The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1892-03-26
FROM MEN OF NOTE.
President Gompers Says That the
Workers Will Loarn.
Congressman Livingston Defines tho At
t!tude OF tho Farmers Alliance
Now Steering Between scylla
and Charybds.
(CoPYRIGHT, 1892.
WILL TIE WORKERS LEARN.

lBy Samuel GompcrS, President American Fed
Grafton of Labor.
viii the working people learn? Is u question
often asked by mon who have given the labor
question some thought, and aftor expending
their zeal and enthusiasm for time become
"disguStcd with the whole business" and go the
even tenor of their way thoroughly satisfied that
the working people will not learn.
The truth OF the matter is that the would-bc
teachers have more to learn from the masses of
labor than to teach them.
AS soon as some professors other we'll
meaning persons learn for the first time that
there is such Il thing as u labor question, and
arc converted to its justice, and then decide to
advocate its claims, the common mistake madc
Is TO assume IN air OF superior knowledge.
They urge the workers to givo up tho organi-
zations which have brought them oil advan-
tages and improvement, which have defended
them against unjust emotions, and ask them to
adopt some crazy panacoa which will be II
"curc-al'' for their economic and social ills.
They do not argue with the wage workers, they
talk down to them and want 70 instruct and
teach them"
Our well-meaning friends forget that. the
working people are confronted with and sur
rounded by the actual conditions and environ
ments OF the factory, tho store and the mine.
They have no time to thcorize. They must act,
and act quickly. with the facts that meet them
In their everyday struggle and defend their
position and themselves upon tho particular
field upon which they arc attacked, and seek
advantages in tho same timo which at other
times are utilized against them.
wages, hours OF labor, shop, factory or mino
rules and other conditions OF labor enter moro
deeply and directly into the everyday life of
the toilcrs and arc frequently more tyrannical
than any OF the laws enacted ut tho federal or
state capitals. To secure higher wages, less
hours OF drudgery or hurdensomc toll, steadicr
employment, moro leisure, faircr 'rucs'' and
better treatment while ut work Is the first duty
OF the working people, and our friends who be-
licvc that they can be diverted from the consit-
Grafton OF these questions TO follow their lead
into tho fields OF speculative thought will
always find themselves much disappointed,
discouraged and will frequently be heard to de-
clare sit is no use wasting time on the working
people, for they will not learn" They have
learned, do learn and will learn, but they will
do so, as In the past IN their own way, by their
own experience and volition.
VIII any observer deny that the toilcrs have
come TO be looked Gpon with greater degree
OF respect than they were few years ago? Tho
demands OF labor hSvc passed the ordeal OF
riCicule and contempt and have now entered
the arena OF discussion. Is this the result OF
the teacher" Is II not, rather the struggles
OF the workers to compel unwilling and unfair
employers TO concedc them better conditions:
have no desire to underestimate c the value OF
education and culture and its influences upon
the Improvement i'll social conditions. We wei
come the good men and true who have given
their moral support 10 the efforts OF tho toilcrs
but venture TO suggest the thought that the
organizations of labor, in their everyday agita-
ton and struggles, have done more to olsen
thrall the professors and teachers from anti
quated superstitions and prcconceivcd notions
of abstract nnd concrete rights and Justice OF
the masses than they in turn have aided either
In teaching the workers or in helping them to
secure improved conditions
In seeking TO improve our condition as WACO
workers by the methods alluded to hope that
the reader will not infer that we eschcw the
maintenance OF our rights rs citizcns-in other
words. politically. On the contrary, maintain
that with every bcttcrnent in our economic
condition, with every hour reduced In our daily
toll tthc million hours Of golden opportunities
DAILY tho toilers become d more potent factor
In public affairs and gre more Thoroughly
aroused TO tho intense necessity of achieving
every right TO which are entitled and tho
abolition OF every wrong committed against the
weakest OF our class.
Yes, the working people are learning. They
arc learning the history OF the struggles of their
forefathcrs, rs well as the wrongs endured to-
day. They are learning that the only hope for
thc protection OF themselves, their children or
posterity from tho ravishng and devoaring
greed OF tho day is By and through thorough
organization. They arc learning. not only OF
the past and the present, but, taking them as
the guide for the future. are inspired with en-
thusinsm, and IN distinct notes shout:
Swing inward. o gates of the future,
Swing outward, We doors OF the past,
For the soul OF the people is moving,
And rising from slumber ut last
The black forms Of night are rctrcatng,
Tho white peaks have signaed the day,
And freedom her long roll is beating,
And calling her sens to the fray