The Gem worker and the Idaho labor herald. (Boise, Idaho) 1914-1917, 1915-07-22
in THE PUBLIC Mind
Marcus Day Discusses Leading Issues From
Labor's Standpoint

high seas will drive America off the
ocean is nothing but moonshine. Ii
is nothing but a rank, raw fake, but
almost any association Of business
men can be coereed into supporting
bill that has the backing of the
Plunderbund who are in control of
credit But this should not discour-
age organized labor or make them
take hopeless view concerning the
law. The lobby was working OVER
time before the bill passed, but failed.
They will fail again if labor shows
it's teeth. Labor outvotes business
men any day and if they get together
on this bill It will stay on the Nations
statute books.
There never was time since orga-
nized wealth become dormant in our
history that they ever had anything
but bluff, but it must be said they
have been remarkably successful in
working it. Without a corrupt and
sutseryient press this would have
been impossible Labor should lead
the way in some intelligent move
ment on large scale to chase plu-
tocracy out of the newspapers. They
should have no publicity and should
have fraud order issued against them
when they attempt to misconstrue the
truth and print falsehoods against just
Legislation.
There is really no reason why a
newspaper that falsifes in political
discussion should be treated any diff
ferently than others who attack pri-
vate character or print obscene liter
ature, but as it is impossible to pre-
vent their printing hes without at
the same time running the risk of
abridging freedom of the press there
is no other way but to wage a COM
petitive war against them by duplicat-
ing their large printing bureaus and
attacking their circulation. 1t can be
done if labor can be made to see the
necessity of it. But until it is done
progress will be much slower than
otherwise.
Organized labor should regard the
matter of publicity more seriously in
the future than they have in the past
and use it on occasions. In doing so,
however, they should avoid the cap
italistic method OF taking the news
accounts and overstating their case
as has been the method of large capi-
talistic employers from Maine to Cali
fornia. While the public at large was
a credulous believer in anything push
ed out by trenchant pen the editorial
hunko-steerer kept the reading public
lulled into soothed state of content
ment with anything a monopolistic
crook pulled off in the name of
business but the time has long past
when the general public can be i'm
posed upon in the same manner they
could ten years ago. While there
are tens of thousands that Still take
their opinions ready made the aver
age newspaper is not able to make the
impression their editorial staff think
they do, and 1abor's appeal should be
to the enlightened and at all times
should be truthful, logical and un-
biased. The country is fast aligning
itself into a radical and a conserva-
tice camp; the radical for progress.
the conservative for the mistakes of
yesterday. A radical mind hunts for
an Improvement and wishes to apply
it, the conservative is only half con-
vinced at best, and in most cases
when things are going badly he
wishes to lay down and let matters
take their course. A conservative is
generally a coward mentally and
physically anywhere but in the United
States in particular. In this country
conservativeism means stand-pattism,
let well enough alone, don't agitate,
forget your wrongs, be, satisfied and
keep still. The average conservative
mistakenly thinks that the large busi-
ness interests really have the country
at their mercy and that in order to
have good times it is necessary to
make concessions to the money
changers This Is a fatal mistake
An American plutocrat never remem-
bers an election promise after election
but always proceeds to skim the
cream off the profits of industry and
expects at all times that the people
will think there is prosperity if the
press tells them SO. The American
plutocracy never caused an industrial
i depression or ever prevented one,
but they have many, many times sue.
/ NEssthliy tffd0C thC pc0plc DtBEAc IHe4
could stop oneif the dear people
would only vote their way. General
hard times comes from bad economic
tconditions Of world wide area and nc
band of fnanciers, no matter hov
strong individually or collectively
could prevent it. They simply rur
10 cover when they see depression
coming, lay low. prepare to take ad
vantage OF the fall in prices, buy ul
lsecurifies and wait patiently for ths
/ looming and make a killing among ths
unsophisticated when it arrives.
Militarism, land monopoly. private
control Of money and exploitation b
industry causes hard times and fher,
never will be security from hard tiF1ei
luntil the world at large is on Sc