Oklahoma Labor Unit (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Vol. 1, No. 12, Ed. 1 Saturday, August 29, 1908 Page: 1 of 4
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A Clean
Conservative
Independent
Non-Partisan
Newspaper for
the Homes
OKLAHOMA LABOR UNIT
"ALL IN ONE; ONE IN ALL"
THE PARAMOUNT QUESTION: LIFE, LIBERTY, THE ENJOYMENT OF THE GAINS OF OUR OWN INDUSTRY
OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE OKLAHOMA STATE FEDERATION OF LABOR
Lep o iate
Vietiiods
Every Day
VOL. 1.
OKLAHOMA CITY. OKLAHOMA. SATUKDAY, AUGUST 29. 1908.
NO. 12.
TRADE UNIONISM
CHECKS TYRANNY
OF EMPLOYER
PROPOSED CHARTER SHOULD BE REJECTED TKF
Life's battle, we are told, is that
contest in which we struggle and
strive for those things which admin-
ister to our wants and satisfy our de<
Bires. In this contest some develop
strength, courage, perseverance and
all the best and most ennobling traita
of the human heart and mind; whilst
others develop naught but selfishness
and those ignoble traits that debase
and degrade, and which not only make
their possessor a wretched being, but
also tend to increase the misery of ail
mankind, because the heartless selfish-
ness of such individuals is ever urging
them to ride on to success over the
ruins of their fellow-men, if need be,
Therefore we need an institution that
will exert an uplifting influence on
life. An institution that will teach
men, in the industrial world, that the
best success and greatest happiness
of life does not lie in the dishonest
accumulations of wealth, but in the ef-
fort to make others happy and lessen
the burdens of mankind. Such an in-
stitution is organized labor. It teaches
man that he is his brother's keeper,
and that he is therefore bound to as-
sist all men to get justice; it impresses
upon him that honesty is not only the
best policy, but that it is the lmpera-
lve duty of all men to be honest, and
It reminds those who have wealth,
power, authority or influence that
they will some day be called upon to
render an account of their steward-
ship.
The trade union Is, in short, the
natural product of the present indus-
trial system. No agitator or body of
labor leaders is to be credited with the
production of the labor movement.
The cause of unionism is the instinct
of Belf-preservation, which is most
highly developed in intelligent and
robust nations, but sadly lacking in
those peoples who are buried, so to
speak, in Ignorance.
The trade union checks the tyranny
of the despotic employer. It prevents
him from making a Persian Shah of
himself. It draws a line between fair
play and oppression and says, "This
is America and not Russia, and you
must do business in the American
way." It transforms the wage earn-
ers from human machines into human
beings.
Even the financiers who are worth
millions of dollars consider it neces-
sary to organize to protect their in-
terests. If organization is necessary
for millionaires, how much more is tt
for workingmen, who have no "pull,"
no property and no social standing?
Take away the trade union and you
take away the only hope the average
workingman has of bettering his con-
dition. A wage worker is not like a
stock-juggling financier; he has no
hopes of sudden wealth. Every dollar
in his pay envelope must be earned
and often double-earned by hard
work. He is not, generally speaking,
like a bank clerk; he has little hope
of being picked out and promoted.
His chance of being superintendent
at a salary of $5,000 a year is about
as probable as his chance of being
sent to the United States Senate. He
has nothing to sell but his labor and
no means of getting a higher price
for it, except through his union.
Doesn't it pay, then, to be a union
man?—Ex.
I Laboring People Should Be More Interested Than Any Oilier Class—Should Not Permit Their Desires to
Chastise the Corporations Blind Their Sense of Right and Justice-An
Appointive System Very Lndesireable.
LEGISLATION
(By Geo. H. Giddings.)
Mr. George H. Giddings, of the law
firm of Giddings & Giddings, when ap-
proached by a representative of this
WHY?
paper upon his views on the charter || Did the Freeholders get the legislature to pass a law providing that
question, said: I ^ they should receive pay for their work in case the charter carried, and
If they believed that the char-
. „ . .. j* icr was -gooa, wny aid tney tnen file their bill with the cltv officials
say publicly upon the merits or demer-. and urge its immediate approval? Why did they limit themselves to
its of the proposed charter. When the •• $400 each for three long months of strenuous work, supplemented by ••
agitation first began I made a cursory j • • 30 days' of "fighting the special interests?" If their bill had been paid •£
ezamination of the document and at *3* by the Present city government, would their ardor have cooled off?
first was rather favorabiy imPfWMd M ! 2 ™'/
with it, but since then, after making a 4. of so much importance? (Compare these copies with the copy a!) *• ° _paI
thorough ezamination of its various •• found in the Times, especially section 21 of the Public Service Cor- ••
provisions, I am opposed to it. There5 "" Porations article.) Cannot the people be trusted to read these things "*
1 and make up their own minds? •
Does organized labor approve of the open shop? Under the civil ••
•" service commission as provided in the proposed city charter, can you **
•• see any way to prevent one non-union man working on a job from T
• • keeping union men off the job?
