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Show THE MAN ABOUT WHOM THE FRENCH LABOR REVOLUTION REVOLU-TION CENTERED. M. BARTHOU, MINISTER OF LABOR IN THE CABINET OF THE PRESIDENT OF FRANCE. I . r trlbutions . from postmen of England. Germany, Belgium and the Nether- J lands. While in France if the government gov-ernment had not yielded a general strike would have been ordered and would have taken place. The Railway Servants' union openly Informed tho government that they were prepared to call out their numbers and utterly utter-ly disorganize the railways. The government gov-ernment yielded and England has never nev-er had so Impressive ademonstrallon of the solidarity of labor. With "syndlcatlsme" approaching such a antage ground of power, the query Is logical what will the next French strike develop? A while ago It was astrlke of the bakers, then of the electricians These affairs were annoying. But thev were more htan that for they taught Frenchmen tho coheslveness of men of a trade and the power of the labor leader. This last strike, based on but a flimsy pretext, pre-text, indulged in by men and women of average intelligence In the govern ment's employ persons earning in the neighborhood of $1,000 a jear apiece and assured of a life pension on retiring from active work tho strike of people like these and their triumph over constitutional government govern-ment is the most significant fact In the recent history of Europe. There are 400,000 of these civil servants ser-vants in France alone and when the combined and unhampered strength of these unionists throughout the continent con-tinent is inventoried, the political consequences con-sequences of the discovery by trades unions that they are stronger than existing ex-isting European governments is worthy of most serious thought. The situation in France would probably prob-ably be a physical impossibility in the i United States. The American labor ' union does not revolve about political I ideals. Its objects are probably confined con-fined to commerce and society. Tho French situation, however, is an object ob-ject lesson for laborer and producer alike. I ernment departments here. If the United States government were to take over the telegraph lines In America Am-erica they would then be forced to deal face to face with the mighty problem of whether government teleg-aphcrs teleg-aphcrs could continue to he protected by a union and If a negative decision were attempted It .I3 not; improbable that a situation would develop far more serious even than that which occurred oc-curred In France. This is what the French did They took over the telegraph tel-egraph lines. They did not attempt, however, to fight the telegraphers' union. Taking the union In one branch of the sen-ice they could not with censlstency object to a union in another. The result was the "syndication" "syndi-cation" of postal clerks, telephone operators op-erators and all the rest. When the postmen struck In France they were supported by many con- (By Hendrick.) Paris, France. April 20. The strike of French telegraphers, which was recently re-cently resolved In favor of the strikers, strik-ers, offers 3n Interesting study for tho people of the United States, who recently re-cently also faced a slmilar'strike from similar sources. Both were tests of the strength of labor unionism. But unionism has so, far advanced in France beyond the situation In America Amer-ica as to give the Americans an object ob-ject worthy of deepest study lest tho American system ultimately become the French. Labor unionism as It exists in Franco would be called Socialism In America chiefly because we are In the habit of calling everything wo suspect sus-pect "Socialism." But unionism In France Is, as a matter of fact, strictly opposed to Socialism. The French word for it is "syndlcatlsme." It, Has no property theories whatever. It seems to be merely a reformed Republicanism Repub-licanism having for its chief aim a change in methods of representation Here Is the aim of "syndlcatlsme" In a nut shell. The American unit of representation is the precinct and tho ward. "Syndlcatlsme" argues that we arc advancing into an ago of industrialism industrial-ism and that therefore industrial units should succeed political units' as. a basis of legislative administrative representation. rep-resentation. In other words, they' Insist In-sist that the trade shall succeed the precinct as a unit. Government would under their theory be of the strictly Industrial type. " Their parliament would be made up of iron workers, weavers, printers, railroad men and so mi ad Infinitum. This suggests In a paragraph the advanced ad-vanced idea of French labor unionism. Strange to say its evolution Is not ambng the Impossibilities, for accord Ing to all appearances the striker In j France is today well nigh supreme In his authority. M. Barthou, minister of labor in the cabinet of President Fal-lieres, Fal-lieres, can bear striking testimony to this conclusion for it is his bureau that has been forced to deal with the continuous con-tinuous and continual labor disputes that havo disrupted Paris for the last many months. The success of the Paris strikers is due more to the easygoing easy-going nature of the Frenchman than to the power of the union. The strike of Paris telegraphers, telephone operators, op-erators, postal clerks and postmen has probably seemed a far more disastrous thing abroad than It has here been realized to be. Taking the postal strike as an example, a degree pf forbearance for-bearance hard for a foreigner to understand un-derstand was manifested alike by business bus-iness houses and private persons. The French public was more uninterested in the event than angered or even annoyed an-noyed by the Inconveniences to which it subjected them. It is no small thing to have your communications stopped, your postofflces and telephone exchanges ex-changes abandoned and your telegraph wires cut. For days Paris was completely com-pletely shut off from the outside world and this at a time when the peace of Europe hung in the balance because of the pending struggle which threatened threat-ened to Involve tho entire continent. In America such a situation would have aroused charges, even of treason, against the strikers, but apparently the government of Fiance Is much more a matter of convenience and much less a sacred institution. Tho Frenchman worships his native land, but his government la something he made himself. The postal strike In France would have been an Impossibility In America because the American government has definitely frowned on the unionizing of government service. But tho United States has never faced tho situation which resulted In unionizing many gov- |