"■^^0^ / Zo . WHY . Union Labor FAILS. BY ALFRED MORTON. PITTSBURGH, PA. 1893 ?s ^:^f\N^ PREFACE It is not the aim of the author to decry Union Labor by the pen pictures lierein contained, but to try and point out to union men the errors of unionism, that are so apparent to all fair minded and unpreju- diced workingmen, and by pointing out to the union men their mistakes, thereby help to promote a better feeling between capital and labor, for there can be no permanent progress made by continued strife between the workingmen and their employers. The AuTHOii. COPYRIGHTED, 1893 ALL BIGHTS KESEKVED. OCT 28 1893 J v^677 J WHY UNION LABOR FAILS. INTRODUCTION. 'Tis oft times claimed by demagogues, The great monopolist so clogs Industry's wheels— that her huge cogs Crush helpless labor down. And while this is in part quite true, If those who raise this cry would do A manly part by labor's crew, The crew could laugh or frown, At capital whose charge should be, Met like the surges of the sea That charge in such Satanic glee The rocks they cannot rend. But 'tween the orators who rail At wealth, and wealthy men I fail To either see the head or tail Of labor's honest friend. One excites the cupidity Of men, who tell the workman he Must rouse up if he would be free From grim oppressions's chain. And trusting labor up and runs Bight at the breech, whose gold-charged guns Hurl want and woe to sturdy sons Of toil, time and again. "Again," we see in many lands Rich men oft rule with wanton hands The toiler, who, defenseless stands — Against their thirst for gold. And thus between the capit'list And demagogic vocalist The workmen are ground to a grist, And, like grist, bought and sold, For bought and sold they surely are. In strikes, bred by the men who mar The toiler's cause and raise a bar Against their safe progress, 'Tis they who agitate and prime The laborer for any crime But keep themselves free of the slime That holds him in distress. Where oft he falls to suffer pain And agony that racks his brain And rends his limbs until the strain Makes his brave heart to quail. And, here, with my pen now I seek To utter truths in all I speak About the things — makes labor weak And strikes so often fail. On Drunkenness and the Rights of Speech. Now, first, too many men forsooth Are not instructed in their youth Enough to know half of the truth Of how life should be spent, And to an ale-house they will go To spend a pleasant hour or so. And there the flowing bowl doth sow The seeds of discontent. "Yes," discontent that growing still Makes them regard with no good will The men who've climbed life's rugged hill By years of steadfast toil. But foolish men ne'er reconcile Themselves unto the plodding style Of men who've worked and saved the while To meet this world's turmoil. And having seen life's gilt edged side, At last they join the throngs who glide Along on folly's restless tide Where fools haste to their fall ; And sip, by sip, from pleasure's cup They drink each sweeily poisoned sup Until the dregs once gotten up Taste bitterer than gall. For now the follies of their past Lives stand revealed to them at last .As thoughts and eyes they backward cast O'er those brief years of time, Wherein their youth and strength has fled And left them with the hoary head Made premature by vice that led Them to the doors of crime. And thus they stand amid the foes To union labor's sweet repose When all's well, and add to her woes When she is in travail. And some new movement's having birth To help the toiler's here on earth, Then drunkards they help break the girth Lets labor's movement fail. For they must drink, let come what will, And while drink can be gotten still By work, they'll work, though they work ill To union labor's cause. A-gain they're thorns in labor's thigh When in the labor halls they ply The rights of speech— rights they deny To men who see the flaws And inconsistencies so wild In language used by some work-child When some employer gets reviled For daring to exclaim "That he had rights by which he'd stand Against united labor's hand, Besenting each unjust demand The union men might name. And men, who're just enough to speak In labor halls against the weak Bash talk of men who only seek To further their own ends, 6 Are so insulted by the tools Of sottish, selfish, ranting fools That calm, indeed, is he who rules Himself while he contends For justice ffom his workmates there For treatment upright, manly, fair For man and boss, that each may share* The fruits of harmony. But prejudice and ignorance Oft reign with such intoJerence That prudence has not got a chance Amidst such ribaldry. Then men who are conservative In thoughts and acts, disgusted, give Way to the discord we see live Where order once prevailed. And from the lodge the prudent man Will go to leave the ranks that ban Out common sense the while they plair The strikes so oft have failed. Through