Congressional Record Seventy-Fifth Congress, First Session


Extension of Remarks of Hon. Maury Maverick of Texas In the House of Representatives
Thursday, June 17, 1937

UNITED AUTO WORKERS HOLD CONVENTION IN DETROIT

Mr. Speaker, about 10 days ago I visited Detroit and addressed the United Auto Workers of America, which was Saturday, June 5, 1937. This was one of the most interesting trips I have ever made, and which I shall describe before I include a copy of my address.

Arriving in Detroit, I found a thousand automobile workers in General Motors plants from all over the country were meeting to consider their agreement with General Motors and to appoint a committee to negotiate for them. It was like any national convention, although it represented only one single union of one automobile corporation. Think of it! This is a whale of a big union. They have 350,000 members at present, and more are joining daily.

There was a great crowd in a hall downtown, and I walked among the men, having to push my way through at one point. I thought that I was bumping my way through a hall crowded with granite pillars, the men were so hard and strong. Before I arrived at the platform, from the number of southerners who spoke to me, it seemed as if half of them were from the South. Since then, upon investigation, I find that probably 30 or 40 percent of them are actually from the South.

I stayed around Detroit for a couple of days and had the pleasure of meeting a great many of the automobile workers. If there ever was an authentic American movement it is this organization. As for any "foreign" ideas of any kind these men have none whatever. Of course, I presume that there may have been a Communist here and there, but not any more Communists than you would find anywhere else. There are all kinds of men in the movement. But, on the whole, they were the finest looking bunch of men that I have ever seen in the United States of America.

MEN OF ORGANIZATION ARE WELL INFORMED AND ENTHUSIASTIC

I have seen other organizations where men have been starved down; others where the people were erratic, some who were crackpots, some that were neurotic. But these were all strapping, fine, clean, decent young American men, most of them between 21 and 35 years of age.

Which brings up a point. When you are about 35, and an industrial worker, it is time to be kicked out in the street. And that is one of the problems these men face, and they know it.

I talked to a great many of them on various subjects. They are well informed and enthusiastic. I do not mean that they have Ph.D. degrees, but I do mean that the ones I met read, study, and think. Another thing that interested me was that the headquarters of the organization was not like some union organizations I have seen. There are no bums hanging around with a bar off at the side in which to drink, shoot the bull, and carouse.

UNION HEADQUARTERS LIKE ANY OTHER BUSINESS OFFICE

There was a neat office, with a lady at the switchboard in front—just like at Mr. J. P. Morgan's, Mr. Ford's, or anybody else's office. There were various economists, statisticians, and men who had education and who were advising the head of the organization, Homer Martin.

I have read some things about Homer Martin and how tough he is. He is no pansy, but in the vulgar sense is certainly not tough. He was once a preacher, although he has been in organized labor for a long period of time. He is not in any way pretentious, but a simple, religious, sincere man, typically American, and who makes a very good speech. (Note.—He does not talk like a preacher.)

At the big mass meeting I attended, which was near Dearborn and Mr. Ford's plant, but specifically at Baby Creek Park, Detroit, there were assembled some 10,000 men. It had rained hard all day long, and I did not expect to see anyone at the park at all. It was muddy, and the people stood up to their ankles in the mud. The rain slowed down to a drizzle, just as we arrived, but after I had spoken a while it broke into a heavy shower. I looked closely and did not see a single person leave during all the speeches.

My address was as follows:

ORGANIZE TO PROTECT AMERICAN LIBERTY AND STANDARD OF LIVING

Mr. Chairman and fellow Americans, I am very happy to be here. I am speaking in the Baby Creek Park, and before we are through organizing it's going to be a Big River Forest full of organized men. [Applause.]

Oh, my friends, I want you to know in the first place that down my way labor is not very well organized; labor is not very well organized anywhere in the South. But let us get organized North, South, East, and West, and let us do it for the purpose of preserving American liberty and the American standard of living.

You know, my friends, I thought it a little bit significant and that it really meant something, because the very first tune you played was John Brown's Body Lies A'Moldering in the Grave. That is the same tune they played and the same song they sang when the slaves were freed in the South.

Yes, fellow Americans; that's what we are going to do for the people of the Ford plant. [Applause.] Or, better, in modern parlance, we will cooperate with them in organizing so that they may protect their own rights.

FORD BEATS FRANKENSTEIN UP—THE STORY OF FRANKENSTEIN

Then I sort of laughed a little bit, you know, when I thought of the story of Frankenstein. Frankenstein—your Frankenstein—was a fellow who built a monster.

