American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1916-10-19
WHAT WOODROW WILSON
REALLY THINKS OF LABOR

Wilson, candidate, is sud
uenly posing as a great friend of labor
ana a great believer in labor unions.
woodrow Wilson, before entering
Rational politics, held decided views
on the labor question which do not
square with his professions of TODAY,
Which Woodrow Wilson will occupy
the White House after the 4th of next
March, II the electorate this fall should
confer upon him another term as
president? What would be his atti-
tude toward labor then, when he had
no further favors to ask of the voters?
II labor views of Woodrow Wilson.
private citizen are interesting.
On February 20, 1905 at the Peoples
Forum in New Rochelle, New York.
Mr.. Wilson said:
Labor unions reward the shiftless
ana incompetent at the expense of
the able and Industrious"
AT the same meeting he further
SAID: The objections | have TO la
Dor unions is that they drag the high
est man to the level of the lowest. |
must demur with the labor unions
when they say, You must award the
uuli the same as you award those with
special gifts"
That would seem to be sufficient to
classify DR.. Wilson; but evidently he
was anxious that capital and labor be
under no kind of misconception about
ms attitude, for on January II, 1909.
IN reply TO an invitation for a public
address on labor questions, he said.
l am a fierce partisan of the open
shop and of everything that makes for
Individual liberty, and | should like TO
contribute anything that might be Dos
SIDE Tor me to contribute to the clar-
lncation OF thinking and the formation
OF right purposes in matters of this
kind
Later, on June -, 1905, in a bac-
c~alaurate sermon at Pinceton, DIR. Will
son said:
you know what the usual standard
OF the employee is in our day. Ii is
10 give as little as he may for his
wage. b is standardized by the
trade union, and this is the standard
TO which II is meant to conform. No
II is suffered to do more than the
average workman can do. In some
trades and h~andicrafts no II is
suffered To DO more than the least
Skllltul of his fellows can do within
the hours allotted to a day ) labor, ana
no one can work out Of hours at an
or volunteer anything beyond the min
mum.
need not point out how economl-
ealy disastrous such IA regulation OF
labor IS. 1t is 80 Improbable TO the
employer that in some trades il VIII
presently not be Worlh his while To-
attempt anything at all. lie had bet
ter STOP altogether than operate at an
Il i%nvariabie loss. The
labor OF America is rapidly becoming
Improbable under its present r%cgula-
Ton by those who have determined 10
reduce II to a minimum. Our ~ecGnn-
me supremacy may be lost, because
me country grows more and more full
OF Improbable servants"
Woodrow Wilson was not then pres
ldent, and was under no kind OF re
sLraint or pressure as o his c~onyic-
CONS on any public OF political quea-
Now "A campaign for reelection
is in full swing.
woodrow Wilson, while president OF
Princeton university, was requested
by Prof. Frank Parsons OF the bureau
research, In September,
1903, to join with others in signing this
declaration:
i. We favor the eight-hour day.
s2. Believing that the eight-hour
day means a longer and richer life, d
fairer diffusion of wealth and power,
a better citizenship and a higher civ
through leisure for education.
recreation, civic and social life, we
welcome each step in the ogr Of
The eight-hour movement and earnest
~ hope for the success of the typo
graphical unions in their efforts to
secure the eight-hour day"
Woodrow Wilson refused to sign
either of the propositions, saying: ct
to me that nothing OF this sort
be decided thus in the abstract
md that no valuable conclusion car
be arrived at except by a real discus
sion OF specific cases"
This is what Woodrow Wilson then
really thought Of the eight-hour day
What he probably now thinks about il
when permitted TO think freely from
he prospect Of an election.
What Will he think after March 4th
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