blind and dumb aggressiveness Lacking the true cohesiveness That binds men who've wrongs to redress- In unity so grand That naught shakes the fidelity Of all the elements who see That in concord lies victory For labor's faithful band. But dare we hope for concord sweet Where sots and sober men oft meet. And, with harsh words each other greet In place of words of love? That men have used who have progressed In aught that succored the distressed Men who have had their wrongs redressed Through God, who rules above, And not through men upon the brink Of madness, bought at bars that stink With sweet draughts found for men to drink" In Satan's gilded wells. "Where men can buy a burning thirst "That slowly drags them down, accurs'd, Through bar-rooms — so oft good men's first Steps into living hells. '''Yes," living hells of misery Wherein each wife and family Must share each father's iufamy And suffer for his crimes. But when the union men will see That those who join their ranks must be 3Ien full of sound morality Then strikes will ring less chimes. On "Walking Delegates. "Again," a source of labor's woes, And one that breeds her many foes Are many of the men who pose As walking delegates. Who visit all the workshops 'round Where union workingmen abound — To right whatever wrongs are found By these same advocates. Who see that each man's card is clear Of dues at each term of the year, And men whose cards are good need fear No trouble at their hands. But if a man is in arrears, -Or a non-unionist appears. These advocates assail their ears With threats that are commands To be obeyed would they remain At work and thus their jobs retain. For the fraternity doth reign With such audacity T'hat few men dare assert their rights As citizens against the bites •Of delegated parasites, Moved by rapacity, 8 To plunder ail with wliom they meet Regardless of how tiieir deceit Affects the men for whom they treat As agents who perform A work that calls for honesty, With wisdom and true courtesy, In the men we to often see. But help produce a storm. For soon their arbitrary style Of doing things begins to rile The firms who have stood for awhile- Their most despotic sway Until aroused to bitter ire Of walking delegates they tire, Eesolved to keep employed or hire The men, the firms shall say. Thus, warfare is engendered there Where ev'rything was once so fair Because the firms will no more bear To be dictated to. And often bloody is the strife Where these disturbances are rife That often ends some workman's life Before the strife is through ; And capital comes out on top Because of men she raised a crop To run the works that had to stop When tyranny assailed. The firms who now have naught to state To the men, who upon them wait, Except they've closed the workshop's gate" Upon a strike that failed Through the lack of sagacity, Of justice and veracity. Of those whose incapacity Was well matched by their gall, And men who see in unity Labor's grand opportunity — To help all her community. Should not invite her fall "By sending out such advocates As are some of the addle-pates Who pose as walking delegates, To but bring woe to all. On Supply and Demand. _And still a thorn in labor's side Is how to keep a mart supplied With just enough of men to stride Along with the demand ; Por forcing wages up too high Brings an excess of the supply For the demand, and by and by Reaction brings her hand 'T?o bear oft times with crushing force Upon the men who have no source •Of succor^but to wait, of course, 'Till better times arrive. Or else to emigrate elsewhere And run the risk of better fare 'Their shattered fortunes to repair And thus again to thrive. Now, better than this forced up wage Are wages that will not engage Attention from the men who gauge The markets everywhere, And when they see some mart that cries Aloud for men while wages rise. The better to procure supplies. These nomads soon flock there, And in a few years at the most We see a large and idle host ■«Of men who may not want to post Off to some other town ; And then there's no alternative If men in concord want to live — .But take the pay the firms can give. For wages will come down 10 As sure as that men will have food To feed the young ones of their broody- And vile are the men who are lewd Enough to harm all hands On purpose to keep wages high ; Thus, still attracting strangers nigh Eegardless of how the sui)ply So outweighs all demands. Now, in a case like this 'twere best^ However much men may detest — Eeduction, to accept the guest 'Till better times prevail. For, if a strike is brought about. The men who are thus ordered out Are certain sure to meet with rout, For such a strike will fail Because among the very first To leave the ranks are those who thirst For other's blood — but never durst Risk a loss of their own, Unless 'twas with a gang at night To kick and maul some luckless wight^- But from a square and manly fight Their courage has all flown. But when the workingmen discern That demand is a factor stern In regulating what they earn, They wont so often rise Against that firm that cheerful stands And offers to their working hands A chance to live 'till the demands E'en exceeds the supplies. On Piece Work and Day Wages. And still a scourge for labor's back To bruise her form with each rude whack They give her, are the men who lack The skill of tirst- class hands. 