The Goldfield news and weekly tribune. [volume] (Goldfield, Nev.) 1911-1947, 1917-11-03
THE /. w. w. CHALLENGE

Trade union officials lamentingly admit that the men 'hey
represent are out of hand and will neither obey orders nor keep
collective bargains. Disloyalty TO their unions has Deen Oh
lowed by treachery to their country. German agents WORKING
through the l. w. w. and socialist organizations are fostering
sabotage and strikes to weaken the sword arm of the unteo
States. These agitators are either spies or traitors IN 'e
penalty for their acts in time of war is death.
1t is not the demand for higher wages but the manner LII
which it is made that should be penalized. Coal miners nave
no right to force mines to shut down without notlce a d pre-
liminary to the discussion of the wage scale when the country
cries out for coal at the approach of winter. All the machinery
for adjusting labor disputes is in working order. When me
railroads began operating under the provisions u me Aoa mso
law. their employees received in a few weeks all the extra Dack
pay coming to them. Coal miners can work under a mlar
agreement and can collect what a board of arbitration may ilnd
to be their due without interrupting the operation OF the mines
and thereby losing wages through idleness.
The necessities of war have forced the federal government
to conscript men for the trenches, ships for transportation ana
wealth to pay the cost. With equal justice labor may be con
scripted to provide war materials and food and to operate and
supply the railroads. Labor has been c~onscrlpted In Europe.
If voluntary labor fails the country the government may be
forced to do what other countries have done. We must win
this war and nothing shall stand in the way of It's vigorous
prosecution. Labor will receive liberal pay, perhaps more than
the present lavish scale, but labor must do its part, just as our
soldiers, ship owners, manufacturers and capitalists are uohG
their bit.
No oppression or unfairness is involved in the consumption
o. labor, if it comes. Railroad and industrial corporations are
doing whatever the government requests, and are accepting the
prices arbitrarily fixed at Washington. Labor must serve the
nation, but runs no risk of inadequate payment. When the
volunteer system failed to fill the ranks of the army and navy,
congress passed the CONSUMPTION law. If volunteer labor fails,
congress may be forced to conscript it,
To this the l. W. w. and other enemies of society may reply
that labor will not be coerced. The vast majority of the work
ers in industrial establishments are loyal volunteers and the
recalcitrants who threaten to tie up supplies OF raw materials
such as coal, lumber and agricultural products, are a small mi
nority. The federal government might ignore the minority If
it did not see fit to resort to CONSUMPTION, and might amend the
immigration laws to permit the importation OF labor from the
Orient for service during the war.
Chinese make splendid coal miners and many thousands of
them were once SO employed in western mines. Japanese and
other Orientals have also proved satisfactory. Some of the
West Indian islands are over populated, and, lest we forget,
the most reliable and efficient labor employed in digging the
Panama canal came from Jamaica and other parts of the British
West Indies.
Uncle Sam is not helpless, even if the I w. w. and other
sediious elements try to tie his hands and deliver him bound
hand md foot to the kaiser. This war has not exhausted the
labor supply of the wOrld-New York Commercial