The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current, March 15, 1914, SECTION SIX, Page 3, Image 77

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THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, MARCH 15, 1914. "
9 TP M
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BY MARIANNE LB BRUN.
P
, ARIS. March 6 What causes a
mode to bo or not to be the fash-
ion is a very profound question.
Anything- from-a simple and artistic
dance to a war may be the innocent
cause. I say innocent, for tho event
which generally furnishes the inspira-
tion for a mode very rarely gives any
conslderatlon to the clothes of fair
Women.
Who makes the fashions what per-
son or persons? ThiB Is a difficult
question, too, for there is no high
priestess who can declare what women
shall wear. Dame Fashion is a mere
myth!
However, it is a recognized fact that
all successful fashions are created ItJ
Paris. And that their creators number
about a dozen or 15 dressmakers and
eight to 13 milliners.
Americans Inspire Styles.
Although Paris is the scene of the
birth of fashions, it does not always
furnish the inspiration for their crea-
tion. As an illustration, the American
millinery buyers have Just been here to
get the modes for Spring the very hats
whose origin was governed by the law
makers of their own United States.
As there is a law which prohibits the
importation of aigrettes, birds of para
dise and other plumages, the Paris mil
liners could not expect to sell hats
trimmed with these feathers, for they
were nothing when these beautiful (and
objectionable in the United States)
trimmings were removed. This decision
was a sad blow to our modistes, for it
meant that they would have to turn to
flowers and less luxurious feathers for
trimmings, to say nothing of conceiv
ing new ideas for using silks and rib
bons. The result is that millinery
modes have been revolutionized to con
form with a law that is enforced 3000
miles from Paris and not merely to ful
fill the whims of our great artists.
When Redfern costumed tho produc
tion of "King Dagobert" some years
ago he never dreamed that he was
also starting a new era in fashionable
dress. Many women who saw tho play
were so charmed with the artistic lines
of the costumes, which were true to the
Moyenage period, that they went to
Redfern and requested him to modify
the stylo for them. Within a few weeks
OF COURSli, in labor controversies
it was not always possible to
champion the cause of the work
ers, because in many cases strikes
were culled which were utterly unwar
ranted and were fought by methods
which cannot be too harshly con
demned. No straightforward man can
believe, and no fearless man will as
sert, that a trade union is always right.
That man is an unworthy public serv
ant who by speech or silence, by di
rect statement or cowardly evasion,'
invariably throws the weight of hia
influence on the side of the trade
union, whether it is right or wrong.
It has occasionally been my duty to
give utterance to the feelings of all
right-thinking men by expressing the
most emphatic disapproval of unwise
or even immoral actions by representa
tives of labor. The man is no true
democrat, and if an American, is un
worthy of the traditions of his coun
try who. In problems calling for the
exercise of a moral judgment, falls to
take his stand on conduct and not on
class. There are good and bad wage
workers, just as there are good and
bad employers, and good and bad men
of small means and of large means
alike.
But a willingness to do equal and
exact justice to all citizens, irrespec
tive of race, creed, section, or eco
nomic interest and position, does not
imply a failure te recognize the enor
mous economic, political and moral
possibilities of the trade union. Just
as demoncratic government cannot be
condemned because of errors and even
crimes committed by men democrat
ically elected, so trade-unionism must
not be condemned because of errors
or crimes of occasional trade-union
leaders. The problem lies deeper.
" While we must repress all illegalities
and discourage all ' immoralities,
whether of labor organizations or of
corporations, we must recognise the
fact that today the organization of
labor into trade unions and federations
is necessary, is beneficial, and is one
of the greatest possible agencies in the
attainment of a true industrial as well
JUSTICE an
his rivals realized the possibilities of
the style, and they, too, made new in-
terpretatlons of it, and In a very nhort
time the Moyenage style had crossed
the Atlantic Ocean and never stopped
its triumphant vogue until it reached
the Pacific Coast.
Then. about five years passed before
the costuming: of another play influ-
enced fashions to a startling- degree.
And we are now Just beginning to free
ourselves from its fascinating grasp,
This play, as you undoubtedly know,
was "Le Minaret," whrch was produced
at the Theatre Renaissance last April,
I .do not hesitate to say that Monsieur
Paul Poiret did not entertain the idea
of turning the fashion world topsy
turvy when he designed the costumes,
for ho is such a true artist that his one
thought was to make the costumes au
thentic for their exquisite Persian scene
and story and ideally beautiful, too.
He accomplished this, and it was his
greatest recompense for the other
dressmakers modernized his ideas, and
by making them more practical they
instead of M. Poiret reaped the har
vest in a material way.
