The Charles Mix new era. (Wagner, Charles Mix County, S.D.) 1???-1911, 1907-12-06

snge to the preceding congress-. since
1895 practically every country OF Eo-
rope. together with Great Britain. New
Zealand. Australia, British Columbia,
and the Cape Of Good Hope has enacted
legislation ~embodying In one form OF
another the complete recognition OF the
r~rincinie which places upon the en-
ployer the entire trade risk In the
various lines OF industry.
Eight Hour law.
The principle OF the eight-hour day
should as rapidly and as Tar as prac-
tlcable be extended TO the entire work
carried on by the government; n
the present law should be amended TO
embrace contracts on those pupIio
WORKS which the present wording of the
act has been construed TO exclude.
Investigation OF Industrial Disputes.
Strikes and lockouts. with their at
tendant loss and suffering. continue 10
Increase. For the Ave years ending
| December 81. 1905, the number OF strikes
was greater than those In any previous
ten years and was double the number
In the preceding i've years. Ihcse nS.
ures indicate the increasing need OK
providing some machinery TO deaI Win
this class OF disturbances in the inter-
est alike Of the employer. the employe.
and the general public. l renew my
/ previous recommendation that the con-
gress fayorabiy consider the matter OK
/ cr eating the machinery for compulsory
Investigation OF such industrial contro-
vers!es as are or sufficient magnitude
and OF sufficient concern to the peopio
OF the country as q whole to warrant
the federal government In taking ac-
tion.
The need for some provision for
such investigation was forcibly IL
Illustrated during the past sum-
nler. A strike Of telegraph oper-
ators seriously interfered with teie-
| graphic communication, causing great
damage TO business interests and Sc
rious Inconvenience to the general pub
1 iic. Appeals were made to me from
many parts OF the country. from city
councils. from boards OF trade, from
| chambers of commerce. and from labor
organizations, urging that steps %
taken 70 terminate the strike. Every
thing hat could with any propriety Do
done by q representative OF the govern
ment was done. without avail. and fog
weeks the public stood by and suffered
without recourse OF any kind. Had the
machinery existed and had there been
authority for compulsory Investigation
OF the dispute, the public would have
been placed In possession OF the merits
OF the controversy. and public opinion
woulG probably have brought about .
prompt adjustment.
Employment of Women and Children.
No question growing out of our rapid
III &hsAApatA A4sAlE ii WV -
more important than that Of the en-
ploylaent OF women and children. The
presence OF women in industry reacts
with extreme directness upon the char.
ncter of the home and upon family life.
and the conditions surrounding the em-
ploynlent OF children bear q vital rela-
ton to our future citizenship. Our legis-
lation in those areas under the con-
troll of the congress is very much be-
hind the Legislation of our more pro-
gressive states. a thorough and conn
p~rehensive measure should be adopted
1t this session of the congress relating
TO the employment of women n chill
aren In the District of Columbia and
the territories. The investigation into
the condition of women and children
wage-earners recently authorized n
directed by the congress is now being
carried on in the various states, and !
recommend that the appropriation
| made last year for the beginning OF this
work be renewed, in order that we may
have the thorough and comprehensive
investigation which the subject de-
mands. The national government has
as an ultimate resort for control OF
child labor the use of the Interstate
commerce clause to prevent the prod
ucts of child labor from entering into
interstate commerce. But before using
this it ought certainly TO enact model
laws on the subject for the territories
under its own immediate control.
The Really Dangerous Criminals.
There is one fundamental proposition
which can be laid down as regards all
these matters. namely: While honesty
by itself Will not solve the problem.
yet the insistence upon honesty-not
merely technical honesty. but honesty
in purpose and spirits an essential
element in arriving at a right conclu-
sion. Vice in its cruder and more
archaic forms shocks everybody; but
there is very urgent need that public
opinion should be just as severe In con-
demYation of the vice which hides itself
behind class or professional loyalty, or
which denies that 1t is vice II IL can
escape conviction IN the courts. The
public and the representatives or
the public. the high officials. whether
on the bench or in executive or legis-
iatiVe positions, Iced to remember that
often the most dangerous criminals, SO
far as the life of the nation is con-
eerne6, are not those who commit the
crimes known TO and condemned by he
popular consctences for centuries. but
those who commit crimes only rendered
possible by the complex conditions OF
our nloGeTn industrial life. 1t makes
rot Il particle OF difference whether
these crimes are committed by a cap
italist or by a lahorer. b. n leading
banker or manufacturer or railroad
man, or by a leading representative Of
a labor union.
%Swindiing in stocks. corrupting /
legislatures, making fortunes by !
the initiation of securities, by wreck I
ing railroads, by destroying COM ;
petitors through reDates-these I
IA forms OF wrongdoing in the cap I
italist. are for more infamou than /:
any ordinary form OF enbezziement :
or forgery; yet IL is a matter OF ex-
trer3e difficulty 10 secure the pun /;
issfnent OF the mar most guilty OF :
them. most responsible for them. ;
The business maj who condones I
such conduct stands on a level with !
the labor man who deliberately sup I
ports ~ corrupt demagogue n agi- !
| taior. whether head of a union or I
head OF some municipality, because Z
he Is said to have stood by the !
union" The members OF the bust :
ness community. the educators. or {
clerrymesl, who condone and en-
courage the first kind OF wrongdo- :
ing, are no more dangerous to the :
| /: community. but are morally even :
worae. than the labor men who are :
| guilty OF the second type OF wrong
doing. because less In to be par I: