Twin city review. [volume] (Champaign, Ill.) 19??-1929, 1922-01-13
CANT STRIKE" LAW
Is BASED ON IDEAL
OF SUPERIOR CLASS"
IA. z. of L. News Servicel

The cant bLflke wave nos Ae"i''
struck New York and powerful busI-
ness interests in that state are de
handing this legislation. -
As usual, power and greed is blind
to history and present-day expert
ence. England's cant strike" record
Is forgotten, the collapse of this sys-
tenn in Australia is ignored and to-
davis turmoil and dissention in Colo
RADIO and Kansas mean nothing TO
those who would handcuff workers To
their jobs.
Rhetoric, sophistry and legalisms
fail to conceal the yiciousness OF TINS
proposal. Its one-sidedness Is appar-
ent to any 0pen-minded citizen. 1t
not only fails of its purpose but II en-
genders contempt for all law. Work
ers might be forced into obedience,
but they cannot be convinced that they
must-labor against their will in land
dedicated to freedom.
This resentment BODIES i'll for the
theory of equality before the law.
Workers do not fail to note that
only they are denied freedom. No
other element of our citizenship Is
compelled to give service against
their will. No other element is forced
to accept the edict of state tribunal
in matters relating to wages, salary
or other remuneration.
No other element is questioned on
their cost of living or denied the right
to set their own living standard.
II may be said that profits of cor
porations can be limited by taxation,
so wages may be fixed by law.
There is no analogy between profits
and wages, despite contrary reasoning
by superficial men.
The corporation may be taxed, but
no one suggests that the managers OF
the corporation be interfered with.
Their living standard is never charted
with the mathematical exactness that
the workers are subjected to. These
managers have free hand in setting
their own wages and this is a charge
on the corporation before profits are
considered.
No capitalist is ever cited to show
how many limousines, touring cars,
town houses, country estates or trips
to Europe are necessary for him. he
Is the sole judge. He alone sets his
income, charges it as an expense to
his business, the same as interest, de-
probation, etc. After these charges
are cared for, he figures his profit.
To compare the regulation of cor
porations or the limiting of profits
with the regulation of human beings
struggling for wage that assures
decent living standards is to ques-
ton ones intellect.
Neither can defenders of cant
strike" legislation logically plead that
human rights shall be subverted to
Service to the public"
"Service to the public" does not
apply to capitalists who close their
plants and bring suffering to a COM
munity or to monopolies who seize
natural resources.
Service to the public" does not APP
p6ost INTEREST fares, "aetrafe eafdes
and cause general ruin.
Cant strike" legislation revives
the ancient theory of master and
slave, baron and serf. 1t puts work.
ers separate and apart from all other
groups.
1t installs the machinery of the
state in the home of every wage earn
err, while the men responsible for this
condition decry class legislation and
insist that government shall not in
terfere with the individual.
II recalls the theory of ancient
Greece, which is secretly accepted by
those who lack the courage and ability
to openly defend their superior
class" belief.
Twenty-Five centuries ago the
worlds greatest philosophers insisted
that by holding workers to their tasks
intellectual development and moral
perfection of the few were possible.
Although this theory was defended
by the greatest minds the world ever
knew, slavery was swept aside by the
democratizing and humanizing influ-
ences of the ages.
1t is now taken up the second-rate
political accidents, money changers,
traders and other idealless persons
who are interested in nothing but
profit and their own convenience.
They talk of Service to the pub
lic," though their lives are con-
tradiction to this claim. Service" Is
no part of their lives. Their phrases
to fiatter, fool, cajole and exploit the
people are tiresome and lack origin
atty.
Workers oppose cant strike" laws,
and will not recognize them.
The proposal is only worthy of the
contempt of every genuine American.