The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1920-04-15


production is the labor charge, the
wages Of the men. The employee man
ager set himself to his task. Ona. o.
ject, one thought, was always before
him-keep down wages. He drtffed
this Idea Into his staff, his. suparinI
tendents, his foremen. The first COM
maAdment of Big Business to him WA
make dividends or quit"
Evil in oxar-cApitalization.
Frequently these large industrial
corpora tions were greatly ovsreaDatal-
lied A corporation representing an
actaal investment Of $10O,OOe,O0 wps
organized for $5OO,OO0OO0. 1t didn't
take . fnancieF to see that $4O0;O ~
of IT'S eapitaHzatioH was wind, watsF,
fake-a lie. The law that gave TIE
corporation a right to exist feESot 70
keep 1t under control. The stock
was sold, shares representing Seton
As well as those representing value.
The Captain OF Industry spoke Of the
$4OO, 9OO, 600 Of overcapitaIizatien - .
melon" The law should have writ
ten Il down larceny. The selling Of
this stock was nothing more or les
than obtaining money under false Pre-
lenses When a working man Oh
tanned bread under false pretenses he
was sent to. jail When honest men
cried out against this grand larceny
they were called muckrAkerS. aSitas
tors, and charged with provoking nm
rest, disturbing business. II thlA dAd
not silence them. paid publicity ted
the world that the stock was hesd ~
widows and orphans; that the st1AcAs
upon 1t were efforts to rob thsnA
The state, the law, the gQvarnnant.
had given dollars the right to organic
A corporation is a union OF dollars ex-
actly as labor union Is On oro4niza-
ton Of men. The men organized as .
matter Of self-defense. They knew the
Individual no longer had . chance to
register bis complaint with the oWnar
and that as an individual the worker
was utterly meaningless In such .
large scheme. When he complained
he was told, Take things as they are,
stop whining; II you don't Ike your
Jobs, quit. There are thousands Of
men waiting to step into your shoes.
One of the first things the corpora
ton did IVES to deny to men the ri9n1
the law give 1.-THE right to organize.
In defiance of their attitude the men
did organize and forged the strike A. .
weapon with which to fight tor their
rights The law had not kept pace
with the times. 1t failed to furnish
protection. 1t failed to provide rea-
sonabIe control over these powerful
big combinations. The men asked for
the privilege of collective bargaining.
1t was a simple request just one;
its meaning is clear. The men wanted
the right to appoint committee 10
represent them and discuss with the
men who hired them the terms Of en-
pIoyment The directors, generally
men who never saw the plant. tele-
graphed the employee boss the man
ager, direction to refuse the demand
for collective bargaining There was
only one reply the men could make.
They made 1t. 1t was force-the
strike. The last twenty-five years
have been filled with strikes, which
created waste and caused hate, which
grew out of the refusal Of Big Busi-
ness to eoncede to men right the law
conferred on it, the right to organize.
capitalistic DupIieity.
When the cost OF living forced men
to ask for an increase In wages they
were often met with the answer. I'VE
can't afford it." The men could not
afford to work longer for the wages
they were getting. because they were
unable to make both ends meet. The
pay envelope was not large enough.
The men pointed to the fact that the
answer given by capital WAS not true.
To show their good faith the capital
lists told the general public. I'VE are
only making 3 per cent on our capital;
men who loan money get per cent"
They did not tell the people they were
receiving 8 per cent 90 100000, 600.
while the real capital invested was
only $1OO.OOO,0OO. The sweat Of men
was being used to pay dividends on
$4OO,0O0,OO0. II the dividends earned
were distributed over the capital actu-
ally invested, s1O0O00,0O0, the profits
would have been shown in their true
light. The reasonableness Of the de-
mand of the men would have been dis
closed. 1t was case Of crooked capt.
talization. lying to protect Its Hl-got-
ten gains. Big Business needs ethics-
Captains Of Industry need ideals.
Let me repeat, the law left the men
helpless They had only one course
Fight, Strike Strikes cause great
public Inconvenience. The people
smarting under hardships condemn
ard blame the strikers Strikes have
another effect that Is even worse.
They harden hate into concrete class
feeling. Strikes are responsible for
the attitude Of mind of many working
men today who say, Il viii do ~ little
.-,-L no v,ocsff,lo for fhA vnun ~ ur~f -