Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1919-08-09

and legal compulsion, of prosecu-
tons and the sharp correction of
selfish processes; and these, no
doubt, are necessary. But there are
other forces that we may count on
besides those resident in the Depart
ment of Justice. We have just fully
awakened to what has been going on
and to the charges, many of them
very selfish and sinister, that have
been producing high prices and i'm
posing an intolerable burden on the
mass of our people. To have
brought it all into the open will &C
complish the greater part of the re-
suit we seek. appeal with entire
confidence to our producers, our
middle men and our merchants to
deal fairly with the people. 1t is
their opportunity to show that they
comprehend, that they intend to act
Justly, and that they have the pub
lie interest sincerely at heart. And
| have no doubt that housekeepers
all over the country and every one
who buys the things he daily stands
in need of will presently exercise a
greater vigilance, more thoughtful
economy, a more discriminating care
as to the market in which he buys or
the merchant with whom he trades
than he has hitherto exercised.
Strikes Do Harm.
I believe, too, that the more ex-
IRENE leaders of organized labor will
presently yield to a sober second
thought and like the great mass of
their associates, think and act like
true Americans. They will see that
strikes undertaken at this critical
time are certain to make mat
tiers worse, not better-worse
for them and for everybody
else. The worst thing, the most
fatal thing that can be done now
is to stop or interrupt production or
to interfere with the distribution
of goods by the railways and the
shipping of the country. We are
all involved in the distressing re-
suits of the high cost of living and
we must unite, not divide, to cor
rect it. There are many things that
ought to be corrected in the rela-
tons between capital and labor, in
respect of wages and conditions of
labor and other things even more
far-reaching, and I, for one, am
ready to go into conference about
these matters with any group of my
fellow countrymen who know what
they are talking about and are will
ing to remedy existing conditions
by frank counsel rather than by
violent contest. No remedy is pos
sible while men are in a temper
and there can be no settlement
which does not have as its motive
and standard the general interest
Threats and undue insistence upon
the interest of a single class make
settlement impossible. l believe, as
| have hitherto had occasion to say
to the congress, that the industry
and life of our people and of the
world will suffer irreparable dam
age if employers and workmen are
to 60 on in a perpetual contest, as
antagonists. They must, on one
plane or another, be effectively as
ISOLATED. Have we not steadiness
and self-possession and business
sense enough to work out that re-
suit? Undoubtedly we have, and we
shall work it out. In the meantime
now and in the days of readjust-
ment and recuperation that are
ahead of us--let US resort more and
more to frank and intimate coun-
sci and make ourselves a great and
triumphant nation. both making
ourselves a united force in the life
of the world. 1t will not then have
looked to us for leadership in vain.
r. L., ..4:.4, 49, .1