The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-12-04

number in the preceding five years ! Inese figures indicate the increasing
 deal with this class - of ~ disturSances es
 n the interest alike of the employer tne employe. and the general public
 tnss eneM es my previous recommendatior the matter of creating the machiner, TOT compulsory investigation of such
 inuustrial controversies as are of suf- ticient magnitude and of sufficient con. cern 10 the people of the country as .
 whole to warrant the Federal Govern
 ment in taking action.
 The need for some provision for
 such inyestigation was forcibly Illus. strike of telegraph operators seriously
 interfered with telegraphic communica-
 ton, causing great damage to busi- | ness interests and serious inconveni-
 ence to the general public. Appeals were made to me from many parts of the country, from city councils, from
 boards of trade, from chambers of com
 merce. and from labor organizations, urging that steps be taken to terminate the strike. Everything that could with any proprfety be done by 6! representa-
 tive of the Government was done. with out avail, and for weeks the public stood by and suffered without re-
 course of any kind. Had the machinery existed and had there been authority
 Tor compulsory investigation of the dis
 placed in possession of the merits of
 the controversy. and public opinion
 would probaly have brought about a prompt adjustment.
 Each successive step creating
 machinery for the adjustment of labor
 difficulties must be taken with caution.
 but we should endeavor to make
 progress in this direction.
 The provisions of the act of 1898
 creating the chairman of the Interstate
 Commerce Commission and the Com
 missioner of Labor board of media
 tion' in controversies between inter-
 state railroads and their employees has.
 Tor. the first time, been subjected to
 serious tests within the past year, and
 the wisdom of the experiment has been
 fully demonstrated. The creation of a
 board for compulsory investigation in
 cases where mediation fails and ar
 bitration is rejected is the next logical
 step in a progressive program.
 Capital and Labor.
 It is certain that for some time to
 come there will be a constant increase
 absolutely, and perhaps srelativesy, of
 those among our citizens who dwell in
 work for 'o% Wase Th. sl1e means and tba9
 there will be an ever-increasfng need
 to consider the problems inseparable
 from great industrial civilization.
 ness, especially in those branches re- iating to manufacture and transporta- tion, is transacted by a large number or capitalists who employ very much l&t OL WAEG-tdTnGES, the former tend more and more to com bine into corporations and the Iattcr into unions. The relations of the capitalist and wage-worker to one an- lie. are not always easy to adjust: and to put them and keep them on a satis- factory basis is one of the most im- portant and one of the most delicate Much of the work for the accompiish- ment of this end must be done by the individuals concerned themselves. whether singly or in combinat tion; and never be lost track of Is that. the character of the average man, wfiether he be man Of means or a man who works with his hands. is the most inn aright But it is almost equally im- portant to remember that without good laws 1t Is also impossible to reach the proper solution. It is idle to hold thai labor. as the over-working of women, as the failure to protect employees from loss of life or limb. can be effectively reached. any more than the evils of rebates and stock-watering can be reached without &ood laws. To fail to stop these pracWces by legislation means to force honest men into them because otherwise the dishonest who surely will take advantage of them will have everything their own way. If the states will correct these evils, well and good; but the Nation must stand ready to aid them.
 No question growing out of our rapid and complex industrial development Is more important than that of the em- ployment of women and children. The presence of women in industry reacts with extreme directness upon the character of the home and upon family life, and the conditions surrounding the employment of of-children bear vital relation to our future citizenship Our legislation in those areas under the control of the Congress is very much behind the legislation of our more progressive States. A thorough and comprehensive measure should he adopted at this session of Congress re- Iating to the employment of women and l in the District of Columbia and the Territories The investigation | into the condition of women and | children wage-earners recently author. zed and directed by the Congress Is now | being carried on in the various States. | and I recommend that the appropria- ton made last year for beginning this l work be renewed. in order that we may | have the thorough and comprehensive | investigation which the subject de l nands The National Government Ina. as an ultimate resort for control of | child labor the use of the interstate clause to prevent the products of child labor from entering | using this 1t ought certainly to enact model laws on the subject for the Ter ritories under its own immediate con -rol.
 There is one fundamental proposition which can be laid down as regards ali these matters, namely: While honesty oy itself will not solve the problem, yet the insistence upon honesty-noT merely technical honesty. but honesty m purpose and spirit-is an essential clement in arriving at a right con- clusion. Vice in it's cruder and more trchaic forms shocks everybody: but here is very urgent need that publt opinion should be just as severe in con- formation of the vice which hides it. self behind class or professional loyal y, or which denies that 1t Is vice If 1t :an escape conviction in the courts The public and the representatives of he public. the high officials. whether 1u the bench or in executive or legisla- i've positions, need to remember that often the most dang erous criminals, so lar the life of the Nation Is con are but those who commit the :rimes known to and condemned by the hose who commit crimes only rem iered possible by the complex condi- ions of our modern industrial life t makes not a particle of difference whether these crimes are committed )y a capitalist or by laborer, by q eading banker or manufacturer or 'ailroad man. or by a leading represen- ative of a labor union. Swindling in tocks, corrupting legislatures. making ortunes by the imitation of securities through rebatcs-these orms Of wr"ngdotng in the capitalist. Ire far more infamous than any rdinary form of embezzlement or for ;ery; yet 1t is d matter of extreme diff iculty to secure the punishment of he man most guilty of them. most esponsible for them. The business nan who condones such conduct stand