The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1913-07-06
Mother Jones on industrial Yellow Fever

search for the mosquito! Search for
/ the mosquitoi That ought to be q slogan
with Investigators on both sides Of the
/ labor question. Personally I think the
swamps 1t hides in are more frequently
| in the domain Of the employers than in
that of the employees. but what think
doesn't matter II We only find the In
sects habitat and drain it dry. 30 that
| 1t will not breed future trouble.
/ Violence will never cure our labor
| troubles, injunctions will not cure them.
Both are child's play. Advantages Sc
cured by them are surely temporary. II
employers and employed will only settle
down to deep. effective thought, stop
giving cause for strikes ana striking
| without cause and think, think. think.
We shall come out all right
We're going to come out all right.
| Il don't believe in fighting in an eco
1 nomic battle any more than l believe In
shotgun quarantine for yellow fever;
you don't; nobody does. Yet we all arc
| at it. 1t Is silly. It's a sign that we
| are not yet civilized But, mind you. l
steadfastly maintain that there Is quite
as much OF barbarism in the attitude OF
| the employers-indeed. more, far more
| than in the attitude Of working people.
It's all tragic while it's silly. 1t bru-
| taltzes both sides. and this effect will
| last through generations. The spirit OF
| implacable vengeance. which has been
developed in employer and employed
| through all these years OF labor strife,
will bear its sad fruit in oncoming gen.
| erations.
Downfall of 'McsQcito.'
THE hopeful side is that the scientific
| investigation which will end in finding
| the mosquito and in Identification OF
the swamps for drainage is already uu-
der way. We have uncovered the germ
in some phases OF the aflment; We have
| begun to drain some swamps., The child
| labor business was about the first tfi-
umph of science in this country's eco
nomic field. 1t was a startling triumph,
and perhaps the pleasantest thing 1 have
| to think Of is that 1t was through work.
| ing for the mitigation OF its horror that
I found my entrance into the held OF
| labor work
| In Pennsylvania, now, the labor Of
! children under fourteen In mines and
\ mills is forbidden. even, though some
! parents fought against the law as bit
| terly as the mill and mine owners did.
| Ten years ago boys went to labor In
the mines while they were still SO little
| that their dinner buckets trailed upon the
ground as they proceeded: now they are
sent to school In the fact that they are
sent to school lies an argument for labor
war in certain circumstances, for they
never would have reached the school
| IL the mine workers had not fought
to get the right for them.
Reforms Arc Profitable.
But they are not the only gainers
/ fancy that most mine owners who
fought against child labor laws would
now admit that Pennsylvania is get
ting not only more efficient labor. but
better citizenship out OF the workers
in Its mines and we must all admit
that the better the citizenship becomes
the better are industrial conditions. both
for worker and for owner. The system
which the mine owners so fercely strug-
gled to preserve was inefficient It hurts
both sides.
Il don't hate employers. What I hate
is the cause Of labor troubles. I hate
no individual. There are those among
the mine owners in West Virginia who
deserve less hate than pity; they deserve
more sympathy than do, more sympathy
than any Of the striking miners do. for
they are going to be beaten into doing
right. The man forced into his right
eousness is a sorry spectacle.
How We have progressed! Railroad
strikes were a terrific problem not
more than ten years ago. Traffic was
frequently tied up and the business and
the pleasure of the country paralyzed.
The militia was called out from time
to time, and sometimes property was
burned and trains were wrecked; oc-
casionally strikers were shot down. We
are getting saner now. We arbitrate
our railroad difficulties.
Il believe still further sanity will
come. Although l am no Socialist I
think that through labor troubles will
come collective ownership Of railways.
and that that will settle strikes on
them forever. But whether it comes
or does not. both sides gained when
they became imbued with the idea
that it was better to get together and
talk things out in reason than it was
to stand apart. hurting at one another
bricks and epithets occasionally in
terspersed with bullets.
In Illinois, not many years ago.
strikers in the mining regions were al
er idea interviewed. and there has not
been miners strike in Illinois in four
teen years. Do you think the West
Virginia problem is more difficult than
any of the problems which came I'D in
Illinois? 1 know it is not. But they
have not got together yet down there.
They will have to.
Getting together has saved millions
for the State Of Illinois. The problem
has not been entirely solved out there,
but 1t Is several steps nearer a solu-
ton.
Cooperation the Keynote.
Labor troubles, like the yellow fever
have spoken of. are mere diseases.
The health boards Of our cities have
solved many sanitary problems We
need more economic sanitationists
when they arise we'll have fewer in
dustrial fevers. They are coming into
labor economics as they came into civic
economies with the entrance Of tene.
ment-house experts
Cooperation between neighbors win
do anything. Many think il is impossi-
DIE because they hear only Of the social
istic way of bringing IT about The So
cialistic cry Of universal brotherhood
has alienated many from progressive
thinking who might do splendid work IL
they would struggle on. regardless Of It. |
They object to certain sentiments en-
bodied in the socialistic creed.
There Is too much sentiment in it-far |
too much. I'm sure Of II. It's mostly
sentiment. and that's why II will not |
work. What We want is not sentiment, |
but sense. The man who has ignorant |
and undeveloped neighbors is in danger. |
He cannot eliminate the neighbors. but |
he can develop them. 1t is his self-pres-
ervation to hold out his hand to them. |
Quarantine has been a small part, |
only. Of the successful fight against con- |
tagious disease. We do not depend upon |
it in these days We ind it easier and |