The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1920-09-04
BISHOP; HtAMS SAYS HE.E + +. f.. !.
NFAv0RoE II! !. PLUMB | !! J B. Plan
Episcopal Peae, One Of the Great American Liberals, Comes
Out Squaey tof Government Ownership and Democratic Ad.
inistaton Of Railroads. Reviews. Industrial Situation.

The Right Reverend G. p. Will.
lliams, Episcopalean bishop Of
Michigan, is one Of the great lib
erals Of. America. He spoke in
Duluth during the war on the new
spirit of democracy and made a
favorable impression :Shere:.#@ He
recently, discussed some f the, is:
Issues before. the Americana people
and paid fine tribute I'D Organ
ICED labor. He indorsed 5the R1lmb
Plan, but indicated thats hg1had
]some: amendments in mind : :5:s:
I'VE are witnessing the breaking
Of SYSTEM" declared Bishop. Will
liarfas. 1.-THE breakdown Of our pres
ent economic system, where wage
earners have the status Of commo-
dities, to be bought and sold like SUI
fgar or steers. The end is bound to
come. It is coming. And leaders Of
the Republican and Democratic par
ties beat their tom toms and perform
their understanding tricks to dis
tract attention from the main issues"
Power of the Landlord.
In every phase OF his discussion, BIZ
shop Williams came back to 1.-The un-
due power, under the present laws,
possessed by the landlords" by, those
who own the earth, the source aof all
the essentials of life, whether they
were landlords of mines, oil wells, or
water-power sites. or city apartment
buildings. :::~-
I'VE hear good deal about the
men not involved in the, steel strike
being thrown out of employm emit be-
cause of it and industry was disor-
! ganized. Scarcely was that broken.
when there was another strike in a
basic industry, coal, with. the same
results That is settled, and right
away the men Of another essential
industry, the railroads, 60 on strike.
After each strike the margin Of sur
plus Of essential, such as coal, grows
smaller. In Detroit, after three. days
of the railroad: strike, the Edison
company had to pull its factory
switches.
This suggests the possibility Of
carefully planned action either to- ex.
either the: employers or labor. zsus,
pect both. The /. w. w. arc work
ing from beneath, it is said. Samuel
Gompers has charged that thecro own
ers of capital are working from
above-both in a deliberate effort to
break the labor unions. 80
Extremes Working Together
1.-THE I. w. w: is. opposed to to- the
crafts, or trades union principles OF
the American Federation Of Labor
! land wants one big union. The own
II ,ers. Of capital, it has. been> charged
want to teach employees a. lesson,
and want to break the American Fed
GRAFTON of Labor, believing they can
easily cope with the. I. w. w. once
they haev gotten rid of the power of
to maintain the: rights of wage earn
ers. So it may be that the revolu-
tionists and the capitalists are <un-
consciously working toward the: same
end. So
1T is universally admitted that othe
conditions are very bad; economic
ally and socially. Everybody Is dis
contented. A few trades have had
their wages advanced faster than the
cost Of living. The great majority
have not. And still the two old par
ties: are inert and incapable Of meet
ing the new conditions. I expect and
rather: hope that the Republicans
will win at the coming Presidential
election, with their reactionary can
didate. I hope this. because il a
low-wage slack time comes durin8-a
Republican administration it will
break the old superstition that such
conditions are caused by the Demo-
Gratis. Strikes and lockouts would
then crystalize the liberal >sentipalat
Of the country, so that in i 80 ! I'VE
would have a great liberal, progress
stve victory at the polls. -.
Folly of Third Party:.3 :
! 1T would be foolish to launch, a
third party at the present time: Third
parties have never accomplished
anything: The old parties can be
mad liberal when the people demand
liberalism. The Prohibition party
did not get prohibition, but: the Old
parties did, whether or not prohibi-
ton was a good thing. The Nom
Partisan league Is gaining it's victo-
! :ies through the agency of the old
parties. And so the liberals of the
!
the machinery Of the old parties"
Bishop Williams briefly" discussed
various successful attempts at de.
mocracy in industry as he5 lhnd d.
stands the term. He illustrated by
citing a piano company where dis
satisfaction was rampant and there
was an output about 50 per cent? <rp@
cient. The workers. were: told that
every saving they made aRbuld he
divided, one-half to the workers. ones
halt to the company. ThefedpoH the
workers themselves eliminated inef-
ficiency and increased the production
efficiency.
1T paid the owners Of the factory
to give the men a square DEAL" BIZ
shop Williams said.
But" the bishop was asked, Sup
pose when the present owners die,
H. FL