XIV
AN OFFICIAL OF THE PACKERS
Among the employers, executives and superintendents of the packing houses, the clashes between white and colored people in the stockyards and adjacent districts are not a race question so much as a labor union question, according to a prominent official of one of the packing companies.
This official sat in various conferences of yards officials and state, city and militia officers during the days of riot. He is familiar with the views of the officials of the large packing companies and believes that the following expressions represent the general viewpoint of the packers.
"In the yards it is not a race question at all. It is a labor union question. We have no objections to the negroes joining the union. We are running an open shop. The unions want us to run a closed shop. That would mean we could hire only union men. The unions have done everything to get the negro into their membership, but they haven't got him. That is the trouble. At one time, we heard, they had about 90 per cent of all the negroes in the yards in the unions. But they don't stay.
"The trouble is that the negro is not naturally a good union man. He doesn't like to pay union dues.
"We are going to take back into our employ all the negroes who are now away on account of the riots. Just now it is a good thing for those who have gone too far to cool off. If we should close down our plants for two
63
