The Washington bee., 1907-08-17
TIE DIGNITY OF LABOR
orr7sTFR VERNON TALKS ON
TsROR ADVISES COLORED
NERICANS TO JOIN La
POR ORGANIZATIONS.
Kansas, August Q.

.,- Meeting. which has been in session
.-,- August 4 and continues until the
-,.r REGISTER w. T. Vernon, Senator
,.,--g,r DIR. Booker 7. Washington and
..r.-s spoke. DR.. Vernon, represent
.-r fl. Administration, spoke as fol
lows
Fellow Citizens Il feel myself more
.t.r hm,ored in coming to you as the
-.o-.-rntative of that friend Of labor
p-.sident Theodore Roosevelt, to ad-
dress YOU. my countrymen, and If pos
.;H. to contribute in some measure to
-l- splendid efforts made by the man
cement Of your exposition.
7 address myself today not alone 10
-1. members of my race on purely
-a-ial questions but the presence OF these
r,bor organizations impels me to speak
r, some measure concerning labor ana
.bst for which labor stands.
Time was in the history of the world
,ber the gentleman was said to be the
ma, who did not work-when labor was
,..oriated with indignity; and society
--..r1ded had no word of praise lot
~. honest laboring man. Be 1t sara
.t.. --sfir Of a sane age that the Dig
... .f labor is acknowledged and that
- r.r. learned to view with pity ana
..--r,. with contempt that one who
4... mon the efforts of others. From
material standpoint the ability to Ia
f,- is Gods great gift to man. That
Providence which decreed that man III
-r. sweat Of his face should earn his
bread thereby blessed him; for, IRON
.... rahar of the individual have strength
or body. strength of mind, and the IL
,.-rsrrd soul which idleness knoweth
not Mans struggles from the Stone
Ar- until now-his discovery IN the
arts and sciences, his making books, his
inventions. his overcoming nature-are
An the result of labor. His annlhllauon
Of SPACE his utilization OF time, his CIV
mo- fo himself and family the comforts
of home. and true happiness, are the
rewards of noble effort Mighty cities,
marts Of trade, harbors-an the accumu-
ation of civilization and an interna-
ronaI oneness of purpose which make
this hour the admiration of intelligent
humanity are the sequence of the com
mand "In the sweat Of thy face shalt
thou eat bread"
The Negro as a laborer has done his
part in this task of world imprOver ant,
He was working in that Garlic, day
when civilization had its birthplace with
those who built the Pyramids and made
the Sphinx to keep silent vigil on the
banks of the Nile. The efforts of his
brain and Drawn thread the worlds great
achievements, and have seen their frui-
non in his part in the development OF
American civilization. And today that
man of the race does most for the race
who when he teaches his children to Ia
Dor and prepares them to labor intelli-
gently.
Labor IS not toll, Toll IS the grind
ing, servile task, the portion of slaves
and can not be where men are taught
20 think. Labor implies intelligent ef-
fort. The laboring man thinks and
works rather than is worked.
The great mass of our countrymer
will always be those who work with
their hands. The safety of America
rests with the intelligent laboring class
Tor this reason the wisest statesmen, the
truest patriots are those who strive fol
The education, the protection and intel
Igcnt cooperation Of the laboring class
There is much cause for congratula-
lion in the growth and development OF
labor organizations. With the efforts
for civil. political and religious liberty
have grown apace the efforts for indus
trial betterment. The mobiles and rulers
IN the extreme Of human selhshness
ground down to the last extremity the
proletariat class. but in the night OF
their oppression these struggled uneeas'
ingly for a better day.
In the days of Constantine there were
no less than thirty-hve labor organiza'
tions having for their aim the doing
away with the contempt and faint OF
labor which came from the belief that
workers had no souls.
Through the intervening years the Ia
boring classes in secret wrought out
better condition, and the cumulative
force Of their struggle was seen by the
civilized world in that mighty struggle
the French Revolution, which bade the
world look up and hope for better day
The stretch from Runnymede to the
Declaration of independence had meant
much in the lives of nations, but re-
tard had been set in motion by the IN
PRODUCTION of slave labor in Jamestown
in 1919.