The story goes that he made a mechanical robot. He played around with his robot and made him do everything he told him to. The job was perfect.

But it was such a perfect job that finally the robot ate his creator alive. Mr. Ford has tried to play Frankenstein, but his beating up our Frankenstein will do no good. Ford's gangsters will make a monster of Ford, and the spirit of your Frankenstein will go marching on. [Applause.]

This business of organizing is all plain common sense. Why shouldn't free-born Americans organize? It is sensible and proper, and to say that American citizens should not have the right to organize is to say that democracy is wrong and that we have not sense enough to get along with each other or to govern ourselves.

In speaking of this we must realize that we now have an opportunity which may never come again. Everywhere I go I see the people are alive, that they are trying to understand their probems, and that they want a decent country for themseves and their children in which to live.

LABOR MARCHES ON—A MAJOR MOVEMENT—ORGANIZE!

This is a major sweep—this movement of the United Automobile Workers and the C.I.O.—it is a major move of the citizens of the United States of America. It is in the cards! We hear a lot of propaganda against organization, but whenever you hear it just realize where it comes from.

Sensible Americans will not be moved by this misleading propaganda. People who try to organize are called all kinds of names—radicals, Communists—and are said to be un-American. Let me tell you, it always makes me sick when somebody says that because a man wants to get a decent living for his wife and children, "Oh, he is a Communist."

Well, I want to know, since when came the time that an American couldn't stand up on his hind legs and fight like hell for his rights? [Applause.] Unionism, my friends, is good Americanism and true democracy.

BIG CORPORATIONS REVOLT AGAINST LAW OF THEIR COUNTRY

Let us review some labor and business history of the past year and a half. Who was it that defied the Government of the United States of America? Well, when Congress—the Congress you elected—enacted the Wagner law, and when the President—the President you elected [applause]—signed the law, 57 of these big, big Liberty League lawyers [boos] got together, representing the great corporations. And what did they do? They told the big corporations that the law was unconstitutional and void and to violate it. Yes; they told them to violate the Wagner law, the law of the land, the law of the United States of America—for it was only a labor law!

I ask you, did any lawyers of organized labor order that any law be destroyed and broken? Have they told unions to violate the law? No! There hasn't been anything like that.

Now, let's follow what happened to the Wagner Labor Act. Those 57 lawyers, the biggest ones in America—they claim for themselves—had "declared", in their arrogance, the law to be unconstitutional, and said that it should be violated.

In the meantime, the President of the United States suggested that the judiciary be reformed. What happens? Along comes the Supreme Court of the United States and says that the law is constitutional and that the big corporations must obey it! These 57 big corporation lawyers "held it unconstitutional" in advance, defied the law of the land, and conspired to break these laws.

WORKERS HAVE AS MUCH BRAINS, AND BETTER LEADERSHIP

Listen to this: You people have your rights. You are free-born Americans, and if you have any inferiority complex get rid of it. You have just as much brains, you have just as much sense, and you have better leadership than the industrialists of this country. [Applause.] Sometimes you do not believe this. But the "upper crusters" always try to make the people believe that they're dumb and are being betrayed by their own leaders; and when I say that you have the brains and you have better leadership you know I am telling you the truth.

I want to talk to you just a few minutes about some of the serious problems we have in this country. Labor is not the only problem. So I am going to discuss with you the subject of the Supreme Court of the United States of America. [Boos.]

THE SUPREME COURT SHOULD MIND ITS OWN BUSINESS

Now, fellow Americans, there is a function for the Supreme Court of the United States. I am a lawyer, too, like the judge over there, and I belong to the National Lawyers Guild.

But that's not the point. There is a function for the Supreme Court, which I will explain later.

PEOPLE CAN READ CONSTITUTION AS WELL AS JUDGES

But, first of all, there is one simple thing which you understand as well as anybody. It is that you don't have to be a lawyer at all to understand what the Constitution says. You know how to read as well as any judge does.

I am not going to give you any complicated arguments, because it's raining anyhow. What is happening is that the Supreme Court has entered the field of legislation and is breaking down the laws which you have enacted through the men whom you elect to office. This hurts business as well as labor, because there is no stability and no one knows what is going to happen next.

Believe me, fellow Americans, it is none of the business of judges to decide whether a law is wise or not, discreet or not, or whether they like it or not. The trouble is that the Supreme Court has not been attending to its own business—and when it begins to attend to its own business the controversy will all be over. Just remember that.

