These organizations were frequently
started by employers and secured cooperation of citizens generally. In
some places there were two associations, an employers' and a Citizens'
Alliance. A good example of this was the Citizens' Alliances of Denver,
Colorado, organized in 1903. These "Citizens' Alliances," being by
virtue of mixed membership more than a mere employers' organization,
claimed in time of strikes to voice the sentiment of the community in
general.
So much for the employers' counter attacks on trade unions on the
strictly industrial front. But there were also a legal front and a
political front. In 1902 was organized the American Anti-Boycott
Association, a secret body composed mainly of manufacturers. The purpose
of the organization was to oppose by legal proceedings the boycotts of
trade unions, and to secure statutory enactments against the boycott.
The energies of the association have been devoted mainly to taking
certain typical cases to the courts in order thereby to create legal
precedents. The famous Danbury Hatters' Case, in which the Sherman
Anti-Trust law was invoked against the hatters' union, was fought in the
courts by this Association.
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