After working for sixteen years for DIRECT ELECTION of all .
T officers, after securing provisions for the direct election of our state * *
T labor commissioner, state mine inspectors, etc., will organized labor *"
T vote in favor of APPOINTING city officers? "*•
GOMPERS ON POLITICS.
Hla Advice Should Be Followed With
Beneficial Results.
are many obnoxious features in this
new system of government which the
people of this city are considering of
imposing upon themselves.
"I am opposed to the centralization
of power in the hands of any man or
set of men such as is contemplated by
this charter. The idea that the Mayor,
with the advice and consent of the
Council, may appoint a city treasurer,
city auditor, city clerk, chief of the
fire department, city engineer, judge of
the municipal court, a city weigher, a
city attorney, and the city assessor is
repugnant to my ideas of a democratic
government. The people should be
permitted to state directly who shall
hold so important an office as a judge
of the municipal court, or a city at-
torney, or a city treasurer. They are
certainly as well qualified to pass upon
these questions as the Mayor and the
City Council. There are certain offices
in municipal government of minor im-
portance which ought to be filled by
the appointive power, but I do not be-
lieve that offices of this importance
should be filled by aneone but the
people themselves by direct vote. The
article which appeared in your paper
a few days ago upon this feature of the
charter, ezpressed my views fully.
There is another feature of this char-
ter to which m yattention has been
directed, which seems to me to stand
in the way of progress, and at the same
time places in the hands of the Council
an instrument of oppression : Section
17 of Article 16 provides as follows:
" 'No switch, sidetrack, turn-out or
other track for a steam railroad or
railway company, shall be authorized
by the Board of Council to be laid in
any street, avenue, alley, or through,
over, upon or acress any of the public
grounds of said city, within the corpo-
rate limits of said city, until a two-
thirds majority of the owners of the
front feet of property in front or in the
rear of which said switch, side-tracks,
or turn-out, or other track is to be laid,
shall have filed with the said board
their written consent and petition
therefor, and then in such event only
to be laid subject to removal, altera-
tion or change, by the Board of Coun-
cil when in its discretion it shall be
required.'
"A literal compliance with the pro-
visions of this section will enable the
City Council at any time it saw fit to
require a railroad company to tear up
its tracks after the same had been
thoroughly established, without cause
or provocation; and, while I have never
been a lover of corporations, but on
the contrary I have always believed
In holding them under strict control,
at the same time I have always be-
lieved in giving them a fair deal, and
with this provision staring them in the
ty is liable to be damaged at any time
at the will of the City Council without
adequate compensation.
"For this and other reasons which
renewal of a franchise must be sub-
mitted to them for approval.
Have YOU, as a VOTER, thoroughly
considered that these four small items,
f |are the FULL LIMIT of YOUR future
participation in city affairs?
Do you REALIZE that the people
are to have absolutely NO CHOICE OR
VOICE in the selection of, and NO
POWER OF RECALL OVER, any one
of all the following officials: City As-
sessor, Auditor, Attorney, Clerk, Judge
Court, Engineer, Fire
Chief, Treasurer, Weigher? Tills
means that the Assessor who fixes
YOUR taxes, is In no way responsible
and accountable to YOU for the faith-
ful and impartial discharge of that
duty. You will have reposed no trust
In liiin and will not have given him
YOUR VOTE oif CONFIDENCE OR
SUPPORT. And since he OWES YOU
Why do not the Freeholders and their friends, the office-seekers, T NO CONSIDERATION as a CITIZEN
T discuss the charter provisions, Instead of venting their spleen on " *
,, Classn, the street railway, gas company, and telephone company?
, , Are these the only business interests that are to be looked after?
. , What is the object of the Freeholders In emphasizing the point that ^ ]
.. they are "deevoting their time and energies" to benefit the city without 3!
• compensation?
Organized labor is in favor of "regulating the corporations," but is
.j. not willing to repudiate one of its basic principles—equity and justice.
