The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-09-05
NEED FAITH AND
COURAGE, DAVIS
TELLS WORKERS
Labor Secretary Asks
Employers to Play
Fair in Wages.

Detroit, Sept 5.-Dedication OF
Labor day, 1921, to the relief of the
nations unemployed was proposed
by Secretary of Labor Davis today
in an address to the workers OF
Detroit.
In the past Labor day has been
holiday in honor of the man who
tolls" declared Secretary Davis
This year it is a day that millions
of our people would celebrate, not
by taking a holiday, but by going
back to work at a job. Labor day
this year dawned on a situation
tha: calls to every loyal American
for the best thought, the mightiest
effort and the strongest faith he
must be dedicated first of all to the
meeting of this imperative human
need of the idle"
Find Work for Idle.
The dedication of the day to the
relief of unemployment estimated
by the labor secretary to number
nearly six millions should carry
with it, he said, a concerted effort
on the part of all Americans, be
they employees or employers. AS
measures of partial relief the sec
retary proposed the undertaking OF
public works, the distribution of
work in mills so that all may have
a job for at least a part of the
week" and the shaking off of fear
and the taking on of faith and cour-
age
Above all we need to shake off
fear and take on faith and courage"
Mr.. Davis asserted. For the lack
of that courage we are neglecting
any number of large undertakings
that would give a mighty shove to
the great stalled engine of Amer
ican production"
The secretary in his address di
rected a message to the employers
Of the nation, declaring:
Message to Employers.
Don't set your wages by the
hungry crowd at the gate to your
mill. That is only a temporary
wage. During the war the pendu-
lum swung over to the side of the
employees. Now it has swung back
to your side Play fair now and
you will do more to stabilize your
business and bring good feeling
than anything else you can do. Keep
in mind the fact that those men
who are swarming around your
gates looking for work are the
same humans as yourself. They
have the same aspirations for their
families that you have for yours.
Regulate matters now for the fu-
ture and play the part of far sighted
wisdom"
To labor the secretary held out
the assurance that in spite of the
occasional hard boiled employer,
no true American business man en-
tertains serious thought of
crushing the workmen's organiza-
tions." Let the open shop mean
what it says-open to ALL" he added.
sWant No Russia Here.-
@Any employer knows that
crushing the unions cannot be
done in the first place: he knows
that 1t would not be safe in any
case We want no Russia in this
country, no hordes of 6isorganized,
leaderless men, reduced to such a
state Of starvation that charity
must go TO their aid"
Opposition to the principle of the
living wage was also expressed by
Mr.. Davis.
81 am against the living wage"
he said. 'It is not enough. We
need to hear something of the saw
ing wage. 1t is not enough for a
man to merely exist, to meet the
cost of living, whatever 1t is: to pay
the rent and buy food and clothing
for his family. A man like the
workman needs - he
he demands something
more than that He wants TO save
and he should and must
be able to do it"