The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-08-02

Washington, July 31.-(Special)- j. -Presl- | dent Roosevelt Is at least in line with a great Democratic principle in his position | on the rights of organized labor as far | as 1t has developed in the case of w A. | Miller, the assistant foreman of the bind | ing room of the Government Printing Of- l flee. who was forced out of the union. Democracy has always been opposed to whatever interfered with the rights of | the individual; 1t has ever been the champion of freedom of opportunity for self-reliance and self-dependence. to the highest degree consistent with common sense.
 That there will always be friction be- tween capital and labor is as certain as | the existence of the two. As long as one seeks to take more san its duo from the other. as long as seIf-interest is d per- rennial fountain of human impulse diff ference must arise between these two quantities of human occupation. Just | now. to those who thoughtfully contem- plate the issue pending between the labor union and the Government Printing Office
 the occasion is fraught with the profound est tnterst. It has brought the question to clearer defining and nearer to a pos siple helpful understanding by the public | than all the conflicts thatt have yet occur red between employers and employees The Government is finding itself in the atti- tude of capi.al confronted by demand of labor. The Government must assert it's power and right to employ whom 1t pleases or dlsastrously weaken the whole
 spirit and capacity of the people for self government.
 The very rights of men to organize for
 mutual protection and benefit essentially
 involve the rights of every individual
 When the union does what suffocates lndi- Xid al aspiration and the rights of the in-
 dividual to resist sacrificing his best in
 terests for the demands of others, 1t does
 what will disintegrate and finally destroy it's excuse for existence.
 The Democracy has always been the eager and ready friend of labor as against the selhshness of capital grown reckless of the flesh and spirit of the employed
 But never has 1t been willing to go so far as to admit that any circumstances can arise which shall deprive capital of the rights guaranteed in reason, justice and law. That position has been consistently
 and stoutly maintained by DemoSra in Congress and wherever the party has spoken, and will be insisted upon while the party lives. g'
 For nearly half a century Congress has had to deal with the large questions af- fecting the rights of labor and capital
 Since 1868, for instance, there has been a continual agitation of the ght-hour system of labor Many of the States in one form and another have put the .;ys- tenn into their statute books. Of late demagogues and walking degates and misguided legislators have sought to have the system engrafted in every fieid of Federal Government industry and upon all work done by contract for the Gov ernment.
 The eight-hour bill will be vehementlv urged upon the Fifty-eighth Congress. It passed the House of tHe Fifty-seyenth Congress and got as far as favorable con- sideration by the Senate Committee on Labor and Education. It will precpitate sooner or later serious test of cour- ageous statesmanship Organized labor is stronger and bolder than tver Poli- ticians shrink from it's burly front Capl- tai is more powerful than ever Politi- clans stand in awe of 1t and are swayed by It's Embellishments. Both have grown conflicts of interest the welfare of the public is vitally concerned, and Democ- racy has always stood for the protection of the public-the people-against the ar rogant assumptions of any class. Thus
 1t Is now considered by conservative mmbers of the party that 1t has a grand opportunity before it. They can but en- in his present stand, because he is simply avowing old Democratic doctrine, and affording at the same time a refreshing view of his several-slded character in that he is at his best when sharpcst obliquing from Republican principles and practices.
 The President has declared himself well as union labor in the government printing office. His clear-cut deliver ance on the subject has set the labor leaders hereabouts into a profound and somber state of cogitation. Credited as they are with a desire that the President shall in some way modify his act order ing the restoration to position of Assis- tant Foreman Miller they are not gerer- ous enough to indicate how he may do it has delivered on the labor question