The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1919-12-11

tons engaged in interstate commerce
and embodying in the license, or in
the conditions under which it is to
be issued, specific regulations design
ed to obtain competitive selling and
prevent unconscionable profits in the
method of marketing Such a law
would afford a welcome opportunity
to effect other needed reforms in the
business Of interstate shipment and
in the methods of corporations which
are engaged in it; but for the moment
I confine my recommendations to the
object Immediately in hand, which is
to lower the cost OF living.
Must Remove Labor's Grievances.
No one who has observed the
march OF events in the last year can
fail to note the absolute need of
definite program to bring about an
improvement in the conditions of la
Dor. There can be no settled eondi-
tions leading to increased production
and reduction in the cost OF living if
labor and capital are to be antagonists
instead of partners. Sound thinking
and an honest desire to serve the in
terests of the whole nation, as dis
tinguished from the interests of a
class, must be applied to the solution
Of this great and pressing problem
The failure of other nations TO consid-
er this matter in a vigorous way has
produced bitterness and jealousies
and antagonism. the food of radical
ism. The only way to keep men from
agitating against grievances is to re-
move the grievances An unwilling
ness even to discuss these matters
produces only dissatisfaction and
gives comfort to the extreme element
in our country. which endeavor to stir
up disturbances in order to provoke
governments to embark upon a course
of retaliation and repression. The
seed of revolution is repression The
remedy for these things must not be
negative in character It must be con-
structive. It must comprehend the
general interest The real antidote
for the unrest which manifests itself
is not suppression, but a deep consid-
Grafton of the wrongs that beset our
national life and the application of a
remedy.
The Task Before Congress.
Congress has already shown it's
willingness to deal with these indus
trial wrongs by establishing the g.
hour day as the standard in every
field of labor II has sought to find
served the whole country by leading
the way in developing the means Of
preserving and safeguarding lives and
health in dangerous industries. 1t
must now help in the difficult task of
finding method that will bring about
genuine characterization of indus
try, based upon the full recognition of
the right of those who work, in what
ever rank. to participate in some or
ganic way in every decision which di-
rectly affects their welfare 1t is
with this purpose in mind that I call
ed a conference to meet in Washing
ton, December 1. to consider those
problems in all their broad aspects,
with the idea of bringing about a bet
ter understanding between those two
interests.
Must Give Workers a Voice.
'The great unrest throughout the
world, out Of which has emerged a
demand for an immediate considera-
ton of the difficulties between cap
ita1 and labor, bids US put our own
house in order. Frankly, there can
be no permanent and lasting settle
ments between capital and labor which
do not recognize the fundamental con-
cepts for which labor has been strug-
Cling through the years. The whole
world gave its recognition and in
doFsement to these fundamental pur-
poses in the League of Nations. The
statesmen gathered at Versailles rec
oglized the fact that world stability
could not be had by reverting to in
dustriai standards and conditions
against which the average workman
of the world had revolted. 1t is,
therefore, the task of the statemen of
dow Of chance and
ment to recognize world conditions
and to seek to bring about through
legislation conditions that will mean
the ending of age long antagonism be-
tween capital and labor and that will
hopefully lead to the building up of a
comradeship which will result not
only in greater contentment among
the mass of workmen, but also bring
about a greater production and a
greater prosperity to business itself.
Wants to Make Life Comfortable.
ITO analyze the particulars in the
demands of labor is to admit the jus
tice of their complaint in many mat
tiers that lie at their basis. The
workman demands an adequate wage,
sufficient to permit him to live in
comfort, unhampered by the fear of
poverty and want in his old age. He
demands the right to live and the
right to work amidst sanitary sur
roundings, both in home and in work
shop, surroundings that develop and
do not retard his own health and
well being; and the right to provide
for his children's wants in the mat
ter of health and education. In other
words, it is his desire to make the
conditions of his life and the lives Of
those dear to him tolerable and easy
to bear.
1.-The establishment of the prin-
ciples regarding labor laid down in
the covenant of the League of Ma
tions offers US the way to industrial
peace and Cancellation. No other road
lies open to u.s. Not to pursue this
one is longer to invite enmities, bit
terness and antagonisms which, in
the end, only lead to industrial and
social disaster. 81
Unwilling Workman Not Profitable.
The unwilling workman is not
profitable servant. An employee
whose industrial life is hedged about
by hard and unjust conditions, which
he did not create and over which he