The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1920-01-20

and fees. This class Is far less distinc-
tive and homogeneous and sef-con
sClOus than any of the others 1t is not
aware of itself 1t does not know what
II wants or what Is good for it. 1t is
the prey of demagogues and of propa-
gandas, Labor appeals to it, saying:
You, too, are worker for wages.
Your interests are mine. Government
ownership and government control, ev-
| erything that will break monopoly and
lower the cost of living, is to your in
| terest as well as to mine, Join me,
and we will run the country"
But capital also addresses the poor
salaried man by way of the other ear
You are the child of opportunity" it
tells him. What you want is unre-
stricted opportunity Unrestricted free
dom for personal initiative in making
money, Thus you can make your for
tune just as have made mine"
The poor salared man doesn't know
which to believe. But one thing Is
| being borne in upon his consciousness
and with painful clarity. II the cost
of living doesn't fall, or II it keeps on
rising. he will not be able to exist at
all. He begins to see that to hammer
| down prices is his only salvation. How
is he going to do it?
In one way the interests Of the sala-
ried man and Of the professional differ
from those Of the laborer He can not
go on strike with effect Direct &C
ton" designed to increase his reward
! is not of much good to him Collective
| bargaining with employers is out of the
question. And this for several reasons
He works at too many different things
and under too many different arrange
| ments. The coal miners can strike and
hold up the whole country because the
coal mines are absolutely dependent
upon them, and because all OF them are
| working for the operators on substan-
q hn COZ lie frtIf,
of the railroad men, the steel men, and
a host Of others But what would a
strike of the boolikeepers come to, for
example? Or the travelling statesmen?
1t takes strong minority to defy the
majority. That is what the policemen
found out when they tried to strike.
The country simply wouldn't let them
strike. The newspaper reporters found
out the same thing when they tried to
organize unions. Neither the public
nor the publishers would stand for it.,
and perhaps rightly
The middle class, then to give it it's
proper name, can not work in unison
to raise its wages. as the laborng class
can, But it can work in unison to re-
duce the cost Of living, which is simply
ChOpping off the same log at the other
end. In its methods of making living
it is too diverse to act in unison but
in its method Of buying necessities it
Is perfectly unified. All of US face the
problem of getting enough to eat and to
wear and place to live for the ever
dwindling stipend, We can not act to-
gether to regulate the amount we re-
ceiVe, but we can act together to regu-
late the amount we spend to a sur
prising extent, Housewives boycotts
and organizations of tenants in New
York, local and sporadic efforts though
they were. have shown the power OF
consumers acting together. So have CO.
operative stores which have flourished
here and there. 1t would seem that the
white collar class in this country, with
its unions in imitation Of labor unions
is or the wrong tnCk. and that the Mid
die Glass union of England, formed for
the purpose Of Influencing legislation tC
lower the cost Of living. is on the right
tack. In word, the cooperative
movement among consumers seems tc
he tho solution If the ever-mOre press.
ing difficulty of the middle class II
this movement would spread If it should
attain TO national organiza ton, the
mtddle class Cou'd take its place with
|. labor and capital as a force in con.
trolling the distribution OF the things by
which We live