FUNCTION OF COURTS TO PRESERVE, NOT TO BREAK DOWN THE LAWS

What are the functions of the courts of the United States? Their functions are to enforce the laws, including labor laws, protect the liberties of the people, settle cases between people, and to decide conflicts of State and National laws, and to declare acts of the Congress and the various States unconstitutional when they violate the liberties of the people, and the actual wording of the Constitution.

It is not their function to use all kinds of magic words to break down the laws, but their function to uphold them.

For instance, the Guffey coal law, the Agricultural Adjustment Act, neither of these laws were violating any liberties. No laborer, no State, no farmer came into court in either case. But the Court said it was protecting "States' rights", laborers, farmers, and then went out of its way to break down a law of the people. It should protect the civil and religious liberties, protect a man against police brutality and persecution and unlawful arrest, guarantee him habeas corpus, and preserve his rights as an American citizen.

RAIN POURS DOWN, BUT NOT ALL WELL

Well, the rain is coming down and we are getting wet. But we are not "all wet" in what we are doing and saying. [Laughter.] It is mighty nice of you people to listen, and it means to me that you are going to get organized. [Applause.]

TRUST IN FORD—AND THROW AWAY CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS

Well, for the last few days I have been reading in the papers about Mr. Ford and how he wants all the boys to be good boys and to be loyal to him. Trust in Mr. Ford! One of my friends came up here and gave me one of these papers that employees had been signing at the Ford plant. So I read it over.

Now, I haven't talked to the 100,000 Ford workers; but I know Americans all over the United States of America. I know people who work in the Ford plant are as good people as any and certainly as intelligent. And I know that no man of average intelligence is going to readily throw away his constitutional rights and give up the welfare of himself and his family and his future to one single man, as this pledge does.

INTIMIDATION OF FORD EMPLOYEES

It starts off: "We, the following employees of the Ford Motor Co., wish to take this means of voluntarily"—get that [laughter]—"expressing our complete confidence and agreement with the policies of Mr. Henry Ford."

Oh, me. That's not so, and everybody knows it. [Applause.]

Then Mr. Ford's publicity man, aided by the "service man", says this: "It is our hope that these policies shall be continued in the future as they have been in the past." Imagine that!

I am quoting again: "That is without interference or hinderance from any source whatever"—in a pig's eye!—except to get busted on the nose and lose your job if you don't sign on the dotted line. There is intimidation, of course. But remember, the Wagner Labor Act is the law, and the Government of the United States protects you now!

It says down here at the bottom, "Cost of printing is borne by employees." Well, if that don't beat the Dutch. That's the funniest one of all. [Laughter.]

UNION PRINTING BY FORD—WHY NOT UNION AUTO WORKERS?

Down at the bottom of the page they have a little union bug, but there isn't any number of the plant. They are probably hoping that nobody would notice that. Let's discuss that frankly for a minute. I think the union label is phony. Anyhow, Ford uses it to make people think he is friendly to organized labor.

But get this; if he is really in favor of union printing, why doesn't he favor unionization for the automobile workers? [Applause.] He wants to force automobile workers to be scabs, so why doesn't he get a scab printer? Or vice versa, if he has a union printer, why doesn't he have union automobile workers?

The truth is, this is a lot of hypocrisy. They must think the workers of the United States are a set of fools. Well, boys, go on and sign this thing all you want to, but then get organized so you can protect the rights of yourselves and your families. [Applause.] On the way up here I read some more stuff supposed to be very wise indeed. They are what they call "Fordisms." You see, Mr. Ford, not being such a literary man himself, hires men who can read and write to get these "Fordisms" out for him.

Let me read what they have written for him:

"FORDISM" IS NOT AMERICANISM

"Our men ought to consider whether it is necessary for them to pay some outsider every month for the privilege of working at Ford's. Figure it out for yourself. If you go into a union, they have got you. What have you got? We have made a better bargain than you could."

That is Fordism, and you are supposed to take that and read it like a kid reads a catechism, and believe it all. You are supposed to bow your head like a baby. You are supposed to be a bunch of dunces to swallow all that.

Well, after reading that I wrote some myself, and this is the answer you want to give Henry Ford. Here is what it is. We will call it, not Fordism, but we will call it Americanism.

LETTER TO FORD—"AMERICANISMS" BY AUTO WORKERS

Let me read:

"We men ought to consider whether it is sensible or wise to pay small dues every month in order to obtain our God-given right to protect our rights, liberty, our jobs, and our property. We have figured it out for ourselves with our own brains"—I want to suggest you use your own brains—"which we propose to use from now on. We will get our union. We will get protection. We can make a better bargain when we work together and bargain collectively.

