Laredo Weekly Times

The Central Trades and Labor Council of St. Louis seems to be composed of an aggressive bunch of men. Not content with conditions as they are, which are almost as bad as they could be, the council voted to ask the American Federation of Labor to call a national general strike. The textile workers of New England, a great many of the garment workers of New York City, the coal miners of the country and the railroad shopmen are now on strike, with a resultant loss of millions of dollars daily to the workers. The brotherhoods seem about to be drawn into the strike, which will add nearly a million more men to the walkout and would paralyze, not only transportation, but industry as well, throughout the country, causing widespread suffering and many thousands of deaths.

On top of this the radicals who dominate the St. Louis central trades body want all the rest of union labor throughout the country to stop work and finish the job the original strikers began.

Naturally this will not appeal to the more conservative among the workers in various trades, nor will it probably have the effect of stampeding the executive council of the federation, which is more conservative than the St. Louis crowd. St. Louis is a hotbed of socialism and even numbers many of the most radical of the workers of the country among its union members. It will be remembered that the first note of sedition during the war was sounded in that city, and that the radical wing of the socialist party met there in convention.

There has been a call from the various organizations on strike throughout the country for contributions to their war chest. If all the workers of the country were to strike, even for a few days, it would mean that there could be no further aid from organized labor for the striking railway men, the miners, the textile workers and the garment workers. This of itself should give pause to those who are in sympathy with the men on strike.

There is nothing to be gained by such a general strike. Many millions of workers will have hard lines the coming winter because of the present strike. They will be hard pressed to obtain fuel and the cost of many necessities will mount, due to the present lack of transportation.

The strikers will have to meet the loss of the summer's wages, and those who usually live from hand to mouth will find themselves in a precarious situation when cold weather comes.

If the St. Louis workers are so strongly in sympathy with the strikers, why do they not propose that every member of organized labor, instead of striking and thus reducing his own earning capacity, donate a week's wages to the strikers of the country and thus help out their brothers.

The proposal for a general strike does not come from any friend of organized labor. It comes from some of the radicals who would like to see all the institutions of this country destroyed, even the labor unions, who heretofore have been in favor of government and of law.

It is because these men who have for some time been 'boring from within' the unions in order to disrupt them want to see the organized workingmen of the country turn to radicalism and anarchy that they propose such measures.

It not only takes time to organize a strike, especially a general strike, but it also takes time to call it off and make terms with the employers after the strike is ended. Fancy what it would mean for all the organized labor of the country that is affiliated with the federation of labor to strike for even a week. Think of the widespread misery it would cause.