New-York tribune. [volume], October 07, 1920, Page 10, Image 10

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?X?iuiQotU a?ri?m?i?
First to Last?the Truth: Newa?Edi?
torials?Advertisements
"<**? of th? Audit Bureau of Circulation*
THl "RSDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1920.
Owned ?lid rmMtehed datlj be New York Tribuna
Ire., a N?i? York Corvoriu,oi\. Oe-itfo Held. r??l
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??rein altw are reaorTed.
Borah's Contribution
With rt. poet to the league matter,
in which he takes a vivid interest,
Senator Borah finds two choices be?
fore him. One is to vote for Gov?
ernor Cox, who seems pledged to the
Wilson plan of jamming the Wilson
league through. The other is to vote
for Senator Harding, who is in favor
of some sort of league or association
of nations, although uncommitted to
any specific plan.
Ho the Idaho Senator, as a man
not lacking in political sense, says
he has no "alternative." He sup?
ports Senator Harding because they
agree on the non-acceptability of the
Wilson league as it is. Senator Borah
is not to be accused of inconsistency.
He is merely frank. Perhaps he
thinks his best chance of beating
any league is by joining the Demo?
crats in defeating the Harding
scheme, just as he joined them in
ting the ratification Senator
Lodge labored for.
In other respects Senator Borah is
equally frank. He does not tell pro
leaguers that this country, of neces?
sity must assume world responsi
hilil . , even to the waging of war;
d then, turning around, tell anti
.ruers that only falsifiers so as
Senator Borah boldly raises the
? ?:? of isolation. He believes
America can better serve the world ?
? 3S than by mixing in. I
Washir ton had a soul of some
. y< .vas for aloofness. Ham-j
ilton. ? ro'e the greater part of
.'. ! rev \ Address,had no pygmy
[1 Idishly narrow not to
',eight of the argu
'? ' ; fness and to slide off
inl > .-.' ?? i ' opponents.
!' rah also does a service
in dri ' .' : ? l e. truth of what a
leai ' : . ? \' ?iy fool ourselves
or '. ii fool o' hers' A league or
'. ? na' ions, from its very
.,:. . ta 'i alliance, and
mi defi dcti and j I ified as
1 . i i be i h u -i unless it
.. idificatii n f :.;>
i
riit friend of : he le: y u< idea
? i ,i t - ? ?' ?? tin issue S.t nat1 r
. , ., : ... i Tl , . : :. to
pu th mattei hi iefly, ?hov. thai a
entanj 'iir.g allia -c may be n good ;
i hing. ' hey must persuade the
people \V< I '"';.- advice is
archaic. N- t un? i' I hei e is such
inn are v\ e likt Iy Lo si o : tie!1
pai I ?i ipal tun by this country in
, affairs e (???a. Britain, for
exani] l< , consider; ; iv.al and ac
i' '?'- a i a mal er of cour -o.
ho Cav? i ,. i.v v. national
policy have too slavishly imitated
the ['resident. They hav? -ought by
clamor to hurra I a particular league
through. !" ? attempl has naturally
faile 1.
'? "? FTai ding admini ;i ra1 ion, if it
would achieve anything, must show
greater respect for the people and
no1 so much denounce the Borahs
and J hnsons ? ad the vast numbers
behind then, as er.tahlish their error.
A Political Armada
Why was the fleel of the United
States divided by .Mr. Daniels, in
ton i :' every sound principle of
naval strategy? For political con
siderations- which have been and
still are supreme in the Navy De?
partment. The story of,the division
is on the records; it cannot be too
often repeated for the light it sheds
on the sort of Secretary of the Navy
the Wilson Administration has given
?euntry for seven long years.
When the fleet was divided and !
the so-called "armada" was sent to ;
the Pacific Coast last fall Mr. Dan
went, too. Provisions were made
for the "maximum publicity." Ho
met the fleet at San Diego. He took
a shipioad of photographers, report?
ers and other guests out on a de?
stroyer to join the flagship off Coro?
nado Beach. Then began a series of
banquets and triumphs for him.
