Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-10-01
LABoR's BEST FRIEND.

sas City Journal in thoughtful edi-
torial shows how by its deeds the
Republican party has shown itself TO
be better friend of labor than the
Democratic party las by its deeds.
Promises are not given consideration;
neither the promises of the Republi-
can party, though such promises would
carry weight in the light of past per-
formances, nor the promises made in
the Democratic platform, written by
Governor Haskell of Oklahoma, since
exposed as the enemy of labor and
the friend of an organization fighting
to keep the unions out of his state.
The Journal in comparing the rec
ords of the two parties during the
past half century since the Repubii
can party was established places it's
deeds against both the promises and
deeds of the Democratic party. 1t calls
attention to the fact that the first
eight-hour law ever placed upon Amer
lean statute books was put there forty
years ago by Republican congress =
in 1868 General Grant signed the
bill For twenty years this law ap
piled to the vast majority of persons
controlled by federal legislation and
in 1883 a Republican congress extend
ed it to letter carriers. Four years
later another Republican congress and
another Republican president caused
the eight-hour law to extend to con
tractors on public works. Yet this.
says the Journal, is the enemy Of
the workingman," the party which M.
Gompers says "deninitely lines up
with the corporate interests Of the
country and Expresses the toiling
masses
The Republican congresses Of 1901
and 1903 first made effective the con-
tract labor law, prohibiting the I'M
portation of foreign laborers. The
only votes against the abolition of the
federal convict contract system were
cast by Democrats. The Republican
party created the bureau of labor, and
has elevated many prominent union
labor officials to places of trust AMI
honor
During the present administration
the Republican party has created the
department. of commerce and labor
and the bureau of corporations; has
passed the pure food law. the employ
ers liability law. the safety appliance
law, the act limiting the working
hours of railway employees. the meat
inspection law, the law making the
government responsible for injuries to
its employees and the act forbidding
child labor in the District of Column
bia.
But while the general government
has done all this through acts of con
gress the Journal shows how the Re-
publican party in the various states
has shown itself the consistent friend
of labor. The Journal says:
There are thirty-three state labor
bureaus, and only seven of them are
In Democratic states: twenty-siX out If
thirty Republican states have such bu-
reaus. while only seven out of six
teen Democratic states have them IN
the matter of factory inspection, TWEEN
ty-three of the thirty Republican states
have such laws and only six out of
the sixteen Democratic states safe
guard the workingman by such legisla
tion. There are twenty-seven states
In which laws against child labor
have been enacted, and of these TWEEN
ty-three are Republican and only four
Democratic. 1t may be truthfully said
that the grossest abuses of the sySs-
TEN are to be found in Democratic
states
There are tWenty-one states which
limit the hours of labor for women,
and OF these fifteen are Republican
and six Democratic In twelve states
there are anti-sweatshop laws; and OF
these states ten are Republican aud
only two Democratic.
In eleven states laws have been en-
acted prohibiting the discharge of emf
ployes on account Of membership in
labor unions. OF these eleven states
ten are Republican and only one Dem,
ocratic. Only one state out of the six
teen rock-ribbed Democratic common
wealths, where the Democratic friend.
ship for labor should have the fullest
expression, has passed a law prohibit
ing the soulless corporations, which
hate the workingman so bitterly and
which the Democrats hate SC loudly.
from discharging men because they
belong to labor unions, while ten Re
publican states have such laws.
RRIEE TARIFF kiSTnPv