The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-07-05
THE CoIoSEL's SURGERY.

THE COIOSEL'S SURGERY.
Colonel Roosevelt is an opportunist. As self
appointed surgeon for the maladies of society
and the country he 3s a reckless operator. AS
well as can be understood from the reports Of
his address at Newport Wednesday, he proposes
to heal the differences between capital and
labor by cutting out the vitals Of our system
of government and abolishing the rights and ALL
thorityr of the States. He would cure capitalism
by substituting natonalism. He would prevent
tyranny Of employers side and labor
unions the other by establishing at Washing
ton central tyranny. or absolute direct power
which inevitably would become tyranny unless
some sudden and marvellous change came over
human nature.
His chief theme was the recent trouble in
West Virginia AS Ia usual with this distin-
guished citizen he is confused on the facts or
undertakes to bend and manufacture facts 10
make them fit his doctrine and theories Let
us take. however. the conditions as he de-
scribes them and follow his reasoning to, his
remedy. He assumes that the miners struck
because they were required to trade at COM
pany stores and pay high prices for goods and
0lu not get hi lilelF wages IN cASH. Inc STATE
legislature had enacted law requiring all en-
poying miners TO pay their men in cash and
forbidding stores owned and operated by cor
porations from charging more for goods shan
independent privately owned stores. The
State Supreme court declares these laws to be
unconstitutional. taking the ground that every
man has the right to make his own bargains
III
else he owns and that the State has not the
right to require the owner of goods to sell at
the same prices charged by others VINO own
and sell goods. Colonel Roosevelt's PLAN as
he outlines II. is TO have the general govern
ment supervise and control such matters. The
practical working OF this, taking the West Vir-
ginia example, would have been that
a government agent from Washington, or ap-
pointed there would have required the operators
OF the mines to pay their men in cash, super
vised all the company stores, compared their
prices with those OF other stores and enforced
equality. We may presume that the rule would
work both ways and that the same agent would
have seen that the men lived up to their
tracts, paid their debts performed faithful
vice; also would have determined the merits
of every dispute and decided and fixed the
wage scale As the action OF such an agent
would be without meaning and absurd unless
supported by force 10 enforce 1t, the natural
conclusion is that the property of owners who
failed to comply with the orders would be seized
and mines and stores closed; and that miners
who refused To work the terms required
by the governments agent would be arrested or
rounded up and driven back into the mines by
United States troops. The colonel would pre-
vent anarchy as he says, by the good old plan
of absolute and unrestraned government con-
,szol as they do in Russia Ills scheme does
not seem TO provide for any appeal from the de-
cisions Of the government, through its agents
There is to be no appeal to the courts by owners
-ef-eHapieEegs Alto The strike BY the wage
earners.
In Russia, where this general method Is In
working order, 1t is not the rich the
ploying classes who suffer and complain. The
sufferers seem to be the working people, the
artisans In the cities the peasants in the coun-
Try. The coloners plan would carry the work
7ag classes into serfdom through pretence OF
protection of his rights and the employing
glasses into eager dependence the favor of
officials. To suppose the contrary We must sup.
pose that money would lose its power over in
diyidual officials and governments and that social
influence, association, education and trained in
telect and ali the forces that control political
and sway official action would become inenec-
tive mraculousy. We have been complaining
all these years that these forces had too much