The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1898-12-20


world on the broad guage of
humanity, and associate the
cause of labor with the common
atty of mankind, holding up the
jewels of fairness, magnanimity,
and brotherhood, they would
penetrate the deranged and
poisoned pools of civilization it,
self. But many of them pour
NORWOOD and gall into the
cauldron of beastliness and hate.
The world is still dazed and
blinded and fettered by the big
otry and intolerance of a cruel
past, but it is growing better.
There are no dungeons for the
philosopher, no gibbets for the
thinker, and no faggots for the
reformer, and the framework of
justice and tranquility still sur
wives. Labor organizations must
learn to rise above the contract
ed limits of trade, and strike
deeper than the strike. They
must go back to fundamental
principles and teach the natural
rights, and the natural liberties
of all who labor in productive
and distributive industry. The
first of which is the right to lab
or. The second, the right to
earn a good livelihood for a reas-
enable effort. Third, the liberty
of mind and conduct compatible
with the public welfare and the
good order of society. All COM
petition in labor is fundamental
ly wrong, except it be competi-
ton of skill and ability. The
world must learn that the sys-
tenn which takes advantage of
human necessities to force labor
to accept less than good livelf-
hood for a reasonable effort is
criminal in the sight of God. No
man is to blame because he has q
stomach to feed, and a body to
clothe and shelter. They are the
orders of nature. And there is
no justification in any social sys-
tenn that contracts the opportun-
tiles of the least of Gods child
rem SO satisfy these natural re-
quirements through reasonable
efforts. 1t is violation of natur-
al rights for any man to make q
profit on the labor of any other
man until the natural require
ments of the laborer are first
satisfied. Productive industry
must be made sufficiently remun-
erative to enable operators to
pay labor a rate consistent with
civilized society and the natural
requirements of their physical
and mental beings. Thus labor
and productive capital are linked
together in a common cause.
The interests of the one are the
interests of the other and labor
leaders may array one against
the other until the crack of doom
and it will avail them nothing
and labor will continue to sink
deeper in the scale of degrade
ton and poverty. What is most
needed is a perfect unification of
the forces of industry against
the purely speculative combina-
tons of idle capital. 1t is all
very pleasing to listen to the
lullaby songs of the rainbow
chaser, who sings of the aboli-
tion of private capital and the
substitution of cooperative com
monwealths. Socialism is a
beautiful design for the builder
of air castles. Thousands of us
have been lulled to sleep by it's
charms. But it must not be for
gotten that commonwealth soci-
alism is in violation of the organ
ic structure of our government
and of every international treaty
and before we could even give it
a trial the cannon of the world,
aided by plutocracy, would thun-
der against our shores as a pro-
lection to the private interests
of foreign investors and to pun
ish us for the violation of inter
national law. We are in mid
ocean and must ride on the ship
we have, rather than the one we
want. The future is pOrtentiouS