A FINISH FIGHT

For several months, ever since the inauguration of N. R. A. and its much disputed clause 7a, labor has become increasingly dissatisfied with the fruits of its toil, as the growing number of strikes and lockouts attended with violence testifies. Now, hard on the heels of the Minneapolis and Toledo labor riots comes an announcement by William Green, president of the American Federation of Labor, that a "fight to the finish" between industry and labor threatens over a battle line extending from coast to coast.

Such a pronouncement coming from a man who is in the closest touch with the labor situation cannot but be received with the utmost apprehension at a time when it seems to be touch and go as to whether the forces making for recovery are likely to be permanent or transitory. Yet no thinking citizen can feel at heart otherwise than sympathetic to the demands of workers, coming, as they do, when prices are rising rapidly, and employers are anxious to keep down costs, of which wages are one of the largest items, in order to recoup themselves for the loses they have suffered during the last few years.

Unfortunately the tactics of the workers are becoming such as to alienate at the start that very public sympathy on which Labor, as Capital, must in the long run depend for success. Against a legitimate strike coupled with sincere efforts for mediation, no just resentment can be aroused. But when, as in the present case, it becomes increasingly evident that the unions are permitting themselves to be led by Communists and other discredited radicals intent only on fomenting trouble, the antagonism of the general public is inevitably aroused. Between the upper and nether millstones of mob violence and popular antipathy, reason stands small chance of effecting a just settlement, and both Labor and Capital stand to be the losers in the end.