Evening star., 1919-04-28
SEATTLE A GAMER
!. BY RADICAL F|ASC0
Strength Gained by Labor
Leaders Known to Have
Conservative Aims.
CITY BUSY, PROSPEROUS
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

BY DAVID LAWRENCE.
SEATTLE, Washington. April Is
Ten weeks have passed since the gen.
eral strike here with it's taint of revo-
lutionary intention startled America.
Time for reflection and study of the
episode has since developed some in
teresting currents of opinion.
AS the Spanish proverb goes
there's no road so safe as the one
that's just been robbed-so might one
say of Seattle: There's no city more
immune to bolshevism or general
strikes than this community, which
has tasted them.
Much has been written about Seat
tie and in this brief survey only gen
eral conclusions can be given, but
they are based on talks with men in
side the labor movement as well as
those on the other side who were in
terested in squelching near-revolu-
ton.
Probably. Exaggerated.
It appears to be a fact that the Seat
tie strike has been much exaggerat-
ed. Both sides have been overdraWn
in the picture. The bulk of the Ia
boring men-90 per cent-who entered
the general strike had no intention Of
physical revolution; and half of the
number who went on strike were un-
sympathetic with it. ,
The radicals. who really did dream
of overthrowing the city government,
dreamed their dreams SO privately
that. had they divulged any such
plan to the men generally. there
would never have been a general
~, at UUo q
Mayor Ole Hansen, picturesque f1g-
ure, fond of theatricals and the spec
tacular. He acted decisively-called
troops to the scene and was ready
to go the limit. But conservative
minded men. who cannot be called
partisans OF either class; believe that
gone FIVE days If the men had not
been stirred up by the threats Of the
mayor to use force.
Not having intended to do the
things that he attributed to them as
their object, the leaders. who were
seeking to control the situation and
end the strike. found the backs of
the men stiffened. Whatever merit
there is in the contention that irri-
tation prolonged the strike, it GER
tainly Is pity that any outside force
had to be called in. because today.
outside Of Seattle, people have the
quelled the uprising, when, as q mat
ter Of fact, the uprising quelled itself.
In other words, never did a general
strike absolutely prove its own fu--
tflity SO completely as did the one in
Seattle.
Reasons for Failure.
Residents of Seattle know what
broke that strike. and 1t is a good
thing the. true impression IL firmly
imbedded here. 1t failed because Ia
boring men have wives and children.
because they have homes and be-
cause they are dependent, just as are
employers on street. cars. electric
lights butcher shops, grocery stores
and the products of The numerous
employees who are embraced in a gen.
eral strike.
Radicalism-and q small percentage
at that-provoked the general strike
not SO much, as has been charged, to
take forcible possession Of the city
government-all factions now deny
that emphatically-but really to
sciousness Of their power. Even in
that. however. the strike failed for 1t
showed how disorganiSed are the toll
ers and how the chief suffering of
such a tie-up OF all employees is borne
by the workers themselves and their
families.
What is more, the general strike has
soap-box lecture ever could how end
less would be the chain of general
strikes il one Of them was declared on
every occasion that a group of unions
had a grievance. The affair proved to
most Of the laboring men that the
Of settling their troubles through con-
servative union leaders were the only
methods worth following, and while
they bitterly resented the dictatorial
tone adopted by persons outside their
organization demanding that they
clean house." nevertheless 1t is q safe
prediction that they will clean house
just the same. The Central Labor
Council in Seattle is not representa-
tive of labor, and IS per cent Of the
workers would probably say 50 were
they to be canvassed.
Lost Any Prestige It Had.
If the. Central Labor Council had
strike. 1T lost it by the fiasco.
The employers agreed to forgive
and forget. and not to discriminate
against the strikers. a lockout OF
gasfitters. some wage cuts and a
closed shop order confronting the
longshoremen, who had won the open
sho, before the strike came. are
among the exceptions to the under
standing, but the strikes which have
resulted are comparatively unimpor-
tant and few in number
Considering the intensity Of feel
ing. the attitude of the employers
is on the whole, commendable. They
did not take advantage of the situa-
tion. Many of them knew that among
the workers themselves was a con-
siderable body who didn't want the
general strike. hut who were ter