album-art
Reading Time: 15 minutes [2627 words]

The Atlanta Constitution,

Monday, 29th June 1914,

PAGE 1, COLUMN 3.

Differences Between Fulton Bag and Cotton Mills and Former Employees Discussed at the Grand. BOTH PARTIES ASKED TO SELECT ARBITERS Addresses on Problems of Capital and Labor Made By Dr. Wilmer, Dr. White and Marion Jackson.

Following addresses stressing the necessity of an immediate and amicable settlement for the public good of the differences between the strikers of the Fulton Bag and Cotton Mills and the Mill Owners and an improvement of conditions at that Mill, some 2,000 citizens at a mass meeting at the Grand Opera House, Sunday afternoon, adopted resolutions urging the Mill Owners to meet the offer of the strikers to arbitrate their differences in the same spirit of fairness in which the striking employees have made the offer. It was further urged that in order that such a mediation might be more binding and that there might not be the semblance of grounds for subsequent charges of unfairness on the part of the proposed board of mediation by either contending party, that the employees and the Mill Owners select their own board of mediation instead of having the Men and Religion Forward Movement and the ministers of the city to select that board, as was originally proposed by the strikers.

Historical Significance. Dr. John E. White, one of the speakers, characterized the meeting, should it be successful in its object, as one of historical significance and one which will in future years be referred to as the beginning of intelligent discussion and mediation of capital and labor differences and the ushering in of a new era of fair play in such warfare. The resolutions adopted were as follows: "Whereas the strikers at the Fulton Bag and Cotton Mills have signified their willingness to have the differences between them and the Mill arbitrated; and" "Whereas, for the protection of women and children and the health of the community, the public is very vitally interested in the solving of the points of the truth or the difference between both the strikers and the Mill Owners; be it." "Resolved, That we, citizens of Atlanta and Fulton County, in mass meeting assembled, do urge upon the Fulton Bag and Cotton Mill the necessity for meeting this offer in the same spirit of fairness and that an arbitration be had between the strikers and the Mill in a manner and form to be determined by them."

Denies Prejudice Against Jews. John J. Eagan presided over the meeting and the speakers were Dr. C. B. Wilmer, Dr. John E. White and Marion Jackson. To Mr. Jackson was assigned the duty of speaking upon the "brass tacks" of the situation. His subject was "The Coming of the Kingdom of God," which subject had been touched upon in its bearing upon capital and labor differences by the two ministers who preceded him. Mr. Jackson dispensing with high-sounding phrases and fine spun theory, figuratively rolled up his sleeves and waded into the facts and conditions that are the crux of the strike situation. He began with an attack upon the circulated report in connection with the Frank case that there exists in Atlanta a spirit of prejudice against the Jews. "I want to brand as a lie," he cried, "the report that there exists in Atlanta or in Georgia a prejudice against the Jews. That report is false and was sent abroad for selfish purposes." "I think of the Jews not as Shylocks, but as a great people to whom the world owes a great deal."

