The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1940-08-01
CopitoI VS.. Unions

The editor of the West Point Times Leader says 1t rs
rather discouraging ito note that the ClO pians 10
unionize the airplane factories of America ana TO en-
force the 40-hour week" The time has come ne says;
night, and when skilled men, who are considered very
scarce, may be required to work overtime III III III
terest of national defense.
Mr. Edgar Harris, the Leader editor, is certainly on
secure ground when he says our airplane factories should
be running night and day to turn out just as many piaheS
as humanity possible.
Nor will we question his assertion that the time may
come when workers will be required to work over Az
hours a week in the interest of national de1ense.
But we cannot see any reason why the defense pro
gram should be used as an excuse TO set assoc e;a II S ears
of labor which have been made in the past eignt year
bv the White House. President Roosevelt has pro
badly been more friendly to labor than any oemer p hss
sident. He recognizes the fact that a laborlng man n
only his services to offer in order to earn a hVihg' ne
sees no reason why the laborer shouldnt nave veil nhe work o9kl
portunity of having some voice In what ne shah WI"
for and under what conditions he will WORK.
In the beginning of the industrial era OF TINS county, ss
labor was exploited by capital and that cononom m nas
and tbe conditions under which men work with little
consideration for their health, lives or future. loaag Ia
it has come to the point where a man forty years Ga
cannot get a Job in industry. He is considered too old. IN
dustry wants a man only when he is young
AS a result of abuses of labor the union was tormeo
tn look after the interests of the man VINO WORKS py .o
sweat of his brow. As a result of unionlza,iGn la9 apo ,I uu~
in the east, which is completely unlonlzed, is paio a Inhor
twice the wages that labor in the south Is PAID Lapoi
in the south is not unlonlzed 10 any oi7io "oe
The nor who work with their hands are the only
real creators of wealth in this country, laborers anu
a r4gmsrsi It is Ih only ye Fair ef that aae they se"a should ds have e the right to
bargain for their wages for their lives.
Capital today in its comparatively dictatorial position
will be the only group holding PACK tme at ne Soyp prp
gram. Already we see signs of capital telling the govern
ment it will not play ball on the defense program. III
is at all possible capital wall aio seek to u = nc th ese Strength astthh
of the defense program.
President Roosevelt has already made the statement
that the defense program VIII not pc USED as an . ~
to undo labor. He has said that capital can furnlsn some
of the sacrifice by cutting into It's enormous pro1ns.
We still have millions of unemployed persons in this
country. Persons on the WPA rolls should be cut OH
and trained to do some kind of productive work. The
same should be done for those persons who do not have
any employment. Until industry absorbs those persons
it has no right to ask suspension OF wages ana hours.
Since the instigation of the national defense program
we have not seen any great sacrifice OF our large cor
poration to serve our country. Only the men comprising
the defense commission have made personal sacrifices
of their time in order to set up a program to make
secure this country which means making secure their
wealth and the investments they have IN this country.
Rather than getting the fever of patriotism there has
been shown unmistakable signs of industry baking and
employing petty politics to secure its own ends. we do
not hear of airplane factories making great reductions
in the price of planes they are making to sell to Britain
and our own government. They are getting the same
prices or better. You can rest assured that industry will
take care of itself at any costs.
What America wants is peace and security at home
and abroad.
While we can't do anything to stop the conflict in
Europe without Intervention we can try to achieve peace
and security at home.
The only way we can be secure in this country today
is to take care of our front at home as well as guarding
our hemisphere.
We cannot be a truly great nation until we have solved
our problems of unemployment and its resulting poverty
and disease. We cannot be a great nation with part of
our people enjoying the highest living standard IN the
world and a lot more of our people not even having en-
ough to eat and adequate shelter and clothing.
Just people make a nation. People who belong to
labor and those who belong to capital.
The two must work together in peacetime and emer-
gencies in order that all our people do not perish.
Ruin Ruins Stote Crops