The Washington weekly post., 1900-09-04

labor organization. as We neT md il. il
the product Of Industrial conditions The
found himself az a disadvantage
when dealing with the corporate employ
sr. and the organization not only enables
him TO contend for his rights upon terms
more nearly equal. but Il stimulates aim
to study and understand the conditions
which surround him. The labor organizA
ton has been foremost in advocating fhe
reforms which have already been secured.
Several years ago the secret ballot was
demanded By the wage earners for their
protection. That ballot has been obtained,
and through its operations those who toll
for individuals or corporations are able
10 protect their political rights and to ise
The ballot according to their own juds-
ments. This is a long step in advance.
Aeeshplishea By ORGANIZATION.
'"The labor organization has done much
10 lessen the evils Of child labor. No one
ean visit the factories where children are
employed without contemplating the crime
which is being perpetrated upon posterity.
II there is any temporary economic ad-
,antage in the employment Of children Of
tender age. IL IS insignificant when meas
ured against the permanent injury done
TO present and future generations. To rob
a child OF its school days is bad enough,
but to bend its back by load for which
only the adult is fitted Is even worse
The labor organization has also con-
tributed toward the shortening % the
hours of toll, and IL should not cease in
It's efforts until the eight-hour day is Sc
cured Approximately one-third Of the
twenty-four hours must be given TO sleep;
II another third OF the day is devoted TO
manual labor. only eight hours are left
for eating, for going 10 and from the place
Of work, for the reading of current news,
for mental improvement. recreation, So
rial intercourse, and domestic life. Since
the hours occupied in eating and travel
can not be encroaehed upon, every hour
added to the days labor must be taken
from the time devoted to intellectual de-
recreation, and the family.
The labor organization has been a con-
sistent and persistent advocate of the doc
trine of arbitration. although 1t Is difficult
TO see why the burden Of this reform
should be thrown upon the laboring man.
Surely the employer, II he would take a
view Of his own interests.
would be as much benefited by arbitration
as the employe. and because every pro-
onged contest between labor and capital
brings interruption TO business and pecun-
ary loss 10 those who are In no Way re-
5ponsible for the disagreement, society In
general is even more interested than en-
ployers or employees. The desire for jlls-
tee is so universal that the public can
DE- depended upon TO support the finding
1f an impartial board of arbitration as
certainly as IL can TO support the success
tul contestant In lawsuit. The court OF
arbitration Is one of the certainties OF the
future. and when il is secured and per
tected, We shall wonder why its coming
was delayed SO long.
The Black List.
''T-he blacklist, by means Of which enn-
lloyers combine to deprive the discharged
Of unemployment, is one of the
more recent menaces to the laboring man.
The independence of the wage Garner de-
,reases as the difficulty of obtaining en-
)lOyment increases, and the skilled work
nan, whose life has been spent in aequir-
ng efficiency in a certain trade or occupa-
ion, becomes practically the chattel of
he employer. if every opportunity 10
make use of his experience Is closed by
agreement between employers.
THE labOring man is also interested i'm
egislation prohibiting Oriental immigra-
ion. 1t is unfair to the American work
nan, who IS the foundation of the na-
IONS wealth in time of peace and its de-
ense in time OF war, to subject him to
he danger of having his occupation given
o an Oriental laborer, often brought in
~ contract, who has no permanent inter-
'st in our government If the Asiatlcs
'ome here, work for a few years, live in
lower scale. and then carry home the
let proceeds of their toll, the drain upon
'ur money supply will be similar to that
,dused by landlordfsm in other countries.
ne pontleal objections to Oriental labor
re scarcely less weighty than the eco
3onlle ones Race prejudice cannot be
iIsr Ll gs9rded, and we have seen how, in ev-
ny ihQuStflal depression, race animoslties
esult IN riot and bloodshed. We cannot
,tloIu ~ 70 Dring into this country those
Hho cannot amalgamate with our people |
Abuse OF the Injunction.
The attempt TO use the iniunctien of a I
'ourt to deprive the Iaboring man of trial
" jury should alarm all our people. for
Fhlie the Wage-earner is the first TO feel
Is eitects, the principle which underlies |
government by injunction is so far-reach-
ng that no one can hope TO escape ulti- |
nately. The thing forbidden by an in
junction would, without the Injunction he |
llhef legal or Illegal If it would be legal. |
ne Judge usurps the function of the leg
stature when he forbids it, IL IL would |
De illegal, the injunction of the court is |
for any one who violates
ne law can, upon conviction, be made In |
'uifer the penalties prescribed for surh
'iolation- The meanest thief and the
most brutal murderer are entitled to trial
)y jury; why should this right be denied
he laboring man? Those who oppose
government Oy injunction are not in favor
u laWlessness: they are, on the contrary.
he best friends of law and order. They
ieny the right OF any man 10 violate the
aw in an effort to advance his own in
erests, but they insist that it is incon-
5istent with our ideas of government and
dangerous TO all classes TO invest any
udSe with the threefold p0wer-first 10
make the laws; second, to bring accusa-
ion against those charged with the viola
ion of the laws, and. third, to sit in
upon the case Government bv
Injunction is so indefensible that the anti
Injunction bill indorsed by the Chicago
platform passed the Senate without a wa
and nay vote being demanded, and since
nat time no party platform has specific
iily lndorSeC government by Injunction
and Io prominent member of any party
ldS entered upon defense of the system.
md yet corporate influence is so strong
that IL has thus far been impossible Ia
secure any remedial legislation
Election of Senator's.
''The fact that United States Senator's
ire elected by legislatures, rather than by
the people directly, lessons the laboring
mans Influence in securing favorable
Federal legislation. When the action OF
a political convention must be submitted
10 the voters for ratification at the polls,
he convention IS constrained to nominate
a candidate acceptable to the people; but
when Senator is chosen by legislature.
he individual voter is far less considered.
Even when direct bribery is not employ
I'd, the indirect influence which corpora
lions can exert is resorted 10, and more
frequently still money is secretly used TO
lid legislative candidates in close dis
-ricts. Such obligations are usually re-
paid in the caucus, and, as a rule. the
majority IN the caucus controls the party
which has the selection of the Senator. II
his question were submitted 10 the vOt-
FRS, the majority In favor OF the election
Df Senators by direct vote OF the people
would be overwhelming, and yet parti-
sanship has delayed the adoption of this