Turn! Turn! Turn! Has the motor
started? No! Then tho motorist tries
again, but in vain! And again and
then it starts in a Jiffy.
The Launching of Jet.
This reminds me of how the modistes
have tried season after season to start
Jet on a successful vogue, but no one
but elderly women would have it until
this season, and now it is speeding on
to a magnificent career. Why? Is the
contrariness of womankind responsible
for this curious treatment of such a
delightful trimming? No! The dancing
craze has launched it successfully, for it
is the ideal ornamentation for the new
chapeau that is a cross between a mere
coiffure adornment and a real hat. Be
sides, jet gives a unique radiance to the
fair dancer.
For two seasons Mine. Paquin has re
mained faithful to her idea that the
coats of suits should be rather long
and rather voluminous in tho back, but
the world has not agreed with her.
However, she may try again this
Spring, a'nd Ficklo Fashion may adopt
tha idea. Who knows?
Last August Premet introduced a ra
vised version of the bustle. At that
D
as a true political democracy in tho wrongs of individuals to the entire
United States. group to which they belong. I also
This is a fact which many well- in- think and this is a belief which has
tentioned people even today do not un- been borne 'upon mo through many
derstand. They do not understand that years of practical experience that the
the labor ploblem is a human and a trade union is growing constantly in
moral as well as an economic problem; wisdom as well as in power, and is be
that a fall in wages, an increase in coming one of the most efficient agen
hours, a deterioration of labor con- cies toward the solution of our indus
ditions, means wholesale moral as well trial problems, the elimination of
as economic degeneration, and the poverty and of industrial disease and
needless sacrifice of human lives and accidents, the lessening of unemploy
human happiness; while a rise of ment, and the attainment of a larger
wages, a lessening of hours, a bettering measure of social and industrial jus
of conditions, means an intellectual, tlce.
moral and social uplift of millions of If I were a factory employe, a work
American men and women. There are man on the railroads, or a wage-earner
employers today who, like the great of any sort- 1 would undoubtedly Join
coal operators, speak as though they the union of my trade. If I disapproved
were lords of these countless armies of of lts policy, I would join In order to
Americans who toil in factories, in shop flght that Policy: if the union leaders
in mill and in the dark olaces under were dishonest, I would Join in order
the earth. They fall to see that all
these men have the right to protect
tnemseives and their families from
want and degradation. They fail to
ee that the Nation and. the Govern
ment, within the range of fair play and
a just administration of the law, must
Inevitably sympathize with the men
who have nothine but their watres. with
the men who are struggling for a de-
cent life, as opposed to men. however
honorable, who are merely fighting for
larger profits and an autocratic control
of big business. Each man should have
all he earns whether by brain or body;
and the director, the great industrial
leader, is one of the greatest earners
and should have a proportional reward;
but no man should live on the earnings
of another, and there should not be too
reward.- ,
,. r. ,. ,. .
W,ctG.BkH.l . Century.
There are many men today, men of
integrity and intelligence, who honestly
believe that we must go back to the
labor conditions of half a century ago.
They are opposed to trade unions, root
and branch. They note the unowrthy
conduct of many labor leaders, they
find instances of bad work by union
men of a voluntary restriction of out-
put, 'of vexatious and violent strikes, of
Jurisdictionat disputes between unions
. . .
which often disastrously Involve the
best intentioned and fairest of employ-
ers. All these things occur and should
be repressed. But the same critic of the
trade union might find equal cause of
complaint against individual employers
,t ...
of labor, or even against greater as
t.t
sociations of
!TJ . " J
find manv instances
cutting of wages, of flagrant violations
i.too i
of fantorv laws and tenement house
laws, of the deliberate and systematic
cheating of employes by means
truck stores, of the speeding up of
work to a point which is fatal to the
health of the workmen, of the sweating
of foreign-born workers, of the draft
ing of feeble little children into dusty
workshops, of blacklisting, of putting
spies into union meetings and of the
- . ,,. . ...
and desperate ruffians, who are neither
better nor worse than are the thugs
who are occasionally employed by
unions under the sinister name "En
tertainment Committees."
I believe that the overwhelming ma
jority both of workmen and of em
ployers are law-abiding, peaceful and
nonoraoie citizens, ana x ao not tninit
that it la Just to lay up the errors and
1
II P -V. A.
tlm. a very tew PecPe took the idea
seriously, for the bustle which he ere- York was bravo enough to import it. have also appropriated the Idea and same answer may oe appueu 10
ated was a rather perishable affair of But now five months later the bus- developed it into a more practical question whether the Paris dressmak
tulle: as a matter of fact. I think that tie is much talked about and is being draped affair of silk. ers influence the manufacturers.
