Patriotism of the true-blue brand was the keynote of the flag-raising at the Philadelphia works of the Otis Elevator Company, Frankford avenue and Wildey street, Saturday afternoon, May 12. In many ways 't was the most successful event of its kind staged since flag-raising has become a Saturday afternoon diversion of loyal citizens.

The success of the Otis Elevator Company celebration was in the main due to the hearty co-operation on the part of the employes and the members and officials of the famous institution.

A street parade added color and excitement to the affair prior to the raising of Old Glory. The parade was headed by the Tabernacle Church Band, Class No. 6. The parade line formed at Frankford and Girard avenues. Behind the band marched the children of the Otis employes, 100 of whom carried a mammoth American flag through the streets, followed by the pupils of the Alexander Adair public school.

The children made a remarkably pretty spectacle with their waving American flags and their heads garbed in Liberty caps and other patriotic costumings. The boys were decorated with red, white and blue regalias. Miss Maguire had charge of the school children, who numbered about 350.

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Back of the children marched large delegation of Local Union No. 5, of the International Union of Elevator Constructors, who were the invited guests of the company. The unionists caught the fancy of the bystanders with their sturdy marching, their city colors, national flags, and their beautiful silk union banner which they carried in their ranks.

Following the delegation from Local Union No. 5, were the employes of the Philadelphia shop of the Otis Elevator Company whose patriotic songs and accurate marching gained them much applause along the line of parade.

Mr. H. Fleckenstein, chairman of the committee in charge of the flag-raising ceremonies introduced Albert Brisen, who, on behalf of the committee of employes, made a well-turned speech in the presentation of the flag.

When pretty little Miss Corbett flung the folds of Old Glory to the winds the entire assemblage cheered the most beautiful flag on earth and sang the "Star-Spangled Banner."

As the little girl sent Old Glory on high the rain began to fall which to many seemed an augury of the tender sentiment the angels must possess for Old Glory so that the sight of it causes them to weep tears of joy.

After the flag had been flung to the breezes Godfrey R. Rebmann, vicepresident of the Otis Elevator Company, thanked the employes, the invited guests, the school children and the children of the employes and the thousands of onlookers for their part in helping to make the event a memorable occasion. Mr. Rebmann's address was tinged with lofty sentiment and patriotic ardor. In glowing terms he pledged the co-operation of the employes and the resources of the great company to the best interests of the country during its hour of peril. When Mr. Rebmann concluded speaking he was greeted with terrific

cheers.

Harry F. Winters also in a short talk thanked the employes for the splendid manner in which they helped to make the affair successful.

H. Walters, of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, was the orator of the day. With apt stories he sent home to the hearts of his hearers the great beauty of loyalty to one's country. He gave a clarion call to rally to the industries of the nation and be prepared to make the greatest sacrifices for the honor of the United States. In part Mr. Walters said: "The American flag has never been carried to conquer any nation or people unjustly. It has never been used to selfishly acquire territory. The flag has never known defeat and so long as we remain true to the colors which personify high principles and the God of our fathers its beautiful shades will never be sullied with defeat. It stands for freedom, justice and liberty and we here assembled pledge our undying loyalty to it and the nation."

Refreshments were served to the participants of the celebration by the Otis Elevator Company.

WM. B. MACALISTER.
Local No. 5, I. U. E. C.

By T. W. McCullough, Member Omaha Typographical Union.

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Order is heaven's first law. blazing suns, the stupendous planets, and the fiery comets that dash through space to the bewilderment of mankind, all animate and inanimate things, down to the tiniest particle of matter, to the electron, the ion itself, move in order, and in obedience to that first law! It is impossible to accomplish anything of constructive nature, unless its undertaking be approached and each successive step be carried out in order, and according to a plan. This is obedience to law.

Each successive step in the story of nature, as unfolded to the student through the scroll of the heavens, or found written in the record of the rock and the clay, has been taken in accordance with law, the supreme mandate of the Almighty!

Nothing that man has done that is enduring, or that deserves to endure, has been accomplished save by due regard for the law that governs his actions in all his undertakings.

The repetition here of these axiomatic statements is not merely a platitudinous effort to astonish the reader, but is for the purpose of fixing his mind on whatever of argument or persuasion may follow in support of the proposition that above all other organizations or institutions, a trades union should be orderly in its procedure and law-abiding in its every aspect.