11 But working at their sundry trades, United by well drilled brigades, They think by systematic raids To get all their demands. And hence the poor men want as much Pay as the men whose skill is such. That they can charm each thing they touch Into a work of art. Now where men work by piece-work's plan, ^Tis counted just 'tween man and man, That each shall earn whate'er he can, And men who are real smart May earn more wages than the rest. And none deny their right to test Their own ability, and wrest The full worth of their skill— From those, who hire them for their work, From those, who lose naught if they shirk Away their time — 'till others jerk Away the prize at will, For piece-work is the very thing "To make ambitious men to cling Around their tasks can they thus bring Their talents to the fore ; And also pass men overgrown With conceit, at skill they had shown — Self satisfied that they had flown As high as they could soar, ^o competition ever serves To brace up combative men's nerves Until they mount the graded curves Of skill, to wealth and fame. And if you take away the prize •Of extra pay for enterprise Men have no incentive to rise And try to win a name. Thus piecework is a factor seen "To make men both watchful and keen 'Of any chance whereby they glean An increase of their pay. 12 But where the men they all engage In toil for diff 'rent rates of wage 'Tis very hard to truly gauge What each man's worth a day And still suit all the men employed In a shop where we find alloyed The genius. And the men who're void* Of ingenuity And cannot rise out of the class Of men whose merits never pass Them o'er the heads of the great mass Of men found in class three. We also find a man with speed On certain work where there's no need Of extra skill — and he may lead The van among a crew Of men who are all qualified Alike in speed and skill to stride Along and all their defects hide Within class number two. Another man may have great skill, Another have great speed and still Be a good workman, one who will Leave all his work well done. For these mechanics they have made Themselves the masters of their trade In every branch until they grade Fit for class number one, While those who cannot reach class three^- And know their inability, Would be wise in a large degree, To try some other trade. But there's one fact that's widely known, There are men who will never own That they, themselves, have never shown' Skill of the highest grade. And these men never rest content Until in labor's hall they vent Their pent up spleen so often meant To hide their jealousy, 13 Of those who are more skilled than they^ And thus command a higher pay, Because they've studied night and day Their duties zealously. And here is where the union men Make one of their grand errors when The rates of pay are good and then O'er confident they try To bring the lowest rate per day Up to the second rate of pay, Reckless of the fact that their sway Depends on the supply Of men who may be had at will, Their places in the shop to fill. Should they be fools enough to kill Themselves with their own greed ; In striking at a so-called trust. By asking terms that are unjust, And simply fill with deep disgust The men who loathe the deed. While, as a rule, those who insist The most to strike are those who've kissed The flowing bowl, so oft they've missed The chances of their lives. Or else they are the poorer class Of artisans who'll not let pass A chance with radicals to mass, And up and use their knives Against a firm who may have known The worth of the chiefs who had sown The seeds of av'rice that have grown To such proportions now. The firm has left but one resource. And that is to meet force by force, And when they get new men, of course, 'Tis then begins the row. Because these communists have vowed, That a non-unionistic crowd Of workmen ne'er should be allowed To gain the workshop's door 14 Before they'd waged a bloody fight, And proved to the world they were right, By blows thdt were struck with such might, They dyed the sod with gore. And soon upon the scene arrives The men who must run for their lives Or contend with the horde that strives Their bodies to assail. And some are beaten to the ground And jumped upon while blows resound On ev'ry hand where there is found A man who'll still prevail Against the noV exultant mob Of frenzied men who feel no throb Of pity for each man they rob Of his blood or his life. And