Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-05-22
The HQSkin Letter 50 r : %ssz


ABOR TROUBLES
since the days of the sons Of Mary
and the SONS of Martha, and in their
minds only eternal vigilance and con
slant struggle can guarantee them in
dustrial and economic freedom.
On the other hand, many well-in-
formed and well-meaning employers see
Ia menace to established institutions
and property rights in the labor move
ment. Radicals and radicalism within
the ranks of labor, which are arraigned
and denounced even by labor leaders
such as Samuel Gompers, arouses a
fear that chills the hearts of these
employers. Bolshevism, to them, is q
spectre that will not down. In the
! spread of trades-unionism they read
a plan of the workers to dominate all
industry and conduct it for the benefit
of the workers alone. Confiscation OF
capital is the. real goal of extremists in
the labor group, according to these en-
ployers, and some of them 60 so far
as to say that IF you scratch my
trades-unionist he will bleed radical.
ism"
No matter which side is right. OF
whether each is partly right and part
ly wrong, the important fact from the
viewpoint of the industrial relations
expert is that fear turks in the minds
and hearts of every individual on both
sides. When men are dominated or
actuated by fear their every faculty is
impaired. Their vision is distorted.
Their judgments are unsound. Their
reason gives way to impulse, and their
strength, alertness and skill are sap
ped.
A Case in Point
A specific illustration that is very
much a case in point is to be found in
the West Virginia coal controversy.
which has been featured by a little bit
of everything from strikes to civil war.
with a climax of murder and treason
trials now on the stage in old Charles
town. West Virginia independent coal
operators decided that their employees
should not be unionized and that the
United Mine Workers of America
should be barred from the counties in
which their mines are located. Certain
of the employers, on the other hand,
decided that they had a right to be-
long to a union and that they would
exercise that right. The union, as an
organization, decided that it had a
right to send organizers into those
counties to assist the miners in per-
fecting their locals, and that it would
exercise that right. Thus an impasse
was established.
The first resource of the operators
was to intimidation. The operators do
not call it intimidation; they say that
they merely exercised their constitu-
tional rights to refuse to employ any,
body who belonged to a union. Where
upon, according to the operators, the
miners and their organizers instituted
a campaign of coercion and reprisal
against which the operators were com
PEELED to take measures to protect
themselves and their properties.
However. whatever it is to be named.
the results of the operators policy
are unquestioned. The miners had in
stilled in their minds the fear OF losing
their jobs. of being evicted from their
homes without notice, of being thown
into Jail. of being beaten or shot by
mine guards and deputy sheriffs. and
Of being driven from communities in
which they had lived for years. There
is no nightmare SO horrible to a work
ing man as the prospect of losing his
job, and of being unable to provide
for those depending upon him.
Driven desperate by such fear, men
will do things that they would never
dream Of doing under normal condi-
tions, for fear begets hatred and re-
venge. Therein lies at least a partial
explanation of much of the lawlcssness
rampant in West Virginia.
Turning to the other side. it is clear
that many of the things done by the
operators which contributed TO mis-
,,ndarCf a nItpuc opl lad 10 trn.thia uara
directly or indirectly the result of fear
zone the less real. One of the operators
told the senate investigating commit
tee that the impelling motive back of
the position he took in the controversy
was a fear that the radicals in the
miners union in conjunction with other
radicals throughout the country might
bring about a revolution as a result of
which industry would be taken over
by the workers. His testimony showed
him to be essentially just and fair
a man of broad vision, and sincerely
DESTROYS of establishing and maintain
ing good relations with his employees.
If such a man can be actuated by such
a fear il can be readily understood how
other operators may have been led into
hastv decisions and made TO take dras-
tic measures by the fear that their
properties might be damaged or de-
stroyed.
None Has Escaped 1t
Apprehension. anxiety. worry and
suspense are but shades or degrees
of fear, and it is not too much TO say
that no man, operator or miner. who
has been involved in the West Virginia
debaclc has been free from them and
their sinister and harmful effects.
When the worker thought his job was
in jeopardy, fear began gnawing
through his very entrails. When the
operator believed his property. or the
property for which he was responsible
to scores of investors. was about TO
be ruined or appropriated, he was be-
set by the worst fear that could assail
him.
In such circumstances. it is not
surprising to observers that the en-
suing industrial warfare in West
Virginia soon became what has been
civil war. necessitating the send
ing in of federal troops to restore law
and order. There was little use talking
about bringing the miners and operators
together. The only way they would
come together was in a head-on col
hsion. with every prospect of some
body's getting hurt.
Political democracy. it has been said.
is founded on q flat denis. that people
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