New-York tribune., 1922-04-08

creative spirit and of confidence be-
tween man and man. The soul Of la
hor has been destroyed by the removal
Of the incentives to labor in the form
OF immediate rewards for creative eff
fort, and by the removal of the impera-
tives of labor, as expressed in the an
cient dictum: "ln the sweat OF thy
face shalt thou cat bread"
Few Among Soviet Rulers
Real Leaders Of Labor
Looking over the constitution of the
Soviet government, how many Of its
membership definitely represent labor :?
Comparatively few. The majority Of
the members of the government are Of
the professional class of radical politi-
cal reformer. Others are young intel
lectuals called in by enthusiasm for a
social crusade. This government is but
little more labor government than any
other government admitting workmen
to its constituency. Labor constituted
Its main reliance for power among the
people. In order to gain the support
Of labor the government had to make
impossible commitments.
In effect the government elevated
labor into a privileged class in a sys-
TEN that demanded the utmost OF
industrial producer. Having thrown
off the bonds of capitalism the govern
ment still had to act with respect to
labor as if it were protecting it against
the evils Of capitalism. While peasants
and railway workers were called upon
to give the last ounce of strength to
the support of the governments eco
nomic experiment. the government was
unable to call upon labor for like
contribution. Labor was still pampered,
hedged about with rules and restric-
tions which, while intended to protect
the workingman, served to restrict the
service he performed for the state and
to limit his contribution to the support
of transportation and the peasantry.
The government forgot that, or failed
to act as if, the allegiance of the labor
er had changed. So it protected the la
borer against itself. The collapse of
transportation and agriculture was
first blamed on the railway man and
the peasant. 1t is only now becoming
apparent that transportation and agri-
culture have failed to the extent that
support has been withdrawn from
them by the industrial order.
l have before me an English copy of
Russian Code of Laws of Labor" as
these were issued in 1919. Better than
any other document l have seen. these
regulations explain the failure of Rus
sian labor to rise to it's opportunity.
Instead of sounding q battle cry of
faith and cooperation for the. attain
ment of great common ideal these
regulations are drafted as if to protect
labor against common foe. Whlle
the neasant was called upon to put
forth his effort in faith, the workman
was hedged about with defenses born
of distrust
Workmen Placed Under
Strict Control System
All these regulations are restrictive
and protective; they are theoretical
The workman is removed from the
definite contact of the capitalistic
regime and placed under various com
missions established by the Peoples
Commissariat of Labor. Labor IN
large groups is now looked upon as
organized collaboration, the rules Tor
which are worked out by the .pro1es-
sional unions and the various divisions
of the Commissiariat of Labor
The control exercised by. these
bodies is absolute, through various de-
partments, such. IS the Department o.
Labor Distribution, the Department OF
Labor Protection, etc. These have CON
troll OF nOuIS, dSSi 6hHiShe"' -@'
ton of questions between employers
and employees, sickness benefits sub,
sides, etc. Discharge is SO hedged
about that the employer is effectively
in the power of the worker. The man
aging committee of factory 49, IN
fact if not IN name, the worKmehs 5
council. 49,.
Manifestly such regulations as this
could not conduce to that productlSee- e
ness that was the one thing needful Tor
the success of the communist expert
rights were still preached, though no
indication was given as to the power
against which these rights were d.
rected. The payment of wages was
not gauged to the productiveness Of
the industry, but was determined py
the tariff of "minimum living expenses"
as stated by the Peoples Commissariat
of Labor.
In conditions such as these it is not