Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-09-26

| ers, by chambers of commerce or
boards of trades by railroad or in
dustria! or mercantile conventions.
Yet Is it not as important even as
tariff legislation, currency reform or
any of the other serious problems
now engaging business mems minds
America is proud OF her manufac-
lures. proud of her agricultural
achievements, proud of her great
railroad systems All these are vital
to the country's we'll being
But a natian's greatest asset is
her citizens. on her citizens de-
Ponds everything else. They are at
once the foundation and superstruc-
ture, the Alpha and Omega OF her ex-
istence, her very raison d'etre.
Said one Of our foremost bankers
to me the other day:
Don't forget that there is to be
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.
ut means that the Senate will be-
come less conservative, that 1t will
be less of bulwark than heretofore
| against radicalism.
we must not overlook this fact
in analysing the financial and bust
ness future"
Had you thought Of that?
Does it 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 "Old 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 It 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
reality. not merely a 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 a 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 a majority of the
most influential of them are alive to
| 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 strapped 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, profits har-
| ing plans and sales of stock on adj.
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 to
displace hostility by a spirit of mu-
tuality and cooperation, how 70
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