represent as Murray had over the steel industry This labor union domination of ot industry is more extensive ex ex- t tens ve more reaching far-reaching and much more dangerous to the thep p p rational national welfare than any big business monopoly ever was The labor union monopoly must be broken up unless the thet t American people are willing to have the labor bosses take takeover over dyer and run their country What can be done to protect million Americans against the possible misuse by a few men of th the Power to paralyze this great nation Surely the industrial leaders and their manufacturers' manufacturers associations have foreseen this danger Why haven't they secured the passage of laws to properly safeguard the public interest I L The answer I believe is that the industrialists were the original monopolists and some of them would be again v if given half a chance chaice They couldn't therefore approach Congress with clean hands and any fight they might lead JV to correct this situation would be doomed to failure before a it got started On the other hand the farmers' farmers record on monopoly is clear and consistent They have fought the dangers in- in in monopolies intelligently and consistently for more than fifty years They know that a manufacturing monopoly whether controlled by manufacturers or by union labor bosses can improperly raise the prices of the things they buy or shut shutoff shutoff off the supply What's needed then is for organized agriculture to spearhead spear head a drive to have Congress b amend the Taft-Hartley Taft Act v to outlaw wide industry-wide bargaining and amend the trust anti tr f laws to make labor in restraint trade of-trade unlawful c Almost the minute such an effort is started a large ri majority of the small business men in the country will lend tf their support and between them these two groups the farmers farm- farm l r. r ers and the small business men wouldn't have too much t- t f. f difficulty in persuading Congress to pass the necessary amend- amend R 4 men meets ments ts r. r 0 |