The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1906-12-22
TRADE uN|0N|SM IS !. !.
|. +. IN INTEREST OF MAN
Thirty Years of Organization
/, Among Work People Has
r Benefited Society.
Trade Unionism Has Demonstrate
ed That It Is Of Human =.
y. itarian Value. ~

ed That It Is Of Human
y" itarian Value.
Thirty years of organization
among the work people of Europe
and America have demonstrated to,
society the humanitarian value Of
trades uniondsm. Within the three
or four decades that labor associa-
}ftons have exerted power the world
hsS lsslfnsd. to respect combinations
of Wostfag men. And why? You
chiefly, organized labor has ak
ways stood for progress, for liber-
ty, for the happiness Of mankind,
against injustice and servitude in
all their forms for comradeship, and
higher type of: civilization, The
story Of a fight tor higher and
better things. ~ 3:*:s>
| The historian of the latter half
Of the nineteenth century will have
the pleasant duty Of chronicling
how the common people formed
societies among themselves, and
how through them they effected
the education of themselves, low
cred the burdensome hours of toll,
raised the standard of living, in
lculcated in the masses the spirit
LOT independence, fought the evils
! eating at the heart of the nation,
and. spread culture and enlighten-
nent where 1t never existed before.
Labor like everything else that Is
! human, has made mistakes in the
past, but it stands to its credit
| that it has always given its sup
port to worthy humanitarian move
ments. Society owes debt to or
ganized labor that cannot be
measured with things material.
Some say trades unionism has
passed It's zenith. This we know to
be false. Labor organizations are
just entering their manhood, and
when they enter the political arena
their power will increase threefold.
With experience and traditions be-
hind it, labor will sweep on to
! greater conquests and he who can
see beyond the present beholds the
time when the horny handed miE-
lions, will no longer wear the badge
Of 1nferiorlty.
AS most of you are probably
aware, the burdens of mtlitarism
fall most heavily on the working
fc1 lls It. no have to- paY:
|for the nafntBn1noeso sof Ar1nieS and
! navies, for the waging OF brutal
wars, for the subsection Of foreign
territory. It is we who have to
spill our blood in senseless strife
against people living under a diff
ferent flag. It. is our wives and
children and lovers who suffer
from the devastation of war, who
have got to endure poverty and
degradation because of the death
| OF their bread winners on the battle
field. It. is our sons who are sent
to barracks to learn servility and
vice. Yet 1t is not we nor those
dependent on us who enjoy the
spoils. Nor should we wish to en-
Joy them, for what is won by the
spoliation OF another labor should
avoid as unclean. And more. It
ts men from our own ranks who
are decked in gay uniforms and
taught to cursh their fellow beings
when they rise In desperation
| against their exploiters. Yea, it
is we who pay these men to fight
against sus when on strike. -
II there IS any section Of the:
community who may Justly enter
a protest against militarism it IS
the laboring community. It pays
the bill for it's own subjection. It
pays for the gatling guns which
are turned upon it, for the lives
which fall beneath those gatling
guns, for the misery caused where
| soever they are used. But II one
does not misjudge the temper Of
the working people Of today we
shall not continue to pay for these
engines Of destruction without
vigorous protest.
The labor organizations Of Eng
land and America and the Socialist
parties of Europe, have proclaimed
to the world that enlightened labor
demands the substitution of Chris
tian methods for the settlement of
international disputes, relief from
the armaments which are crushing
the peoples under intolerable taxa
tion. And this demand of labor
is bound to be granted sooner or
later. LABOR stands 1Or peace, for
international goodwill. And labor
is doing more for the promotion Of.
peace than certain other instittions.
Clergymen have admitted to me that
socialist, and labor parties are do
ing more for the Christian ideal OF
world brotherhood than all the
churches of America put together.
A sad admission, but it Is none
the less true. -->> i. ~, szs:<;.z.
WOULD COMPEL EQUAL