Evening star., 1919-04-07
Employers Adopt Policy.

All employers nave entered into an
agreement to give jobs back to those
wins left to enter the government
service. The card index and few
business men able to get things done
have taken hold, and I am assured
that soldiers who want to work, and
ment and that this city has thus far
taken care of most of those who
have come back, as well as many
who came here from other cities.
Perhaps the bolshevist scare, in
significant as it was. awakened en-
pIoyers to the possibility that unem-
ployment might breed germs of un-
rest if not nipped in the beginning.
Anyway. the few agitators who
sought to initiate comrades from the
ing the unemployment situation failed
utterly. They could not have been
spokesmen for any considerable part
of this city. which has a large for
eign population. or the public would
not have SO readily approved of the
permits to parade or hold meetings
at which the overthrow of our gov
ernment by force might be preached.
as had been the case in the few
gatherings of leaders held in recent
weeks.
No General Protest Heard.
The city governments refusal to
give legal sanction to these demon
strations brought forth no general
protest that the rights of the Con-
stitution were being denied. To men
who cared nothing about the Consti-
tuition it was considered ironical to
invoke those guarantees
The mayor was bit frightened
when the agitators threatened to pa
rade. permit or no permit. and he
talked with Albany about sending
troops, but Gordon of police fright
ened the would-be agitators and the
scheduled demonstrations didn't ma
terialize. One of the socialist news
papers printed no comment. but a
photograph of Mckinley monument
with the police armed with rifles and
bayonets patrolling it's pedestal, as if
to suggest, perhaps, that clubs would
have been quite sufficient.
What Buffalo did, however Just the
same, was to find out who was at the
bottom of the agitation. just how the
foreigners had been led to think that
by marching down town al the behest
dimunition of working hours would
be forthcoming, and just what the
discomfort amounted to in the diff
ferent parts of the city. Remedial
measures were promptly instituted
through the responsible business men,
Get Situation in Hand.
So today the situation is in hand
and returning soldiers and sailors are
being helped if they want to be help
ed Soldier preference is being exer-
cised in giving jobs to the unem-
ployed, but if it is overcarried to such
| an extent that civilians are discharged
to make way for the men in uniform
there will be much unrest and anxiety
and possibly disturbance. There are
many more persons in Buffalo who
weren't able to go to war than those
who did go. and if great numbers get
on the anxious seat because they fear
dismissal at any moment to make
Openings for the newcomers, some of
my friends here fear recurrence of
agitation- But while some employers
may be using the argument to get
efficiency it cannot be said that the
doctrine is being practiced. Strictly
speaking, as the quantity of labor in
creases. the quality must improve be-
cause the laws of supply and demand
are always operative.
There have been comparatively few
cases Of any large reduction in
wages. Some employers say they
don't mind the high level provided
khe labor leaders are wise enough
not to misconstrue such assent as a
reason to ask for more, and provided
the men will not loaf on the job, but
actually produce dollar for dollar.
Show Interest in League.
So much for labor. Politics, curl
busly enough, interest the clubmen,
but hardly the man on the streets
rhe league of nations is more or less
an academic question to many of the
foreign born here, but this is no sign
that the masses would not take a
Definite stand were they to have the
ubject carefully explained to them
n simple terms. Among the classes
Who usually take an interest in pub
ic affairs interest in the league is
described as most intense. At the
butset there was a tendency to divide
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