then the firm on Justice waits To open up the workshop's gates And save their new men broken pates While rioters are rife. And Justice answers to the call And sends her guardians to awe all The acts that may lead to a brawl And further fearful strife. But suddenly there gathers 'round 'The oflScers on duty bound — The strikers, who, all armed are found With a club, gun, or knife. While angrily they speak aloud About the dirty, scabbing crowd • They thought they had so badly cowed, None of them would remain. But now, escorted by the law, The blacksheep they appear once more, And, at last, with a sullen roar. The strikers charge again On Justice, who, with visage grim, Bepells the foemen with such vim That soon the living ones grow dim Because of foot they're fleet. 15 And, pell-mell, run away in haste Before the Nemesis who chased Them from the field they left disgraced And o'verwhelmed in defeat, While those who lie dead on the ground, Their life's blood flowing from each wound^ Are borne oiF at the closing sound Of this most sad affray. " But where," were all those haughty braves Who dug these men's untimely graves, " Yes," where were all those naughty knaves, " Oh ! " where, "Oh !" where were they ? For not one fell in this melee To lose his life or liberty And leave his wife and family To toil in misery While he lived on within the gloom Of prison walls, a far worse tomb Than had he bravely met his doom In this catastrophe That cost these other men their lives ; Some leaving children and their wive& To fight with a woe that deprives Them of their dearest friends, The husband's and the father's dear, The late providers of their cheer, Their protectors — who now draw near The grave, where there descends The bodies that are laid to rest In Nature's ever-kindly breast While hearts bleed at the sad request, Here ever rest in peace. And then the mourning calvacade Returns home from the flowered glade Where sleep the dear ones they have laid Away till strife shall cease. " But where," were all those braggarts bold Who brought this grief to labor's fold Through tirades they had preached of old Against monopoly. 16 Yet, when Mars let his standard fly None of these cowards they were nigh To force the fight. To do and die Or set the toilers free, As they had vowed that they would do Should ever labor's gallant crew Proclaim the hour had come to hew Their tyrants to the ground. They had declared they'd lead the van Of battle for the rights of man. Yet, when this sharp conflict began Scarce one of them were found. Except where they most ever are. At headquarters. Or at a bar. While Justice made the ground to jar Beneath her mighty tread. In forcing all of those to yield Who forced the onset on the field Their weapons once again to wield Upon a blackleg's head. And foiled in this they then withdrew Before the Nemesis who slew The comrades who so rashly flew At the majestic law. Who soon has order well restored, And these misguided men so awed, The bullied firm they can afford To run their works once more. Along the business paths of old, As though a strike had never rolled Within the precints of the fold, Where strangers now are seen, Beplacing such of those who went Out with the tide of discontent, That left the shop but to repent. For having foolish been In hearkening to those who caught Them in the mesh, were they were taught To realize the havoc wrought Themselves by self conceit ; 17 In thinking that they could subdue, The firm to kneeling to the crew Of malcontents who thus e'er strew The herbage of defeat, Because they have not got the sense To let each man have recompense According to his skill, and hence These disasters assail The ranks, whose wisest men can see, They e'er lose their prosperity, And e'er are vanquished easily Where arrogance doth fail To frighten men who will not fly From adversaries they defy, Resolved to conquer or to die Upon the battlefield. Ere they will kneel to the salvo's Of bluster from blatant bravo's. Whose courage lurks within their toes When they must fight or yield, As oft they must throughout the world, When independence gets so furled With insolence that both get hurled Aside for many years. Until again another crop Of union men rise to the top. To reign and then again to drop In sorrow, pain and tears. As they have done in ages past When giant guilds have been o'ercast Because their haughtiness at last Became too much to bear, And all their mighty power proved Destructible to anger grooved In righteousness, whose strength removed Laws that had grown unfair. And thus 'twill ever, ever be, Till Time sinks in Eternity, Naught stands, 'less truth and honesty They are the corner-stones 18 On which the fabric's they are raised, Whose beauty makes the world amazed And makes the authors' names be praised When perished are their bones. On Apprentice Boys. And still at union labor's breast Appears a thorn