The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1920-03-25

IgNWgH he setting was superb Great
mountains raised scared and rugged peaks
high toward heaven; thousands of acres of
unharmed forest; and beauty of sky and
exhileration of air only to be found at great
elevation, gave to the scene beauty and
grandeur all its own, while watched scores
of openings in the earths surface through
which gas and steam and bubbling waters
were escaping, and the query came to my
lips, Can all this beauty and satisfaction
last? May it not be some day the hidden
and heated forces of destruction that under
lie the earth's crust and that here come so
close to the surface, will burst forth with ir-
resistible power and destroy the beauties of
nature and the satisfaction of men,"
Just so a like query must come to
thoughtful men who seriously consider what
is going on in the world. At no time in his
tory, has the pleasures and satisfactions of
men been so numerous or so easily obtained
as now; nor have the aims and strivings of
men been so generally accomplished. Yet
and economic world on which we live, are
coming signs ard constantly growing louder
explosions which show the presence of hid
den heated forces, that may burst forth and
destroy. So many are the evidences of this
possibility, so loud are the warnings of forces
of destruction, so constant are acts in con-
tempt of law and social obligation, that we
should stop, look, and listen.
The great source of discomfort and
worry, not alone in the United States, but in
Europe as we'll, has been named the Indus
trial or Labor problem, but it includes
questions of social and national existence.
This problem has usually been presented
as contest between capital and labor over
the distribution of earnings derived from
their action. For many years the steps that
have been taken to organize handworkers to
gain for themselves the privilege of collective
bargaining, to secure shorter hours, and more
healthful working conditions in shop and
mine, have met with general approval,
though some of this action taken has been
selfish and destructive to public order and
veal. With the opening of the great war
new conditions were developed with great
waste and extravaganza resulting. Prices
quickly rose and money became more plenti-
full than either goods or services. When the
war suddenly ceased the facts throughout the
world were the high cost of living, and the
inability of men to 60 back to their former
mode of life and compensation. Enemies of
order and liberty spread the propaganda of
social and industrial revolution, until now
the problem is not only industrial and econo-
mic, but political as well.
DR.. Nicolas Murray Butler puts it this
way: "Must the American form of govern
ment commit suicide in order to give to in
dustry better and more satisfactory organi-
zation. If the American form of govern
ment commits suicide, it will make no differ
ence whether industry is better organized or
not. Chaos will have come again and the
right to rule men will be fought for with
the usual result Might will dethrone right,
and there will be only darkness where now
there is light"
The air is full of ultimatums. We hear,
that unless certain things are done or certain
prices paid, given industry will be forced
to suspend operation until the strike is lifted.
The late steel strike is good illustration,
and is also a good example of how not to
deal with the labor problem. Steel is used
in nearly all of mans business activities and
strike or stoppage of the steel output means
brake set against the production of all in
dustry. And as all labor must be paid from
production, then lessening of production
means less wages for labor and less supply
for all of the worlds activities. The terms
demanded by the steel strike makers were
more dangerous than the Austrian ultima
tum to Serbia, or the German raid through
Belgium. The very principles for which we
SO recently fought with military weapons
are now threatened by attacks against our
ideas of economical justice. Should not the