The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1942-03-05
LABOR GENERALS
AND INDUSTRY CONTROL

f14ND xAND SO4NA4sOA
AN EFFECTIVE ARMY cannot
be composed entirely of generals.
An effective industrial organization
cannot be composed entirely of SUI
perintendents or general managers.
In any organization, whether it be
an army, a factory or farm, there
must be boss, someone whose
word represents authority.
Labor organizations today are de-
manding labor control of industry.
Labor leaders would have the work
ers control the factories. That as
final analysis is the so-called
Reuther plan for the automobile in
dustry.
Ford is employing something
more than 10000 men. Under the
Reuther plan, they would all be gen.
erals. They would all be in a posi-
ton to give orders and there would
be none to follow orders. Each
would quite rightfui;y expect to sit
at the general managers desk. The
general manager would be selected
by the workers and would be chosen
as matter of popularity, rather
than as a matter of ability. It would
be exceptional to find the worker
who felt his place was on the as
sembly line.
The efficiency of the assembly line
would disappear. Mass production,
which has made America the great
est producing nation in the world,
would be only thing to think about.
Production would drop to practical
ly vanishing point. There would
not be car for every family. With
the passing of the automobile indus
try would pass million or more
jobs, and labor-the man who works
would not have profted.
Government, not labor, controls
the factories of Russia, Italy and
| Germany. In each of these coun-
tries the government is boss. It is
government that tells each worker
what he will do, how long he will
work, where he will work, and what
he will receive. That is what labor
is investing in America when it de-
mands worker-control of factories
and farms.
The pressure of labor leaders, the
complacency of the American pub
lie, the willingness of our represen-
tatives in congress to listen to and
be influenced by minority pressure
groups, may lead to industrial and
national disaster. Our American
system is threatened by a Japanese
Pearl Harbor blitz if we are not on
the alert.
THE ORDINARY, EVERYDAY
citizen discovers just how unimpor-
tant he is in time of war when the
"streanliner, on which he pays a
premium for the privilege of trav-
cling, is shunted onto siding to
give the freight train the right of
way.
ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY
FOUR BILLION dollars! We can
not visualize such a sum. We can
have no idea of what it means. It
is more than it has cost to operate
our national government from the
time it was organized down to the
time we began preparations to enter
the present war. 1t represents near
ly one-haf of the total value of ev-
erything in America. It is the
amount of our expenditures and
authorized expenditures of our par
ticipation in this World war.
Buy Defense Bonds
REPRESENTATIVE GOVERN
MENT does not continue to operate
when people lose faith in their law
making bodies. That was proven
in Germany, Italy. France and
Japan. It could prove true in Amer
lea. Beware of bundles for con-
gress"!
THE CCC BOYS could get health
full exercise and fine training in the
army, the navy or the marines. The
pay would not be as much, but this
is war time and it calls for at least
a bit of sacrifice.