Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1918-11-17
LABOR MUST SECURE
 AN INCREASED WAGE
As Reward For the Winning of War.
pv Frank J. Hayes, President.

"S ',,so the most optimistic to pdSe csuss for a victorious peace for the hUpe5I hpe5 armies this year, but the ggan- al: all'ea esahting machine of the Germans tlc Is hean defeated-Peace is at hand. mas D uoar in advance of our most san Az nredictions the world faces a gulli;; ;,stment from a war to a peace Iesa. ra;: Industrial problems, to which ua''i Ma had originally planned to give a .e.rs ws thought and study, must be !!as,@n,,ediately !s@, solved. Cancellation of lllll.'d orders. reduced shipbuilding wa a.ram will form a basis for the PL1s Mf{;no ;n of labor that bids fair to dis s',l'1 s',rh o1r industrial situation to a de- tuio nover before witnessed in Amer ican history. IL nor but they have not advanced nmrrolportionately mrl to the increased cost pf flying. All authorities agree that thore M is no likelihood of prices de- sl;n;no .T, for at least year. But de- sn;t.G sn;te this prophecy, councils of em- sEovers sR,,a are now devising programs to p,'' batter down wages. It is this sobeming that organized labor must oomhat. We can not barley, finger, wa;t u Our forces must be up and do- ;n~ " not only to thwart attempted re- Jnetions iIrs but to win additional gains to meet living costs which present dav wages are so inadequate to cope w" We have talked billions during the wor and as a result commercial ,esders %al, who used to think in millions .,e now planning billion-dollar enter nrises. Corners for domestic trade. corners for foreign trade, are the drpanos of leaders of proposed gigan- ii combines to realize their ambi- lions And. of course, these leaders noint with assurance to their ability ta decrease wages to price their pro- duction beyond competition.
 l Labor" must accept no reductions. Having periodically mined the coal, manufactured the munitions, built the ships and offered their sons, that made possible the defeat of autocracy, lahor will not accept as it's reward a reduction in wages.
 Labor cannot. direct it's attention solely to wages, however. There is more important work.
 At the close of the Spanish -Ameri- can war there was lordly spirit of conquest and expansion in our gov erument. The lust for conquest manifested itself in business by con- binations, the forming of big corpo- ra:ions, and by ,,he leaders in financ- attempting to /each out and take for themselves the control of everything in sight. Their work was so flashing that the country held it's breath in admiration.
 Mir. Hartman put the Union and Southern Pacific together, restocked and rebonded them, made a great deal of money out of the transaction, and everybody accepted what he was do- ing as matter of course. This same wizard exploited the Chicago & Alton and other roads.
 Ready employment was given thousands of ordinary laborers. Mo- body cared The future was never thought of.
 Mr. Hartman absolutely dominat- ed his boards of directors. Like Standard Oil and the remainder Of the organizations of big bushes, the public and stockholders of the Harri- man system were never consulted.
 In this period our big men of business were like so many sevea- teenth century sosairs or eleventh cantry vikings As their forebears, who savked cities, held up ships and demanded hostages from weak na- tons, they crushed through banks, through manufacturing plants, pick ed Up what they wished, combined fesold, loaded and unloaded and took toll of every transaction. Some were eager for money. They want e the intoxication of commercial power and prosperity. They put on Dig deals because these deals ap- pealed to their dramatic instinct.
 Tn those days when bankers turn- ed thieves and robbed bank they custed the cash box.
 Ii man of big business was prone o gamble he was not content to sample unless his bets were ill the millions.
 bad men were vicious as they arc 'oaay in a big way.
 !, me people who had been feeling .ne burden, but knew not whence it .ale, began to look into the thing s snu see why that even in an age of ,;.! ,uounaless prosperity the game CT hg hMlag decently became exceedingly aala' This was followed by the aaua,slhg auh,' of a public conscience anc ,Sao nuullc attention. Big 'busines was IMowa Sa.o on its launches, then on the rsas: ussenslve and then a campaign of ,unn ,vpI,sal began. This resulted in ] umoer 1n.a Of Investigations, giving the or n'eislate Commerce Commission DOW th. TX rates, the corporation tax, sbo. ~ income tax and putting the 'Iriinan M Law into effect.
 vou,, ,u some it may appear that It and vua nave be difficult to organize sr.,. ia loot the people again as the biz ,aa.ers Smau; did following the Spanish ,ain,an Si'can War because it was brought Isly nome to the heart of the IT, "ith big money and the man Oo 'ne street that the American peo- no. are powerful. But sucl. thing pla ' impossible. If the common peo- les,s,le. are not awake to reconstruction nsdo nsddb'atlon' . if the people are not