Evening journal., 1907-09-02
Monday, September 2, 1907.
LABOR DAY.

EAN the creature be greater than the creator?
- Often asked, but answered most frequent
ly in the negative And yet there are times
when the creature does seem larger and more
important than the creator How often in these
days do we hear OF the great Importance of cap
itaL The rights of "vested interests" fill the air.
Capital is and has been exalted for centuries in
the minds Of men. Capital has worked up from
position of secondary importance to be practi-
cally the governing force Of the world. And yet
capital is not an original force in production. 1t is
subordinate to labor
Sometimes, as for instance on Labor Day, it is
well to consider certain fundamentals
Labor Day is usually devoted to a display
Of the so-caled working people We read
OF their prosperity, how many of them are en-
poyed, what their prospects are, what they are
doing-and wonder il they have just Gauss for
holiday, reason for demonstration and the CALI
ing to the attention of the public the import
ance the absolute dignity the worth of labor
For labor has not always held the position that
it now occupies. Even within the personal re-
collection of many now living in our own beneh-
cent country, a great deal of the productive labor
in one part of the nation was performed by hui
man slaves The rise of what is termed labor to
its present power has been marked by long,
painful struggle hard to realize in this enlight
ened age. It's progress would fill a volume Its
standard is better than it ever has been It's
future is brighter. It's position is higher. Any
fundamental reason for all this? Sure and cer-
tain more than we realize There is a reason.
Let us consider for a moment on this appro-
pirate occasion what the making of wealth really
is-what economic existence is Not often
these subjects-that is the basic principles
heard of. More's the pity, political economy is
not taught in many schools. Most young people
grow up in ignorance OF it.
All through the production OF wealth the key
note is labor. In the making of wealth, things
we see and use, there are generally considered
three factors They are nature (Which includes
land), labor, capital. Capital comes last, but
perhaps, to most of us the last is considered the
first. Economists make no such ranking of cap
ital. In fact, Bohm- -Bawerk recognizes only
two productive forces-nature and man.
Labor in all the writings is dignihed. Capital
the results of past labor saved for future produc-
tion of itself is inert dead brought to life only
by the magic touch OF labor.
Speaking of capital, Professor eide says:
yet however great be the importance of the
third factor of product (capital), it is only the
product of nature and labor Though nowadays
it has acquired such weight as to rank equally
with its fellow workers, and sometimes even to
take precedence ov0T them. still we must not for
get that logically, historically and genetc2lly.
capital proceeds from the two prime factors
Capital is not an agent in production, as is too
often said, but an instrument, auxiliary, whose
aid, it is true, man no longer dispense with
Once upon a time however he was obliged to do
without it."
And then in considering labor, which produces
real wealth, be il remembered that the men who
are celebrating to-day are actual producers Of
the wealth of the country. They make things,
Not so long ago they were considered the sole
producers, but some of the later economists have
let in the rest of us not being merely livers
off the wealth of Others but also producers in
directly They say that the lawyer, the clergy
man, the policeman, the editor, the clerk and all
others are real wealth producers along with the
man who uses the hammer and the saw the one
who actually tls the field. Those who don't
work manually thus slip in but it is very doubt
ful whether they belong there, as this class
r. axe no actual contribution to wealth
These things are simply recalled to show that
labor is important and is so recognized. There
fore, we should be pleased that labor celebrates
as is its right. We should rejoice with the work
ers as they rejoice. And we have more abundant
reason for satisfaction because of present condi-
tions On the whole the conditions are good
We don't believe there is half the i'll feeling be-
tween capital and labor so-caled in every day
life as some folk supposed. Wages are better
The workingman is getting more OF the produce