St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1906-12-05


an honest effort to better what is bad
In our social and governmental condi-
tons
corruption Is never so rife as in com.
munltles where the demagogue and the
agitator bear full sway. because in
such communities all moral bands be-
come loosened. and hysteria and sensa-
tionalism replace the spirit of sound
Judgment and fair dealing as between
man and man. In sheer revolt against
the squalid anarchy thus produced men
are sure in the end to turn toward any
leader who can restore order. and then
their relief at being free from the in
tolerabe burdens of class hatred, vio-
lence and demagogy Is such that they
cannot for some time be aroused to in
dignation against misdeeds by men of
wealth, so that they permit a new
growth of the very abuses which were
In part responsible for the original out
break. The one hope for success for
our people lies in resolute and fear
less but sane and cool headed advance
along the path marked out last year
by this very congress. There must be
stern refusal to be misled into fol-
lowing either that base creature who
appeals and panders to the lowest in
stincts and passions in order to arouse
one set Of Americans against their fel-
lows or that other creature, equally
base, but no baser, who In spirit of
greed or to accumulate or add to an
already huge fortune seeks to exploit
his fellow Americans with callous dis
regard to their welfare of soul and
body. The man who debauches others
In order to obtain a high office stands
on an evil equality Of corruption with
the man who ,debauches others for
financial profit, and when hatred is
sown the crop which springs up can
only be evil.
The plain people who think-the me-
chanics, farmers, merchants, workers
with head or hand. the men to whom
American traditions are dear, who love
their country and try to act decently
by their neighbors-owe it to them
selves to remember that the most dam
aging blow that can be given popular
government is to elect an unworthy
and sinister agitator on a platform of
violence and hypocrisy.
Railroad Employees Hours.
call your attention to the need of
passing the bill limiting the number of
hours of employment of railroad en-
ployees. The measure is a very moder-
ate one, and | can conceive of no seri-
Gus objection to it. Indeed. so far as
it is in our power, it should be our aim
steadily to reduce the number of hours
Of labor. with as goal the general in
PRODUCTION of an eight hour day. There
are industries in which it Is not pos
sible that the hours of labor should
be reduced, just as there are commune
ties not far enough advanced for such
q movement to be for their good, or, If
In the tropics, so situated that there is
no analogy between their needs and
ours in this matter. On the isthmus
of Panama, for instance the condi-
tons are in every way so different
from what they are here that an eight
hour day would be absurd, just as 1t
is absurd, so far as the isthmus is con-
cerned. where white labor cannot be
employed, to bother as to whether the
necessary work is done by alien black
men or by alien yellow men. But the
wageworkers of the United States are
of so high a grade that alike from the
merely industrial standpoint and from
the civic standpoint it should be our
object to do what we can In the direc-
ton of securing the general observance
of an eight hour day.
Let me again urge that the congress
provide for a thorough investigation
of the conditions of child labor and of
the labor of women in the United
States. The horrors incident to the
employment of young children in fac
tories or at work anywhere are blot
on our civilization.
In spite of all precautions exercised
by employers there are unavoidable ac-
cidents and even deaths involved In
nearly every line of business connect
ed with the mechanic arts. 1t Is
great social injustice to compel the en-
ployee. or, rather, the family of the
killed or disabled victim. to bear the
entire burden of such an inevitable
sacrifice. In other words, society shirks
its duty by laying the whole cost on
the victim, whereas the injury comes
from what may be called the legiti-
mate risks of the trade. Compensation
for accidents or deaths due in any line
of industry to the actual conditions I'M
der which that industry is carried on
should be paid by that portion of the
community for the benefit of which
the industry is carried on-that Is. by
those who profit by the industry II
the entire trade risk is placed upon the
employer, he will promptly and prop
erly add it to the legitimate cost of pro
duction and assess it proportionately
upon the consumers of his commodity.
1t is therefore clear to my mind that
the law should place this entire risk
of trade" upon the employer.
Capital and Labor Disputes.
Records show that during the TWEEN
a., ,,aoro from Ian 1891 IN Dee ri