The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-08-23
THE WALKING DELEGATE.

IhE WALhlNG UELEdhlE.
So long as men are compelled to
give money in order to work in peace
| and safety II is untrue to say this is
a free country.
Men must be as free in the pursuit
of their vocation as they are to wor-
ship in the church Of their choice.
Just now 1t seems to be the fashion
with a set OF men generally known as
uplifters to attack business men and to
talk on industrial questions of which
| they know nothing. These men do a
great deal Of harm. for they manage
to have their words printed. while men
who know the facts rarely talk.
In the early days OF our country
town meetings were held, attended by
most of the people. Those who did
not attend quickly learned the facts
from those who did. That is a thing
OF the past. II the evil effects of the
uplifters are to be overcome. it must
be through the press.
The uplifter has sometimes been de-
scribed as a parlor philosopher. Per-
haps that is as good way TO describe
him as any. The parlor philosopher.
in speaking of business, always uses
set phrases: by their use he is able to
convince himself that he has said
something when in reality he has said
nothing at all.
One OF the pet phrases OF the parlor
philosopher is that Labor" is not a
commodity and cannot be legislated
against. The dictionaries tell us that
labor Is mental or physical effort di-
rected to the accomplishment OF a de-
sired end. Commodities are materials
and there Is not the slightest relation
between effort OF any kind and mate
rails. Materials or commodities know
nothing of laws. Laws are passed
only relating to the actions of men,
and the only question involved in law
is that the laws passed shall be equit-
able and shall be enforced impartially.
Another pet phrase of the parlor
philosopher and one he uses almost
necessarily. is the right of collective
bargaining A synonym of bargain Is
agreement, and men have the right to
enter into any agreement they see fit
so long as they violate no law or in
wade the rights of others. Practically
all agreement, bargaining or dealing
is done by committees. II a bank de-
cides to erect a building a committee
Is appointed; a club has mem bership
house and other committees. Commit
teeS do most of the work for companies
Of men, as 1t would practically be i'm
possible for large numbers OF men like
the stockholders OF a bank to gather
together and bargain collectively for
anything.
Another choice verbal morsel of the
parlor philosopher is the conflict be-
tween capital" and labor" How can
there be a conflict between the money
invested IN n business and the effort
put forth in the business? OF course
there Is no such a thing. II there is
a conflict II is between the employer
and the employed, but there Is no such
conflict considering the millions Of
employers and employed They get
along we'll together. The disturbances
that affiict our country are caused by
the idle mischief making walking dele
gates.
Sometimes. in passing by a swamp
when all is silent, suddenly a peep is
heard. then all over the swamp is
heard the peppers note, Peep. peep.
peep" So II is with the parlor philoso-
pier. One OF them makes an assertion
based, not on facts. but on some
thing he imagined. Then all the others
repeat his words without a question.
One such remark Is that because the
employer has got so far from the
employed we suffer the interference
with the orderly course of business,
the riotinK. the violence and tho in
vasion Of the rights OF the citizens"
There was a town well apart from
others where the people were happy,
prosperous and free. The walking dele
gates decided to get control OF the in
dustries and the workingmen OF that
town. In order to get control II would
have been necessary to resort to the
violence and lawlessness that always
accompany such efforts.
II the shops in that town had been
owned by men who had no other
source OF income they would have had
to surrender, but It 80 happened that
the shops were branches OF a large
industry, so the owners sent word that
II there was any interference with the
orderly course OF the work they
would shut down the shops till peace
was restored.
AS that city was supported almost
entirely by that one industry. closing
the shops would have meant a great
loss to all. So one night a number of
the citizens went TO the room where
the organizer and his band were gath
cred and said: Come with u.s." The or
ganizer and the others were taken to
a dock, put on a seagoing tug and
taken out to sea. And peace and pros
perity and happiness continued in that
city.
Only a few ever knew what hap
pened: some say they were taken to
another country and SO deported.
1t would be an excellent thing for
our country II all the walking dele
gates were deported. Most of them,
as their names indicate, are foreign
ers, or were born of foreign parents,
some of them have never even been
naturalized.
Peep, peep, peep!" We have all this
violence. rioting. lawlessness paralyz-
Ing OF industries and invasion OF the
rights of the citizens to go about a
town undisturbed because the "em-
ployer has got so far from the en-
ployed."
An employer who had been in busi-
ness forty years. who had been a
workingman, who called his men by
their first names. the sons of some OF
whose earlier workmen were in his
employ. had a happy shop. One day
walking delegate came to him and
said, Say, you have got TO have your
| men join our organization" What
| could he do? He did not have enough
money to stand long fight, so he had