Denver labor bulletin., 1915-09-04

United States industrial relations COM
mission has returned to his home in Kan
sas City, where he will again take up
the practice of law. He is scheduled to
make Labor Day address at the Pan
anna Pacific exposition in San Francisco
next Monday, when he will answer his
critics.
Supplementary to the three commits
sion reports sent out from Chicago last
week, Chairman Walsh has given his per-
sonal findings as to the general causes
of industrial unrest in the nation, which
conclusions are concurred in by the three
labor commissioners, John Ii. Lennon,
James OConnell and Austin b. Garrett
son, as follows:
Charged by your honorable body with
an investigation to discover the under
lying causes of dissatisfaction In the
industrial situation, we herewith present
the following findings and conclusions,
and we urge for them the most earnest
consideration, not only by the congress,
but by the people of the nation, to the
end that evils which threaten to defeat
American ideals and to destroy the well
being of the nation may be generally
recognized and effectively attacked.
Low Wages the Basic Cause.
We find the basic cause OF industrial
dissatisfaction to be low wages. Or,
stated in another way: the fact that
the workers of the nation, thru compui
sorry OF oppressive methods, legal and IL
legal, are denied the full product OF their
toll.
We further find that unrest among the
workers in industry has grown to pro-
portions that already menace the social
good will and the peace OF the nation
Citizens numbering millions smart under
sense OF injustice and oppression. born
of the conviction that the opportunity
i denied them to acquire for themselves
and their families that degree Of econ.
omie well being necessary for the enjoy
ment OF the material and spiritual sat
isfaction which alone make life worth
living.
Bitterness Bred of Need.
bitterness, bred OF untitled need for
sufficient food, clothing and shelter for
themselves and their wives and children,
has been further nourished in the hearts
OF these millions by resentment against
the arbitrary power that enables the en-
ployer, under our present industrial sys-
TEN, to control not only the workman's
opportunity to earn his bread, but Oft
times. thru the exercise of this power,
to dictate his social, political and moral
environment By this thwarting the
human passion for liberty and the soliei-
tude OF the husband and father for his
own. modern industry has kindled a
spirit in these dissatisfied millions that
lies deeper and springs from nobler i'm
pulses than physical need and human
selfishness. Among these millions and
their leaders. we have encountered a
spirit. religious in its fervor and in its
willingness to sacrifice for a cause held
sacred. And we earnestly submit that
only in the light OF this spirit can the
aggressive propaganda of the discomfort
cd be understood and judged
Depth of Unrest Untold
The extent and depth of industrial
unrest can hardly be exaggerated. State
and national conventions of labor organ
izations. numbering many thousands of
members. have cheered the names of
leaders imprisoned for participation in
n campaign of violence, conducted as one
phase of conflict with organized en-
ployers. Thirty thousand workers in a
single strike have followed the leadership
of men who denounced government and
called for relentless warfare on organ
ized society.
Employers from coast to coast have
created and maintained small private ar
mics of armed men and have used these
forces to intimidate and suppress their
striking employees by deporting, impris-
oning. assaulting and killing their lead
crs.
Elaborate Spy System.
Elaborate spy systems are maintained
to discover and forcstall the movements
of the enemy The use of state troops
in policing strikes has bred bitter hos
tility to the militia system among num-
5crs of labor organizations and states
have been unable to enlist wage-earners
for this second line of the nations de-
fensc. Courts. legislatures and govern
ors have been accused rightfully of serv-
ing employers to the defeat of justice,
and while counter charges come from
employers and their agents. with almost
negligible exceptions. it is the wage-carn-
crs who believe, assert and prove that
the very institutions of their country
have been perverted by the power of the
employer. Prison records for labor lead
crs have become badges of honor in the
eyes of many of their people. and great
mass meetings thruout the nation cheer
denunciations of courts and court de-
cisions.
To the support of the militant and
aggressive propaganda of organized labor
has come. within recent years. small
but rapidly increasing host of ministers
of the gospel, college professors, writer's.
journalists and others of the professional
classes. distinguished in many instances
by exceptional talent. which they devote
to agitation. with no hope of material
reward. and devotion that can be cx-
MIA IN IN, he lxhk &c 4