These commendable objects would have been a sufficient excuse for the
existence of these bodies, and other legitimate ends might have been
sought, but the labor unions did not stop there. They instituted and set
in motion the powerful machinery of the strike, as it was called, making
it effective by binding their members, under severe penalties, to stop
work when they were ordered to do so by their leaders. They also practiced
the severest measures of intimidation upon non-union men, to prevent them
from getting employment.
"Thus the trades-unions, too often governed by incompetent men, became a
mighty power for evil. Strikes and lockouts were common, and were followed
by loss of wages and consequent suffering, while the bitterness of feeling
between the two classes constantly increased. To meet the rising power of
the labor organizations, the employers felt obliged to form combinations
among themselves and sometimes also to employ bodies of armed men to
protect their property. Then, when a strike came, conflicts would follow
so serious that appeal had to be made to the last resort, the military arm
of the nation.
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