Occasional dissenting opinions by
judges and the gradual conviction of lawyers and of society that
some other tribunal than a court of equity or even a court of law
would be more suitable for the settling of labor disputes is
indicative of the change ultimately to be wrought in practice.
The unions are also violently opposed to the use of military
power by the State during strikes. Not only can the militia be
called out to enforce the mandates of the State but whenever
Federal interference is justified the United States troops may be
sent to the scene of turmoil. After the period of great labor
troubles culminating in the Pullman strike, many States
reorganized their militia into national guards. The armories
built for the accommodation of the guard were called by the
unions "plutocracy's bastiles," and the mounted State
constabulary organized in 1906 by Pennsylvania were at once
dubbed "American Cossacks." Several States following the example
of Pennsylvania have encountered the bitterest hostility on the
part of the labor unions. Already opposition to the militia has
proceeded so far that some unions have forbidden their members to
perform militia service when called to do strike duty, and the
military readjustments involved in the Great War have profoundly
affected the relation of the State to organized labor. Following
the signing of the armistice, a movement for the organization of
an American Labor party patterned after the British Labour party
gained rapid momentum, especially in New York and Chicago.
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