OCR Text |
Show amount of power to create employment. employ-ment. Th curious part about tho Brass Workers' plan Is that It Is as old as trades unionism itself. It defined exactly ex-actly tho conditions enforced by the. trades guilds of the middle ages. The workman then was proud of his dexterity. dex-terity. He Flood up for the rights of his fellows, but he did not demand de-mand that the Incompetent ahould receive re-ceive the same wage's aa the competent, compe-tent, because In bo doing he would degrade, tho bent man to the level of tho most stupid. Thla Is precJsoly whAt our tr&de unions are doing today to-day A flret-claas woriimnn restricted restrict-ed In Quality and output to less than his rapacity Is domoratlied thereby. He deteriorates all tbe time, aud If be mis uiy conscience at all he knows that he Is a shirker and a cheat Wall Street Journal. HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF. A leeent consular re-port give3 details de-tails of a new departure in trades union nitheiels which Is ef lhe highest high-est lniMrtanco. It involves a principle princi-ple capab'e ef almost revolutionizing present conditions. The llrass Mii'.ris a-'sooiat ieui anet the Nation.il Societ- of Prns Workers Work-ers and Metal Mechanics, two Prltish unions covering !he entire trade, have unanlnieiuslv indorsed Ihe proposal to grade their members accerdlng to capacity. ca-pacity. The grading Includes live classes, from ihe Improver of 21 jenrj of age to the eeMiipletely qualified workman, expert la all processes and slso abb le work to scale drawings or blue prims. Tho union. In fact, guarantees guaran-tees the epiallty of the work. The agreement provides against arbiirarv reductions In grade, neir Is Ii pe-slblo pe-slblo for the employer to keep the workman In a grade bel'vv hi? true capacity. The best man ge-ts the best wares, as he ought to do in every trade and calling. l"neueslIonubl labor unienis have rights, but the union leaders forget that they have also responslblllth-i. If they can demand thai a brickhiye-r In New York shall receive the highest wages In the world, they are morally bound to see that he does the lst werk in the world. A goK bricklayer can lay l."o bricks a da.v easily, and plenty can lay '-'.uuo. The union has In recent times re-duced thai output to 7u0. This Is common, ordinary wliieiling, und the plea that it provide.-! work for so many more men Is fallacious. It means jusi so much waste and it destroys exactly that |