The globe-independent. (Hagerstown, Md.) 1943-19??, 1952-05-01
CONTINUED from Page u

common in such companies for the
holders of stock to outnumber the
persons employed in the plants.
in the Steel Industry itself, for
instance, there are 675,OOO individ-
ual stockholders, according to Wage
Sterilization Board figures, as
against $4,000 employees. This is
a graphic illustration of the change
that has come over the labor-capital
relationship and which must have
more and more influence in the set
Element of labor disputes.
while giving every support,
therefore, to the right of labor to
insist upon a fair share of indus
try's profits, we should be just as in
sistent that justice be melted out al
so to the owners of the companies
who depend upon their incomes
from their stocks to the same ex-
tent that the workers depend upon
their weekly pay envelopes.
LET me emphasize that l have
always held, namely, that despite
all that may be said against them,
profits are perfectly legal, prefectly
proper and are in fact the inspira-
ton for all the progress that Amer
lea has made up to this time.
Destroy the profit incentive, tax
away the income which investors in
these companies have right to eX-
pect, and we will find in short order
that the vast economic system upon
which America depends, and which
has been Americas salvation in re-
cent world troubles, will degenerate
to the level of regimented industry
common in other countries. If that
is permitted to happen, Americas |
leadership in the world will vanish |
and the extraordinary assistance
this nation has afforded to war
torn countries everywhere will no +
longer be possible. 1t is something
to which more consideration should !
be given than has been the case up
to this time.
Il prefer to argue the case from
the standpoint of the workers, rath-
er than from the standpoint of
wealthy corporation executives and
owners. One derives the greatest
satisfaction from any effort which
will bring deserved betterment to the
great mass of people.
America has made phenomenal
progress raising the standard of liv-
ing of the family and widening the
opportunities for a better way of
life for the common man. Although
we have less than percent of the
worlds working force, we produce
over a third of the worlds goods
We have given the lie to the long
standing predictions of communists
and MARKHAM socialists, that the
working classes, under our system,
would experience increasing pow
erty and would Therefore hasten the
demise of the free enterprise system.
Instead of being ground down by the
'shackels of wage slavery the fac
tory workers hourly earnings have
risen sharply, his working condi-
ton have greatly improved and the
length of the workweek has been
substantially reduced. !
Moreover, instead of becoming
propertyless, growing proportion
of our people own property. More !
than 80 million people have savings
accounts; there are over so million
individual holders of life insurance
policies: over 20 million own their
own homes, and about 9 million are
stockholders of corporations. In
stead of being reduced to the level
of wage-slaves by the oppressive
hand of their employers, employees
use so many automobiles to get to
work that businessmen have a diff
)ficult time in figuring out how to
provide parking space for them.
Zone must hasten to add that our
progress has not been confined to
the multiplication of wide variety
of material goods. To cite only one /
instance; at the turn of the century |
only about 10 percent of boys and
girls between the ages of fourteen
and seventeen were in high school;
today 80 percent are in high school.
Moreover, six times as high a pro-
portion of our boys and girls are in
college today than was the case in1
1900.
Illegal Seizure
against that background of i'm
proved economic status and better
ment in living conditions and STAN
dards, consider the dangers which
are presented by the unauthorized
action of the President of the United
States in Selling the private prop