The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1893-09-08

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ance they would give each other by these
organizations, but cautioned them not to
lose their individuality i'm their desire to
profit by their unions; to be careful that
they did not make structure which shoud
become burdensome to them and which, de-
signed by them to benefit them, should not
i'm time turn upon them in way the origin
ators had not dreamed Of; in other words,
he said: make the unions your servants,
but see that they do not become your mas
ters.r
lnaspeaking of the city as renowned for
having the enterprise which could build and
equip large factory in six days, he pre-
sumed IL he should ask some of the mechan-
les who worked ON that building, "Who,
built that building?" the answer would be,
"We built It," Again If he asked the firm
who furnished the capital for it the same
question, ne thought he might receive the
same answer. Neither, he said, would be
right, but when he asked them both together
the question and they answered I'VE built
it," he said they would answer rightly.
There was no enmity between capital and
labor. neither could get along without the
other.
Again the Governor cautioned the people
obe careful about the support of measures.
which might appear to be enacted solely for
their advantage, and yet after they were in
operation they would by some hitherto un-
known fact cause greater hardship than the
ones they seemed planned to relieve. In
support of this position he cited an instance
which came under his personal notice In our
own state legislature.
A few years ago, all at once, petitions be-
gan to pour in from all parts of the state
asking that prison contract work on. wagons
T. 20 bxyI lam nd tI,A kn
came so numerous that the legislature was
obliged to take notice of them and in conse-
quence bill was drawn up and seemed
about to pass at the last reading, when a
member arose and said he had hoped not to
be obliged to say what he was about to say,
but 1t seemed as il he must be in possession
of facts unknown to the house, and it was
his duty to give these. Then 1t appeared
that the petitions had been secured and, cir
culated entirely through the influence and
at the expense of firm of wagon makers
whose contract with the prison was about
to expire and who had been Out-bid by
another firm for this labor. Thus what ap-
peared the uprising of the people and
popular demand was exposed as merely the
money-making scheme of few men.
The Governor also said that the more 0c-
cupations which could be represented in our
state legislature the better and moro well
informed on the general topics 1t would be.
He was farmer-had always been one and
expected to be while he lived, but he would
not want to see legislature composed en-
tirely of farmers. In this as in all other
things, one class needs the special knowl-
edge Of the others. He was especially glad
on this occasion to see that SO many would
forget for time the cloud which hangs
oyer the country and turn out for days
rest from all such worry.
The address throughout was broad In Its
spirit and showed true desire f0r the well
fare and best interests Of all citizens. 1t
was listened to with keen attention and was
warmly applauded at its close, and from the
warm hearted, earnest speech, yet fair
minded and just to all, 1t was evident that
i, IN Gov. Rich. the man who signed the bill
making Labor Day legal holiday In this
state, the lab0ring man has a, friend true in
every sense of the word.
LABOR, COMMISSIONER McRsE's SPEECH.
The address of Labor Commissioner
Morse was confined to large extent In ex-
planning and describing the working of the
labor bureau. He spoke OF the growth of
! Owosso and the interest he had taken in
watching it develop its resources until one,
in riding through on the ID. & M. could see
factory built in less time than the Coy
ernor had mentioned, ffty-seven and frac-
ton hours.
He said that some teB years ago when the
labor bureau was established, many work.
ingmen looked upon 1t with distrust, think
ling merely scheme TO create another ONCE
and serving only to increase the expense of
the state government. This, he said, had
been proved a wrong view of 1t. The fig
ures and statistics already gathered had
been of much value to the people and would
in future be far more valuable than they
now seem.
The factory inspection law just beginning
to be put in force would be instrumental in
making the work of the bureau far more
effective and Of much greater benefit to the
laboring classes.
He mentioned laws forbidding the en-
ployment Of children of certain ages In fac
tories, laws compelling fire escapes 70 be
Continued on page 8.)