Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1905-12-04

Labor and Civilization" The speaker
said In part:
Il hope IN the future some man will
arrive large enough OF brain and wise
enough OF heart 10 write a history Of
labor A historian who wifi pass by
the dynasties of kings. with their courts
and foll.es, who viii subordinate even
the deeds OF warriors to the humber
and for more important theme of the
laborer and his hire. Silent are the
countless millions who built the glories
Of Nineyeh and Babylon and piled up
the pyramids Of Egypt. Dust Of dust
IRE the slaves who supported the leis-
ured life OF the upper classes In philOsJ-
phlc and artistic Greece, as well as in
martial Rome. As IN the past, 40 today
the workers toll on unchronicled and
unnumbered. This Is perhaps Inevitable
and after all names are OF no great im-
portance. How soon the names even Ot
those who were once famous lose their
power of suggestion, But II is greatly
to be desired that some one with Il
sympathetic genius and welding a pen
OF power should attempt the task OF
showing the relationship of the tOiling
masses Of succeeding epochs to the civ
ilization of their time. one thing Is
certain, the basis OF civilization every
whore and always has been the t0ller.
What is civilization? Comfort and cul-
ture bought with u price, and what is
the price? The price is work. No work.
no civilization. That is the rule. There
has been no perfect civilization Yet be-
cause we have never yet had a demo-
cratic civilization. The best of the past
civilization has presented only an upper
strata Of society that were comforta-
bic and possessed Of enough leisure 10
become artistic and cultured, Beneath
them were the dull, uncomprehending
masses OF slaves or wage-earners, whose
labor made their brighter type Of exist
ence possible So all the civilization OF
the past have been parasitical partial
and imperfect.
AT last we begin to feel the BIRTH
pangs Of civilization that viii more
largely express the ideals OF human
brotherhood. The realization OF our
dream may be far OFF, but at least We
have begun TO dream. II is too soon TO
prophesy the when and how OF fulfil-
ment. but certain mistakes Of the past
are becoming so clear thar every icono-
clast may find plenty of pioneer work
to do. one thing appears certain, We
must deal adequately with GONE OF the
worst evils Of the labor problem before
any civilization Of democracy Real
civilization wants Justice and chan-
ty This higher type OF civilization
can never be possessed by London or
New York as long ais they have sub
merged tenth among their inhabitants,
hopeless and helpless In their squalor.
We will never have a genuine civilizs-
ton In company with the sweatsnop or
women aud child labor in factory and
field. No high civilization can 90 with a
loV standard pf la hOr
"As ! understand II, this democratic
civilization Of which / have been talk
Ing and socialism are very nearly the
same thing. At least both walt on d
better and more unselflsh mankind and
womanhood and this In turn is all but
impossible without a reformed social
environment. II this Is true, the civili-
cations OF the past have been imperfect
and transitory, because founded on
slavery. robbery and conquest. The in
dustrial civilization of the present IL
little better and IL crude and uniformed.
But 1t has seeds OF promise In IL, for
IN some measure It Is shared by the
masses. Yet we are far from the ideal
civilization and cannot make II our
own until the worker comes to his own.
And why hope for this ideal civiliza-
ton? Because we believe knowledge
will prevail over ignorance and that
some time men viii put in practise
political science worthy the name. AMI
why hope for this new day? Because