Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1912-08-12

$50 inhabitants. The committee also
showed to Gov. Wilson that there were
larger number of speak easies," or
places selling without any license in
New Jersey than any other state.
Notwithstanding this terrible state of
affairs the committee said Gov. Wilson
did not make them any promise that
he would make any effort to remedy
| matters, and | have never seen any
account that he has. 1 passed two
| winters in the state since he has been
/ governor and have seen no evidence
that he has done thing to remedy
the evil. So l see no reason why it
| would disturb Wilson to take part in
the Maine campaign, for / can see no
great difference between his attitude
toward the liquor interests and that
of Plaisted
And then the laboring men will be
glad to welcome Mr.. Wilson to Maine,
especially the members of our labor
| unions. Wilson has decided opinions
about labor unions.
At the Labor Day exercises in Au
| gusta in 1910 l was very much inter
| ested in the remark of the speaker
who made the principal address. He
scored the Lewiston Journal for it's
attitude in regard to some phases of
| labor unionism, and | wonder what he
would have said if he had read some
of Wilson's speeches on the subject.
| In a baecalaureate sermon lately de-
| livered by Mr. Wilson at Princeton
| University, he took the text from Luke
/ 17-10: I'VE are Improbable servants.
duty to do
Mr.. Wilson treated the subject in his
| usual forcible style. He left no doubt
| In the minds of his hearers what he
thinks of labor unions and their meth
DDS Among other things that he said
| just notice this: you know what the
usual standard of the employee is in
| our day 1t is to give as little as he
may for his wages. Labor is stand
| ardized by the trades union, and this
| is the standard to which it is made to
conform. No one is supposed TO do
| mare thap tba .,voraca ,vnrlxpnan cap
do. In some trades and handicrafts no
one is allowed to do more than the
| most skillful of his fellows can do
| within the hours allotted to q days
labor. and no one may work out of
hours at all or volunteer anything be-
yond the minimum. ! need not point
out how economically disastrous such
a regulation of labor is. 1t is so UNI
profitable to the employer that in some
trades it will presently not be worth
his while to attempt anything at all
He had better stop altogether than
operate at inevitable and invariable
loss. The labor of America is rapidly
becoming Improbable under its pres
ent regulation by those who are de-
termined to reduce it to a minimum.
Our economic supremacy may be lost
because the country grows more and
more full of Improbable servants"
Now what is the logical conclusion
from Mr. Wilson's argument? If, as
he says, the manufacturers are obliged
to put up with the least amount of
work for the highest wages paid, then
he has got to charge higher price
for his goods in order to make a profit
on them If this is so then we need
lock no further for the reason for the
high cost of living. According to Mr..
Wilson, it is because labor unionsm is
causing goods and produce to cost
/ more to produce. And he viii tell the
. laboring man that he is hoisted by his
own petard, that he has only himself
to blame for his increased cost of liv-
ing. The labor unions may have made
o some mistakes. but / do not believe,
1 and | do not believe Mr. Gompers or
Mr.. Mitchell will admit, that they are
guilty of all that Mr.. Wilson charges
e them.
L Mr.. Wilson also has very decided
n views on the tariff question He made
= a speech before the Tariff Commission
and | copy some of 1t from the official
> report. he said Another strong hold
o of the proteetionists is the question OF
wages. They say, How can we com
=, pete with the foreigners when the re-
muneration of labor is so much lower
in foreign countries than in our own
e countryY Well, we can compete with
e them just as we do in regard TO agri-
% cultural products. OF course ever,
gentleman knows that our principal
: agricultural products have no duty i'm
: posed upon them. English wheat and
At other produce may come into our mar
Il kets free of duty. and there is a free
dom Of trade in that regard so far a.
= the farming is concerned"
AZ This statement of Mr.. Wilson'S was
~ not allowed to go unehallenged, fol