Milford chronicle., 1902-09-19


that his money helps to do. He is re-
sponsible if child labor be engaged in
his factory. He is responsible if men
and women, on account of his indiffer-
ence, go to their nental and physical
and perhaps spiritrg doom. He is his
brothers keeper in so far as that he is
bound to see that the man whose toll
adds to his wealth has fair wages.
Cause of Social UpheavaI.
But the laboring classes as well as
the capitalists have sinned and helped
to cause the present social upheaval.
The employee is not any more a saint
than his employer. They both at times
seem to be tarred with the same black
stick Yet the average labOring man
pretends to think that all the cause
for the present social upheayal is to
be laid at the rich mans door and not
at his own. In his own blind egOtism
he seems to be almost as contented
with himself and his actions as was
the old Quaker, grumbling against the
peculiarities of the human race, when
he said to his wife, "All the world is
queer except me and thee. Mary, and
thou art little queer"
Do the laboring classes always make
! their employers interest their own in
! terest? Oh, no. There are thousands
and hundreds of thousands of them
who show little, if any, sense of moral
| responsibility. When engaging their
| services to man, they do not for one
! instant stop to consider the money
which that employer has invested in
| his plant They do not stop to think of
the financial risk he is running, of the
seven years Of financial depression
which may come to him when he may
have to run his works at a practical
! dead loss. as when the seven years Of
| famine came to Joseph in the land Of
| Egypt. They do not seem to realize
that when they shirk their work they
are stealing their employers money,
for time means money.
The different labor associations. like
the Bricklayers union, the Stone Cut
tcrs, the Carpenters and Builders, the
Steam Filters, Gas Filters and
! Plumbers unions. the Brotherhood Of
| Locomotive Engineers, of Firemen,
| Brakemen and Conductors, all have
their beneicent mission. They ought
to benefit capital as well as labor.
They ought to be the means of putting
through the different state legislatures
laws to prevent the employment of
children, to limit the hours of labor
and to prevent fragrant injustices
against their members. But the work
Of the modern labor union does not
stop there. 1t often goes to the CAPT
talist and tries to dictate what men he
shall or shall not employ. 1t goes tC
the capitalists and says: you must
look upon every one of our members
as an equal and pay all alike. You
must pay just as much daily wages tC
the ordinary worker as to the skilled
worker" Or the labor union goes t.
the capitalist who is paying satisfac
tory wages and whose employees arr
all contented and says: "Mr. So-and-so
we have got to call your men Off on ;
sympathetic strike We cannot maxi
your neighbors pay the union rate
Therefore we shall stop work until tn,
pressure compels your neighbors t,
yield"
well" answers some walking dele
gate chat is an exaggerated illustra
ton. but uniform wages to all uniol
| workers and. when necessary, sympa
thetic strikes are absolutely indispen
, sable in their way, and we are Onl.
/ following the example of capitalist
and employers in making such comb
nations We must look after the inter
: Gsts of the laboring man and keep on
tabor unions Intact It is only by tn
cooperation of one union. fighting 70
the interests of other labor unions
that the pressure is applied and on
h eeasonable demands are granted TIL
/ labOring man cannot practice the Gold
d en- Rule of looking after the interest
d of his employer or else he will starry
e to death. The first thought the labor
s ing man must have is for himself, an
t himself alone"
Il Mutual Trust.
u My laboring friend, if you cannC
e reach the high Christian standard {
n loving your employer as you woul
e iOve yourself, you are simply headin
81 toward the social economic wilderness
L The greatest inspiration for future II;
L tional prosperity is not to be found
4, the gold bricks which are stored ava
ID in the vaults of our national banks;
is is in the mutual trust which the CAP
talistic and labOring classes ought
have in each other. If the averai
o. | businacc firm oOuId NOT fr11cf ifc or
u toners or was in such condition TIL
p the wholesale business houses cOu
lie not trust it, that average busine
as house would be wrecked within thir
t. DAYS. The amount of money which