Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1902-12-20

gagged therein. INDUSTRIAL development
has at last forced the public to under
stand that society liz q very much In
terested party in q strike which In
wolves the workers in any Of those in
dustries concerned with the production
of the necessaries Of modern existence.
Strikes are no longer private quarrels.
They are public matters that have a
distinct bearing on the welfare. of ev-
cry menlber Of society. Society has
come to understand that public conven-
fence is more important matter than
private profit, and it is felt, II not dis
t1nctly expressed, that If the coal bar
ons cannot maintain peaceful relations
with their employees while operating
the mines to produce profit then it is
necessary for society to step in and
take the mines and operate them so as
to produce coal. The production of pri-
vate profit is not synonymous with
public convenience; the production of
coal is. To the coal barons the produc-
ton of profit is the primary matter; the
production Of coal is an incident of
merely secondary Importance. But
what is secondary to the coal barons is
Of prime Importance to the public, and
If the barons connot continue to reap
their profit without mountaineering
the public to the extent Of shutting off
the regular supply of coal then the
public will find way to get coal indie
pendently of the barons' profit. When
it comes to square issue between the
barons' profit and the public's coal, the
latter will win.
Economic evolution has completely
eliminated the old private property the
DRY that "a man may do what he likes
with his own property" So far as in
dustrial matters are concerned it is
most emphatically true that men may
do as they please with their own prop
erty. In these matters the public has
an interest that decidedly transcends
the proprietary interest of the employ
ers of labor, and think the coal strike
has served to make 1t well settled
principle which will be recognized and
acted upon hereafter that our great
captains Of industry are strictly &C.
countable to the public for the manner
in which they administer their proper
ty. The tendency Of thought is to- re-
gard our captains of industry more as
administrators Of public trust than
as absolute owners Of their several
properties, and all signs point to the
near coming of the time when society
will unhesitat1ngly demand the relin-
quishment Of his trust by the industrial
baron who is not administering it in
the public interest.
In this changed attitude Of the public
there Is much to encourage organized
labor. Workingmen have reason to con-
graduate themselves on the progress
that has been made in the past genera
ton. 1t is certain that the arbitration
commission, whatever it's decision may
be as to the merits Of the present con-
troversy, will establish a new, status
for organized labor in the United States
and will go far to crystalline public
opinion that will demand humanitarian
conditions for the workers-conditions
that will enable American citizens to
live in conformity with our theory of
government, IL not by private then by
public control and administration of
industrial property.
Vallejo. Cal. W. p. BORLAND.