The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1906-10-25
THE VOTE OF LABOR
TIME HAS COME FOR THE UNDER
DOG 70 ASSERT HIMSELF.

Force to BE Rccixoned with.
AS the executive council OF the Amer
lean Federation OF Labor has decided
to carry the fight for labor legislation
into the political arena, speculations
are rife as to what the result will be.
The possibilities are great Yet, on
the whole, experiments Of this kind in
the past do not Justify any too sam
guine expectations. The mythical la
Dor vote" has come to be Il stereotyped
phrase II many quarters and not alto
gether without reason Can we give IL
tangible form? II not, why?
Ambrose Bierce, the well known writ
err and critic. in discussing 'the social
unrest IN the Cosmopolitan Magazine,
diagnoses the case as follows:
In this country every man has vote.
II he Is not satisfied with conditions as
they are, why doesn't he change them?
liz the workingnen and the poor are in
the majority. why don't they get to-
gether- Because they haven't sense
enough. They can have any laws or any
system they want.
Because we haven't sense enough,
The Indictment is rather blunt and
may jar some Of our finer sensIbilities,
but il we want to be honest we must
admit TINT be is about right. We have
been singularly Indifferent 10 our in
terests, and our docility can hardly be
accounted virtue some call it stu
pidity.
But II Is not too late to mend. IL
there ever was time for the under
dog to assert himself and counterbal-
nnce the scales of Justice the present is
about as urgent as any. VIII he do II?
Have we grown broad minded enough
to realize that we must brush aside
some prejudices II we want TO get to-
gether? or will we still profess 10
see niger III every wood pile and
hold aloof?
Have we been disillusioned sufficient
~ TO perceive that an election isn't
solely sport contrived for gambling
purposes ike horse race, and that
iour intehest doesn't cease when cleo
ton day Is oyer3 Are We prepared 10
regard an election as serious business
proposition. or will we continue our
old party Affiliations for the mere privi-
lege of footing horn or yelling like a
Comanche Indiau on election night?
Have we been duped often enough 10
grasp the fact that the stump speaker
doesn't mean what he says and that
he takes no interest in Va aside from
our voteg Are we strong enough to
resist the seemingly hypnotic influence
OF the spelIbinderg
Have we been enjolned often enough;
Have the courts succeeded in making
us understand that every law not ia
yored by capital is. for that reason.
unconstitutional
All OF which may be summed up
Have we sense eDoughl
Some will object. 1--WE can't elect n
majority Of congressman or legislators.
so what's the useis II is well known
fact that no one las bic ears closer 10
the ground than politician (nnd
many judges are but ordinary polItl-
clans, and nothing conveys more dis
cordant note to bis ears than rum
bling among his electors. IL is true be
viii ignore their wishes with impuuity
as long as there is no apparent danger
OF losing their votes, but the moment a
detection Is threatened among "his CON
stituents' he becomes alarminsly in
terested But The politician has by ex-
perience become 10 accustomed TO the
idea that he can FIX" the labor vote
that at present the whole tribe is from
Missouri you must show em.
The politicians have been cajoling
the labor vote for years with hurrah
politics and spread eagle appeals TO
patriotism, Now very few viii have
the hardihood fo assert that there -
any real PATRIOTISM In politics as prac-
ticed today. Yet il would not be
stretching a point 70 show that there
is more patriotism implied in the cast
ing OF labor ballot than in voting any
OF the old party tickets. A substantial
labor vote would awaken many polti-
clans (or statesmen9 10 a broader
sense of duty. and, better still. real
labor representatives in the legislatures
and IN congress would prove to be a
wholesome leaven ia the one sided
complexion Of those bodies.
The movement should not be allowed
to degenerate into scramble for Of
flee, But, as Is often said. we have
d surfeit Of ideas and a dearth OF
votes What We need IL sense enough
10 get together and vote together, and
then there is reason to believe that the
question OF tnetics and policy viii
gradually take care OF itself
Rome wasn't built Ia day. and the
labor vote isn't going TO rcyolutlonize
things in one campaign. But n great
step forward will have been taken IL
We succeed in convincing the powers
that be that there is n real labor vote
md that the lahorer to some extent
averages up TO the standard OF lntelli-
renee that he is credited with by the
stump speaker when angling for bis
vote 1t will be m achievement if
pnly the entering wedge is placed. that
will divorce the laborer from the idea
that he must lie i party man. for
there is no reason why he should not
al least be free lance in politics.
The time seems opportunc. The ex-
pertinent is being made. The question
Is, Have we sense enough 2 r. Stelten-
gohl in Typographical Journal
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