.j. There are but three points regarding the proposed charter that la-
.j. boring people need to consider, as they are altogether sufficient to con-
.j. vince them that the proposed charter will work a hardship on labor:
First, even the Freeholders do not deny that the adoption of the 4-
•j. carter i« bound to throw the city into endless litigation regarding con- • •
.. tracts of any kind which will stop city improvements for months,
throwing many laborers out of jobs. ..
Second, by providing for the appointment of city officers, it opens 4*
T the way for the political party in power to build up a machine by which
■ they may control the city until another charter is adopted. *I*
Third, it makes all city work "open shop" jobs, and no union may
j. can work on an open shop job.
j. AND DON'T FORGET THAT THE FREEHOLDERS HAVE FOR- V
4 TIFIED THIS CHARTER BY MAKING IT IMPOSSIBLE TO CHANGE X
4. IT FOR TWO YEARS.
The mercantile interests are against the charter. Corporate in- ..
4. terests are against the charter, and for once capital and labor have a ..
4. battle in common and will fight shoulder to shoulder, for organized . . PENDENTLY ELECTED officials who
•]• labor is against the charter. . .
Will you vote for THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE CITY WHICH . .
4* IS YOUR HOME, or will you vote for TEN FREEHOLDERS, A HAND- . .
FUL OF OFFICE-SEEKERS—AND PREJUDICE? X
KEEP A STEADY NERVE AND VOTE FOR THE BENEFIT OF
THE MASSES.
and a VOTER, you will RECEIVE
NONE. The same is true of the City
Clerk. If now you are wronged by
discrimination and inequality in the
assessment of your taxes, the flnai de-
cision on your complaint will be ren-
dered by a board composed of the As-
sessor WHO FIXED THE TAG, the
Mayor WHO APPOINTED HIM, and
the City Clerk WHO ALSO OWES HIS
APPOINTMENT TO THE MAYOR.
Their legal adviser and supporter will
be the City Attorney, WHO LIKE-
WISE IS APPOINTED BY THE
MAYOR. And It is upon these four
MAYOR. And it is upon THESE FOUR
that you must depend for any correc-
tion, equalization, or adjustment in the
matter of your complaint! Would you
not rather go up against four INDE
were selected and voted into their
places by the free and untrammeled
votes o fyourself and your fellow citi-
zens, and who are accountable DI-
RECTLY TO YOU for any malfeas-
ance in office? If your wrongs are not
wrighted, under the charter your sole
redrfss will be, as an individual to
vote f gainst any one of those four who
might in the future be a candidate for
There Is so much sophistry and
buncombe abroad in the land on the
subject of representative government
that It is highly gratifying to have
so important a journal as the New
York Independent on the right side of
tile question. Read this editorial:
"Theoretically, representative gov-
ernment should be popular govern-
ment; but practically it creates a
career for the professional politician,
however upright his intentions, is
driven by the exigencies of his life
to build and maintain the political ma-
chine which is moved by bribery and
graft. The professional poltlcian
must get elected. To that end ho must
have votes. To that end he must have
money. To that end he must do some-
thing for men who are willing to pay
money for services rendered or goods
delivered. Direct legislation by the
Initiative and Referendum cuts
through this vicious circle. Its im-
mediate effect, therefore, is to clean
up political business. It lias another
effect, however, which is quite as im-
portant. It educates and disciplines
the people in political competency.
The world has erroneously overesti-
mated the educational value of that
popular participation in political af-
fair which consists only In voting for
candidates for office. Popular gov-
ernment to this extent merely centers
attention upon personal qualities. It
makes the voter a blind worshiper
or the pliant tool of a boss. It provides
no incentive to study questions, to
understand measures. All that is left
to the legislator. Under the Initiative
and Referendum the voter turns his at-
tention from men to measures and be-
comes an informed citizen. Although
years and generations may pass before
more than a small majority of the peo-
ple will thus become thoroughly in-
formed and interested, yet every year
the number of such increases where
direct participation in legislation is
the rule, while under the merely rep-
resentative system voters become
more indifferent, more neglectful and
more stupid.—Ohio Liberty Bell.
BE
BUSINESS PEOPLE SHOULD
CAREFUL.
There is one thing regarding Labor
Day that the business people might
mayor or member of council or board overiook. ,n „lacing their orders for
of education. If your wrongs are so
great that you can enlist a public sup-
port equa1 to at least thirty per cent
of Ihe entile vote cast for the mayor at
the preceding election, you can AT-
TEMPT the RECALL of the mayor, but
you have no recourse against his said
APPOINTEES.
