The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1922-09-05
a rTME FOR ACTION.

lieves that the time is ripe for a con-
certed movement looking to the es-
| adjustment of industrial courts be-
fore which every Industrial dispute in
which any considerable number of
men are involved shall be adjudicated.
It does not contend that the right of
an individual to cease work shall be
disputed, or that any infringement
upon the individual rights shall be
considered, but 1t is contended that
any action carried out under the d.
rection of labor organization and
every concerted action on the part of
the employer with relation to changed
conditions of wages or employment.
may be taken to such court for final
determination.
Kansas and Colorado already have
taken action along this line. Several
other states have the matter under
consideration. But the country can
not wait on the action of individual
states. Industrial disputes are more
frequently becoming national in
scope.
| There can be no doubt, in view of
I the effect of the coal and railroad
strikes, that from q national view
point no bigger question confronts the
country than that involving the power
and responsibility of organized capt
tai and organized labor. These con-
troVersies are not simply a new chap
ter in the eternalIy differing inter
probation of the mutual relationship
1 of capital and labor. They involve,
rather, the relationship of both cap
ital and labor to the public. They
involve the menace to the public that
| group, in order to further its own
ends, to shut the public off from the
fuel and transportation on which it
depends. and to bring domestic suf-
fering and industrial paralysis.
If there were any way in which
labor might strike SO that its evil
results would not fall primarily upon
the public; If there could be a strike
in which, production were maintained
and the only thing stopped were the
profits of the employers from that
production; then the question would
be something different. But under
existing conditions the major damage
wrought by strike is not the loss to
the employer; it is the loss to the
community. Most strikes are not a
direct coercion of the employer; they
are an attempt to coerce the public
into coercing the employer, and they
are most effective in proportion as
they are most damaging to the public
interest.
| The theory that strike of coal
miners or railroad shopmen is a pri-
vate affair, and that it is none of the
public's business, is obsolete. Aban-
donment of a great public service of
any kind, or the withdrawal of any
kind of a public utility. whether or
not it is accompanied by forcible op-
position to strikebreakers, is a critical
matter for the whole community. It
touches not only the welfare of a
class, but vitality concerns the we'll
being of all the people.
This does not mean antagonism to
labor. nor does it mean opposition TO
unions as such. But it does impIy
government Intervention when indus
trial strife contributes to the general
break down of the whole nation while
seeking to further the welfare of a
single class. And it does imply the
principle of abiding by decisions
which are rendered by proper tribu-
nails. Growth of industry in the
United States, of the factory system,
of large units. and of natural monop-
olies. long ago necessitated govern
ment regulation of capital ana man
agemeut. Some forms of capital
combination were forbidden, others
were regulated. Railroads, telephone
companies and gas companies. for ex-
ample, came to be controlled and reg
ulated by commissions. for the general
welfare, and were made to abide by
their rulings.
In view OF what we have lately seen.
1t Is plain that a broad and sound in
quiry is imperative, with the end in
view of applying a like principle to
laoor-either of limiting the size and
growth of labor organization, as the
government has done in certain of the
industries, or of recognizing the in
evitability OF labor MONOPOLY ana
AZ dS ~ uOue WITH public
utilities. by boards and commissions.
There is no uestion of compulsory
work or involuntary servitude in
volved> in this; since the Civil war
there has been no force operative In
this country opposing the right of la
Dor to quit work. Labor has that
power and will continue to have it re-
gardless of the unions. The power of
the unions that requires restraint is of
another kind. 1t is to quit work COL
lectively. suddenly. without warning.
and in defiance of such bodies as the
railroad labor board: to exercise
threats and coercion; to prevent 9TH
ers from peaceably taking the places
OF those who have quit; to paralyze
the industry of the country.