Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1920-05-13
WHO'LL DO THE DIRTY WORK.

WHO'LL DO THE DIRTY WORK?
Evidently the country has a super
abundance of white-collared employ
es and shortage of men in overalls.
Results are obviousl In consequence
that old-fashioned article known as
common labor" has become an in
tolerable aristocrat. The native
American laborer is busily engaged
in looking for better job, and there
is hardly anybody who ejs willing to
do the dirty work.
For century the United States
depended upon its immigrants to bear
the national burdens of the back. As
the immigrants became Americanized
and naughty, and moved up the in
dusrial ladder to become managers,
proprietors, or policemen and ward
bosses, we just gave the "come on,
boys" sign to the oppressed laborers
of Europe, and got new crops over
here where we could use our own
standards of oppression on them.
Then whenever there was biz
zard or any other emergency that
called for few thousand workmen
p. d. O., it was convenient to find un-
i employed foreigners who would fol-
low the boss anywhere, and do any
thing, because they didn't know just
what liberty and democracy expected
of them.
The plan always worked well when
it came to getting the dirty work
done. But eventually there was a
backfire. When the American boil
sheviks and anarchists and red-eyed
devils were up for suppression in the
very recent past that is melting into
the present, these same foreigners
were there with their torches.
We had used" these people as
common laborers, and when it came
to doing the dirty work they were
boon to our affairs. But when they
turned against us and demanded bet
ter working conditions, and threaten
ed the Government itself unless there
was an immediate change in affairs,
we were ready to adopt any measure
to put down threatened revolt.
When the war came on thousands
Of foreigners who hadn't taken the
swhite-collared degrees in employment
went back to Europe to fght-for
fighting was perfectly natural to
them, aad in obeying the call to pa
triotic duty they were also answer
ing the itching human instincts, that
has made Europe battle field thru
all the centuries Ellis Island opened
its back door and there were more
people passed through it than there
were guests coming out the front
way.
So the United States is facing the
problem of huge shortage of COM
mon labor, and the opposition to let
ting down the bars of immigration
points to the dangers of these great
hordes of foreigners within our
gates"
1t dosen't seem to occur to anybody
that the United States can raise it's
own common laborers. And since
we must depend on Europe for this
class of workmen, it is likewise evil
dent that there should be more CON
structive thought along the lines of
lettering the conditions of these
people when they come here, so that
they will not become rebellious and
bolshevik, and want to tear up our
civilization.
These fresh conscripts from Europe
evidently want more from the United
States than they receive. They are
tired of being pawns in the hands of
organized labor, and mere vehicles
of conveniences for employers.
The necessity for common labor is
forcing American employers and
American workmen to make better
place within the nation itself for the
foreign immigrant, and to enable
them to become part of our national
life without either changing the kinds
OF shirts they wear or their methods
Of existence. In other words the
plan that seems to be growing pro-
vides for furnishing the foreigner
who does the, dirty work, as our
Common iaborer"a squarer deal
than he has ever had before SO that
he will want to come to this coun-
try-and we will want to have him