The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, November 13, 1904, Page 5

year we have heard much of the open shop policy on employers. The ule know little of called open 1 the approaching con- e Arperican Federation of e held’in San Francisco on 14 it is very natural on of the public and more than of labor that the ques- shop will receive more n at the hands of g their stay in San b r inaugurating the so-called shop attempts to convey the idea the unions are endeavoring to con- and dictate the policy by which the employers should operate their va- rious factories and work shops. The reason given by employers may® be accepted by the ordinary thinking man, but to the ome who has given serious consideration to the conditions: under which working men and women e employed fully realize that the. reasons set forth by the employers for auguration of the open shop are. tely absurd and ridiculous. The abso nigger in the woodpile is the employer® hopes by his so-called open shop policy } to break up the organizations of labor ) eo that he would be fancy free to in- augurate any conditions of employment most pleasing to himself regardless of the wishes or desires of the wealth pro- ducers of our country- If the individual employe has a griev- snce or desires to improve his condi- tions of employment by securing fewer hoars of labor and increased wages he knows full well that in approaching his employer in an individual capacity he is laying himself liable to dismis- sal, hence bringing upon himself and family privations and in an unlim- ited number of cases starvation. The position of the employer becomes still more ridiculous when the reprg- sentative of an association of employ- ers ennounces that the association represented by him proposes to inaug- urate the open shop policy and in fu- ture will refuse to meet the representa- tives of organized labor or treat with the employes as organized wage work- ers; thus the very men who are at- tempting to inaugurate the open shop are denying to their employes the same right they have taken to them- selves of forming an association, whether the association be called a labor organization or an employers’ association. The employers’ associations through- North America have attempted to uece their employes to form various s of associations among them- selves and they (the employers) be- e part of such associations with & to dictating what lines shall be lowed and outlining the policy, =o t the so-called assoclation shall be ectly under the control of the em- ployer. This attempt to form assocla- tions of wage workers on the part of th loyer has proven a direct fail- ure, ard while there are at the present me remnants of a few labor organi- zations formed by the employers, the employes are rapicdly realizing that they have been and are now being used simply as tools in the inayguration of = eystem that in time would find them in a helpless and deplorable condition. All the increases, all the reductlons in the hours of labor, all the protection given to women and children in fac- tories, all the legislation inaugurated in the various States and the national Govgrnment looking toward the pro= tection of wage workers, has been brought about, either directly or in- directly, by the trade unions of North America and no matter what attempt may be made by the employer to in- augurate his so-called open shop pol- icy, no matter what success he may temporarily meet with in this direction, organized labor is going to proceed practically in the same lines in Its en- deavor to secure still further improved conditions of employment and if it is found that they can best be secured through the policy of the closed shop, the trade union movement will be THE SAN FRANCISCO SUNDAY found fighting in that direction. The open shop policy, therefore, on the part of the employers is, to my mind, extremely foolish and will not temd toward bringing employer and em- ploye closer together, mor will it sult in adjusting differences complainéd of by either side undc - the present in- dustrial conditions. There is but one way, to my mind, by which this can be brought about and that is not by the employer refusing the employes the same right he asks for himself, namely, to organize, but both sides should thoroughly organize and recognize each other as such. Then when questions arise affecting either side, representa- tives should meet at the round table and satisfactorily adjust such differ- ences and not, as is proposed-by the employer, declare war upon the union. JAMES G. O'CONNELL. Discussed Briefly by Mayor Eugene E. Schmitz - and by James O’Connell Third Vice President of the American Federation of Labor CALL. LEARLY and distinctly, and for all, I desire to reafirm open shop. Iz-hlya studied the problem can pldinly sée, is to lower wages and lengthen hours. For his own protec- tion the workingman must join hands with his fellow worker and all stand together firm and steadfast in a com- mon cause. The open shop means disunion, dis- organization and defeat. Too much at- tention cannot be paid to it, as it is a factor in our economical system which must be brought out plainly to the attention of the workingmen. Their homes and their means of earning a livelihood are at stake. Anything which will interfere with Its tendency, as all MO TIGENE once my unalterable opposition to the [ the good work now being earried on by the labor unions is deleterious to the It has been stated by the opponents of union labor that San Francisco is a of argument let us grant that assertion and then see whether or not that fact has tended to increase or decrease the best interests of the