The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1901-12-07

thew can undersell our men in h labor
market and drag them{to 9 lower level.
o Iregardddt asHnecessary,s Wlen sInis
. end In view, to re-enact mmeaia1ely
the law excluding Chinese laborers. =
e and to ~strengthenSit wherever neces-
. sary in order to make Its enforce
ment entirely effective.
The national government should demand
the highest quality Of service from its
employees, and In return It should be g;
good employer. Il possible. Aegialation
should be passed in connection with. the
interstate commerce law which will rem
der effective the efforts Of different states
to do away with the competition OF con-
yict contract labor In the open labor mar
ket. SO far as practicable under the con-
ditions OF government work PROVISION
should be made to- render the enforce
'ment Of the e%ight-hour lazy easy Ger
tain. In Ill industries carried on directly
or indirectly for the United States gov
eminent women Ind children should be
protected from excessive hours OF labor,
from night work and from work under
unsanitary conditions. The government
should provide In its contracts that all
work should be done under fair. condi-s
lions and, in addition to setting q high
standard, should uphold 1t by proper In
6D6CllOllsa E r -
subcontractors. The government should
forbid all night work for women and
children as well as excessive overtime.
For the District of Columbia a good fac
tory law should be passed, and. as a
powerful indirect aid to such laws, pro-
vision should be made to turn the inhab-
tied alleys, the existence of which Is a
reproach to our Capital City, into minor
streets, where the inhabitants can live
under conditions favorable to health and
morals.
American wageworkers work with their
heads as well as their hands. Moreover,
they take a keen pride in what they are
doing, so that, Independent Of thesreward,
they wish to turn outla perfect job.
. This is the great secret OF U snc.s1
. cess in competition with the iaoor oI
. foreign countries. ,
The most vital problem with which, this
country, and for that matter the waole
civilized world, has to deal rs the Prob
lem which has for one side the better1nent
of social conditions, moral and PHYSICAL,
in large cities and for another side the ef-
fort to deal with that .tangle Of farreach-
ing questions which we group together
when we speak Of labor" The chief
factor in the success of each nan-:wage-
worker, farmer and capitalist alike-must
ever be the sum total of his own tndivid-
ual qualities and abilities. Second only to
this comes the power of acting In COM.
bination or association with others. Very
great good has been n will be accom-
plished by associations or unions of, wage
workers when managed with f~orethought.
when they combine inAstence upon
their own rights with law-abiding respect
for the rights of others. The display OF
these qualities in such bodies is a duty
to the nation no less than to h associa-
tions themselves. Finally there must also
in many cases be action by h govern
ment in order to safeguard the rights and
interests of all. Under u Constitution
there is much more scope for such action
by the state and the municipality h by
the nation. But on points such as those
touched on above the national govern
.ment can act.
Q When all is said and done, the ] .
Q of brotherhood remains as the indis- .
Q pensible prerequisite in the kind ofY|
. national life for which We strive.
Each man must work for himself, and
unless he 80 works no outside help can
avail him.. But each man must remem-
Der also that he is indeed his brothers
keeper, and that while no man who re-
fuses to walk can be carried with ad-
vantage to himself or any one else, yet
that$each5 at times stdmbles or halts. that
each. at times needs to LAY q helping
hand outstretched to him. To be perma-
nently effective aid must always take the
form of helping a man to help himself.
and we can all best help ourselves by
joining together in the work that lis OF
common interest to all. r