Omaha daily bee., 1920-01-26


fount of Americanism was the New
England town meeting; represent,
ing free association, free discussion
common effort. But the masses oi
foreigners in many industries are
prevented from having either free
associations among themselves to at
feet their own lives, or free associa.
ton or cooperation with the man.
agement to make industry more eff
ficient and productive. And in some
cases the conditions of their en-
ployment are such that they could
not possibly avail themselves OF
such agencies of Characterization"
if they had them.
What Serbian Said.
met a Serbian steel worker at
Gary, who said to me passionately:
They accuse us of not becoming
! Americans. When do we get time.
Can a man working in blast fur
nace-and anybody knows that amt
no boys job-l2 hours a day, or
even 10 hours, get time to learn
English--or learn anything else?
What in hell do they expect Of us?"
They have, indeed, night schools
in Gary and in other steel centers,
but as one teacher told me plain
lively, not many come for very long.
They can't keep awake" Ne said.
Father Kazincy, a Polish priest in
Pennsylvania, bitterly complained
of the long hours and Sunday work
t. the senate committee because his
people could not have any religion" :"
He said regarding the Ainericaniza-
ton schools:
They are not very great sue
cess for the simple reason that the
men are overworked and they do
not feel like going to the schools
and depriving their families of their
company after these long hours.
Sundays they have none, for most
OF them 60 to work"
Faults of Onions.
In spite of all the faults and ex-
cesses of labor unionism-and they
are many--I think no one who stud
les the situation honestly can es-
cape the conclusion that it is one of
the very greatest of all agencies of
Americanization for these foreign
ers: for here they really practice
free association, free speech, free &C
ton. Unionism today is almost the
only agency that is free from any
distinctions of race, or previous
condition of servitude." I once in
vestigated strike among the cloth
ing workers in New York. ! found
in the union Jews. Americans, Ger
mans, Italians, Lithuanians, Poles,
and even Irish and Scotch, all work
ing together in a common cause. No
other force tends more strongly to
secure the amalgamation OF these
diverse peoples or to inspire them
with common public opinion than
these unions. Today, I believe the
unions in the clothing industry in
America, which are now co-operat-
ing fully with the employers, are
doing more to hold their own radical
elements in check-by, the force of
their own inner public opinion
than any policy of outside force and
deportation on the part of the gov
ernment could possibly do.
The American elements in our
population arc fully as much in need
of training in Americanism as most
of the foreignersa for America;lism
is not language, but certain free
and generous point of vicw.a 1t IS a
spirit; an attitude toward life: full
acceptance Of the idea that all men
should have free opportunity for the
development of the best that IS in
them. 1t cannot look upon any man
as a mere cog in a machine, as do
those who believe in the commodity
theory Of labor, nor yet as a ma
chine, as the early and orthodox
scientific managers seemed to do;
but he must be considered as a ku-
man being. And in considerable
part Of American industry today this
kind of real Americanism is denied
the workers, and denied them by
Americans. 1t is the great funda-
mental error of our system.
There must be, in short, real ap-
plication of the principles of Amer
lean democracy to industry-"a full
recognition OF the right of those who
work, in whatever rank" as Presi-
dent Wilson expresses it, ITO part!ci-
pate in some organic way in every
decision which directly affects their
welfare or the part they play in in
dustry."
What Hoover Says.
Herbert Hoover expresses the
same idea in another way:
"The paramount business of
every American today is this busi-
ness of finding a solution to these
issues. but this solution must be
found by Americans, in a practical
way, based upon Ameri-
can ideas, on American philosophy
of life"
He says that the primary ques-
ton is the better division of the
products of industry and the steady |
development of higher productiv-
ity." There must be better distri.
button of profits" and maximum
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