Mr. Daniels was feted, photo?
graphed and flattered. At the first
great, banquet Admiral Rodman
had a speech prepared. But Mr
Daniels wished to censor it. He did
so. He cut the heart out of it. He
wished to do all the talking him?
self. So he practically muzzled the
commander in chief! After that
Rodman made no speeches.
The Pacific fleet was hitched to
Mr. Daniols's personal and political
chariot. He "reviewed" it at every
port. He made flamboyant speeches
and promised everybody everything'?
The officers of th? navy, in disgust,
called it a "political caravan." He
put the grand old Oregon into com?
mission, at great expense, solely for
use as a reviewing stand.
Not satisfied with this parade
rlong the coast from San Diego to
Puget Sound, where he met Presi?
dent Wilson, who was then touring
the West te) promote the League of
Nations, Mr. Daniels next violated
all traditional records and all pro?
prieties by taking his family with
? him for a junket to Honolulu on a
dreadnought! This capped the cli-,
max. And at Honolulu, while in
j toxicatod by his triumph, he modest
I ly announced that his candidacy for
I the Presidential nomination "rested
1 with the people"!
It has rested there ever since. Sad
to relate, this beautiful boom,
launched so gracefully by himself,
! for himself, with the navy as a side
' show and the strategical reasons
against a divided fleet ignored, was
; punctured and flattened forever by
? the Senate investigation of Mr.
! Daniels.
Among Those Smitten
Before the echoes of the latest
thundering from Olympus die ou4 of
a humbled and properly rebuked
? universe it is well to consider the
| casualties. In the company of those1
who have, dared criticize the tablets
of Versailles, and who thus find
themselves guilty of "gross igno?
rance and impudent audacity," the
following heads thus smitten are to
be noted:
Herbert Hoover.
Robert Lansing.
William Howard Taft.
Charles Evans Hughes.
Elihu Root.
Mr. Hoover, having once browsed
on Olympus, doubtless deserves both
epithets and can be dismissed as "im?
pudently ignorant." He had his
chance at wisdom and scorned it.
The impudence of Mr. Taft is, of ;
course, notorious, and on the general
score of audacity we make no com
ment. And the gross ignorance of |
Mr. Root, but lately the specially '
honored and trusted adviser of the
statesmen of Europe, is, of course, a
matter of shame to his fellow coun?
trymen. Nor is defense to be made .
for Mr. Hughes.
But it does seem that, grossly ig- !
norant and audaciously impudent as
these five agents of evil doubtless
are, judged by the Olympian stand?
ard, it is some excuse for a benight?
ed universe that it followed the best
it had. May we not enter this plea
in confession and avoidance while
Olympus is revolving in what direc?
tion to launch its next thunderbolts?
Girls, Get the Money
A woman after Mr. Cox's own
heart is the Democratic National
Committeewoman of the State of
New York, Miss Elisabeth Marbury. i
No false notions of reticence or
small dignity ??amper her campaign
flights. Our correspondent Mr.
Lloyd Howell cited yesterday one
vnspicuous item from Miss Mar
bury's appeal for Democratic dol?
lars.
We gladly give more of her elo?
quent appeals for help.
'?'Eor State and Country"?in red
irk-?is the top line of her broad?
side. "A new war drive to fight for
victory on the second day of No-1
vember, stop by step, line by line,
trench by trench," and "A new lib?
erty loan to insure the liberty of
every man, woman and child who
lives and who toils in our United
States," are her modest comparisons.
The object of the new war and the
new loan is to elect
COX AND ROOSEVELT
SMITH AND FITTS
If you are a Democratic woman i
and don't worry enough about be- ;
ing enslaved to dig down, Miss Mar
bury has other clinching arguments '
to offer. Says she- "If the Demo?
crats win taxes will be reduced,
prices of commodities will fall, peace '
will become a fact; there will he no
more wars, no more sacrifice of hu?
man lives, no more expenditure of
national funds; we shall have four
years e>f peace, prosperity and
plenty." These assurances are com-'
forting, even if the precise manner
of accomplishment is left in the air.
