Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1919-12-28

novel idea of delivering the Christ,
balloon. The wagons. sleds and
children. No one at the fort was +
to devise some plan whereby, In hi.
own words, "the public will not suf'
fer at the hands of either class"
This commission is made up of Z
very able and distinguished group
of public men, including several for
mer governors and cabinet secre.
taries. Herbert Hoover is a mem.
Der. And yet before the commits.
sion had its first meeting the labor
groups were in full cry against il
because it had no representative Of
labor upon it. Frank Morrison, sec
rotary. of the American Federation
of Labor, is quoted as saying:
"The interests of all the enemies
of organized labor will receive care.
full consideration from this commits
sion"
This may be wholly unfair pre-
judgment but nevertheless there it is
"a fact.
The Public in the Crisis.
In this crisis the public, which is
the principal sufferer, grows ever
more confused and impatient. Pro-
duction suffers at a time when
abundant production, not only for
America, but for the whole world,
was never so necessary. Prices
mount higher and higher. The ten
dency is more and more toward an
irritated partisanship upon one side
or the other, or to futile attempts to
deal with problems of immense COM
plexity and difficulty either by hasty
Legislation or crude military force.
A vast mass of detail regarding
strikes and industrial disturbances
is. daily presented to us-detail
which few ordinary busy human be-
ings can possibly piece into a pic
ture of the whole scene. We can
not see the forest for the trees, nor
the news for the headlines One of
the most conscientious editors in
the country told me the other day
that he did not know until some time
after the steel strike began that
the 12-hour day and the seven-day
week were SO common still in the
steel industry, and that it was a
week or more after the coal strike
began that he found out that the de-
mand for a fve-day week of six
hours a day-which seemed so as
founding and ACKNOWLEDGMENT,
If it were introduced actually mean
a slightly longer average working
week than the miners Of America
have had during the past few years
Noble Idealism "Slumps."
Over and over again since I have
been investigating this dangerous
industrial situation / have felt as I
did at Paris during the peace con-
ference. There is the, same slump
from the high spirit and noble ideal
ism which characterized the war pc
Rod. Never was there such unity
between labor and capital as there
was in America during the war,
never 50 great a concern for gen
erous service and high production.
1t was the marvel Of the whole
world. I was in England during
the spring of 1918 and I know how
widely the British press published
the records made BY us in ship
building and in other industries
through the cooperation Of employ
ers and their workmen. But the mo-
ment the war ceased the same dis
indignation took place in industrial
relationships in America as we saw
at Paris between the nations. The
bottom fell out Of idealism! The
great moment had passed, there had
been no miracle, we were back at
the .old controversies, selfish inter
ests were again rampant and the
struggle was sharper than ever be.
fore.
We are passing through much the
same psychological process in get
ting a new understanding between
labor and capital as we are In get
ting league of nations. Much the
same forces are at work; the same
obstinate reactionary elements, the
same unreasonable radicalism. We
are trembling upon the thin edge,
in both problems, between organiza-
ton and anarchy. Which way are
we going? Is it to be confusion
and anarchy and war-or Is it to be
good order and organization and
cooperation?
In most cases almost every one
agrees that we can not 60 back to
the old. But can we go on to the
new? Are we brave enough. Are
we c1ear-sighted enough? Our rec
ord, so far, regarding future inter-
national relationships is not reas-
suring. Will we do better with our