The Oklahoma City times. [volume] (Oklahoma City, Okla.) 1908-1984, 1915-02-10
A NEGLECATED ISSUE

readers, declared that one Of its III
Innate objects was the abrogatlon Of
the social conventions which have so
long placed a ban upon polygamy,
assigning as reason therefore the
increasing proportion Of unmarried
women. More recently Rev. c. q.
Jones, the evangelist, declared In the
course OF sermon at the First Meth
Odist Episcopal church OF this city
that the man who eyades the respon
sibility OF marrying should be fined
and imprisoned. In recent years We
have had succession Of social com
missions Vice investigations and other
organized efforts to find out just what
N wrong and suggestions without
number for the establishment of II
minimum wage for women We have
also heard the sage OF Sycamore ut
terlng n preachment against race sui
eide. Yet, from first to last each
has been defining or investigating or
condemning cause while hlndly
cropping past the cause.
The old fashioned Fourth " July
orator WIS wont TO grow eloquent
when describing America as "thc asy
lum OF the oppressed OF every land,
and the modern demagogue dishes
out the same brand u drlyel when he
Is fishing for votes America has. In
deed been the asylum for the op.
pressed, and Americans have always
been lulled into spirit Of complaccn.
cy by the sound OF that oyerworked
platitude when droned out by the
spellbnder from every stump and
platform. Meanwhile America has
been the mecca Of the anarchist. the
malta, the vendetta, the black hand,
the padrone and other persons things
aud institutions utterly un- American
True we have had laws for the
regulation Of foreign immigration
one Of these, which forbids the impor.
tntlon Of alien labor under contract
has been on the statute books for a
generation, yet there has not been "a
day In all that time that Il has not
been openly and flagrantly yolated
and such violations wlnked at by the
very officials who have been charged
with Its enforcement II Is an open
secret that no president Of the United
States has been able TO find man
suitable for appointment as commits.
sloner Of immigration who was not
known to hold the most liberal views
concerning the admission of foreign
immigration at our gates.
American labor has long since
reached the point where 1t was
brought face to face with the alter
native Of accepting the wage scale of
the immigrant or Of retreating into
a limited circle Of one Of the skilled
trades and there organizing against
the competition Of the alien worker
who was willing to accept lower wages
because his standard Of living was
lower The union labor movement In
America Is directly traceable to the
overcrowding Of the labor market by
means " an undue immigration that
was fostered and Induced largely by
employing interests. Mines, mills and
other great industrial enterprises have
been colonlEed by cheap labor from
the old world, with which American
labor could not compete without sur
rendering a standard OF living which
Is Its birthright, yet despite the fact
that a great principle Ia involved,
there have not been lacking those who
have affected to sneer at American
labor because II has refused to work
at the wages Of imported labor.
1t is plainly time to put aside sen,
tlmentalism and study this question
in a cold-blooded, dispasslonate way.
Stand at the gateway OF one Of the
great factories OF Pennsylayanla.
New Jersey, New York or Massachu
sets, when the evening whistle blows .
watch five and six thousand men check
out by number and crowd through the
gate then 20 and inspect the novels
aud rookeries IN which they swarm
TO exist between dusk and dawn: note
the sanitary conditions, food, bedding
and other requirements s-then ask
yourself seriously and candldly
whether you think an American labor.
ing man, well born, decently reared
aud fairly well schooled, should or
could bring himself to accept wages
that will lower his standard to such
a leyeli Frankly now, do sou
blame the average young American,
who ls capable OF taking a thought
ahead II he hesltates about assuming
the duties aud responsibilities OF a
husband and father when he knows