Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1919-02-13

Quoting and guarding street cars, clean
ing locomotives and a great number of
other activities for which conditions of
life and their physique render them
unfit. Another general principle is that
the proportion Of women in industry
ought to be kept within the smallest
practical limits. If we have ar eff
cient national employment service, If a
goodly number of the returned soldiers
and sailors are placed on the land and
If wages and the demand for goods are
kept up to the level which is easily at
tainable all female workers who are
displaced from tasks that they have
been performing only since the begin
ming Of the war will be able to find
suitable employments In other parts of
the industrial field or in those domestic
occupations which sorely need their
presence. Those women who are en-
gagged at the same tasks as men should
receive equal pay for equal amounts
and qualities of work.
National War Labor Board.
zone of the most beneficial govern
mental organizations of the war is the
| National War Labor Board. Upon the
basis of a few fundamental principles
unanimously adopted by the represent
atives Of labor, capital and the public
it has prevented innumerable strikes
and raised wages to decent levels in
many different industries throughout
the country. Its main guiding princi-
| pies have been a family living wage
for all male adult laborers, recognition
of the right Of labor TO Organize and to
deal with employers through it's chosen
representatives and 40 coercion Of non
union laborers by members of the I'M
ion. The War Labor Board ought to
be continued in existence by Congress
and endowed with all the power for eff
fective action that it can possess under
the Federal Constitution. The princi-
pies, methods, machinery and results
of this institution constitute a definite
and %far-reaching gain for social JUS
tice. No part of this advantage should
be lost or given up in time Of peace.
Housing for Working Glasses.
Housing projects for wal workers
which have been completed or almost
completed by the Government of the
United States have cost some forty
million dollars and are found in eleven
cities. While the Federal Government
cannot continue this work in time of
peace, the example and precedent that
it has set and the experience and
knowledge that it has developed should
not be forthwith neglected and lost.
The great cities in which congestion
and other forms of bad housing are
disgracefully apparent ought to take
up and continue the work at least to
such an extent as will remove the
worst features of a special condition
that is a menace at once to industrial
efficiency, civic health, good morals
and religion.
Social Insurance.
until the level Of legal minimum
wages is reached the worker stands in
need of the device of insurance. The
State should make comprehensive pro-
vision for insurance against illness, in
validity, unemployment and old age.
So far as possible the insurance fund
should be raised by a levy on industry,
as is now done in the case of accident
compensation. The industry in which
a man is employed should provide him
with all that is necessary to meet all
the needs of his entire life. Therefore,
any contribution to the insurance fund
from the general revenues Of the State
should be only slight and temporary.
For the same reason no contribution
should be exacted from any worker
who is not getting a higher wage than
is required to meet the present needs
Of himself and family. Those who are
below that level can make such a con-
tribution only at the expense of their
| present welfare. Finally, the admins
| tration Of the insurance laws should be
| such as to interfere as little as possible
with the individual freedom of the
worker and his family.
A New Spirit a Vital Need.
".Society,' said Pope Leo XIII, can
be healed in no other way than by a
return to Christian life and Christian
Institutions The truth of these words
is more widely perceived to-day than
when they were written, more than
twenty-seven years ago. Changes in
our economic and political systems
will have only partial and feeble eff
cheney if they be not reinforced by the
Christian view Of work and wealth.
Neither the moderate reforms advo-
Gated in this paper nor any other pro.
gram of betterment or reconstruction
will prove reasonably effective with.
out a reform in the spirit Of both labor
and capital. The laborer must come tc
realize that he owe his employer and
society an honest days work in return
for a fair wage and that conditions
cannot be substantially improved until
he roots out the desire to get a maxi
mum Of return for a minimum Of serv
ice. The capitalist must likewise get {
new viewpoint. He needs to learn thu
lon~g-forgotten truth that wealth 1!
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