The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1921-12-02
Why So Numerous.

Why are they so persistent?
because so many men hereabouts
are getting the idea that they are re-
ceiving an unfair share Of the goods
they produce; because 30 many men
read and hear that they are being
robbed BY the employers; because 30
many men are so exasperated by q
new sense of injustice that they would
almost rather fight than eat.
There are other causes, but this one
is unusually powerful just now. Every
man i'm business finance, and industry
must reckon with the facts, but how
many pause 10 get acquainted with
them?
How rrany business men realize
that every night 5000 to 1000 mel
and women gather in Chicago's assem-
bly, halls to hear speakers tell them
| that, no matter how high their wages.
they are being robbed of more than
they get?
How, many realize that nearly every
| week some great meeting of 5000 per-
sons is held to teach the same doc
trine. preach the same exasperating
lesson?
How many have heard the words
| that fall like firebrands to scorch and
w,ther industry, or how many have
| taken time to read the pamphlets that,
scattered abroad by the million, feed
| the flames of Industrial disorganiza-
ton and discomfort?
We do not refer here to the social
reformers.
We DO Not Refer.
Nor have we in mind the liberal
teachers and preachers who seek
only the facts regarding the indus
II trial riOhfQ q nd Of he
We refer only to the men who would
destroy the present order of business
finance and industry simply because
1t Is the present order-the pure and
| simple revolutionists.
What is the use Of talking indus
trial recovery, peace and prosperity
| with a man who Is truly convinced
that he is getting only half the pay
due him? He will strike sooner or
later good wages or Door; il is hu
man he should.
A dozen pamphlets lie before the
writer. Each one is poison to bust.
ness revival and prosperity. One
writer-a yoman-sets out to prove
that the man getting SO produces sl2
worth of goods a day. She allows
that raw materials, etc. cost So
What becomes of the other So. The
employer steals it. The worker gets
SO and is robbed Of IS. Once con.
WINGED Of this. would not pretty
nearly any human being feel ready
to hang UP the sheriff and tear down
the Jail? Would he be deferred by
any Industrial figures or bank presi
dents speeches on the return Of
prosperity and employment?
Hardly.
AN Academic Pamphlet.
Another pamphlet comes to the
same thing, only it. Is a little more
academic. The worker produces
| everything that is not produced, ready
| for use, by the soil. He gets in wages
only rs per cent.
Therefore, he is robbed of the rest
The rest Of the pamphlets tell the
same story. They are not correct
Any intelligent Socialist would teal
them to shreds. But they are plausi
| BILE; they have the authority of cold
print: and they are cleverly calculated
to excite resentment and exaspera
ton. They circulate today in Illinois
| by the million and are read by tens Of
| thousands. OF course, there is a cure
| for the poison. 1t is the truth.
man does not have to admire capital
| ism to know 1t. The country Is full
Of radicals who see 1t.
Twenty or thirty years ago labor's
share of the product was one-half
interest, rent, profits, insurance, etc.
took the rest. Later labor's share Il
supposed to have risen above go PEI
cent. At the beginning Of the war Il
was 63 to 81 per cent in large mum
her of selected industries. Two years
ago 1t was figured at more than 7(
per cent. Today it is probably a little
less.
That is a situation to be reckoned
with. There is no space here to argue
the questions that arise in connection
with IL. to defend any system OF In
dustry that exists or may exist In the
future. The purpose is merely to SET
forth one of the half-hidden forces
that retard prosperity.