The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1905-06-10
TIE LABOR v [

ness we have covered with fragrant
bloom the grave of him whose great
mind and great heart throbbed with
love for all.
Most names Of men whom the world
call great are evanscent. but the name
Of Myron w. Reed stands forth today
in lustrous light emblazoned in all the
glory of time, and as times goes on and
men emerge into larger and larger life
Its glory will still remain untarnished
and undimmed.
THE observance Of Memorial Day.
which originated in a devout desire to
do honor to the memory of those who
died In defense Of flag and country, has
today broadened into a national holi-
day for all. It il indeed a holy day,
and at once a pleasure and duty to
come to this last resting place-to
come in trembling hope and pay trib-
ute to the virtues Of tho dead.
1T Is indeed fitting that no honors
should be denied, no reverence with
held. no respect be unpaid to those who
gave up their lives in defense Of our
common country. No tribute Of tears,
no costly garlands. no towering shafts.
no glowing euologies can ever repay
their heroic sacrifices and dauntless
deeds in behalf of liberty and tho
union. We are glad to honor them,
when on this sacred day we recall the
achievements Of the men who saved tho
republic and struck forever from tho
limbs Of men the shackles Of chattel
slavery. On this day also we recall not
only the soldier of battle, but the SOL
d1ers of peace-the men who 60 forth
into the seething cauldron Of human
Affairs, who touch the chords of hu-
man sympathy and arouse the social
conscience. High in our affections We
place the names Of Lincoln, Garrison,
Phillips and Lovejoy, who reused the
social conscience to the crime of hu-
man slavery. But there is no name
which stands above that Of Myron w.
Reed. Therefore, while we would not
oetract one jot from the reverence due
to those men-the soldiers of war,
whose achievements made human slav-
cry q thing of history, we hold
greater reverence for the soldier Of
peace whose heart and brain were
filled with a wider theme and a grand
er quest the emancipation Of the wage
slave and justice for all humanity.
The heart OF Reed was big with
longing for Justice for the tramp, for
the men who fall by the wayside in the
industrial field. He asked for a fair
deal for those who produce the wealth
OF society. No man before him ever
spoke as he did when he pleaded for
the poor and the stricken. He was
brother to men. It is often said that
the worker is becoming estranged from
the. church. that the masses can no
longer be reached by the appeals Of the
evangelist. Reeds life is a. sufficient
answer to these statements. He never
estranged the poor: but they heard
him and heard him gladly. Indeed. it
IS too true that the poor are not es-
ranged from the preachers, but the
preachers are estranged from the poor.
They forget Christ's Injunction and ex-
ample. They need the support of the
wealthy and worldly minded. On the
contrary, Reeds listeners were of the
poor. He never forgot God, but he al
ways remembered man. With him the
worship Of God and service to men
were one and inseparable. .->, T.. go
HE preached that duty here, only
could mean salvation there. His life
exemplifled the divine Injunction, Thy
will be done on earth as it is done in
Heaven
HE believed that the road to Heaven
lies through an earth made habitable
to men developed to the highest plane
morally, physically social
ly, industrially. His life typified the
sermon on the Mount. He sought to
give to every need of men his undi-
vided assistance and his sympathy was
worldwide.
He sought in every day life to obey
the Injunction, suffer little children to
come unto me-, and so he wished to
open for them the doors Of the factory,
the department store and the sweat
shop. He was almost a divine person.
ality. He sought tirelessly to give aid
where opportunity offered, and often
created the opportunity.
HE was the tireless champion OF
right and justice.
HE saw no place In the universal
plan for wrong and opposition.
I'm him was a true type Of tribute
Of the people. To him the world was
all too small TO hold one evil thing un-
1t was my pleasure to
know him personally, and today, stand
ing above his hallowed resting place,
I recall the hearty handshake that al
ways spoke so eloquently his interest
and sympathy. His very appearance
brow, lustrous eye and splen-
did physique proclaimed him a master
of men.
"At the American Federation Of La
Dor convention in Denver, 1895, his
address was a bugle call Of hope to
mon. Yet he is no more, and we are
here today to garland the monument
reared by loving hands, and to make
his last resting place verdant with
many-hued blossoms.
Though he is dead, his name and
memory shall not perish from among
us whom he sought so hard to serve
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