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The day book. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1911-1917, October 11, 1916, LAST EDITION, Image 22

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Persistent link: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045487/1916-10-11/ed-1/seq-22/

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THE PUBLIC FORUM
THE EIGHT-HOUR LAW. The
Worst error of the president, says a
writer in the Tribune, was his en
dorsement of the 8-hour law. Let us
try to analyze this question from the
viewpoint of citizens and working
men. The railroads and their work
ers had a disagreement about hours
and wages. The rail managers re
fused to make any concessions, but
demanded arbitration. The workers
wanted 8 hours without arbitration.
Thus there was a deadlock that
would have resulted in the stoppage
of this absolutely necessary service.
What's to be done in such a crisis?
The president decided that this serv
ice must not stop. The importance
of the question of 8 hours is com
paratively small. The great ques
tion is that service goes on.
The 8-hour work day has become
the universal goal of workingmen. A
great proportion of them has it now.
The president decided that as intel
ligent and efficient class of working
men as the railroad men was entitled
to it. The managers again absolute
ly refused.
So the president decided that the
men which the people have elected
to manage things for them will have
to decide this question, and he put it
up to congress, with the result that
even 70 Republicans with standpat
Joe Cannon voted for the 8-hour day.
And now comes Hughes and
Roosevelt and tell us that the presi
dent and congress should have held
their hands off and the interested
parties should have had a chance to
go on with their industrial warfare,
and to subject us to the inconveni
ence and suffering that follows. How
fortunate we were that neither
Hughes nor Roosevelt was president!
From the viewpoint of the workers
they know how necessary it is for,
tnem to get wnat tney are aiter
when the time is ripe. To submit to
arbitration is not getting it. That is
only taking chances on it. The rela
tion between employers and employ
es is not such that workingmen can
refuse to take what they can get.
And if the people's representatives
decide that it is fair, who should com
plain? Oh, yes, there are all those people
who live in great luxury off of the
ooniniTc -f tVio TilrnnHa Thpv nrfi
beginning to get afraid that their yftM
melon-cutting days are nearly over,
and with Roosevelt and Hughes as
their spokesmen they are raising a
great howl. Whenever their howl
ing falls on intelligent ears it will
avail nothing.
We have nothing to do with Mr. ,
Wilson's ideas in 1907. What we have(
to do with is his acts while president.
If he, since he became president, has
seen a great light, that is to his cred
it. E. Henrickson.
ATTENTION, RADICALS. Just a
word to you fellows who pour out
your lives trying to do something
worth while, who are now saying
that it makes no difference whether
Wilson or Hughes is elected.
I have heard that noise for 25
years and I'm going to register a kick
against it. I heard it in Cleveland
when Tom Johnson ran for mayor
and while he was mayor. I heard it
in Toledo and in Milwaukee, in
the big campaigns there. But there
isn't one of you who knows what was
accomplished in any one of these
places but will admit that you didn't
know your own bell when you
heard it
If you think for a minute that it is
impossible for a human being to put
through your program before the
people authorize it you are in the
kindergarten of politics. Look about s.
vou ! See the poor stiffs who -haven't XK
got clothes enough on their back to
flag a freight train yelling their
heads off for a proteptive tariff. They
were born that way the same as they
were born, as Henry Ford says, with
ears. They think a customs officer
is as natural as a tree. It's the worst
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