The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-02-14

1 New York, Feb, 14.-Who belong i to the middle class?
 Wilmot l.. Morehouse of 59 Court street, Brooklyn, founder of the Mid dle Class Union, and his friend and partner, Joseph Wolff, one of the in corporators of the union purse their lips, shake their heads and refuse to commit themselves on this highly 1 debatable point.
 The papers of the union are still at Albany awaiting the approval of the State Department. Meanwhile thou sands of letters from all parts of the ] State and from New Jersey have de- l manded of MT. Warehouse that the writers be enrolled in the great mid 1 dle class army.
 | where do you draw the line that separates the middle class from the capita1itic class and from the laboring | class?'' MT. Morehouse was asked. q won't draw the line," was the reply. They'll have to draw the line l themselves
 ''grhen anybody who wants to belong | to the middle class union can do so, even if he works with his hands or lives on his capita1?"
 | Certainly" said MT. Warehouse.
 "Of course, we all know there Is a body that does not constitute the |
 of fact, there is just as much class
 distinction in this country as there
 is in any country in the world except India, perhaps. None of these people
 who have written to me have ob- : jected to being ranked with the mid
 dle class.''
 NJ Morehouse took up a great
 sheaf of letters signed by managers
 of big business houses, engineers, ad-
 vertising men, newspaper writers, members of business firms, contract
 ors, clerks, government employees,
 etc., all c1amoring to become mem
 bers of the Middle Class Union.
 Could John D. Rockefeller belong
 to the union?'' he was asked.
 "He could beIong.' was the reply.
 "But wouldn't vote for him for the
 union president
 How about plumbers
 *'Yes, they can belong," admitted
 MT. Warehouse. "But I do not ac-
 cept the responsibility of deciding
 who is eligible
 MT. Morehouse is a lawyer. He re-
 fused to answer on the ground that whatever he said might be used
 against him.
 will clerks be eligible?" was the
 next query.
 Certainly he exploded They're , 1 the ones who need the Middle Class
 Union most-clerks, teachers, news
 paper writers and the other people who have never been organized"
 eve have received an application from a woman who resides on West End avenue" said MT. Wolff, "and !, she states that all the residents of that part of the city, including those on Riverside Drive, are eligible to
 membership with the exception of Charles M. Schwab. She is the owner of the apartment in which she lives and well-to-do woman, but she
 doesn't object to being put in the ! middle class, in fact she wants to be recognized as member of that 7 class.''
 What would you do if the labor unions joined the union and swamped the middle class menlbers?" 7 "They couldn't" stutly averred MT. ! Morehouse. There are eighty of us to every twenty of them." Would all artists, writers and mu-
 sicians be eligible to the union ?" Absolutely" said MT. Morehouse, t and shopkeepers would be eligible
 also.'
 g But don't t1ley belong to the capi- ] talfstic class?"
 "Only in a narrow sense." said MT.
 Warehouse. "A man who owns a D s2,000 mortgage may be rated as be- longing to the capitalistic class by someIpeople, but it wouldn't be just.' 5 There aren't going to be upper and 5 | lower r9lidd1e classes in MT. More | housess union, as he does not feel that
 American society is subdivided that Q far.
 . But all the old Knickerbocker fam n l lilies will be eligible, and the First | Families of Virginia, and the Frist n | Families of Boston and those of Phil
 adelphia. MT. Warehouses own fam- e fly came from England in 1640 but he t doesn't feel that fact puts him ir y the capitalistic class
 | When the union is incorporated }. Statewide organizat ton will be sought : The immediate purpose of the organi. = zation is to provide a way whereby
 the middle class may make itself fel
 in disputes between labor and capita S which affect the interests of the pub b | ic at large. When the union gets in. 1 ;1 working shape it will uYoha bIv +olx.