Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-09-25

change in the method Of elect
ing our Senators
They are to be chosen by the
people.
They are already acting with this
in mind
1T means that the Senate will be
come less conservative, that it will
be less OF a bulwark than heretofore
against radicalism.
we must not overlook this fact
in analyzing the financial and bust
ness future"
Had you thought of that?
Does IL not mean that the people
the ordinary, everyday voters-are
moving nearer the throttle OF the en-
CINE OF government, that they are
brushing aside privileged classes, that
they are routing the odd Guard" who
have rendered long and Jealous serv-
ice on behalf of their masters?
Don't you begin to see, therefore.
why it is of greater moment than at
! any previous time in Americas his
tory to consider the question just
propounded: What kind of voters are
our corporations and other employers
| turning out?
Let us here leave out Of account
entirely the moral aspects Of the
subject and discuss 1t strictly as a
business proposition.
The factory worker, the clerk, the
mechanic, the day laborer, the rail-
way man, the miner, the wagon
| driver the salesman. the printer, the
navy the molder-all are voters.
And we have just noted that the
| voters are leaping into the saddle,
| that they are asserting their right to
| govern the country without the OBJ
| struction of old school politicians
| placed and kept in power by capital
| istiC interests Government by the
| people, for the people is to become
a reality, not merely theory.
Well. then. what kind of a govern
ment are our capitalists, our corpo-
| ratiOns, our manufacturers, our mine
owners. our railroads molding?
Are some of them picking rod
to be applied by-and-by to their own
| stripped backs?
Or. are most employers grasping
the fundamentals of the situation?
| My own view, based on many
| heart to- heart talks with finanCiers,
| corporation managers and large en-
| ployers. is that majority of the
/ most influential of them are alive 10
| the necessity of treating employees
/ fairly, of paying decent wages, Of
| granting reasonable hours, and, above
| all, of winning the loyalty and CO.
| operation of their workers by mani
| Testing genuine interest in their wei
| fare, by treating them as fellow
| beings instead of as soulless, money
| producing machines to be worked TO
the limit and scrapped when i'm
| paired.
But only a start has been made in
! this direction There is much lee
way to make up.
The new income tax. the new tariff
| law. the new currency system, all in
! principle mark progress in the right
/ direction. So do employers liability
! laws and pure food laws So do cor
! porate pension schemes, profit shar-
| ing plans and sales Of stock on ad-
vantageous terms to employees.
! Beyond all this, however, and
! transcending these measures in i'm
/ portance, lies the need of restoring
! the personal element, the human
/ bond between employers and EN-
| plOyees Sentiment was driven from
| commerce by corporations, the blood
! less, non human machines devised by
High Finance to carry on Big Bust
| ness
| How to forge anew this bond, how
! to bring into harmony the interests
| OF employees and employers, how 10
| displace hostility by a spirit OF mu-
| tuality and cooperation, how tu
! reconcile the ambitions Of labor with
/ the just rewards Of capital-this is
/ the one problem that overshadows
| all others and the speedy solution of
| which becomes more and more urgent
/ as the ordinary voter climbs toward
the seat of government
/ Mr.. Employer what kind Of voters
! are YDTT turning put2