Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1908-12-10
STATUS OF WAGEWoRKER.
Wise Action by States Needed to Sup.
~ plement That Of Nation.

There are many matters affecting labor
and the status Of the wageworker to
which should like to draw your atten-
ton, but an exhaustive discussion of the
problem in all it's aspects is not now nee
essary. This administration is nearing
its end; and, moreover, under our form
of government the solution Of the prob=
lem depends upon the action Of the
states as much as upon the action of the
nation. Nevertheless, there are certain
considerations which I wish to set be-
fore you, because T hope that our people
will more and more keep them in mind
A blind and ignorant resistance to every
effort for the reform of abuses and for
the readjustment of society to modern
Industrial conditions represents not true
conservatism but an Indictment to
the widest radicalism; for wise radical
ism and wise conservatism go hand in
hand, one bent progress, the other
bent on seeing that no change Is made
unless in the right direction. I believe
in steady effort, or perhaps it would
be more accurate to say in steady efforts
In many different directions, to bring
about a condition Of affairs under which
the men who work with hand or with
brain, the laborers, the superintendent,
the men who produce the market and the
men who find a market for the articles
produced, shall own far greater share
than at present of the wealth they pro-
duce, and be enabled to invest it in the
tools and instruments by which all work
Is carried in. AS far as possible hope
to see frank recognition of the advan-
tages conferred by machinery, organlza-
ton and division of labor, accompanied
by an effort to bring about a larger share
in the ownership by wage-worker Of rail.
way, mill and factory. In farming, this
simply means that we wish to see the
fc,r oorss-r &c To H.. 81
wish to see the farms SO large that they
become the property of absentee land
lords who farm them by tenants, nor
yet so small that the farmer becomes
like the European peasant. Again, the
depositors in our savings banks now
z number over one-tenth Of our entire pop
ulation. These are all capitalists, who
through the savings banks loan their
money to the workers-that is, in many
cases to themselves-to carry on their
various industries. The more we increase
their number, the more we introduce the
principles Of cooperation into our indus
try. Every increase in the number of
small stockholders in corporations is
good thing, for the same reasons; and
where the employees are the stockholders
the result is particularly good. Very
much of this movement must be outside
OF anything that can he accomplished by
legislation; but legislation can do "a
good deal. .
For Postal Savings Banks.
Postal Savings banks will make 1t
easy for the poorest to keep their saw
ings in absolute safety. The regulation
i of the national highways must be such
that they shall serve all people with
equal Justice. Corporate finances must
be supervised so as to make it far safer
than at present for the man Of small
means to invest his money in stocks.
There must be prohibition Of child la
Dor, III inution of women labor, short
ening of hours of all mechan meal labor;
stock watering should be prohibited,
and stock gambling so far as is possi-
BILE discourage There should be a
progressive Inheritance tax on large
fortunes. Industrial education should
be encouraged. AS far as possible we
should tighten the burden Of taxatio
on the small man. We should put a
premium upon thrift hard work, and
business energy; but these qualities
cease to- be the main factors IN accu-
mu1ating q fortune long before that
fortune reaches a point where II would
be seriously affected by any inherf-
lance tax such as propose. It IS emf
nently right that the nation should fx
the terms upon which the great for
tunes are Inherited. They rarely do