piercing her chest And causing her much grave unrest Through the apprentice boys Who come between masters and men A bone of trouble oft times when There should be naught but peace, but them The bound boy he annoys The union men when he's not bound By the laws the men hedge around Their trades fenced in like sacred ground Whereon none can intrude Without the workmen first consent To train the boys on learning bent, Or else they show their discontent In acts unkind and rude Towards the boys, whoe'er they be, Who rouse up the men's enmity By being bound, but yet still free From unionism's claim, And every chance the men have got At such bound boys they make things hot For the apprentice who is not Bound in the union's name. And this oft leads to bitter strife Between a firm and those who'd knife, A boy oft led a weary life Unless he's strongly made. And quick to resent each rude act. By words or deeds so full of tact. The men soon realize one fact That boy will learn the trade, 19 No matter what rough jokes beset Him on the course that has so whet His will that he means to upset All the obstructions thrown Across his path to block his way, Because he does not tribute pay To union workingmen who say, This boy we will not own Until he yields us revenue, To help to float our union's through The storms encountered by the crew, Who have our by-laws made. While should the men the strongest be. Sometimes a boy is easily Ejected from a shop where he Had sought to learn a trade ; Because the spokesmen for the hands. Present unto the firm demands, That leave the firm shoaled in the sands That would their trade destroy. Unless they knuckle to the cheek ■ Of men who know the firm dare seek No quarrel to protect a weak And helpless 'prentice boy. Buf if the case is the reverse, The firms feeling that through their purse They can afiford in language terse. To tell the men "Oh no," We'll not discharge these boys to weep. While we stand round like frightened sheep Bayed by the hounds, at work we keep To hunt us to and fro. 'Tis then the men, if unsubdued, May fall into an ugly mood. And by their sullen attitude Provoke an open fight. Through being told to use the lash Upon the firms and soundly thrash Them all for trying with their cash To break the union's might. 20 And foolish men where thej are strong Consider not the right or wrong If they but think they help along Their cause, they've no regard For what a l&rm may have to say About their autocratic sway When they command — firms must obey And the bound boys discard Or else a stubborn strike ensues In which both men and masters lose Much time and wealth while the world views The fight waged angrily Between the unions and the firms Who'd suffer long — 'till like the worms, They turned against the unjust terms Of the fraternity, Whose actions often show they aim To let none but the union's name The boys who have a right to claim A chance the trade to learn. And there's where union workmen make Another grave and sad mistake. For acts like these at last awake The wrath of those who spurn All offers of a compromise On any terms wherein there lies Concessions from the firms who rise Against the policy Of having union workmen say The number of the boys who may Start at a trade to learn the way How to mechanics be. And where each firm determined stands Against the striking working hands Who know that they have made demands^ Devoid of common sense. Some of the men will soon conclude That their offensive attitude Is suicidal if but viewed By sound intelligence. 21 And once the men of thought can see That in the place of victory They're face to face with misery. What wonder if they swear They will not any further strive Against a force that does deprive Their homes of food to keep alive The loved ones who are there. Especially will this be true When the firms can secure a crew Of men with which to run anew Their workshops as of yore, While the old workmen walk around In sadness where they have not found Work that will keep want, safely bound — Outside their cottage door. But all the destitution wrought By such a strike as this were naught, If none but the promoters caught The fury of the gale That rarely strikes the eloquent Projectors of the whirlwind spent Upon the men too innocent To think their strike could fail. Because their leaders they had swore The firms could run their works no more- Without the men who now see o'er Themselves grim poverty. And what a lesson here is burned Into the hearts of those who've learned The folly of their having spurned Away prosperity. When they denied both boys and firms The power to arrange the terms By which the boys became trade worms Hungry to find the art Found in the shops— the training schools Where they are taught to use the tools That makes them skilled workmen or fools- As they are dumb or smart. 