Cottonwood report. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1893-1901, 1895-09-27
Mr.. Lewis Gives Sound Anyice to
Seattle Workingmen.
GIVE POLITICS A WIDE BERTH
By Combined Evistence sThey Can Pre-,
sent the Nobility ana Magnitude
Of Their strength.


of the cause OF labor on Puget sound.
\ It Is said of him that he always
takes OFF his hat when addressing the
hello" girl in the telephone exchange,
and that at one time when he acciden-
tally disturbed prairie hen on her nest
he DOTTED his chapeau and bowling,
said:
IT beg your pardon, madam"
When Mr.. Lewis went to Seattle he
looked about for chance to form CO.
partnership in the law business. Meet
ing with no encouragement from the
class of lawyers with whom he cared
to associate, he concluded to bide his
time. Broke, but not disheartened, he
went down to the water front and Sc
cured work as stevedore. There wasn't
much in 1t, but there was living. One
day fellow workman got into trouble
and needed legal counsel.
"Why don't you hire the dude" some
one asked.
eff he was any good as a lawyer he
wouldn't be rustling around the ships
for an odd job now and them" was the
reply.
That's no argument" the other per-
sisted, "for there's many a good man
out of work in his own line and has to
take what he can get"
The upshot was that "the dude" was
employed to take the case. He conduct
ed 1t SO skillfully and 30 successfully
that the next day his greatest difficulty
was in deciding which of the many
law partnership offered was the most
desirable. He finally concluded to de-
cline them all and hang out a single
for himself.
Mr.. Lewis has not worked on the
docks since that time, but he goes down
nearly every day to meet the ships and
shake hands with the boys.
In his speech on Labor Day Mr.. Lewis
said he proposed to speak frankly to
labor of the things in which he thought
it was in error and to offer his views
as to the manner of correcting abuses,
If to do so was to condemn some Of the
adopted systems. After outlining the
history of labor and legislation in the
different countries of Europe he asked
what attitude labor bore in the United
States to government. He said it was
labor's duty to view itself as part Of
the government and not as pensioner
upon it. He said that since the last
message of President Lincoln, in Janu-
dTyb 1OuO, ldUOI 1ldQ pCSA ACCOS CD
an institution worthy of the recegni-
ton of the government, because the
ranks of the laborers were the funda-
mental part of free government. He
said that no government amid kings,
far less of free people, could exist to
any end of permanency or happiness
when it's masses-its plain people
! were denied fundamental privileges
and refused natural rights. He told
them that only by their combined ex-
istence could they present to the gov
eminent that nobility and magnitude
of their strength and secure the privi-
leges they sought. He besought them
| to beware of disturbances.
ct offer you," he said, two sugges-
| lions for preserving your strength and
your power and your individuals al
ways above unjust criticism: Beware
| of political party conflicts. Keep your
social measures as far from political
party coloring as you can. Submit
| them to the intelligence of man rather
than to party duty. Individually ex-
ercise freely your partisan views, and
array yourself with the party which
represents your views Of government,
but as a combined organization divorce
your institution as quickly as possible
and keep the separation permanent
from any political party; and, except
when you have a measure moving to
your betterment to secure, refrain as
an organization from interfering at
all with politics.
zone of the weaknesses you possess
| Is the cursing of your assailants one
hour and forgetting the offense and
the offender the next. If I am permit
ed to offer you the one particular rea-
son why you have been so long baffied
with and dallied with in political legis-
lative halls, 1t is because the public have
observed and the public aspirants have
learned that you never remember your
real public enemies long enough, and
forget your real public friends too soon.
Let me implore you that your war cry
be: Men and measures not party and
politics. Looking to your betterment.
I charge you, cling to the hope and ef-
fort of obtaining your relief within
and without your government; through
the institutions which are a part OF
your government. and not through the
creation of institutions which are for
eign to the theory of your government
The man who propounds to you theories
for your elevation which are at wal
with every fixed thing about you, and
insists that only by the adoption OF
these first can you succeed, is not wise
and is neither purposely dallying with
you or unwittingly deceiving you.
"Cling to the best that there is II
your government; obtain your meas
ures through the instrumentalities
which are recognized. What avail II
It to you to obtain a measure at the
defiance of the institutions and no
within the fixed law and order of at
fairs?
by devotion to law you become {
: part of government. and your measures
a part of it's existence. The conclusion
of this is: Should hypocrites or tyr
: ants glide through your crudulity
into place and power you have a weap
on that can be welded by you com
binedly with more power and effec
than by any other institution or organi
cation known to occupy earth-it
your ballot. This is the power tina
causes tyrants to tremble and hypo
critics to cringe."
He proceeded to advise them to pu
their organization upon a high basi.
He said that the joining hands with tn
; Young Mems Christian Association wa
q noble move. and elevated them