The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-11-04
LETTERS TO EDITOR
TWO VIEWPOINTS

To the Editor of The Age-Herad:
 I heard a discussion yesterday between capitalist and labor leader. The former as- serted that law should be enacted making it unlawful to strike and that voters should send men to Congress who favor such law. The labor leader admitted that Congress could enact such law, but thought it inadvisable because there would have to be certain pensations granted that might bear more heavily on the public than strikers.
 If men are denied the right to strike, and thus placed in involuntary servitudoe to a cer- tain extent, then they must be given cer- tainty of employment, a living wage, old age pensions, seniority rights and put under civil service rules. The postal employees of the government never strike because there is no need for them to strike.
 As to strikes, the labor leader pointed out That there had been no railroad strike since 1893 until the strike of the present year.
 The capitalist said he was not opposed to collective bargaining or collective quitting, but did oppose the use of force in preventing other men from working. Local employees should settle differences with employers and not look to walking delegates who were not familiar with local conditions.
 The labor leader replied that collective bar gaining simply means organization, and employ CTS have their organizations.
 Wages of men in industrial pursuits are out of proportion to the wages of farm laborers, said the capitalist These latter get $28 a month and board, which is one-third the amount received by industrial workers. A bricklayer gets over $1 an hour and his daily wage equals the value of wheat grown one acre. The farmer invests money in land, ma chinery etc., yet his income does not equal that of the man who works with only his hands,
 To this the labor leader said: 'fYou must re- member that mechanics are skilled workmen and that their work entails many risks to life and limb, and their living expenses are greater than those of men on the farm."
 The capitalist made the point that indi- vidual citizens do not fight but submit their differences to the courts, and that capital and labor should do the same.
 The labor leader said he was not opposed to arbitration if fairly conducted, but that the seats of justice were too often occupied by those whose sympathies were with the capital ists.
 Capitalist: "The average working man lives in a rented house and pays but little if any tax, and his children are educated at the ex- pense of those who pay the taxes"
 Labor leader: "Many rich men dodge taxes by investing in non-taxable securities. The churches build sanitariums that are tax free. Trinity church in New York owns tenements that pay no tax and are so dilapidated as to cause public protest"
 Capitalist "Our colleges should educate boys in mechanics so that in a railroad strike men could be found to run the locomotives"
 Labor leader: Tt is not knowledge of his en- zine that makes engineer valuable, but knowledge of the road, it's signals, rules, etc., and this knowledge cannot be acquTed except by practical experience extending over several months" D. B. GRACE.
 Birmingham, November 1, 1922.