The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-09-16

ought TO give Il up.
Blu let me consider for just one moment
what the facts OF history show. There ave
been two or three great Industrial changes,
ano; ladies' and gentlemen, my JILL a
| period of apprehensions. but the apprenen.
sions are never realized. We are all a good
of a warm room and take II into another.
even though you put IL on a softer chAII.
the child will scream and yell until ~ gels
used TO and enjoys the change. And so
where a society is passing through an ex-
perience and a man thinks he Is going 70
be thrown out of employment he yens anu
screams and shouts a great deal more than
ne will ever do after he has actually gone
through il.
You may remember-I don't suppose any
of the ladies and gentlemen here will re-
member-but all are familiar with the his
There was not probably in the history OF
man a danger that was apprehended 10
such an extent as the Danger that the stase
coach drivers cherished when they beliexed
that the construction OF a railroad would
throw every one of them out OF employ
ment. / think | could demonstrate mere
| that anything which cheapens a commodity
or article and therefore Increases tne
volume of the commodity. cannot throw
anybody out of employment. II Is quite
true that some stage-coach drivers. VINO
had been drixing a. fonr-ip-hand from Lon
selves down TO the driving of merchandise
wagons and passengers 10 and from railway
stations. bur. says I, Are you going to
block the wheels OF progress for the bene-
fit of the stage-coach driver Laughter
and a%pplause.1
When there was constructed a machine
for the manufacture OF shoes. the cobbler
bemoaned his fate. and was calculating on
the number of days. that would intervene
between himself and staryations ana the
weaver. working for a miserable pittance
I'm a back room. whose condition was as
talized i'm Hoods Song OF the Shirt be-
moaned the approach OF the day when. the
steam loom would deprive him Of the bare
be thrown out OF employment. but the put
ting of newer and cheaper goods on the
| and who were the men employed first but
the men who were familiar with those tex
tile articles and those articles In leather.
in which he lost his sight and became pre-
maturely blind: and the weaver In. the back
the power of civilization in this generation
to conceive and placed in a light and airy
factory and he got better wages-and I'm a
manded still better wages. lApplause and
cheers.1
COMMERCIAL TRAVELLERS.
"Why. my friends. L heard one gentle
man here declare that this method Of COM
bination must be stopped. because, he said.
thirty-five thousand commercial travellers
had been thrown out of employment, thir-
ty-ive thousand men advancing their views
through one. He gives no particular evil
dence that there were thirty-five thousand.
1LCS II IOt Oil ~ SaRBoSt ~ Ot w.
although I am always doubtful OF statis-
tics. they come in so handy in the course
of an argument tapplausel; suppose 1t to
be true. suppose that a new Industrial or
ganization produces results OF great. mo-
ment to seventy million Of people. cheap
ems the cost OF some article OF necessity;
and suppose II did throw thirty-thousand
out of employment. would you hold back
the general welfare of the community to
suit that particular thirty thousand? IL we
do it for thirty thousand. we ought to do IL
for fifteen thousand; If We do IL for fifteen
sandg IF we do it for one thousand. why
should We not do II for one? Why should
We not hold back the entire car OF human
aboard. although in doing SO we may have
to diminish its speed from the rate of the
lightning express to that OF the numbering
OK wagon. How are you going to retain this
equality between men? 1t would be better
And e until there hhT w is a Chance shmS . 4 to m ref AT m the
Pension Office they will never materialize.
| know Of nothing that prolongs life equal
Let US see, my friends. how this thing
will practically work. How are We going
to keep excellence and mediocrity upon the
same level. If you have competition you
Will have excellence. Is not every form OF
competition certain to produce excellence
Socialist. this morning, whose name l be-
lieve ought to become famous all over the
address which he delivered, declare tina
competition was warfare. Let me protest
t to shat Of S SeinpP assfTuc Is net S Ea1fars IL the ,s
| the aScertainment OF the place of greatest
utility for each individual. These men are
not thrown out of employment permanently.
like the cobbler was taken from the cellar
where he was making one pair of shoes a
day. into the factory to make fifty or sixty
pair a day, with the increased power OF ma.
chinery. so the man who is displaced by one
element of progress is not absolutely retired
FROM the field O; industry, but he Is trans
ferred from one field where he Is no longrs
most useful to another where his capacities
are of greater development.
CASE OF THE COLUMBIA.
Now, here, a few days ago, we had =
number of boats with which we had fhs
honor to meet TO select a competitor to de-
fend the Americas cup. Well. the Column.
bia won when she went out. Did they
break up the Defender on that ACCOUNT
Was the Defender ruined on account OF
that? No. the Defender is now simply re-
tired on account OF It: its empty hold viii
become wainscoted and ii will be divided up
into comfortable cabins; there will be hap
py faces on the deck instead OF sailors pull
ing and hauling with desperate energy. and
will be assigned a new position In the
of the Puritan and the Victory and all the
other challengers that have become rele-
in the past, and competition has injured no.
body, but has assigned each TO the place
where each will achieve the greatest glory
W jul 1V1itAl aAt 0Ao III 1900
speed in the world of competition.
You would not destroy him. When you
defeat him I'm competition you may change
his place. you make him go from the sphere
where he cannot excel 10 the sphere I'm which
he can have a chance. and, believe he. there
is no human being that has not aptitude
in some department of human activity. Any
competition, as j have said, Is absolutely
free TO produce excellency. You have got
the leading lawyer He Is a monopoiist- You
have got the leading doctor-he monop-
oliZes the best patients. and the leading
orator gets the best audiences. and, in fact,
in that respect, there is a gentleman here
present now who is the greatest monopolist
in that respect 1 have ever known Laugh
ter and prolonged applause.J
Ladies and gentlemen. i am reminded
that recalls ar event which illustrates this
whole question of competition better than
anything I can give-of competition which
is free and competition which Is respectable
one supersedes and dominates the best.
the other supersedes and dominates the
baser If not the basest. Three years ago a
convention met In this town; while the dele
gates were largely strangers TO each other.
a few individuals hoped to- manage the con-
ventioD. The action OF the convention threw
1t over IL free competition, and a young man
In the convention. as the result Of competi-
ton. sprang upon the shoulders OF the shout
ing. excited delegates and into leadership
which was absolute In a party Ladies and
gentlemen. would anybody deny that the
result OF that free competition was the Sc
lection OF the best man qualified? Had a
man been able to control the proceedings