Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1901-12-05

is the great secret of our success in COM
| petition with the labor of foreign coun-
| tries.
The most vital problem with which this
! country. and for that matter the whole
! civilized world, has to deal is the prob
! lem which has for one side the betterment
/ 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
1 when We speak of labor" The chief
! factor in the success of each man-wage-
| worker farmer and capitalist alike-must
ever be the sum total of his own individ-
pal qualities and abilities. Second only to
1 this comes the power of acting in COM
\ binatlon or association with others Very
I great good has been and will be accom-
! plished by associations or unions of wage
! workers when managed with forethought
4 and when they combine insistence upon
! their own rights with law abiding respect
| for the rights of others. The display of
4 these qualities in such bodies is a duty
! to the nation no less than to the associa-
| tons themselves Finally there must also
/ in many cases be action by the govern
/ ment in order to safeguard the rights and
/ interests of all. Under our constitution
! there is much more scope for such action
| by the state and the municipality than by
| the nation. But on points such as those
/ touched on above the national govern
| ment can act.
| When all is said and done, the rule of
| brotherhood remains as the Indispensable
| prerequisite to success in the kind of ma
| tional life for which we strive. Each man
must work Sor himself, and unless he sc
| works no outside help can avail him. But
| each man must remember also that he is
| indeed his brothers keeper, and that while
! no man who refuses to walk can be car
n tpcr tn hi a1F
! else, yet that each at times stumbles or
| halts, that each at times needs to have
the helping hand outstretched to him. To
! be permanently effective aid must always
| take the form of helping man to help
| himself and we can all best help our
| selves by joining together in the work
| that is OF common interest to all.
Immigration. .'
Our present immigration laws are I'M.
! satisfactory. We need every honest and
! efficient immigrant fitted to become an
American citizen, every immigrant who
/ comes here to stay. who brings here a
! strong body, a stout heart q good head
and resolute purpose to do his duty well
In every way and to bring up his children
as law abiding and God fearing members
| of the community. But there should be a
comprehensive law enacted with the OBJ
| ject of working threefold Improvement
/! over our present system. First we should
aim to exclude absolutely not only all per-
/ sons who are known to be believers in an
archistic principles or members of anarch-
! istic societies. but also all persons who
are of low moral tendency or of unsa-
worry reputation This means that we
\ should require more thorough system Of
| inspection abroad and a more rigid sys-
tenn of examination at our immigration
| ports, the former being especially neces-
sary.
The second object of proper immigra-
| ton law ought to be to secure by care
full and not merely perfunctory education
al test some intelligent capacity to appre-
| ciate American institutions and act sane
ly as American citizens. This would not
keep out all anarchists, for many of them
belong to the Intelligent criminal class,
but it would do what is also in point-that
is. tend to decrease the sum of ignorance
so potent in producing the envy. suspi-
cion, malignant passion and hatred of or
der out of which anarchstic sentiment in
evitably springs. Finally all persons
should be excluded who are below a GER
tain standard of economic fitness to enter
our industrial field as competitors with
American labor. There should be proper
proof of personal capacity to earn an
American living and enough money to in
sure decent start under American condi-
tons. This would stop the influx of chez p
labor and the resulting competition which
/ gives rise to so much of bitterness in
American Industrial life, and it would dry
up the springs of the pestilential social
conditions in our great cities where an
archistic organizations have their great
est possibility of growth.
Both the educational and economic tests
in wise immigration law should be de-
/ signed to protect and elevate the general
body, polite and social. A very close su
pervision should be exercised over the
steamship companies which mainly bring
over the immigrants, and they should be
held to a strict accountability for any in
fraction of the law.
The Tariff.
There is general acquiescence in our
present tariff system as a national policy.
The first requisite to our prosperity is the
continuity AM stability of this economic
i policy. Nothing could be more unwise
than to disturb the business interests of
the country by any general tariff change
at this time. Doubt, apprehension, I'M
certainty, are exactly what we most wish
to avoid in the interest of our commercial
and material well being. Our experience
in the past has shown that sweeping revi-
sions of the tariff are apt to produce con-
ditions closely approaching panic in the
business world. Yet it Is not only posi-
BILE, but eminently desirable, to combine
with the stability of our economic sys-
tenn a supplementary system of reciprocal
| benefit and obligation with other nations
Such reciprocity is an incident and result
of the firm establishment and preservation
of our present economic policy. 1t was
specially provided for in the present tariff
| law.
Reciprocity must be treated as the hand
| maiden of protection. Our first duty is to
see that the protection granted by the tar
iff in every case where it is needed is
maintained and that reciprocity be sought
for so far as it can safely be done without
| injury to our home industries. Just how
tar this is must be determined according
to the individual case, remembering al
ways that every application of our tariff
policy to meet our shifting national needs
/ must be conditioned upon the cardinal
| fact that the duties must never be re-
duced below the point that will cover the
difference between the labor cost here and
abroad. The well being of the wagework-
er is prime consideration Of our entire
| policy of economic legislation.
Subject to this proviso of the proper
| protection necessary to our industrial
well being at home the principle of reci-
| procity must command our hearty sup
port. The phenomenal growth of our
export trade emphasizes the urgency Of
| the need for wider markets and for lib
eral policy in dealing with foreign ma
tons. Whatever is merely petty and vex-
| a n wo pf 1a