The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1917-06-29
MAINTAIN UNION
LABOR STANDARDS
(By Dante Barton.)

NEW YORK CITY, June l5.-Sup-
pose the United States could legis-
late for its enemy during this war,
or suppose American financers could
impose domestic policies affecting
the people of the enemy countries.
If the United States law makers and
| the United States financiers felt par
ticularly cruel and vindictive, their
legislation and their policies, in such
a case, would be directed against the
great body of the enemy people.
| They would try to make the enemy
workers work such long hours and
at such eXhaustng toll and with
such little leisure that those work
ers would be inefficient either for
working or for fighting. They would
impose such conditions upon the
women of the enemy country that
those women could not be strong
and capable mothers, that they could
not give the care and attention to
their children which would make the
children the best citizens and that
permanent injury to the enemy race
would be done through the temper
airy injury to the mothers and faith
ers of the immediate generation.
Such a case is supposed in order
to drive home the wrong and the
absurdty of all the propositions that
have been advanced by law makers
and by moneyed interests of the
! United States to break down the
safeguards of the efficiency and
rightful happiness of American
workers, men and women. If ever
,heIe was a time when such safe
guards should be upheld and extend
ed, it is naturally in time of ma
tional peril and stress. England, for
example, could possibly afford, SC
far as national existence was con
,e:ned, to adopt a devil-take-the-
hindmost policy toward the great
mass of the workers when the Eng
ish national life was unassailed
from outside. But instantly, that
England was assailed from the out
side, she had to amend that careless
and absolutely undemocratic policy
and conserve the greatest possession
of any nation, its men and women
workers.
AS an example of the intelligent
l,l
breaking down safe and sane stand
ards in America at this time, the
i following is quoted from recent
statement of the Executive Board C.
! the United Mine Workers of Amer
lea:
1--WE hold that greater efficiency
will prevail among the workers if
the standards of life and labor de
sired by the workers are both es
tablished and maintained. Any low
ering of these standards means
reduction in the productive capacity
of the workers both individually and
collectively
asked to sacrifice" the degree of in
dustrial rights which they have SC
far attained, they have been asked
to sacrifice something which the ma
ton itself could not spare. The la
Dor unions, for instance, are trustees
of the welfare and strength of the
working men and women of this ma
ton and of their children. They
might as well be asked to sacrifice
their health, their honesty and their
virtue as to be asked to sacrifice
such economic conditions as conserve
health and make honesty and virtue
the order of the national life.
This ought to be so plain to every
| body that it seems that the super
serviceable servants of big interests
in and out of the legislatures, who
have so many times proposed break
ing down these standards have sim.
ply gotten the habit. Apparently
they have no other idea of self-as-
5eltion or Of activity except to pluck
something more from the men and
women whose work supports them.
There ought to be the sharpest kind !
of scorn, on the part of workers
with their hands and of all others
who properly acknowledge their debt
to manual workers, for these short
sighted enemies of their own coun-
trymen.