One wonders especially how Miss
Marbury plans to end "the expendi?
ture of national funds." Perhaps,
however, she merely heard so much
about the Republican "fund" from
Mr. Cox that she decided to abolish
all "funds"?except the Democratic, ;
of course.
Quite in keeping with this burst
of Democratic prophecy is the list
of methods by which the faithful are
urged to obtain the wherewithal.
Eighteen ways are suggested, to
wit:
BLOCK PARTIES A M A T E U R
BRIDGE AND EU- VAUDEVILLE
CURE CI.VHS BABY P U 1 Z E
CAKE SALES CONTESTS
CLAMBAKES AMATEUR COUN
PICNICS TV FAIRS
RUMMAGE SALES C 0 M M I' X I Y Y
POUND PARTIES STRAW RIDES
CARNIVALS AMATEUR CIR
B A i : N D A N ( ' E S CU S SHO W S
HARVEST HOMES F LO W E R AND
PAPER COSTUME VEGE T A B L E
PARTIES EXHIBITS
and
WAIST MEASURES (each woman to
give five cents per inch according to
her waist measure).
We can think of nothing to add ?
either to Miss Marbury's list of |
promises or to her list of stunts.
Plainly she is the right woman on
the right job.in the right party.
Her slogan is the simple one? "Girls,
Get the Money."_
Overcaution
Under the authority conferred by
the recent special session of the
Legislature the Hoard of Aldermen
is about to pass an ordinance ex?
empting new houses from taxation.
The tax exemption act is practi?
cally the only constructive measure
for the relief of the housing conges?
tion. The anti-rent laws proper, as
the public understands, tend to dis?
courage building and offer no hope
of adding to the supply of places in
which to live.
The public expects the exempting
discretion given to the Board of Al?
dermen to be used. The exemption
will not be a subsidy, though it will
have the stimulating effect of a sub?
sidy. As conditions now are, few
i apartments for rent are planned. If
! not built the city will, of course, get
no taxes from the vacuum. So it is
i foolish to speak of sacrificing a part
I of the public revenue and to be over
'? cautious.
In view of the need of new houses
and the public expectation that the
j exemption method will be employed
! to get them, it is discouraging to note
in the Collins ordinance a provision
i which may defeat the end sought. It
is provided that for exemption to at?
tach the Board of Estimate must
give unanimous consent. A safe?
guard of a majority vote is desira?
ble, but why require unanimity? It
is possible that landlords who want.
the bousing shortage to continue
may capture one vote in the Board
of Estimate, and thus be able to
block construction.
The Middle Distance
There is much to stir sophomore
and slippered pantaloon alike in
Mr. Lee Wilson Dodd's diverting
thoughts upon "Perfectibiliousness"
in The Literary Review of The Eve
nine; Post. It's a rare mortal who
has not passed through this precise
desire for the Heights of Perfection
?"that mysterious Center, where
the High Priests of Culture, perfect
in Conduct and Criticism, sit at ease
in Zion on crystal thrones diffusing
Sweetness and Light." Usually it
occurs in college days, as it did to
Mr. Dodd. Appetites wiry, but with
due allowance for personal varia?
tions his high desire might do for
all. It was "to solve the riddle of
the universe, paint like Titian, com?
pose like Chopin, write verses like
Shelley, prose like Stevenson and
make the freshman nine."
We might pick a quarrel with this
location of perfectibiliousness in the
first college year?the ailment is
commoner, it seems to our recollec?
tion, a year or two later, when the
first awe is over and one begins
boldly to measure one's intellect with
?i1" great masters. Also, it might be
valuable to translate Mr. Dodd's
personal experience into terms com?
prehensible to the subject requiring
diagnosis to-day. All of his great
aims are but distant echoes in 1920.1
Chopin has a reminiscent sound, but
who was this Stevenson? The rid?
dle of the universe for the present
general.ion can, be stated, at any
rate?it is to abolish war and make
peace perpetual?and it is not one
bit more difficult than the riddles
which the freshman of a generation
back tried to solve, either.
