The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-07-12
GREAT WORK TO BE !
 DONE IN EUROPE
By HOLLAND

anu SO uo lHe OlneF nations or Europe. especially France Nevertheless the con ditions over there are far more chaotic and the situation seems to be to a greater
 degree demoralized than the people of
 the United States realize" In these words
 one of the ablest of American industrial
 leaders who has recently returned from
 visit to Europe, summarized today the situation as he found it. He seemed to be. partially at least, in agreement with l the somewhat startling statement which was made by Frank A. Vanderlip after MT. Vanderlips return from Europe He did not agree fully MT. vanderlip's view and he says that the potential resources ] Of these nations are so great that they
 cannot properly be called bankrupt He did intimate that if representative I Americans who have recently visited
 Great Britain and Europe were to speak
 as freely and frankly as MT. vanderlip
 did, then there would be even greater
 amazement in the United States than was
 that which was occasioned by MT. Van
 derlip's homecoming address
 | The situation in Great Britain and in | Europe is of the greatest importance to 1 the United States because without the ex- l pected aid from this country chaos and I confusion will be long continued It l IS with these conditions that the men of | industry, finance and commerce in the | united States must deal if there is to i De adequate assistance given to the na- 1 tions which need our aid.
 | The industrial leader who made the
 brief summary with which this report
 begins has spent the greater part of three
 months in Great Britain and in Europe | When the United States entered into the
 war he was summoned to Washington
 so that he might serve the government l In one of the important industrial de- | partments which was created to facili- | tate the movement across the sea of cer-
 tain commodities which were vital to the
 success of the allied cause. Shortly after 1 the armistice was signed he went to Eu- rope for the purpose of making personal
 investigation and of meeting the large number of men of his acquaintance who
 are influential in commerce, finance and | industry in the nations that have been | at war.
 1 This man has returned to the United States if not deeply concerned, as least greatly impressed with the serious situa-
 tion as it now exists in Great Britain.
 The people of the United States do not understand what the situation is. They | have no comprehension of the responsi- 1 bilities which are upon Lloyd George and | the difficulties which are now before him
 some of them quite so great as those i which existed when the war was in progress
 | This American industrial leader sum
 marized under four heads the situation
 as it now exists in Great Britain. First ! is the laoor situation. Second is the l coal situation. Third the merchant ma i rine situation and fourth the financial 1 situation which. if it is to be fully met, will call for even greater exertion and 1 more skillful handling than was the case l at the time the armies of Great Britain were fighting those of Germany
 The labor situation and the future of the relation of labor to industry are in his view perhaps the most important of the conditions now existing in Great Brit | ain First of all the labor unions, whose | members now fully understand the power of numbers, are breaking away from | the leadership of the intelligent men who have done so much for the cause of labor | in Great Britain, but who now realize that the system which they created is l likely to prove a veritable "Franken- 1 stein.'' The labor union leaders cannot control the unions. Numbers are doing that and not single leadership The re- 1 suit of this change may prove a serious
 
 ! her former supremacy in world commerce
 and in some departments of industry. | This American industrial leader from l whom these views are obtained, and who
 received this information at first hand | in Great Britain, spoke with emphasis
 of the fact that the workingman of Great l Britain will never consent to accept em- ployment at the rate of wages which
 prevailed before the European war be-
 gan. Prior to 1914 labor in England was l about as cheap as in any civilized coun- l try in the world. Almost as cheap, at | least in certain lines, as was the labor | of the far east. In this way England 1 found it possible to undersell the rest of the world in many of the markets of the world
 Now, understanding their power and the
 weight of their numbers, the industrial | workers of England will never consent to | accept a pay roll unless it is similar in | it's payments to the pay rolls which have been established since the war began. TLey are sure to demand present-day
 wages, perhaps. shorter hours and may | hereafter increase their demands.
 ! It is a stupendous problem and Eng
 lishmen are partially to blame for the | fact that they are now compelled to ! face it and to try to solve it. It contains
 certain features which must be consid- cred by the American leaders who arc | willing and even anxious to assist Great Britain but would like to have a better
 understanding of what the relation labor
 in Great Britain to capital hereafter is
 to be.
 1 Indirectly at least in fact, almost di- rectly, associated with this labor situa- ! tion is the relation of the. armies of Great Britain that have returned from the battlefields. At one time the armies num- bered 100000. There are between 5000 ,000 and 6,000.000 who have returned. These soldiers almost to man say. For four years we have borne all the hardships of the war. We have lain in the trenches night and day We have faced the Huns
 and never faltered Many who went out with us made the supreme sacrifice. We
 have done all that was expected of us and more. We who remain have done our
 share. Now, having done our share, we
 resent any proposition to tax us or to make us pay at home any of the expenses oocasioned by the war. Let the wealth meet these expenses. Let us have re- n.unerative employment, but let us be spared taxation. The rich who did not
 go to war and the others who made great deal of money while the war lasted should be called upon to pay the expenses and to meet the burdens which England now finds it necessary to bear. Not us Leave us out.
 This sentiment the american leader says i, practically unanimously held by all the soldiers. It must be recognized by the statesmen of Great Britain and the Parliament. It also involves either the support of the returned soldiers by di- rect government aid or else the finding of employment for them that is con genial and that will pay the high prevail ~ ~o ic