The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-08-25
MONDAY, AUG. Is, 1918.
aABoR SHOULD USE JUDGMENT.

There is almost invariably a tepden-
Ny, when an organization or an indi-
Nfdual gets the "whip-hand" to abuse
The power. Often this merely reacts
and in time, those who abuse their
power repay with interest for their
Short sightedness.
In Fargo at the present time, there
is q big demand for skilled labor, and
just now there seems to be a feeling
On the part of the organized laboring
men to use the "~whip-hand", in cases
that appear to the laymen to be ex-
trerne. In one instance, a man was
Imported to do a piece of work that
could not be done in Fargo because
there was no one here capable of doing
it, The man was not a union man.
and as a result the union men who
were working on the job in other ca
pacities were called off.
perhaps this was just, but it appears
to The Forum. that. had it not been
Just this time of year, when there Is a
big demand for men in the harvest
fields. and in every other field of labor.
Nt@S III .LAASl "Ou4u lEOI nave D6PN SO
exacting. 1t looks as if this were an
abuse of the "~whip-hand''.
Organized labor came about to offset
the abuses of those who held the
"whip-hand" in the employment of la
Dor, n the unions have been a big
factor In bringing about an equitable
arrangement between labor and the
7 aTIH11N,A- DIT ~
ton which tempers power with 1udg-
Iment.
II 1t could be so arranged it would
be much better for labor and for capi-
tai, to say nothing Of the general Dub
lie, If there would be no more strikes.
In many instances they do no good,
Their purpose often fails, and in that
event both sides to the controversy are
great loss.
It has been shown by careful esti-
mates that the strike of the silk weav-
ers Of Paterson, N. j., was conducted
at a fearful price to the community.
According to the estimate the loss in
wages was approximately, during the
14S days of the strike, $5,5 500, 900. and
the loss to the manufacturers was
equally as much.
"A large number of the tenants were
unable to pay rent and their grocery
bills, n the owners of the rented
property and the small stores which
supplied the silk weavers as a result
Of the strike suffered great loss.
Attributed to the strike there were
the loss of five lives, ~includine three
suicides.
1t matters not how wealthy Pater-
son is, and how prosperous it has been.
the great loss to that place occasioned
by this strike in many ways, that nlace
and its people will feel the evil effects
for&years to come.
Instead Of making their fight On tho
question of justice to the workers the
strike was turned into one of war on
the industrial system, as if that could
be changed by a few hundred or q few
Thousand dissatisfied men, and of
course failure was inevitable.
When a strike becomes necessary,
from the viewpoint of the workers # |
ought to be made by the EMPLOYMENT
OF" peaceful and not violent methods
and 1T should be made. for the single
purpose of having granted the dc.
mands made.
Nothing has SO injured the cause OF
labor as those strikes that have been
conducted injudtciously and violently
Intelligent workers see the folly Of
such strikes. but they have been DOW
erless to control those who incite and
conduct them.
In view of the awful price maid for
strikes 1t would be a public blessing if
all disputes between employees and
employers could be arbitrated. JUS
tice might not always be done. hit 2,
great waste would be avoided.