The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1918-03-02
WHAT !. OTHER Of PAPERS i !: ) !. s ), Y
CAUSE AND CURE OF STRIKES.

Fresno Labor News: "Our eoun-
try is at war, there should be no
strikes no matter what the conditions
are. hit the ball, buy Liberty bonds
and hit the ball. that was the ad-
vice given by one who appeared be-
fore the mediators at Bingham. It
does not sound wholly disinterested,
does it? 1t carries an admoniuon~ to
labor, but no warning to the EN-
ployer. Such sentiment can stir up
mutiny; but it cannot inspire patri-
otism.
Whatever renlissness there may be
found among workingmen toward the
war, the cause may be traced to just
such men as the speaker, men who
do not care what happens to labor so
long as their profits increase and their
peace is undisturbed! They are sat
isfied with conditions as they are.
Their criticism is directed toward tho
wrong party. Under the cloak OF war
they would strangle labor's protest
against injustice instead of removing
the cause of the protest. Greed and
arrogance on the part of industrial
and commercial magnates are a pro-
life source of strikes. Let the pa
triot instill the principles OF justice in
the conduct of the employer and no
one need inculcate submission in the
heart of the worker.
Throw wide the lines of democracy.
Give to the individual toiler the guar
antees of security and opportunity
q tn k@ oh 49,
as Belgium and Serbia.
Let labor realize that the unsheath-
ed sword means the doom of autoc-
racy in industry as we'll as in govern
ment. Let labor know that as the
invaders lines are pushed back and
broken in France poverty's prison
pen disappears; that as the sword of
powerful nations shall no longer
menace the existence Of weak nations,
so the feF of unmerited discharge
and lack of employment shall no
longer meance the life and firesides
of the worker. Let the government
SO act that the richest shall under
stand he is not above the law and
the poorest shall feel that he is not
beneath its protection. that it has
the knowledge, the power and the will
to direct industry not only for the
winning of the war, but for the well
fare of mankind.
Carry the spirit of that message to
soldier and worker and their an
swering shouts will shake the thrones
of privilege. their arms will be in
vincible, their ideals regenerate the
world.
ABOUT TIME.
Steel Plant News: It. was about
time that Governor Burnquist heard
from the farmers in protest against
the action Of officials in several parts
Of the state concerning meetings and
proposed meetings of the Nonparti-
san league. A memorial presented to
the governor declares that "paen have
been assaulted, coerced, kidnapped;
law has been denied; the process of
social order has been menaced by the
approach of anarchy" This is a true
statement, and this condition of at
waving contingent and their hired
newspapers to attempt to destroy the
Nonpartisan league by yelling 'trai-
tor at everyone who has anything
to do with the organization. !.
No wonder that Fred E. Osbourne
of the Equity Cooperative exchange
declared that the farmers and TOLL
:ers of the state wanted Ito find out
whether the constitution had been
suspended permanently or only tenn
porarily," and that J. Corcoran, a rep
resentative Of the labor unions, said
that conditions here are almost as
bad as they were in Colorado just
before the Ludlow massacre"
If the officials of the state want
to create new members Of the Nom
partisan league in the most rapid
manner possible let them keep on
with their high jinks by ~trampling
the constitutional rights of the peo-
pie under foot.
JUST A WORD TO NON-UNIONISTs.
Springfield Laborer: AS an indi-
vidual the working man is just as
helpless as sapling in a tempest. He
may say that he intends to work for
whom he pleases and for as many
hours as he pleases, and he may feel
that he has the moral right to do so,
but he has not
And then, again he should know as
he will sooner or later, perhaps when
it is too late, that he must ask his
employer for leave to work for what
he chooses to pay and for as many
hours as he desires.
Organized labor has been able,
through united action and collective
bargaining, to shorten the work day,
raise wages, and in many ways i'm
prove the conditions Of the worker;
it has prevented reductions in the pay;
it has made the homes better: it has
secured better clothes, better food,
more comforts and has made the
shop, factory and mine a better place
in which to work.
Organized labor has been the fight
ing force in state legislatures and In
congress not only for labor but for
all men; it has compelled the passage
of laws to protect the health of the
workers; to take children from tho
mill and fact6ryS and place them in
school; to limit the hours Of labor for
women and fix their wages above a
living wage, to prevent the loss Of
lives and limbs, and to compel the