THE LABO
to put them out. I believe in the union
and I believe that all men who are
benefited by the union are morally
bound to help to the extent of their
power in the common interests ad
vanced by the union.
Protect Unionist and Xonuntonlst Alike
Nevertheless, irrespective of whether
a man should or should not, and does
r does not, join the union of his trade,
a1 tne rights, privileges and immuni-
" -iiiiericnii ana a
a citizen should be safeguarded and
upheld by the law. We dare not make
an outlaw of any individual or any
Sroup, whatever his or its opinions or
professions. The nonunionlst, like the
unionist, must be protected in all his
leSaI rights by the full weight and
Pwer ot th& 'aw.
The Government and Its Employe.
This question came up before me in
tho shape of the right of a nonunion
P
sUion thfl Government Prlntlnff
flce. j 8aid before, I believe in trade
unions. I always prefer to see a union
shop But my private preferences can-
not control my public actions. The
Government can recognize neither
union men nor nonunion men as such,
r,,n h
and is bound to treat both exactly
alike. In the Government Printing
Office not many months prior to the
opening of the Presidential campaign
- . , , .
or iu, wnen i was up ior re-eiecuon,
I discovered that a man had been dis-
missed because he did not belong to
the union. I reinstated him. Mr.
uompers, tne president oi tne Amen-
can Federation of Labor, with various
mfimhars of th executiv council or
that hodv. called unon me to nrotest on
September 29. 1903, and I answered
thera as follows:
-
x m1'1"- vu
and your committee
tr.- t .it. ,.
opportunity to meet with you. It will
, aJways be a pleasure to see you or any
representatives of your organization or
of your Federation as a whole.
its&aiua luo iuiiier etoe, j navts
litUe to add to what I have already
said. In dealing with it I ask you to
remember that I am dealing purely
with the relation of the Government to
its employes. I must govern my action
v , . . . . . .
by the laws of the land, which I am
sworn to administer, and which differ
entiate any case in which the Govern
ment of the United States is a party
from all other cases whatsoever. These
laws are enacted for the benefit of the
whole people, and cannot and must not
be construed as permitting discrimina-
tlon against some of the people. I am
President o all .the people of .the
rv; PPW5
only one largo establishment in New
united states, without reirard to creed,
coior, birthplace, occupation, or social
condition. My aim is to do equal and
exact justice as among them all. In
the employment and dismissal of men
jn the Government service 'l can no
more recognize the fact that a man
does or does not belong to a union as
being for or against him than I can
recognize tho fact that he is a Protes-
tatt or a Catholic, a Jew or a Gentile,
as being for or against him.
"In the communications sent me by
various labor organizations protest--
ing &iDBt Tetentlon of Miller ,
the Government Printing Office, the"
grounds alleged are twofold: 1, that he
I a nonunion man; 2, that he is not
personally fit. The question of his
personal fitness is one to be settled In
the routine of administrative detail,
and cannot be allowed to conflict with
and cannot be allowed to conflict with
or to complicate tne larger question of
governmental discrimination for or
against him or any other man because
he is or is not a member of a union,
Tl.!. t T..
o ,
me ior decision; ana as to tnis my ue-
clsion is final."
Socialists and on-Socialit.
Because of things I have done on be-
workingman I
a 1 Jusijce 10 tne worKingman. i
U11VD "cc" "-""V duiibu
ally 1 have not taken the trouble even
to notice tne epithet. 1 am not al
afraid
of names, and I am not one of those
wflo rear to do what is right because
som one wi" confound me with
Part sans Wlth whose principles I am
u" " i, "
many American Socialists are high-
minded and honorable citizens, who in
reality are merely radical social re-
t" IL Z...V tul
' , ,
formers. They are oppressed by the
which we see everywhere about us.
