Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1925-09-10
KIND OF SERVICE RENDERED

text Of the Labor Day ADDRESS "
President Green Of the American
Federation Of Labor. This he de-
clared to be particularly true OF labor
conditions in Detroit. The employ
ers he said dictate the terms OF en-
ployment, the wages paid, the num-
her of hours which laborer must
work and the conditions under which
he must labor" Presumably he had
in mind Henry Ford among the en-
ployers, but whether he did or not
IL not material.
What seems to be material Is
whether in that address he left IN
the minds of his hearers and readers
a correct impression of the whole
truth, a comprehensive idea OF the
actual relations that should exist be-
tween capital and labor; or whether,
instead he did not intensity in their
minds feeling of resentment to a
degree uncalled for, a resentment
tending to be destructive rather than
constructive.
Presumably President Green is OPP
posed to communism. Organized
labor has rendered stalwart service
in opposition to this diseased fancy,
to its own and to the country's adj
vantage. May it not be that unwit-
tingly President Green in his address
did contribute to the encouragement
Of communism? Surely he did not
wish to have US believe the American
laborsr is serf, even in Detroit;
that he has no volition left. no in
dividual independence, that he must
either starve or work at the particu-
lar job he may be on and in the en-
vironment Of Detroit What has be-
come Of American independence II
that condition obtains; and what
would become of American initiative
II labor 10 to tell capital under what
conditions 1t must invest, what en-
ployment 1t must provide?
Today. when shipping is at low
sbb. one Captain Robert Dollar typi-
nes the grit and enterprise that once
made the American merchant marine
q leader in the worlds shipping. He
IL 50 years old and still going strong,
and see what he has BEEN through. A
poor Scotch boy coming to Canada
when he was IS and working in a
stave mill at Sc a month, when that
would buy more than $12 now will
buy. He could neither read nor write
but learned these accomplishments
in the lumber camp where he worked
long hours. He managed to save
money, too, and finally resolved to
branch out for himself. losing every
dollar of 1t in the venture and ac-
curing other debts besides He work.
ed for three years to pay Off what he
owed and then got into the lumber
boom Of Michigan. From there to
numbering in California and then to
planning how he might distribute his
lumber product over the face of the
waters, and now encircling the globe
with his enterprise.
But times have changed since the
early days Of Captain Dollar? Grant
ed, but is there not today just as
much need Of his kind of fibre, men
tai and physical. as there was IS
years ago? Are present conditions
cultivating it? Has the laborer Of
today greater obstacles to overcome
in Detroit than had Robert Dollar
in Canada? If he has, something
should be done about it, right quick
~. II he hasn't, if 1t be easier for
the Detroit iaborer to get an educat-
ton than it was for Robert Dollar,
II 1t be easier for him by extreme
frugality to save something from his
earnings-Dollars employers were
autocrats, too,-if he have wider op-
portupity for making his personality
effective. which may be doubted,
though successful employers must
yet look to the ranks for their aides
and when found must reward their
ability, then did President Green
render a poor, discouraging service
to labor by his Labor Day address?
We think he left much to be desired.
And this is not saying that the serv-
Ice OF Detroit employers is all that
should be desired. Moreover, this Is
certain. outstanding courageous men
OF labor. men Of initiative, men will
ing to sacrifice that they may stand
on their own feet. If necessary, who
primarily look to themselves, such
men are none too plentiful.