The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-08-31

Society Has Something at Stake.
Society. moreover. has something at
stake as well as the employer and EN-
ployes, for there can be no considerable
strike without considerable loss to. the
public. Society, therefore. is justified In
demanding that the differences between
capital and labor shall be settled by
peaceful means. If permanent impair
tiai board is created to which either
party of an Industrial dispute may ap-
peal or which can of It's motion institute
an inquiry. public opinion may be re-
lied upon to enforce the findings. If
there Is compulsory submission to IN
vestigaton, 1t Is necessary there should
be compulsory acceptance of the decision
for a full and fair investigation will.
in almost every case. bring about a set
Element.
Government by Injunction
NO reference to the labor question Is
| complete that does not include some men
ton of what is known as government
by injunction AS the main purpose of
the writ is to evade trial by jury, it
Is really an attack upon the jury system,
and ought to arouse an unanimous pro-
test. So long the meanest thief is
guaranteed a trial by jury, a jury ought
not to be denied to wage earners. How
| ever, as the writ is usually invoked in
| cases of strike, the importance of the
subject would be very much reduced by
| the adoption of the system of arbitration.
| because arbitration would very much re-
| duce, even if 1t did not entirely remove,
the probability of a strike.
Hour Day Is International Struggle.
Just another word in regard to the
laboring man. The struggle to secure an
! eght-hour day is an international strug
| gle, and it is sure to be settled in favor
| of the working mans contention. The
, benefits Of the labor saving machine have
i not been distributed with equity. The pro-
Queer has enormously multiplied his ca
/ paeity but SO far the owner of the ma
4 chine has received too much of the in
. crease and the laborer too little. Those
who oppose the eght-hour dAy do 1t
| am convinced more because of ignorance
, of condition than because of lack of
sympathy with those who toll. The re-
\ moval OF work from the house to the
! factory has separated the husband from
, his wife, and the father from his chill
dren, while the growth of our cities has
put an increasing distance between the
home and the workship. Then, too, more
is demanded of the laboring man now
i than formerly; he is a citizen as we'll
| as a laborer, and must have time for
| the study of public questions II he is TO
| be an Intelligent sovereign To drive him
| from his bed to his task and from his
| task to his bed, is to deprive the family
| of his companionship, society of his serv-
ice, and politics of his influence.
Division on Money Question.
Thus far | have dwelt upon subjects
which may not be regarded as strictly
| partisan, but | am sure you will pardon
me IL in this presence l betray my in
\ terest in those policies for which the DEM
| ocratic party stands. have not had an
| opportunity to make a democratic speech
| for almost a year, and no one-not even
I political enemy-could be so cruel as to
] forbid me SPEAK of those policies on this
occasion. Our opponents have derived not
only partisan pleasure but also partisan
] advantage from the division caused In our
: party by the money question. They ought
| not therefore to begrudge us the salts
faction that we find In the fact that un-
| expected conditions have removed the
| cause of our differences, and permitted us
| TO present a united front on present is
| sues.
THE unlocked for and unprecedented
| increase in the production of gold has
brought a victory to both the advocates
| OF gold and the advocates of bimetallism-
the former keeping the gold standard,
| which they wanted, and the latter secur-
| ing the larger volume of money for which
| they contended. We who favor bimetall-
ism are satisfied with our victory II the
| friends of mondmetallism are satisfied
with theirs And we can invite them
| to a contest of zeal and endurance in the
| effort to restore to the people the rights
which have been gradually taken from
them by the trusts.
1.-The Investigations which have been In
| progress during the past year have dis
closed the business methods of those who
a few years ago represented any inspec-
| ton of their statements, and hid their
rascality under high-sounding phrases.
! These Investigations have also disclosed
| the source of enormous campaign funs
which have been used to debauch cleo
| lions and corrupt the ballot
Campaign Contributions.
1.-THE people see now what they should
| have seen before, namefy, tnat no party
can exterminate the trusts so long as 1t
owes its political success to political cam
! paign contributions secured through the
trusts. Great corporations do not con-
tribute their money to any party except
for immunity expressly promised
clearly implied. The President has recom-
mended legislation on this subject but so
far his party has failed TO respond. No
important advance can be made until
this baneful influence Is eliminated. and
/ hope that the democratic party will not
only challenge the republican party to
bring forward effective legislation on this
subject but will set an example by re-
fusing to receive campaign contributions
from corporations and by opening the
books so that every contributor from cor
poratons and by opening the books so
that every contributor of any consider
able sum may be known to the public
before the election.
1.-THE great majority of corporations are
engaged in legitimate business and having
to fear from hostile legislation, and the
officers should not be permitted to use
the money of the stockholders to adj
vance their own political opinions Con-
tributions should be individual, not cor
porate, and no party can afford to re-
ceive contributions even from individuals
when the acceptance of these contribu-
lions secretly pledge the party to a course
which is cannot openly avow
"In other words politics should be
honest, and I mistake political conditions
in America If they do not presage i'm
provement In the conduct of campaigns
Congress Must Outline Campaign.
while men may differ as to the rela-
tive Importance of issues, and while the
next Congress will largely shape the lines
upon which the coming presidential cam
paign will be fought, I think it is safe
to say that at present the paramount
issue in the minds of a large majority Of
people is the trust issue l congratulate
President Roosevelt upon the steps which
he has taken to enforce the antitrust
law, and my qualification is not lessened
by the fact that he has followed the dem
ocratic rather than the republican plat
| form in every advance he has made. It
has been great embarrassment to him
that the platform upon which he was