Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1902-09-02


street to the lower part of town coming
on to Third street at the engine house
and marched up as far as the corner of
Mcclellan where turn was made to
Fourth and then to the east side of the
court house where ranks were broken.
The following is the line up of the par
ade:
Police Force.
Band
Float, showing granite cutters at work.
Granite Cutters National Union in
uniform.
Float, granite cutters at work.
Granite polishers in uniform.
Laborers in line.
Float, with finished product.
Labors in line
Rag mullins or clowns driving horses
dressed up Enthusiastically.
A speakers platform had been placed
at the east entrance to the court house
and around this the large crowd gath
cred to listen to a few remarks by
Mayor Louis Marchetti. The mayor
delivered a fine, brief, well directed
Grafton suitable to the occasion, which
was highly appreciated by the laboring
men gathered there and which met
with frequent applause, and after its
conclusion he was greeted with three
cheers from the union and others. For
the benefit of our readers we give the
speech in full:
This is the first public celebration of
Labor Day in Wausau, and to you, gen
tlemen of the National Stone Cutters
Union, is due the credit of its observ-
ance. This day should be celebrated
and observed annually verywhere, in
the country as well as in the cities,
because it is day set apart in honor of
honest toll, in honor of reputable, well
directed labor. which is productive only
of good results, labor, the fruits of
which are gratifying te mankind
God created the world first, and then
He created man, and endowed him
with sense and strength by which man
is enabled to avail himself of the rich
| bounty, which was created for his use.
God intended that man should work,
not by way of punishment, but for his
improvement. Without labor we would
still be savages, and differ but little from
the brute; without labor there would be
no culture, no civilization, no refine
ment, no patriotism, no virtue. Labor
is therefore honorable. No matter
what station in life person occupies,
so long as he or she performs the duties
Of that station, though it may demand
the performance of the simplest and
toughest kind of work, that person is
entitled to the respect of society. 1t
takes all kind of work to keep the world
moving and improve it; from the farmer
who raises the food supply, the black
smith who makes the first tools; the
men who build the powerful and intri-
cate machinery which dazzle our I'M
derstanding, and the men who operate
it and going through all the many and
different grades and professions of
manual labor to the inventor,
who puts the harness on the hidden
forces OF nature and makes them
tributary to mankind, and the artist
who embellishes and ornaments and
beauties our homes and surroundings,
all of which tends to make human life
more comfortable and worth living. all
are labor ers, without whose harmonious
toll our civilization would retrograde
and famish. And it makes no differ
ence whether the labor is that of the
hand, or that of the brain. The teacher
who trains the mind of our children,
the physician whose skill prolongs
our life, or he, wh0 by the activity of
his brain directs from his office regi-
ment of toilers as general directs an
army, each one of them is as much a
laborer as he who wields the shovel or
the pick. All work costs the expendi-
ture of energy, whether of the muscles
or the brain, or both, and a person is
not the less laborer, because he may
sweat on the inside, instead of on the
outside of his head
We do therefore on this day not so
much honor the individual toiler, as we
honor toll itself. We proclaim on this
day that all labor is honorable, labor
which produces and creates, which
never tears down and destroys unless
to build up better in its place. 1t is a
blessing TO every community while sloth
and indolenee are curse to all. Neither
is it out of place on this day and
on thiS occasion to remind us all,
employer as well as employee, thai
capital and labor are dependent, one
Nptn the OluCf, anu lUdL IL WOulu
be conducive To the interest of both, if
they would oftener meet and converse
together upon topics of common inter-
est to them, as co-laborers in the grand
never ceasing work of the universe
Labor is patriotic; it is the grand con-
querer, enriching and building up ma
tons more surely than the proudest
battles. As we build arches and erect
monuments to commemorate victories
won on land and on sea, so we should,
and for better reasons rear monuments
In honor of the men who have unset
fishly labored life time in raising up
labor, in lifting it out of the mire of
contempt and degradation in which il
was held for hundreds and thousands of
years IN which degradation the en-
ployer had his equal share with the EN-
ployee, rear monuments in honor of the
philosophers who have taught society
the Importance and dignity Of labor.
The 18th century just closed has seen
greater advance in mechanical arts
aud science than all preceding CEN
turtles; but it must be confessed that the
art and science of government has not
Kept step with the general progress.
Especially has the world been slow TO
recognize the dignity of labor and give
- ~ N0Ns 80 F.AtstA sA0f sESC A0c
been made of late, even in this respect,
and firmly believe that the 10Th cen
tI,ry belongs TO labor; that more will be
done in the next fifty years for The men
and women of toll than there was ever
done for them before. to the end that
they may receive a larger share than
they are receiving now, from the bene-
fits conferred upon mankind by the
genius of the inventor and this belief
is based upon general spread Of intel
Iigence throughout the MASSES of the
civilized world. and of the better un-
derstanding Of the duty which man
ewes to man The best aud brainieSt
and most unSeltiSh toilers in every
nation are working in that direction.
Gentlemen, YOU may rest assured,
shaf the future is brighter for your
children than the past was for you.
The march Of humanity may be retard-
ed at times but can never be stopped;
il is ever Onward. Forward, towards a
higher civilization, better and nobler
life I thank yntl for the honor "a hissh