But such speculation is hardly as
valuable as a statement of the symp?
toms of the later complaints which
afflict man?twenty years after one's |
liver has ceased to complain and just j
before the life insurance examiners j
begin to shake their heads. If it is!
an attack upon the heights which
stirs the sophomore, it is a fatalistic'
and somewhat mellow contemplation
of the depths which characterizes
these years suspended in mid-air.
The baste is over; gone is the need |
of achieving perfection in anything;
gone, too, if one is not careful, is
the need of achieving anything.
Why strive at all in a world of so
much failure and reiterated blun?
dering?
There lies the danger of this first i
hardening of the intellectual ar?
teries. Abandoning perfection and
turning one's back on that "mys-1
terious Center" as a will-o'-the-wisp,
one faces the danger of wandering
far oil' into the Circumference of
Things, where Energy is zero and
Doubt is the only enthroned deity.
Is it all physical in its origin, as Mr.
Dodd's entitling word might imply?
Let any one examine himself and de?
cide. It is certainly easier to dream
of sealing peaks when one's heart
is pumping enthusiastically; the val?
leys become vastly enticing to the
fat and pufi'y. Age is not the only ?
determining factor, perhaps. But;
age plus bodily condition gives a
background against which only the |
strong of will can struggle.
Diagnosis is perhaps the best help.
If you are fifty and still perfectibil-?
tous there is probably no hope for!
you. Similarly if at thirty you find
yourself already in the Valley of
Despair. But anywhere between
i< e extremes you can do some- [
thing tp shift your position and
ach that much derided but very'
desirable abiding place of the Middle!
Distance, located upon the upland'
shoulders of these foothills that
look both up and forward and down
and back. The elevation is high
enough to give a <^ood look around,
yet nobody faints either from dis?
appointment or orerexertlon. Here
there is plenty to do and enough to
get excited about. There is even
time for an occasional halt in the
day's work and a whimsical look off
at those Peaks of Perfection?still
inaccessible, still as commanding as
ever.
The Evening World seems un?
aware that reservation No. 7 of the
Lodge list provided that no repre?
sentative of this country in the
League of Nations should be named
"except pursuant to an act of Con?
gress of the United States providing
for his appointment and defining
his duties." This reservation the
President ordered his tamed Sena?
tors not to accept. Why? The in?
ference is natural that the President
thought that as the covenant was
drawn it permitted him to do the
picking. He has always contended
that the Chief Executive possesses
the exclusive power to negotiate with
foreign powers, and the business
before the league council would cer?
tainly be negotiation. Our neighbor
has temporarily forgotten the pas?
sion of Joseph Pulitzer for accuracy,
else it would not fall into the ab?
surdity of defending the defeat of
reservation No. 7 while admitting
that Congress should fix by law how
our league representatives should be
chosen.
Calvin Coolidge Says
(From his address on The Nature
of Politics.)
We may need new charters, new con?
stitutions and new laws at times. We
must always have an alert and inter
? csted citizenship. We have no depend
| ence but the individual. New charters
! cannot save -\is. They may appear to
help, but the chances are that the bene
i ficial results obtained result from an
increased interest aroused by discussing
! changes. Laws do not maka reforms,
j reforms make laws. Wo cannot look to
government. We must look to our?
selves. We must stand not in the ex
! pectation of a reward but with a desire
j to serve?. There will come out of gov
? crnment exactly what is put into it.
Society gets about what it deserves.
Cox's Newspaper Says
(from The Da ?/ton Daily News,
Oct. 19, 1910)
Every indication now is that with
tens of thousands of these splendid
people [Germans' still sympathizing
with the fatherland, still believing in
the righteousness of the German cause,
still hopeful that Germany will win,
there is every evidence that they will
vote for President Wilson for reelection
as the best means of aiding Germany, as
well as because the reelection of Presi?
dent Wilson will be an aid,to the United
States.
