Evening star., 1937-08-09
Progress of Labor Merely
Keeping Up With the Times

To the Editor of The Star:
1t has been our privilege to witness
recently one Of the most outstanding
and revolutionary procedures yet under
taken by any government for the pur-
pose OF bringing about and establishing
tranquility among capital and labor I
refer to the wage and hour bill recently
passed by the Senate. The history OF
the struggle between capital and labor
is as old as mankind itself, dating back
to the memorable dates OF the pyramids
and the construction of such edifices as
the ancient Tower of Babylon.
OF course, in ancient days most Of the
burden Of building such structures was
carried on by slaves and we read OF the
gruesome cruelty inflicted by those whose
command was the law. Slavery was the
customary practice in ancient Assyria,
Egypt and Babylon and even during the
existence Of the old Greek democracies
there were countless engagements in
which slave labor participated. How
often we have read in the works OF
Homer OF the Trojan men OF war
which were propelled by the sweat Of
Ethiopian oarSmen.
Throughout the long and trying years
under which rose and fell the imperial
isttc Roman Empire runs the story OF
the slaves in the market places and of
how they were utilized as gladiators to
satisfy the Whims Of lustful and licen-
tious mob.
AS civilization expanded and the ex-
tension of education stimulated to a
certain degree the abolishment Of such
cruel practices mankind evolved into a
different sphere of servitude. After the
fall Of Rome and the setting up OF the
feudalistic state slavery gave way to
the more enlightened means of labar
known as serfdom. Under this system
men and women titled the fields for
powerful mobiles who in turn furnished
them protection with soldiers main
tanned by the taxes which the poor serfs
were forced to contribute
Serfdom continued throughout the
Middle Ages and the Renaissance up until
the time of the Reformation and the
Industrial Revolution. when the intro
duction OF the factory system induced
the peasants to leave the fields and 20
to the cities to work. This was the be-
ginning Of large municipalities and the
complex social and economic orders
which were the offspring OF this cap
italistic mass production. Individuals
became the power at the wheel Of in
dustry and therefore demanded to guide
the wheel which would pilot the ship
Of state. Individual initiative was stm-
ulated and self-importance wove itself
into the social, political and economic
fabric II the masses.
Labor conditions improved as time
went on and with its improvement we
find the setting up Of trade unions es-
tablished to protect the bargaining
rights Of the workingman. Recently we
have witnessed the quick growth Of
the American Federation of Labor, and,
in the eyes of this organiza ton, its bad
boy offspring, the Committee of Indus
trial Organization. This latter organ
ization has sponsored the whimsical but,
strange to say. successful sit-down strikes.
Labor apparently for the first time is
demanding the upper hand and is sue
ceeding to a great extent in getting it.
Labor has travelled a long road from
the slavocracy Of ancient Egypt to the
predominance which it holds today Its
advancement may best be described by
the simple axiom so logically true that
1t is merely keeping up with the times.
BENJAMIN r. ST1CKNEY, Jr.