The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1907-10-05


Of parasitism and plumber? Why. then.
do we SO concern ourselves about such
ordinary phenomena as besgars and
mendicancy, stealing and thieves?
Manifestly it Is because Of their uni
versatility, because the mania of get
ting something for nothing" is taken
possession Of American life.
Now, If it be true that graft is un-
dermining our civilization, it must also
be true that the faith Of men in the
old moral sanctions has failed, that
over great hosts the "Thou shalt not
Of the Hebraic code has lost even the
semblance Of authority. Men are not
only ceasing to believe that there Is
any relation between honest labor and
steady employment, but they are ceas-
ing also to believe that there is any
relation between honest labor and
happiness. They see to the contrary
on every side great fortunes built lit
orally from nothing, while enforced
idleness and misery pursue whole
classes of men who have labored dong
and faithfully-both facts of common
observation in utter defiance Of the
moral law.
Is there labor graft? You cannot
| find leaf Of labor graft that has not
been taken direct from the book of
business graft. The only difference .is
| that one grew in the dark of secret
conference and special Geographic
code, fed by cultured, cold and calcul-
ating greed whose chosen weapons were
land and tariff monopolies, the tireless
| rebate and the noiseless bride; while
| the other has grown In the lurid light
Of bloody riots and contending fac
tions nurtured by the Ignorance,
hunger and fear of locked out and
striking thousands of disinherited
men. In the upper regions of success,
in trust-industry and high-finance,
there has been little recognition Of the
moral law for a generation. One
| great corporation Of which I know
personally, and one let it be said that
employs a social secretary, and is
! financing a great educational enter
| prise in the interest of it's employees,
| instances a very general condition in
| the industrial world. On the first day
| Of last October this corporation was
giving regular employment to- over
$500 men. On the first day Of May.
1904, less than $500 men We're on its
pay rolls. Loss of employment here
was not determined by the merit OF
| the laborer or his length Of service, but
wholly by financial and the competi-
tive advantage of the corporation.
Whole departments are closed down.
Many of sthese men have been for
over ten years in the employ of this
corporation had married, bought
homes, and. had. families depending
upon them. Yesterday they looked
| forward to steady employment through
their working years; today the great
gates to the shop are locked, and
tackled upon them is this inscription:
These shops closed down indefi-
nitely." So far as the individual la
borer is concerned, there is no moral
quality in this industrial Judgment
that sentences him to become wand
erer seeking work, and his family to
suffer poverty, after the faithful labor
| of long years. Talk to this man Of
! the love Of God! Tell him that hon.
esty, industry and kindness is the way
to success and happiness! He will
laugh you to scorn. The iron Of So
cial injustice and industrial wrong has
| entered into his soul.
What real consolation has the
! church to offer this man? Imagine, if
you can, that in his desolation and
bitterness of heart he should wander
into metropolitan congregation.
Seated in a gallery pew he looks over
the well fed, well groomed worship
pers. What does he think in his
heart? There to the right sits Deacon
A. who lives without labor on divt-
dends from the Consolidated Traction
company that has stolen the streets
of his city, that has forced his daugh-
ter to stand on the corner in mid
winter twenty minutes on her, way
home from work for the privilege Of
hanging from a. strap, and has charged
SO much for this miserable transport
tation that his children have never
seen the most beautiful of the public
parks. Across the aisle is Elder B.
who lives without labor from the divi-
dends Of the Union Steamship COM
pany that runs line of freight boats
whose forecastles are infested with
vermin, and whose deck hands are
fed refuse unfit for human food
these same deck hands chosen pur-
posely from the human waste Of the
> industrial system congested in the
great city and expected to remain for
only one trip, because ut is cheaper
to hire buns than SELF respecting
| men," Up near the front row is
Trustee C. who lives without labor
from the dividends Of a railroad equip
ment company, that robbed the con-
struction company that robbed the
krailroad company, that robbed the
government, that robbed the tax pay
ers, who built the railroad that now
robs the community through which it
runs, and exploits italian immigrants
4 to keep up it's roadbed; and when one
Of them Is Injured by some cheap
economy, has a company surgeon who
gets this ignorant laborer while In the
company's hospital to sign a release
and satisfaction for all claims against
the company for his injury, and as
soon as the laborer is able to walk,
generously provides him with crutch