Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1908-09-08

join in the enactment of laws which
will restrain them in moments of temp
tation. Some assume that labor is law !,
less and that to settle the labor ques
ton permanently we need only en-
force the law vigorously. / yield to 4,
the law Law is necessary in human
society, and it's enforcement is essen
tial to peace and order, but we must
remedy abuses by law if we would in
sure respect for, and obedience to, law.
Is Shield and Sword.
The important lesson TO be learned
by the citizen in government like
ours is that the ballot is both shield
and sword-it protects him from in
jury and enforces his rights.
The first thing that is needed for a
better understanding of labor ques-
tons is the recognition of the equal
rights of all; and, second, more init
mate acquaintance. We have rights
that may be called natural rights; they
are inherent; we have them because
we are human beings. The govern
ment did not bestow them upon us
the government cannot rightfully with
draw them from us. We all came into
the world without our volition; the en-
vironment of youth largely determines
the course of our lives, and this envir-
onment is not of our choosing. We
live under the same moral obligations,
and we are responsible to the same
Supreme Being. We have our needs
that must be supplied; we require food,
clothing, shelter, companionship. We
have our domestic ties, and the tender
ness of these ties is not measured by
wealth or position in society. Man has
used petty distinctions to separate So
ciety into different classes, but these
pared with the great similarities that
unite us In common destiny and i'm
pei us toward common end.
On this day it is we'll to empha size
the fact that we are linked together
by bonds which We could not break if
we would and should not weaken if
we could. 1t ought to be easy to learn
this lesson in the United States, for
here, more than anywhere else, people
feel their interdependence. We have
no law of primogeniture to separate
the oldest son from his brothers and
sisters land we have no law of entail
! to prevent the, alienation of an estate.
There is no aristocracy resting upon
birth or kingly favor; and if the peo-
| pie perform their civic duties, there
will be no plutocracy ruling in the
name of the dollar. Here the road to
advancement is public highway, and
! it is within our power to keep it open
| to all alike. Here, too, the government
| is within the control of the people, and
| no department of the service is out of
| the reach of the voter or beyond the
| influence of public opinion. Under our
constitution, some branches of the gov
eminent are more responsive than
others to the public will, but our gov
eminent can be controlled by the peo-
| pie. from the organic law which we
call the constitution to the statute and
the courts decree.
| Long Step Upward.
A long step toward the elevation of
labor to its proper position in the ma
tons deliberations is to be found in
the establishment of a department of
labor, with a cabinet officer at its
head The wage earners deserve this
recognition, and the executive is en-.
titled to the assistance which such an
official could render him. regard the
Inauguration of this reform as the
opening of new era In which those
who toll will have a voice in the de-
alterations of the presidents council
chamber
The labor organization has been ser
iously handicapped by the fact that it
has been-and [ am not sure that it
has not been done neutrality-suspicious.
up with the industrial combinations
known as trusts. The proneness OF
trust defenders to use the labor organ,
lizatiors as an excuse for combinations