Evening journal., 1908-09-07
BRYAN PLEADS
LABOR'S CAUSE
Continued from First Page.


sary in human society, and its enforce
ment is essential to peace and order.
but we must remedy abuses by Law
II we would insure respect for, and
obedience to. law.
'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.
Equal Rights For All.
The first thing tnar is needed for a
better understanding OF labor questions
is the recognition of the equal rights Of
all, and, second, more intimate acquaint-
ance. We have rights that may be called
natural rights; they are inherent; we
have them because we are human beings.
The government did not bestow them
upon us-the government cannot right
fully withdraw them from us. We all
come into the world without our volition;
the environment Of yiuth largely deter
mines the courses of our lives, and this
environment is not Of our choosing We
live under the same moral obligations,
and 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 tenderness Of these
ties is not measured by wealth or posi-
ton in society. Man has used petty dis
tinctions to separate society into diff
ferent classes. but these distinctions are
insignificant when compared with the
great similarites that unite us in a COM
mon destiny and impel US toward a COM
mon end.
ION this day II is we'll to emphasize
the fact that we are linked together by
bonds which we could not break If we
would and should not weaken If we
could II ought to be easy to learn this
lesson In the United States, for here. more
than anywhere else, people feel their in
dependence. We have no law of pri-
mogeniture TO separate the oldest son
from his brothers and sisters; and we
have no law Of entail to prevent the
alienation of an estate There is no
aristocracy resting upon birth or hngly
favor; If the people perform their civic
duties, there will be no plutocracy rul-
ing in the name Of the dollar. Here the
road to advancement is a public high
way. and 1t is within our power TO keep
Il open to all alike. Here. too, the gov
ernment is within the control of the peo-
pie. 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
government are more responsive than
others to the public WILL but our gov
ernment are more responsive than 9th
ers to the public WILL but our govern
ment can be controlled by the people,
from the organic law which we call the
constitution to the statute and the courts
decree.
"A long step toward the elevation Of
labor to its proper position in the ma
tion's deliberations is to be found in the
establishment of a Department Of La
Dor. with a cabinet officer at its head
The wage earners deserve this recogni-
ton, and the executive is entitled to the
assistance which such an official could
render him. ] regard the Il auguration OF
this reform as the opening Of new era
in which those who toll will have a voice
in the deliberations Of the Presidents
council chamber.
Labors Handicap.
"The labor organization has been seri-
ously handicapped by the fact that il has
been-and 1 am not sure that it has not
been done unwittingly-yoked up with
the Industrial combinations known as
trusts The proneness OF trusts defenders
to use the labor organization as an ex-
cuse for combinations in restraint OF
trade has aroused the suspicion that they
have been classed together for the pur-
pose OF shielding the combinations Of
capital. AS the result Of eighteen years
of antitrust legislation, only one man
has been given penal sentence for vio-
lating the federal law on this subject,
and that man was a member OF labor
organization rather than trust mag
nate. The laboring man is justified In
his demand that a distinction shall be
drawn between the labor organization
and the industrial monopoly.
''rhe trust and the labor organization
canot be described in the same language
The trust magnates have used their powel
to amass swollen fortunes, while no on
will say that the labor organization has al
yet secured for its members more thar
their share Of the profits arising from thii
work. But there are fundamental differ
ences. The trust is a combination Of dol
lars; the labor organization is an associa
ton of human beings In a trust few
men atempt to control the product o
ethers: in a labor organization, the mem
bers unite for the protection Of that which
Is their own, namely, their own labor
which being necessary TO their existence
Is a part Of them. The trust deals will
dead matter; the labor organization deal
with life and with intellectual and mora
forces. No impartial student Of the sub
ject will deny the right Of the laborinl
man to exemption from the operation o.
the existing antitrust law.
IF the labor organization needs TO b'
regulated by law, let it be regulated b.
a law which deals with man as man. and
not by a law that was aimed to preven
the cornering of a commodity or the fore
stalling OF the market.
Il shall not speak Of the eight-hou
day, or Of the employers liability act, be
cause both Of the leading parties hav
endorsed these reforms; the only question
to be considered is: which party can bes
be trusted to secure these reforms? I neeS
hardly assure you that I am heartily ii
favor of both reforms.
IF the government does not assure T.
the Individual the enjoyment of the re
suit Of his effort, there is no stimulus 4
industry.
Wants Equitable Distribution.
eve have the best government on eartn
It gives the largest liberty the creates
hope and the most announcement to tn
citizens, and yet, even in this county,
is always necessary to be on the watch t
keep the instrumentalt.ses Of governmen