The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1904-01-27
H. J. BROWNSON,
THE DRUGGIST.

THE DRUGGIST.
lesson which statesmen and philoso-
pliers have been slow to learns
There is a story in the Arabian
Knights Tales in which every one
IS converted into marble. Imagine
if you please, every laborer convert
ed into stone-lhe monarche upon
his throne, the banker at his desk,
the railroad magnate, the merchant
prince, all would go Immediately
into the hands of the receiver,
gaunt and grim famine. Paralyze
the hand Of labor, and you unleash
the hell-hounds Of want and
penury.
AS to the dignity Of labor, it is
hardly necessary to speak. I place
the dignity of labor upon the proud
pedestal of divine ordination. The
command, thou shalt eat bread by
the sweat Of thy brow, esnanated
from the most high God, and it
proves that labor isof divine origin.
The men who obey this injunction
are rendering the highest homage
and reverence to heaven. To try
to add anything to the dignity Of
lnbor would be like attempting to
lend luster to the splendors Of the
dawn.
AS TO the interests of labor, the
precept the laborer is worthy Of
his hire, is the first principle Of
political economy and Of divine
justice. The laborer is entitled to
a fair share of the wealth produced.
He who produces all wealth should
not be obliged to eat the crumbs
that fall from Dives table; he who
produces all the raiment should not
be obliged to wear the cast-off
garments Of the rich; he who builds
all the houses in the nation should
not live III a howell The laborer BY
economy should be. able to own a
home and provide his family with
the necessaries and a reasonable
portion of the luxuries of life; he
should be able to educate his
children and give them a fair start
in life, and should have leisure for
intellectual and moral improve
ment.
"To enforce these principles,
labor organizations have come into
existence. They have already done
much and will do more. The his
tory Of labor shows what advance
ment has been made.
In ancient times, all labor was
slave labor; the patrician, the no
bility. ruled while the mass of
mankind was born to serve. In
Greece, Rome and other ancient
nations, chatter slavery existed but
it never prevailed to any great ex-
tent in England. There the labor
er was attached to the soil and the
serf's ownership passed with that
of the land The exigencies of
peace and war gradually caused the
manumission of the serfs. The
Black Death in I34S destroyed one
third Of the population Of Europe
and labor was made scarce. In
England wages were advanced four
fold, which lead to the passage Of
the Statute ofLaborers and this was
the beginning Of the great struggle
between laborers and employers.
BY this law, every person under the
age of sixteen was compelled to
work for any one whodemandedghis
services at such wages as prevailed
before the Black Death. In 1851
more stringent laws were passed
and in 1901, justices Of the peace
were empowered to fix the wages OF
laborers and this law was enforced
up to 1874. In 1850 the kind Of
clothes and food Of tbs laborer was
prescribed BY law; in 1850 in wa;
made a crime for laborers to COM
bine not to work; in 1903, the Law
Of Apprentices forbade the child tt