The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1920-05-28

sues before the American people with
/ Louis l.. Goodnow of the Detroit News
/ and the interview which resulted was
so good that Labor has decided to re
| produce it in full for the benefit of
its readers. The Bishops endorsement
of the Plumb Plan, although he indi-
Gates he has some amendments in
mind, was especially gratifying.
"The switchman has known a long
time that he can't afford children.
Now he can't afford a wife. He sends
her back home to her parents The
rent hog is primarily responsible-the
grasping landlord.
cts duty this, and duty that, and
duty to the other. 1t is true the
striking switchmen owed a duty to
the general public, but the general
public owes them a duty. If it was
true the wages of switchman ranged
from $3.50 to 1888 a day, it was
enough to drive them to desperation,
and desperate man does not think
of his duty to the public"
SO said the Rt. Rev. Charles d.
Williams, bishop of the Episcopal do
cese Of Michigan. Then he talked of
industrial democracy. He said it would
come, not because it was right, just,
ideal; but because it would pay. 1t
has paid, where tried, he said. He con-
demned the two dominant political
parties utterly, but said hope of bet
ter things lay through them, not
through formation of a third party.
He expects, and rather hopes, for a
reactionary victory in the coming
| Presidential elections, believing such
victory would crystalline and solidfy
liberal sentiment in the country.
Sees the Old Order Breaking
eve are witnessing the breaking
of q system" declared Bishop Will
iams, "the breakdown of our present
economic system, where wage-earners
have the status of commodities, to be
bought and sold like sugar or steers.
The end is bound to come. 1t is com
ing. And leaders of the Republican
and Democratic parties beat their
tom-toms and perform their snake
charming tricks to distract attention
from the main issues"
In every phase of his discussion.
Bishop Williams came back to "the
undue power, under present laws,
possessed by the landlords" by those
who own the earth, the source of all
the essentials of life, whether they
were landlords of mines, of oil wells,
or water-pOwer sites, or city apart
ment buildings.
eve hear a good deal about the
men not involved in the steel strike
being thrown out Of employment be-
cause Of it and industry was dis
organized Scarcely was that brok-
en-, when there was another strike
in a basic industry, coal, with the
same results. That is settled, anC
right away the men Of another essen
tial industry the railroads, go on
strike. After each strike the mar
gin Of surplus of essentials, such as
coal, grows smaller. In Detroit, after
three days of the railroad strike, the
Edison company had to pull its fac.
tory switches.
This suggests the possibility OF
carefully planned action, either tC
exhaust the employers or labor.
suspect both The l. w. w. are
working from beneath, it is said
the owners of capital are working
from above-both in a deliberate eff.
fort to break the labor unions
Hopes for Reactionay Victory
This Year
'The l. w. w. is opposed to the
crafts, or trades union principles Of
the American Federation of Labor
!. and wants one big union. The own
. ers of capital, it has been charged
want to teach employees a lesson,
and want to break the American Fed
GRAFTON of Labor, believing they car
easily enough cope with the |. w. w
once they have gotten rid of the
power of the American Federation OF
Labor to maintain the rights OF
wage-earners. SO it may be that the
Irevolutionists and the capitalists are
unconsciously working toward the
same end.
at is universally admitted that
conditions are very bad, economi-
cally and socially. Everybody is dis
contended. A few trades have had
their wages advanced faster than the
cost of living. The great majority
have not And still the two ole
parties are inert and incapable of
meeting the new conditions. l ex-
pGOL anu IdGllCI IlOpc JiletG InS INepuD-
licans will win at the coming Presi-
Dental election, with a reactionary
candidate. | hope this, because il
a low-wage, slack time comes during
Republican administration it will
break the old superstition that
/. such conditions are caused by the
Democrats. Strikes and lockouts
would then crystalize the liberal sen.
timent of the country, so that in
1924 we would have a great liberal
progressive victory at the polls.
at would be foolish to launch q
third party at the present time
Third parties have never accomplish.
ed anything. The old parties can be
made liberal when the people de-
mand liberalism. The Prohibition
Party did not get prohibition, but
the old parties did, whether or moi
prohibition was good thing. The
Non-Partisan League is gaining its
victories through the agency of the
old parties. And so the liberals OF
the country can gain their ends
through the machinery of the ole
parties"
Democracy in Industry Makes for
Efficiency
Bishop Williams briefly discussed
various successful attempts at de
mocracy in industry as he under
stands the term He illustrated by
/ citing a piano company where dis
satisfaction was rampant and Their,
was an output about so per cen
efficient. The workers were tolc
that every saving they made woulC