The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1918-08-16
LABOR's SERVICES IN THE WAR

alleged unpatriotic attitude of labor
toward the war Whenever there is
strike weahear that all strikes
ought to be prohibited by law
regardless of tie fact surrounding the
strike; that all manual and skilled la.
borers ought to be banded into an in.
dustrial army by the Government and
forced to work, and that any one who
strikes, whether in just cause Oh
not, should be placed up against wall
before firing squad and shot.
am opposed to these pernicious
doctrines. We should not lave strikes
during this war. At the same time
/ am opposed to the conditions of la
Dor and the scale Of pay that produces
strikes.
There have been some strikes since
the war began which ought not to
have occurred. There have been some
statements from labor leaders which
ought never to have been made; there
are some organizations like the |.
W. W. that ought to be effaced; but
on behalf of American labor, both Or
ganized and unorganized, l want to
say that, taken as a whole, no part of
our citizenship has been more patri-
otto, more efficient in it's efforts, or
more effective in results in the prose-
cution of this war, than has labor.
The Savior Of Mankind once said:
by their fruits we shall know them"
Let US measure the attitude of labor
in this war by its fruits.
Take ships as an illustration. We
are building today ships at the rate
of perhaps six million tons per year.
Illness we did this we could not even
take part in this war, for our afro
cious enemy, by his savage use of his
submarines, would soon have all our
ships sunk. We are obliged to build
ships faster than the enemy can sink
them.
1t is easy for great captain of in
dustry to say, when a ship is COM
pleted: II have finished another ship"
But such is not the fact. On the con-
trarys labor has finished that ship, and
the smallest element of actual toll in
it is that of the man who sometimes
thoughtlessly says: 81 built it." To
labor is due SO per cent of the COM
pleted result.
In mentioning captains of industry
in this way l do not desire to mini
mize their services or reflect upon
them. All honor to them for the good
work they are doing. All honor to men
Of wealth and brains who are doing
SO much for our country in these
days of her peril. But they ought not
to claim all the credit. If they do
their part well, then they are only do
ing the same thing that the laboring
man is doing when he does his part
well.
The laborer is entitled to his share |
of praise for the splendid war work |
that is now being accomplished in our
beloved country.
AS in the case of ships, so it is with |
practically all the rest of our war SER
vices and war activities. All our mu-
nitions of war, the bullets, the cannon,
the shells, the guns, the machine guns,
the rifles, the railroads, their rolling
stock, the clothing, the uniforms, the
environments, the war vessels, the food |
of our armies and for our people, are |
manufactured or produced by the I'M
renting and patriotic toll of labor.
The world can never know the
WEAKNESS, the wear and tear on mind
and soul and body of the individuals
composing labor who, hour by hour
and day by day, in all kinds of wea-
Their, in heat and cold, in rain and in
snow, by their indefatigable efforts,
gather up all these materials and
make them ready for war service.
1t is labor that fills our warehouses
With food and raw materials of ev-
Try description. 1t is labor that moves
.hese materials over the railroads of
he land. 1t is labor that unloads
hem from the railroad cars and re-
Dads them on our ships. 1t is labor
hat takes care of them and handles
hem in their perilous journeys across
he seas; that unloads them on the
ther side and again reloads them in
'ther cars made by labor. 1t is la
or that transports them to the camps Z
f our soldiers. g
And more than that, when all this c
) done, it is labor's sons, in the larg-
st degree, who actually use these !
materials on the field of battle. 1t is
abor's sons who bear the brunt of the
ght. u
We constantly hear criticisms that s
re have to pay labor too much, that $
he demands of labor are extontion- d
tie, and that the Government ought 0
D fix the price of labor. The war has L
aised the price of everything several a
old. Why should any man begrudge
he poor man who labors with his v
ands a corresponding increase in the g
rice of his daily toll? d
If he should not receive q great in t.
rease in his wages he could not, un- p
er present prices, even feed himself, r
luch less feed his family, and clothe n
nd educate his children. u
The war has brought untold profits j.
} the manufacturers, to those en- c
aged in trade and commerce, and ev-
n to those engaged in production. q
Thy should any man begrudge pros Q
Gritty to the laboring man, who .
rings about prosperity for all others? G
A gentleman came into my office the Il
ther day and said that Congress
light to take steps at once to regu- G
tie the price of labor. AS an argu- q
ent against the alleged awful pres Il
1T conditions as to labor, he said he II
as passing through North Carolina q