The Seattle Star Newspaper, January 31, 1919, Page 1

ci co vor lla the United The Seattle Star ‘2. GREATEST DAILY ¢ ant ea righ 28 ar AS ek, one Sah Saytd whe pra Bie std aaWEST Kntered ax Becond Class Matter May ‘ OMPLETE Service of the News- paper Enterprise Association. SE ATTLE, Wi WASH, FRIDAY, JANUARY 31, 1919 : peas ay «Weather Forecast: Tonight and Raturday. rain BE CRUCIFIED Today, Seattle’s safety, her hope of future growth, is jeopardized because - f of a dispute between shipowners and shipworkers, which threatens to develo F into a general walkout of workers. | On the one side the employers are not unwilling--a large part of them eve i#; seem anxious to have a general strike come. Well they know that they ca Bi better stand the hardships of a strike than can the laborers. And well, too, def : they know that their property will be amply protected by the governme-% ' On the other side we have the laborers---part of them may be too eager = \} show their solidarity---the other part uncertain, yet loyal to the general caus= ‘And then there is Seattle and the 90 per cent of her people who are inn: cent but mightilyinterested parties when.the question-of their welfare:a this city's welfare is threatened. 4 We have heard the voice of the shipowners who have locked their gates and ban ‘their money. We have heard the voice of the strikers, and we shall hear the voice s eattle and the great mass of her people and it will say: | “Seattle shall not be torn down. mB: @ “Seattle shall not be crucified on a Bolshevik cross, nor on a Profiteer cross! i y This is an American city. It isn’t a Bolshevik center, as some of the big employers contend. Neither is it i city where capitalists can crush the last penny out of labor. It is a city that is loved by its own people, a city, ‘that is proud of itself and of its achievements, and a city that is determined to go on and become a bigger city = a better city, for better people to live in. 4 Surely this is a time for plain talking and for square above-board dealing. This city will not permit the mush: : im room shipyard industry to bring chaos upon her. a This was a good city before this war-sired business came to us. And if it is to be a brawler, a breeder of sturmoil, then Seattle will have none of it. 4 The Star seitientically says again that the unskilled shipyard laborers are entitled to more pay, but— 4 The issue is no longer merely a matter of wages. It is now a question of protecting a whole city, of safe- © guarding the welfare of 400,000 people, of providing life necessities for thousands of babies, women, men. It is | a challenge to this city’s Americanism. Seattle is under the government of the United States of America, and Seattle will demand and will get the | [ protection that the government guarantees. Neither the strikers nor the shipowners must think that the government will send its army over here from Camp Lewis merely to preserve order while the city lies prostrate. When the government acts, its strong arm will also take a hand in settling the dispute. 19 There is a decent, a just, a common-sense basis on which this whole affair can be settled. i You shipmen, builders and workers alike, will do well to settle it promptly. For Seattle shall not be troyed. P | pices roye