The news & observer., 1905-12-06

depend upon the facts of the case; it
should not be used as preteXt TO per-
nit violation Of law. or the jeopardiZ-
ing of life or property. OF course,
this would not authorize the issuing of
n restraining order or injunction in
any case in which it is not already au-
thorized by existing law.
renew the recommendation / made
in my last annual message for an in
vestigation by the Department of
Commerce and Labor of general labor
conditions, especial attention to be
paid to the conditions of child labor
and child-labor legislation in the sew
eral States. Such an investigation
should take into account the various
problems with which the question of
child labor is connected. 1t is true
that these problems can be actually
met in most cases only by the States
themselves, but it would be well for
the nation to endeavor to secure and
publish comprehensive information as
To the conditions of the labor of chill
dren In the different States, SO as to
spur up those that are behindhand,
and to secure approximately uniform
legislation of q high character among
the several States. In such Repub-
lie 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 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 recommended that the National
Government provide some general
measure for the protection from abuse
of children and dumb animals
throughout the United States. / lay
the matter before you for what | trust
will be your favorable consideration.
The Department of Commerce and
Labor should also make a thorough
investigation OF the conditions OF >vo-
men in industry. over five million
American women are now engaged in
gainful occupations, vet there is an
almost complete dearth Of data upon
which to base any trustworthy con-
Clusions as regards Il subject as i'm
portant as it is vast and complicated.
There is need of full knowledge on
which to base action looking toward
State and municipal legislation for the
protection of working women. The
introduction of women into industry
is working change and disturbance in
the domestic and social life of the ma
ton. The decrease in marriage. and
especially in the birth rate, has been
coincident with it, We must face
accomplished facts, and the adjust
ment to factory conditions must be
made; but surely it can be made with
less friction and less harmful effects
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 q sane and scientific spirit in the
course of an exhaustive investigation.
In any great labor disturbance not
only are employer and employe inter-
ested but also a third party-the gen
eral public. Every considerable Ia
Dor difficulty in which Interstate COM
merce is involved should be investi-
gated by the government and the facts
officially reported to the public.
The question of securing a healthy
self-respecting and mutually sympa-
thetc attitude as between employer
and employe. capitalist and wage
worker is difficult one. All phases
of the labor problem prove difficult
when approached. But the underly-
ing principles, the root principles. in
accordance with which the problem
must be solved are entirely simple.
We can get justice and right dealing
only if we put as of paramount i'm
portance the principle of treating a
man on his worth as a man rather
than with reference to his social po-
SitiOn, his occupation. or the class to
which he belongs. There are selfish
and brutal men in all ranks of life. If
they are capitalists their selfishness
and brutality may take the form of
hard Indifference to suffering, greedy
disregard of every moral restraint
which interferes with the accumula-
tion of wealth, and cold-blOOded eX-
ploitation of the weak; or, if they are
laborers the form of laZiness, of sui
len envy of the more fortunate, and
of willingness to perform deeds OF
murderOuS violence. Such conduct is
just as reprehensible in one case as in
the other, and all honest and farseeing
men should join in warning against it
wherever it becomes manifest. In
dividual 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 obedi-
ence to the law, each man, if he be
really a good citizen, must show broad
sympathy for his neighbOr and gem
uine desire to look at any question
arising between them from the stand
point of that neighbor no less than
from his own; and to this end it is
essential that capitalist and wage
worker should consult freely one with
the other, should each strive to bring
closer the day when both shall realize
that they are properly partners and
not enemies. To approach the ques-
tons which inevitably arise between
them solely from the standpoint which
treats each side in the mass as the
enemy of the other side i'm the mass is
both wicked and foolish. In the past
the most direful among the influences
which have brought about the down
fall of republics has ever been the
growth of the class spirit, the growth
of the spirit which tends to make a
man subordinate the welfare of the
public as whole to the welfare of
the particular class to which he be-
longs, the substitution of loyalty to q
class for loyalty to the nation. This
inevitably brings about tendency to
treat each man not on his merits as
an individual, but on his position as
belonging to certain class in the
community. If such spirit grows up
i'm this Republic it will ultimately
prove fatal to u.s. as in the past it has
proved fatal to every community i'm