New-York tribune., 1922-02-18


romics that are involved in the labor
question is fsr frmer than is generally
the case with our American leaders
Some of the best economists in Eu-
rope are labor leaders. think that
some of the most statesmanlike minds
may be found among labor unionists.
It. becomes of great Importance there
fore Il one is &c attempt a prognosls
Of European affairs to know III what
direction union iabor sentiment is fac
lag.
Attitude of Labor Changed
by Effects Of Great War
The great war, and, still more, its
after effects and developments, have
brought about q highly important fun
tamental change in the general atti-
tuoe CT European organized laoor. 1t
IS change significant of great prom
Use. ! would set it down most at the
head OF the list OF hopeful and prom
ising indications in the DISTURBED bu-
ropean outlook which was formerly
revolutionary.
In later pre-war days the attitude
OF organized labor, broadly speaking.
was clearly Revolutionary. Tie doc
frines Of Marx and later Communists
mad grlpped the minds Of those who
sh"ped organized labor policy. There
Tss general discouragement in regard
E the whole capita .Istic system It's
b'.lfshness was emphasized, the in.
squalitles Of life under It were ragni-
ted.
The failure Of labor to obtain an
adequate voice in industry, or at least
a voice which spoke with the authority
that labor thought it should have, had
made labor c. nical in regard to the
benevolent protestations of capital.
There was an idealistic belief that Il
letter system could be inaugurated
shan the faulty. greedy. intolerant CON
troll which was It's conception Of the
cap1talistic organization of society.
In their condemnation OF the old or
der the ideaiism was not always ex-
pressed. Men came to feel that they
had been defrauded OF their just par
ticipation In the fruits Of their IN
dustry and viewed with exaggerated
emphasis the material Inequalities in
the possessions Of society. They
'ooked with coyetousness on the &c
cunulatlons that rested in hands which
they felt had contributed inadequateiy y
to the creation OF the wealth they held.
Old Order Wiped Out in Day
BY Russia's Revolutionary Drama
The underlying aim Of organized
labor was, therefore, rcvolutlonar,
Labor had ceased TO believe that it
could wrest from the capitalistic order
concessions that would satisfy it's
sense OF justice. Sabotage, rather
than cooperation, came into favor.
The canny policy of doing as little as
one could seemed TO many sort of
class altruism which would multiply
the number of jobs Restrictive union
he ~
try multiplied, until they became a
web made up Of innumerablo strands,
holding back and paralyzing industrial
production
Then came the war, with it's l;mitless
demand upon industry. Labor found
3tself overnight in SO commanding q
position that it could dictate terms
and wages. Under the influence Of the
leT OF supply and demand, aided by q
deprecated currency and rapidly iis-
ing price levels, wages were increased
with rapidity that had never been
\ known before. But these easilv won
! wage concessions failed to increase
production to the point where it could
meet the llmitless demands Of the
military machines.
The national exigencies which had
brought about these startiingly frc-
quent wage revsions demanded that
the cntangllng web of union restric-
tive rules should not interfere with
The production that was vitality neces-
sary. Union labor had to give way in
that respect. The ranks of skilled
labor were diluted by unskilled hands
who were rapidly trained to operate
automatic mach nes. An endless list
Of restrictive shop rules was wiped
more, and on the whole was better
recompensed than ever before.
Then came the great drama in
Russia With amazing ease the whole
capitalistic order IN a nation of l6O,-
100000 people was wiped out and in
It's place an almost complete Com
nunistic social experiment was set up.
Only a New Autocracy
Instead Of World Democracy
Labor looked on with breathless in
terest. Was it possible that one Of the
indirect resU Is of the war was going
to be a world millennium? Would all
the in ustsces OF the old capitalistic
order be swept away and new world
emerge, built on the ideal princip es
Of Communism? There was hard V
time for ardent radicals to sketch in
their own minds the balcst outline Of
such picture before it was seen that
sane men must view Eussias great
experiment with reservations.
A curtain was drawn tightly over
the experience OF Russia. but here and
there we're the slightest openings that
permitted views which showed that the
new society was far from an ideal one
There were q few ardent Communists
who obtained some insight into the
way the new order was working, and
. question rose in their minds with
startling insistence.
They asked whether, after all, life
could be tolerable in a community that
left nothing to individual Initiative.
They saw in Russia the whole eco
nomic life directed by an autocratic
hand. They saw that this Com
munistic experiment rested on a more
complete autocracy than either the
modern or the ancient world had ever
witnessed.
Even radical union labor looked
asf"nce at the idea of Bolshevized
world. Communism in practice pre-
sented some very unpleasant concIu-
sions. Those who had believed that
Communism might turn the earth into
q Garden NJ Eden disrovered that -