The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-09-06
Senator Harding Tells Why G..
o. P. Helps Working Man.
Reduces II. c. L. and Prevents
Decrease in Wages.
DEPLORES MODERN IDEALS
No Longer Do Employer and
EmplOye Work Together.
Is Chief Speaker at Labor Day
Picnic at Marion.
BY RAYMOND CLAPPER


Marion, Ohio, Sept. 6.-Labor should
with more efficient production as a
means of reducing the cost OF living
without cutting wages. Warren G.
Harding declared at a Labor day pic
mic here today.
Work is the supreme engagement.
the sublime luxury OF life he said, in
extoIling the inward satisfaction of
honest toll.
Lamenting the passing of the old
time intimacy between master and
workman. the Republican candidate
proposed joint committees of en-
ployers and employees, mot to run the
business" but ito promote mutually
Of interest and restore the former con-
tact"
Defends Cummins- Esch Bill.
The human element Harding said, Is
of deepest public concern. but he in
sisted that labor, capital, management
and the consumer are indissolubly
| linked.
Harding spoke to the working men
with utmost frankness. again defend
ing the Cummins- -Esch railroad bill,
which has been under fire of labor
| leaders. and scoring the Plumb plan.
! which is to be defended by a labor
man speaking after Harding.
| The picnic was given by the Marion
| Federation, union men of nearby cities
| attending.
| Opposes Labor Domination.
l. Harding spoke for "volitional arbl-
| tration," unionism and collective bar
gaining, but opposed labor domination
| either in business or government. He
| flayed profiteering as a moral wrong
and economic robbery and criticised
| the administrations stage assaults"
which mostly deal with petty offend
| ers"
Sugar agreements. which add bill
tlion dollars to our sugar bills for a
year, do not indicate know how
which entitled the bunglers to hold
1.-THE job. Harding added. He referred
to that miserable old faisehood" that
a dollar a day is enough for any work
man.
"I think he must have meant dol
lar an hour Harding said. The
menace of the present day is ineffi-
cient production / am not advocating
! the driving. slavish period of toll
hich saps mems energies and appresses
the spirit, but 1 do advocate honest,
| efficient return for proper pay"
Cannot Forbid Strikes.
Turning to a defense of the Cum
lrnins-Esch railroad act. Harding con-
tinued:
This law does not contain an anti
strike clause. You cannot take away
from any man the right to quit his
employment. but it does aim at the
prompt, instant grant of justice, fun
justice: and justice, men, is the best
guarantee of all civilization. 1t does
not interfere with collective bargaining:
on the contrary, it facilitates it. More,
the brief experience already had
lproven that congress has provided the
way to immediate hearing of the
grievances of railway worlmen and
prompt compliance with their just de-
mands- No labor in the world today
lis so fortunately situated as that on
the American railroads.
Let us try out the act and the rail-
way restoration in patience.
"I believe in unionism; I believe in
collective bargaining; I believe the
two have combined to speed labor
toward its just rewards. But I do not
believe in labor's domination Of busi-
ness or government any more than I
do believe that capital shah dominate
I'VE live in an era of collective
endeavor. Capital led the way and
labors organization was not only ma
tural but necessary. 1t has done more
than serve its membership, 1t has
riveted the thoughtful attention of
America to social justice and brought
the fruits thereof"