Our German friends are coming to ?
: understand that it does not "just hap?
pen" that most of the rabid anti-Ger?
man people in this country arc for
Hughes. From Theodore Roosevelt down !
the enemies of Germany are in the
Hughes bandwagon. So it is evident in
this instance, as in all others, Woodrow i
Wilson has been the real friend of the
American citizen who sympathizes with ;
Germany.
Why Vole for Cox?
A Search for Reasons That Ended
in Failure
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: As a 1!U2 Roosevelt Progressive,
who joined the Hughes Alliance in 19L3
after receiving the "ice pitcher" at the I
Chicago convention, I have been think- ?
ing how I should vote- this year. Last j
spring I worked hard for Leonard Wood
rnd felt like forgetting politics when ?
he was defeated. As a citizen I must j
veto. Shall it be Cox or Harding?
They say some of our old Progressive
friends have come out for Cox. I like j
to think with my pencil, and if you are
interested you can follow my thoughts.
First, I'll start back in 191(5. Most
of the Progressives, with Theodore :
Roosevelt, Republicanized themselves, [
through the Hughes Alliance. Had Theo- I
dore Roosevelt lived he certainly i
wouldn't have voted for Cox or jumped
out of the party before it really had a
chance to show what "progressive"
principles it would adopt. If the party !
is to be reformed from within, voting
for Cox won't help it.
If I had wanted a job and expected I
to be paid for going over I should have
gone in 1916. I elon't want a job, and
it is too late anyhow to work that
scheme now.
Our country needs harmony. Har- !
ding's record shows him to have been the
most popular Senator, personally, in ?
Washington. His pi rsonality must be j
pretty good if he can get Taft, John- {
ston, Leonard Wood, Hoover, Lodge and
others all to shout for him. ? wouldn't
shout for all of them myself, but it
seems a better crowd than the other
fellow has shouting for him. There are
more "home folks" in it. Harding has
more of the right sort of brainy people ?
ir his train. I don't suffer from an over
supply of brains myself, but I like to !
be classed with them when I can.
Cox recognized Hoover's brains, for he !
promised him a job in his Cabinet if I
j
he gets elected; but Hoover shouts all i
the harder for Harding. Hoover knows
\\ ashington well, and when one who ;
knows wants a change of administration j
there, he is wise who follows him. Why ?
should I try to prevent it?
If Cox gets in and Congress i as it is
sure to be is Republican we must ex- ,
pect the same sort of "cat and dog" j
fights we have had for the last few j
years. The. prospect doesn't induce my j
vote for Cox. I can't lind -\ good reason j
to vote for Cox. I hunted up a lone \
Democrat in my "neck of the woods"
and asked him lor a good reason, but
even he couldn't give ma one, so I am
going to vote for Harding.
WILSON D. LYON.
New York, Oct. 4, 1920.
The Conning Tower
REVISED
If Baseball worn what Baseball seem?,
And not the Baseball of our dreams,
But only scandal, muck, and taint,
How quick we'd chuck it?but it ain't.
Yet the interest in baseball is at its
lowest. We tried to sell our tickets to
yesterday's game. Failing, we called
fourteen persons by telephone before we
got ono willing to accompany us. It was
not 1. t. in the o. d.
Some of the public won't believe
baseball is honest until there's a notary
public at each base. And the pitcher
may have to go on oath before each ball
is pitched.
"Bright prospects for Madeira wine
production" is the title of an article in
Commerce Reports. What do you mean
"bright"?
Martial: Book V, Epigram 34
Hanc tibi, t'ronto pater, aenetrUa FlaccUla
puellam
If, Mother, where you dwell in Pluto's
shade,
There come to you my pet and my
delight,
A child whose merry laugh can banish
night,
Welcome for me the tiny little maid.
