Omaha daily bee., 1920-02-09
Middle Glass People
Giving Serious Thought
To LabOr's Troubles


These questions not being asked by that part of
the public which is at present receiving income that
affords them personal contentment and who but idly
peruse and vaguely consider those in the
papers which are like bubbles rising through simmer
ing BROTH in their indication of the fire beneath
But there is large body of the people who are de-
voting considerable amount of time to thinking the
situation over, and these belong to that middle class of
SOBER earnesminded individuals, law abiding and pa
riotic who not satisfied with their incomes
pared with the cost of living but who unable to better
their conditions because they do not belong to class
profession in which possible for organization to bring
about better conditions.
These people who do not belong to unions and whose
professions cangs do not admit of unonzed organ
zation, revolt at boshevsm and look askance at the
panaceas offered in sociasm-bu cannot resist the feel
ing that something of kind ought to be done to
hasten readusment of affairs in such to
give them, too, larger share of the enoyments of life
They are class from whom manifestations of Gin
dusrlal unrest have not become apparent. They look,
not with envy n all cases but with degree of longing
for something of the kind for themselves upon the large
paid to classes such the railroad men, and
81 50-an-hour men.
They feel that they really would be willing to Join
in some kind, any kind, of peaceful orderly and dig
nfed upheaval that would help them some, too
This strata of middle class people little thought
of in connection with the prevalent unrest "uneas
ness it might better be called in referring to hem
and outside of acknowledged boIshevss, the |. w. w.
socialists and other radicals large part of the blame
placed by the skinner of surface atons upon the
returned sodiery of the country.
These point to the loud outcry made by the heroes
of the world war when they returned to this country
as did the batch at Newport News last summer and
found men who had not been drafted account of skill
the trades for other earning the undreamed
OF salaries of S1O S2 $40 and high as $50 per
day IN the shpyards compared with the 81 day they
were drawing from the government, and the $40 and
$40 week salaries which they would find on returning
to their old pre-war suations-f they could get these
\ back
But this is vital mistake, as anyone will be con-
vnced who will take the trouble to dig deeply and con-
scientiously into the subject
These returned soldiers are not the ones making
FUSS crlticsng raising complaints 1t will be found
IN the overwhelming percentage of that it is the
man who carried gum and who in fact bore no
of the burden of the war than could be ascrbed to
the extra tax paid indirectly to the government in the
increased cost of daily necessities.
That the soldiers may be found infected with the
feelings described, in with the balance of the
middle class population is to be admitted but they do So
not as body class, with any consciousness
of their sodiery character but rather as individual cti
zens.
What is the remedy for the situation.
For the classes of people described it lies in the
evolution of theories advanced by leaders of the old
parties into ascertaned and accomplished facts and
II ditions
But
They may drift further if action is delayed to the
breaking point and instead of sincerity they are greeted
with of the political hokum that has been
placed on the political table in the past during election
days.