The independent. [volume] (Lincoln, Neb.) 1902-1907, 1905-03-16
Labor Wide As The Earth

Is. Bigelow, in the prelude to his SER
mon last night spoke as follows:
"Washburn A" boasts of being the
largest -four mill in the world. 1t is
one Of the monster mills for which
Minneapolis is famous. Here the Fa-
Their Of Waters is made to grind the
grist of the nations. To follow the
wheat on its journey down floor after
door, through machine after machine,
until, with hardly the touch Of human
hand, 1t yields its golden treasure; to
see the Mississippi harnessed to those
mighty engines, feeding, at mans COM
mand, the mouths of millions; this is a
sight that the Psalmist should have
seen who wrote: Thou hast made him
q little lower than the angels and hast
crowned him with glory and honor"
One does not think of the miller as
hero, or his occupation as dangerous.
1t is hard to believe that flour dust is
as explosive as nitroglycerine. On the
walls Of Washburn A, however, the
visitor may read the following inscrip-
ton: This mill was erected 1879, on
the site of Washburn Mil A, which
was totally destroyed on the 22d day
Of May, 1878, by fire and terrific ex
plosion occasioned by the rapid COM
bustion of flour dust, not one stone
was left upon another, and every per-
son engaged in the mill instantly lost
his life. The following are the names
of the faithful and well-tried employees
who fell victims Of that awful ca1am-
ity." After the names of the martyrs
of the mill, these words are added:
Labor, wide as the earth
Has it's summit in heaven"
Men freeze In lumber camps that we
may have shelter; they are buried In
mines that we may have fuel; on the
railroads alone, nearly $4,000 are killed
or injured each year and all that we
have has been purchased by the blood
of the martyrs. The cooperative COM
monwealth is not far distant. But for
the elements of monopoly that still in
here in our Industrial life, we would be
q vast, half-conscious brotherhood, in
which each man is serving another in
serving himself. But if these elements
Of monopoly were destroyed, it is in
conceivable that life would be held so
cheaply as now, or that so many would
fall in the industrial battle. With the
last vestige of monopoly gone, and
Gods storehouse open to all alike, the
light of brotherhood would break upon
the earth and we could say without
any cant:
Labor, wide as the earth,
Has it's summit in heaven
But the more we appreciate the serv-
ice and sacrifice of labor, the more in
tolerable becomes the thought that any
should enjoy the legal privilege of liv-
Ing without labor.
One entrance to the Powers depart
ment store in Minneapolis is built
upon leased land. The owner of the
land receives ground rent of one
thousand dollars per month. The land
is only about seventy feet square. The
tenant has put up the Improvement and
pays the taxes, SO that the landlord of
the land has an annual income for
doing nothing, of twelve thousand dol
lars. The customers do not see him.
Yet they pay toll to him. They pay it
In the price OF what they buy. At the
door of every store there is one of these
Invisible toll collectors. The tribute
they exact is tremendous, not only in
Its aggregate amount, but also, In its
vicious, indirect influence.
Must some men die to give us bread
and others eat and give nothing In re-
turn? How would it do to make these
lords Of the land support the govern
ment out of their unearned incomes? II
they have not made these land values,
If the city has made them, why-then,
should they have them? Why should
not the city take them? Why tax in
dustry and leave the landowners in pos
session of something the city has pro-
duced? Why not take this step towards
the goal Of the emancipation of labor
labor, wide as the earth with its sum-
NIT in heaven?
Examine the date with the address
on the wrapper of your paper and if
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