Mower County transcript., 1904-12-07


] sntety Iinaftdnst ma nsarg q nrDor ~
railroad employees In train service up
on railroads sngagsd ~ tntsgsta te scoIn
merce and providing TINT only Hatnet
,ss+ant1 experienced persons De eanpIoyed
lin positions Of responsibility connected
. with the operation Of trains.
Tlle safety ppliancez law, as amend
ed by the act 5of March 9 1908, has
proved beneficial to railway employees
and in order that It's provisions may bt
properly carried ont the force Of in
spectors provided for by. appropriation
should be largely Increased. This serv
. Ice has passed tie expe eri1nental stage
and should receive generous recogni
tion BY the congress.
,5t.s III Untonis.a N Goyernl.ent -oneea.
There Ii no obi jection to employe yees Of
the government forming or belonging
toeunions, but the government can nei
4 4 tther discri riminate for nsr discriminate
against nonunion men who are in it'
] eInpio or who seek to be EN-
ployed under II. Moreover, 1t is a verJ
grave impropriety for government en-
ployees to band themselves together
for the purpose of se4torting improperly
high salaries from the government
Especially Is this true of those within
the classified service. The letter car
ners, both municipal and rural, are 81
q: whole an excellent body Of public
servants. They should be amply paid
But their payment must be obtained
by arguing their claims fairly and hon
orably before the congress and not by
banding together for the defeat OF
those congressman who refuse to give
promises which they cannot i'll con
science give. The administration has
taken steps to prevent and punish
abuses of this nature; but'sit will be
wise. for the congress to- supplement
this action by legislation. 4 :" u
Bureau of Labor.
Much can be done by, the government
in labor matters merely by giving pub
licity to certain conditions The bureau
of labor has done excellent work OF
this kind in many different directions.
I shall shortly lay before you in spe'
eial message the full report Of the In
vestigatton Of the bureau Of labor into
the Colombo mining strike. as this is q
strike In which certain very evil forces,
which are more or less at: work every
where under the conditions IF modern
lndustrialism, became start1fngly prom
lnent. It IL gveatly to be wished that
tie department Of commerce and Ia
boz, through the Labor bureau, should
compile and. Arrange for dhS congress
4 list of the labor laws of tia various
otates and should b given ths means
b Investigate and Report to tho con.
sEess upon the hf,oe opndl6nns IN tn
manufacturing and mining regions
throughout tho country, both - b
wages, a. 10 hours of labor. ~ ta
she labor of women and cl,kldren and
a. to the eject In the vafl0Us labor
osntas of Immigration from abroad.
In this Investigation especial attention
should be. paid TO the conditions Of
child labor and chlld labor legislation
IN the several states.
-.., 0oeUoeataoae. ';'*< - ~'
When ne come 10 dead with seel
corporations the need for t1e govern
ment to act directly h far greater thas
IN the case of labor, because great Coz
poratious can become such only BY en.
eaging In interstate commerce. and In.
terstate commerce IL peculiarly ths
field OF the general eovee1ment> It n
an absurdity to expect 10 eliminate the
abuses In great corporations by state
action. 1t IL difficult to be patient with
an argument that such matters should
be left to the states, because more than
one state pursues the policy Of Great
ing on easy terms corporations which
are never operated within that stata
at all, but IN other states Hfoee laws
they ignore. The national government
alone Can deal adequately with these
great corporations. !" TO try to deaf
with them In an Incorporate, destr1lc-
tive Or demag0gic. spirit would in all
probability mean that nothing, what
ever would be accomplished, and with
absolute certainty that II anything
were accomplished it would be Of a
harmful nature. The American peo-
pie need to continue to show the very
qualities that they have shown that is,
moderation, good sense, the earnest
desire to avoid doingdany damage and
yet. the quiet determination to proceed,
step by step, without halt and without
hurry, in eliminating Or at least in
minimizing whatever Of mischief or of
evil there is to Interstate commerce
in the conduct of great corporations.
They are acting in no spirit Of hostility
to wealth, either individual or cor
porate. They are not against the rich
man any more than against the poor
man. On the contrary, they are friend
ly alike toward rich man and toward
poor man, provided only that each acts
in a spirit of justice and decency to-
ward his fellows. Great corporations
are necessary, and only men Of great
and singular mental power can man.
age such corporations successfully,
and such men must have great re-
wards. But these corporations should
be managed with due regard to the