The Irish standard., 1897-02-20
FOR ENFORCING THE LAWS,
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the violation Of all these laws rests this
general disregard of public rights, this
general regard of the individual right of
the workingman Oh the part of the large
corporations.
For instance, take our great Touring
mills. They are the strength and the
wealth producing concerns of our COM
munity. Without them we ali know
Minneapolis would not he worth much
commercially today, and all people look
up with proper respect to our great -four
ing mills. But let us tell the truth. Many
of these mills are very much to blame
for encouraging the open saloon and the
disregard of Sunday, because they work
their employees every day in the week
Sunday as we'll as Monday, and in order
to tempt them to violate the law and
work fer them on Sunday they offer
them a ,paltry increase in wages. If a
man does not like to do that sort of
thing and refuses to work for the. corpo-
ration, of course he is told that he is
not compelled to-no man is compelled
to work On Sunday unless he wishes to
but when the time comes that the mill
ling corporation is obliged by the force
of circumstances to drop off some of its
employees the first men that will be
dropped will be the men who were not
accommodating and would not work on
Sunday. (Applause.) Now, wish to
state it publicly in the interests of the
workingmen.
No nation, no people, have ever desc
Grated their Sunday without bitterly re-
GREETING it, Sunday belongs to God first
of all; it belongs to religion, to the pub
lie worship of God, but secondarily 1t be-
longs to man. 1t is mans day for rest,
for recreation, for cessation from labo-
rious toll This day was given to man
for rest and recreation at the very dawn
of creation, and the example of rest was
given him by the Creator of the universe
Himself Man needs relaxation, man
needs rest from toll.
Now, why do I bring up this thing at
this time? bring it up first Of all to set
some of you thinking who have not
known anything about these things.
do not refer alone to our Touring mills.
I refer to all corporations that employ
labor, our street-car system, our railway
system. Some of these of course are
Obliged On account of works of necessity
to employ men on Sunday. But the en-
ployment could be so arranged that every
man would know just what portion of
each Sunday he might have as his own,
both for rest and. religion. The corpor-
ations could very easily study the inter-
ests of their employees in this direction
by providing that everyone OF them
should have at least an opportunity of
attending religious worship and listen
ing to the word of God. I am not COM
planning against works of public neces-
sity, but we have watchmen at our rail-
read crossings, and in our railroad yards
who are to my personal knowledge desir-
ous and anxious to attend some church
upon Sunday anxious to hear the word
of God preached, but who never get an
opportunity from one end Of the year to
the other, simply because they are the
shackled slaves Of heartless and insatiate
greed.
am not pleading now from the stand
point of religion alone, am not speaking
alone as a clergyman for Sunday. am
not pleading in the name of God for the
rights of Sunday but am. pleading in the
name of the Woodworking Industrious
man and of the poor mans family. am
pleading in the name of labor, in the
name of the rights Of the wage-earner to
his Sundays rest from daily toll. ZAP
plause.) Pleading thus l may also be
permitted to state that this class of men
have as much claim to have their p1eju-
dices and their opinions and their views
respected as have the class of men who
would rob both God and man by taking
this day from them. And I. might say
that the laboring man would have no.
Sunday and humanity would have no day
,of res were It not rel ~ y
sSS