Judge — August 21, 1920 — page 16: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Revaen P. Stescuer, President Georce Stetcner, Secretary Perniros Maxwett, Editor ‘jie Rintchere, Contsiurt ing E FE. Routaver, Treasurer Grant E. Hasttros, J. A. Watpros, Associate E HE labor question as applied to the railroads is a vastly simple one, There are four parties to the discussion, namely You and I The railroad employees The politicians The owners of the railro: You and I are interested because we pay fares to travel on business, for pleasure, on the sad or happy missions common to all humanity, or to get to and from the suburban homes where we live from preference or because we cannot afford the high costs of city. We are all also interested because every moth son and daughter of us has to pay railroad freight on every thing we eat, wear, use, or enjoy. The interest of the employees is to get while the getting’s good—and easy. There is little claim that railroad labor is underpaid, even compared with the present high rates for labor of similar quality. There may be exceptions but in the main railroad labor is almost on the luxury basis. The traveler who sees two train crews, under iabor union exactions, doing the work of one, is not likely to have his heart wrung with pity for the sad lot of the railroad man. The politicians, sometimes called the Government, have to be interested as the interest has been wished on them as part of their official job. Properly manipulated—in political fashion— the problem also has considerable political value. The railroad owners have perhaps the least interest of any of the parties to the discussion. It is their property, to be sure. paid for with their money but apparently only to be foot-balle among the others without regard to whether the owners of the securities, widows, orphans, charitable institutions, insurance companies and what not, get or do not get any return on their investments. PASSING the buck being the principal function of two these parties, we may almost eliminate them as having vital interest in the matter. The politicians care only to avoic trouble, and get votes, so they may be depended upon to use their powers in behalf of concentrated voting organization and of those who can voice their demands most loudly and insis- The railroad owners seem to have no other function than to register the demands of their employees as 0.k.’d by the poli ticians and, so as they can, pass the cost on to the poor boobs who have to pay the freight This leaves the matter between the strongly unionized rail- road employees and us—us being the poor boobs aforesaid. It is not a question between capital and labor but between railroad employees and every other inhabitant of the United States, laborer and capitalist alike. We must every one of us bow to the demands of the railroad employees as voiced through the Government and collected by the railroad companies. Such a tax, for the profit of a special class, levied directly, might have meant revolution when the American spine was stiffer. Today. with the tax imposed in roundabout fashion, we not only pay for the future but let the politicians date it back a few months so that its beneficiaries may have some ready money to spend while they are thinking over how much they shall demand next time. The combined railroad unions have the power of a giant and they use it like a giant. Over the heads of the politicians they hold the club of their voting power. They terrorize all their fellow-citizens with the awful possibilities of a general railroad strike Speaking of this voting power, what has it done for Wood- row Wilson who was so quick to bow the knee to its demands? Certainly not enough to impress him or any one else with the gratitude and loyalty of union labor. By the recent granting of increased pay for the past and future we have deferred the gencral railroad strike until in- creased demands can be formulated. There scems to be no good reason for a postponement of the demands and the strike. Let's have them at once and at the same time let’s al! the rest of us go on strike. If there’s no higher law of human conduct than grabbing all we can get at no matter what cost to our fellow-humans, let's all play the same game. There's no sense in letting one crowd get all the benefit of i Come on then, workingmen in all trades. Come on, farmers Come on, doctors, nurses, lawyers, preachers, writers. Come on. wives and mothers and sweethearts. ) If this is going to be a world run by selfish strikes, there's no good reason why every one shouldn't get in on equal terms * which used to belong exclusively to the drama and to fictional literature has forced its way into politics. If President Wilson is to be bet c, the virtual re- jection of his League by the Senrie has “broken the heart of the world.” Not to be outdone in this sentimental direction, Brother Bryan informs us that, by refusing to we his dry plank in the platform, the Democratic party has pet Brother Wil- liam’s “heart in the grave.” We are a practical rather thzp a sentimen’ | people and it HE “heart interest