The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-09-04

mar race in misery. Those who are we'll
to-do have selfish interest. and should
feel moral concern, in removing despair
| from every human breast. As misery is
lessened the sscurity of property is in
| creased. human life is protected in pro-
portion as happiness is promoted.
why should the man who eats at we'll
| supplied table forget the man whose toll
| furnishes the food? Why should the man
who warns himself by the fire forget the
man whose labor in the forest or in the
! mine brings forth the fuel? Why should
| the man clad in the best products of the
/ loom forget the man whose calloused hands
make fine clothing possible? Both the con-
| sumer and the producer are necessary. but
| of the two the producer comes first in point
of time and in point OF importance. Shall
the rosebud. blooming in beauty and she'd
ding its fragrance on the air, despise ths
roots of the bush because they come into
! actual contact with the soil? Destroy
| the bud and leave the roots and second
| bud will appear, as beautiful and as fra
| grant as the first; but destroy the roots
/ and the bud and bush will perish.
How can the wage-earner secure that
! share of the earth's bounties and the Gov
| ernments protection which he deserves
! The associations formed by workingmen
| have been productive of much good.
THE labor organization as We now hnd
| ii is the product of industrial conditions.
| The individual found himself at disad-
! vantage when dealing with the corporate
employer, and the organization not only
! enables him to contend for his rights upon
terms more nearly equal. but II stimu-
lates him to study and understand the con-
| ditiGns which surround him.
Labor Leads in Reform.
1.-THE labor organization has been FORE
| most in advocating the reforms which have
already been secured. Several years ago
the secret ballot was demanded by the
wagc-earners for their own protection.
That ballot has been obtained, and through
its operations those who toll for indiyid'
uals or corporations are able to protect
their political rights and to use the ballot
according to their own judgment. This is
: a long step in advance.
THE labor Organization has done much
to lessen the evils of child labor. No one
can visit the factories where children are
employed without contemplating the crime
which is being perpetrated upon posteTity.
II there IL any temporary economic adyan-
tage in the employment of children OF ten
der age. it is insignificant when measured
against the permanent injury done to pre-
sent and future generations. To rob
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 contri-
huted toward the shortening of the hours
of toll, and it should not cease its efforts
until the eight-hour day is secured. APP
proXimately, one-third of the twenty-four
! hours must be given TO sleep; If another
! third of the day is devoted to manual la
| Dor. only eight hours are left for eating.
| for going 10 and from the place OF work.
for the reading of current news, for men
tai Improvement. recreation. social inter
course, and domestic life. Since the hours
occupied in eating and travel cannot be
encrcached upon, every hour added to the
days labor must be taken from the time
devoted to intellectual development, recre-
alton. and the family.
''The labor organization has been 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 iaboring man.
Surely the employer if he would take a
comprehensive view of his own interests.
would be as much benefited by arbitration
as the employe, and because every prolong-
ed contest between labor and capital brings
Interruption to business and pecunisry loss
to those who are in no way responsible
for the disagreement, society in general is
even more interested than employers or
emp!oxss The desire for justice is SO uni
versai tiat the public can be depended
upon to support the finding of an impair
tial board of arbitration as certainly as it
can to support the successful contestant In
a lawsuit. The court of arbitration Is one
of the ceriainties of the future, and when
it is secured and perfected we shall won
der why its coming was delayed so long.
Mennces TO the Teller.
THE blacklist, by means of which en-
ployers combine to deprive the discharged
workman of unemployment, is one of the
more recent mensces TO the laboring msn
The independence of the wage-earner de-
creases as the difficulty Of obtaining en-
pIoyment increases. and the skilled work
man whose life has been spent in acqulr-
ing efficiency in a certain trade or Cccu-
patton becomes practically the chsttel OF
the employer if every opportunity to make
use OF his experience is closed Engagement
between employers.
The Iaboring man is also interested IN
legislation prohibiting Oriental imm sTa-
ton. IL is unfair TO the American work
man. who is the foundation Ct the nation
wealth in time of peace and lis def nee
in time of var, to subject him to the dan
ger OF having his occupation given TO an
Oriental lGborer. often brought by con-
tract, who has no permanent interest IN
our Government If the Asiatics come here,
work for few years, live on a lower
scale. and the1 carry home the net pro-
ceeds OF their toll, the drain upon our
money supply viii be similar to that
caused bv landlordism in other countries.
The political objections to Oriental labor
are scarcely less weighty that the eeono-
mic ones. Race prejudice cannot be dis
regarded. and we have seen how. in every
industrial depression, race animOs les re-
suit in riot and bIoodshed We csnnot at
ford TO bring into this country those who
cannot amalgamate with our people.
THE attempt to use the injunction OF
court to deprive the lsboring man OF trial |
by jurf should alarm all our people, for.
while the wage-earner is the first to feel
its effects, the principles which underlie |
government by injunction is so far-reach- |
ing that no one can hope to escape ulti- !
mately The thing forbidden by an injunc- {
lion would, without the injunction, be eth
er legal or illegal. II ii would be legal, the /
judge usurps the function Of the Lesisla- I
ture when he forbids It. II 1t would be IL /
legal the injunction of the court is I'M
necessary, for anyone who violates the law /
can, upon conviction. be made to suffer the !
penalties prescribed for such violation. The |
meanest thief and the most brutal MUIR |
derer are entitled TO trial by jury; why |
should this right be denied the laborinG |
man? Those who oppose government by !
injunction are not in favor of lawlessness: !
they are, on the contrary. the best friends ,
of law and order. They deny the right of ;
any man to violate the law in an EFFORT TO /
advance his own interests but they insist /
that 1t is inconsistent with our ideas OF .
government. and dangerous to all classes. /
to invest any judge with the threefold pow
cr-frst TO make the laws: second to
bring accusation against those charged |