When I recall how often I have seen
Socialists and ' ardent non-Socialists
worklng side by side for some spe-
. 0nfQi - (..H.i i -
-
form, and how I have found opposed
to them on me siae or privilege many lying Interests or all. I do not even cause witn a maximum ot justice,
shrill reactionaries who insist on call- deny' that the 'majority of wage-earn- The Wage-Worker Should Share,
ing all reformers Socialists, I refuse to ers, because they have less property Everything possible should be done
be panic-stricken by having this title and less industrial security than oth- to secure the-wage-workers fair treat
mist xkenly applied to me. era and because they do not own the ment. There should be an Increased
Njjne t.he less, .without " Impugning machinery with, which they work (as wage lor the worker of increased pro-
worn. However, other dressmakers
their motives. I do disagree most em-
phatically with both the fundamental
philosophy and the proposed remedies
of the Marxian Socialists. These So
cialists are unalterably opposed to our
whole industrial system. They believe
that the payment of wages means
everywhere and inevitably an exploita-
tion of the laborer by the employer,
and that this leads inevitably to a class
war between those two groups, or as
;"ey woula say. Between tne capital-
'ts a"d the proletariat. They assert
that this class war is already upon us
ca ended only when capitalism
13 entirely destroyed and all the ma-
chines, mills, mines, railways and other
Private property used in production are
confiscated, expropriated or taken
" J-l'a' uu "ul M
ru' ciii muugii some ol tne Bin-
w"b imm uu
this class war is a war of blood and
bullets, but they do claim that there is
and must be a-continual struggle be-
twoan t-arn mit i'Isemi nrhnen Inl.r.
v m i u fat m m a - bk i w -
WUC:1 iUPSKOO SBVELT
ests are opposed and cannot be recon- alone. If these reactionaries had lived speeded the machines and demanded a
ciled. In this war they insist that the at an earlier time in our history they larger and still larger output, con
whole government National, state and would have advocated Sedition Laws, stantly endeavoring to drive the men
local Is on the side of the employers opposed free speech and free assembly, on to still greater exertions. Even
and U "f fc tnem aSaIns th work-
men aDd that our Iaw and even our
common morality are class weapons,
like a policeman's club or a Gatling
gun.
I have never believed, and do not to-
day believe, that such a class war is
upon us, or need ever be upon us; nor
do i believe that the interests of wage-
earners ana employers cannot be har-
monized, compromised and adjusted. It
wnniri h iiiie tn itiv that wat.
ha rt-iinifti.r.ninnI-
earnerB nave certain auierent economic
interests from, let us sav. manufaetur-
interests irom, let us say, manuractur-
ers or importers, just as iarmers nave
different interests from sailors, and
fishermen from bankers. There is no
reason why any of these economic
srr0uDS should not consult their e-roun
.
interests Dy any legitimate means ana
with due regard to the common, over-
W?V
Nearly four months passed before
the Minaret tunic became a dominant
style, and several more months elapsed
. ,. ..
Europe and the United States.
. So you see it requires some time to
make a fashion really successful.
The Butterfly Mode.
Last June the butterfly had a Tather never cease designing new and more
modest entry Into the fashion world, beautiful weaves, while others are ex
It came in two guises a tiny but nat- perimenting with colors to produce
ural-looking affair of feathers; and in new and exquisite tones. Twice a year
quite an extreme form, with large generally several months in advance
spread wings of black tulles but in of the costume seasons they submit
every instance it was perched upon a their collection of several thousand
hat of black velvet, lace or tulle. As samples to the leading dressmakers of
its debut occurred a the races at Au- Paris. Perhaps Paquin will chooss a
teuil and Longchamps, fashion-seeking dozen kinds of silk3 from one manu-
;cyes from all over the wold feasted facturer, twice as many from another,
upon it, .and carried the- idea to the only two or three from another, and so
four corners of Europe and America, on. Probably she will create gowns of
Inside a. few weeks hundreds of thou- all of them, and probably not and
. sands of women were wearing chap- even then the manufacturer must wait
; eaux trimmed with butterflies. and see if the dear public likes them.
That the Paris dressmakers also Sometimes, much to tho disgust of
noted the artistic possibilities of the the manufacturers, a dressmaker may
butterfly was, quite evident when they adopt a certain material, tho public
presented their models for the Autumn, will become very enthusiastic over it.
After visiting several openings, I was and a demand will follow. An excel-
a'mazed to find that the butterfly mod- lent illustration of this is occurring
els of Beer, Bernard and Worth were at present, in the instance of taffeta,
all presented in white and black, even Last Autumn Jeanne Halle created a
though their ideas were quite differ-
ent. This was surprising, inasmuch as
there are so many specimens of but
terflies which would have given won
derful for combining colors.
Beer's butterfly gown was appliqued
with thousands of tiny jet and crystal
beads in a design copied from the
wings of a butterfly; while Bernard's
model had draperies of silk and tulle,
which suggested the spread winss of
la paplllon; and Worth did not hesi
tate to pose a large butterfly-shaped
ornament of Jet and tulle at tho point
of an exceedingly low decolletage.
They do, and yet they don't! Tho
THEODORE
does the farmer) are perhaps in greaf-
or need of acting together than are
other
rnimfl in ttip r-nmmnnitv
Partner. In Industry.
. . . . , , T . .. .