This is only one of the many illus-
trations that could be given, of YOUR
INEVITABLE CONDITION under the
charter if, mistakenly or thoughtless-
ly, the voters fail to repudiate and re-
ject it. This example should suffice
to call the ATTENTION TO THE ONE-
MAN POWER that will be FIXED
UPON YOU, if it should be adopted.
signs, decorating of floats and letter-
ing of banners they should first ascer-
tain that the firm to whom they give
their work employ union men and then
see that the firm PLACES THE
UNION LABEL ON EVERYTHING.
It would not look well for a business
firm to have a beautiful ploat or a neat
banner in the parade that did not bear
the union label. It would look like
they wort bidding for patronage under
false colors.
There are but two or three sign
writers or sign painters in Oklahoma
City that cannot furnish the label and
they charge just as much, sometimes
„„„ .. more, for the same class of work, or
Even the Municipal Judge, the con- • , , ,
... ... (inferior work, as do the fair firms. So
that by demanding the label the adver-
tiser is protecting himself in two ways
—by being assured of first class work-
manship and the approval of union
men.
Samuel Gompers, the grand old man
of labor, says:
"It is the duty of union men to ele;tj might be set forth and which probably
their friends and defeat their enemies." J occur more forcibly to the mind of a
And organized labor is waking up1 lawyer than the ordinary citizen who
enough to take an interest in politics, j reads this document. I am disposed to
such as Gompers advises. In nearly j ezercise what little influence I may
every state labor unions are realizing have in opposition to the proposed
the necessity of defeating their ene- charter."
mies, and they are defeating them j
right along. I IF THE CHARTER SHOULD PASS!
I (By O. A. Smith.)
There is no right, legal or moral, for I jf the charter should pass, the PEO-
which the organization of labor does ' pLK wiu be ABSOLUTELY WITH-
not stand. There Is no wrong that :t
MISS EVA DUNN
Elected Labor Day Queen
Total Vote 18,118
vrong
proposes to uphold or defend.
OUT VOICE OR POWER in the con-
duct of the city's affairs. EXCEPT
ONLY:
(1) That in April 191!. and every
second year thereafter, they will elect
a mayor, and a member of Council
and a member of Board of Education,
from each ward—
(2) That by the process of "Recall"
they may at any time ELECT a differ-
ent person in place of any one of these
eleven officials—
(3) That by the initiative and ref-
erendum they may vote for an amend-
ment of the charter, or for legislation
other than the grant, extension or re-
newal of a franchise—, and
(4) That any grant, extension, or
servator of the peace, is to be AF
POINTED BY THE MAYOR, as is also
the city attorney WHO PROSECUTES
BEFORE HIM, the city clerk, WHO
LISTS AND RECORDS THE PINES,
and the city treasurer, WHO COL-
LECTS THE FINES!
With all these officials, APPOINT-
IVE BY, AND RENDERING ALL AL-
LEOIANCE TO, the mayor—with NOT
ONE OF THEM ELECTIVE OR SUB-
JECT TO RECALL,—WHEREIN CAN
OR WILL THE PEOPLE RULE?
The alleged remedy by RECALL is
an impudent farce because it is limited
to the ELECTIVE officials. What pos-
sible chance, think you, would there
be of securing the RECALL of a mayor
or council member or member of the
Board of Education, because of mal-
feasance by one of their appointees?
It is not the American way to punish
one man for the wrongdoing of an-
other.
The alleged protection afforded by
the Civil Service Commission is an
equally audacious and impudent
BLIND. The members of said Com-
mission are appointive by the mayor,
and removable by the mayor and the j
(Continued from Page 2)
GRAFT AGAIN.
Several men prominent in industry
in the New England States have been
arrested on a charge of conspiring to
defraud the city of Boston by enter-
ing into a pooling arrangement for
bidding on contracts for bridges, etc.
They have all pleaded not guilty and
have been released on bond. Having
robbed the city of Boston they will
now lead the prosecutor and his as-
sociates a merry chase in an endeavor
to clog the wheels of ujstice. If money
will accomplish this result, or if any-
one occupying a responsible position
on the side of the prosecution can be
bribed, that very thing will be done.
Vote for your friends and help get
honestmen into office. If you want
good, wholesome laws, elect your
friends.
Bad habits breed bad luck.
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Oklahoma Labor Unit (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Vol. 1, No. 12, Ed. 1 Saturday, August 29, 1908, newspaper, August 29, 1908; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc106672/m1/1/: accessed April 24, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.