Evening star., 1937-03-23
medium may prove itself to be ,
boomerang.

medium may prove itself to be a
boomerang.
Again I will not condemn or con-
done, for industry and labor must
learn their own lessons. If they dc
not, industry may discover a new
weapon with which it cannot cope
If such ideas spread among sympa-
thetic groups and the general public
the result cannot be foretold II the
general public accepts the non-action
theory and uses the simple process of
| ignoring, that is, CARRYING a boycott
to its ultimate end, group or firm
with which it feels it has grievance,
that group or firm can be destroyed.
That would be a public sit-down.
Non-aSsertion is an invitation to
the grossest use of self-assertion, vigil
lanteS and direct action. Only those
who understand it should use it.
From the legal aspect of such strike
the law Of trespass demands respect;
and yet we all know that no striker Is
a Willful treaSpaSSer in that words or
dinary sense, and few employers would
want him treated as such because in
ordinary times they are the best Of
friends Thus, industrial and labor
law reflect mutual responsibility and
not individual responsibility and must
become wholly relative In its restraints
and commandments.
We can take some outstanding def
nltions of what constitute fair labor
practice and fair industrial practice
and write those definitions into law
and set up institutions representing
the public to administer the Govern
ment's activities in accordance with
these definitions and in a spirit of
mutual interest. Great steps have al
ready been taken toward this end, il
we can be sure that that which has
alreay been done can have the support
of all branches Of our Government
and our people.
Public Forms Own Opinion.
What, then. might be done to better
our conditions? On industry's side it
must be recognized that an attempt
to control public opinion has failed.
When daily papers fail to print news
items of general passing interest and
the weekly and monthly magazines
or the paper from neighboring place
sent by friend drifts into a commu-
nifty, the people soon learn of the con-
troll and treat such papers with
contempt.
The spying activities, in all their
hldeous aspects have failed. They
must be abandoned or industry will
never be trusted.
Agencies organized for group action
which produce united fronts or pre-
ponderant group control against the
little fellow must be given up or their
money controlled activities tempered
on the basis Of mutuality.
Personnel officers must be reformed
The ganging-up tactics of all kinds
by using the press, public officials and
police officers or phony organizations
to enforce law and order must be
abandoned. In other words our great
1ndustrialists must face their labor
problems themselves and not leave
their solution to hired detective agen-
cies or second rate organizations con-
trolled and directed by ill-trained
brains. One directing officer of one
of these labor busting coercing, public
opinion and spy-employ-
ing organizations testified under oath
that he had never talked with a
laboring man in his rs odd years of
experience, yet he was respected by
great industrialists as a directing force
in labor relations.
Responsibility Must Be Proved.
The laboring group must be per-
mittea to be responsible. They must
prove their responsibility by proving
their ability to discipline their own
members, They must dignity their
position by assuming openly that re-
sponsibility. Their spokesmen should
be well trained and their demand
should be based upon public interest
as well as the welfare of the laborer
With the industrialists the laborer
must contribute toward the establish
ment and development of industrial
and labor law in America as a dis
tinct branch from the ordinary politi-
cal law. Labor must put down the