I do insist (and I believe that
But
tha frr4at mnlnritv nf wa2re-earners
take "the 8ame view) that empioyers
and empioyes have overwhelming in-
teresta in common both a8 partners in
lndustry and as citizens of the repub-
nc. nd that whern there interest8 are
apart they can-be adjusted by so alter-
lng our laws and thelr interpretation
aa to sccure t0 aU members of the
community 'social and industrial jus-
tic.
-standing Pat" on Industrial Injustice.
j bave always maintained that our
worst revolutionaries today are those
reactionaries who do not see and will
not adroit that there is any need ior
chansre. Such men seem to believe that
tne lour ana a nair million progressive
voters, who in 1912 registered their
solemn protest against our social and
industrial injustices, are "anarchists."
o -a o-HUn tn lot 111 onmich
..ww ...
and voted free scbls
acCess by settlers to the public 1
tree
lands
mechanics' lien laws, tne pionioition oi
truck stores, and the abolition of im-
prisonment for debt; and they are the
men who today oppose minimum wage
laws, insurance
of workmen against
the ills of industrial life, and the re-
form of our legislatures and our courts,
wnicn aione can render sucu jueo.-
ures possible. Some of these reaction-
aries are not bad men. but merely
ahnrtaihted and belated. It is these
snortsigntea aim uemu. u
reactionaries, however, who, by
reactionaries,
stanuuiB v i muuavt.i
incite inevitably to industrial revolt,
and it is only we who advocate polit-
ical and industrial democracy who ren-
der possible the progress of our Amer-
. , ... . i . . .
iwn '""""'J " .
lines with a minimum of friction be-
3
do.
To get a comprehensive view of this
EitUation one must reailze that a num-
. , , . .
ber of European taDric manufacturers
are great artists, and that they are
wonderfully creative. Of course these
men are not content to "mark time"
and wait for the command of certain
dressmakers. Therefore, some of them
cnarming aancing rrocK oi jace
with
pannier draperies of taffeta, and with
in a few months such dresses have be
come the vogue on both sides of the
Atlantic. I hear that this mode is be
ing pushed in the United States be
cause their mills are more adequately
prepared to furnish the demand than
are those of Europe.
Monsieur Paul Poiret is one of the
few dressmakers who co-operates di
rectly with the manufacturers by fur
nishing them with designs of his own
creation. This season he has given
some of them to a well-known silk
manufacturer who has extensive mills
in America, as well as in Lyons, so
that his American admirers might
easily get the silks that he is using.
ductiveness. Everything possible should
be done against the capitalist who
strives, not to reward special effi
ciency, but to use it as an excuse for
reducing the reward of moderate ef
ficiency. The capitalist is an unworthy
citizen who pays the efficient man no
more than he has been content to pay
the average man, and nevertheless re
duces the wage of the average man;
and effort should be made by the Gov-
ernment to check and punish him.
v nen labor-saving macninery is intro-
luced- special care should be taken
by the Government if necessary to see
. ,.,..,t hi'Khara ,
, -- i c-. , i i .. .. . .. 1 1 k
'.Tvnployer iplUU."
The following case, which has como
to my knowledge, illustrates what I
mean. A number of new machines
'"e in?ta"e.d J" "rtaln..!hoe.
inc?;ase in production even though
there was no increase in the labor
force. Some of the workmen were in-
g"";
tL Zfrs 177 These
men by reason of thelr Bpeclai apti.
tude and the fact that they were not
called upon to operate the machines
continuously n,ne hours every day
.-. r, i
.
tneir maximum capacity. When these
demonstrators had left the factory,
and the company's own employes had
bee ome used to opetl
CnineS ai a lair rale OL speed, llie loro-
man of the establishment gradually
unsutij' ica uiAii uimiuiuhi
capacity, iue iniruuutuon ui im iija-
over former roduction with the same
am0unt of labor; and so great were
the profits from the business in the
ronowing two jears as to equal tne
"iai capitalized biock oi me company.
e Workmen J beyond what they
had f ormeriy been receiving before the-
introduction or this new macninery,
notwithstanding that it had meant an
added strain, physical and mental
"Pon their energies,
their energies, and that thov
w forced tQ wo-k harder than eve-p
before. The whole of the increased
proflts remained with the company.
Now this represented an "Increase of
efficiency," with a positive decrease ot
social and industrial justice. The in
crease of prosperity which came from
increase ot
increase of production m no way
benefited the wage-workers. I hold
that they vere treated with gross in
justice; and that society, acting if ne
cessary through the Government, in
such a case should bend its energies to
remedy such Injustice: and I will sup
port any proper legislation that will
aid in securing the desired end.
(To be Continued Next Sunday,).