The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1908-04-10
TAfTIsMs1 PIIHY ANO POINTED
Extracts From Speeches Of Secretary
Taft on important Issues Of ~.
the Day. ~. ..&

Taft on important Issues Of
the Day. <s5. vi
The following are striking passae es
from Secretary Tafts address on Cap
| ftal and Labor delivered before the
Cooper Union, New York city, Friday:
Jan. TO- 1908: y %|&' w.;
Labor needs capital to- secure the
best production, while capital needs Ia
Dor in producing anything"
mo amount of lawlessness on the
part Of the labor striker will Justify
| the lawlessness on the part of the en-
ployer. Such course means a recur-
renee Of Civil war and anarchy"
"A second abuse which EMPLOYERS
are sometimes guilty of is what is
technically known as blackhstine. by
which laboring men, solely because
they may have been advocates of q
strike, or have been against a COM
promise in labor dispute, are tagged
by one employer of labor, and all other
employers of labor are forbidden on
penalty OF business ostraeism to give
them q means of livelihood. This is
unlawful and should be condemned. It
is the counterpart of the boycott, or
indeed it is itself a boycott in one
FORM"
''The really practical justification for
popular representative government
rests upon the truth that any set of
men or class in political community
are better able to look after their own
interests and more certain to keep
those interests constantly in mind
than the members of any other class
or set Of men, however, altruistic. This
truth is fully exemplified in the course
which legislation has taken since la
Dor has organized and has made a.
systematic effort to secure laws to pro-
tect the Workingman by mandatory
provision against the heartlessness or
Ignorance of the employer"
What the capitalist who is the en-
ployer of labor must face is that the
organization of labor-the labor union
is permanent condition in the in
dustrial world. It has. come to stav.
If the employer would consult his own
AAASoA wv
on it. Under existing conditions the
nl1ndest course that an employer of
laoor can pursue is to decline to recog-
n1ze labor unions as controlling in
huence In the labor market, and to
insist upon dealing only with his par
ticular employees
1T has been said that the writ of in
junction has been abused in this coun-
try In labor disputes. agree that there
has been abuse in this regard"
The laboring man should be the
last to object to the rapid accumula-
ton of capital in the hands of those
who use it for the reproduction of CAP
1tal. The thoughtful and intelligent
laborer has therefore no feeling Of hos
tility toward combinations of capital in
lawful business Methods A., -
-. $.
The capitalist, however wealthy.
VINO is willing to devote his nights and
days to the investment of his capital
IN profitable lawful business or manu-
1acture, and who studies methods of
reducing the cost of production and
economiz1ng expenses therein, should
be regarded with favor by the work.
1ngman, because, while his motive is
merely one Of accumulation he is
working not only for himself, but for
labor and society at large"
"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 re-
stored
'The conclusion I seek to reach is
that the workingman who entertains a
prejudice against the lawful capitalist
because he is wealthy, who votes with
| JUNCTION for the men who are urging
unjust and unfair legislation against
MIN, and who makes demagogic ap-
peals to acquire popular support in
what they are doing is standing in his
own light, is blind to his own, inter-
tests, and is cutting off the limb on
! which he Sits"
"Organized labor, if acting with rea-
! sonable discretion, can secure much
| greater promptness in the advance OF
"~eNo VIGIL IL ~ WC4C 1S1I ~ Tie SLOW
| operation of natural laws and in the
same way, as hard times come on, the
too eager employer may be restrained
from undue haste in reducing wages.
| 1.-THE organization Of capital into cor
porations, with the position of advan-
tage which this gives it in a dispute
With single laborers over wages, makes
1t absolutely necessary for labor tt
unite to maintain ITSELF"
| ''The diverse interests of capital an6
labor are wider considerably that thu
mere pecuniary question of the an1oun
of wages. They cover all the terms o.
the employment and include not only
the compensation, but also. the circu1n
stances, that affect the comfort an(
condition of the workingman includins
the daily hours OF work., the place il
which they work, the provisions fol
their safety from accident, and every:
thing else that is germane to the en-.
ployment.' .=,.,5l 80: J. .<se::> =
i Everybody admits their destructiv,
character (strikes) and that all means
should be resorted to to avoid them
Still there are times when nothing