Evening star., 1922-06-18
BY THOMAS r.. MARSHALL.
Former Vice President Of the
United States.


EDINBURGH. June 3, 1922.
He who comes to Scotland to find
any definite truth of which he
was not possessed before he start
ed will be disappointed. Truth
may be at the bottom of some
we'll in Scotland, but no one seems
to know where the well is. In
fact, l wonder what use Scotland
would have for a well as the ma
9ional drink is not water but
whisky.
One is surprised not to find desc
lation as war aftermath. He
would expect that the loss of life
would have nearly exhausted the
man power of Scotland and that
here, if anywhere on earth. labor
would be at premium. Yet the
economic life seems to be much
the same as that of other peoples.
Thousands of ex-service men are
out of employment and partial
reason for this may be found in
the disrupted condition generally
OF the financial system of the
world.
Even the cab driver knows that
something Is wrong with finance.
I had no sooner tossed my bag
into the taxi when the driver. a
red-cheeked. jolly chap. exclaimed.
That's right, take good care OF
the bullion. were needing it over
here" The merest tyro In eco
nomic conditions is able to note
how exchange affects the worlds
business life. and the canny Scot.
If you 90 not look out. will give
YOU an American dime for an Eng
lsh six pence. thus in a measure
helping to restore the parity. But
moving cause. as exchange Is. OIL
the disturbance in the worlds
work, it is not exclusive nor in my
opinion controlling.
X 4 + X
Nautilus thought he had dis
covered a law which disclosed that
war and famine and pestilence
were necessary adjuncts to the
economy of the world. Before
statistics were kept he definitely
proved. at least to his own satis-
faction, that these evils were the
way in which a glut of population
might he disposed of. But Scot
land offers another disproof of his
theory. 1t is not lack of man
power. but rather an inability or
unwillingness to work. which is
delaying rehabilitation of the
business life Of the country.
1t is not mine to Judge OF Che
right or the wrong of the contro-
versv going on. Hence my sug-
gAstion that I had not been en-
abled to ascertain any ultimate
truth which I had not carried with
me from America. / have found
OF mankind are concerned. the
people of Scotland are very much
like the people Of the United
States-even like the people of
my own Indiana.
On one hand I hear that fair
measure of prosperity might be
returned and unemployment re-
duced to minimum il 1t were not
for the persistent efforts of labor
unions to maintain the war scale
of wages. Assertion is made that
sacrifices of labor in the cause of
liberty were largely vocal. and
complaint is more than passing
that because of new postwar
spirit that has come over him, the
laboring man. who formerly was
anxious to do what he could. now
does only what he has to do and
no more.
X X X 4
From the other side I hear that
employers are attempting by sue
cesstve cuts to restore the wage
scale of 1914. and incidentally to
destroy unionism.
With the employer declaring
that the moment he attempts to
approach compromise or adjust
ment his concessions are rejected.
and with unionists suspicious that
their organizations are being un-'
determined. is it not natural that I
fail to detect any particular diff
ference in conditions here and at
homeo
There is. however, one element
in the controversy here between
unionism and the employers which
is lacking in America. Laboring
women are rebelling against the
union. They frankly declare that
what they want is work-not con-
troversy While they would pre-
fer short hours and high wages,
they are willing to take longer
hours and less wages. rather than
remain idle.
Women did much of the work