The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1921-09-02

Cnem nave been apologIZlng Tor huS-
sia's cruel, tyrannical and insane Boil
shevik experiment. They have no
faith in democracy, no real. use for it.
They do not understand or sympa-
thize with the democratic character of
the American labor movement. They
look down on the rank and file, and
offer every encouragement to would
be bosses who believe in driving in
stead of leading, and who would i'm
pose or exploit personal ideas, wreck
ing the whole movement by premature
or unsound, or sophomore fads and
fancies, rather than honestly repre-
sent and voice the convictions of the
rank and file.
Finally, there is another and even
more foolish charge that certain
would-be guides of labor among the
intellectuals are prone to prefer
namely, that it is inconsistent and un-
American to adopt the slogan, ere
ward your friends and defeat your
political enemies" or to advocate the
nomination and election of city, state
and federal lawmakers solely because
of their tested and proved loyalty to
labor and its essential proposals! Bet
ter, say these wiseacres, "a separate
labor party than methodical discrim-
ination against good, nice candidates
who happen to be out of sympathy
with labor If a wage worker is a
citizen, how can he vote solely with
a view to his economic interests and
ignore the larger and deeper national
issues, such as war and peace, tariffs,
trusts, finance, cononial policy, and
the like? Is not narrow trade union
platform class platform ?"
Such farrago of fallacies and
freak pseudo-ideas is hardly worthy
of serious attention, yet some intel
lectuals" indict the leaders of the la
Dor movement precisely on such
rago. 1t is clear that they have not
read the platforms they condemn.
1t is also clear that they do not un-
derstand that it is childish to ask
men to vote for their enemies.
The labor movement is both practi-
cal and idealistic-practical in that it
deals with present problems, present
conditions, and seeks to ameliorate
the lot of the working masses with
out waiting for millennial social
changes; practical, further, because it
believes in accommodation and annie
able relations with all employers who
are amenable to reason and willing to
meet labor half way; and idealistic,
because every benefit, every gain,
every victory won by labor today can
not but facilitate broader and more
fundamental social reforms, and be-
cause nothing labor asks for itself
is selfish or narrow or anti-social,
o4IlOG eiily IllCrSU1S Illctt ilcllJS OlS etlAlAC
labor also helps labor at large, by
raising the standard of living and
strengthening the position of all la
Dor in normal contests with employ
ers or agents of employers.
Since organized labor is not a po-
litical party, nor a sect, nor dog
matte school of reform, nor a combi-
nation to eXtort special privileges ir-
respective of the interests of other So
cial elements, but a body altogether
unique and vital, it's platform is COM
plex and contains diverse elements.
When labor is advised to vote only
for its friends it is not advised to
put candidates into Procrustean bed
and reject all who are not labeled or
thodoX. The men who are deemed