Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1903-09-08

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| capital and to take organized capital
as the object lesson for organized Ia
Dor. The manufacturer saw the neces-
sity and advantage of combining with
| others small manufacturers and the
result became partnership. With
| the development of industry and ma
| chinery in particular he saw that it
was necessary for him to get the most
out OF his capital, to still further COM
b1ne and the result was the corpora
ton. Again in the line of progress he
saw an opportunity to still further his
interests by further combination and
the result was combination of corpo-
rations, namely trusts.
Laborer Follows Suit.
"The laborer taking this as an OBJ
ject lesson and seeing that the EN-.
ployers of labor were benefited by
combinations or organizations con-
ceived the idea of allying his interests
with those of his fellow workers and
the result was the local trades union.
Not securing the full benefits to which
he believed himself entitled through
the local trades union and profiting by
the experience of his employers he
conceived the idea of national craft
organizations, so that greater powers
and influences could be brought to
bear upon any particular locality.
Again it became manifest to the Ia
borer that no one craft could advance
the condition of that craft to any con-
siderable extent beyond that of any
| other crafts as to wages, hours of Ia
boz and sanitary conditions. They
saw the necessity of working in har-
mony with other craft organizations
and the first effect was the combina-
tiGn through federation OF local craft
organization.
by degrees this developed the state
| federation and also the American Fed
Grafton of Labor, this latter being
concentration of all of the interests
of all of the labor organizations of
the country.
No Dignity in Labor.
''1 here is no dignity in labor. The
only dignity that there is must come
through the dignity of the laborer,
As an illustration take the slave dr1V-
en- TO his labor under the lash. There
can be no dignity in that labor. The
pyramids were built by slaves owned
and controlled by their employers and
driven to their labor under the lash
of their employer, building there a
monument not to labor but to the en-
ployer alone.
"The only dignity that there can be
in labor comes through the laborer
having the right standing and dignity
to arrange the conditions under which
the labor shall be performed, having
the right as to the bargain for his
wages. the hours of labor and other
conditions under which the labor shall
be performed.
Child Labor.
"The object of the State Fedora
ton being to further the interests OF
the people of the state of Iowa it VIII
be it's aim to continue in the work
heretofore undertaken, especially so in
the line of legislation, making one OF
it's principal efforts the elimination Of
child labor from the industrial affairs
of Iowa. With the beginning of the
| factory system, greater skill, strength
| and power was required on the part
| of labor and as a consequence child
| labor could not be used. AS machin-
| cry developed less power was requlr'
| ed and the employer sought the oppor-
| tunity of securing labor that would be
| willing to work for less wages than
! was necessary to the man upon whom
family depended for the necessities
OF life.
Still Less Strength Required.
CAS- result the women were first
| taken from the home into the factory
and were paid wages not in accord
with services rendered but as an as.
sistance to the support of the family
| AS machinery again developed less
physical power again required for the
performance of the labor and the
child was taken. In the beginning OF
this evil children of the most tender
years were taken from the home and
the school and placed to work in the
| factories, thus depriving them of the
opportunity of full development phys
ically, mentally and morally. In the
origin of the system of child labor
working people were denied the right
of organization under the most string
ent laws AS a consequence the evils
| of child labor were fully developed be
fore there was any one who cared tt
| remedy the evil
| Began in England.
/ "Take for instance the history of the
factory system of England. 1t is re
! p1ete with the facts that employers oil
labor in their greed for child labor
not being satisfied with the children OF
the home went to the almshouses fol
their child labor. The competition
among them becoming so strong they
even agreed to take SO many imbecile
children to certain number of able
bodied ones.
with the advent of the trades union
the evil was at once made apparent al
1 though under the laws then existing
they had existed prior to this the evi
had become so thoroughly intrencheG
that the factory owners had come il
control of practically all of the legis
lative functions and it required the ut
most endeavor of the working people
to even begin the eradication of it.
Dangers Became Apparent.
"But as the right of labor to or
ganize became more and more recog
nized, they were able to impress upor
few legislators the dangers of chile
labor to society and the state and &
gradual limitation of such labor was