Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1903-04-15
PRESIDENTS ADDRESS
On "The Wage Worker and the
Tller of the Soil"
Roosevelt speaks of the Part That
Can He and Is being Played by
the National Government
ia Their Behalf
delivered a, Sioux Falls Sd ADrns,

delivered AT Sioux Falls :. D.. April CT
Fellow-Citizens:
There are many. many lesser prob
lens which 90 to make up in their
| entirety the huge and complex prob
lens of our modern industrial life.
Each of these problems *. 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
ana soil tillers. to the community at
large, and those affecting the rela-
tons between employer nd employed.
In country like ours il is fundamen-
tally true that the well-being of the
tiller of the soil and the wage-worker
l. the well-being of the state.
But the needs of these two 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
DDS of industry by the giant indus
trial changes OF the last half century.
There has been a change with him,
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 tlrat 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. 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 our cities
like the capitalists in our cities. face
totally changed conditions The de-
velopment of machinery and the ex-
traordinary change in business condi-
;ions 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 thew
have brought great aggregations OF
wage-workers together. More and
more in our great Industrial centers
men have come to realize that thew
cannot live as independently of one
another as in the old days was the
case everywhere, and as is now the
case in the country districts.
Very much of our effort IN refer
cnce to labor matters should be bv
every device and eXpedient to try to
secure constantly better under
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. 4
Cancellation committee can do best
work when the trouble i in it's be-
ginning, or at least has not come
TO head.
When we deal with such subject
we are fortunate in having before
us an admirable object lesson in the
work that has just been closed by the
'''' 'i'ANiA' 'pdi SNIlNt COMMISSION.
This was the commission which was
appointed last fall at the time when
the coal strike i'm the anthracite re-
gions threatened our nation with
disaster second to none which has
hcfallen lis since the DAYS of fhe civil
war. Their report was made lust
before the senate adjourned at the
special session: and no government
document of recent years marks a
more important piece of work bet
ter done. and there is none which
teaches sounder social morality to our
people.
IN the field Of general Legislation
relating to labor subjects the action
Of congress is necessarily limited.
Still there are certain ways i'm which
we can act. Thus the secretary Of
the navy has recommended. with nv
cordial and hearty approval the en-
"ctment Of a strong employers liza
hilitY law in the navy yard, of the
ration.
again, sometimes such laws can he
enacted as an incident to the nations
control over interstate commerce. In
my last annual message to congress
I advocated the passage Of a law i'm
reference TO car couplings to
strengthen the features of the one
already ON the statute books. so as to
minimize the exposure to death and
manning of railway employee Much
opposition had to be overcome. In
the end an admirable law was pass ed
ito promote the safety Of employees
and travellers uppu rufIr,oIc TIKI.
law received my signature . couple
of days before congress adjourned.
il represents n real and substantial
advance in an admirable kind Of Icpis-
lation.
Fall Of Great salt Lnke.
LLD L.LL - Ii L.LL Z .-.-..- - IL.