The Portland daily press., 1900-09-04

than employers or employees The desire
or Justice is SO universal that the public
can be depended upon to support the find
Ing OF ans1mpartial board OF arbitration
as certainly as it can to support the sue
cessful contestant in a lawsuit The
court of arbitration is one of the certain
ties of the future, and when it Is secured
and perfected, we shall wonder why its
coming was delayed so long.
The BLACKLIST by means of which M
plOyers combine to deprive the discharged
workman Of unemployment. is one Of the
more recent menaces to the laboring man.
The Independence OF the wage Garner
decreases, and the skilled workman
whose life has been spent in acquiring
efficiency in certain trade or occupation
becomes practically the chattel OF the
employer If every opportunity to make
use OF his experience is closed by agree
ment between employers The laborlng
man is also Interested In legislation
prohibiting oriental immigration. 1t is
unfair to the American workman, who is
the foundation CT the nations wealth in
time OF peace and It's defense in time or
war, so subject him to the danger 0 f
having his occupation given to an Orien-
tai laborer, often brought In by contract
who has no permanent interest In our
government
The attempt to use the Injunction OF
court to deprive the laboring man Of
trial by jury should alarm all our people
for while the wage Garner is the first to
feel Its effects, the principle which under
lies government by Injunction is SO far
reaching that no one can hope to escape
ultimately.
Yhe laboring man ravors direct legisla-
tion wherever practicable for thu same
reason that he favOrs the election Of sena-
tors by popular vote. Direct legislation
brings the government nearer to the
10
tuD1ty to vote on public questions when
those questions can be submitted with
out too great inconvenience and expense.
But the tailoring man is even more inter-
ested in the proposition to establish
| labor bureau with a cabinet officer at it's
! head. Such bureau would keep the ex-
ecut1Ve in constant touch with the wage
earnerss of the country and open the
way to the redress Rof their present and
future grievances.
The resolutions adopted by various
labor organizations in condemnation
OF m1litarism and imperialism justify
me In MAJ ng brief reference to those
questions No class contributes more
than the laboring class, In proportion to
It's numbers, to the rank and file Of the
army; no class contributes more In pro-
| portion to It's numbers to the expense OF
6he army, and no class is more menaced
| by the existence OF a large army Most
of the countries In Europe which main
| gain large military esta bl1shments collect
an income tax which adjusts the burden
of the government to the income of the
| citizen. Here our federal taxes are large
| ~ collected upon consumption, and while
they are income taxes, in the sense that
they must be paid out of the incomes OF
the people, yet the exactiOns are not pro-
pOrtlOnate to the income. The taxes upon
consumption bear heaviestsupOn the poor
and llghtest upon the rich and are, in
TACT, graded income taxes, the per cent
collected decreasing as the income increas-
es.
If this nation adheres to the doctrine
thatSgOVernments derlvestheir just power
from the consent Of the governed, and
the people have an easy and ready means
OF correcting all abuses, the government
VIII not need to be supported by a large
permanent army, for every citizen will
be ready to defend such a government
from attack. The only domestic use for
a large standing army is to suppress by
force that discomfort which should be
cured by legislation.
TO support a permanent army of
100000 men requires approximately one
half as much money as is annually ex-
pended for education in the United
States. How much cheaper it is to Uplift
people by the gentle and peaceful process
of intellectual development than to blow
them up with powder and dynamite
Imperialism involves a departure from
principles which were universally accept
ed in this country until within two
years, 10 know that all men are created
equal one needs not the wisdom OF q sage
or the learning of the schools. 1t was de-
clared to be a self-eYident truth; it was
evident to those who pledged their lives to
the maintenance of the Declaration OF In
dependence, and it is evident still to those
who are not blinded by the eleanor OF
wealth and the gl1tterlng promises OF a
colonial system. II all men are created
equal and endowed with inalienable
rights, it follows as a logical and a
necessary sequence that governments were
instituted for the welfare of all and de-
rive their just powers from the consent of
the governed. On the preservation Of
this doctrine our hopes depend; If 1t is
abandoned there is no foundation upon
which a government like ours can be
constructed.
When / say that those who distrust the
capacity OF the people for self government
tend directly toward monarchy, l am only
repeating what Lincoln deliberately de-
clared in his first annual message.
: Without a large percentage Of the labor
ing vote no party can win an election in
the United States, The men who work
for wages can by throwing their votes on
the one side or the other determine the
policy OF this county. They need not
march in parades, they need not adorn
themselves with the insignia of any party
but on election day their silent ballots
can shape the destiny Of this nation, and
either bring the government back to it's
ancient landmark or turn 1t into the
pathway followed by empires of the old
world.
A PEARSON RALLY.