Great Jews of History. He illustrated what he meant by referring to Moses, Disraeli, Isaacs and other world-figures. He cited Moses as the leader of the first strike that of the Israelites against slavery of Pharaoh in the brick yards of Egypt, and pointed him out as the man who gave the world the laws under which the present civilization exists-namely, the ten commandments. He then went back to the history of Jacob and Joseph, portraying their characteristics, and ambitions, and the results, of them. "There are people here," said Mr. Jackson, "who are not going to like what I have to say, but I ask you to turn back to your Bibles and see whether or not I am right." "Jacob wanted the Lord to give him the whole world, and promised in return to give Him back one-tenth. He wanted to buy the world for one-tenth its value!" "Now, look what a family of boys Jacob did raise up! The troubles that we have here in Atlanta are heaven compared to the trouble those boys raised. They even sold their own brother, Joseph, into slavery." "And what was the outcome?" Foresaw a Famine. "Joseph was taken down into Egypt a slave, and he was not there but a little while until he controlled mighty nearly everything in sight. Then he foresaw a famine coming he foresaw hard times. My goodness, what a faculty those people have for foreseeing such events! And he cornered the grain market against the hard times." "What happened?" "In a little while, his brothers came running down to Egypt to get some corn. They were hungry and they did not waste any time getting there. And when they got there, they had to buy the corn from that same brother whom they had sold into slavery!" He then narrated the passing of Joseph, the slavery of Israel and the hardships they suffered at the hands of Pharaoh, and the rise of Moses to liberate them; the hardness of Pharaoh's heart in the face of the demands of Moses and the resultant plagues. "I want to say," said Mr. Jackson, "in this connection that, as others have said before me, there is no movement of uplift that does not start from the bottom up and not from the top down!" Mr. Jackson then depicted how when Israel had become free and prosperous once more lust and greed had led them into the error of holding others in slavery just as had earlier been their lot. Tells of Christ's Birth. He told of the lowly birth of Christ and declared that He was crucified not by the Jews as a race, but by the ring-leaders whose positions He threatened. This story of the Hebrew race Mr. Jackson used as introductory to his main theme. Mr. Jackson said that he had been told he would be nothing less than crazy to say the things he intended saying in the face of the fact that the Mills around which the fight in question centers, are owned by Jews. "The Jews in Atlanta," he said, "may not hold to the same religious beliefs that I hold to, but they recognize the principles of right and justice on which that religion is founded." He then held aloft a contract which he declared had been drawn by an attorney for the Fulton Bag and Cotton Mills for the employment of its labor. Extracts From Contract. From this contract he read extracts. The first extract was to the effect that the Mill is to pay the employee only for such services as are rendered and is not to pay for loss of time arising from accidents, disability or any other cause. "The man who drew that contract," shouted Mr. Jackson, "had been in a Court House. He had the interests of the Mill Owners at heart, and he knew what he was doing!" "Such a contract as that is an indictment of the Fulton Bag and Cotton Mills and of all others who use similar contracts!" Again, he read to the following effect: The employee agrees to make good to the company any damages to the company's property by laborer's negligence. "The law makes the laborer pay for any damage he does to the Mill. That is fair. It ought to. But is it fair that the Mill should not pay for any injury it does to the employee? Is that fair? Is that in the spirit of Christ?" Mr. Jackson then read: "The company may discharge him or her (referring to the laborer) whenever it shall become unwilling to retain him." Gives Right to Discharge. Mr. Jackson explained that this clause gave the Mill Owners authority to discharge any employee when he joined the union if they chose so to do. Again, he read to the following effect: It is distinctly understood that a week's wages (week being understood as five days) are held by the company and not to become payable at all, this being held as liquidated damages, when the employee quits without a week's notice. "Is this right?" shouted the speaker. "I do not think," continued Mr. Jackson, "that, upon reflection, Mr. Elsas will think that it is right, either. I believe that Mr. Elsas wants to do what is right." Mr. Jackson said that he had received protests against his having called the houses in which the employees of the Mills live "graves." "I would much prefer my grave to one of them," he said. "They tell me," said Mr. Jackson, "that, despite the fact the Mills admit that it is not right to make their employees live in such houses as these, more of a similar type are being built right now!" Scores Mill Conditions. "There are people," he continued, "who have no patience with labor unions, and say there should be none. But out at those Mills there are now, or were only a short while ago, insanitary conditions such as threaten not only the lives of the people who live and work there, but also the health of the entire city." "Now, there comes a strike to have these conditions remedied. If these conditions cannot be remedied in any other way, is it right that we should say that there should be no such thing as an organization to fight against such conditions?" Mr. Jackson described a visit he made to the Mills. Graphically he told of the lack of any sound of laughter or any one of voice indicating joy among the women and children. Everything, he said, was pervaded by a dull monotony of sound and sight that indicated that the women and children in the Mills did not realize that there was any better fate that they might share. "They do not even realize," he said, "that they have a right to a fair chance in this world!" "Killing off the women and children with machine guns, as has been done in Colorado, will not do us any good," he said. "But right voting will. If we will go to the ballot boxes and vote for men who will go to the legislature and give us a child labor bill that is right, we will produce results quickly." Child Labor Bills Killed. He cited how bill after bill on child labor conditions had been before the Georgia general assembly and had been killed by people who professed to be in sympathy with the women and children of the Mills. His final appeal to the Mill Owners was made by a recitation of the history of the Jews in Georgia; how they had fled to Georgia in the colonial days; how they had become staunch American citizens and had poured out blood in their blood in the wars of the country. "By the past history of the Jews in this state," said Mr. Jackson, "it now behooves the Owners of these Mills to deal justly now." "The laboring people have asked that a board be appointed and that their troubles be submitted to that board, on condition that the outcome be binding." "Don't put it up to us. Let the Mill Owners and the strikers agree on their own board. Let the difference be settled in this fair manner, and all Atlanta will rise up and see that justice is done!" He then submitted the resolution which was adopted just before the adjournment of the meeting.

