The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1903-09-07
LABOR'S GREAT DAY.

A MEhlGAS great LABOR Gay VIII DC CeiSOldlCu
n this year under the fairest of auspices and
L 4 amid the most proptious surroundings 1t IS
rue that the year has had struggles and its trials
for labor and for capital alike the stress and strain OF
strife are felt even at this time in many localities but
when the conditions of labor compared with those
of former years the advantage with the present.
and those who have been earnestly engaged IN the
task OF advancing the welfare of labor and OF bring
ing about complete harmony between the employer
and the employee note with satisfaction that much
has been accomplished and that distinct movement
has been made toward the goal which both the capt.
talist and the Iaborer desire to reach
The very fact that such festival as this IS now
observed and honored throughout the Union attests
the advance that has been made in the cause OF labor
The time is not so very far in the past when the
praise given to labor hardly more than tribute
OF words Men delighted recite labor, labor,
honest labor but outside of oratory, poetry and ser
mons there was but little recognition OF the import
ant part the worker occupies in the social organism
To-day the tribute which will be paid the workers
will be sincere and earnest The statesman as well
as the politician the student OF sociology as well as
the demagogue recognizes the power OF the
workers and honors it as one OF the most potent of
the social forces that slowly but surely develop
ing new civilization that will be better than the old
companied by more or less of strife, for we live in
world where the equilibrium of things is maintained
by the balance of mutually opposing forces Where
the advance is made through the medium OF human
energy there must also be and blunders as
we'll as conflicts for TO is human. 1t would
therefore be absurd to review industrial march
without taking OF the fact that there have been
mistakes committed both by those who uphold and
those who oppose the activities of organized labor
Conceding the occurrence OF such errors we can,
however note with satisfaction that the sound
common sense of our people has been able to correct
errors when once they have been clearly seen to be
errors and consequently each year sees us as peo-
pie nearer to the attainment of fair degree of har
mony in the social order, that progress go on
more swiftly and more safely than in the past
1t needs but little familiarity with the history OF
American labor to see that however serious may be
the evils that still harass industries, affairs on
the whole vastly better than they in the days
OF our fathers Labor in the America of to-day is
not only better paid, better fed better clothed, bet
ter housed and better provided with all forms OF ma
teral good than it ever was before but it is also
better educated better trained, better inspired and
better led The men who are now presiding over
some OF the greater labor organizations men OF
frstclass ability and Of the highest character. Amer
as she feels in her greatest statesmen her fore
most captains OF industry. They and the masses OF
the workers who support them genuine Ameri-
cans in heart and hand and brain, and this their
festal day the applause OF the whole people will be
with them because the sympathies OF the people are
with the cause they represent and serve.
In special degree this year has been year Of
successful labor and industrial achievement The
ringing music of shop and forge, of mill and engine
has been continuous from the beginning to the close
OF every working day all over the land In our owr
State and in city the outward evidences o.
the treless energy of the workers to be If
the marvellous array of buildings that adorn oul
streets and in the preparations now under way fol-
other buildings yet to be erected. 1t is probable
that a greater of structural work has beer
done in America this year than in any other land
or in any previous year in the history of this land
When so many Offices factories, shops, stores
kinds are demanded to supply the growing needs o
the people, we may be that all lines of industry
prosperous and that the workers have been denl
their full duty to their country and to the world.
Such being the case labor festival is in order.
there such day already appointed it would
have been proper to make this year to fit tn
present good OF the social order and to hail tn
promise OF greater good come So to-day al
classes of Americans will remember that they ar
workers and Join most cordially in the celebration
Of our national Labor day
One thousand OF the troops of the Sultan OF Mo
~l,oJ. l.