Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-07-11

oh. sometimes gieans upon sight.
Throuxh Present wrong. the eternal rfghti
And step by step since time began.
We see the steady gain Of man"
So sang the large congregation which assem-
bled in the place of worship Of the People
Church, the hall of the builders exchange, 18th
between g and II streets, yesterday morning.
The large hall was well filed, il having been an
nounced that the Homestead tragedy" would
be discussed BY Senators PETER and Kyle, Rep
resentative Davis Of Kansas, and by the pastor
Rev. Alex Kent
words was followed by IN earnest prayer by the
pastor. After returning thanks for Gods great
love and goodness he said: I'VE thank Thee, o
God. that day by day more men are beginning to
see the wrongs of man and that day by day the
rights Of man are being more and more under
stood and respected. Hasten the time when
peace shall reign again throughout our land,
and grant, o God. that Thy Kingdom shall
come here: not in some far away land In some
far distant time, but here. and In our time"
At the conclusion of his prayer Mr. Kent
said the size of the congregation assembled
made unnecessary any apology for the presence
of those not ordained by the church who would
for the time occupy his place and speak OF
subject filing the mind Of every true citizen OF
this country. He then introduced Senator
n u
with the question and with the needs Of the
laboring man.
SENATOR PEFFER's ADDRESS.
The Senator was warmly applauded as he
ascended the platform, and his remarks were
made withan earnestness which had no inconsid-
rable effect upon his hearers II not At all timese
eloquent he was at all times interesting. He
prefsced his remarks with the reflection that
there had been for q long time and was now q
deep repugnnnce in the minds of the people Of
this country to a union of church and state. 1t
sprang from the love of the Anglo-Saxon for
general liberty and for the liberty Of the
church But If there was anything good in the
Christian religion there would be no harm to
mingle it in public affairs.
I'm some Of the newspapers the occurrences
of last week at Homestead have been referred
to as the Homestead riots. No, no." exclaimed
the Senator. they were not. What was done
there by the laboring man was only the asser-
ton Of human rights" The rights Of labor, he
said. included the rights OF labor organized.
il il has the right to organize (and it has, so
has labor those rights. And when hired as
sassins-hard words. but proper ones-sought
to oppose organized labor they did IL at their
peril
THE woRKISeMAS MUST BE RESPECTED.
The workingman and the working woman
must be respected" continued the Senator.
when YOU and I, my friends, were boys and
girl. north and south. east and west, there
here and there. Every one of the mechanics
who presided over or worked in those little
shops owned his little home and they were
happy and contented. But in course of time
the great manufacturer came along, and now
where once stood the little shops stand gigantic
workshops and manufactures. employing thou
sands Of men in a single one. Instead Of being
scattered among the people, as in the years
past, the working people are now massed to
themselves. They have become organized,
has capital And thus 1t was that thousands Of
organized workmen are found at Homestead
today. But where is the owner of Homestead?
Not where he should be. at home, bat 1000
miles away-out of the sight OF the wretched-
ness Of his workingmen, the men who made him,
where only the telegraphic message of his part
ner can reach him, and that message as cold
and pitiless as the electric current itself. And
yet We are told these men should not organize
for their own protection
Ali men, commended the speaker. had the right
to run their business to suit themselves, pro-
vided il WAS q legitimate and lawful business 1t
had been contended that people had the right
to run any business they saw fit. but out in his
state they had said differently. and the people
OF that state had maintained what they said.
He had reference to the liquor business. The
liquor men had said the enforcement would
cause them great financial loss. and the people
men Therefore he claimed that no man. not
even great manufac surer. had the right to
SO run his business as to crash out the rights Of
the laboring man OF the rights of any other
man. II the owner Of Homestead should
say, my money furnished the impetus of
those works.. his workmen should ask
ibid you earn that money! The answer
would be NO, no.
NO MAN EVER EARNED 81, 900, 000."
The wo-kmen employed by the owner of
Homestead had the right to say: '.Our labor
built these works Now. you say our wages
must be reduced. We say no. There is
bond between US which gives Us
the right to say we are entitled to a share of
what you receive from our labors. You say
Won have the right TO control your property
So have We. and our labor is our property. We
viii submit TO no outside interference until We
arc compelled to, and that matter must be de-
cided upon By the whole country"
II the vorkingmen should be asked do Won
propose to destroy Mr. Carnegie's property and
divide il up between yourselves?" the answer
should be. 'No, no. You know VIC do not so in
tend. What we mean is this: The laborer is
worthy of his hire
In conclusion Senator PETER said that it was
the duty of the government TO protect the
laborer against capital and against all other
wrongs. And" he said, las long az have the
power and the opportunity shall do all can,
cost what j. may"
REPRESENTATIVE DAVIS OF KANSAS TALKS
After the hymn Ashamed of Jesus had been
sung the pastor introduced Representative
Davis Of Kansas. who said that he was glad
there was in this city IT least one pulpit where
the truth was welcomed Men. he said never
think about their rights as long they are suf-
ferable- The Americans were the most patient
and the best-nstured people on the face Of the
globe. and only Americans would have stood
their wron2s for 50 long a time. He explained
that he had no: time to elaborntely discuss the
labor question. and would. therefore. merely
suggest subjects for thought
The Homestead tragedy was bu; an incident
The question old one: Man vs. money,
Jefferson founded party which said properly
should be held above money. but his party ap-
feared 70 now hold opposite opinion. The
republican party had also fallen from grace
but the party to which he belonged, while be-
heving in tbs dollar. always favored the people
IN a conflict between them and the dollar
The capitalist said to the laborer, I'VE won't
deal with you if YOU organize" The laborer
replies. If you do not organize we will not"
The capitalist Saws. ''You deliberate in secret"
The IIborcr replies. I'VE will not do SO IL you
will not" Labor was not organized for fun.
fo- fooiishness; not TO Cypress anybody, but to
protect i.seh. Ii had a remedy, the ballot.
which no other people had, and this little
tragedy would be the means of waking the
people up.
sOIr-rTox M ruv rporp,vS