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Who’s Who on the OBU Bulletin
[Note: the first issue under the guidance of John D. Houston - csh]
The hour has struck for the O.B.U. Bulletin to take its place in the newspaper world as a full fledged Worker’s Weekly Newspaper, and to this end the service of Mr. Jno. Houston of Montreal have been secured by the management as editor. The issue this week is published under his guidance.
We had hoped to secure the undivided services of Mr. W. Ivens, former editor of the Western Labor News, as business manager. The labor church, has, however, got one ahead of us in this matter and he will give them as much of his time as he is able apart from the work of the defense committee and the impending trials. This will monopolize his time more or less completely until the end of the year.
In the meantime he [W. Ivens] has agreed to accept a position as editor on the Bulletin, and will periodically contribute articles on the movement. By this means he will keep in touch with his old constituency and they will have the benefit of his ideas.
Mr. W. W. Lefeaux of Vancouver will also act in the capacity of contributing editor. His trenchant pen will be invaluable to us in our early youth.
Other well known writers and speakers will also give us the benefit of their assistance from week to week, so that we shall be able to present a constructive, progressive, and vital line of articles to the workers of the West.
Our columns belong to the people, therefore we ask each reader to advise us from time to time of such suggestions as in their opinion will add to the attractiveness and efficiency of their paper. Send is your ideas. Let us together make this publication ONE BIG UNITER.
The Bulletin
After five weekly issues of The Bulletin as a four page paper the inevitable increase in size is now realized. It also has acquired an editor, that is to say, one who will give his time to the matter in hand.
In view of the fact that eight of the workers who have been active in the radical labor movement have already fallen foul of the powers that be, all and sundry are hereby notified that so far as the present incumbent is concerned, there is no intention to say any horrible words. Also we do not believe in violence or inciting violence. Our work should be stronger than that. A resort to violence means an acknowledgement of intellectual bankruptcy to convince the great mass of the people of the soundness of the principles held and advanced. Being prepared to support these principles in logic and reason we expect that any recourse to violence will originate from the party which carries a monopoly of the intellectual bankruptcy.
In the labor movement this paper stands not only for intellectual honesty but also for uprightness and honor in the officials who are chosen to serve the rank and file. The call today is for men of decent instincts and of character. The reason and cause for the O.B.U. is that the workers have been betrayed systematically and shamefully by a place hunting, job seeking compromising officialdom. The way to power for hundreds of political office holders has been through labor affiliations. These affiliations have given these men their experience, their training in affairs and the opportunity to meet and to get acquainted with the givers of gifts. A union leader who once sets the eye of envy on a job in the control of capital is already pledged to the devil.
Robert Borden in his call for the present Industrial Conference, President Wilson is all his recent utterances on the industrial situation, and Lloyd George in his address to the Future, recognize, one and all, that the industrial affairs of civilization is bugs. Our analysis is that the time has passed, when men, drawn from the classes of society from which these men come, are in any way competent to handle the common affairs of society. The workers alone have within their ranks the potential capacity to do a workmanlike job in this regard and must soon be called on to perform their destined mission. Efficiency will be the benchmark and all loafers will be invited to don the overalls.
Page revised: 27 July 2013