community. union-ridden town. For the sake peace and prosperity of the city. In the past two or three years of workingmen were truly much than befors. Thelr condition has improved and when you improve condition of the wage earners community you begin at the tién for improving the conditi that entire community. It can be stated that labor fis the of a country’s greatness and the wag earner is the bulwark of her advance- ment and her prosperity. The TRADES UNIONISM Among SEAMEN By ANDREW J. FURUSETH, Secretary Sailors’ Union of the Pacific HE coming together on the part of men or women of one trade or calling for the purpose of con- sulting with and assisting each other on questions relating to their dally work—the rules under w it is done or to be done and the wages and hours relating thereto, called a “trade union.” Consciously or uncon- sciously, it is in obedience to the com- mand “Bear ye each other’s burdens.” When men or women working together for one or more employers feel that they are not getting a fair share from the product of their labor—that the wages are too low, the hours too long or the shop rules burdensome beyond what is necessary, it Is natural that they should seek advice from each other—that they try to remedy the wrongs ‘under which they feel them- selves to be living, and very naturally, having the same Interests, they en- deavor to make common cause. Meeting somewhere quietly they se- lect some of their most trusted fellows to lay the grievances before the em- ployer in the form of a petition. .In this they exercise in the industrial field their right of audience and petition leng ago granted to them as citizens of the United States. The seamen of this coast, feeling deeply aggrieved under the conditions they had labored on board and lived on shore, came together ion the 6th of March, 1885, for the purpose of devising ways and means to remedy the griev- ances under which they lived. Among the grievances may be enum- erated tifat under section 4558 of the Revised Statutes of the United States they were considered and treated as part of the property of the ship. They might bé, sent to prison for an unlim- jted time at the willi of the master, if he, in his opinion, had reasons to be- lieve that they were going to quit em- ployment with him and seck employ- ment elsewhere. Under section 4598 of the Revised Statutes of the United States if they had withdrawn themselves from ser- vice to which they had previously agreed they could be advertied for, a premium put upon their arrest and return to their owners in the same way as a negro slave prior to the war or as a criminal who had broken out of state’s prison, as a runaway slave or an escaped criminal, and were arrested wherever found without warrant and without any legal process—taken as other property is taken by the owner wherever he finds it and brought back to the owner’'s safe possession. Under section 4601 of the Revised Statutes of the United Etates, any one who should harbor or secrete such runaway seaman was committing a misdemeanor and was subject to a fine—one-half of which went to the in- former. On return to their master they might be and were subjected to corporal punishment (other than flog- ging) and could be deprived of food, except bread and water, untll they were willing to continue to labor in a man- ner satisfactory to their master. Certain clothing is absolutely neces- sary at sea. It is as necessary to the seaman as the mechanic’s tools are to the mechanic, the lawyer’s library to the lawyer, the surgeon’s tools to the surgeon or the machine to the type- writer, yet the seaman’'s clothing might be and was held for debt while he was sent to sea or turned out into the street with nothing but what he had on. If any other man was in debt, and an execution was levied against him, the law exempted some things which were considered the immediate necessities of life, and when the person in question was working for monthly wages or daily wages the law exempted from execution the last month's pay or the last week's pay so that the person in question might have something to buy a meal of victuals or a bed upon which to sleep of a night. No such exemp- tion was made in reference to the sea- man. Sald law authorized the taking from him by attachment or by gar- nishment and execution every cent he had earned within the last two or three months, as the case might be. The admiralty law pronibited the at- tachment of the seaman’s wages, but the creditor went to the State court, had the wages attached and through State machinery took it alt.and left the seaman stripped, so that he was unable to pay for a night's lodging or a meal. In this condition he was com- pelled to mortgage his body and its labor power in order to live. The esteem in which the seaman was held is best illustrated by a report made in the month of January, 1387, by a charitable society in this city when they said, “We have during the year done excellent work among criminals, prostitutes and sailors.” There were some organizations, such as the Seamen's Friend Soclety, who at least ostensibly were organized to aild and protect the seaman, but the conditions under which it lived, the conditions under which the seaman lived and the status of our law were such that its work was more of a curse than a blessing. Such was the condi- tion of the seamen when they met and determined that they would become part of the great army of organized labor; that tiey would depend on them- selves to change conditions; that, come what may, they would bear it no longer. Through their organization as a trade union the seamen have appealed to their fellow workmen on shore and