davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The sun., 1919-07-27

seems to me to mean that labor shall
be taken into the confidence OF en-
pioyers, shall be informed in regard
to aims, advised with in respect to DIFF
flculties, listened to when 1t wishes to
make suggestions in regard to shop
practice and conferred with about
shop conditions, and particularly about
shop foremen. In a word, labor wants
to be led instead OF driven, and 1t
wants Its leaders so to take 1t into
their confidence that labor will have
some intelligent view of the task TO be
accomplished.
AL this may sound very revolution
airy to an employer who has counted
labor costs as he has counted the cost
Of copper or steel or cotton. There
has been a great awakening In Europe,
however to the difference between
buying the raw material commodities
and the buying Of the labor element
that, combined with them, makes the
finished pr oduct.
Employers have begun to distrust
their old point Of view and to take a
new and far more human attitude
toward the whole labor problem. There
is an underlying optimism In their
minds that has led many of them to
believe that perhaps after all these
demands of labor were not merely
concessions TO be wrung from capital
and to be resisted at every step but
rather that II Is possible that in the
| direction Of these demands lies the
basis of a new understanding and a
true cooperation between capital and
labor. The employers attitude IN this
| respect Is undoubtedly quickened by
the fear that IL labor now encountered
| Tory obstinacy on the part Of en-
| ployers there would be danger that
their part OF the world at least would
| ne launched or a vast and frightfully
dangerous experiment in one type or
| another OF "nationalism" or "commun-
ISM" the generic term for which in
| everybody's mind is now "Bolshe-
vism."
would not have any one infer
that 1 believe there Is a millennium
at hand in the European industrial
world. nor would I wish it thought
that have a conception OF European
or particularly OF British labor that
is Utopian. There is ignorance OF
economic law, there is class selfish
ness. there is stupid adherence to UNI
sound tradition that any plan for per-
manently composing the differences
between capital and labor Will have to
overcome. Opposed to that. however
Is one Of the most inspiring things
that encountered in Europe. That
was the quality OF mind in certain
Englishmen who have come up from
the ranks of labor. Some OF them are
cabinet ministers, some of them now
hold noble titles, some OF them still
are rendering services to their fellows
as union officials.
There Is truly a new intellectual
aristocracy growing up in England
fed from the ranks OF labor and hay
ing an outlook. an understanding. q
sympathy, and withN a grip on the
The sun., 1919-07-27
ep Foreees New Type of Financial Relationship With Europe

abused, that men are declining to work
because they would rather loaf and
draw the dole.
Under the rules Of administering this
unemployment fund the Government
must present to a man an opportunity
TO labor at his particular trade before
II may cut of his claim to the unem-
ployment gratuity. There Is In Eng
land an extraordinary immobility Of
labor as between the various trades,
and an extremely sharp line Of dernar-
cation in respect to which trade a
certain kind OF work falls. It naturally
follows that there are many stories
related Of how men decline to work
at this job or that because such job
does not fall exactly within the de-
fined limits Of their particular trade.
end the men sit idly consuming Gov
eminent charity while useful tasks re-
main unperformed.
A man of very high position in the
financial world Of the city told me
this story. A man had been in his
employ as a gardener, but left that
work to become a repairer Of roads.
Municipal economies stopped road re-
pairing and the laborer began TO draw
his unemployment wage. Having a
large family his weekly income from
the Government amounted to S6s. Ny
friend met his former employee and Of
fered him ass. to resume work In his
garden. This he hotly declined, as he
said he was receiving aes. for doing
nothing. My friend then appealed to
the authorities and charged them with
wasting the taxpayers money. but
they replied that this man was regis
tered as a road repaIrer, and they were
bound to ind him q position as q road
ropairer and pay him unemployment
wages until they succeeded.
This tale was told to me for the
purpose of throwing light on the
abuses that were going on under the
unemployment act. As matter OF
fact, while the story may be useful
for the purpose intended, II Is even
more Illuminating because of the ligh,
that It throws on the attitude Of ON.
ployers. A man OF wealth owning ar
extensive country place and attemr {
ing to command the labor Of a mar
who had a large family to support By
offering him 3bk a week with the
present cost Of living in England
! taken into account was trying to gel
his gardening done at q wage tina,
must have meant the barest sub.
sistence to the worker. There ar,
easily two points of view from which
to regard the employees refusal L
give up his S6s. a week Of unemploy.
AT T. - g
in the sweat OF his brow a wage be,
low point which would support hi
family at a minimum standard OF ex
istence.
Another difficulty that Is en-
countered In the administration OF tn,
unemployment fund IL met In tn,
large number OF women who wer,
formerly in domestic service. but VIII,
entered industry during the pressur,
for war production, They register u
The sun., 1919-07-27

