Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-09-05
LABOR DAY.

Monday is Labor Day. That holiday
Is, as q rule, observed quite generally
Sin this country, ana this year VIII be
Y no exception on tho contrary, the
Indications are that laborers viii rally
TO their standards with greater enthu-
siasm than ever, and that people IN all
stations OF life will take part III me
excursions and various gatherings Oh
tls day.
The presence in this City of Mr.
Debs. the Socialist candidate for The
presidency. will add interest to the eXar-
cises here. Many will be pleased to
hear Mr.. Debs, even II they are not
prepared to follow him to the extremes
of his conclusions.
The thought of dedicating, annually
II one day to the cause of labor Is nap
by one The observance of the day
should be reminder, lest we forget,
Of tho Importance Of labor as a factor
in. the life and development Of nations.
The addresses delivered that day to
Ind by laborers should serve to make
The cause OF labor better understood,
and bridge the chasms that may exist
between classes that must cooperate
tor the benefit of all,
Oh that day especially, It seems to
US, the representatives of labor should
be heard. Their case should be con-
sidered with the view of rightins
& wrongs, and Tightening intolerablo
burdens. Labor day should be 4 day
Of peace and good will,
That some special effort Is called
Tor. BY the best citizens aud states
men of our age, in the interest OF peace
ald good will is clear to all who take
notice Of the manifestations of dlscon-
tent that are in evidence an every
hand Tho little clouds that appear
nero and there may become denser
+ ma blacker and cause storm.
Jack London. in his recent literary
production, The iron Heel represents
lnhor as arraisning capital in the fol-
owing terms: .F5
Five men can produce bread for a
4 thousand. One man can produce cot
ton cloth fer two hundred and fifty
people, woolens for three hundred, and
boots and shoes for a thousand. One
would conclude from this that under a
capable management of society modern
civilized man would be Il great deal
i better off than, the cave man, But is
hep Let us see. In the United States
today there are fifteen million people
meant TINT condition in life in which
through lack of food and adequate
shelter. the mere standard OF working
efficiency cannot be maintained. In
the United States today, in spite OF
al your so-called labor legislation.
there arc three million child-laborers.
38. II modern mans producing pow
eri Is q thousand times greater than
y that OF the cave man. Whythen. in the
United States today, are there fifteen
million people who are not properly
sheltered and properly fed. Why then,
lin the United States today. are there
three million child laborers? 1T Is
true indictment. The capitalist class
has mismanaged
He then states that the laboring class
the revolutionists as he terms it's
determined to take your governments.
FOUR palaces, and all your purpled ease
away from you" This Will be done by
means OF the ballot. but in case this
falls. we shall answer you; and in
roar of shell and shrapncl and in
whine of machine guns shall our an
swer be couched."
Something is wrong when one class of
rltizens entertains towards another tha
sentiments here Indicated. The wrongs
should be righted by some other means
than revolution. 1t Will. unless blind
ness becomes prevalent
The questions generally considered as
constituting the labor problem are by
no means new. Plato, In his Republic,
suggested a solution which Aristotle
held to be utterly impractical, though
he too believed that private property
ought to be regulated by law in the
interest OF the public 4Asceticisin was
another suggestion of a solution OF
those problems, for when all are poor,
they are equal, Christianity came 10
consider both poverty and riches from
the standpoint OF the moral dangers
of each, Our Lord emphasizes the duty
of faithfulness where private posses
sions are concerned and Panl declares
work and remunerative work funda-
mental for every Christian CEph. ":
2s; II Thess, iii: 10y.
The efforts of the Taborltes in the fif-
,eenth century are remarkable. These
Bohemian retormers declared:
I'm these days there shall be nc
king, ruler, or subject on the earth
aud all imposts ana taxes shall cease:
no one shall force another to do any,
thing, for all shall be equal brethren
and sisters As III the town Of Tabor
there. Is no mine or thine, but all is
held in common, so shall everything
be common TO all, and no one own any
81 thing for himself alone, Whoever does
ces-.:pits Il deadly SIM"
But the various radical solutions OF,
f.,aa IN al ras have rrnvad ipode,