The Wrangell sentinel., 1920-04-15

sary to keep down the cost of produc- ] ton. The principal item in the cost of | production is the labor charge, the
 wages of the men. The employee man. ager set himself to his task. One ob-
 ject, one thought, was always before him-keep down wages. He drilled
 this idea into his staff, his superin- tendents, his foremen. The first com mandment of Big Business to him was make dividends or quit"
 Evil in over-capitaIization.
 Frequently these large industrial corporations were greatly overcapital- ized. A corporation representing an | actual investment of $10O,000,O00 was organized for $5O0,000,0O0. It didn't | take financier to see that $40O 100000 | of its capitalization was wind, water, fake-a lie. The law that gave the | corporation a right to exist forgot to keep 1t under control. The stock | was sold, shares representing fiction as we'll as those representing value. The Captain of Industry spoke of the | $400, 100000 of overcapitalization as a melon" The law should have writ ten 1t down larceny. The selling of this stock was nothing more or less than obtaining money under false pre- lenses. When a working man ob- tained bread under false pretenses he was sent to Jail. When honest men cried out against this grand larceny they were called muckrakers, agita- tors, and charged with provoking un- rest. disturbing business. If this did not silence them, paid publicity told the world that the stock was held by widows and orphans; that the attacks upon it were efforts to rob them.
 The state, the law, the government, had given dollars the right to organize. A corporation is union of dollars, ex- actly as a labor union is an organiza- tion of men. The men organized as matter of self-defense. They knew the individual no longer had chance to register his complaint with the owner and that as an individual the worker was utterly meaningless in such large scheme. When he complained he was told, "Take things as they are, stop whining; if you don't like your jobs. quit. There are thousands of men waiting to step into your shoes" One of the first things the corpora ton did was to deny to men the right the law gave 1.-the right to organize. In defiance of their attitude the men did organize and forged the strike as a weapon with which to fight for their rights. The law had not kept pace with the times. It failed to furnish protection. It failed to provide a req sonable control over these powerful big combinations. The men asked for the privilege of collective bargaining. It was simple request, just one; its meaning is clear. The men wanted the right to appoint a committee to represent them and discuss with the men who hired them the terms of en- ployment. The directors, generally men who never saw the plant, tele- graphed the employee boss, the man. ager direction to refuse the demand for collective bargaining. There was only one reply the men could make. lHey lHdue IL. IL "uS loiCe-tHe strike. The last twenty-five years have been filled with strikes which created waste and caused hate, which grew out of the refusal of Big Busi- ness to concede to men a right the law conferred on it, the right to organize.
 capitaIistic DupIicity.
 When the cost of living forced men to ask for an increase in wages they were often met with the answer, "We can't afford it." The men could not afford to work longer for the wages they were getting, because they were unable to make both ends meet. The pay envelope was not large enough. The men pointed to the fact that the answer given by capital was not true. To show their good faith the capital ists told the general public, we are only making per cent on our capital; men who loan money get per cent" They did not tell the people they were receiving per cent on $5OO,O00,0O0, while the real capital invested was only S100O00,000. The sweat of men was being used to pay dividends on $4OO,0O0,O00. If the dividends earned were distributed over the capital actu- ally invested, $1OO,OOO,OOO, the profits would have been shown in their true light The reasonableness of the de- mand of the men would have been dis closed. It was case of crooked capi- talization, lying to protect its ill-got- ten gains. Big Business needs ethics Captains of Industry need ideals.
 Let me repeat, the law left the men helpless. They had only one course Fight, Strike! Strikes cause great public inconvenience. The people smarting under hardships condemn and blame the strikers. Strikes have another effect that is even worse. They harden hate into a concrete class feeling. Strikes are responsible for