birth rate. A sound authority esti-
mates that the belligerent countries
are poorer by 100000 lives because
of the separation of husbands and
wives during the war.
A profound effect upon the character
of the industrial skill Of European
labor has been produced by the war.
The whole normal course OF appren-
ticeship and training of young men
has been interfered with. Not only
have apprentices been withdrawn from
shops to the colors, but the absorption
of industry for five years in vast
scale production where the amount of
repetitive work in which no skill is
required, except for a single operation,
has been very large, has made these
years in a measure blank in the
training they have given in all round
craftsmanship to the rising genera
ton.
AS against this loss of skill there
have been substantial gains from the
labor of women in industry. Women
have been found in many cases sur
prisingly efficient. There is also the
permanent gain so far as efficient and
cheap production goes from the intro
duction Of automatic machines whose
use the conservative employer had
been slow to rightly appraise. and
whose introduction was steadily OPP
posed before the war by labor.
Labor's QuicIxened ConsciOusness
suppose the most significant thing
in the whole European labor situa-
ton Is the quickened consciousness
in the minds OF labor, which has come
from the whole war experience, OF
labor's own power, and the keenel
comprehension Of labor's claims ir
democracy to a greater equality Of
opportunity and reward. The attitude
OF social classes throughout Europe
has been profoundly affected by the
democracy Of the war experience. This
experience has broken down many ole
class barriers. That fact is startlingly
| exemplifled, not alone in the new de.
mands Of labor. but in universally q
more liberal attitude by employers
| Nowhere in Europe is there any
| longer any substantial resistance or
the part Of employers to an eight houi
day.
Perhaps there Is no single menta
effect OF the war that is more signifi
cant than the changed attitude o
European employers to the whole
labor question. There is a disposition
to examine the very fundamental
OF labor's dissatisfaction and to ac
cept as not only necessary, but prob
ably as desirable, a quite new statu
OF the workers, particularly in relation
10 giving them really effective voic'
in the management OF industry.
This does not mean any tendenc!
toward anarchy In industry. A large
voice in industrial management oil
the part or labor Is not Translates
either by labor or employers to meal
a voice that extends to commercis
policy. More than anything else
The sun., 1919-07-27

economic verities that marks the most
promising and significant development.
In the great war America achieved
the freeing OF herself from the in
cubus of militarism at the cost Of
sacrifice which, compared with the
sacrifice made by the nations asso-
ciated with her, has been small in
deed. She faced a world situation in
which military power seemed likely
to be set up as the predominant force.
With all the rest of the world she is
now free, it is to be hoped. from that
terrible catastrophe; and she has for
tunately secured freedom at no crush
ing cost.
/ believe that it lies within the
power of American employers and
of American capitalists similarly to
make a short cut without great sacri-
fee to a future OF Industrial peace and
to escape what might be a conflict
that would be as dangerous to her ma
tional life and prosperity as was the
conflict we have so happily passed
through. That short cut may be
reached II these interests will now
with one accord come to the point
OF view that has already been reached
by European employers and capital.
That will require a true vision, de-
velopment of human sympathy,
grasp of economic principles, a con-
cession in time rooted prejudices and
quickened understanding Of the
aspirations and the point OF view OF
labor. Is it too much to hope for?
I am convinced that 1t is along
these lines that industrial peace lies.
| have come TO feel profoundly that a
liberalizing of the views of employers
and capitalists I'm respect to labor will
be followed By a gain to both sides,
the value of which could hardly be
measured. In that direction lies the
hope that America may make the
same sort Of short cut TO industrial
peace that she made in freeing her
self from a life of apprehension OF
military domination. It seems to me
clear as crystal that along this road
there lies not only great moral salts
faction but side by side with that lies
the greatest material prosperity.
The sun., 1919-07-27

