The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1939-01-05
Labor Demands
Continued From Page One)

OIlc VI CIle nuHldH rlRnCS OIL ClClZenS.
Before you can have property right
you must have a community which
has established community rules of
conduct. Property rights should not
be antagonistic to human rights, but
rather should be consequence of the
human rights of an individual men,
ber of the community.
Labor in America is becoming more
and more aware Of the necessity of re-
establishing public recognition of this
fundamental rule of society. Labor be-
lieves that the time has come when
the self-appointed leaders Of CONNER
cial, industrial, political and social
life must be reminded that the inf1u-
ence they WELD is valid only to the
extent that it serves the public veal.
Menace of TOtalitarianism
That view is conservative, not radi-
cal. The alternative is the totalitarian
State which judges all things and all
people by their usefulness to the mys-
terious and fictitious entity which is
called the State. In the totalitarian
State, SO unwisely admired by some
industrialists and demagogues, prop
erty rights eventually become nom
Eexistent because human rights are
considered to be dependent upon the
convenience of the State.
Property Rights
Labor realizes that the exalting of
property rights under present econ
omic conditions leads inevitably to the
destruction of human rights and
thereby the self-destruction of prop
erty rights. Labor insists that the
property rights of the individual must
be sustained by protecting and ell
evating the human rights Of every in
dividual member of the community
We of labor declare that property
rights were created as a means to-
ward the "life, liberty and the pursuit
of happiness" for which our people
maintain the agency Of civil govern
lment.
Labor, therefore, will inevitably
work toward subordination of prop
erty rights so that those rights may
serve and not obstruct the needs OF
mankind.
The State Exists for the People
Labor insists that the State and all
it's machinery exist for man and not
vice versa. To hold any other view
is to degrade mankind and to dissipate
the accomplishments of civilization.
The titalitarian State is the product
of desperation of a deluded people
xuhn hn,n foi1oI in, fD insist hot
human rights are superior to the
privilege of man-created agencies.
This may seem far-fetched theory
to advance in discussion Of 'Labor's
Aims and Responsibilities" but it is
both the aim and responsibility OF
every worker, however vague or un
conscious may be his individual recog.
milton Of the challenge of modern So
cicty.
And it must equally be the respon.
sibility of capital and management
Your function exists only within the
realm of service to mankind.
1t is Labor's first aim and respon.
sibility to defend and promote the hu
man rights of man to enjoy liberty Of
conscience, political, economic and So
cial freedom, and the privilege of per.
sonal property rights.
Partnership Sought
I | have already said that American
labor wants to be recognized as the
partner of capital in production. Fol-
many years polite platitudes have
been voiced about the partnership OF
capital and labor. Such talk is moi
particularly helpful because the indus.
trialists refer to partnership il
which labor has a junior non-votine
stock on which dividends are paio
very seldom and only when unavoid
able.
AS see it, capital is invested in rea
estate, machinery and materials. The
costs of interest, maintenance and de.
probation are charged against this in
vestment. Management is paid what
seems to us very substantial amounts
for handling this investment in way
which will bring profits to the owners
Labor objects to being figured ir
just as an operating cost which must
he squeezed down as low as possible.
We know from bitter experiences
that new machinery, new processes
together with the stretch-out, speed
up, and other so-called efficiency
methods have sharply reduced the
labor cost per unit of production.
Such accomplishments are fine, in
a short-sighted view for capital and
of course are a fruitful basis for year
ly bonuses to management. But it is
tough for labor as a wage Garner and
it is tough for industry so far as
sales to wage earners are concerned
If effciencies were fully passed
along to the consumer, the real wages
to labor would be increased q should
Think, but | know that such results
are rarely experienced.
Higher Wages
So Labor's aim is to win higher
wages. We believe that the machine
should be a source of profit to the
worker as we'll as to the owner. High
er wages per unit of production seem
to lis essential