The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1917-02-02
INEQUALITY
OF COMPANIES BONUSES
Editor Pennington Times:

Editor Pennington Times:
Labor, it is said, is a commodity,
to be bought and sold, and it is idle
to attempt to regulate the price of
this or any other commodity, as to
seek to stop the flow of the tides.
Labor, however, is a commodity of a
peculiar sort. 1t is part of the very
being of the man who sells it. The
commodity sold is human creature,
whose welfare in the eyes of the law
should be of more Importance than
any mere accumulation of wealth on
the part of the employer. 1t is a
commodity, further, which it is diff
ficult to selDto advantage. The work.
ingman cannot know the best market
for his ware, his labor, nor can he
sell it at any place, except where he
himself is. He cannot send a sample
Of it, nor can he regulate the supply.
AS long as he lives and is without re-
sources, he must work, and for many
years in, succession he may be forced
to sell his product at a price consid-
erably less than the cost to society of
producing it. When the demand for
lead decreases, this very fact lessons
the supply, since it becomes less pro-
fitable to produce it; but when the de-
mand for labor declines, this very
fact creates an added supply. The
commodity of labor is one which, if
there is no limit set by law or organi-
cation can very well result in the
wholesale deterioration of the work.
ingmen of the community. In many
ways other than the amount of wages
and the hours of labor does the en-
ployer exert a strong influence upon
the welfare of the workingman, and
here desire to cite the treatment ac-
corded the employees of the st. Joe
Lead Company at Herculaneum in the
matter of bonus as evidence of the
truthfulnesS of this statement. Among
the many glazing injustices inflicted
upon the employees by the manage
ment of this company there is none
that can equal the unfairness of the
treatment received by the employees al
Herculaneum in this bonus matter
but it will not always be thus. A
strong union is now, or shortly will be
in progress of organization and the
guiding spirit in this movement is the
bonus matter. After this organiza-
ton has been completed we intend tc
probe this matter to the bottom. We
must know the reason why the EN-.
ployes in the Lead Belt are entitled
| to receive more for their labor thar
those at Herculaneum. If, as thought
by many, that part of the bonus in
| tended for the men at Herculaneum
has been and is being diverted to the
pockets of men higher up, we want to
know it. If there is any reason for
this unjust discrimination we are en-
titled to know it, and when the pro-
per time comes we certainly will not
| leave a single stone unturned in or
der that the light may be turned on
this matter. We have appealed to the
management of this company for
their reason or reasons for this unjust
discrimination but our appeals have
fallen on deaf ears, our appeals have
been contemptuously ignored. The
time has arrived when patience ceases
to be virtue. We will appeal nc
more, we will entreat no more; we
are forced to adopt sterner methods
and if unpleasant things should hap
pen for the management of this COM
pany with reference to this matter
we can only say that it was of our
own choosing. In closing we wish to
remind you of the fact that there is
no class of people on this earth that
will allow as much injustice and abuse
heaped upon their heads without muir
muring as will the American working.
man, but when the limit has beer
reached and he unsheaths the sword OF
justice, there is none who will fight
longer or endure more hardship anG
privation to obtain his rights thar
he. From this time forward oui
watchword is to be action"
Cup, guards, and at them!"
B.