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Show Employing Ike Man Ocer 45 When President Green of the American Federation of Labor speaks against the arbitrary firing ot workers who each the age of 45 he touches the heart ot nearly everyone Mr Green tells you that the practice is "barbarous and inhuman," and says he and his fellow unionists behove thai if the public conscience can be aroused it will protest so vigorously vig-orously that large corporations and employers will be compelled com-pelled to discontinue it." But I he business of production, unfortunately, isn t con-ducted con-ducted along sentimental lines. Its first duty is to make , profits If it can make more profits by discharging workers ....who reach the age of 45 and employing younger and cheaper " men in their places, it will do so. K And the "public conscience" isn't likely to have mueii LffCWe suggest another solution: Let the wise employer find ways to employ the middic-aged man, with his greater experience and steadiness, at a profit both to his worker and himself. . . The employer who invests his money in a worker tor a score of years, and then suddenly throws away his investment invest-ment is foolish. He has spent the 20 years in building an efficient ef-ficient machine; he should, for his own sake, discover methods meth-ods of keepng it running, productively, for many years more.. The workman, on his part, should look upon his work also as an investment, convincing his employers that men of 45, 50 and 60, tho they may be a trifle slower physically than younger men, are really more valuable by .reason of their experience. We 'would like to believe that corporations might be made tender-hearted enough to continue to employ men long after the men's usefulness has departed. But no corporation couold do it, and continue to exist. There are plenty of jobs at which middle-aged men far excel their younger brothers. Capital and labor should get together, forget sentiment,- and work out a definite plan for : fitting jobs and men together for their mutual benefit. |