The Spokane press. [volume] (Spokane, Wash.) 1902-1939, 1908-06-23

The Treadwell mine is the greatest gold mine in the
world. 1t is situated island in the Pacific off the
coast of Alaska and consists of mountain of low grade
from which thousands of stamps pound out gold gold
gold year in and year out 1t has made mllonares and
multimllonares and will keep doing for genera
tions.
The island is the Treadwel and nothing else. It is a
little state within itself The miners altogether at the
mercy of the company and the company in the absence
of troops at the mercy of the miners. The situation is
which would to call for great efforts the part
of the company to maintain good understanding with
the men, and to eliminate grievances.
But few days ago the cable brought the word to
Washington from the Treadwel "Men on srike! Dyna-
mite stoen Send troops! Most of the strikers for
elgners and unable to either speak or understand
Englsh!''
The reader may be presumed to have knowledge of
the situation. But this telegram reveals enough Wher
ever who unable to understand English
ed great jobs the history of the previous struggle for
cheaper and cheaper is revealed The employer has
lost sight of the fact that the aborer human being
helping another human being The employer figures labor
into the problem exactly he figures coal something
that does work in being consumed So he gets the labor
that will burn up to the best advantage When you
up he figures, you should pick the that needs
the least in the of food clothing amusement, life
whole If he lives in any broad sense, he has to have
wages which to live. Therefore, get the poorest Ital
ans, Poles, Huns, Sikhs MongoIans They will live
nothing except food and rags of clothing Their standard
of living is so low that it embraces the eating and drink
ing OF things that American WOrkngman would vOm
at. Hence, they and will accept low wages-and div
dends will be higher
The American workngman, with adequate stand
ard of living, understands English. Wherever great
bodies of aborers found who do understand Eng
lsh it is proof that in the effort get cheap labor
poyers have forgotten the the proper standard of living
for their and have picked them machines and not
men.
But the time when the coolie the rvot the de-
humanized peasant becomes human. He lets his of
real fanced wrongs smolder His employer does not
speak his language and knows him only a human ma
chine wearing out at profit, carried the books by
name, thing, not So they cannot get together.
awakes it forth fierce reasonless destructive por-
tentous, sinister mmtgable unhuman. And then
the call for troopes and the to Washington for help
The burning heap of have fire to their surround
ings conhagraton is started that may spread one
knows how far.
This does not the Treadwe alone nor particular
ly 1t means the whole industrial system of manning mine
and factory with machines in the form of Employers
should remember that industry is operation The man
who wieds pick shovel does it through the agency
brain, and back of the brain is soul The great indus
tries OF this countries have the power to crowd down
wages to the European and Asatic limit; but they should
remember that during the process the powerfully ex-
plosve and destructive forces will be generaedand that
their will be their eventual ruin No indus
try can be permanently and truly successful on an Asiatc
standard of living.