The Elk Mountain pilot., 1921-03-17
a WORLD CONSCIENCE AT LAST


Mr.. Wilson's former Secretary of
State, Mr.. Colby, now his partner in
the practice of law, struck the high
water mark in ebbing and flowing of
the tides in international affairs
which are leading on to an inter-
national conscience. in certain re-
mark of his in his refusal to trade
with Russia.
Mr.. Colby said that such trade
ought not be undertaken for the
reason that the Russians had nothing
with which to pay for American
goods except gold and that the gold
did not belong to the parties who
were offering it to American manu-
facturers. He strongly intimated
that to accept it would be serious
blot on a we'll known moral char
acter of American profiteers, that it
would be accepting unclean gold in
exchange for American goods, pro-
duced under the faultless moral con-
ditions prevailing in this country. In
this he may have been in error as to
his facts but the moral principle is
sound-that trading in stolen goods
is not really a nice thing for nice
people to do.
In this connection, there is fur
Their announcement that also strong
ly suggests the coming of an inter
national trade. Mr. Colby had before
him the proposal of the conscience
less Bolsheviki, to trade Russian gold
for American goods but the Bolshe-
wiki had stipulated that the goods
must bear the union liable. They in
timated that the products of the
American "scab" shops would not
be acceptable.
The czar had robbed the Russian
people of the gold. The Russians had
overthrown the rober and had rescued
the stolen goods which they proposed
to exchange for stuff which they
could use to better advantage than
they could use gold. But Colby said,
"no.'
The American manufacturers were
then exchanging American goods
made with non-union labor on credit
with great Britain and France. The
Yankees were delivering their goods
Immediately but were and still are
waiting for payment until France
could get its gold bricks from the
German working people who were re-
quired to produce them without
straw and to deliver them without
reward and no question of conscience
had arisen in Europe as to the moral
cleanliness of the American 'sscab"
made goods or as to the German gold
yet to be obtained by force.
The Americans never hesitated tG.
take the Russian gold as long as, it
was in the cars hands. To be sure
he had taken it by force but it
was his gold anyway. 1t became un-
clean only when the people had res
cued the stolen property and offered
it in exchange for goods to be pro-
duced under conditions fair to human
labor.
Mr. Colby was in a very embarras-
sing position. He could not accept
the Russian gold in exchange for
union-made goods without seriously
rejecting on the morality of the
"scab' shops in this country. The
Bolsheviki were in like embarras-
sing position. They could not accept
the 'scab'' made goods of this
country without lowering their stand
ard of justice for the workers of all
countries.
Possibly neither Colby nor the Boil
shevili were sincere in their utter
ances but that does not matter The
word has been spoken. There is to be
a conscience in international trade.
Labor in all countries is to be pro-
tected by raising the standards of
living in all other countries.
r#.
The workers of Germany cannot be
compelled to produce a hundred bill
lions of dollars worth of goods in
excess of their bare subsistence-not
even for war indemnities, without
filing the worlds markets with the
products of unpaid labor. That
would mean, first glut and then
disaster to all countries. The work.
ers of France, of Great Britain
and of America cannot consent to