United labor bulletin., 1910-09-15
IDEALS AMONG woRklNeMEN.
(Rv the Row CharIes

10y Tue IAeN. Slldi iCo otNiSiS.i
The secretary of a Central Labor
union in one of the leading cities in the
Middle West has the reputation of being
coarse, brutal agitator. But one day
met him in railroad train where his
mind was relieved from the strain of the
office. AS we talked, there was revealed
to me a new man, tender and consider
ate, almost a visionary. The hard lines
of the fighter relaxed. The ends of his
lips took an upward curve. / had never
before seen him smile.
1t has always been supposed that
workingmen are not very responsive, but
the general verdict of the professional
platform man is quite the opposite.
Workingmen are always the most re
sponsive in the average audience. This
is largely due to their fine ideals. The
idealism of the organized workers often
leads them to do what would ordinarily
be considered foolish and disastrous,
They will engage in sympathetic strike,
for instance, in spite of contract or
agreement They will sacrifice their po-
sitions and often go hungry for the sake
of the fellow worker a thousand miles
away, whom they have never seen nor
heard of. This cannot be attributed to
selfishness There is, to be sure, an ele-
ment of self-interest in such action, but
this interest is so far removed, that it
actually plays very little part in the sit
uation. This characteristic is by no
means confined to the trades unionist
During a recent street car strike in Phil
adelphia, the strikers paraded through
the principal thoroughfares. Coming to
;ol,
Quoted upon a strictly nonunion basis
they stood for moment and appealed
to the workers in the shop to come out
and join them. Spontaneously literally
thousands walked out, many of them
with tears in their eyes. The superln-
tendent was later asked if he would take
the deserters back. ITO be sure" he re-
Piled they couldn't help going out"
And he was right. He understood the
idealism of the men under him, although
he would probably not call it that
There is little of sham among the
common people" They scorn the man
who is insincere, and they do not hesi-
tate to express their contempt in the
plainest terms. The workers cannot al
ways use the language of the schools in
expressing their best aspirations, but
that these exist, no one, who has lived
among them and understood them, will
deny They probably would not be able
to tell you what the word means, but
they live it and that means more than
the glibly quoted phrases of those who
look down in superior manner upon
the sweating face of worlxingman who,
often unconsciously exem-
plifies the ideal of high thinking and
plain living although it must be said,
the average workingman does not always
indulge in the latter as matter OF
choice But what of it? Who is there
among us that deliberately chooses the
hard and the difficult places in life,
merely for the sake of developing char
acter? Strongly developed character
comes to most of us in spite of our
selves. 1t is because men have been
to perform the common daily
task, Notwithstanding heartache and
headache, that they are now able to
stand up and face problems which, in
other days, might easily have over
whelmed them We do not deny to those
the honor which belongs to them. Why
smile at the idealism of the workers be-
cause it has come to them out of the
for daily bread?