22 Now, union men should bear in mind They have a right to shield their kind From competition that would grind Them all into the dust, While men and firms alike should see That each would benefited be. Would they but mutually agree Upon a plan that must Be lived up to by all the men, By all the firms as well, and when This state of things exists, why then Something like this we'd see — A given number of bound boys To each twelve men, each firm employs, Av'raged throughout a year, of joys — To all — would all agree That such and such should be the plan By which apprentice boys began The learing taught them by each man Among the brotherhood. Who have a right to welded be Together and so soli'dly That none will dare to wantonly Assail their common good. But where the brotherhoods they spurn Down boys who seek a trade to learn, The world applauds the boys who turn And find a way to crawl. The long rough journey up the hill, Searched eagerly to find the skill. Found by the boy who has a will That quails not at a fall. A fall that lets him rise again Instructed by the twinge of pain That nerves his heart, his arm, his brain, And wins him victory In spite of all the well laid plans, Hatched out by union labor clans. Whose adherents enforced the bans Proclaimed in secresy. 23 And thus also the firms who rise, Against a wrong that multiplies, And but their hate intensifies, Will find a way to cast The objects of their scorn aside, Though they must search both far and wide To find the steed on which to ride, To conquest at the last. O'er those who held the sway so long, They thought themselves to great and strong,. To ever be scourged by a thong- Held in a victor's hand. But thus 'twas ever and 'twill be Through ev'ry coming century. There comes a time when tyranny Falls 'neath a victor's brand, And those whoe'er seek to dictate To other men how to walk straight. May find, alas ! when far too late. They cannot longer claim A better knowledge of the arts Of dictation ? than one who starts Late at the play, but breaks the hearts Of those who lose the game. On the Rights of Non-Union Men. And last of all the greatest pains Of union workmen's hearts or brains Are those defeats that are the gains Of their mad policy Of forcing workmen who have got Through them to mingle with each sot ' Who says non-union men are not To tolerated be Unless they will consent to bear With union men the cost and care That keeps alive and in repair The great machinery 24 •Of unionism as she moves So oft within the narrow grooves Of selfishness that so oft proves A curse to unity. Because some unseen snag appears To check the union men's careers When they begin to pull the ears And kick the men who don't, From sincere motives, join the throng That moves the huge machine along Up to the men who've courage strong Enough to say, I won't Join with a class that wants to drive Their fellow-men into a hive — And there to make them help to strive Against those still outside. And finding moral suasion fail To make these manly hearts to quail The union men turn round and rail At them, and them deride. While soon the union men are seen To bring their powerful machine To force these men into their seine — Or strike them in their flanks Through the committeemen who vent Their grievance to the firm who's bent Their ears to those who represent United labor's ranks. The grievance chiefly will consist Of an appeal to have dismissed Each man who's a non-unionist From out the firms employ. And if the appellants should meet. With success then their comrades greet Them with a fervor that's replete With unionism's joy. This oft has been where firms were blessed With work that kept them so hard pressed, 'They would not risk being distressed By starting an aflfray, 25 That would not help them anything, But might great losses to them bring, So they've knelt to the labor ring And sent the men away. But where firms have not been annoyed With work that kept them thus employed^ And feeling they are but decoyed To help commit a wrong, They may not haste to go and weed Out of their works, men, they may need So badly, that 'twere hard indeed To run their shops along Without the men who still refuse To in the labor ranks enthuse — But in a week the firm must choose To meet or shun a storm. Because the workmen's committee's Have named the day hostilities Commence, unless the firm decrees, That they will then conform To all the union men's commands — By their discharging all the hands Objected too in the demands Made by the labor clan. And soon arrives the fateful day. Sees started up the hateful fray When a firm has not sent away The men under a ban. But lo ! the firm is resolute In holding out against the brute Force of the men who thus dispute Men's rights to liberty, To liberty of conscience ; freed, From the restraint of sect or creed. While they the common statutes heed That lets men equal be. With other men who have the right To toil for wealth for sup or bite, To