The daily Nome industrial worker., 1916-01-24

It is outse a.geifcaat tEat oua oe' the warning powers proposes to em-. poy uaaauea iabor in the nuni- tiou aa.cries wherein heretofore none but skilled have been though. competent to work
 That this may be, a8 the men coal ;a-d. to reduce wages, it is wholly imm85arfal That they can introduce 1ne uas.;iHed, break them ia to the work and instead of :mparing tho efficiency of the work rather increase it, should make craft unionists sit mp and take notice.
 What the government in one country can do during national emergency. that also can any em- ploycr do during an industrial emer- geacy.
 We have reached the stage in in dustrial conditions wherein skill cuts comparatively little figure. With the advance of technical know ledge and the great improvement ih automatic machinery. personal skill counts for little What this super stition of individual skill has done ! is to keep out many of the unskillea from competition, and thus lessen ing the supply of labor in any parti- cular craft, to increase the demand and to thus also increase the wages 1t was all right for those who could thus trade upon their skill; but il was not all right for those wna lacked the advantage that that skill gave others.
 Many unions organized because skill was the basis of their sOlidari- ty, not any such thing as their class community of interest On the contrary, a whole lot of labor orga- nizations are organizations which are formed to protect the workers against other workers by maintain ing a little job trust.
 For this reason limitations as to membership were maintained for this reason limitations as to the num- bers who could learn some particu- lar trade were enforced 50 that in fine, the fewer were skilled the more would employers have to pay the unskilled.
 Moreover this caused the unskilled to form a separate and distinct class within the ranks of wage workers, whose employment was ill required and whose jobs were insecure.
 With them craft unions made no common cause And yet when craft unions got in trouble and lhelr places were taken by those unskilled who had been rigidly denied the pri- v,ieges of membership in Uuions. the craft unions heaped upon such, all kinds of terms of condemna- fion. ~
 The fact was noticeable however that the craft unions all along had
 
 place any rights to labor, and kept them outside the fold altogether.
 With such sort of organization the workers could have very little ulti' mate patience ono would imagine. Yet such was practically the oppo- site case. Despite the fact that the unions rigidly held themselves aloof from the unskilled, and denied others the right to work, the rest of 4he workers who were thus discrimi- mated against by fellow workers, supported and assisted them in trouble.
 The day has now been reached in industry when the employer can take the unskilled and put him to work in place of the most skilled craftsman. It is only matter ot time when the unskilled will func- tion as usefully as anyone in the industry sToday the machinist or the tradesmen is oftener than not a mere machine tender and the ma chimes are automatic. Great factc- ries maintain specialists who are placed upon an entirely different footing to the rest, and these see to it that the machines are kept run ming.
 But in the industry practically everyone has common footing. Nc man, craft unionist or not. has 2 monopoly by reason of his skill. Al he acquired it the man out of lot can and does acquire it, and if he quits the other man can saet hl' place. ss