Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1906-12-05

of labor, with as a goal the general sin
PRODUCTION of an eight-hour day, but in
sists that on the Isthmus of Panama the
they are here that the introduction Of an
eight-hour day on the canal would be
absurd, and continues, .juSt about as alb
surd as it is, SO far as the isthmus is
concerned, where white labor cannot be
employed, to bother as to whether the
work is done by alien black men or alien
yellow men,"
Investigation of Disputes.
He urges the enactment OF a drastic
osild labor law for the District of Co
iumbia and the territories, and a federal
investigation of the subject of child and
female labor throughout the country.
He reviews the work of the commission
appointed to investigate labor conditions
in the coal fields of Pennsylvania in 1902,
and refers to the wish of the commission
that the state and federal governments
should provide the machinery for what
ton of controversies between employers
and employees when they arise" After
referring to the fact that a bill has al
ready been introduced to this end he
says:
MANY of these strikes and lockouts
would not have occurred had the parties
to the dispute been required to appear
before an unprecedented body representing
the nation and, face to face, state the
reasons for their contention. In most
instances the dispute would doubtless be
found to be due to a misunderstanding
by each of the others rights, aggravated
by an unwillingness of either party to ac-
cept true the statements of the other
as to the justice or injustice of the mat
ters in dispute. The exercise of a ju-
representing the federal government
such as would be provided by a commits
sion on Cancellation and arbitration
would tend to create an atmosphere of
friendi1neSS and Cancellation between con-
tending parties; and the giving each side
an equal opportunity to present fully it's
~ co n ha of he how
prevent many disputes from developing
into serious strikes or lockouts and in
other cases, would enable the commits
sion to persuade the opposing parties to
come to terms.
In this age of great corporate and la
e0r neither ne ss, nor
the mercy of the stronger party to a dis
pute, regardless of the Righteousness Of
measure would be in the line of securing
recognition of the fact that in many
strikes the public has itself an interest
interest not merely of general conven-
fence, for the question of a just and
proper public policy must also be con-
it is well to advance cautiously, testing
each step by the actual results; the step
proposed can surely be safely taken, for for
not bind the parties in legal fashion, and
yet would give a chance for public opin-
ion to exert it's full force for the right.
Control of Corporations.
A considerable portion of the message
is devoted to the subject of, federal con-
troll of corporations in what he refers to
the passage at the last session of the
rate, meat inspection and food laws, and
says that all of these have already just
the amendment of the meat inspection
law so as to put dates on the labels OF
nos and h so to Taber
than on the government Continuing on
this subject of the control of corporations
by the federal government he says:
''It cannot too often be repeated that ex-
perience has conclusively shown the i'm
possibility of securing by the actions of
legislatures anything but ineffective
chaos in the way of dealing with the
great corporations which do not operate
exclusively within the limits of any one
state In some method, whether by a
national license law or in other fashion.
we must exercise, and that at an early
at present over these great corpora
tions-a control that will among other
,overcapitaliZation, and that will compel
the disclosures by each big corporation
of it's stockholders and of its properties
and business, whether owned directly or
thru subsidiary or affiliated corporations.
This will tend to put stop to the secu .na
individuals at the expense whether of
the general public, the stockholders, or
the wageworkers. Our effort should be
such. but so to supervise and control it
as to see that it results in no harm to
the people The reactionary or ultracon<
sentative apologists for the misuse OF
wealth aSSail the effort to secure such
| control as a step toward socialism. AS
matter of fact it is these reactionaries
and ultraconservatives who are them
| selves most potent in increasing socialis-
tic feeling One of the most efficient
methods of averting the consequences of
! dangerous agitation. which is 50 per
cent wrong, is to remedy the 20 per cent
| of evil as to which the agitation is well
! founded. The best way to avert the very
ownership of railways is to secure by
| the government on behalf of the people
regulation of the great interstate com
mon carriers as will do away with the
evils which give rise to the agitation
| against them. So the proper antldote
| to the dangerous and wicked agitation
| against the men of wealth as such is TO
secure by proper legislation and execu-
! tive action the abolition of the grave
| abuses which actually do obtain in con-
| nection with the business use of wealth
system-of failure. to exercise any ade-
| quate control at all. Some persons speak
as if the exercise of such governmental
| control would do away With the freedom
| of individual initiative and dwarf indi-
! vidual effort. This is not fact. 1t
/ would be a veritable calamit: to fail to
| put premium upon individual initiative,
| individual capacity and effort; upon the
energy. character and foresight which
| It is so important TO encourage IN the
| Individual But as o matter of fact the
deadening and degrading effect of pure
socialism. and especially of its extreme
| form communism, and the destruction OF
| individual character which they would
/ bring about, are in part achieved by the
wholly unregalated competition which
| results in single individual or corpor-
alton rising at the expense of all others
| until his its rise effectually checks all
| competition and reduces former -competi-
| tors to a position of utter inferiority and
| Subordination.
In enacting and enforcing such legis-
| Iaton as this congress already has to its
| credit, we are working on coherent
plan, with the steady endeavor to secure
| the Eeeded reform by the joint action OF
| the moderate men. the. plain men who
| do not wish anything hysterical or
| dangerous, but who do intend to deal
in resolute commonsense fashion with
the real and great evils of the present
| system. The dictionaries and the vio-
| lent extremists show symptoms of join
| ing hands against US. Both assert. for
instance, that If logical, we should so
to government ownership of railroads
| and the like; the reactionaries, because
| on such an issue they think the people
would stand with. them, while the ex-
1 ictS to Arb hi eraf