The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-12-05

the case; it should not be used as a
4 pretext to permit violation or law, or
I the jeopardizing OF life or property. or
| course Gais would not authorize the is
suing Of d restraining order or 1nJunc-
ton in any case in which It is not al
ready authorized by existing law.
I renew the reconm made
! in my last annual message for an IN
| veStigation by the department of COM
merce and labor of general labor con-
| ditionss especial attention to be paid
I to the conditions Of child labor and
child-labor legislation in the several
/ states. Such an investigation should
/ take into account the various prob
lens with which the question of child
| labor is connected. It is true that
these problems can be actually met in
/ most cases only by the state. them
selves, but it would be well for the ma
i ton to endeavOr to secure and publish
! comprehensive information as to the
conditions of the labor of children in
| the different states, so as to spur up
| those that are behindhand, and to Sc
/ cure: approximately uniform legislation
| Of y high character among the sew
eraI states. In such a republic as ours
| the one thing that we can not afford
! to neglect is the problem Of turning
/ out decent citizens. The future of the
nation depends upon the citizenship of
1 the generations to come; the children
/ of today are those who tomorrow will
! shape the destiny of our land, and we
can not afford to neglect them. The
/ legislature of Colorado has recon-
mended that the national government
! provide some general measure for the
/ protection from abuse of children and
dumb animals throughout the United
/ States. I lay the matter before you
/ for what I trust will be your favorable
consideration.
The department of commerce and
labor should also make a thorough in
vestigation of the conditions of women
in industry. over five million Arneri-
can women are now engaged in gain
/ full occupations; yet there is an almost
/ complete dearth OF data upon which
I to base any trustworthy conclusions as
regards a subject as important as it is
1 vast and complicated. There is need OF
/ full knowledge on which to base action
/ looking toward state and municipal
! legislation for the protection Of work
! ing women. The Introduction OF Wo-
men into industry is working change
and disturbance in the domestic and
social life of the nation. The decrease
| in marriage and especially in the birth
( rate has been coincident with it. We
must face accomplished facts, and the
adjustment to factory conditions must
be made; but surely it can be made
with less friction and less harmful eff
fects on family life than is now the
| case. This whole matter in reality
forms one Of the greatest sociological
phenomena of our time; it is a social
question of the first Importance, of far
! greater Importance than any merely
political or economic question can be;
/ and to solve it we need ample data,
/ gathered in sane and scientific spirit
in the course of an exhaustive inves-
| tigation.
In any great labor disturbance not
only are employer and employee inter-
ested, but also third party--the gen
eral public. Every considerable labor
difficulty in which interstate commerce
/ is involved should be investigated by
I the government and the facts officially
reported to the public.
A Difficult Problem.
] The question of securing a healthy,
self-respecting, and mutually sympa-
thetic attitude as between employer
and employee. capitalist and wage
worker, is a difficult one. All phases
of the labor problem prove difficult
when approached. But the underlying
principles, the root principles, in &C
cordance with which the problem must
4 be solved are entirely simple. We can
get Justice and right dealing only if
we put as of paramount Importance
the principle Of treating q man on his
worth as a man rather than with ref
Il erence to his social position, his occu-
patton, or the class to which he be-
longs. There are selfish and brutal
men in all ranks of life. If they are
capitalists their seIfshness and bru-
tally may take the form of hard in
difference to suffering. greedy disre-
interferes with the accumulation OF
wealth, and cold-bIooded exploitation
of the weak; or, If they are laborers,
the form of laziness, of sullen envy of
the more fortunate, and of willingness
to perform deeds of murderous vio-
lence. Such conduct is just as repre-
hensible in one case as in the other,
and all honest and farseeing men
should join in warning against it
wherever it becomes manifest. Indi-
vidual capitalist and individual wage
worker, corporation and union, are
alike entitled to the protection of the
law, and must alike obey the law
Moreover, in addition to mere 0bedi-
ence to the law each man, if he be
really a good citizen, must show broad
sympathy for his neighbor and genu-
inc desire to look at any question aris-
point of that neighbor no less than
from his own; and to this end it is es-
sentiaI that capitalist and Wage-WorkeT
should consult freely one with the
other, should each strive to bring
closer the day when both shall realize
not enemies. To approach the Ques-
lions which inevitably arise between
them solely from the standpoint
which treats each side in the mass as
the enemy of the other side in the
T mass is both wicked and foolish. II
, the past the most direful among the
? influences which have brought abou
the downfall of republics has evel
been the growth of the class spirit, this
} growth of the spirit which tends tC
make a man subordinate the welfare
of the public as a whole to the welfare
of the particular class to which he
! belongs, the substitution of loyalty t.
a class for loyalty to the nation. Thi:
inevitably brings about q, tendency tC
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