The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-06-21
RECONSTRUCTION.


d, Secretary of Commerce.)
pears 70 have dawned upon tho minds
OF farseelng mon in Great Britain thai
for long time past British industry
has und6rpaid ana uuderfSd ana I'M
derhoused its working people, and tho
truth begins 10 appear that such q
course. however advantage it. may
seem to he In an individual factory
or on the surface Of things, is, when
made general practice. lit time
destructive of the nations compel
ing power. England is learning the
lesson that others need to learn. that
in such respects, as in many others.
cheapnesS and economy arc not iden
teal. hut may be hostile one TO the
other Strong men in British finance
now speak In what seem to us fami-
liar phrases of adjusting themselves
to the advance in wages by better
methods, by automatic machinery. by
Standardization. and by the aDplica-
ton of all the principles of quantity
production with which industry in the
United States is so familiar,
No Paupcr Labor.
There still are here orators and
editors who talk and write in the
iIitAllldt. pHIdSt CoHCcTnlUE Inc piIBSI
labor of Europe. That pauper labor
has ceased TO be. The conditions
which gave rise to the phrase have
passed. They may not return. They
certainly viii not return If the organ
lied labor forces of Europe can pro-
vent it. 1t is in my judgment earnest
" TO be hoped for the sake of the
world and for the good of mankind
that they Will never revert to what
they were. Most significant it is that
industrial leaders in Great Britain are
in M small part content to have il so.
This is reconstruction--hu OF ideas
and of human relations.
Months ago it was said In this
country that with us reconstruction
was a state of mind, and now that
we are in the second half of the year
since the armistice and are coming
near to a peace we see that this Is
very largely true. We have rot the
physical problems Of France and Bel
GUM. Our buildings and their equip
ment are intact, our organizations
have rather been enlarged than de-
stroYed. Some of our factories. in
deed find themselves, for reasons arts
ing from the war. with productive ca
pacity greater than is now convenient;
but even in these cases men look
turc when trade-both domestic and
foreign-wil absorb their output
We have had TO provide for tho COM
ing home OF our troops, but after ail
that process has gone on rapidly
quietly. and with but little disturbl
ance, and today the amount of UNI
employment in the land is not ser,
Gus and is undoubtedly growing less
On every side one notices the gradual
Retail trade is good. The stock mar
ance speak cheerfully. All BODIES we'll
for the United States. Our rearrange-
mem. our reimbursement. is drawing to
the close OF its first stage. II the
progress continues for a, few months
more. little in our industrial and com
mercial structure will show that with
in a year il was substantially all con-
centrated 'on the dreadful task of wcr.
Yet we should be superficial, in
deed. IL we said no more about recon-
struction: II we left 1t to he under
stood tina, the physical security of
factories and machinery, own ample
supply of raw materials, the abur =
dance of our food. the cheerfulness
that is becoming all but universal in
our business circles. the abundance
of our credits. We're all that was In
volvad. There has been other dr.
finite reconstruction IN America. and
1t Is progressing steadily. Ii Is a re-
construction of ideas and ii IS based
upon sound Ideals,
Oyer in Russia we have seen the
reaction from absolu'ism To Boishe-
vism--each an, extreme. each a dan
ger, Each has sought to maintain
its power by bloody means, Each.
whatever il processes, is the embodi-
parut of cruel force. Whatever Soviet
government may be I'm posse" the
world knows wen that it is cruelty
and crime In esse.' a New England
town meeting in which every citizen
took a personal, immediate. and direc.
part in the affairs of the town was
and Is an admirable thing. and the
choice OF three "selcctmen' to govern
as they still do. our New England
villages, has worked admirably as an
example Of free government by free
people But If the New England
town meeting degenerates into mob
with the mob psychology and with
the spirit of ruin In order 10 rule,
with the conception of tearing down
in order TO build up. of destroying
in order to construct, the New Eng
land town meeting becomes mena &c.
II the three ''selectment' OF the New
England village abandon the quiet
ideals thas control them and become