The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1901-09-21


monopoly under our present system
which does not rest, directly or indi-
rectly, upon one or the other OF these
privileges or their corollaries. < -
The man who holds these privileges
controls the bulk of all natural OPP
portunity, and he alone can deny your
right to live and labor and be free.
The few men who now control the
sources Of production and the means Of
distribution in the United States are in
one sense the most potent political
factor in America today, and when the
greater part OF those privileges shall
have passed under the dominion of a
single man, which you will admit Is
now the undoubted tendency, that man
will be the absolute lord and master Of
this western hemisphere just as truly
as Nicholas is today the car Of all the
Russias.
BY far the most serious question that
confronts labor tdoy, my fellow citizens,
is how best to cope with this man and
the class which he represents. In my
Judgment there is but one way. You
must attack monopoly by laying the ak
at the root of the tree. You must de-
stroy privilege. You cannot give to la
Dor it's earnings until you take from
monopoly its privileges.
Men Of reputed wealth have been
called the natural foes Of the laboring
class. They are not necessarily So.
They aren OF any more to blame for
the condition of labor today than the
laboring men themselves. They have
merely taken advantage of the political
institutions for which you are even
more responsible than they are, because
you are vastly in the majority and
could change these institutions If you
would. Personally, feel no grievance
against John D. Rockefeller or J. Pier
pont Morgan, but do cherish a most
profound and everlasting grievance
against the political and social system
which has made them the uncrowned
kings they are today, for the institu-
tons which have given unrivaled power
to them have made slaves and paupers
Of untold thousands.
Rockefeller's Charity"
Speaking of Mr.. Rockefeller reminds
day school class a month or two ago.
He said that he had been "givin3" men
steady work, and that during the past
80 years he had paid out between $780,
100000 and 100000, 900 to laboring men
in wages. "That," said Mr.. Rockefel-
Ter, II regard as the best kind Of CIV
| Ing" So, when he allows men to work.
Mr.. Rockefeller considers himself bene-
VIOLENT, and evidently regards the wages
he has paid as just so much charity
| How can he arrogate himself the right
| to "give" men work? What right in
nature has he to keep them from it:
The right to labor for our sustenance
is a natural right which we all pos.
sess, and that right continues just az
| long as men are born with hands tt
work with and bodies to clothe an6
feed. The. Good Book doesn't read
In the sweat Of thy face shalt thou
eat bread-provided you can get jot
from Rockefeller"
| Mans right to produce wealth, tt
| visit freely the storehouse of natur,
and freely exchange his produce, with
out hamper and without restraint, il
as fundamental as his right to life it
self, because the exercise of that RICH
is equally necessary to the life and hap
piness Of all men. The fact that MI
Rockefeller has been able to monopoliz
certain productive opportunities, fortl
fed by legal barriers and transporta
ton rebates, gives him no right to bOas
of his benevolence In allowing men &C
cess to those opportunities to which
they were entitled by the laws of nat
ure, nor can he with good grace speal
of his charity" in permitting his EN-
ployes to retain very small percent
age Of the wealth which they produced
If this moral sense were as keen as hi
love of gain, his conscience might wei
accuse him of robbery in extorting S
large a share from the labors OF orhe
men. For he must have known, whe
he received his last dividend upon hi
oil stock "a dividend of 4S per cent
that he had received just 1921 in divi
dends for every dollar paid out 1
wages, and that he had summaril
pocketed the wages of 1858 men.
All the wealth he possesses is wha
labor has given him-and for what
For the bare opportunity of working
nothing more. But I cannot find it i
my heart to blame Mr.. Rockefeller fo
the sins of the American people. If
had any opinion of him at all, it woul
\ | H4 80 >sk.