The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1904-10-01
III WATSON ] HOLDS Old
\. MANS RIGHT SI:::..E|RST
Labor has a Right to Demand
that: w orkingmans Life Be
III Il, Protected. r. !. !;
Nothing More Pathetic: to Be:
hold Than Aged Working
men Turned Out to Die.

CHICAGO, ILL.,, Sept. 29.-In a stir !
ring editorial Thomas E. Watson, can !
didate Of the Peoples Party for presi- ;.
dent defines the right Of labor to de-
mand that the workingman's life be
held more sacred than the machines he
works, and holds that every possible
safety appliance should be had for his
benefit. Mr.. Watson further says:
where Great Britain has enacted an
employers liability bill this republic
might certainly put the same principal
into practice, and, SO far as am con-
cerned,1 should be glad to see the in
PRODUCTION into this country Of the Ger
mani system of o1d-age pensions.
There is no sadder sight to me than
an aged, broken down workman turned
out like the old horse, to die on the
common. Society owes it to the help
less to protect those who have served
it faithfully, and just as I believe in
protecting the young when they are
helpless, I believe in protecting the old
when they are helpless
In the broadcast sense I believe in
liberty, equality and fraternity. If the
earth is only a battlefield, in which
the creator intended that the strong
battalion should always tranple down
the weak, then the present system is
all right-that is just what occurs.
But if the earth was intended by our
common father as the home of his
children, and it was the divine purpose
that each of the children should have
food, rainent and shelter in return for
labor, then our present system needs
| reform.
make no war on wealth justly OBJ
l. tanned. Every citizen has a perfect
right to the legitimate reward of his
| Industry whether of Drawn or brain,
but to no more, and if each citizen
acquired no more than he were entitled
to by that standard the present colos-
| sal fortunes Of. the Rockefellers, the
Morgans, the Carnegies and the VAN
| derbilts would not be such a danger
| to this republic. >.
| Dr. .Gunsaulus, very eminent scho-
lar, delivered on June 10, 1904. an ad-
dress at Armour Institute in Chicago.
t. This eminent scholar told the school
boys that "men were not born free"
He said:
Freedom is something to be won;
every power into whose control a man.
comes is conquered power; there
are no equals in this universe. God is
! no Socialist - 49,.
s.rsConceding that DR.. Gunsaulus has
been properly advised as to Gods real
position on socialism, I combat his
statement. that, men are: mot. born free
Let us take !HDrT Gunsaulus as; an >ex-
as Ale free zat5ttfe time lot This.
b1T F q or was she "a slave? ::<2 .}s; ''&sS'
: IS. a. slave who was his master? Is
he free now. or: is he still, a slave? If
slave, who is now his master? If
we are not born free we are born
slaves. There cannot be- slaves with
out masters. Who are the masters
and who are the slaves?
Dr. Gunsaulus says: that freedom
must be won.. Won from; whom? Won
how?. Won when? The statement Of
Dr. Gunsaulus is. such a self-evident
absurdity that it almost beggars con-
tempt. But as it. represents the kind
OF aristrocratic. nonsense which is
being taught to our boys in those in
-, situations of learning which the mil.
lionaire has subsidized I feel called
upon to take notice Of it,
Against DR.. Gunsaulus quote
Thomas Jefferson, who said: "rhe
God who gave us life gave us liberty
at the same time.''
/ AS part of this liberty I believe
In mans right to work. It is q
natural, a GoGd-given right, and if
means to work for himself, and not to-
werk for a master. Mr.. Jefferson. also
said: ''The earth is given as a COM
mon stock for man to labor and live
on"
1t capital were not so closely COM
blned labor organizations would perhaps
not be necessary, but when capital is
closely combined these laborers are
compelled to organize. MY own idea, is
cooperation which shall preserve to
the individual the right to development
along the lines of his own individuality.
The healthy, happy, prosperous COM,
munfty Is not that which consists eth
err Of capitalists alone, or Of laborers
alone; neither one can do without the
other: The truly prosperous state is
that in which a just harmony is main
tanned between, the two and in which
they become allies instead of enemies.
|: Remember what Daniel O'Connell
said when he was leading the Irish peo-
pie In peaceful revolt against British
misrule: "He who commits a crime
helps the enemy Get on our side the
irresistible power Of public sentiment.
Support no man for office. who refuses
to state his position.
Preach tho s11hlimo f7o<4r;oo ~ .:~.A
Demand it of others and practice it.
yourself. The time will surely come
when the producers of wealth must
share equally in it's benefits, when the
bounteous results Of: your toll will not
all turn: in at the gates Of the. palace,
but portion thereof will pass on. down
to the cottage and lift that humble
tenement into the dignity, comfort and: