The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-11-11
BY. WIN. JENNINGS BRYAN

curing of private plants by the city
or state, and different methods have
Deen employed in differ ent countries for
the elimination OF the political element
from public service. Those who have
falth In the intelligence and capacity
OF the people have confidence that they
VIII be able to reduce to a minimum
any dangers attendant upon a course
which they believe to be necessary to
tnelr own welfare. The fact that after
more than quarter of a century of
experience, no retrograde movement is
10 be observed furnishes some proof
mat the dangers anticipated have not
IN practice been shown to be insur-
mountable.
Another world problem is to be
found in the effort to fix woman's
place. IN the social economy. No one
can travel around the world without
noting the wide difference that ex-
lists between the treatment of women
IN different countries IN the Orient
woman has, until comparatively recent
years, occupied a very inferior posi-
1 ton In no respect has the influence Of
the west upon the east been more
marked than in the elevation of woman.
Even in Japan, where for half a GEN.
! fury the ideas of America and Europe
] have found vigorous growth woman's
1 y >. Il
education of boys received attention be-
| fore the education of the girls, but the
! girls schools are now multiplying in
number and attendance. Travelling in
! the country one still sees the black
ened teeth, it formerly having been re-
garded as the proper thing for a wo-
i man to make her teeth black after
marriage, but among the young gener-
i alton the custom is unknown. In
/ China woman has not only Jagged be-
I hind man in education, but she has
been subjected TO a torture known as
foot binding, which is to be found no
where else. Societies are now being
formed to discourage the practice. but
1T is sad to learn how slowly this re-
form has grown. In both Japan and
4 China plural marriage, or what has
been equivalent 10 plural marriage, has
been common. The man has been al
lowed ito take unto himself as many
wives as he could support without
asking the consent of former wives-a
, practice which seems strange TO those
who have been brought up to regard
the marriage VOWS as mutually binding
and to consider man and woman as
4 standing upon an equal plane when en-
terlng upon the relation of husband
and wife.
II In India child marriage is one of the
worst customs that has afflicted these
Niiiidppy people. NTlrlS nave been given
IN marriage when only or 10 wears
old, and a widow of II or 13 is not un-
usual Remarriage of widows is not
permitted under Hindu custom suffice
or the burning Of the widow, formerly
being regarded as the proper thing. In
4 both India and Arabia the women are
still yelled and excluded from the So
:. clety of men. 1t is difficult to estimate
the loss that has come to society from
hn
stimulus which man and woman find
in cooperation in the work of ciyiliza-
4 ton.
Even in Europe woman's position is
not a. good as it is in the United States
although in the Christian countries her
rights are more respected and her good
Influence more appreciated. Max Oral
: the witty French lecturer, used to saw
that if he was going to be born a wo-
man, he would pray to be born in the
United States. il was q happy express
sion, for surely there is no other coun-
try in which so high an estimate is
: placed upon woman or where she more
fully shares in both the joys and re-
: sponsibilities of life For the super-
iority Of her position she has Chris
tianity and education to thank; Chris
| tianity has ever recognized womans
equality with man and education has
fitted her to be a real helpmeet in life
u A third question which one meets
everywhere is the labor question In
Europe it is a question between labor
and capital and the laborer is organic
!, ing for the advancement of his well
r fare. The guild and the labor organ
ization have long sought 10 enlarge the
laborer's share of the joint profit of la
Dor and capital and to improve the con-
!; ditions which form his environment
! The efforts OF these societies have
mainly been directed, first, toward the
I Improvement of sanitary conditions;
second. toward the shortening Of hours
|, and third, toward an increase in wages
1t looks like a reflection on mankind in
4 general TO say that laboring men should
|, have to ask legislation to protect their
lives while at work. 1t would seem
that employers would of their own ac-
cord regard the safety and the health
Of employees as of paramount import
ance, and yet, it has been necessary
even in the United States to compel the
: building of air-shafts in mines and to
!. force the use of safety appliances on
railroads and street car lines and in
the operation of machinery. Still more
strange is ii that it should be neces-
sary to fix a minimum age at which
children can be employed The very
; sight of little boys and girls working
| physical growth and their mental de-
velopment is so revolving that one car
> hardly understand how such legislation
} can be necessary, and yet, throughout
Europe and the United States the la
; boring men, through their organiza-
/ tions. have been compelled to fight foI
{ the protection Of the children of the
= poor In Asia the inauguration of fac
! tories has not yet been followed by the
? protection of the children.
Reforms advance in groups. II is
2 seldom that one real reform is achieved
. alone, so the limitation of hours Of la
( Dor has as a rule. accompanied legisla-
l ton for the protection of children and
2 for the Improvement of sanitary condi-
r tons i'm mines and work shops. Those
who now enjoy the eight-hour day car
s remember the nine-hour day and the
{ ten-hour day, but can hardly recall the
z days of twelve or fourteen hours. Ir
, the factories that are starting up in the
e Orient long hours there is attendant
o degrS da ton of the tOiler The demand