Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-09-03

true men, honest men, determined men; the
hearts of heroes throb meath many
threadbare coat, but never was knightly
soul more capable of valorous deed or stead
fast endurance in behalf Of right than are
these sons of toll, the men to whom are due
the country's triumphs both in peace and
war; the men who tunnel mountains and
build and manage railroads and warships;
the miner who In the bowels of the earth
faces death in it's most appalling form; the
locomotive engineer. who dies hand on the
throttle rather than desert his charge; the
men who in the fiery depths of our great
battleships hears the thunder of the guns
above, but while exposed to all the dangers
of the fight has no part in the mad exhilar-
victory.
Justice Their Watchword.
They are the men who love their coun-
try, who follow its starry flag and fight it's
titles In war. but today they march under
the white banner Of peace with Justice" for
their watchword. They have achieved many
bloodless victories OF late, but there are
others yet to win, and they can be won
only by active. intelligent cooperation De-
spite Its triteness there is world of truth
in the axiom that In union there is
strength" and we see 1t daily exemplfled
In families, communities nationalities. A
hal: dful Of disciplined troops. acting In
unison, will nut to rout mob of twenty
times their number; a few money kings,
ectuated by common interests and ideas,
can control the policies of nations and the
Frances of the globe, and in every occu-
patton and sphere of life we note the power
OF unity and cooperation.
Here lies the giant power of labor.
individually, the workman would be but
the slave of capital compelled, in by
gone days. to labor from twelve to fifteen
hours daily for plttance of dollar or
two, but collectively the two million mem
bers Of our labor organizations, each armed
with that mos potent of all weapons in a
front to oppression, and by working
| unitedly and inteiligently together can pro-
cure any just remedial legislation which
they may demand. Under our republican
form of government there Is no excuse for
slavery. for hostile legislation. for bitter.
bloody wrongs perpetrated under cover Of
so-called legal injunctions. which deprive
| workingmen of their plainest constitutional
rights.
National System of Arbitration.
They can secure a national system of
| arbitration such as has proved so success
full in New Zealand, and eliminate from the
labor problem the strikes which are almost
| always forced upon them by 'capitalistic
greed and arrogance. Strikes are some
times scarcely less terrible than war, bring
ing sorrow and suffering, famine and some
times death to innocent women and chill
| dren, but they are often necessary evils
and when ordered by the proper authors
ties, should be backed UP by every worker
in the land even at the cost of some per-
sonal deprivation. The International Typo
graphical Union by its contribution of $1,000
and Columbia Typographical Union of this
city by appropriating $500 for the relief OF
the struggling coal mine strikers in their
battle for justice, have set noble example
which should be followed by every labor
organization in the land and backed up by
| individual subscriptions.
Organized labor should also bend its
every energy to the suppression of child
slavery in the cotton factories of the south.
servitude compared with which that OF
| the blacks In ante-bellum days was but q
| bagatelle; monstrous wrong which cries
| to earth and heaven: The Plant of the
| Children. Every workingman should read
| again that plaintive poem, and resolve to
| do his part to rescue these little ones from
| their horrid fate, and in righting this and
other wrongs. may exclaim with Charles
Mackay.
"Once the welcome light has broken,
Who shall say
What the unimagned glories
OF the day.
What the evil that shall perish
In Its ray
Aid the dawnfng, tongue and pen;
Aid Ii, hopes OF honest men;
Aid 1t, paper; aid Ii, type;
Aid Ii, for the hour Is ripe,
And earnest must not slacken
Into play,
Men Of thought and men of action
Clear the way"