Page:George Soule - The Intellectual and the Labor Movement.djvu/19

 political functions belong with the elected officials. They are the ones to assume responsibility for policies, they are the ones to take action. The technician's business is to arrange and interpret facts, to give advice, to practice his own profession. He can, in doing so, accept as much, but no more responsibility than a professional man would. accept in working for a corporation. So far as his science is concerned, his duty is complete scientific detachment.

Another desirable aspect of the relationship between labor and the technician is that the latter should be adequately paid for his services. There is nothing labor dislikes more than philanthropy. There is nobody whom the union official despises more in his heart than the "parlor socialist" who is so anxious to help that he will do so for nothing, and whose help is so valueless that it is not worth paying for. Fair professional fees symbolize a sound relationship between the union and the technician—they establish the fact that the technician is there to serve, not to patronize, the union, and thus have a salutary effect on both parties. This does not mean, of course, that unions can or should pay the large salaries and fees that may be earned by professional men from private businesses. Technicians who work with the labor movement must often do so at a considerable financial sacrifice. But it does mean that the technical and professional functions of the labor movement can operate in health, and can grow as they should, only if labor pays the technicians wages commensurate with their skill and training.

In the beginning the value of technical services has often been demonstrated by free service, and due recognition should