Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1918-08-28
Come to The Fair - Come to 81. Paul
SEPTEMBER 10 7, 1913

tween these two antagOnistic forces
within the profiteer is over, the older
of the two is found in possession of
the field and in control of the mans
conduct.
And yet believe that, if the profit
eer were directly appealed to by per-
sons of authority as, for instance, the
gentlemen forming your Committee,
he might, in many instances, be per.
suaded to act like good loyal citi.
zen. Such an appeal, of course, would
not Obviate the necessity of a drastic
revenue bill; but it would, / think
give the war stronger moral support
in business circles, clarity the at.
mosphere as to the obligations OF
wealth in war time, and make proper
legislation comparatively easy mat
ter.
A Resolution
Surprising, for instance, your Com
mittee, or, for that matter, Congress
| itself, should pass a resolution some.
thing as follows, and mail a copy to
the president of every important com
| pany, with the request that he should
send copies to all stockholders and
employees, and post it conspicuously
about the offices or plants:
In view of the fact that the United
States is at war with Germany-a war
in which it is imperative that our
government should have vast sums
to expend for military purposes, and
equally imperative that our fighting
and producing classes should be free
from economic exploitation, be it
Resolved, that the Ways and Means
Committee of the House of Represen.
tatives Tor the Congress of the United
States, as the case may be) hereby
earnestly requests that, until the wars
end, your company will turn over to
the government for said war purposes,
all earnings in excess of what is need
ed by you (D to pay reasonable divi.
dends to your stockholders, (2) to
pay your employees fair family living
wage, and co to set aside a proper
sum with which to amortize expend-
itures incurred in plant extensions,
ETC., which are likely to be worthless
after the war is over. And be it fur.
Their
Resolved, that this body hereby
goes on record as believing that war
profiteering-i. e., using war condi.
tions as an opportunity to make and
keep extraordinary profits-is unpat.
riotic and prejudicial to American mill.
tary success; that it is prO-German in
effect, in that it weakens the morale
| of the fighting and producing classes,
decreases their efficiency by increas.
ing the cost of the ordinary necessities
80 R~o hot Z. =
our military power, in that this power
is dependent on industrial production =;
and maximum industrial production is
impossible while labor feels itself ex.
plotted by employers, whose immense
profits frankly invite the wage Garner
to strike.
Needless to say, such a resolution
would have to be accompanied by
some kind of enabling legislation
especially in order to permit the gov
eminent to receive voluntary contri.
buttons, or else a nominal considera-
ton would have to be established
similar to the one dollar salary paid
to men who are today donating their
services to the government for war
work.. Such resolution would, I be-
ieve, result in affirmative patriotic
action by many corporations whose
directors and stockholders would be
ready to accept their war time re-
sponsibilities to their country, il only
they were clearly outlined to them.
It is my belief, too, that, purely as a
business policy, compliance with such
a resolution would be far from unwise.
For it would prevent strikes, stabilize
production and give the corporations
that came under it q standing and de-
gree of good will that might serve
them in good stead in the crisis which
reconstruction days, after the war, will
Internationally usher In. sss - b
AZ to- fixing what is proper sum