afloat, to reformers, lawmakers, friend- 1y socleties, the clergy and humanita- rians wherever found for help—not in the shape of money, not as beggars seeking alms, but as human beings, feeling themselves to be such, feeling themselves to be equal to other human beings, and by virtue of their human- ity claiming as their due such chenges in their daily life and such changes in the law as would give to them an op- portunity to prove that they were and are the equals of other men. In the eighteen or nineteen year: which they hdve been organ worked as a trade union for t protection and improvement of their best ability have assisted In protection and improvement of others, they have suffered untold hardships, at times felt the bitterness of defeat, but also the joys of victory on other occa- ions. No one now would make a report such as the one mentioned above; no one now would consider a man an i ferior simply because he had chosen as his life calling the sea. As far as the ports in the United States, in the British possessions of North America, in the West Indies and in Mexico are concerned, the seaman to-day is as free to quit employment as any other man. Of the seamen sailing oa short voyages, it may be said that letters of manumission have been is- sued to them, but if the seaman under- takes to exercise his natural right—his inalienable right under the Federal law of the United States—to the ownership of his own body, he may in the port of foreign countries still be treated as a Junaway slave or an escaped criminal. Trade unionism has done much for the seaman in the last nineteen years. Much yet remains to be done, and on this occasion and through this paper they appeal to all believers im human freedom—in human equality—in human justice—to give their assistance, in so far as they can, to the work yet to be done, to the end that the seaman may be given the same rights, and so far as his calling permits, as are given to other men under the American flag. The seamen realize that the coming together and the meeting of the intelli- gence of all and making that bear upon and redress the wrongs and suf- ferings of all is unionism—is a school in self government, in self control, in geif abnegation—yet also in the exer- cise of their natural right so neces- sary to a successful social and indus- trial life of to-day. d own others vages r (éng these luxuries. logical conmeclusion is that anything which tends to benefit the wage earner tends to benefit all the people. Re- member, the wage earning class is also the distributing class. The more mon- €y a man on small salary has to spend the more he will spend. On the other hand those with large fortunes spend about the same each year. In this way the union promotes a greater dis- tribution cf coin which results to th sati ction of all The open shop would spoil Civen an open shop, what will become of your ,union, and to whom will the teiler when wantonly wronged go for essistance or redress? » Show me a : where high wages are paid and I »u a place where the peo- I, prosperous, contented There at least roughly ing, if these were able to sec an advance of say 50 cents a day an average of say $2000 a day or $600,000 a month, of course all this would not J2be spent wantonly or carelessl Ygreat. portion of it would go f R purchase and beautification of §# The workingman is a medium of ulation. With him the luxuries of erday have become the necessities ‘to-day. His union aids him in obtain- Standing alone on the open shop basis he must auc joff his s his brain and his muscle (to the highest bidder. With his union ) there is @ minimum set and he will not y work below it. This minimum is a Hv- ing wage, regulated to provide a man ) with the common necessities of life and Ysome of its luxuries. \ The open shop is its direct antithesis. ( They are as widely separated as the this. ple are peac and happy. but a ( ) poles. There is one remedy to break \down the open shop—the co-operative (store will do it. These co-operative ) stores have been established extensive- 1y throughout the East, and they are '\erdually growing in strength and fa- vor in this city. During the past year ) several have been opened. and I expect to see more in the near future. My idea (on this line is for men to band them- ?svlves together, as they did recently here In a shoe house, each put up for a Xnnmam amount of stock and elect a \ manager from among their number, the manager to hold office so long as b conducts matters satisfactorily. In this manner I think the open shop can suc- cessfully be fought and made a thing of the past. Let the workingmen, instead of idly taiking, open a rival shop, no matter what the business of the concern may be, make it more attractive, each take a Httle stock in the concern, and see what will happen to the establishment which locked them out. Strikes are always to be deplored and are always expensive. The money spent In strike benefits will frequently pay for the opeming of a rival estab- lishment, which will put the other man (out of business quicker than anything else and will also provide employment for many men. 1 have repeatedly said, .and I have always consistently endeavored to live up to the declaration, that capital and labor, employer and employe, should have equal consideration and equal protection; that capital must have safe and steady investment in order that labor may have constant and remunerative employment; that the interests of both are for a con- servative and friendly recognition by each of the rights of the other, and under all circumstances and condi- tions 1 propose to abide apd to ef- fectuate these ideas. EUGENE E. SCHMITZ.