Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1920-09-06

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SJcSEPAUS DANIELS Labor no longer
seeks to obtain merely living wage"
| the secretary said, but has come to see
that 1t is entitled to fair share of the
wealth its collective brain and Drawn
produces, and seeks to find just and or
derly ways of reaching the new Objec-
tive
The government at Washington is re-
sponsible for the broader appreciation of
the rights Of both capital and labor, he
said, citing the establishment OF the
eight-h hour day and other reforms by gov
ernmental departments for the laborlng
men under their direction.
JUSTIFIEs
7 INCREASES.
Mr.. Daniels justified the increases in
wages granted to the railroad men under
/ government control.
The crowning achievement Of labor
secured in recent years. he said, may
be summed up in one sentence OF eleven
words:
Labor has been lifted out OF the elias
sifcation OF commodity"
I At the same time labor should not for
/ get that 1t is through the recognition by
the makers and executors of the law
that its condition has been improved, he
warned.
Unless labor has the wisdom to use its
power 20 stand against privilege and the
pawns Of privilege" Mr.. Daniels de-
clared 1T invites it's enemies 10 wipe out
all that has been gained and reduce
I labor to the status Of commodity.
And no sensible man VINO tolls believes
that all the junkers live in Germany.
There are junkers in America In aud
out Of politics who believe they were
/ born booted and spurred to ride on the
backs Of their fellows.
I'VE routed them iu war. we viii rout
/ them In peace
/ Mr. Daniels said he mad little patience
( with those who harp upon the labor
( problem. VINO speak about the imposed
J blllty of capital and labor working hand
I iir hand ~ soHsethigtg imprscticai and i1
( possible OF accomplishment"
''-That = not So" he said.
"In fact. with q sense Of justice and
/ fairness predomnating. 1t should be one
/ Of the easiest things In the world 10 bring
about For seven years l. secretary
I NJ the navy have been direct employer
I Of body of men Numbering from 10000
In peace time 20 over :00,000 during the
! war.
We have been together through the
most troublesome times this country has
ever known. During all that time a
! strike has been an unheard Of and i'm
/ possible thing In "A navy yard.
/ we have not even had what you might
call a serious disagreement, and this has
/ not been because we have paid Utopian
wages or established soclalstic condi-
/ tions. for we are bound by law to pay
/ the current rates Of wages and the con-
ditions in the navy yards are not greatly
I different from those Of great manufac-
( turing shipyards.
This good will has resulted from
merely fair dealing and just treatment
: because we established the principle that
Z no man should be debarred from bring
/ ing his case directly to the secretary II
! he could not obtain justice elsewhere; (;
because we have decided such matters as
/ have come up with desire 20 be fair
/ fair 10 the government and fair to our
/ selves-and | have found that the work
ing man, when he Is convinced the you
want to be fair, Is equally fair In re-
/ turn.
1--WE have tried to have n good reason
| for everything we have done In regard
to labor matters. and I have tried to
make the reason clear in frank explana-
| tions to our employees.
Sometimes they do not agree with
our reasoning. but l have found that
so long as they are convinced Of our
intent to be just they are willing to
| Loyalty abide by what is decided.
That is the whole secret OF labor
The sooner our manufacturers find that
ont, the sooner we viii reach a day when
boards Of arbitration will be unaeces
sary, because every employer will be IN
such relation TO his employees as to rem
der outside arbiters entirely superfiuous.
WAR TAUGHT
MANY THINGS.
81 believe the war has taught rs much
Of this. l believe that a better day il
dawning, and that better understanding
in the future will result between the
men and their employers, and you may
be sure that so far as the navy or so
far as / am concerned. nothing will be
left undOne to spread this gospel OF
fair dealing and Just treatment as the
I cure for labor unrest sO-called.
THE day when a full dinner pail'
represented the highest aim and aspira
tion of leaders of labor, is no more"
the speaker said.
at was the thought of those who in
vented that slogan that given full stom-
ach. the man Of labor would be so we'll
satisfied he would care for naught else,
and would lapse into state of uncon-
cern as to public affairs, leaving the
making and execution of laws to those
who knew so little of the men they en-
ployed as to measure their citizenship By
the capacity Of their stomachs.
In truth, it must be admitted that the
failure of too many men. who earn their
bread by the sweat Of their faces, to use
the ballot the only effective agency for
securing better conditions for toilers,
seemed to Justify this unjust appraise-
ment.
There was a time. not far in the past
either, when the men of labor themselves
used the slogan "a living wage" to in
dicate the goal to which labor aspires.
Today that slogan is antiquated and has
gone into innocuous desuetude.
Men of skill and industry have come
to see that they are entitled to their fair
share of the wealth their brain and
Drawn produces, and they are seeking to
find just and orderly ways TO realize the
pledge made by Jefferson in his first in
augural address. summing up the duty
of those who toll;
''ShalI not take from the mouth of labor
the bread 1t has earned"
Nobody has since SO tersely defined
fronf&nuod on Pare Threel