The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-12-06

SecuFe appEO4InateLy uniform legiSla- l tion of high character among the seY- eral states. In such Republic as ours the one thing that we cannot afford to neglect is the problem of turning out decent citizens. The future If the Ma i tion depends upon the citizenship ot the generations to come; the children Of to-day are those who tomorrow will shape the destiny of our land, and we cannot afford to neglect them. The legislature of Colorado has recommend | ed that the National Government pro- vide some general measure for the pro- lection from abuse of children and dumb animals throughout the United 1 States. I lay the matter before you for what trust will be your favorable consideration.
 Department of Commerce and Labor. 1 The department of commerce and la= bor should also make a thorough 1RTes- 1 tigation of the conditions of women in industry. Over five million American women are now engaged in gainful oc- equations; yet there is an almost com plete dearth of data upon which to base any trustworthy conclusions as regards a subject as important as 1t is vast and
 
 knowledge on which to base action looking toward state and municipal i 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 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 ef- 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 1 political or economic question can be-; and to solve it we need ample data. 1 gathered in sane and scientific spirit ] in the course of an exhaustive investi- gation.
 l In any great labor disturbance not l only are employer and employe inter- ested, but also third party-the gem eral public. Every considerable labor difficulty in which interstate commerce is involved should be investigated by the government and the facts Officially reported to the public.
 The question of securing healthy, self-respecting and mutually sympa- thetic attitude as between employer and employe, capitalist and Wage-Worker, is a difficult one. All phases of the labor problem prove difficult when approach ed. But the underlying 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 importance the principle of treating man on his worth as a man l rather than with reference to his social position, his occupation, or the class to which he belongs. There are sSfffsh 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 l disregard of every moral restraint which interferes with the accumulation of wealth, and cold blooded exploita- ton of the weak; or, if they are labor CTS, the form of laziness, of sullen envy of the more fortunate, and of willing ness to perform deeds of murderous vi- olence. 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 wher- lever it becomes manifest. Individual capitalist and individual wage worker, corporation and union, are alike enti- ; tied to the protection of the law, and must alike obey the law. Moreover, in addition to mere obedience to the law, i each man, if he be really a. good citi- zen, must show broad sympathy for his neighbor and genuine desire to look at any question arising between them from
 the standpoint of that neighhor no less
 than from his own; and to this end 1t
 is essential that capitalist and wage
 worker should consult freely one with Ithe other, should each strive to bring
 closer the day when both shall realize
 that they are properly partners and not
 enemies. To approach the questions
 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 mass is both
 wicked and foolish. In the past the
 most direful among the influences <. which have brought about the downfall
 of republics has ever been the growth
 of the class spirit, the growth of the
 spirit which tends to make van sub-
 ordinate the welfare of the public as .
 whole to the welfare of the particular
 class to which he belongs, the substitu- tion of loyalty to a class for loyalty to Ethe nation. This inevitably brings about
 a tendency to treat each man not on
 his merits as an individual, but on his
 position as belonging to a certain class
 in the community. If such a spirit grows up in this republic 1t will ulti- Imately prove fatal to us, as in the past lit has proved fatal to every community in which it has become dominant. Un-
 less we continue to keep 9 quick and lively sense of the great fundamental
 truth that our concern it with the in- ldividual worth of the individual man, lthis government cannot permanently hold the place which it has achieved among the nations. The vital lines of |. cleavage among our people do not cor irespond, and indeed run at right angles to, the lines of cleavage which divide occupation from occupation, which di-. yS1,Iya, yat+ +o1