Bid her by Hades' gloom be not dis
maye d,
Kor let the Dog's wide-yawning jaws
affright.
So young was she to leave this world
of light,
Where but six years she sang and
danced and played!
Earth! Hold her lightly in thy rigid
sod,
Remember how in all her happy hours
Her little feet so lightly o'er thee trod,
And how she loved thy gifts of fruits
and flowers. N. S. P.
"I have come back," said Mr. Martin
W. Littleton, "convinced that Benjamin
Franklin was right when he said that
the English-speaking people have got to
lang together or else hanti separately."
If Benjamin Franklin had said that, the
red-bloodedness of his Americanism
might have been questioned.
Mr. Burleson's sleuths usually get let?
ters to us; so it may interest Mr.
Raoul Biais that wc got not only the
letter addressed to C. P. A., but also the
tickets addressed to C. A. P.
The Thoughtful Baron
Sir: I suppose Ziegfeld is going to
produce Galsworthy's "The Skin Game."
Out here they made Aphrodite don
tights, doubtless because the season is
drawing to its clothes. With Mr. Briggs,
I h. to h, it t. t. w. who characterizes
a certain short story as the rottenliest
written one she ever saw. H. Bell
Brown purchases custom-built clothes
at one of the better shops, moderately
priced, too, at One Hundred Fifteen Dol?
lars and more. Said Rath (Cincinnati)
and Ruth (New York) to player Roth
(Washington), "Boy, you're some field?
ing behemoth!" Said Roth and Ruth to
Morris Rath, "Roy, you're some speed
boy on the path!" Said Roth and Rath
to G?orgie Ruth, "Boy! you can hit, and
that's the truth!" I, too, to praise them
am not loth, lest Roth and Rath and
Ruth be wroth. Advertising a sale, a
local dept.store effuses as follows in
The Chicago Tribune: "Lay on, McDuff!
and damn'd be him that first cries, Hold,
Enough." Shakespeare."
The quotation is from the author's
OThello, isn't it?
BARON IRELAND.
As Mme. Marguerite so well observed,
the tendency to-day is to discard as
many garments as possible. Still, H.
W. is astounded to learn from Wana
maker's advertisement that "the foun?
dation of the winter wardrobe is the
street frock."
The Insomniacs
The old oaken Edna, the ironbound
Edna,
The moss-covered Edna St. Vincent
Millay.
PARADOX.
? * ?
I dreamt that I dwelt in marble halls
With Edna St. Vincent Millay.
G. P. D.
? * ?
"In my youth," said his father, "I took
to the law
And Edna St. Vincent Millay."
RAY.
Edna St. Vincent Millay, Troiae qui I
primus ab oris. E. W.
Nobody would bet on Brooklyn with
us yesterday, so we were forced to
back that splendid aggregation of ball- j
playing gentlemen. We have bolted ?
Cleveland, and are backing Brooklyn |
to win the series.
"To have the Presidency go to Ohio |
is enough," said Mr. Ebbets late last |
night, "without letting that state have
the baseball championship."
THE MELANCHOLY DAYS
To-morrow I go back to town ;
My heart's as light as thiitledown.
No more upon the ganda I'll treail
Nor feel the turf beneath my feet ;
But I shall walk on bricks instead.
Shall pace the asphalt, the concrete,
Too joyful far to utter groans
Though I must tramp on cobblestones.
To-morrow I go back to town ;
My heart's a? light as thistledown.
The roaring of the surf mine ears
Will hear no more, nor pine trees' sough ;
But backfiring, and shifting gears,
And surface cars, will be enough
My cup of joy so full to fill,
I shan't mind riveter or drill.
To-morrow I go back to town ;
My heart's us light *as thistledown.
Street lights instead of fireflies:
Instead of gardens, florists' shops ;
Tall buildings sharp against the skies
Instead of distant mountain tops ;
Automn modes heightening ladiej' charms;
Policemen, tnxis. fir? alarm- !
