Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-09-30

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| benefit itself and the world generally by
building homes instead Of battleships.
Labor strange as it may seem. is vi
tally interested in making industry
profitable for the owners--for those who
! have invested capital in factory build
ings, machinery and distributing facili-
! ties. The reason is that no industry
that is not prosperous can pay good
| wages. The coal industry Is an exam
pie of that. And the coal industry is a
national economic problem-one that
needs broad vision and constructive
thought by the new Congress and the
| new President. by men familiar with
markets. with methods of mining, with
| transportation conditions, with labor
and its condition and needs. 1t Is not
problem to be solved by the use Of a
| big stick" or political measures. 1t Is
problem that needs business brains
the ability to organize, the ability to
induce conflicting interests to work to-
! gethcr for the common good.
In the same way, labor is interested
| in the steel industry, even though it is
one almost wholly lacking in trade
union organizatio When the financial
| pages of the newspapers chronicle in a
brief sentence (as they have sometimes
| in the pasD that rolling mills or steel
| mills are operating at half capacity,
what that means to labor is not re-
vealed to most readers. But to those
who have lived in the industrial dis
trlcts. OF Ohio or Pennsylvania in by
| gone days, 1t means plants shut down,
oiY c1y vi
streets of Pittsburgh. Wheeling Bellaire
and other cities large and small in tho
steel sector; grocery and meat bills
mounting, merchants selling less furni-
ture and clothing; women and children
/ going hungry. So 1t Is that labor Is
directly interested in the prosperity Of
Americas key industries: in the tariff.
| the tax laws and the immigration laws;
| foreign loans and foreign debts. flood
reconstruction and waterway plans. and
all the other things that make or mar
| business
Knows It's Problems.
Labor knows that when factories are
operating full time and owners are
earning s or or per cent on their
capital there is work which will furnish
money for not only food and clothing
but for flivvcrs and radios and houses
with garden space and the other COM
forts Of life.
Labor knows that its problems and
those of industry are more than ma
tional in scope; that they are based on
world conditions 1t knows that a
change Of tariff law or policy in Eng
land, Canada or any one of a dozen
other nations may close a market or
open one for American goods; throw
our own workers out Of employment or
create work for more men in Pitts
burgh or San Francisco or Atlanta.
Labor wants and should have, during
the next administration. proper restric-
tions upon child labor and convict
labor.
Labor realizes that there are eco
nomic conditions that subject some
workers to injustice in comparison with
the hours and earnings of workers in
other industries. There arc, for in
stance. striking differences in wage
scales in different sections Of the coun-
try. Industry should pay equal wages
for equal work, whether performed by
men or by women.
The evening up and balancing of
industries is important to the workers
as we'll rs the owners Of industry. How
ever. 1t Is not a political problem, and
cannot be solved by mere good inton-
tons toward the workingman. It Is
an economic problem with a very i'm
portant human aspect.
Certain it is that during those years
the right to collective bargaining by
labor must be upheld and maintained.
Its value and necessity have been def
nitely established: and there must BE-
no impairment of the right by legis-
lative or administrative act.
Must Have Fair Treatment.
Despite our economic progress and its
benefits to labor, there are some millions
of people in the United States de-
pendent for their living upon wages of
from SIT to $50 week. They must
have fair and sympathetic treatment.
Too often such men are old at 40. and,
like other labor, they may be thrown
on the industrial scrap heap. To i'm
prove further the condition of this class
OF labor. to keep their children from
the necessity of poorly paid work in
stores and shops until they can acquire
an education, to prevent old-age de-
pendency, are the tasks of labor as
whole-and of government. too.
In the last few years great progress
HAS peen mace In eliminating from IN
duStry 8. 10 and IL hour days and Z
day weeks for labor But the complete
elimination Of the overextended work
day and the working week without day
OF rest is another Of the tasks that con-
front labor. The agencies of the Gov
ernment can and should help.
To provide further funds for the
building of decent comfortable homes
for all the workers of America is prob
lem of labor in the solution of which the
Government can assist without. how
ever, adopting any "patcrnalistic" policy
Mr.. Hoover described work in this Gi-
rection In his Newark speech and
showed that unemployment in building
trades has been reduced by nearly one
half
1t is the duty of labor and of govern
ment also to bring about utilization of
improved machinery mass production
and labor saving devices. not as mere
money-ma king agencies, but as conserv-
ers OF life and health and leSseners of
fatique; to make life easier and better
for those wno toll.
Immigrat ton Restriction.
Proper restriction Of immigration is of
the most vital concern to all wage and
@a'ery carriers. In the four years from
1911 to 1914. inclusive. more than
100000 people Came to America from
ne Old World--to clut our market for
labor and to bring about depression that