The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1902-12-13

abuses or to establish improved condi-
tions.
No cause, great or small, was ever
benefited by the violation Of funda-
mental principles of right. God
rules the universe by immutable
laws Of justice, and it is in vain for
man to attempt to nullify them. One
PERSONS rights end where another's
begins, is a fundamental principle of
all Just laws, and is the basis Of civ
ilized society. Liberty is the right
Of every person to engage in any
lawful pursuit for livelihood, and
to continue therein without hind
rance or molestation by any other
person. And it is despotisrn in it's
worst form that deprives him of this
right, crime against humanity
scarcely less than the taking of life
itself. Shylock said to the judge, whose
sentence of confscation spared to him
only his house and his life:
"You take my house when you do take
the prop
That doth sustain my house; You take
my life,
When you do take the means whereby
1 live"
The discontents and complaints of in
dividuals in this country as to their
lot in life spring in most cases from a
mistaken notion as to life's most desir-
the condition may be, there is more or
less uneasy longing for something diff
ferent. And when that something is
.l~1
satisfied, and there is still something
o little ahead, almost within reach.
Like the child who hastens toward the
place where the rainbow seems to touch
the earth, no matter how near he ap-
proaches the apparent spot, the dis
tance still remains the same.
Most Of q mans discontents in life,
whatever may be his pursuit, are either
from impatience or from longing for
something which, If attained, would
add little or nothing to his real happi-
ness.
"wc scorn to wait for the thing worth
having.
We want high noon at the days dim
dawn,
We find no pleasure in toiling and saw
ing,
AS our forefathers did in the good
times gone"
The Essentials of Happiness.
The man of imense wealth is no hap
pier than the man with moderate
means. provided each is comfortable
and equally contented with his lot.
Comfort and contentment are the two
essentials for happiness In this worlds
and whoever possesses them
has no occasion to envy any other con-
dition in life. Riches are not necessary
to mans enjoyment, but the means to
prevent starvation are. Nor is splen-
did palace essential to his real happi-
ness but a shelter against the storm
and the winters blast is. These indis-
pensable requisites to mans comfort
can be secured only by labor. Divine
wisdom, in the economy of creation,
made labor a necessity for human ex-
istence, and also made health and
happiness dependent upon it, Labor
therefore Is not an evil to be Stunned,
but is the means for the attainment of
the most desirable ends and aims in
life. "In the sweat of thy face shalt
thou eat bread" was not malediction
against the race, but was a statement
of the condition on which man could
still be happy in his fallen state. All
labor useful to man is equally honor
able, and is entitled to public consid-
Grafton, and in all cases is entitled to
more than mere living
wages.
If the foregoing views as to the
rights of labor and the relation of
American labor to capital are correct,
then it is important thar some feasible
plan mutually satisfactory to employ
Ell and employe should be adopted for
profit sharing by labor. 1t is obvious
that as business proposition it would
be wholly impracticable to make the
employed in any business
poration. But it could be part Of the
contract of employment that all per-
sons employed by the association or
should be paid out of net
profits, at stipulated periods, on the
amount of wages or salary received for
such period, the same percentage as
would be paid for such period to any
on a like amount of stock.
Such plan, or something like it, would
the complaint made that labor
does not receive fair share In the ac-
of wealth. Labor contrib
utes no part of the money capital in
vested and takes no risk of losses, yet
1t would be paid out of net profits the
same percentage on every dollar of
wages received as would be paid to any
on a dollar in stock. Some
such plan would seem to give to labor
Its full proportion of the net profits of
the business in which it might have
been employed.
Such a method, or any other mutu-
ally satisfactory to employer and em-
ploye, that would avoid labor strikes,
would save for general distribution
vast amount now invested in such
strikes, saying nothing Of the enor-
nous losses of the whole community in
all branches of business or of the sac
rifice of human life by iawless violence
in such strikes. 1t has been estimated
that the losses in the late anthracite
coal strike in the state OF Pennsyl-
vania We're over $2O0,000,000 The fol-
lowing statement by items shows sls7,-
800, 900: :,
Strike began May l., 1907 dura-
ton Observation-Disclosures. .lol DAYS
Miners and other thrown out of
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