Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1901-12-03

mand the highest quality OF service
from its employees; and in return
it should be good employer. III
possible legislation should be passed,
in connection with the Interstate Com
merce law, which will render effective
the efforts of different States to do
away with the competition of convict
contract labor in the open labor mar
ket. so far as practicable under the
conditions of government work, pro-
vision should be made to render the
enforcement of the eightho Law easy
and certain In all industries carried
on directly or indirectly for the I'm
tied States government women and
children should be protected from eX-
cessive hours of labor, from night
work. and from work under unsani-
tary conditions. The government
| should provide in its contracts that
| all work should be done under fair
conditions, and in addition to setting
high standard should uphold it by
proper inspection, extending If neces-
sary to the subcontractors. The gov
ernment should forbid all night work
for women and children, as well as
excessive overtime. For the District
of Columbia good factory law should
be passed; and as powerful Indirect
aid to such laws. provision should be
made to turn tie Inhabited alleys, the
existence of which is a reproach to our
| .tt t,,tn ,,,it,A ctp hnt
the inhabitants can live under condi-
tons favorable to health and morals.
American wage-workers work with
their heads as well as their hands.
Moreover, they take II keen pride in
what they are doing; so that, indie
pendent of the reward, they wish to
turn out a perfect job. This is the
great secret of our success in compe-
tition 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 problem which has for one side
the betterment of social conditions,
moral and physical, in large cities, and
for another side the effort to deal
with that tangle of far-reaching ques-
tions which we group together 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 individual qualities and abilities.
Second onl to this comes the power
of acting in combination OF associa-
ton with Others Very great good
has been and will be accomplished by
associations or unions of wage-worh-
ers, when managed with forethought,
and when they combine insistence up
on 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 the associations themselves.
Finally, there must also in many
cases be action by the government in
order to safeguard the rights and in
terests of all. Under our constitution
there Is much more scope for such
, action by the State and the municipal
ity than by the nation. But on points
, such as those touched on above the
National government can act.
When all is said and done, the rule
|, of brotherhood remains as the indis-
pensable prerequisite to success in the
, kind of national life for which we
strive. Each man must work for him,
self, and unless he so works no outside
help can avail him; but each man must
remember also that he is indeed his
Diolhers keeper, and that while no
man who refuses to walk can be car
rled with advantage to himself or any
one else, ye, Iliat each at times STUN
bles or hnits, that each at times needs
to have the helping hand outstretched
to him. 10 be permanently effective,
aid must always take the form of
helping man to help himself; and we
can all best help ourselves by joining
together in the work that is of com
mon interest to all.
Our present immigration laws are
unsatisfactory. We need every honest
and efficient immigrant fitted to be-
come an American citizen every i'm
migrant who comes here to stay, who
brings here n strong body, Il stout
heart, good head, and u resolute
purpose to do his duty we'll in every
way and to bring up his children as
law'abiding and God-bearing members
of the community. But there should
be comprehensive law enacted with
the object of working threefold i'm
provement over our present system.
: First, we should aim to exclude alb
solutely not only all persons who are
known to be believers in anarchlstic
principles or members OF anarchistic
societies, but also all persons who are
OF low moral tendency or of unsav-
ory reputation, This means that we
should require more thorough sys.
TEN of inspection abroad and more
rigid system of examination at our
immigration ports. the former being
especially necessary.
The second object of a proper i'm.
migration law ought to be to secure by
n careful and not merely perfunctory
educational test some Intelligent ca
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