New-York tribune., 1917-06-08
Not Patriots but Enemies

President Wilson has already taken a
definite stand against the breaking down
Of any legislation intended to safeguard
workers by preserving standards of safety
and sanitation and limiting hours OF labor.
! In his letter to Governor Brumbaugh OF
( Pennsylvania, answering a request for
advice as to action on measures now pend
/ ing in the Legislature of that state which
would break down labor laws, the Presl-
dent explicitly restates his former posi-
ton. IL feel that there is no necessity for
such action" says he, "and that 1t would
lead to a sackening of the energy OF the
ration rather than to an increase OF IT.,
besides being very unfair to the laborlng
people themselves"
In the face of such a declaration by the
President there ought to be an end Of the
attempts to scuttle decent and wise enact
ments for the safeguarding of the work.
ers. Governor Whitman, far-sighted
enough to discern that lengthening hours
of work and suspending safety precau-
tions would not necessarily produce
ouickening of industry, commercially
vetoed the unsavory Brown bill, which
would have permitted the wiping out of all
labor safeguards during the war. If the
PENNSYLVANIA lawmakers adopt any such
measures, Governor Brumbaugh may be
depended on to follow that example. And
If the members of Congress who are talk
ing of suspending the Federal child labor
law at the request of Southern mill inter
ests should manage to obtain the passage
of a bill for that purpose, there can be no
doubt about what the President would
do to it.
Nevertheless, all such attempts to break
down laws which have been built up over
a period of years for the benefit and pro-
lection of workers are to be deplored.
Now, if ever, there should be truce IN
the capital-labor controversy. Now. If
ever. there should be that union of inter
ests and energy which leaders in the
American Federation of Labor and intel
ligent and public-spirited employers are
striving for Now, if ever, there should
be cessation of aggression by either side,
and particularly there should be no en-
deavor by employers to attack, harass and
exploit labor under the guise of Fastening
preparedness for war.
The speeding-up Of industry inevitably
means more profits for those who have
money invested in manufacturing plants
turning out war supplies. But the kind
of speeding up proposed by those who
would wipe out all protective labor laws
would be paid for in the flesh and blood of
workers. More than that, it would be
paid for in industrial strife and bitter
ness of class antagonism which inevitably
would much more than Offset any initial
gain in production from the quickenlng
process. And to prove the whole proposal
futile as we'll as wicked, there lie at the
disposal of every person interested de-
tailed accounts of the experience Of Great
Britain, where "speeding-up" had to be
abandoned and the old safeguards re-
srnred. because labor was being drained to
a point where production was seriously
impaired.
This country cannot sanction explolta-
ton of its workers under guise of pre-
raredness and patriotism. Those who
propose it are not patriots-they are
either so selfish or so ignorant as to be act
uallv enemies to the country. President
Wilson in his stand against it deserves the
support and encouragement of every good
citizen.