Socialist Mayor to Unemployed.

Maoriland Worker, Volume 2, Issue 16, 23 June 1911, Page 7

Socialist Mayor to Unemployed.

Mr. Seidel, Mayor of Milwaukee, delivered an address to a conference of unemployed men recently, which has certainly set a precedent for mayoral utterance- He sad : "It is vinth extreme pain that I welcome you It is with extreme pain that I see you tied hand and foot. "It reminds mc of a picture Carlyle drew of men with strong arms and strong feet who were looking for work, and were not permitted to work. It reminds mc of that picture which depicts tho extreme tragedy of modern civilisation. I see in you tho enchanted workman, bogging for the opportunity to work. YOU CANNOT WORK Why ? Because you are enchanted by a new trinity, and that trinity is profit, rent and interest. "The reason you cannot work is because it does not pay somebody to put you to work. The reason you are begging for a job is because tho job does no longer belong to you. " The conditions are not such as can be solved by raising over your heads, pinned to a stick, a coloured flag. The conditions to-day are such as cannot be solved by getting together under any so-called banner. If thero is anything you need especially, it is to PUT YOUR BRAIN INTO ACTION. "The workman's problems of to-day aro different from what they ever were in tho civilisations of the past, and they must be handled in a different manner. To such extent as you become masters of your environment shall you be free. To the extent you manage to take hold of the reins of government you can govern to suit your class, and only to that extent. " I understand very well that it is not easy for men who have been deprived of an education to emancipate themselves from their superstitions. And 3~et it is with dogged obstinacy that you must continue to go at it. LIKE BULLDOGS YOU MUST STICK to the job until you wrestle it. Unless you do that there is no chance for you to win. "Some immediate relief could be gained if you stood out for shorter hours of labour. Until such time as you aro masters and owners of the tools you need to make a livelihood you will not be free. When that day comes you shall be free, and there will be no unemployed problem. If all over tho country workingmen would arise and demand this, there is no power on tho face of tho earth that could keep it from them."