The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-07

TT is no reflection on the great mass or
 | American workmen that compose the
 \ various organizations of labor throughout this country that they were mislead by their leaders. who were, perhaps, more fanatical than discriminat- ing in promoting fund to defend the McNamaras. It is but natural that they followed the leadership of their chosen chiefs in the matter, and now that the guilty have confessed, no class will be more hearty and sincere in their con- demnation of them and their crime than the rank and file of organized labor.
 But it is a deplorable condition that ex- ists in this republic, that breeds such haste and prejudice in the minds of such men as the McNamaras that would prompt them to commit crime the aw- fitness and horror of which is shock to the entire country. It is time for calm and deliberate thought and investigation from the leaders of organized labor and the captains of industry into the rela- tions of capital and labor with sincere desire from both sides to eliminate the cause that leads even a fanatic up to such an effect.
 We stand aghast at the deeds of the Russian anarchist, and yet we are some times inclined to extend to him our sym pathy, when we think of the manifest in
 justice done him and his class by the despotic rulers of that country, but no deed of any anarchist in Russia could have been more damnable or cold blooded than that committed by James B. Me- Namara when he deliberately blew up the Times building and snuffed out the lives of 19 innocent and unoffending victims. In the case of the anarchist it is easy to
 trace the cause, his crime while not ex- oused, is mitigated because of his warped
 judgment and prejudiced mind made so
 by years of political and class persecu-
 ton. But can this be said of us? Does
 there exist in this country any real or
 ganized effort on the part of capital, and
 as capital aristocracy, to trample under
 foot the rights of citizenship and lb-
 erty as enjoyed by the laborer? We be-
 Iieve there is not, but we believe that a
 constant wrangling and unreasonable dis agreements between capital and labor will
 tend to drift them further and further dDaII, anu Dldhc tdCH more dHu IIOlS
 hostile to the others interest until such
 conditions will obtain if not checked. It cannot be checked by legislation. To force a man to do something with the iron hand of the law that he would not do voluntarily does not remove from his mind that he has been wronged, but fixes it more firmly there that he has, and at the same time creates in his heart a dislike that grows into hatred for those who have wronged him. It must be done by agreement brought about by unselfsh
 and patriotic leaders on both sides. The interests of capital and labor are the same; the one is dependent upon the other they are as inseparable as the stars and the night. Labor cannot pros- per unless capital does, and if capital does labor should, and we believe usually
 does. But neither can profit by unreason- able demands upon the other, and in no case can the cause of either be ad- vanced by violence.
 ] In 1907 I attended a meeting which was addressed by labor leader and in | the course of his speech he deplored the rate of wage paid the common laborer, which was at that time about s1.50 per day. He drew attention to the fact that | a man putting in every working day in the month could earn only about S36 to
 s39. and when you figured house rent and food and the bare necessities in the
 way of clothing with even small fam l ilv to support, there was nothing left,
 and the future held absolutely no hope l for him. He could not possibly educate l his children he could lay up nothing for old age, or sickness, and his only chance
 was to stay well and work until his chill dren were big enough to get out and hustle for themselves, and then go to the almshouse There is undoubtedly some truth and justice in this, and l must confess that what he said made pro found impression upon me, and as the ! wages are today with the low prices