To-morrow I go back to town :
My heart's as light as thistledown.
K. I.1VEU??OEK.
"What is needed in the weather bu?
reau," we shivered at Ebbets Field yes?
terday afternoon, "ig a master mind."
P. P. A.
JUST WAITING FOR HER TO COME DOWN WITHIN REACH
Copyright, 1920, Nnv f?tts Tribun? Inc.
The High Cost of Strikes
Chapter VI
Strides and the Inefficient Distribution of Labor
By Marshall Olds
(This is (he sixth of a scries of thir- I
teen artich s ap ir ?? y on i/u's
daily, including Sunday.)
0?uy right, 1920. New iork I': Ibuti? inn.
Everybody know: that there hai been
an immense labor shortage in our big
cities during the last ye ar. ! he subur?
banites have been unable to get their
lawns cut; they can't get the ir coal de?
livered when it is needed. Plumbing
and electric lights go unfixed for days
and weeks because plumber and elec?
tricians can't get enough 1> Ip to handle
their work. Storekeepers can't get
clerks or dcliverymen to take car.- of
their business. Apartments are poorly
heated, ashes accumulate in the base?
ments and dirt collects in the hallways
because owners can't get help. And a
hundred and one jobs that used to be
deine regularly and as a matter of
course are not done because the labor
is not to be h?d.
"Nerve Center" Strikes
Yet through two "nerve ci
strikes the clothing trade : : big
cities have had 35 per cent more men
than have ever been needed to do the
same work permanently attached to
them. And man;.- other such industries
in those same cities are burdened with
far more men than the y need whom
they cannot send back into other fields
where they are needed because of the
fear of strikes which would be even
more expensive than the carrying of
this extra burden on the pay roll.
Farmers all through the Middle
West, are in crying, need of labor in
the harvest fields, yet tens of thou?
sands of men who used to take care
of the nation's crops are to-day in tin
-ame states getting $2 ? per week for
twei days' work in the coal mine s, not
only keeping a reasonable number ot
miners from working regularly, but
tremendously and needlessly cutting
down the nation's food supply and add?
ing to the price of both food and coal
This is one of the results of the coa!
strike.
A Tremendous Inefficiency
Our brick yards and many similai
industries cannot get men. This is one
o' the reason? why bricks have gone
from ?10 to $41 a thousand. Yet ii
certa n depa rt me tits oi :
there are 250,000 more men on the pa;
rolls than it has ever taken to <io the
same? work before whom the ra
are not sending back to fields when
ti:fy are really needed because of th<
threat of strikes which would be eve
more expensive than continuing to pa
wages to this unnecessary labor.
America lost some 6,000,000 immi
grants who would normally hav
come to swell our labor ranks, becaus
of the war. .During tl we mad
up a large / Vt of this lack not onl
through more efficient machinery an
through greater individual efficienc
hut particularly through cooperative off
ciency in the handling and distribute
of labor. We could to-day make up
large part of labor's numerical dc
iiciency in the same way, but as a nial
ter of fact we are tremendously e:
aggerating the numerical deficiency <
our labor not only by individual ineff
ciency but by a tremendous inefrlcienc
1 in the distribution of labor. Not only
have strikes been chiefly to blame for
th -. but the perpetuation of this in?
efficient distribution of labor has been
one of the chief aims and reasons for
many of the biggest .strikes since the
wa r.
During the whole war, but particu?
larly alter America entered the war,
there was a tremendous extra demur ?1
for labor in many special field.;?par?
ticularly to mine oal, to make muni?
tions, special machines, uniforms and
such war equipment. In order to get
ut once the labor required to meet the
emergency demand in these special in?
dustries unprecedented wages were
offered.
We all remember how, attracted by
these wages, tens of thousands of por?
ters, clerks, barbe*s, farm hands and
nil ki.r,ds of labor from every kind of
miscellaneous occupations and from
many of the less essential industries
flocked to 'he munition plants and inte
'?:her "we r" industries.
