Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1918-06-06
Arbitrate!
BY BOOTH HARRINGTON
OF The TigiIonteS

In wartime the strike is not the rem
/ edy for profiteering. Publicity and ac-
ton by the government are the rene
/ dies for profteering. Profiteering that
/ brings on strike is, in effect, not bet
/ ter than treason; but a strike may it.
self be an attempt to "profiteer" and
/ therefore not better in result than
! treason. Every sensible person, how
| ever, understands that workmeH are
entitled to as high wages as they can
! get without interfering with the utmost
possible efficiency Of industry engag-
ed in the prosecution of the war A
strike does interfere with such eff
/ cheney, and therefore means a larger
casualty list and increased danger to
the country. That is to say if am
war industry workman on strike | am
| prolonging the war and adding to the
risk of Americas defeat in the war.
| This means that l cause death and
I wounds to a certain number of Ameri-
can boys who would have come home
| safe and sound to their mothers If l
| hadn't gone on strike. That is the sim
pie truth and if / am impeding a war
| industry by going on strike, / might
| just as well have torn and tortured the
| bodies of those boys myself. The re-
sponsibility is so terrible that no work
man who understands it would take 1t,
except to avoid a greater amount Of
| torture and death at home through
starvation wages.
Arbitration will give him what he
needs and what he justifiably wants.
The whole country understands that
workman cannot live today on the
wages Of ten years ago. Wages have
| got to advance, of course, as the price
of commodities advances; and the
price of commodities advances, of
course, as wages advance; though 1t is
to the advantage of the workman to
let the price Of commodities begin to
advance first. But his wages must
take account Of higher prices, and per-
nit him not only life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness, but allow him
| to save, as well. That is all that any
man on this earth Is entitled TO wheth-
er he be garbage man or kaiser and
! it is all that is worth getting and the
ideal of this country is that every man
shall have it. This is what we are
| fighting for; that no man shall take
away this right from another man,
that no man shall make another man
| his slave, as the Germans have made
conquered labor their slave and as
/ 81 xyo Of nc
conquered us.
| Now such is the temper of our coun-
| try that the responsibility for strike
which means more death, more Grip
ping, more binding, more shot away
faces, for our young men, sons of
workingmen and sons of capitalists,
| fighting side by side and comrades
lover there" as they will be over here
when they come home-the RESPONSE
bility for such a strike is an infinitely
heavier and more dangerous thing
than those who rashly assume that re-
sponsibility can know, and no decent
human being could be so selfish and SO
| treacherous to his country as knowing
ly to bring about such strike.
And the temper of the country in
these days is to know causes as well
as results. Where the greediness of
| profiteer has caused strike, his money
| will not be envied him for he shall not
have it, nor his liberty either. And 1t
is unthinkable that American work
men, or workmen who are human
beings, for that matter-it is unthink-
able that they will strike, even for mere
! Justice, without having to the last ut
most atom of their energy pressed for
settlement by arbitration.
The syndicate service, founded by
Samuel Gompers and representing the
| point of view of the American Fedora
ton of Labor, reports an address by
! William Moses, president of the Pat
tern Makers Union of Great Britain.
| Mr. Moses was speaking in the Labor
Temple in San Francisco. He said:
1--WE were requested to abrogate our
working rules and agreements
to give up everything that tended to re-
strict output. Z. Being convinced
that this was necessary, unless we de-
sired to see the entire world subjugat-
ed by German autocracy, we recon-
mended that our unions submit to the
request made by the government.
/. This meant that there was to
be no stoppage of work during the war.
1t meant the acceptance of compulsory
arbitration. We have secured
better results through arbitration than
by resorting to the strike, which should
be used as a last resort after all else
has failed. If this is done, the strike
weapon will rest in its scabbard."
And Mr.. Moses said another thing
worth thinking about. "Today labor in
Great Britain is more prosperous
than ever before in its history.
Our influence is greater than ever be-
fore and our workers are enjoying
wealth beyond the dream of avarice."
Not only is arbitration necessary,
.