Williams news., 1903-09-19

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 pass, for no amount of mourning can restore a loss.
 These few broken words have had reference to the social or human side of getting happiness out of life. I now pass to the industrial and economic questions that confront you Here, in your county, the right of labor to organize has been the subject of much discussion, some light and some heat. Many have expressed opinions as to the right of labor to organize, and some say yes, and some say no, and some stand mute like a witness in contempt. My friends, labor pos sesses as many rights as capital possesses. Capital is daily organ izing, and it is the acme Of incon- sisteney for organized capital to complain at labor organizations. You have the legal and the moral right to organize yourselves into unions. You have the legal and the moral right to cease work at any time you deem it expedient or best for you to do so. 1 am aware, however, that labor often commits the error of regarding capital as it's enemy. Capital is not the enemy of labor. Capital must depend on labor to make it's investment profit able, and it stands to reason that capital and labor should preserve amicable relations toward eacL other. Moreover, labor should be cautious and careful regarding the demands it makes upon capital; i; consider the relative position of employer and employe. What may appear to the employe to be req sonable and just demand may in reality and truth be an excessive one, and impossible with which to comply.
 Remember, my friends, that wages depend entirely upon the amount of service rendered by the labOrer and the value of the services to the employer, and that wages cannot be controlled by law. And let me adjure you most solemnly and sincerely, in deliberating in your unions and dealing with your employers, to refrain from violence and heat. I earnestly counsel mod eration, and unhesitatingly declare that all violence and other undig- nified acts injure your great and sacred cause. It is true, neverthe- less, that the process by which the workers and laborers raise them selves in the world and transform themselves from "hand- to-mouth" ambitionless drudges into helpful citizens naturally creates friction. It is quite likely that the strikes which are disturbing the country are not all wise and timely, but these same strikes, viewed in their tout ensemble-that is, taken all together the best possible proof of industrial and social health; they show that the workers want to improve their station in life and are determined to do it. The nation is fairly prosperous, and the wage earners should have, and are en- titled to have, their share of the prosperity.
 Individual employers frequently feel during strikes that they are the victims of injustice, but em- ployers in the aggregate always profit by the success of the strikes. The more pay the toilers get the more they are able to buy, and the better prices they are willing to give for what they purchase or re- quire. Hard things have been said about the labor unions over here by persons who ought to know better. Stand by your union. The labor union is what gives the labor ing man power to enforce his just demands. It is the labor unions which have elevated the condition of the wage earners of the United States, and will continue to elevate