w
) &
The Commoner
)ECEMJ3EB
1919
It
iaeli0
nod
,nitf to a peace basis, with
& conditions under the mini-
raieu. Tniia unon personal noeny iuui
nf restrictions upon i nrobloma.,
S consistent w3 u out government with
?nd it shouW 8 tncriminal courts with those
P0 ho by violent methods would aoro-
C time tested ins utuuozn,
itho free expression 01 upiuwu uu vm
ffilh the free ti olitical change; how-
,, aavot; -; .. must b0 no interier-
V mEni p volution there should he no
Vtiisc 01 Pu''"v:" :, fi,4a onrl hjiR been
?BfTowSS8 passion, and malevolence
': buL L to crime and insurrection under
tending
" ri.nn t.n this end has been
leDienCnnfiG(l by the attorney- general -and
(fconld bo enacted. '
t hfc direct connection, l woum uuu y.yui
Inii tn mv recommendations on August
ll(en ion to my '-i-...,, measures which
f,ffhP effective in controlling and bringing
Int cost of living, which .con-
Hbntes so largely 10 una umCOu v,i.Mw,
Tof these recommendations has the congress
feted. If tiie goveiiimu. . . -;
Effective, it is necessury wu., ko m i
laggested should be acted on at once. y
TO EXTEND FOOD' CONTROL
I renew, uuu nb; "" ", r , I
the extension of the present food control aot
IS 10 We penuu ui wiw ix .,t -- .... -
main in operation. Tlio attorney general nas
'submitted a bill providing for an extension of
this act for a period of six months. As it
BOW StanUS It lb inuiLUU m upmanuu uvj h
period of the war and becomes inoperative up
on the formal proclamation of peace. It is- im
mmiIva that it should ha extended at once.
The department of justice has built up extensive
macninery ior mo imrijuao ut Baiuniu6 i-
provisions, all of which must be abandoned up
on the conclusion of peace unless the provisions
jof this act are extended, X
Durinir this neriod the concress will have an
nnnnrtunitv to make similar, nermanenf nro-
tislons and regulations with regard to all goods
destined for interstate commerce and to exclude
them from interstate shipment if the require
ments of the law nrp not r.rvrrmHprl -with. Some
such regulation is imperatively .necessary. The
anuses mat nave grown up in the manipula
tion of prices by the withholding of foodstuffs
and other necesRfirJpct nf Hfp nnrmnf. nt.hnrwiso
be effectively prevented. There . can bo no
doubt of either the necessity or the legitimacy
of such measures.
As I pointed out in my last message,
publicity can accomplish a great deal in this
campa'gn. The aims of the government must
bo clearly brought to the attention of the con
fining public, civic organizations and
state officials, who are in a position to lend
their ass'stance to our efforts. You have made
available funds with which to carry on this
campaign, but there is no provision in the law
authorizing their expenditure for the purpose
o making the public fully informed about the
worta of the government. Specific recom
mendation has been made by the Attorney gen
eral in this regard. I would strongly urge 'up
on you Its immediate adoption, as it constitutes
one of the preliminary stcps to this campaign.
I also renew my recommendation that the
congress pass a law regulating cold storago as
RhSreSulated- for example, by the laws of the
InT ii i w Jersey which limit the time dur
5u7i g00ds may kept in storage, pre
Wnli !? melh0(1 of disposing of them if kept
2o , Permitted period, and require that
E -VJ SGci from storage shall in all cases
add f Uielr receipt. It would materially
DurnnoV16 serviceability of the law, for the
!Eawinow ftave in view if were also
for K aU eods released from storage
narkS shiPment should have plainly
market ,S0n eacU Package the selling or
By th,, Ice at which they vont into storage,
able in Seans the Purchaser would always be
end tlio I?? what Profits stood between nun
i l"e producer or the wholesale dealer.
foaUiiULn J11S01 ronew my recommendations
ftonld in n, S destined for interstate commerce
ase maH ury case' where their form or pack
le nricp , 1)l,ssiblQ. be plainly marked with
Producer lIch they left tne lianls tne
Wo
f"deral lirf I formulate a law requiring a
'"state conm. a11 corporations engaged in in
0r in thp o?em, and embodying in the license,
lsed, snnrSR ions under which it is to be
1 clflc dilations designed to sec-re
competitive selling and prevent uneomelonable
profits jn the method of marketing.
Such. a la.w would afford a welcome oppor
tunity to affect other much needed reformi in
the business of interstate shipment and in
the methods or corporations which are ongagod
in it; but for the moment I confine my recom
mendations to the object immediately in hand,
which is to lower tho cost of living.
CONDITIONS OF LABOR
No one who has observed tho march of
events in the last year can fail to note the
absolute need of a definite programme to bring
about an improvement in tho conditions of
labor. There can bo no settled conditions
leading to increased production and a reduction
in the cost of living if labor and capital are to
be antagonists instead of partners. Sound
thinking and an honest desire to servo the in
terests of tho wholo nation, as distinguished
from the interests of a class, must bo applied
to the solution of this great and pret ing prob
lem. The failure of other nations to consider
th'B matter in a vigorous way has produced
bitterness and jealousies and antagonisms, tho
food of radicalism. The only way to keep man
from agitating against grievances is to remove
the grievances. An unwillingness even to dis
cuss these matters produces only dissatisfaction
and gives comfort to tho extreme elements in
our country which endeavor to stir up disturb
ances in order to provoke governments to
embrtrk upon a course of retaliation and repres
sion. The seed of revolution is repression. The
remedy for these things must not bo negative
in character. It must be constructive. It must
comprehend the general interest.
The real antidote for tho unrest wh'ch mani
fests itself is not suppression, but a deep con
sideration of the wrongs that beset our national
life and the application of a remedy.
