Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1908-12-08

press honest business men. honest men
Of wealth. for the success of either
type of wrongdoer necessarily invites
violent reaction against the cause
the wrongdoer nominally upholds.
The opposition to government con-
troll Of these great corporations makes
its most effective effort in the shape
of an appeal to the old doctrine of
states rights.
The proposal to make the national
government supreme over, and there
fore to give it complete control over,
the railroads and other instruments of
interstate commerce is merely pro-
posal to carry out to the letter one Of
the prime purposes, if not the prime
purpose, for which the constitution
| was founded. 1t does not represent
| Capitalization.
l believe that the more farsighted
corporations are themselves coming to
| recognize the unwisdom of the violent
| hostility they have displayed during
the last few years to regulation and
control by the national government of
1
ness.
| There are many matters affecting la
Dor and the status of the wageworker
to which l should like to draw your
attention. AS far as possible l hope
to see frank recognition Of the ad-
vantages conferred by machinery. Or
ganization and division of labor, ac-
companied by an effort to bring about
a larger share in the ownership by
wageworker of railway. mill and fac
tory In farming this simply means
that we wish to see the farmer own his
own land. We do not wish to see the
farms SO large that they become the
property of absentee landlords who
farm them by tenants nor yet so Small
that the farmer becomes like Euro
pean peasant.
The depositors in our savings banks
now number over Cne-tenth of our en-
tire population. These are all capital
lists who through the savings banks
loan their money to the workers-that
is, in many cases to themselves-to
|
Postal savings banks will make it easy
for the poorest to keep their savings
in absolute safety. The regulation 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 labor, diminUtion of woman Ia
Dor, shortening of hours Of all me.
chanical labor. Stock watering should
be prohibited, and stock gambling, sc
far as is possible, discouraged. There
should be q progressive inheritance
tax on large fortunes. Industrial edu
. cation should be encouraged.
Protection For Wageworkers.
There Is one matter with which thC
. congress should deal at this session
There should no longer be any palter
, ing with the question of taking care
of the wageworkers who, under Oul
present Industrial system, become kill
ed, crippled or worn out as part of tn;
regular incidents of given business
The object sought for could be achiev
ed TO measurable degree, as far a
: those killed or crippled are concerned
= by proper employers liability laws
, AS far as concerns those who hav'
Q been worn out, call your attention t
9 the fact that definite steps toward pro
a viding old age pensions have BEEF
o taken in many of our private indus
a tries.
:. Pending q thOroughgoing investiga
Y ton and action there Is certain legis
a lation which should be enacted a
It once. The law passed at the last ses
e sion of the congress granting con
e pensation to certain classes of en-
ployees of the government should b
S extended to include all employees c
d the government and should be mad
/. more liberal in its terms. In this RI
spect the generosity of the Unite
States toward its employees compare
most unfavorably with that Of ever
y country in Europe-even the poorest.
- The terms of the act are also
hardship in prohibiting payment
&c cases where the accident Is In an
way due to the negligence of the en-
% plOyee 1t is inevitable that daily f;
y miliarity with danger will lead men
D take chances that can be construe
into negligence.
20 I renew my recommendation mao
-, in a previous message that half hol
~ days be granted during the summer
=. all wageworkers in government er
no ploy.
n. 1 also renew my recommendatiC
N. that the principle of the eight hol
day should as rapidly and as far ,
practicable be extended to the enti
work being carried on by the cover
ment.
The Courts.
I most earnestly urge upon the co
\ gress the duty of increasing the total
inadequate salaries now given to o.
judges. On the whole. there is
body Of public servants who do
g valuable work nor whose money
IL reward is so inadequate compared
their work. Beginning with the S
preme court. the Judges should ha