"Mr. Ford, we have always been loyal to you, and always will, but we must also be loyal to our wives and children, our fellow Americans, who also have the right of collective bargaining, which is guaranteed by the law of the United States of America. Mr. Ford, we trust that you will not defy the law of the United States of America." [Applause.]

"'What has been the result of strikes?' you ask, Mr. Ford. The result has been the recognition of tens of thousands of free-born Americans who can live without fear of company police, spies, hired thugs, murderers, and private armies. Mr. Ford, you cannot stop the march of progress nor break down the self-respect of your fellow Americans. We call upon you now in peace and good will to consider these things." And that is the message to Mr. Ford. [Applause.]

I am told that Mr. Ford has some of his "service men" in this crowd and a few spies. If any are carrying back messages to him, let them take what I have just said with a few words in addition.

"Mr. Ford, they say you are a great producer and that you can speed up production more than any man in America. We can attest that this is true; that you are a great producer. But outside of that, Mr. Ford, you are not what is called a great man. It is possible that you may think that you are a great man and you may have so many 'yes-men' around you, so many men who fear you, that you cannot learn the truth about yourself or learn your own mind. But so far, Mr. Ford, you have not proved to be anywhere near a great man."

PEOPLE SHOULD NOT STAND HUMBLY, LIKE DUMB OXEN

Now, my fellow Americans, listen to this: Mr. Ford may be a multimillionaire—and it seems to me it has been mentioned that he is a billionaire—but listen to this; this is sensible; this is the truth, when it comes down to books, when it comes down to spirit, when it comes down to the love of your country, your home, and your children, well, Mr. Ford isn't a damn bit better than any person in this audience, nor a bit better than any other decent American in this country. [Applause.]

It is not that we have no confidence in big men. We have confidence in one big man, and he is our President, Franklin D. Roosevelt. [Applause.] He is the President of a great democracy.

Listen. One thing the American people must learn, and that is we can't stand up and have our laws handed down to us when the judges get ready. We can't stand humbly, with our heads hanging, like dumb yoked oxen, and have our bosses telling us what wages they care to hand us when they get ready. We are not slaves. We are free-born Americans!

This old business of being told something is coming from on high to be handed to the people is the same old stuff they've peddled for centuries. It is the same old argument they pulled in the time of the Civil War. My people all over the South—and, say, I know we've got a lot of southerners in this audience—well, the slave owners said: "Why, it's an outrage to take our Negro slaves from us. We know how to take care of these slaves better than anyone else can tell us. The slaves are our property and we will do with them as we please."

And all of the slave owners felt absolutely righteous because the Supreme Court said that they could not only have their slaves and slavery forever but that the Congress of the United States couldn't even prohibit slavery in the new Territories of the United States, where the labor market would have been ruined for every white man and every farmer and every merchant.

The truth of the matter is we are in a similar position economically, socially, and politically, as we were just preceding the Civil War. Mr. Ford is no more enlightened than were the slave owners in 1861, and less cultured and educated. And if he has any spies in the audience, they can go back and tell him that, too.

JOHN L. LEWIS HAS CHARACTER, INTELLIGENCE, AND HONESTY

Fellow Americans, we must realize that we have a job on our hands, that it's a hard job, but that we can succeed. And while I am doing it I want to tell you something about John L. Lewis. I am not a laboring man, but I know and appreciate John L. Lewis. I think he is the greatest labor organizer in America, because he has intelligence and character and because he is honest. [Applause.] Of course I get letters telling me how he is un-American, but take a look at him. I see nothing un-American in having a strong body, a strong mind, and better leadership than the other side. The fact that he stands up for the rights of the ordinary man certainly is not un-American.

Somebody says to me, "What about Bill Green?" [Boos.] Well, my friends, you ought not boo Bill Green, because Bill is a nice man, a nice fellow. We are not fighting Bill Green, and certainly we are not fighting any labor organization. We are trying to build America. The point is the United Automobile Workers is a fine organization; it is the strongest one in the field; and Lewis is the strongest man in the field; and Homer Martin, your leader, is absolutely O. K. [Applause.]

They say comparisons are odious, but let us make them, anyway. The truth is, I have met some of these big industrialists, not many, but enough to know what they are in a representative way; and I can tell you that the reason you are going to win is because John Lewis has more brains than Mr. Knudsen, Mr. Ford, and the rest of those fellows put together. [Applause.]

