Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1893-04-05

NOAhSo rum GHc QcCTcS dGcQ
in the garden of Eden, ''In the sweat
of thy face shalt thou eat bread" to
the time when Paul said. ''for even
when we were with you, this we COM
manded you, that if any would not
work, neither should he eat" all
through the Scriptures of God runs the
same burden of exhortation to men to
honestly labor for their daily bread, and
to steal not What then shall we say of
Christian (?) nation in which a mil
lion men are denied the opportunity
to work for an honest livelihood and
are compelled TO become beggars,
tramps or thieves? Reasonable labor
has IN all ages been considered sacred
duty and blessed boon, while the
curse of idleness has been set forth in
the pithy proverb, ''An idle brain is the
devils workshop" How can that be
called Christianity which sits in apathy
and allows enforced idleness to breed
paupers, drunkards and criminals? The
demand for conditions under which all
men may have a chance to provide a
living for self and those dependent upon
them, is founded upon eternal justice
and must be in furtherance of Gods
will, because a command implies pos
sibility of performance, and a prohibi-
ton implies way of escape. That
cannot be a Christian government
which forces men to beg, steal or starve
and then Furnishes them for obeying
the first law of nature-self-preser
ton.
All human laws, enacted by human
governments are but attempts of hu-
manity to protect itself from itself.
The spirit is willing. but the flesh is
weak" The law is for the evil doer
but it often happens that the law
maker becomes the law breaker Law
is an expression of the reason of man
and is self-imposed code of rules End
regulations to compel him to do that
which he knows to be right, .-but is
liable TO be tempted not to do, and to
prohibit him from doing that which his
better instincts teach him is wrong, but
which his baser instincts continually
tempt him to do. 1t is a safeguard
erected by man in an organized state of
society to guard against the selfishness
and coveteousness of man, as an indi-
vidual The strength of law is in the
penalty thereof Governments are or
ganized in a republic by the people,
and derive their powers from the con-
sent of the people. Their primary OBJ
ject is to protect the weak
from the strong and to guarantee
to all men equal and exact Justice and
equal opportunities and rights. The
eight'hour law must be strongly erect
ed upon the broad foundation of ''the
greatest good to the greatest number"
and equal opportunities to all, special
privileges to none" Its penalties must
be heavy enough to force compliance
with its provisions and it must be so
framed as to benefit not classes or indi-
viduals, but all humanity It's penal
ties must attach not only to those en-
ployers who nullify or abrogate the
law, but must also keep in check the
sordid impulses of those wage workers
who by working overtime, for extra
pay would sacrifice the human race
upon the altar of their selfshness.
Any eight-hour law which does not
make its provisions imperatively man
datory to both employees and employer
will, like Dead sea apples, turn to
ashes in the hands of the people
y
'paternalism." But it is not paternal-
ism. Nay verify! but rather is it en-
forced fraternalism-the golden rule
with an enacting clause. 1t is prac-
tical utilization of that supreme love
for God, which Jesus taught is best
manifested by love for our brother
man. In popular form of government
the majority rules, hence all laws en-
acted reflect the degree of righteous
ness possessed by the people and the
plane of morality upon which they
dwell. When men once arrive at
recognition of the universal brother
hood of man, all laws will have for
their object the establishment of JUS
tice and fraternity among men. The
father of our country in his farewell
address said: ''It is substantially true
that virtue or morality is necessary
spring Of popular government
In proportion as the structure of
government gives force to public
opinion, it is essential that public
opinion should be enlightened" If,
then, the laws of free government
give expression to the degree of moral
ity and justice possessed by its people,
why shall laws giving expression to a
belief in the universal brotherhood of
man be characterized as paternalistic
in their nature, and how can a free gov
ernment, instituted and administered
by nation of brothers, be said to be
administered by father? In a popular
form of free government, under which
the laws reflect the sen timent of ma
jority of the people, there can be no
such thing as paternalism. If laws
which protect the weak from the strong
and grant to all an equal opportunity
for the pursuit of happiness, are pater-
nalistic, by what name shall we char
acterize the laws we now have, which
discriminate in favor of classes and con-
fer special privileges upon the few?
We need only to adhere to strict con-
struction of these words found in the
immortal declaration of independence:
We hold these truths to be selfevident; that
all men are created equal that they are en-:
dowed by their Greater with certain inalien.
BILE rights; that among these are life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure
these rights governments are instituted among
men, deriving their just po Eers from the con-
sent Of the governed: that, whenever any form
OF government becomes destructive of these
/
abolish, etc.
As the 'inalienable rights men,
toned are all dependent upon an op-
portunity to labor, an eight-hour law
is directly in harmony with the funda-
mental principles of our government
one OF the common objections waged
against the adoption of compulsory
eight, hour law is that it would destroy
the lnviolable constitutional preroga-
| tive of freedom of individual contract.
Not only is this merely one of the tech
nical legal subterfuges, used by law
yers to defeat the ends of justice, but it
is grim satire upon the truth. The
same arguments that would prove that
labor under present conditions possesses
any freedom of CONTRACT, would grant
immunity to footpads, on the ground
that their victims, possessing the alter.
! native of being robbed or shot vallln ia ri