The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1914-03-16
TvENTY-SxTH INsTALLMENT
JUSTICE AID TIE LABOR QUESTION

sAs not aluAys possibls 70 champion
ns sasss o. ne .wcrksss: t.e.nss IN
vsne utterly unwarranted and were
touG4f BY methods which cannot bo
too hnrshly condemned. No straight.
korverd man can believe. and no fear
isss man win assert. that a trade
a. snworthy public servant Who by
speech or silence. BY direct statement
o. oowardly evasion. inxariahly throws
W. weight OF his inlucnce ON the side
q ne trade union. whether Il II right
- wrong. IL has occasionally been
ny dnty 70 give utterAnce TO the feel-,
1ngs OF all right thinking men by ex-
preemng The most emphatic disap-
ROW! OF unwise or e<en imDoral ac-
uons by Representatives Of labor. The
nan In no true democrat, and n an
american. Is unworthy q the trzdi-
ttonS OF his country who. In problems
calltng for the exerckse Of a moral
1nd9nent. fails to take his stand ON
rood and bad wage-1ork<rs Est A.
thers are good and bad employers.
ana Dood and bad men OF small means
and 81 large means alike.
bW a Willingness TO do equal and
I've - race. creed. section or economic
inesrsst and position. does not imply
te0ure TO recognize the enormous
cconemic, political and moral possibil-
iues Or the trade union lust as dem
gcrsuc government cannot be con-
demned because of errors and even
cr1mns committed by men Democrat
1een{ elected. so trade-unionism must
not pc condemned because OF errors
or crimes OF occasional .trade-union
While we must repress an filexsi,f,e.
ana discourage all immoralities.
wnether OF labor organizations or OF
Sfations. we must recognize the
isS Ss mat nat today the organization OF
uons 10 necessary, IL benencient, and
one OF the greatest possible agen-
c1es In the attainment OF a true in
austrial as well as a true political
defnocracy In the United States.
Service and Reward.
This Is a fact which many well-in-
tennoned people even today do not
understand. They do not understand
That the labor problem Is a human
and q moral as well as an economic
poDsem; that a fail An wages. an in-
labor conditions. mean Wholesale
moral as well as economic degenera-
uon. and the Deedless sacrifice of
human lives and human happiness:
while rise in wages. a lessening OF
nouIs. a Dettering of conditions, mean
an intellectual. moral. and social up
INT OF millions OF American men and
women; There are employers today
VINO. ike the great coal Operators
speak as though they were lords OF
these countless armies of Americans.
WHO toii IN factory, in shop. in mill.
aug IN the dark places under the
earth; They fail TO see that ali these
men have the right and the duty TO
comolne 10 protect themaelys.s anu
lEeir families from want ana deRrf,-
oation. They fail TO see that the Ma
non ana the Government. within the
a MI "A
fstration OF the law. must ineyita bly.
ss1npathize with the men who have
nothing but their wages. with the
men who are struggling for a doesn't
life. as opposed 10 men, however hon
prapIe. who are merely lighting for
larger prohits and an autocratic con-
troll OF big business. Each man should
nave all ne earns, whether by brain
or body; and the director, the great
industrial leader. is one OF the great
est earners. and should have a pro-
portional reward: but no man should
1--we on the earnings of another. and
there should not be too gross inemal
lily between service and reward
We Can't Go Back Half a Century
Tnere are many men to-day, men
or integrity and intelligence. who
honestly believe that NE must 20
century ago. They are opposed 10
trade, unions, root and branch. They
note the unworthy conduct of many
labor leaders. they find instances OF
bad work by union men. OF a volun-
tary restriction OF output, OF vega.
lious and violent strikes, OF iuris-
dictional disputes between unions
which often disastrousIy involve the
best. intentioned and fairest OF en-.
ployers. All these things occur and
should be repressed. hut the same
critic OF the trade union might find
equal cause OF complaint against I'm.
dividuai employers OF labor. or even
against great associations OF manu-
LECTURERS. He might find many in
stances OF an unwarranted cutting OF
wages, OF hagrant violations OF FAC.
tory laws and tenement house laws
OF the deliberate and systematic
cheating OF employees by means OF
truck stores. OF the speeding up OF
work 10 point which Is fatal 10 the
health OF the workman. OF tho sweat.
ing or foreign-born workers. of the
drafting OF feeble little children into
dusty workshops, OF black-lIstine( OF
putting spies into union meetings
and or the employment in strike
times OF vicious and desperate ruf.
mans, who are neither better nor
worse than are the thugs who are oc.
casionally employed by unions under
Committees
believe that the overwhelming ma.