The Washington herald., 1907-06-11

lation to secure pecuniary compensation
/ to workmen suffering from accidents, ana
when they are killed. 10 their families.
"The national government should be
model employer. 1t should demand the
highest quality Of service from It's en-
| ployes and should care for them properly
| in return. Congress should adopt legis-
lation providing limited hut definite com
pensation for accidents to all workmen
within the scope Of the Federal power
/ including employees In navy yards and
arsenals. Similar legislation should FOL
| low throughout the states. The old ana
/ Inadequate remedy of suit for negligence
would then gradually disappear
such a policy would mean that with
/ increased responsibility Of the employer
would come increased care. and accidents
would be reduced ln number. The tenn
porary burden involved will not hamper
our industries. Long experience OF COM
pensati0n laws in other countries has
! demonstrated their benefit. What we adj
vocate is only simple measure of Justice,
only one step toward the goal OF secur-
/ ing. so far as human wisdom can secure,
/ fair and equitable treatment for each and
/ every one Of our people
/ LAS a corollary 20 the above. let me
point out the extreme unwisdom OF tile
railway companies In fighting the consti-
tUtioualitv OF the national employers ia
bilitv law. No law is more emph9tiCally
/ needed and 10 must be kept 0u the
statute books in drastic and thorough
# ,-rfI IL fsfH
/ 20 demand tho interference and to claim
/ the protection of the Federal courts iu
/ times OF riot and disorder, and in turn
the Federal government should see 20 10
/ that they are not permitted successfully
/ 90 plead that they are under the Federal
[ law when thereby their own rights can
/ be protected but outside Of # when it Is
/ invoked against them I'm behalf ~ the
rights Of others If it Is proper for 'he
I Federal courts 10 issue iniunCti7us no
behalf of railroads it is proper that
railroads should he held 20 a strict liza
bility for accidents occurring 90 their
emDloves. There should De tho pl3iuest
and most unequivocal additional state
I ment bv enactment OF Congress. 90 the
effect that railroad employees are entitled
( 10 receive damages for any accident that
comes 20 them as an incident of the per
/ formance Of their duties, and tho law
should be such that u Will be Impossible
/ for the railroads successfully % fight u
/ without thereby forfeitIng all right %
/ the protection Of the Federal government
under any circumstances In the same
/ way there should be rigid Federal iegisla-
! tion % minimize all railway accidents.
Wants Men for Navy.
In closing. friends and fellow-citizcrs
Of Georgia, let me say one word suggested
by the recent ceremonies, i'm which you
| have just taken part. in connection with
your gift 10 the noble battle ship named
after your state. Our battle ships and
great armored cruisers. our fighting craft
are named after States of our Union,
and this symbolizes the fact that The
navy is common possession of all Of
us and that its honors and its triumphs
are IS dear 20 the heart Of a true Ameri-
can who dwells inland as TO true
I American who dweNs anywhere on the
/ seacoast The navy is our surest guar
anty for peace. and if war should ever
come it will be the greatest safeguard
[ for our honor and our interest. As is
! likewise true Of our army. it IS manned
! by a volunteer force. for it must never
/ be FORGOTTEN that all our soldiers and
sailors. whether regular or not, are vol
unteers Every eucoUra cement should be
/ given 10 our navy, and 70 public servant
should be pardoned for failing 10 do
everything I'm him % see that We have
the best type Of ships and Of guns, and
/ that the officers and enlisted men are
/ held to the strictest accountability for
so praCtiCing with the ships and guns
that no navy aGoat shall. ship for ship
SQUADRON for squadron. be our superior.
IF the officers and enlisted men do
their duty-8nd l am thankful to say that
| in our navy the cases where they do not
do their duty are relatively few in num-
ber-they put us all under a deep obliga-
ton to them. and we should give them
all the reward and uragement in our
power The higher man Is i'm the
service. the greater should be our insist
/ ence upon having the best kind Of man.
/ We should have a system Of promotion
either by elimination or by selection. so
/ that mediocre officers could not come 10
! the top. The officers in responsible posi-
/ ti0ns should he watched with peculiar
/ care Each captain OF a ship must do
his duty Just as emphatically as the on
/ listed men must do their duty. and the
way they do their duty will largely de-
pend upon the way he does his. lie must
keep his officers and men in good order.
and he must remember that it is ordi-
narily his fault if they 60 down hill. il
they deteriora.e in discipline or become
discontented. Modern wars are in reality
decided long before they are fought. l
earnestly hope that We shall never have
another war; but if We do, its result will
have been determined in advance; for
its outcome will mainly depend upon the
preparation which has been made 10 meet
1t in time Of peace.
This lesson Of preparedness does not
| relate merely to war, IT is just IS true
Of our ordinary civic affairs. It Is as true
Of the nation as Of the individual. Each
of us does any given piece of work well
or III. largely according to how he has
previously trained himself 70 do g. The
nation. which is but the aggregate Of
the individuals composing it. Will rise or
fail 10 rise in any great crisis according
10 the Ideals and standards that it has
kept in mind in ordinary DAYS and ac-
cording to the way in which Il has prac-
ticallv trained itself 10 realize these ideals
and come up to these standards We
must insist upon justice and fair dealing
as between man and man. We must
strive each OF US to treat his fellow with
an eye single to what his conduct war
rants. We must work hard and bear our
selves cheerfully and valiantly We must
be kindly and Considerate and yet show
that at need We have iron In our blood.
If we live our ordinary everyday lives