Well, I see it's raining cats, dogs, alarm clocks, cylinder heads, nuts, bolts, car bodies—anyhow, it is raining, yet you stay to listen, and that shows that you are going to win.

OUR CHILDREN MUST HAVE A DECENT COUNTRY IN WHICH TO LIVE

Just look at those boys up there on that high fence [indicating]. Those young men are Americans who have got to live. They have got to have a country to live in; they've got to have jobs. Say, you kids go back to your parents and say: "Papa, you join that union, by golly. I'm growing up and I want to have a free country to live in."

Look at all these posters around here. Look at all of them. There's one over there that says, "General Motors 100 percent behind Ford workers." That is the American spirit! Over here is the Chrysler promise of cooperation, "Ford motor employees, you are not alone."

Then over here [indicating] is the best one of all, "Make Dearborn a part of the United States of America." [Applause.] When Dearborn has become a part of the United States the first thing we will do is establish a museum. In it we will put Henry Ford, just as in the Museum down in Washington they have the Indians. For, indeed, Ford appears to have about as much knowledge of decent industrial relations as the red Indians we found when our forefathers arrived 300 years ago.

PUBLIC OPINION OF AMERICA WILL DECIDE

What I want to say to you is this—this final thing. And that is that the Automobile Workers of America, Henry Ford, Chrysler, the owners of the General Motors Corporation, the Fisher Body Co.—all of these persons, organizations and corporations—have got to stand up before public opinion of the United States of America. Mr. Ford has announced in effect that he will not recognize a union nor bargain with them collectively. He has thereby announced that he is above the people of the United States, its Government, and all three branches at that—Congress, the President, and the Supreme Court. Personally, I do not think that public opinion will stand for Mr. Henry Ford getting away with that.

As far as I am concerned, I am willing to go anywhere in this country and fight for ordinary American rights and the right to organize into a union is merely an ordinary American right. There is nothing extreme about it. Also, I am frank in saying that I have a selfish reason, because I want my own people to be organized; I want my own people to have a decent purchasing power, so they can get one of your Fords and ride around in it. Also I might say, live in decent houses and educate their children.

If Mr. Ford doesn't want to show himself up to be a stupid man, he had better get behind these people here and recognize their union rights.

The immediate objective is the organization of the Ford plant. But there are greater things, my fellow Americans, than Mr. Ford, and what we want to do is to build the United States of America. We want to be a part of this great country in a dignified way. We abhor violence in ourselves and we abhor it in thugs and gangsters and Ford service men and murderers of steelworkers, too. We do not believe in violence and we do not practice it. What we want is a square deal for all Americans, where people can grow and live and proper and be happy and decent.

I believe there are a lot of other Congressmen and Senators and millions of others in this country who will go down the line with you 100 percent.

I thank you for the honor of being here. [Applause.]

Extension of Remarks of Hon. Maury Maverick of Texas In the House of Representatives
Friday, May 28, 1937

J. P. MORGAN ARRIVES FROM ENGLAND—AND BLURTS OUT WHAT HE REALLY THINKS

Mr. Speaker, arriving in New York early in June 1937, Mr. J. P. Morgan made a public statement as follows:


Anybody is justified in doing anything so long as the law doesn't say it's wrong.

Since the above statement, Mr. Morgan as issued explanations. His excuse was that the statement was merely an "offhand remark." Undoubtedly, had he issued a formal statement he would have been more cautious.

I do not wish to waste any time moralizing on J. P. Morgan. The fact that he admitted his statement was "offhand" is sufficient to understand that he meant what he said. The unfortunate thing is that he pretty well stated what is the prevailing idea of a great many of our big industrial leaders. If there is no law, but a question of ethics and morals, they feel it unnecessary to observe a moral or ethical course. Mr. Morgan therefore stated for himself and his class that the only way they can be kept from doing wrong is to have a law providing that they be forced to do so under penalty.

Truthfully, the statement by Mr. Morgan is a monstrous doctrine. Mind you, he says anybody "is justified" in doing anything—mind you, anything—"so long as the law doesn't say it's wrong." In other words, if you can work young ladies for five or six dollars a week who will be forced into prostitution—and the law does not say it is "wrong"—then you are justified in doing it.

PROFIT ON WAR O. K.; "LAW DOESN'T SAY IT'S WRONG"

Mr. Morgan has, as a matter of fact, followed this philosophy all of his life. In the Nye investigation it was shown the financial profit that he and his partners made out of the World War. I do not say that he alone, with evil intent, caused the war, but he and his partners and the character of their operations had a great deal to do with our entering it.