It i.-, of course, natural that wher
.;'.' ended this extra labor wante<
to stay in these same industries at tin
same ?i!;rh wages. Moreover, a grea
proportion of these mer had at one
joined the unions in their new trades
To-day in the country as a whole twici
as many workers are organized as i:
1916. In the clothing trade the union
have six times as many members a
they had before the war, and in man;
of the ?Treat special war industries th
proportion is nearly as great. Thi
new labor not only joined the union;
but began at once to take a very activ
part in union affairs. In fact, ther
is no doubt that a great deal of th
radicalism that is now permeating ou
older and more conservative unions i
due to the influx and influence of thi
new and heretofore nondescript labo
Striking to Make Jobs
The war was over jn November, 191
in December, 1918, the first of t!
gnat aftcr-the-war strikes occurrc
among the employees of the Gener
Electric Company. The one and on
real reason why the strike was calk
was to forestall the action union lea*
ers feared the General Electric Cor
pany might take of reducing its wor
ing force to its pre-war strength of o
.:..! aiiie employees by releasing i
il trained special war workers
their former occupations.
The leaders of this strike emphasiz
frankly and openly that the paramou
thing they were striking for was a
instead of a 48-hour-week, in order th
their union members mip-ht be co
tinned in their prosent jobs. As
matter of fact certain of the stri
leaders at Schenectady openly empr
sized this point to the extent of i
sisting that evci ? union memt
should, if it became necessary, wo
only' half time of course at a su
eicnt rate of income to maintain 1
same scale of livintr all the time
order that every union "brother" mif
be continued in employment.
Tlii? frankness, however?this op
insistence that the main obj
of the strike was to keep more men
? given amount of work than that wi
would legitimately support?was i
doubtc-dlv one
. the strike failed. F< i k lied
| workers who ha i ?:.?
: ticeship in I \r%
] ten or fifteen ;
| Jobs could I r
! in being aske-ei to sa ? ir pa;
: and perhaps e\.
striking solely in
?skilled men who had a'-- . - :
ja year or two of pay i
I tlon to their t :
should be arf
these- special pi ' go?
ing back to the work y wer?
needed and
Places Were Preserved
This strike
that a union : ? urn ad
van tue.
for their
allow
? '"' ?: .'.cy in theii arbi?
trarily be lo.-.
duction 1"- e
forcing the i ?e rnen
to do the w .- .
easily and i
chiefly by the
workers thei > esting
to note, how* ver, 1 of the
defeat of this
efficie nt, expe
?
doubt
and th
prodi ctie e.?%ti
demand for ?
the ? ' ? ?
Company in-. <
ally k"pt this
special ? .:?
??v;.r v....
Fifty Per Cent Idle
Just before I D?
workers sti ? hour
week, which v
duction thai - 'n'8
would be kept at ?? unlo?.
In th i s c as e
been empl a <W
in a par- culai "? ln
that ?
the neB?
year a .. ?
mand for
labor. Hard , / non
their ??
of efficiency '
per cent extra main
tained pel mai
than they strue .
addition that the wages of ? ?nE
the 'A? per cert of extra workers, shouM
be practically do ible ?.
The clothing ? rkers won their
strike. -?erin*
ncnt retei - "xtr*
we>rke>rs in tl ? *x"
trcmely inefl *r'""
trary 35 Bcie*B0
Der worker. But he c?,a
of the elect 're th*
tight for the ? ' reduced
efficiency per worker was I ' ^rd tM
old standai : Uioei?
the progre - and '^c in"
dustry actually n* ""
full war qu ? e I at
better than
ir.dusti ; ' ' ' p*r
cmt but ove who?*
industry : a '*' *n*
r "^
a yoar * s -! ? -??' 'r?a
other industrie -, and by m - ng ?^em
officially c?o ; erea
now most of - -iff'0,
stead of going to work at Bome other!?*?
In the coal str:\ estion o? f*
(Continued on ntxt Va9*^.