A trades union is successful in its sphere just as it is responsible, and it is responsible just to the extent that it can control itself, and no further. An individual who does not control and govern himself in all his relations with those about him, and with the world, does not make a success of life.

He forfeits the confidence of his fellow-men, because of the instability of his character, the unreliability of his habits, his lack of dependability. Men do not rely on him, because he is uncertain. Such a man, genial, perhaps, sunny, and likable in all ways except the one, finds himself left in the ruck among the unworthy, simply because he is not master of himself; he does not measure up to the requirements of the first law. What is true of an individual becomes all the more true of an association of individuals, no matter for what purpose it is formed. Even as one man must be orderly in order to be efficient, so must the union, made up of many men, proceed always in due order if it expects to do so successfully any of the things for the accomplishment of which it was called into being. The distinguishing characteristic of an army as compared to a mob is that the army is disciplined and drilled, that its indi vidual members are orderly, amenable to discipline, obedient to order, and each an efficient factor in a well-regulated whole, while a mob lacks all these qualities. The mob may, by brute force and sheer strength of numbers, accomplish the momentary purpose that calls it into being, but it can not be relied upon for sustained activity, and soon finds itself dissipated by the forces of orderly power, even if they be fewer in number. The few in this case are greater than the many, because they have the support of all the strength of established society to the very limit of social organization.

In a trades union men of common employment associate themselves together for the accomplishment of a common object by the exercise of common rights through a common channel. Unless there be unity of action

and purpose, the objects of the association will be defeated.

All of these propositions are elemental and require no sustaining argument. It is required, however, that some explanation of their application be made. Each man born is possessed of certain natural rights, so-called, in the exercise of which he finds the liberty that is his birthright. But the bringing together of men into social life makes it impossible that each be permitted the full and uncontrolled exercise of all his natural rights. For example, a man alone in a forest, or on a prairie, may do things that are perfectly proper and entirely within his rights, but which would not be permitted to him in the midst of a crowded city. Therefore, when he comes to live in close community with others, he must forego certain of his natural rights, and that this may be done so that it will rest equally on all, rules are made. Those rules are the law and the law is made up from the small contributions of all to the great aggregate that constitutes society. Briefly, every man has a right to do exactly as he pleases, so long as he does not interfere with the right of another man to do exactly as he pleases; when these two rights come into conflict, then arises the law and says to each of them: "Thus far shalt thou go, and no farther." So when men associate themselves into groups for the carrying on of any common enterprise or undertaking, they do so on a common platform, and each contributes his support to the strength of the whole by giving over a little bit of the freedom that is his right as an individual. Only by doing this, and doing it willingly and cheerfully at all times, can the end for which the association has been instituted be accomplished.

In the American labor movement order is the first and greatest of laws. Everything of any service to the movement, or to the men and women who make up its membership, has been accomplished through orderly procedure, and not in a haphazard fashion. The local union soon grows into the Inter

national Union, in which the widely scattered locals find a central agency for the transaction of their business. Just as the individual contributes a small part of his natural rights to the advantage of all through the local union, so the local union gives up a little something to the success and advantage of all. Many times in late years has the cry of "local autonomy" been raised in trades union councils, and much of energy has been spent in support of this fallacious doctrine. Local autonomy is good so far as only the affairs and the future of the local union is concerned. No question can possibly arise over the right of a local union to control its own affairs, in its own way, so long as those affairs do not in any way affect the affairs of another local union. When this conflict of interest arises then the relations between the two can only be set on a proper basis by the intervention of the greater organization of which the contenders are a part, the International Union. Through the agency of the central organization the affairs of the craft at large are kept moving in order. It is vital that this central organization exist, else the business of the craft falls into disorder and anarchy prevails.

Anarchy, by the way, is a state of society in which each individual exercises any or all of his natural rights, as his whim or mood moves him, regardless of the whim or mood or natural rights of any about him. Chaos is the inevitable result.

The International Union, properly constituted, is made up of all the local unions, and its affairs are managed by officers who are chosen by the membership at large. This being the case, the International Union is merely the projection of the purpose of the local union on a scale that is sufficient to include the common interests of all the members, wherever situated. To it is given the keeping of all the general interests of the membership, and to its authority all local unions are properly subordinate. The laws of the International Union are