The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1907-08-31

II physical weakness and un-
E3gL accustomed environment.
Xt1H Yet they have entered our
kak, sharply competitive indus
0 trial system, and must
often take up single-handed a strug-
gle for existence in which the war
ware is no less sharp because the
weapon are the tools of manufacture
and the stake the supply or failure Of
their daily bread
The TACT that they have been able
to do this without loss of virtue, and
with an increasing degree Of justice
from the men who are their competi-
tors and employers proves chivalry
to be something more than beautiful
dream Of the past
The great army of men represent
ed b. the American Federation of
Labor are pledged to the fulfillment
of these VOWS. not only by the ties
which the human heart holds most
sacred but by the fundamental prin-
ciple underlying the organizations,
and the stern economical necessity
that gives persistence ald force to all
their efforts.
Whose little ones gather the spools
! and watch the endless threads of the
cotton mills or run to aad fro on
the countless errands of the great
stores These are not the carefully
protected children of the capitalist or
professional man. The frai young
girl who stands long hours behind
the counter or sacrifices health and
eyesisht in some basement work room
is the daughter and sweetheart of a
wageworker. In. proportion as the
conditions surrounding the working
mans life become less brutalizing. his
finer human sentiments urge him to
insist on the protection OF those
bound to him by the tenderest of hui
man ties.
The labor organizations are not
only pledged to the protection OF
women and children workers by these
most primitive and potent of human
ties, but by ideals that give deeper
meaning to the movement.
Economists assure us that wages
are largely determined by the stand
ard of comfort demanded by the
workers. The high standard of the
American workman is threatened, not
alone by the competition of foreign
ers. unable to adopt it, but also by
the more insidious inroads due to
/ child labor, or to some forms of fe-
male competition. How is child
whose immature mind and body have
been stunted by the deadening round
Of machine tending to learn pride OF
race or attain the manly vigor neces-
sary to claim and defend the priv,
iiege of his class? Occasionally one
of exceptional strength may overcome
the difficulties of his youth, but the
majority grow up to reinforce that
class Of incompetents, mentally, NOR
ally and physically, who prove heavy
hurdens within the unions, or with
out them menace their fellow work
men more seriously by their short
/ sighted readiness to accept the lower
Standard against which the unions are
struggling. s
DR.. Englemann, in recent in
restigation of the health of women of
the professional and working classes,
the severe mental training necessary
for professional career suffer much
less from the ills peculiar to women
than the working girls, with their
long hours of standing and confine-
tuent. Direct observers, like the Van
Forsts, lay great emphasis on the uni
yersally unsanitary conditions under
which women work, and the resulting
prevalence of anaemic and distorted
physiques. These women will be the
mothers of tho next generation of
American workmen. The most eff
fective and far-reaching efforts to
promote class and national welfare
will begin with their protection.
In the closing paragraphs of an ar
ticle in the Annals of the American
academy of Political and Social
science, Walter Macarthur says
THE attitude of the American
trade unionist is that OF appeal to the
spirit Of independence and to reali-
zation of the truth that the workers
are themselves the sole repository of
power to better their lot. The solemn
lesson of history. to-day and every
day Of our lives, is that the workers
must depend upon themselves for the
improvement of the conditions Of la
bor"
This Is the stern doctrine OF trade
unionisE applicable to men and
women alike
Aside from inherited incapacity for
organization. women have been de.
tered from any systematic and per