The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1912-04-05
T0ILERS SINCERE.
Quickly Responsive to All EIevat-
ing influences.
MOVED BY HIGH IDEALS.
Their Sympathy and IdeaIism Often
Lead Them to Perform Acts of Noble
acrifce-Workers as Class Abhor
Sham and Despise lnsincerity.

Sham and Despise lnsncerity.
The secretary of a central labor I'M
middle west has the reputation of be-
ing a coarse, brutal agitator, but one
day met him on a railroad train, where
his mind was relieved from the strain
of the office. AS we talked there was
revealed to me new man-tender and
considerable, almost a visionary. The
hard lines of the fighter relaxed. The
ends of his lips took an upward curve.
l had never before seen him smile.
1t has always been supposed that
workingmen are not very responsive,
but the general verdict of the profess
sional platform man Is quite the oppo-
site. Worllingmen are always the most
responsive 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 or
dinarily be considered foolish and dis
astrous. They will engage in sympa-
thetic strike, for instance, in spite Of
contract or agreement. They will sac
rifice their positions and often go hun
CRY 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 element of self interest
in such action, but this interest Is 80
FL hot "
little part in the situation. This char
acteristic is by no means confined to
the trade unlonist.
During a recent street car strike in
Philadelphia the strikers paraded
through the principal thoroughfares.
Coming to a great machine shop which
was conducted upon strictly nonun-
ion basis, they stood for a moment
and appealed to the workers in the
shop to come out and join them Spon-
taneously literally thousands walked
out, many of them with tears in their
eyes. The superintendent was later
asked if he would take the deserters
back. "To be sure" he replied. "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 1t that.
There is little of sham among the
common people" They scorn the
man who is insincere, and they do not
hesitate to express their contempt in
the plainest terms. The workers can
not always use the language of the
schools in expressing their best aspira-
lions, but that these exist no one who
has lived among them and understands
them will deny. They probably would
not be able to tell you what 'idealism"
means, but they live it, and that means
more than the glibly quoted phrases of
those who look down in a superior
manner upon the sweating face of
workingman who nevertheless often
unconsciously exemplifies the ideal Of
high thinking and plain living, al
though, it must be said, the average
workingman does not always indulge
in the latter as a 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 character?
Strongly developed character comes to
most of us In spite of ourselves. 1t is
because men have been compelled to
perform the commonly daily task not
withstanding heartache and headache
that they are now able to stand up and
face problems which in other days
might easily have overwhelmed them.
We do not deny to these the honor
which belongs to them. Why smile at
the idealism of the workers because it
has come to them out of the struggle
for daily bread REV. Charles Stelzle.