Ing the conditions OF employment.
That believe is giving its just weight
&c this aspiration of labor. / found the
situation the same in every labor COM
munity where I had the opportunity
to observe conditions. There is a de-
termination on the part of labor to
have more to say about conditions OF
its job. No matter in what country
one studies this all important matter
he will fird the wage question Is sub
ordinate to the question of the work.
ers' status. There Is a determination
to have a larger share in the profits
of industry. but there Is even a
stronger determination TO see to It that
society no longer regards labor as a
mere commodity, and. instead Of that.
that society shall grant to labor. not
as a concession but as a right. voice
in determining immediate industrial
surroundings, rules and regulations
Under which labor will work.
Chaos I'm European Industry.
There is to-day nothing short of
chaos in European industry. One
Lhase OF 1t Is manifest in the enor-
nous unemployment encountered in
every country except Spain. In Eng
land 100000 workers receive $780,
600 a week in unemployment wages"
and in addition England is subsidizing
wheat by selling IL for less than cost,
SO that this form of contribution Is
costing the nation $50 100000 per an
mum. The present unemployment FIG
ures It is thought are certain to in
crease, In Belgium the percentage Of
unemployment is far more serious
with 100000 in that comparatively
small community receiving "unem-
ployment wages" The situation In
France and Italy Is little better. The
effect on the Industrial life OF the ma
ton of this system OF unemployment
doles would make in itself the basis of
an Illuminating study. No matter how
serious consequences one may trace
as likely to follow these vast national
disbursements, II may as we'll be ad-
mitted on the start that they were alb
solutely necessary. II the war indus
/ try had ceased and armies had been
6emobilized to return to hunger and
idleness,- the foundation Of the capital
istic order would have crumbled
There Is perhaps a question as TO the
wisdom Of paying the unemployed
without exacting anything in return
although the difficulties Of organizing
any national work that would have
absorbed this labor in a way that
would not have been too obviously
making a man perform a useless task
would have been It must be admitted
very great
In England the weekly unemploy-
ment dole is eos. to men and 25s. tc
women, with an additional amount for
each dependent child. This is a sum
certainly none too large to maintain
a self-respecting standard OF living
although It IL larger than were the
wages for a full weeks labor IN many
lines prior TO the war. II is admitted
by every one that the system is being
The sun., 1919-07-27
CHAPTER XII.
Comfort and Liberty"

The motto OF the chief Syndicalist
organization of to-day, the Confedera-
ton Generate du Travail of France,
consists of two words-"Comfort and
Liberty" Here is the key to an un-
Outstanding OF the greatest problem
OF the age. the labor problem. II one
will grasp in their significance what
these two words connote in the mind
of labor, he. will have pretty much the
whole story OF labor's aspirations. By
comfort Is meant a larger share in the
earnings of industry; by liberty is
meant , less subordinate position in
industrial surroundings and social
status. It has been keenly observed
that the aspirations embodied in these
claims have been ripened by the war,
which has quickened the conscious
ness Of merit in the laoring classes.
A man who has had enormous ex-
perience during the war in handling
the English labor situation, Sir Lyn-
den Maccassey. sums up the essentials
to peace in industry under the three
headings OF Contentment, Cooperation
ana Production.
Factors of Contentment.
The factors on which contentment
depends. he says. are in their respec-
tive order OF Importance:
1. Security OF employment.
2. A voice in fixing conditions of
employment.
8. Remuneration and a fair division
of profits.
4. Working hours.
s. Prevention Of profiteering
s. Housing.
7. Economic education.
8. Opportunity to rise.
The factors on which cooperation
turn depend on:
1. Elimination of suspicion.
Q. Creation OF confidence between
employer and employee.
8. Recognition OF their mutual COM
munity OF interest.
4. Machinery for facilitating CO.
operation.
The finsl factors upon which pro-
duction primarily depends are:
I. Economic education.
2. Modernization of their methods
by employers.
3. Reputation by labor OF limitation
ana output and Of denarcation rcstric-
tons. r-
The Significance in this catalogue Is
the arrangement in respect to the or
der of Importance of the different fac
tors. Only preceded by the factor OF
the security OF employment is the
weight given 20 having voice in NIX
The sun., 1919-07-27
CHAPTER XII.
An Employers Vision.