Certainly it was the extension of credit and the consequent inflation of prices that directly led to our getting into the war. This was Mr. Morgan's big job. After he had done his job, he got his money out of the United States Government and out of the American taxpayers. Then 5,000,000 Americans got in the Army and Navy and thousands of them got killed. Mr. Morgan got the cash and the American people got the war, the deaths, and the taxes.

Apparently he believes he was justified in his course because "the law doesn't say it's wrong."

Mr. Morgan, in stating what he believed to be the truth, brought out strongly the necessity of having laws for the protection of the welfare of the American people. That means the necessity of minimum wages, social security, and other legislation to establish fixed minimum rights.

HENRY FORD HAS A PRIVATE ARMY

Mr. Henry Ford, for instance, has a police force of gunmen, ex-pugs, racketeers, thugs, and former convicts which he calls "Ford's Service Men", which really is a private army used to intimidate his employees. Mr. Ford uses these men in order to be above the law of his country.

Now, if the United States Government had "service men" to the extent of Mr. Ford, we would have a standing army of six and one-half million men. Undoubtedly Mr. Ford believes his private army and their practices are "justified", because the law does not say they are "wrong."

INSULL—HIS PAPER EMPIRE; THE LAW DID NOT SAY IT WAS "WRONG"

Mr. Insull built up a great paper empire. Thousands of people bought his phony stocks and hundreds of millions of dollars of American people's money was lost. Apparently he, too, thought that he was "justified" because the law did not say it was "wrong."

Returning to Mr. Morgan, I am not trying to make Mr. Morgan any special kind of a villain. Indeed, the unfortunate thing is that his ideas do not necessarily apply to people who are "rich", but many people who are "poor." The people as a whole made profits out of the war, too. Mr. Morgan was not alone.

But the idea of many of our "great industrial leaders", that they have no social and moral responsibility to the people of the United States, is a distressing one.

PRAYER AND POVERTY. "CHURCH WORK"—EDGERTON

For further instance, the other day John E. Edgerton, who opens his mills regularly with prayer—and poverty—in Nashville, Tenn., and who is one of the worst labor haters in America, refused to answer a question before the Joint Congressional Committee on Minimum Wages, whether a man and his family could live on $16 a week. He said it was absolutely irrelevant to the minimum-wage bill. When the crowd laughed at him he smugged into a contemptuous smirk and spoke of his "church work."

The truth is that he has been one of the most reactionary leaders of the South and has continuously done everything to degrade the South and bring lower wages to the southern people. Such misleaders as he should be required to follow the law, in order that other employers who have social consciousness may be protected in their decent standards.

PUBLIC MORALITY AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF "ANYTHING GOES"

I could go on giving these examples by the dozen for weeks upon weeks. For, indeed, much of our public morality is based on the idea that "anything goes"—if you do not get caught, or if the "law" does not say it is "wrong." The moral is, jump through a loophole if you get the money, even though you land on thousands of other people's rights and cause suffering and poverty by the act.

There are literally thousands upon thousands of practices which are indecent, immoral, which are not prohibited by the law. One of the big cries of the businessmen, and especially the big businessmen, is that "the Government should stay out of business", and that business should be let alone and have "self-government." Still, when remarks are made on an "offhand" nature it generally comes to the surface that you can do anything—whatever you care to do, whether it is honest or dishonest, whether it is cruel, brutal, indecent, immoral, or unpatriotic, just so there is not a law to put you in prison.

COMMON SENSE DEMANDS LAWS AND STANDARD PRACTICES

That is the reason we need laws to protect the people of this country, laws which can be enforced. That is the reason labor must organize and be protected in that right by the dignity of American law. That should be done without reference to people being "rich" or "poor."

But again, the people must exercise restraint, and not blame everything on the "rich." I have heard very poor people say: "Well, Morgan is smart. Wouldn't you do the same thing if you had the chance?" I have heard men refer to Henry Ford as though he were some grand old patriarch. I have heard others say that anybody would do what Insull did if they had "half a chance."

All of this indicates to me that we cannot depend on a patriarch as the head of a factory, for even if he is good he may die. Nor can we depend on business institutions any more than on human beings, when operating without laws. That is because there are enough men without social responsibility who will make it impossible for the decent people to comply with high ethical and moral standards.

We need not complain too much of Mr. Morgan's statement; too many people believe the same thing. For that matter, I pay my income tax, but no more than required.

But the statement of Mr. Morgan leads me to repeat that, in plain common sense, we must have laws.

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