toil for aught, may them delight When enjoyed by the flame 26 Of honor, that grand light that burns Within the souls of men and turns Their thoughts to each command that learns Men how to pass by shame. And when a firm views things this way, 'Tis hard to make such firms obey The whims that may a despot sway According to his mood. And so the firms have named a day Wherein these foolish men they may Eeturn to toil and thus allay This most outrageous feud, Or else the firm will seek for new Men to replace their former crew Of employes who had withdrew Themselves from out the works. When their employers would not send Away the men who now depend Upon the firm to win, to end The mischief that there lurks Around the plant, where slowly comes l^ew faces while the workshop hums With industry, and growing sums Of work turned out each day Until the plant is made to ring With each department in full swing, And prosperous — forthwith to bring The firm safe from the fray. Waged by the firm successfully Against the sordid bigotry Of those who so relentlessly Assailed men's right to be Aloof from any creed or clan That put men underneath a ban Who would not join them in their plan Of having Liberty. But see how fares the striking throng •Of once proud men who'd felt so strong They would insist to rush headlong Into the arms of strife 27 To meet disaster and defeat, Dismay and poverty complete. Because their foolish self conceit Invoked the victor's knife Which fell on those men who had earned The wrath of those men who had turned In angry righteousness and spurned The union men away Out of the works from which they'd sought To throw the men who'd bravely fought For freedom, from the clan who'd thought To rule the works for aye. And so 'tis ever with the firms, At last forced to defy the terms, Have emanated from the germs Whose fruit became as gall, Through customs made by labor's crew, And enforced with a zeal that's drew Down wrath from those employers who Struck blows to free them all From the oppressive galling chain. Of strikes and boycots that had slain Firms who'd struck at a tyrant's reign Beneath the unity Of working men, who'd arrogate. In labor halls to legislate. And control the affairs of state With such impunity. Employers they had naught to do. But bend down to the men who grew More insolent as boycots slew The scoffers of their strength, 'Til strikes the common cause of strife Has caused boycots to grow so rife, Wealth has combined to take the life, Has run a despot's length. For over all the Christian world The union workmen have been hurled From off" the heights, from which they twirled The lash so oft let fall .28 On those who'd their displeasure bought, By asking something that had v^rought To fury those rash men who'd thought Their unity a wall. That naught could ever overthrow, No matter how bad trade might grow, They still defiantly would show A bold front to the last, And so they've sent from union hives. Terms that have made rich men use knives, Whose golden blades slashed out the lives Of union men to cast Them faint and weary on the ground. Exhausted by starvation's wound While other workmen have been found Glad of the chance to earn A living at the terms refused By men so oft falsely enthused 'To strike at firms so oft abused. Until the firms return With int'rest all the kicks received From union men who had believed They owned the firms and so relieved Their rage time and again By wanting this and wanting that, And when refused they would strike at The firms who've struck the workmen flat To learn good sense through pain. As men have ever learned good sense Through dearly bought experience With woes, whose pains were so intense, The strongest hearts have quailed iBeneath the lessons they were taught When to themselves they havoc wrought By folly that had forced and fought A fight where folly failed To overcome the stubborn foes Who turned oft' all of folly's blows So well that at the battle's close 'Twas folly, had to flee 29 Before the arm of Justice, who Struck right and left a path to hew "Through foes her valor overthrew, Though they fought warily. And ere I close my present lay I have a few more words to say That may help to bring forth a day When strikes and strife may cease, And all the world can join with me In bringing forth things that can be, If all will but strive honestly To see the world have peace. First of all, the young folks should be Taught to uphold sobriety, For through their drunken levity Men of high rank have fell ^ From honor's path borne by a thirst That led them slowly to the worst Debaucheries — to plunge head first At last down into hell. And many of the strikes and jars Would not be seen but for the bars Where young men drink and smoke cigars And urge each other on To just another glass or so, Tet, meanwhile, little do they sow To reap when on them age will grow And youth and strength be gone.