The changed and liberalized attitude
of employers in England struck me as
most significant. Perhaps ! could in
no better way illustrate that than by
reproducing, as we'll as ] can re-
member. an interview ! had with an
employer of first Importance. This
gentleman has had a wide experience
throughout his life with large bodies
OF work people. His view OF the labor
question seemed to me extremely in
teresting. This is what he had to
say:
mo one foresaw what the war was
going TO mean. Least Of all. perhaps.
did any one forsee that II was going
10 mean a social revolution, a revolu-
Continued on Eleventh Pu0e.
The sun., 1919-07-27

machinists or at least as skilled in
dustrial hands; they decline again to
accept domestic service, and the Gov
eminent finds itself In the position Of
supporting them. while the English
mistress is in despair because OF her
inability to get servants.
The effect on moral character of
these huge Government disbursements
TO the unemployed raises extremely
serious considerations. There has
been an awakening consciousness in
regard to society's responsibility for
unemployment and there is little like
lihood of European industry return
ing to its pre-war situation in which
the lack Of security for labor was
always uppermost in labor's mind.
The unemployment doles are In no
sense regarded by their recipients as
charity, but rather as human right
which should be one OF the first
charges on the public purse.
Economic ignorance leads men to
think that the public purse is bottom
less. and that their Government, II
not the world, owes them a living.
They feel that they are not neces-
| sarily bound TO do any work In order
to collect the debt.
Employers generally admit the ne
cessity and the Justice OF a national
Unemployment scheme. but they uni
versally feel that the plan should be
contributory and that employers and
employees and the nation should each
bear a part Of the burden. There are
some trade unionists who strongly OBJ
tect 10 a contributory system and even
declare the present system Is unjustly
administered, their aspiration being for
grants form the Government In case
OF unemployment, the grants TO be
made direct to the labor unions and to
be distributed by them.
| Labor's Social Status.
It seemed to me that the most i'm.
portant thing for American employers
to grasp Is the significance attached
by workingmen to lettering their so.
cial status in industry. At home I try
never 10 miss an opportunity to gain
enlightenment on the workmen's point
OF view and l have been increasing.
ly impressed with their desire for a
larger voice IN management. They dc
not want voice either in the man.
aeement or the responsibility OF the
business ONCE. but they do want more
to say about the immediate industrial.
conditions in which they work. ! ar
thoroughly convinced that that aspi.
ration is now world wide and thai
America will feel the demand a.
strongly as It Is now being felt IN
Europe. believe II is a demand thai
American employers should heed and
that It should be met not merely By
forced and grudging concessions, bu
rather from the point OF View which
is now held by many English employ
ers. It 10 declared that what the mer
want Is to be treated as intelligent
participators In industry. to be con
suited and have things explained Il
them II is reasonable and loElca
The sun., 1919-07-27

