Twin city review. [volume] (Champaign, Ill.) 19??-1929, 1922-10-20
WORKER is ONLY ONE JAILED.

Certain senators are preparing the
public mind for a movement in con-
gress to put teeth" in the labor sec
tons of the Cummins-Esch act.
The public is told that decisions by
the railroad labor board will be made
enforceable on capital (meaning CAPT
talists) and labor alike"
This seems fair to the element of
our population that forms its opinions
by reading newspaper headlines, but
organized workers know different.
The public is assured that capital
(meaning capitalists) favor this plan"
Why wouldn't they? 1t would fling
the strike power from the hands of
labor, strip workers of their most
effective weapon and place their lib
erty and welfare in the hands of a
government agency.
A railroad labor board award can
not affect the liberty of a capitalist.
His identity is lost in the corporation
and a corporation cannot be jailed.
A corporation may be fined for violat-
ing an award, but that will be charged
to operating expense and rates
screwed up so that dividends are as
sured, no matter how large the fine.
To talk of failing a capitalist is
ridiculous. One of his managers might
go to Jail, but hired man is not a
capitalist. To conjure an extreme
possibility, let US assume the presi-
dent of a railroad is sent to jail
until he is released by habeas corpus
proceedings. But he, also, is a hired
man. He is not a capitalist.
Who will say that the railroad labor
board would dare reach down into
Wall street and Jail capitalist of the
standing of Mr.. Morgan or Mr.. Kuhn
because one of their corporations
violated an award?
Even were this possible, there yet
remains fundamental difference be-
tween falling workers and failing a
capitalist for violating one of these
awards.
The capitalist is jailed because he
refuses to pay certain wage rate, or
because he objects to improving work.
ing conditions. This is merely differ
ence of opinion between the capitalist
and the labor board. There is no
principle involved between the two
parties. Their standards of living for
the workers is but point of view,
with both insisting that their guess is
correct.
When the worker is jailed because
he suspends work and refuses to ac-
cept the boards decision, his personal
liberty is involved, while dollars is the
only thing involved in the capitalists
case.
The worker refuses to labor under
conditions distasteful to him. He quits
and induces others to quit.
The capitalist can get out of Jail if
he will let the board set wages for
him, just as the interstate commerce
commission sets freight rates for him.
The worker, too, can get out of Jail,
but he must surrender his liberty.
Or, to put it another way-the capt.
talist is in Jail because he clings to
his dollars and the worker is in Jail
because he clings to a free mans
rights.
In the first instance, money is in
volved. In the other instance, human
liberty is involved
The proposal to empower the rail-
road labor board to enforce its awards
hanks back to the middle ages when
boards were given identical powers
now demanded by the national admin
istration.
The only difference is that then the
handeuffers did not indulge in hypo-
crisy and cant to hide their purpose.