Imagens das páginas
PDF
ePub

Special Notice

The offices of the

International Union

of=

Elevator Constructors

have been removed to

402-404

Perry Building

Philadelphia, Pa.

Stop in when "passin”

[graphic][subsumed][merged small]

Our Retiring President

HE International Union of Elevator

THE

Constructors desires to record its heartfelt appreciation of its retiring President, Joseph F. Murphy, for the valuable services he has rendered our organization he for many years having shared in and encouraged us in our trials, gloried in our triumphs and by his precepts and examples advanced us in wisdom and success.

Because of his masterful personality, untiring efforts, strict integrity and comprehensive knowledge we are enabled to refer with pride to his connection with the International Union of Elevator Constructors as its President.

Although retiring as our President, we know that he will still lend every aid toward the upbuilding of the International Union of Elevator Constructors.

JOE: WE WISH YOU LONG LIFE, HAPPINESS and SUCCESS

[graphic][subsumed][merged small][merged small]

Frank Feeney was chosen as President of the International Union of Elevator Constructors at the Convention in Washington, D. C., September 16, 1916, for a period of five years, which position of trust he previously held, having been elected by the St. Louis Convention in 1904.

WHAT ARE MEN WORTH?

The favored group in modern economic society, glancing through a lorgnette at those upon whose efforts their elegant leisure is built-"the laboring classes," or, as they are more often called, "the masses"-frequently pass the remark: "Well, but you know they get all that they are worth." The argument ends there. The issue does not rest, however, because it raises a question that no one has yet succeeded in answering, least of all men and women who are "next friends" to the going economic system.

What are men worth? By what system or device shall their value be measured?

There are a number of things that cannot spell worth. Ancestry and worth are certainly not synonymous. History has proved that point. Neither are family names, snobbery, self-satisfaction, idleness, fine clothing, extravagant homes, liberal education, endless culture, worth synonyms. one of these social assets is, in any sense of the word, worth. They are the result of wealth. Many of them grow upon property income, but even the most stalwart upholder of property and privileges would hardly describe them as "worth."

No

There are perhaps two measures of worth-one ethical, the other economic. Worth, ethically measured, appears in terms of virtue, justness, honor, truth, humanity. Worth, economically measured, appears in the form of the services which a man renders to his fellows. The present concern is with the economic aspect of worth.

What economic acts shall be classed as worthy? Is it possible to measure the distribution of income in terms of human deserts?

Perhaps it is impossible to follow Ruskin to the conclusion that "there is

no wealth but life," and that only those things have value which avail toward life. Ruskin's concept of value related to the "valiant," or "worthy." If the idea were accepted, the worth of a man would be determined by the extent of his contribution toward life. Those who contributed toward the lives of their fellows would be "worthy." Those who made no such contributions would be worthless.

Those who cannot agree with Ruskin will be willing to admit that a man or a woman is worth to the world as much as he or she renders in services-no more and no less. Services may be great or small, but unless one serves he is worth nothing in the economic sense.

Test out that definition for a moment. The man who lays brick and erects a house performs a service. He is worth a certain return. The woman who sorts clothes in a laundry, the boy who shovels coal into mine cars, the man who directs a locomotive, the artist who draws sweet music from the violin or covers canvas with the magic of color, the barber, the lawyer, the real estate agent, and the analytical chemist, all render service. They expend energy in doing something which their fellowmen wish to have done. The owner of land performs no service. He does not make the land. If he were to die, the land would be as useful as it now is no more and no less. The holder of a hundred New York Central bonds performs no service. The rolling stock, roadbeds, terminals and organization of the road are wholly independent of him. He may sell his shares, give them to his infant son, or transfer them to a library. The road operates none the less effectively. The most that can be said is that if he abstained from consumption and put his money in the form of railroad

« AnteriorContinuar »