The Leavenworth echo. [volume] (Leavenworth, Wash.) 1904-current, 1919-04-25
THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS
AND THE LABOR PROBLEM
The Possible Effect of Labor Cove
nant in the L. of N. Constitution
Labor Leaders Should Give Matter
Thought Before Approving it.

Washington, April 15-(Special cor
respondence)-"I see that the Ma
tional Board Of Farm Organizations
has sent cablegram to President
Wilson renewing it's request that a
bureau of agriculture be created as a
permanent part of the league of ma
tions," remarked George r. Peck, re-
tired editor, of Auburn, N Y. recently.
"The representative of the board,
Charles S. Barrett, says it is up to Mr..
Wilson; and the cablegram argued
that protection of agriculture is as
much the duty of the league as pro-
lection of labor, which has been
granted. Well it would seem that if
there is to be a department in the
league organized to protect one phase
of human activity other phases should
be similarly looked after. Why not
a bureau of manufactures, and bu-
reau of mines, and bureau of mer-
chant marine, or of transportation,
and bureau of education? Labor,
it appears, has been successful in Sc
curing some sort of functioning agency
in the proposed league, why not the
others?
It does not appear just what author
ity the league labor bureau, or the
prospective agricultural bureau would
have over the domestic concerns of
member countries, altho it has been
stated that the internal labor poll
cies of member countries would not
come under the aegis of the labor bu-
reau now said to be included in the
league. That is bare statement, of
course. We must always bear in mind
that whenever an agency such as this
is established, its primary idea is to
extend its power-enlarge the scope of
its authority-and whenever there
arise internal affairs having an ex-
ternal aspect, these agencies would be
quick to seize the opportunity to de-
clare their jurisdiction over them.
They generally begin with the asser-
ton of concurrent jurisdiction and
end with the assumption of exclusive
Jurisdiction.
"The league bureau of labor, there
fore, and any other bureau which
might be included in the league, would
some day attempt to override the au-
thority of, say, our department of Ia
bor, or of agriculture, or of commerce,
and with the United States possessing
but one vote in nine in the league the
possibility would be ever present that
the administrative departments of our
federal government would have to
bow to the bureaus of the league when
ever the majority members of the
league found it to the best interests
of Europe or Japan to compel them so
to do.
"The Paris pact of 1916, for instance
which contemplated the control of raw
materials, might force terms on the
United States which would be coun-
tenanced by the league. A Euro
pean combination to fix the price of
wheat might be upheld by the league
majority, or England could control the
price of tin, manganese, and other
mine products not produced by us but
vitality necessary to our industries.
Shipping laws repugnant to our own
policies might bee forced on us, and
our labor regulations might be rem
dered innocuous by the veto of su-
perior body.
"Of course the insistence of labor
and agriculture, or any other class, for
representation in the league, as a
bureau or otherwise, is indicative of
one thing, consciously or unconsciously
some misguided men view the league
as the tangible evidence of super
state whose control of the nations of
the world will be even more absolute
than the control of our Feedral gov
ernment over the states of the Union.
And therein lies its danger. The
league would be an internationalmino-
taur fed on the sovereignty of every
nation on the Globe