The labor world., 1920-05-08
AMERICA MUST GET RID =
Of ITS VETO CONGRESS-


W SS~ !~b" "~SS~p!~%~
| lceatiRneA Frem Pase -
group of constructive proposals and
demands which expressed the needs
| Of the great masses Of the American
people. These needs are not abstract
things. They are s.ctualities of today.
They are needs that have to, do with
lives in homes and work places each
| day.
1T seems difficult for congress to
| understand, but the things which
| most ultimately concern the multi
tudes are such common place things
as PRICES Of commodities, rental Of
homes, wages received, conditions Of
employment, the right to speak free
ly, to write freely, to assemble freely
and to move freely from place to
place.
The "Verbotep" Idea.
Lay upon any of these subjects
violent hands that repress and re-
strict and you enter, into the inner
happiness and well-being Of the mas
ses. You enter against protest and
'ASAASOI "StSoA4O you ~ uoA OuI
some portion of the fullness of life,
some portion of the spontaneous EN-
thusiasm for life. some bit Of the
spark of life. There can be no re-
preston without destruction. And yet
great portion Of the time and eff
fort of legislators in America since
the signing of the armistice has been
occupied with efforts to conceive and
to- execute some mechanism or device
to interfere with the rights and lib
critics of the great masses of the peo-
pie:
lone of the intolerable and hated
things that was crushed in Germany
with the exit of the kaiser and the
downfall Of his regime, was the 'ver-
boten' idea in government. Forbid
den,' thou shalt not,' these were
Watchwords and accursed words in
the old Germany. They signified the
existence Of a power which had the
right to deny to others rights and
privileges which it could grant to the
elect and the favored. It was the
right to bestow opportunities by ia
vof, unequally.
What Democracy Means.
democracy must mean equality OF
opportunity. It must mean the great
est possible liberty and freedom. 1t
must mean the sovereignty of the
masses. It must mean absence of do
mlnatlon rby a select ruling class or
caste or clique. The people must rule
for the People.
"Congl ess has done much in recent
months 20 indicate hostility to these
principles. These principles fired in
the souls of men the devotion and
the. passion which sustained them in.
the ordeal and the .sacrifice by which
this natien-.was established. Out of
them came that diYine spark: OF; ideal
ism and edeVotion which, is '>>Ameir:ica
and without which America cannot
be-
For Nations :;aVetfare.
+: >When the lanoR *inovelaent of
America warns against Repression and
coepoten and reaction it"speaks for
stAe sxelfare ct NE patioa...' 1T speaks
f2r lhea e., ftberties Of great masses Or
hqslng men nd 5 .1Yo1 en- tile only
yoice ::thiey have: the only expressiotl:
! tnat: can carry the. longing. Of their
hearts and the convictions of their
souls to the ears Of the world.
When the labor movement pro-
tests against the pressure of those
VINO would turn backward the tide of
progress and deny the sunlight to
ll'es but just emerging from the
aafk, 1t speaks with authority. 1t
ntters the cry Of humanity-and in
thls:.adYanced year of our history it
gives form to the reasoned; intelligent
declarations of the thought of an
able, alert citizenship
The labor movement Of America
does speak and it must be heard.
1T speaks for progress.
/ 1T speaks for our established in
stitutions.
tunity. :;
1T speaks for the rights of men
ana women and children.
+ 1T speaks for the one thing that
can save the world and bring solace
| to" its weary spirit
1T speaks in measured denuncia-
ton of every vestige of autocracy.
I And it speaks with determina-
zion to. leave no stone unturned to
t bring fruition and realization to it's
aspirations.
Labor Will Resist.
| / Where the effort is made. in in
dustry to crowd men and women
backward and downward, we will re-
slst and resist and resist, for it is
better to resist and lose than never
| to have resisted.
*Where the effort is made in the
nails OF congress and legislatures. we
| VIII resist and resist and resist
I'VE will resist with all our power
the reelection of those who have
been false to the truth which human
ity placed in them.
I'VE will resist with all our
strength those who have accepted the
suffrage Of men and women who day
by day give service to the country