Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1919-11-06

more business than the United
States. Her workmen are working
long hours each day and with lots
of goods stored away she will very
soon be ready to do business with the
world. II all the workmen keep
striking In this country there won't |
be anything to SELL Well, of
course Uncle Ted, l couldn't think |
of anything mean enough to say. and |
didn't. want to fight because you !
told me not to, so just told him to !
mind his own business and walked
out Now what I'm worrying about
is, was what he said true?"
"0f course, Jack" began his
Uncle, as he drew up chair, Her
mann should not talk that way, no
matter how much of what he says
may be true. He and his father
are making their living in this coun-
try and they should forget Germany
and be loyal Americans. But it so
happens again, that some of what he
says is true. will explain the mat
ter as best l can. For a long time
the various labor unions in this
country have been going on strike.
That is, If they want more money, or
shorter working hours or both, and
their employers feel that what they
are getting is enough they quit
work. We have had strikes in this
country for years and years but as a
rule they have been conducted
quietly and after time the troubles
were settled and the men went back
to work as before. But during the
past year, especially since the end of
the war, the various unions have
been striking and some of their
members who act like the bolsheviks
of Russia or the Reds as they are
sometimes called, have used bombs
to blow up houses; have fought on
the streets and destroyed property in
general. They are not all that way
but many of them go so far as to
threaten our government. Right
ing on in the United States. A great !
many of the men who work in the
steel mills are striking and rioting.
Troops had to be called out in Gary.
Indiana, a big steel town, to protect |
property and the lives of the people. |
The soldiers found many of these |
Reds there who were trying to ov-
erthrow the government. The men |
who work on the piers in New York |
City where the ships are unloaded
and loaded are on strike. That !
means tying up the food that is
coming and going. And so it is the
country over. The laboring men |
are getting bigger wages and shorter
hours than ever before, yet they
want more and more money and
want to work less and less hours"
what happens to the things
these men make or do when they
are striking?" asked Ruth who had
just returned from play.
THAT is the worst part of 1t,
Ruth" answered her Uncle. while
all of thse men are away from their
work causing trouble they are not
They go on eating and
living but they are not giving any
thing to their country in return. Now
right here is where the things Her n
mann Schwartz said come in. Men
who know more about the condition
Of things in Europe and especially in
Germany than myself. say that with
in ten years Germany will be on the
same business basis she was before
the war, That means she is work. I,
ing very hard because the country
was torn to pieces after the years of
fighting. She has great quantities of
goods stored away
and the plants where things TO sell
are made were planned so that they
could start them going just as soon
as peace came. All of the German
workers, the laborers and mechanics
are, without being told, working at
least ten hours every day when most
of ours are not working more than
eight hours and many of them less.
Our men are striking for shorter
hours and more money right at
time when the only thing that will
save this country is for everybody to
forget their selfish interests and
work hard and produce in large
quantities. :"
"But, Uncle Ted, what has Ger
many got to do with us even II she /
is working harder?" asked Jack.
"Just this. The German money
is so low that 1t Is to the advantage |
of other countries to buy the materi-
al she has ready for the market. If
she has goods ready because she is
night and day with all her 4
energy then she can sell to the world /
while we are not only going to sleep
but having a labor war right in our I
own country. You see that is what
Germany is doing while in this coun-
try the chief labor leader says Il will
tie up every industry in the United
States by ordering all workmen who
belong to the unions to quit unless 7
you give us what we want To sur
render to them would mean that |
about 5000. 900 people in the United
States would tell nearly 100. 900 900
people what they would or would not
do, The great lesson to all of this
is that neither congress In Weshing
ton nor the state law making bodies
can solve the situation. The real,
true American men who think and
act like the great Roosevelt, must
meet the situation and get rid Of the
bad foreign groupof men and women
who at present seem to have control |
of labor When we saw we had to
go to war with Germany practically
every man. woman mad child was
loyal. The men went TO fight, the
money was given for guns. bullets
and shells and we beat Germany. |
The oar,a Hanoar frny,, Garr, nv IA |