Other Speakers. The first speaker on the program was Dr. Wilmer, whose subject was "Industrial Democracy." Dr. Wilmer foresaw naught ahead but strife for capital and labor until each is willing to recognize and respect the rights of the other. He declared that essential to such a condition is the personal element, that the fight must become one between capitalists and laborers, and not between capital and labor. Any business which cannot go forward without the sacrifice of humanity, he said, has not right to exist. The right idea, he said, is a partnership between capital and labor in the production of those commodities which society demands. He declared that the brotherly love theory will not altogether settle the question of the relation of capital and labor. He cited present conditions as only temporary, recounting the history of labor and forecasting something of the future. Living Wage Needed. In industrial democracy Dr. Wilmer included a living wage. By a living wage he declared himself to mean not a wage which, by keeping the entire family employed will enable the entire family to keep soul and body together, but such a wage paid to the head of the family as will enable him to support his family and give the mother and children those advantages and equipment for life which are justly theirs. Also, he included the right of the employee to share in the profits of the business besides his salary. No concern, he said, has the moral right to demand that any man shall contribute to the work of society without receiving his share of reward. A third item which he included was the right of the employee to share in the management of the business in which he is employed. By employees in this instance, he declared he meant also the managers of the business.

Dr. John E. White spoke on "Mediation." The need of mediation he declared to be urgent because of the existence of two conditions for which he predicted no immediate change. These were: First, capital will continue to combine is in fact, forced to combine to conduct its enterprises, and labor will continue to combine to discharge its part in the social scheme. Second, as long as human minds remain unregenerate there is sure to arise differences and industrial disputes. He declared that organized capital and organized labor, as long as they remain pitted against each other, are a menace to society. Cost of Strikes. In substantiation of this statement, he pointed out that in the last seven and one-half years, strikes have cost labor $34,900,000, have cost labor unions $6,000,000, and have cost capital $28,000,000. No one, he declared, was the gainer, and society was the loser. Dr. White declared that the reason the facts and conditions forming the basis of capital and labor differences today are not laid bare, as they should be, is because capital regards itself as superior to labor, this being, he said, a relic of the days of slavery. Equality between capital and labor has got to be recognized, he said, before mediation can hope to be very successful. Dr. White emphasized the fact that the south, as was mentioned by Dr. Wilmer, has the opportunity to profit by the experiences of other sections in the solution of labor and capital differences. He declared this to be true because of the fact that the people in the south are representative of the true and original stock of Americanism. They are a people who have been born and raised together, he said; they are all kin and all have the same traditions and speak the same tongues. There is no element of foreign strain which might disrupt these conditions favorable to amicable settlement of disputes.

Related Posts