Union Pacific Shop Bulletin p1

A DAY'S WORK for A DAY'S PAYCO-OPERATION PERFECT UNIONTHE SHOP EMPLOYES ASSOCIATION UNION PACIFIC SYSTEMBULLETINSalt Lake City, Utah, January 31, 1923No. 1A WORD ON ORGANIZATIONI wish every craftsman in the employ of the Union Pacific System could have been present at Salt Lake upon the occasion of the organization of the Shop Employes' Association of the Union Pacific System. I wish they could have heard the talks that were made by the officers and the many delegates who composed the convention that made and adopted the Constitution and By-Laws of this Association. I have never seen a more earnest meeting in any line of activity. It was really thrilling to observe the patriotism, the broadmindedness. and earnest desire which actuated the men who made that Constitution, and I could not refrain from thinking of my reading of history of the men, the patriarchs of our Government, who made the Constitution of the United States. Indeed, the preamble of the Constitution of the Shop Employes' Association is a replica as nearly as may be, to the preamble of the Constitution of our Country.I wish that every craftsman, member of this Association, might realize that the Constitution of this Association, as far as possible, was patterned after the Constitution of his Country; and it was the fervent hope of the delegates building the Shop Employes' Association that as the blessings and benefits which they secured in virtue of the Constitution of their Country were well known, appreciated and revered, so also that the benefits of the principles laid down for their mutualgovernment may also in due proportion approximate similar results.What better source of inspiration than the preamble to the Constitution of our Country could be found for the preamble to the Constitution of the Shop Employes' Association? In the former the patriarchs of our Country wrote "We the people of the United States in order to form a more perfect union." So also did the delegates and. Committeemen meeting at Salt Lake, write for the preamble of their Constitution the same idea; namely, "We, the Shop employes' of the Union Pacific System in order to form a more perfect union." Again, it was declared the purpose of the organizers of our Government, among others, to "promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity." And again the delegates declared it to be the purposes of the Employes' Association to be "to improve and maintain working conditions, to adjust differences, to promote mutual understanding and secure the benefits of co-operation."It was their idea that there were no differences that honest men, actuated by right principles, could not adjust; that the element of force had no part in the promotion of mutual understanding; they felt that the benefits of the organization, which they so fervently desired, could best be secured by co-operation, and so they solemnly declared it to be their object "to form a more perfect union."I have written your officers, and I do not now hesitate to say, that my humble relationship with the Committee that promulgated these documents, I regarded as the biggest piece of com-structive work that it has ever been my privilege to be connected with. Naturally, the success of the organization depends upon its leadership. No industry, no institution, and indeed, no government can be successful without sound leadership. I have no doubt that in the Committee whom I met at Salt Lake, the membership of the organization will find to be the character of leadership so necessary to the ultimate success of the purposes of the organization.C. E. COCHRAN. Portland, Oregon. NOTE Mr. Cochran acted as Legal Advisor for the General Committee when in Convention Assembled at Salt Lake City when our Association was organized. "There are giants in that country that we are not able to go up against.""The land is rich and we are well able to overcome them."The foregoing reports concerning a land that literally flowed with milk and honey were turned in to a waiting and anxious people who had been wandering about in the wilderness until their very souls yearned for something that gave a promise at [least] of permanency.The question only remained as to what the leaders would say, which report would be acted upon, which road would be taken.Vol. I