Omaha daily bee., 1905-08-11

is a hard and cruei TACT that in this life
OF ours the sins of the man are often vis-
ited most heavily upon those whose Weltare
should be his one special care.
For the drunkard. for the man who loses
his Job because he can not control or VIII
not control his desire for hduor and for
vicious pleasure, we have a feeling OF anger
and contempt mixed with our pity; but Tor
his unfortunate wife and little ones we feel
only pity, and that OF the deepest and ten
Everything possible should be done to en-
courage the growth of that spirit OF sell
respect self-restraint, self-relancer which II
It only grows enough Is certain to make all
those in whom II shows itself move steadily
upward toward the highest standard Of
American citizenship. 1t is proud and
responsible privilege to be citizens of this
great self-gOverning nation; and each OF
us needs to keep steadily before his eyes
the fact that he is wholly unfit to take part
in the work of governing others unless he
can first govern himself. lie must stand
up manfully for his own rights; he must
respect the rights of others; he must obey
the laws, and he must try to live up to
those rules Of righteousness which are
above and behind all laws. t..' .
This applies Just as much to the man of
great wealth as to the man OF small means;
to the capitalist as to the wage worker
And as one practical point let me urge
that in the event Of any difficulty, especially
II II is what is known as a labor trouble,
both sides show themselves willing to meet
willing to consult and anxious each to treat
the other reasonably and fairly, each to
look at the others side of the case and to
do the other justice If only this course
could be generally followed, the chance Of
industrial disaster would be miRimized,
Fer, Better Manhood. .t
Now, my friends, 1 want 10 read you an
extract from tlIetter l have just received
from Catholic priest whow l know well
OF the labOrng man as there is to be found
in this country. Now and then-not TOO
SSften-it is a good thing for all Of us to
atable, provided only that the person who
tells the truth is our genuine friend, knows
what he is talking about 4eyen though he
us what he has to say, not with a desire
TO hurt our feelings, but with the trans
foreword, here is part Of the letter:
I would humbly recommend that you
lend your entire weight TO the cause which
the Catholic Total Abstinence Union Of
America represents, and especially so in It's
relation to the working classes of this
country, for whom II is doing so much
good. You know that the temperance move
ment rs potent auxiliary 10 the instiJu-
tions of our country In bnllding up a bet
among our citizens 1t played very i'm
portant part in the two coal strikes Of 1900
and 1902, respectively, by keeping the men
sober, and thus removing the danger OF
riotous and unbecoming conduct. There Is
one discouraging feature connected with
the upward tendency of the wage scale
among the wOrkmen of this country. The
higher the wages, the more money they
spend in saloons The shorter The hours,
selves from home. An apparent disregard
for family ties is growing among the
poorer classes which will eventually lead to
disregard for the blessings our country
affords them. Hence, with an increase of
wageSa corresponding movement for bet
ter manhood, nobler citizenship and truer
Christianity should be set on foot. Tho
dignity OF labor should be maintained,
which can be done only through the love
that a man should have for his work, and
through the intelligence which he puts into
II. steady hand and sober mind are
necessary for this. Hence the necessity
of the temperance cause and of the efforts
which organized abstainers are putting into
the movement"
Now in what is here written this priest
does not mean that the tendency is TO grow
worse; but he means that with shorter
hours and increased wages there is a tend
ency to go wrong which must be offset by
movements such as this great temperance
movement and similar efforts for social and
civic betterment or else the increase in
leisure and money will prove curse In
stead OF a blessing. / strive never TO tell
anyone what l do not thoroughly believe,
md / shall not say 40 you that TO be hon