Congress has already shown its willingness
lo deal with these industrial wrongs by estab
lishing the eight hour day as the standard in
every field of labor. It has sought to find a
way to prevent child labor. It has served the
whole country by leading the way in developing
tho means of preserving and safeguarding lives
- and health in dangerous industries It must
now help in the difficult task of finding a
method that will bring about a genuine democ
ratization of industry, based on tho full
recognition of the right of those who work,
in whatever rank, to participate in some or
ganic way in every decision which directly af
fects their welfare. It is with this purpose
in mind that I called a conference to meet in
Washington on December 1 to consider these
problems in all their broad aspects, with the
idea of bringing about a better understanding
between these two interests.
The great unrest throughout the world, out
of which has emerged a demand for an im
mediate consideration of tho difficulties between
capital and labor, bids us put our own house
in order. Frankly, there can be no permanent
and lasting settlements between capital and
labor which do not recognize the fundamental
concepts for which labor has been struggling
through the years. The whole world gave
ft recognition and ndorsement to these
Tho statemon gathered at Versailles recog
n'zed the Tact that world stabllty could not
be had by reverting to industrial standards
and conditions against which the average work
, nf the world had revolted. It is, tnere
Era the task of he statemen of this new day
fore, tne wbk vl rpdiustment to recognize
BsSsiSe: was?
uirougii "' t. . iong antagonisms ue-
Ihe ending of "? and that will Hopefully
W wnC?hibUnaing UP ol a comradeship which
W.S'.&Hra a greater pros-
Pr,ty SVsTIcfm LABOR DEMANDS
JUbliOii uy pninrs in the demands
To analyze the .par culwa in cQm
of labor is to a1' "Jt Ho at their basis,
plaint in many ma ters l suf.
The workmah dma ve in comfort, un
fleient to permit him to ,
hampered by the Iear l 'Uie rIght to live and
his old age. He emna,.fBt sanitary surround
the right to work amids sami y d,
ingsMh in hom1nanndotTetard his own health
that develop andnd Crjgnt to provide for his
and well being, and tb risw I heaUh and
children's wants in the nwu
education. In other wonlg, it Ik hi doalro '
to make the condltioiiH of Mr life and tho
Jivoi of thoio dear to him tolorablt and oay
to boar.
Tho establishment of the principle regard
ing; labor laid down In tho covenant of the
Longuo of Nations offer us tho way to itidua
trial ponce and conciliation. No pthor road
Ilea open to us. Not to puraue till on is
longer to invite enmities, bltUrnoM and an
tagonisms which In tho ond only lead to In
dustrial and social disaster.
The unwilling workman is not a profitable
Borvant. An employo whoso industrial life is
hedged about by hard and unjust conditions,
which he did not croate and over which ho ha
no control, Incks that fino spirit of ontluwlasm
and volunteer effort which are tho necessary
ingredients of a groat producing entity. Lot
us bo frank about this solonm matter. Tho
ovidencos of worldwido unrest which manifest
themselves Jn violence throughout tho world
bid us pauso and consider tho moans to ho
found to stop the sprond of this contagious
thing boforo It saps tho very vitality of the
nation itself. Do we gain strongth by with
holding the romedy? Or is it not tho buslnoH
of statemon to treat these manifestations of
unrest which moot us on every hand as evi
dences of an economic disorder and to npply
constructive remcdioB wherever nocessary, be
ing suro that In tho application .of the romedy
we touch not the vital tissues of our industrial
and economic life? There can bo no recension
of tho tide of unrost until constructive In
strumentalities are sot up to stem that tide.
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
Governments must recognize the right of
men collectively to bargain for humane objects
that have at their base tho mutual protection
and welfare of those engaged in all Industries,
Labor must not be longer treated as a com
modity. It must bo regarded as the activity of
human beings, possessed of deep yearnings and
desires. The bUsinass man gives his best
thought to the repair and replenishment of
his machinery so that its usefulness will not
bo impaired and its power to produce may al
ways be at its height and kept In full vigor
and motion. No less regard ought to be paid
to the human machine which, after all, propels
tho machinery of tho world and Is tho great
dynamic force that lies back of all industry
and progress.
Return to the old standards of wage and In
dustry in employment are unthinkable. The
terrible tragedy of war which has Just ended
and which has brought tho world to the verge
of chaos and disaster would bo In vain If
there should ensue a return to tho conditions
of the past. Europe itself, whenco has come
the unrest which now holds the world at bay,
is an examplo of standpatlsm In these vital
human matters which America might well ac
cept as an example, not to follow but studiously
to be avoided. Europe made labor tho dif
ferential, and the price of It all Is enmity and
antagonism and prostrated industry; The
right of labor to live in peace and comfort
must be recognized by governments and Amer
ica should be tho first to lay the foundation
stones upon which industrial peace shall .be.
built. tii , L
Labor not only is entitled to an adequate
wage, but capital should recoivo a reason
able return upon Its investment and is entitled
to protoction at the hands of the government
In every emergency. No government worthy
of the name can "play" the elements against
each other, for there Is a mutuality of Interest
between them which the government must
seek to express and to safeguard at all cost. .
RIGHT TO STRIKE INVIOLATE
The right of individuals to strike Is Invio
late and ought not to bo interfered with by
any process of government, but there Is a
predominant right, and that is tho right of tho
government to protect all of its people and to i
assert its power and majesty against the chal
lenge of any class. The government, when it .
asserts that right, seeks not to antagonize a
class, but simply to defend the right of tho
whole people as against the Irreparable harm ,
and Injury that might bo done by the attempt
by any class to usurp power that only gov- -ernment
itself has a right to exercise as a pro
tection to all.
In the matter of International disputes which
have led to war, statemen have sought to set
up as a remedy arbitration for war. Does this
(Continued on Page 13)
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