claim and employers themselves be-
lieve they will have to concede II.
English employers believe that pro-
| duction hinges on contentment, that
| contentment cannot be secured merely
by wages, and that IL labor is given
| a larger voice in the management OF
the purely industrial conditions of the
shop there will be not only a growth
i in contentment, but there will be CO.
operative spirit IN which men will
bring their brains as we'll as their
muscles TO the task OF production.
They feel that from capitals point
| Of view every such concession will be
far more than compensated In the IN
creased production secured.
The war resulted in the relinquish-
ment by union labor of many OF its
rules which have in steadily increas-
ing degree hampered industry. There
is still widespread economic fallacy
! in labor circles, however. Labor be-
lieves that a restriction OF output Is
beneficial to the worker. The effect OF
that fallacy is again coming sharply
into evidence. There is a widespread
belief among workers that industry
can be carried on with much shorter
hours, that men may receive still
higher pay for the shorter day. and
that all this can be accomplished
without any detriment to industry,
purely as a result of a more just d.
vision Of the profits OF industry.
That view has certainly been upheld
by the results OF the coal inquiry in
England. In the light OF the facts
H.
could have been no other decision than
that labor was entitled to shorter
hours and much higher pay. OF
course the condition is not parallel in
other lines OF industry. and there ia
probably grave danger in applying that
view TO those industries whose life Il
dependent upon ability to compete in
neutral markets. OF course higher
price for coal will affect England's
ability TO compete in all international
lines Of industry.
There is a tendency for labor to lose
its faith in the efficacy of higher
wages DECEASED currency and deficient
supplies have so steadily advanced the
cost OF living that higher wages have
frequently brought no additional com.
forts OF life. 1t is In this fact thai
there is the most dangerous ground
for propagating dissatisfaction with
the entire capitalistlc order OF society
Everywhere in Europe there is a sub
stantial minority in the labor worlC
ready for a revolution to establish q
communistic state. have discussed
this phase in the chapter on "Th'
Power OF Minorities."
The sun., 1919-07-27
CONTINUED from Preceding Paoe.J

hold firmly to the principles OF sound
commercial banking, the role which
they will play in the future world
Of finance has no limit that can see.
The sun., 1919-07-27
Loss OF Man Power.

Labor's position in Europe is going
to be tremendously strengthened by
the loss of man power resulting from
the casualties Of war. These figures
reach an enormous total and have an
immediate effect. But OF still greater
portent is the loss of population re-
sulting from the decreased normal
The sun., 1919-07-27

Continued OF Eleventh Puss.
The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1919-07-05

Private Henry NJ. S. Brown of Co
X. S05th Pioneer Infantry writes that
it is only a matter of a few hours be.
fore their friends may again gazeu pon
them. The following little poem
comes from his pen:
A Nation goes adventuring,
With a heart that will not quail,
A Nation goes adventuring,
To seek the Holy Grail.
A Nation leaves its money bags,
It's f%iresides. safe and warm.
To ride about the windy world,
And keep the weak from harm.
The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1919-07-05
THE KANSAS CITY sun, SATURDAY, JULY g. 1919
WESTERN NEGRO PRESS ASSN
TO MEET IN KANSAS CITY.
Newspaper Men win Meet With The
Oklahoma Boosters July 1926.

To Members of the Western Negro
Press Association, and to All Other
Newspaper and Magazine Represent
atives, Greeting:
By the authority vested in me as
president of the Western Negro Press
Association, l hereby call upon you
to in the 18th annual session
of said association in the Masonic
Temple, Eighteenth and Woodland
streets, Kansas City, Mo-, July rs and
26, 1919, for the purpose of transact
ing all business of the association
that may be brought before the con-
vention, and for taking up and dis
cussing important public questions
affecting the interests and welfare of
the Race in the United States of
America.
l earnestly urge all newspaper and
magazine owners, whether members
of the association or not, to send rep
resentatives to this meeting, which
will be one of the most interesting, in
the history Of our association.
1t is for the Colored press to blaze
the way for the Race through the
yelled future of a great reconstruc-
ton period, and to meet these grave
responsibilities, to act wisely and
timely, is one of the big problems we
will attempt to solve at this meeting.
Another very interesting feature of
this meeting will be the entertain
ment in Kansas City on the oath and
25th of July of the Oklahoma Boost
ers. a large party of Race people who
will travel in autos from Tulsa, Ok,
via Winfield, Wichita, Newton and
Topeka to Kansas City. The press
boys have been invited to make the
entire trip with the party and doubt
less many of them will accept the in
vitation.
Allow me again to urge every Col
ored publication owner to send repre-
sentatives to this meeting.
A. ]. SMITHERMAN, Pres,
Tulsa, Oklahoma.
j. D. COOKE, Secretary,
Gary, Indiana.