The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-01-11
TAFT DISCUSSES LABOR
 AND ENDURES QUIZZING
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1)

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1.)
 been added to the general stock by the ingenuity, industry. judgment and ability of those who enjoy 1t.
 What has been said should not be mis- understood. The men who have by eco- homie organization of capital al the same time increased the amount of the coun- try's capital, increased the demand and price for labor and reduced the cost of necessities are not philanthropists. Their sole motive has been one of gain, and with the destruction of private property that motive will disappear, and so would the progress of society. The very advan- tage to be derived from the security of property in our civilization is that it turns the natural sefshness and desire for gain into the strongest motive for doing that without which the upward development of mankind would cease and retrogression would begin.
 Fair Treatment.
 Tt is greatly in the interest of the worllingman, therefore, that corporate capital should be fairly treated Any in- justice done to it acts directly upon the wage-earners that must look to corporate wealth for their employment. Any dras- tic legislation which tends unjustly to ad just the legitimate earnings of the raii- road must in the end fall with heavy weight upon the employees of that railroad because the manager will ultimately turn toward wages as the place where economy can be effected. So in respect to taxa tion, If the corpdration is made to bear more than it's share of the public burdens, 1t reacts directly first, upon it's stock holders and then upon its employees
 We are suffering now from a panic. It was brought on, in my judgment, by the exhaustion of free capital the world over, by the lack of an elastic system of cur rency and also by lack of confidence in our business fabric produced in Europe through the revelations in certain great corporations of business dishonesty, cor ruption and unlawfulness. It has been necessary for us to purify some of our business methods but the public friction cannot stop the panic. It will doubtless make another in the future far less likely. Then all must suffer, both the innocent and guilty, and the innocent more than the guilty. Certainly the laborer who is thrown out of his employment by the hard times is innocent and suffers more than the capitalist, whether innocent or guilty, who has money to live on meantime until prosperity shall be restored.
 Wrong Prejudice.
 "The conclusion I seek to reach is that the workingman who entertains a prejudice against the lawful capi- talist because he is wealthy, who votes with unction for the men who are urg- ing unjust and unfair Legislation against him, and who make demagogic appeals to acquire popular support in what they are doing, is standing in his own light, is blind to his own interests and Is cutting off the limb on which he sits. It is to the direct interest n Q rPfnl elimination in approving or disapprov ing proposed legislation of this kind and to base his conclusion and vote on the issue whether the provision is fair or just, and not on the assumption that any Legislation that subjects cor poration to a burden must necessarily be in the interest of the working man.
 But while it is the common interest of labor and capital to increase the fruits of production, yet in determin ing the share of each in the product, their interests are plainly opposed. Though the law of supply and demand will doubtless in the end be the most potent influence in fixing the division yet during the gradual adjustment to the changing markets and the varying financial conditions, capital will sure ly have the advantage unless labor takes united action. During the bet torment of business conditions organ ized labor, if acting with reasonable discretion, can secure much greater promptness in the advance of wages than If it were left to the slower oper- ation of national laws and in the same way as hard times come on the too eager employer may be restrained from undue haste in reducing wages. The organization of capital into corpora tions with the position of advantage which this gives it in dispute with single laborers over wages makes it absolutely necessary for labor to unite to maintain itself"
 Bettering Conditions.
 Arguing that the effect of organiza- tion of labor has been beneficial in se- curing better wages for the whole la boring community and brought about other betterments of the condition of Iaborers in another way, Secretary Taft declared that more attention is given by labor unions to remedial legislation of direct interests than even the phil anthropists.
 What the capitalist, who is the em- >ployer of labor, must face" he con- tinued, lis that the organization of labor--the labor union--is a perma- nent condition In tn industrial world It has come to stay and If the employer would consult his own interest he must admit this and act on it. Under exist ing conditions the blindest course that an employer of labor can pursue, is to decline to recognize labor, as the con- trolling influence in the labor market and insist upon dealing only with his particular employees.
 "Time has passed in which the attitude can be assumed with any hope of suc- cessfuly maintaining it. What the wise manager of a corporate enterprise who employs great numbers of laborers will do is to receive the leaders of labor unions with courtesy and respect and listen to