Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1903-04-09
PRESIDENTS ADDRESS
On "The Wage Worker and the
Tiller of the Soil"
Roosevelt speaks of the Part That
Can he and Is Being Played by
the National Government
in Their Behalf.

"a a. StN~2 "t-H - ~ n VI
Fellow-Citizens:
There are many, many lesser prob
lens which go to make up in their
entirety the huge and complex prob
lens of our modern industrial life.
Each of these problems is, moreover,
connected with many of the others.
Few indeed are simple or stand only
by themselves. The most important
are those connected with the relation
of the farmers, the stock growers
and soil %tillers, to the community at
large, and those affecting the rela-
tions between employer and employed.
In a country like ours it is fundamen-
tally true that the well-being of the
tiller of the soil and the wage-worker
is the well-being of the state.
But the needs of these we classes
are often not the same. The tiller of
the soil has been of all our citizens
the one on the whole the least af-
fected in his ways of life and meth
cds of industry by the giant indus
trial changes of the last half century.
mas DNNh NhuiSN WIN ''
too. of course. He also can work to
best advantage if he keeps in close
touch with his fellows; and the sue
cess of the national department of
agriculture has shown how much can
be done for him by rational action OF
the government.
There are a number of very impor-
tant questions, such as that of good
roads. with which the states alone
can deal, and where all that the ma
tional government can do is to coop
crate with them. The same is true
of the education of the American
farmer. 4 number of the states
have themselves started to help in
this work, and the department of ag-
riculture does an immense amount
which is in the proper sense of the
word educational, and educational in
the most practical way.
But the wage-workers in Il cities,
like the capitalists in our cities, face
totally changed conditions. The de-
vclopment of machinery and the ex-
traordinary change in business condi-
tions have rendered the employment
of capital and of persons in large ag-
%gregations not merely profitable but
often necessary for success, and have
specialized the labor of the wage
worker at the same time that they
have brought great ag~gregations of
wage-workers together. More and
more in our great industrial centers
men have come to realize that they
cannot live as Independently of one
another as in the old days was the
case everywhere. and as is now the
ease in the country districts.
Very much of our effort in refer
ence to labor matters should be by
every device and eXpedient to try to
secure a constantly better uTder-
standing between employer and en-
ploye. If met with sincere desire to
act fairly by one another. and if there
is, furthermore, power by each to
appreciate the others standpoint, the
chance for trouble is minimized. A
Cancellation committee can do hest
work when the trouble is in its be-
ginning. or at least has not come
to a head.
When we deal with such a subject
we are fortunate in having before
us an admirable object lesson in the
work that has just been closed by the
anthracite coal strike commissio IN.
This was the commission which was
appointed last fall at the time when
the coal strike in the anthracite re-
eions threatened our nation with a
disaster second to none which has
befallen us since the days of the civil
war. Their report was made just
before the senate adjourned at the
special session; and no government
, document of recent years marks {
more important piece of work bet
ter done. and there is none which
teaches sounder social morality to oul
people.
In the field of general Legislation
relating to labor subjects the actor
of congress is necessarily limited
Still there are certain ways in which
we can act. Thus the secretary o.
the navy has recommended. with my
cordial and hearty approval. the en-
actment of a strong employers liza
bility law in the navy yards of tn
nation.
Again, sometimes such laws can b'
enacted as an incident to the nations
control wei interstate commerce. II
nv last annual message to congress
I advocated the passage of a law il
reference to car couplings - tt
strengthen the features of the on
already on the statute books, so as t.
/, minimize the exposure to death ant
manning of railway employees. Mucl
{ opposition had to be overcome. Il
the end an admirable law was passe'
"to promote the safety of employee
and travellers upon railroads" Thi
law received my signature a coupl
of DAYS before congress adjourned
n represents a real and substantial
advance in an admirable kind of legis
= lation.
Fall of Great Salt Lake.
The fall of II feet Z inches in tn,
level of the Great Salt lake is charge
able, says the director of the weathe,
, bureau for that section, to defcien
rainfall, and not to water being use'
; for irrigation. He predicts that tn
lake will soon begin to risen. Y. Sun
Disgrace to His Race.
"Will / go r-round an shake hand
with tn prize fighter?" he repeated
"Niver! He's an Irishman an a dis
gra-ace to his native land; no liss."
slow is that?"
"He won't fight Except FIR money.
Chicago Post.
Fortunes FavOrite.
Ela4 Golla.. Rlanl. - LII