The Butte daily bulletin., 1919-06-07

board his theory tnaI mis- industry
must be placed upon the just prin-
clpleS laid down by the government
and that unless this is done, in time
one of the boat children will rise and
contest with the rich scion of the
towing interests for supremacy on
the harbor He said
| IF our government is built llpor
the basis that we believe and hope it
is built upon-there are no classes
in this country. And | want to say
that if the statement of that man
were given widespread publicity in
this community today it would do
more to create anarchy, it would do
more to create chaos, it would do
more to create feeling between man
and man and class and class than
anything I ever heard delivered in
court of justice"
While Walsh, in powerful SEN
tences, had thus scored the boat own
ers of New York and their tactics, it
was only in the rebuttal of one-half
hour that he rose to the fullest
height of his power as the foremost
advocate in the land for a decent
living for every working man or
woman. In this period, with the
veins across his temple swelling with
suppressed passion and a gesture of
his right arm like the right arm
swing of heavy weight ring cham
pion, he voiced his last arguments.
Demands S-Hour Day.
Paul Bonynge, attorney for the
boat owners, in the interim has de-
clared that operation of the harbor
on an S-hour basis was impossible
Walsh took him up. He said that
this was the stock argument of en-
ployers, the unenlightened employers
all over the country.
These men just stand here, as the
Bourbons of old. and say We will
not change, this is the way we did
it, - Walsh began.
And | believe in their hearts they
say: This is the way we are making
these immense profits, and we are
not going to change in any particu-
lar with reference to our operations,
so as far as the hours of labor are
concerned "
| He told the board that the boat
owners must take some of the 647s
per cent profits which, it is reported,
they have made to pay for the new
system as demanded by the spirit of
the time. He said that eventually
the harbor would be put on the
actual S-hour day, instead of the
| basic day now asked, in the same
way as other Industries have eff
/ fected it.
I'VE are met by what this board
and every other board is met with
1T can't be DONE continued Walsh.
| "But $4,000 longshoremen that at
one time in the history of this har-
Dor lived lives that ought to bring
the blush of shame to every man that
had anything to do with it--and
that not so very long ago-are get
ting 65 cents an hour today. and
they are on the basic S-hour day
$50 far as | am concerned he
said, "it makes no difference how
the S-hour day is obtained so long
as it is obtained legitimately. These
men can now say: we will have
time to rest from fatigue; we will
see our families, we will have time
for mental development; we will
have time to give response to the
demands of the body and the soul
for some recreation, for some JOY in
life, and we are all banded together,
and we will not do your work unless
you permit us to have this very prop
er standard Of life.
Folesees Revolution.
The great power of organized la
Dor and of the great change in the
world, due to labor's rise, was pic
tured then by the workers counsel
He said that the boat owners, as rep
resented at the hearing, were among
the most backward set of employers
in the United States. He insisted
that the theory of the decent living
wage for every worker in the United
States was not visionary, but in
tensely practical. In each contest
between the workers and the owners
in the various industries, he said,
this solid opposition of the employ
ing class must be experienced. In
the most striking revolutionary part
of his address to the board, with
Taft listening gravely and attentive
ly to the passionate utterance, Walsh
said:
'Of course, if it could be that as
each industry would come up, a
lawyer would advance and say: No
we deny our men a living wage.
do not start until you change
the whole state, I want to say tc
these gentlemen that that is an ap-
peal they might make to the people
of Russia today, but I hope to God
it will never apply to these United
States
I'VE are in the day of reconstruc,
tion. 1t is the duty of every employ
er and employe to give the best that
is in him to see that our ship of state
sails majestically and securely
through these troubled times
"lf it were true that in order te
get living wage in an industry We
had to overfurn the whole fabric o
society, if it were true that mer
could not get living wage withou,
doing it. l say to you-you will ger