The labor argus. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1906-1915, 1906-10-18
II In FAVOR OF A LABOR PARTY.
Inc reverend Mr. bkovsky Says Workinsmn Should Send Own
Representatives to Law Making Bodies
HE URGES POLITICAL ACTION AMONG THE TollERs.
onVesa rastoF Charaeeze RockefsIs Income as punder
Like Captain Kids Treasure-W Workers Should Have
a Voice in Lessaion--Great Sermon
Representatives to Law Making Bodies.

~ stirring appeal to wagr.caru-
etS, ;ts such, to take larger and
more active part in the ailairs of
the nation was made last Labor
Sunday by Rev. Anthony Bilkov-
SKY, pastor of the Univclsalist
church, OF B;tltimorc. He insisted
that the worker should have u
more distinct voice in the affairs of
the nation, saying that 100 labor
members ought to be seated i'm
Congress.
lie characterized MANS wealth
as his pay for services rendered
to society, and said that Rockefcl.
lcr's income is as much plumber ns
was the treasure of Captain Kidd
The sermon throughout was a
strong advocacy of organized labor,
the subject being 'Should there be
Il limit, legal or moral, upon the
amount of wealth that one man
may control?" Rev. Mr.. BilIloy-
Sky said, in part:
"Ihe roct-sccr who wrote the
story of the Garden of Eden pic
lures work as Il curse thrown upon
mankind as punishment for
tr;tnsgression. Is such the fact.
Work-productive, rcmuner.,tivc,
absorbing works. blessing, not
II curse. Work is lile's supreme
teacher and joy giver. There is
no happiness apart from work.
"The only curse of work is when
that work is too hard; when it is
not properly paid; when ii is done
without hope or JOY. No man can
live as he ought unless he works.
a mans task is his life prcscrvcr.
blessed is he who has found his
work; let him ask no other blessed
ness.
This is the era of organization
Capital is organized into vast ag-
grcgationS, and in such Il presence
the individual man, who has only
ms labor, finds himself in "A position
at once precarious and dependent.
only by organization can he cope
with his great friend and ally
capital. The tendency to domi-
nation and to oppression is so strong
IN human nature that it is neccSsa-
ry for the safety of the social order
That every great force shall be bal
anced by other great forces.
SIS there anything that the
workingman wants that is fair and
just? Let him organize and know
his mind, and he can get it. The
millions of wage earners in the
| United States sway the destiny of
the land. Nothing that is right
can be withheld from them. AS a
class the wage workers ought to
take Il larger part in the political
affairs of the nation. The British
Parliament has 80 Labor members
| lii it. The American Congress
should at least have twice rs many
TO represent the labor interests of
our people. The worker ought to
have a more distinct voice in the
councils of the nation.
Tine only way to place such
men i'll Congress is to make eco
nomic facts political issues. and
then for labor men to support dis
tlnctlvely labor candidates.
"We ealth is power. Power of
itself is not evil; it may be well or
III used. So Of money. The way
1t Is used determines whether il is
good or evil.
"a mans wealth is what society
pays him for his service to society.
No man can render society ser
vice that is worth 100000 day.
! Yet that sum is what Mr.. Rockc-
teller exacts daily from society.
The larger part Of it is as much
plumber as was the treasure Of Cap
tain Kidd.
''lt is the business of the states
man, the legislator, the judge, the
executive, to devise, enact. inter
pret and enforce laws that will
make predatory wealth as impos-
Sible as piracy on the high seas
now is.
''But there is moral safeguard: !:
it is the moral character shat is de
vcloped in man. RuSkin inher-
tied $40, 900 year and made it a
blessing to mankind, and made
himself one of the great moral
forces of the nineteenth coptur.