The islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1891-1899, 1895-01-10
COMPARISONS DRAWN
Labor Leader Burns Opinion
of America.
HIS VISIT DRAWING TO A CLOSE
Given to Many Trite Truisms
on the Complex Character Of Ameri-
can CivilizatiOn-Our Size, Wealth
and Natural Resources Stagger Him.

on the Complex Character Of Ameri-
can Civilization-Our Size, Wealth
and Natural Resources Stagger Him.
New YORK, January 3.-The Recorder
tomorrow will print an interview with
John Burns, M. P, the English la
Dor leader, as to what he thinks of this
country, now that his visit has almost
come to a close. Mr.. Burns arrived
here this afternoon from Philadelphia,
and left tonight for Boston, where he
speaks tomorrow. Among other things
Mr.. Burns said:
"Well, my visit to America is rapidly
drawing to close. 1t has been grand
trip. The size, wealth and natural re-
sources OF the country have simply stag
gered me. l have visited fourteen cities,
and in every one have been handsome
ly received. In fact, l met with no
greater than in Chicago itself, where a
few cranky editors have tried to msrep-
resent me to the people and misrepre-
sent the people to me. Everywhere
both State and municipal officials
have treated me with great considera-
tion-have gone out of their way to
oblige me, and have even complimented
Inc by saying that had some knowledge
and experience in municipal affairs.
| shall take home several trunks full
of documents and reports relating to
municipal government, and shall study
them all carefully. What l have seen
of American life has been on the whole
pleasant, interesting and deeply in
structive. Of all countries in the world
one can generalize less about America
than any other. The diversity of races,
religious customs and habits renders
generalization not only superficial, but
absurd. The heterogeneous character of
the population prevents singularity of
Judgment. The individual interests of
your communities are as different as one
State in the North differs from another
in the extreme South or West. The fact
is an American city is often mlcrocosm
of the whole human race. The Italian
from sunny Italy, the negro from Africa,
the Englishman and Swede cannot live
in one city and display in relation to
each other that homOgenity and corpor-
ate life which would have saved you
from many of your troubles and munic-
lpal O1IUCulCloS.
"America is an international mosaic
on the floor of the universe. Some day
the various colors will assume their
proper position to each other, and when
that happens it will in spite of the
gloomy outlook that monopoly causes
the picture to assume be a work of Amer
ica's best citizens and justification of
all the trouble you will have to undergo
to secure such happy result. like to
compare like with like, and find that in
many respects American labor is better
off than that in Europe and other old
countries, but your miners and in many
cases your unskilled laborers are worse
off than in Europe, and am sorry to
say their prospects are not improving.
Your skilled artisan, especially where
he is organized, is better off than in the
old country in point of wages, and enjoys
a better standard of comfort, but what
he gains over the English at the spigot
of high wages he often loses at the bung-
hole of lack of employment. The Amer
lean works harder while at it, and In
many cases his hours are longer and his
holidays fewer than those of the Euro
pean workman. His foot-pound of en-
ergy exerted in the production of wealth
and the mental strain that the hustling
tendency of American life demands
really make him no better OFT after all. :"