The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1918-01-26
I TAE LABOR PRESS
BY Rev. Charles Stelzle,

By Rev. Charles Stelzle.
Somebody recently said that the
average workingman reads his labo"
paper as the early Christians read
their New Testament However that
may be, practical advertising mana
ger insists that as an advertising med
ium a labor paper is fully ten times
as valuable as the ordinary daily
paper
The average labor union man reads
not only his trade journal which deals
with the affairs of his craft, but also
receives the local paper, which seeks
to keep him informed with refernce
to the doings of organized labor In
the town in which he lives. 1t is
safe to say that nearly every trades
unionist reads some kind of a labor
paper, which he in many cases passes
on to his fellow workmen who are
not in the union, and in most cases
it is also read by the members of his
own family. 1t has been estimated
that the labor press has constitu-
ency of about ten millions, which in
cludes the persons in the homes Of
the subscribers. From the profess
sional advertising mans viewpoint
this is a conservative estimate, as
there are about 100000 trades
unionists in the United States and
Canada, most of the trades papers,,
at any rate, being distributed in both
countries.
The labor press does not always
offer life of ease and comfort, even
o,;< ~. "a
to editors. AS a class, labor editors
are honest, in spite of the temptation
to graft" which comes to nearly
every labor editor from employers,
politicians, and ambitious labor lead
ers.' That they withstand this temp
tation is to their credit, for the sal
aries paid them are, as a rule, pitt
fully small. One of the brightest and
best-informed editors in this country
receives only $500 a week for his
services. They are supposed to be
informed on trade conditions and to
tell about these things in the language
of the men in the shop. And most of
them do it We'll.
The disposition to present the view
of the employing class in the labor
press is source of constant surprise.
Compared with the organs of the en-
ployers' associations, labor papers are
unusually fair in their treatment OF
the labor question. Contrary to the
general impression, rarely does there
appear an article which one might
call radical. The conservatism and
the restraint of these workingmen is
most admirable
Constantly there is the appeal for
temperate living. Corruption in labor
circles is numerically scored. High
ideals in the home and in family life
are insistent]y presented. The appeal
to the heart, in editorial, in story. in
Illustration and in news item, is found
in. nearly, every issue.
The trade journals in almost every
instance give considera BILE space to
purely technical matters, thus sup
plying a course in technology which
must be of great value to the mechan-
les and especially to the apprentices
in the trade. Indeed. many of these
journals are of the highest type in
BOTH matter and in general makeup,
comparing favorably with the average
stands.
AS a rule the attitude of the labor
press toward the employer is fair and
reasonable. There is a, disposition
to regard him as a friend. But to-
ward the man who opposes organized
labor through an employers associa-
ton or a citizens alliance with de-
termination absolutely to crush it out
there is always the strongest feeling
Of resentment and bitterness. There
is no class of men-not even the
''scabs" whom they employ-who are
more sincerely hated and more per-
sistently ridiculed. There is. how
ever, not the slightest disposition to
advocate the use of violence in deal
ing with them.
The labor press suffers. as does
every other part of the labor move
ment, in that many of the men are
developed in the ranks soon to find
other and more remunerative en-
ployment, where the responsibility is
not so great and where the criticism
is not so severe. Some of them be-
come labor editors on daily papers,
others go into the professions, some
become politicians, many enter upon
business career, while still others
are engaged by large employers to
handle for them the labor problem
as it exists IN their plants.