The labor world., 1918-11-30
WHAT OTHER PAPERS SAY

!! WHAT OTHER PAPERS SAY !!
Pleas have been made by labor lead
ers, and particularly by the Socialistic
wing Of organized labor, for represen-
tation at the peace conference. This
will meet with opposition from those
who insist that there shall be no rec
ognition of classes, and who believe
that there is no more reason why
labor should be represented than
farmers, or \any other separate call
ing. Yet Justice would dictate that
both organized labor and the farmers
are as much entitled to representation
as bankers, manufacturers, ship
owners, or any other class. But what
ever may be the conclusion as to the
advisabj)ity OF recognizing these sepa-
rate interests, there can be no question
as to the right of women to sit at the
peace table. If that be considered
class representation it is only because
; one class, the male, has heretofore
!! been recognized. The call sent out
| by Mrs. Gait to the women of other
countries to urge upon their govern
ments the importance Of appointing
women representatives should succeed.
She recognizes that it is unprece-
Gented, but insists that precedent has
lost it's stranglehold. THE deep-lying
fundamentals outrage to the woman
nature" says Mrs. Gait, "because of
the terrible destruction OF human life
hot nfa1 111r<
to her human nature in having been
denied representation in governments
t h a t command her allegiance.
Women possess an understanding Of
the psychology of human nature that
dowers them with a distinct power
Of contribution to the peace table,"
Upon what ground can this request
be refused? Men have made wars
and men have made peace-that al
ways led to more wars" With women
IN this peace council there may be
less need Of war councils in the future
The Public.
The Minnesota "dry" constitutional
! amendment failed to carry in the re-
| cent election purely on technical
The amendment received 189,547
against 1865 opposed; but it failed,
| nevertheless, because it fell 756 votes
| short Of the number required to make
a majority Of the total Of 3S0,6O4
| votes cast at the election. Under =.
! provision of the law, put through by
a representative of the brewery in
terests, all blank votes counted
against the proposition. That is to
| say, the Indifferent or careless citizen
need not vote mo" on the dry pro-
posal; he had only to refrain from
marking his ballot in this particular
respect, and his vote counted for the
breWeries. They are very Knowing
people, the brewers and their legisla-
| tive representatives, but it is inter-
esting to know that the author of
this law was defeated for a seat in the
state senate, at the same election, antl
that the trick provision will never
again work as it did this year, the
people of Minnesota having discovered
how very clever it is.--Christian Sci
ence Monitor.
While the result of the election,
both in Ottertail county and in the
state, is a disappointment to the Or
ganized farmers and 1aborers, there
! is no occasion for , encouragement,
The candidates Of the farmers and
workers faced immense odds from the
very start and fought an uphill figl,.
from beginning to end.s All Of the big
city papers were against them; all Of
the shall daily PAPERS in the smaller
cities were against them, and at least
8 out Of every 10 Of the rural weeklies
were fighting them.
These hostile papers did not fail to
use> any argument, fair or unfair,
which served their purpose, and this
fact, together with the pressur.
brought to bear upon the voters by
business men and old-line politicians
and others. accounts for the outcome.
The war has undoubtedly been a
great handicap to the cause of the
farmers and workers. The cry that
this was no time to agitate and discuss
problems influenced thousands of vot-
ters, and. the charges of dislovalty.
hurled with such fierceness and per
sistehcy, frightened thousands mora
from the support of the league candi-
dates.-Fergus Falls Free Press.
|