The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1916-10-05

| sible to fOreteli. was sent over from
the White House, il was rushed
through with scarcely az much con-
siderAti0n As would be spent on a pri-
Vate pension claim. There vas no
debate worthy OF the name. no, study
no weighing OF consequences. no in
| vestigatiOn OF the principle supposed
10 be involved The determined men
who pressed the case for the unions
simply said to the president: We
give you three days to compel Con-
gress to pass this bill The presi-
dent said to Congress: You must
pass this bill before Monday" And
Congress passed it.
Nothing like it has ever been known
in the history of American legislation,
or in any other kind of political ne
gotiation since Bismarck imposed his
terms on the historian statesman
war, 1t is true that 1t was a case of
foresight dealing with expediency, Of
intelligence dealing with misunder-
standing. Of courage dealing with
cowardice, but in all these respects 1t
was a victory for character. And no
one who recognizes vigOr in human
action should hesitate TO acknowledge
the wide difference between the labor |
leaders and the politician they con-
fronted They waited for their hour,
they wisely chose their fighting
ground. they detected with quick in
telliGence the weakness of the adver-
sary. they delivered their ultimatum
of unconditional surrender and
watch in hand they waited for the
white nag to come out. And it came.
We have only respect for the men who
fought so shrewdly for the cause they
represent and in the interest of their
own group OF about half million
workmen brought the government to
its knees and upset the theory of de-
Lucrative legislation upon which is
to rest the well-being Of
100, ,o0O. 900 people.
It was great achievement, and
others who are not SO we'll represent
ed must envy the railway men. The
only thing that diminishes the glory
of the victory is the character of the
Yet it is all the more to
the credit of the labor leaders If the
gun they held at the presidents head
wasn't loaded. It is pretty certain
that if Mr.. Wilson had demanded time
for patient consideration Of a most
question. instead of begging
for few hours grace, they would
have found a means of postponing the
strike. But it appears they measured
their man. 1t is interesting to guess
what the outcome would have been If
A. b. Garretson had happened to be
President of the United States during
such crisis and the unions had been
represented by Woodrow Wilson.
Lest there be someone who believes
that Wilson forced this legislation be-
cause he was true friend of labor,
UCAeNihk III tho clSht-AouI udy' III
trades unions, ETC., we quote the fol-
lowing from him, which is statement
that he made when he was not seeking
votes:
Extract from baccalaureate ser
mon of June 13. 1909. by Prof. Wood
row Wilson:
"You know what the usual standard
of the employe is in our day. 1t is to
give as little as he may for his wages.
Labor is standardized by the trade
union and this is the standard to
which it is meant to conform. No one
is suffered to do more than the aver
age workman can do. In some trades
and handicrafts no one is suffered to
do more than the least skillful of his
fellows can do within the hours al
lotted to a days labor. and no one
can work out of hours at all or vol
unteer anything beyond the minimum.
81 need not point out how econom-