Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-09-03
ORGANIZATIONS ESPECIALLY
NEEDED IN CITIES.

such respect there must finally come fair
play for all.
ORGANIZATIONS ESPECIALLY
NEEDED IN CITIES.
I'm the country districts the surround
ingS are such that a man can usually
work out his own fate by himself to the
best advantage. In our cities, or where
men congregate in masses. it is often
necessary to work in common; that is.
through associations. OF course, If man
aged wisely. the very power of such
union or organization makes it capable
of doing much harm. but on the whole
it would be hard to over-estimate the
good these organizations have done in
the past and it is harder to estimate the
good they can do in the future, II
handled with reason. honesty and sanity.
1t is not possible to lay down d hard
! and fast rule. logically perfect, as to
where the state shall and where the in
dividual shall be left u~nhampered and
unhelped.
We have exactly the same right to
regulate the conditions of life and work
in factories and tenement houses that
we have to regulate fire escapes in our
houses. In certain communities the eX-
istence of a thoroughly efficient depart
ment of factory inspection is just as
essential as the establishment of a fire
department. How far we shall go in
regulating the hours of labor or the liza
bility of employers is a matter of eX-
pediency. and must be determined on
it's own merits. exactly as it is a matter
of eXpediency to determine what So
called public utilities the community
shall itself own and what ones it shall
leave to private or corporate ownership,
securing to itself merely the right to reg
ulate. Sometimes one course is expedi-
ent, sometimes the other.
LABOR is THE LAW OF LIFE.
I'm addressing an audience like this, /
do not have to say that the law of life
is work. and that work in itself, so far
as being any hardship, is a great bless
ing; provided always that it is carried
on under conditions which preserve a
mans self respect, and which allow him
to develop his own character and rear
his children so that he and they. as we'll
as the whole community of which he
and they are a part. may steadily march
onward and upward. The idler, rich or
poor, is at best useless. and is generally
a noXious member of the community. A
heavy burden of responsibility rests
upon the mar of means to justify his
actions the social conditions of which
have rendered it possible for him or his
forefathers to and to keep
the property he enjoys. He is not 20 be
excused if he does not render full meas
ure Of service to the state and COM
munity at large. There are many ways
in which this service can be rendered.
in art, in literature. in philanthropy, as
a statesman and orator, but in some
way he is in honor bound to find it, So
that benefit may accrue to his brethren
who have been less favored by fortune
tina he has been. In short, he must
work not only for himself, but for others.
If he does not work he fails not only
in his duty to the rest of the community,
but he fails in his duty to himself-there
is no reViving the idle. We can afford
to treat them with impatient contempt,
for When they fail to do their duty they
fail to get from life the highest and
keenest pleasure that life can give.
ITO do our duty-this is the summing
of the whole matter. We must do our
duty by ourselves and we must do our
duty by u n~eighbors.
VAST INDUSTRIAL PROBLEMS FOR
US TO SOLVE.
Before us loom industrial problems,
vast in their Importance and their com
plexity. The last half century has been
one of extraordinary social and Industrial
development. The changes awe been far
reaching, some of them for rood and
some of them for evil. 1t is not given
to the wiSest of us to see into the future
with absolute clearness. No man can be
certain tina he has found the entire So
luton of this infinitely great and intricate
problem and yet each mar of us, if he
would do his duty, must strive manfully
so far as in him lies, to help bring about
that solution. 1t is not possible to say
what shall be the exact limit of influence
allowed the state, or what limit shall best
serve to that right of Individual activity
AL we can do is to need be shown one
action of the people in their collective
capacity through the state in many mat
ters; that in other matters much can be
done by associations of different groups
of industrials as in trades unions AND
similar organizations as in other matters
it remains now as true as ever that fina
success will be for the man who trusts
in the struggle only to his cool head, his
brave heart and his strong right arm
There are spheres in which a compare
lively free field must be given to individ'
uals. Our trials of life have grown sc
ipuzzling in their c~omplexity, though the
changes have been SO vast. yet we may
remain absolutely sure of one thing, that
now. RS ever in the past, and 1T will ever
be IN the future, there can be no substi,
tute for the world-old humdrum, com
monplace qualities of truth, justice and
courage. thrift, industry, common sense
and genuine sympathy with a fellow feel.
ing for others. The nation is the aggre.