The San Francisco call., 1896-09-08
LABOR DAY WAS FITTINGLY CELEBRATED

Board of Trade, the Bar Association and the
Medical Society are essential for the mainte-
nance OF proper relations in business and pro-
fessional life, manual la abor, which is the basis
of all wealth and of all government, steps
modestly 10 the front, ana says: Gentlemen,
we too nnd it necessary to organize for the
protection of that labor which is the fouQda-
ton upon which your grand superstructures
rest and we proudly present to you our trade
and labor unions.
So there can be no quarrel between honest
capital and faithful labor; and faithful labor
is guaranteed by the trade unions
Such being the conditions and these being
our principles, we have organized into trade
ana labor unions, and the Government of the
United States has set apart this first Monday
of Sep N ber for the celebration OF Labor day,
in recognition of the claims OF the working
people as represented by these organizations.
Then we have assembled here this evening
TO celebrate Labor day. And what are our ac-
eomplishments? Why do we celebrate? We
precede commerce and we make the fine arts
possible We are the auxiliary of the scientist
Here is your good ship we con
sailor boys to man it,, do business with the
Indies and become rich" We say to the law
student: Here is your college, we built it;
and here is your Blackstone, we printed it.
Study hard and become great man" Wesay
TO the young medico: Here's your college
also, we built it expressly for you; and here's
your skeleton. we made iL'-no; oh, no; there
is one thing we can't do. We say: "Here's
your college, young Esculapius, go find your
subject; and here's your box OF nice little sur
gical instruments to dissect it, find out
whether it was sore throat or laryngitis. )" We
say TO the composer: "Here are the piano, cor
net and violin; let US have your la test compo-
sifion and our union musicians will perform
These are some of our accom- plishments.
Yes; and they extend much further. And
when the question is asked, ''Who are the
trade-unionists, and what of their achieve
ments2" the answer comes:
From the shop and the factory and the
office; from the forge and the bench and the
rail- fraf frOU m ri md ha
ironworks, and from that huge fortress of pro-
lection and engine OF destruction known as the
battle-ship.
From pillar and column and nave; from
tower and dome and tall minaret does the
answer come: 1--WE are thy handiwork,
children OF the trade unions.'
From crest of spired cathedral to its founda-
tion stone, with altar and chalice and organ
grand, the sacred edifce, with all its wealth of
rich belongings, consecrated TO the service OF
the living God, is the construction of the
artisans and the mechanics OF our trades
unions.
Ladies and gentlemen, these are the monu-
ments of labor. Are there any that are
grauder, more enduring or more useful? And
their builders are the honest sons of toll who
protect the dignity OF their callings through
their membership in the trade unions.
But there are Others 10 be heard from. What
of the stouthearted seamen? Over the realm
of the storm-tossed sea. where God is still
supreme, but where the elements are raging
in their anger, from the disabled vessel comes
the cry of the sailor man, "We will stand by
our GOOD snip tll the last precious lie Is saved
till the last precious life is saved"
And the musiciansl What may be said of
sweet music? 1t can only tell its own story.
1t is melody; it is harmony. 1t is of earth,
yet is belonging to heaven. The prelude
of the orchestra; the chimes of the YES
per bell; the martial strains of the brass
band; the may waltz; the, serenade
soldier the ballad; the grand opera: the
sacred orator1o, and "Home, Sweet Home"
What tender memories OF youth and mother
md fba inn n do nf dol
Haydn, Mozart, Bach, Chopin, Schubert, Men
delssohn. Beethovenl Ye do well, oh, mem
bers OF the Musicians union-ye do well-to
surround the practice of your divine art with
all the pure safeguards OF trade-untonisml
And what of the printing pressl OF those
who follow the trade OF the great Benjamin
Franklin, the revered Horace Greeley and of
our own brave townsman, James II. Barry;
and among whom are TO be found many OF the
brightest Journalists living under our starry
flag? Those earnest men and women, who
toll through the weary hours OF the night that
the world may be enligh tened when the sun
light greets the morn-what of them? From
the East and the West. and the North and the
South, cen tering round about New York, and
there from the office of the New York Journal
to It's sister, the Examiner, hashes the message;
"The members of the International Typo
graphical Union of North America, on this,
our Labor day, send you fraternal greetings to
the number of 100000
And we OF the trades unions have brothers
far over the seas, and from be youd the Atlantic
come their greetings tonight
that" and this gem Of Scotland's bard will go
down the ages as conveying the very highest
conception of mank ind's integrity. Govern
ments may go wrong, but the great masses OF
the people-neyer. And SO to-day. From the
land OF grand old Gladstone and from the
beauteous Rhineland; from the heathery hills
OF Scotland and from Lafayette's sunny France,
and from the shamrock-bedecked fields of
ever dear old Ireland, come messages of con-
gratulation and OF peace such as brethren
send to brethren.
Ladies and gentlemen, such are the trades
unfonists ana such are some of their achieve
ments. Respectable in our personnel, honest
in our purpose and asking for nothing but
justice.
The man who is so fortunate as to be able to
employ 1000 workmen has in a measure the
influence OF 1000 men; he should not only be
their employer, but their protector and their
friend.
You all remember the strike at Homestead,
where thousands of poor men were thrown out
of employment because they asked for rate
of wages Whereby they could keep body and
soul together. You all remember the relentless
tyranny OF that rich man who held the for
tunes of SO many of his fello@-erea atures. You
remember how, during the labor troubles, he
imported that ri1fi1anly band, known as the
Pinkerton detectives, to shoot down free Amer
ican citizens because they were exercising
their heaven-born right of protecting their
labor and providing for their wives and chill
dren-hired these Pinkerton detectives beside
whom the myrmtdons of old who followed
Achilles against the walls of Troy were gentle
men-aye, they we're patricians.
Think of It, citizens; think of 1t, a man SO
favored in worldly goods that ne was able TO
employ thousands of his feIlow-creatures 10
work Tor him, and picture the pitiable spec
tacle OF this man hiring unscrupulous wretches
to protect him from the imaginary onslaughts
OF his own workmen-when he could have
been loved by them, when he should have
been their counselor and their friend
is It any wonder then that the name of Car