Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1919-09-03
ONE LABOR LEADER DEs,A NDs
Sanity and Safety-C Clear Statement
from Baltimore Federation Head.

(By John II. Ferguson r resident
Baltimore Federation of Il.abor.)
"Reconstruction" has Of late been
SO tiresomely reiterated, fnot to say
violently abused, that IL has become
to many Of us word of4aversion.
Politicians, social students, business
men, labor men, charity workers,
clergymen and various other social
groups have contributed their quota
Of spoken words and printed pages
TO the discussion Of the subject; yet
the majority Of us still find ourselves
bewildered and helpless. We are un-
able to say what parts Of our social
system imperatively need recon
struction; how much OF thai Which
is imperatively 'ecessnry IS !lkciy to
be seriously undertaken, orawbat spe
cific methods and measures are bcst
suited to realize that amoulEt nf re-
construction which is ut once I'M
peratively and Immediately possible.
l do not believe as many or as
great social changes will take place
in the United States AZ IN Europe.
Neither our habits OF thinking nor
our ordinary ways OF life have under
gone profound disturbances The
hackneyed phrase, Things will
never be the same since the war"
has much more concrete and deep
ly felt meaning among European peo-
pies. Their minds are fully adjusted
to the convictions and expectations
that these words will come true. In
the second place, the deyasta ton,
the loss Of capital and oi mon the
changes in individual relations = n
in the increase in the activities of
government have been nuch graatcr
in Europe thar in the nited Suites
Moreover, on" superior anu,r&N ad-
vantages and resources, The better
Industrial d:,d socia condition u
our working classes still constitute
an obstacle to anyth.nE like roYolu-
tionary changes.
Our present industrial syt,m is
main outlines. That is 10 SAY pri-
vate ownership or capjlpl is no, like
ly to be supplanted by a collective
organization Of industry N - date
sufficiently near to jMstliv any
present action based on the nyrothe-
sis of its arrival. This Is 40, only
extremely probable, but hiG,uy de-
| sirable, for other objections apart,
Socialism would mean bureaucracy
| political tyranny, tho righteousness
Of the individual as factor in the
| ordering Of his owl life and in
general social inefticicncy Qld de-
cadence.
1t is true, there ar those in the
ranks Of organized labor VINO, il. the
| fcrvor OF their world-iDprOviup mis-
sion. discover and proclaim certain
curc-alls for the ills Oj humGnity,
which they fondly and perhaps non
estly believe to be new ana nneail-
ing remedies. but which. ps raat-
ter Of fact, are heavy with age. hay
ing been tried on this ola gl0hc of
ours at one time or anOthcr, in one
of its parts or another long ago
tried and found wanting and dis
carded after sad disilmsionnIent
There are the spokesman uf S0phor-
morism rampant, struttinE about IN
the cloak Of superior knowledge, la1s-
ehievously and noisily, to the dis
turbance Of quiet and orderly mental
processes and sane progress. There
are the sentimental, unSeaSor cd in
tolerant and eoeksuro advanced
thinkers claiming leave 20 sci the
world by the ears, to reconstruct So
ciety over night and Hith their stri-
dent and eeaseless vote TO drown
the views of those wiio ura loo husy
to indulge in much talkinG There are
the self-seeking demaEof;ues and
various related types, ard finally
there are the devotees n liberty run
amuck, who in fanaucai obpusSion
would place visionary nod narrow
class interest and a sloppy in,cgla-
tionalism above patriotinnI, ana With
whom class hatred and enyy have oe-
come a ruling passion They IRE
perniciously, ceaselessly a0l roci err
ously active and are not roDreSe, ta-
tive Of labor, either organized or
unorganized
Among these agitatcrs ana dis
turbers who dare clamorously 10 as
% ho a 10