The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1910-10-18
Sharp Criticism Of College Mans
Attitude on Labor Unions.

which 1t Is made to conform. No one |
is suffered to do more than the aver
age workman can do. In some trades
and handicrafts no one is suffered to
do more than the least slxillful of his |
ted to days labor and no one may
work out of hours at all or volunteer |
anything beyond the minimum. /
need not point out how economically |
disastrous such regulation Of labor is |
1t Is SO Improbable to the employer |
that in some trades it will presently
not be worth while to attempt any
thing at all. He had better stop alto.
gether than operate at an inevitable
and invariable loss. The labor of
America is rapidly becoming unprofit
able under its present regulation by
those who have determined to reduce
it to a minimum. Our economic SUI
premacy may be lost because the coun-
try grows more and more full of I'M
profitable servants"
Counselor Devlin is recognized as
one Of the most active Democrats in
oOALA JCI6CJs LII LIS lCELCl " luC
Times, besides attacking DIR. Wilson's
structures of the labor unions, he takes
occasion to call attention to the fact
that the voters of New Jersey want a
governor and not a teacher.
men Of DIR. Wilson's stamp" says
Counselor Devlin, "are prone to admin
lister government from what they think
is right, regardless Of what the people
want. In republic the best executive
is the man who gives the people not
what he thinks is right, but what he
knows the people want. 1t does not
DR. Wilson is to tell us how to make
an almost perfect government II we
had all thoughtful men we would come
near attaining that result Govern
ment cannot be better than the moral
ity and intelligence Of its citizens. 1t
is not necessary to have an expert In
political ethics What we want Is an
executive who knows plain robbery
practiced under the protection and
form Of law and is willing to strike IT
down. / don't want any one to think
that we" Che is speaking for the Demo
cratic party "are opposed to superior
man or an educated man, but these
are the only reasons advanced to sup
port DR.. WILSON,
Henry F. Hilfers, secretary of the
New Jersey State Federation Of Labor,
In a very able letter addressed to the
same newspaper, dated Aug. 20, 1910,
| says of DIR. Wilson:
"Dr. Wilson, candidate for the nom
| nation of the Democratic party for
governor, delivered a speech before
the Peoples Forum Of New Rochelle,
N. Y, on Feb. &C. 1905. The New York
Sun of that date quoted him as saying
| that the labor unions reward the shift
less and incompetent at the expense OF
| the able and INDUSTRIOUS 1t seems tC
me that DR.. Wilson is wrong on the
| labor question. Itsmust be understood
| that the 'shiftless and incompetent
| workmen are here and must live and
that the competent and able workmen'
must protect themselves and every
body else from the weaknesses of what
Dr. Wilson pleases to call 'shiftless
| and incompetent workmen.'
| Labor is like sugar or any other
| commodity. Without unions it is sub
| ject to the law Of supply and demand.
| If the workmen are plentiful and the
| jobs are scarce, labor is cheap; If the
| jobs are plentiful and workmen are
scarce, labor is dear. Under the eco.
| nomic conditions in this country, with
free labor market in which there are
'shfftless,' incompetent able and in.
| dustrious' workmen. we must treat this
| question knowing that those four
classes of workmen are here and must
| 1--we Employers who buy labor are
anxious to buy 1t as cheap as possible.
1t often happens that there are five
men looking for three jobs, with an
employer seeking to employ three OF
the five at the cheapest price. Sup.
pose he employs three competent men
leaving the two 'shiftless' and incom.
! petent' men out Of employment The
'shiftless' and Incompetent remain
| out as long as their stomachs will per
NIT. Then they offer their labor at 8
| cheaper rate than the industrious anC
the able The employer or his com
| petitor accepts the offer, and the able
| and the industrious are compelled t.
accept the price of labor which has
been set by the shiftless' and fncoD
petent' or quit. Under this condition
| II Is evident that the able and indus
trfous' would soon be reduced to a rate
| of wages and conditions of living
| which the 'shiftless' and incompetent
are willing to accept. This is because
labor is open to the law. Of supply and
demand, which by John Ruskin is bet
ter defined as the law of necessity and
opportunity Labor in competition is
war, and war is hell This makes it
evident to the 'shiftless, incompetent,
able and industrious that all will be
| reduced to the lowest possible condi-
lions of living and that able and in
| dustrious' men who have wives and
children would be compelled to accept
standard Of wages and conditions
| which are set by 'shiftless' and In
competent men; hence you have con-
| dition that compels the 'shiftless and
incompetent able and Industrious
workmen to unite in labor union to
save all from the evils Of competition
among men who must sell their labor
! The union sets the scale Of wages,
which Is the lowest rate at which the
poorest labor in any occupation is
bought or sold, thereby making con-
dition by which an able and industri-
GUS workman can give his family and
wife toIerable living and at the same
time be protected from the evils which
follow competition In the labor market.
''It Is a law of life that men of one
occupation or calling seldom improve
any calling but their own. This will
be found true of labor. College presi-
dents and others have the weakness of
thinking that they know another mans
business better than he (the other man
knows it himself, but the truth is that
all advance that has been made for the
working masses has been accomplished
by labor unions that have fought toI
protect their members from the very
evils which DIR. Wilson accuses them
Of fostering
CAS- a workman who has been a stu
dent Of the problem of labor from the
standpoint OF conditions and not theo-
ries, ! feel that DIR. Wilson insulted
every decent wage Garner in this coun-
try when he said that our efforts to|
improve ourselves have resulted In pro-