The Connecticut labor press., 1920-06-12

| pOnement after pOStpOnement.
 The appeals of the Wage-earners for
 relief from profteering, relief from the
 high cost of living, relief from reduc-
 tion of wages, have been made under
 conditions most aggravating, onl'r tc
 be met with deception, If not treaChery | Abuse has been heaped upon them and
 they have been charged with every man. ner of social crime.
 Not only have the workers been de
 nied the proper adjustment of wages
 to meet the cost of living, not only has
 there been no effective action on the
 part of a government supposed to be | representative, but there has been, on
 the contrary, legislation the only effect
 of which can be to aggravate a situa-
 tion already delicate to the point of
 danger. Typical of the legislation is the | Esch-Cunmins railroad law, under the provision of which strikes are to all
 intents and purposes unlawful, for 1 there can be no adjustment of wages
 while a strike Is i'll progress. Of simi- | lar general trend was the peace-time sedition bill, which failed to become a l law only because the organized labor | movement by most energetic measures | succeeded in bringing about its defeat l A further example is the Kansas court | of industrial relations law, which makes l 1t unlawful for workers to cease work to strike. This law which already | has made many hundreds of working people violators of the law, is being | seriously considered in a number of other states and unless there is the | greatest vigilance it will undoubtedly ed its way on the statute books of those states where reaction is most rampant. 50 the proof of legislative incom- | petence accumulates. So the indictment | against the Goth Congress grows.
 But this does not end the story. The | courts bring their assistance to those l people To cite one decision-a decis-
 ion of the United States Supreme | Court: Great corporations may now
 evade the payment of income tax by | declaring dividends payable i'll the form ! of stock instead of i'll cash. The l Supreme Court has decided that stock dividends are not subject to income tax. l This Is a relief of which a number of corporations have already availed them selves. It adds to the burden that Is
 upon the shoulders of the people. It adds to the aggravation under which they seek to conduct themselves patient | ly, with order and in accord with their
 traditions and discipline
 While the legislative administrative
 and judicial divisions of the government ] have done nothing of any moment to check the rising cost of living, to re- l lieve the people from the burden of
 exploitation and robbery, they have not even left the workers free to use tfieir economic power to secure for them selves such relief as might be possible l through the use of that power. The workers have one final argument for use when all measures fail to secure justice the right to cease work, the right to strike. This argument Is an effective l argument. They have placed higher valuation upon cotltinuit-r of production l than has been placed there by our legis- l 1ators. But Congress, while neglecting | to perform its own plain duty, while allowing prohteering, exploitation and l commercial piracy to continue, has sought to place a curb upon the econ omic activities ofthe workers by re- strictive and coercive measures, the ob- | ject of which Is to make the strike ur- 1 lawful. Failing to protect the people, l Congress would deprive the people of | the means of protecting themselves.
 There Is a tendency abroad to de- isscribe as t1n-American those who effec- l lively. resent the injustice and iniqu1t1es l of our time. It is to be regretted that
 statesmanship is so short-sighted De-
 mocracy III order to perpetuate itself
 must function. If from one source there
 are efforts to destroy the principles of democracy, to make 1t impossible for
 democracy to function, there must be 1 from some other source efforts, to com | bat that destruction Those who are
 responsible for the evil will, of course,
 seek to demean and to defame those | xuh aff fc fn the democracy of the country and the | liberty and the welfare of its people,
 "The employers, the bourpons of in- dustry and politics, have for months been engaged i'll an insidious warfare | upon the workers. For months they have been fighting battle of stealth
 and indirection for the purpose of
 weakening. if not destroying the trade
 union movement The armistice in the
 great war to make the world safe for democracy brought with it no armistice
 in the conflict to undermine the pro-
 cesses of democracy at home.
 Coal miners, confronted with situa- ton similar to that under which the
 railroad workers have suffered for two years, sought relief finally through stoppage of work. Again there was the
 attempt to pile delay upon delay, ex-
 cuse upon excuse, and there was the effort, through the mandatory ill unc- 1 ton to compel the mir CTS to refrain | from doing what they h'd lawful right
 to do. Finally after months and months
 of negotiation and conflict, an increase
 of approximately 40 ccl,rs per ton has l been gained for the n.rers, whereupon
 notice Is served that the eCnsufher must
 pay an advance of $2 per lon! Surely | the operators of coal mines have de- | clared no armistice.
 Through the whole period that has | elapsed since November II, 1o18 the | American political and industrial bour- | bons have laid course of p1under, re- | striction and coercion. There has been
 an abandon and a ruthlessness worthy of high seas piracy. Buccaneering tao tics have been used in the conflict and
 management of industry without regard
 to the needs of society or of the work l CTS. Politician has played hand and glove with industrial monarch to press
 upon the people the burdens of indus trial empire
 Out of this repression and out of this ruthless exploitation and prohteer- ing there has been bred among the
 working people deep and stern re- sentiment.
 There must be deep cutting measures taken to guard the nations distribu- tive machinery against assaults from the pirates of commerce and trade. To that
 end it is necessary that there be:
 First. Immediate adjustments