The daily Nome industrial worker., 1917-07-19

{ labor as to the conditions under which labor would work.
 It would be impossible to imagine any industry where labor condi- tious had for some time fallen So loW, and when criticism is n.eted out to the present labor struggle, il should be remembered that ora :- tically few of the lumber car. ps, the mills, were fit to work or live in.
 The work was no lighter, but the food was much more inferior than in years gone by; the hours were no shorter but the pay was much lower than had been the case ten years ago. And while in other lines, labor had made an effort of some kind or another to keep up with the rising prices. the lack of organiza- tion prevented the loggers interest ing themselves in thelr own condi- tion. Many who had been out of work for so long were glad to be at work at all and this helped to keep them at work, regardless of the evil conditions under which they ] labored
 Usually labor is extremely mobile in such an industry and its mobil- ity is not to be denied in this also. But the supply was constantly maintained by the various com mercial bodies of the west which l kept up a constant flood of litera- ture showing attractions, opportun- ities and fortunes which were to be fo1nd out west
 In consequence of this home steaders trains, settlers excursions and lower rates prevailed, all tend ing to flood the labor markets of the coast and northwest with men, most of whom were destitute and willing to work at what they could get. Healthy and hungry men usu- ally were found to be willing to stand anything for a time. so that they could get some money ahead to do something. Some had timber claims. some had bought stump ranches, some had patches of gravel land, and in the hope of some day getting sufficient capital to work these unkindly soils, the men toiled for little or nothing and under con ditions, often quite outrageous in the woods and sawmills, especially the sawmills.
 While everyone likes to take slam at the I. w. w. they overlook the magnificent work which that or ganization is doing in the country in promoting the courage of the hopeless workers and imbuing them with a faith that never dies in the destiny of their class.
 It was alone the I. w. w. that entered the logging industry, so long neglected and in the face of almost insupeiable obstacles carried on an agitation for better condi- tions. It reasoned with the men logically and clearly that the reason they were pow erless and the reason that they had to endure whatever the boss had provided for them was because they lacked unity and solid arity. It was conclusively shown that one man quitting and one man agitating and one man rowing with the employers, did no good at all. That the only good would be ac- complished when all acted to- | gether.
 The loggers themselves were edu | cated on the job to realize the abso- lute truth of these contentious. Often the owner of the camp the mill or the drive they never saw. Generally his place was taken by some professional driver who earn ed his reputation as a woodsman from some tough escapade in Mich igan, Minnesota or somewhere back east where he had trouble with men in the tough Joints that linked the winter logging camps with the out side civilization. Others were men who had as cruisers been profes- sional jumpers and timber thieves, without a particle of any morality in their minds or bodies exCep! that they make money for the boss.
 It is utterly impossible for any o,l y,;n1ad narcon fa