The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1908-12-10

Il - ~oSAACNg Soli III
pc held to account. Democracy Is In
peril wherever the administration OF po-
riety OF men Who Sc work. in smGes @h wa,
very, names. are unknown to the common
people; IT is not In peril from any man
WHO exercises it In sight OF. the people,
ana who Is from time to time compelled
people. A0
II THE LABOR PROBLEM. 4
there are many matters affecting labor
z the status of the wage worker to
which should like to draw your atten-
uon, put an exhaustive discussion of the
necessary. This administration is near
ing ITS end; and, moreover, under our
ppohle Oh gover1ment the solution Of the
states as much as upon the action of the
nation. Nevertheless, there are certain
consideration which / wish to set before
more ana more keep them In mind. A
paind ana ignorant resistance to every
SnorI Tor the reform OF abuses and for
tne resd5ustment of society to modern
lndnstrlal conditions represents not true
SJhserVatlsm but an Indictment to the
mnS radicalism; for wise radicalism
one bent on progress, the other bent on
seeing that, no change is made unless in
eTor rtisnt direction. 1 believe in a steady
eurate TO say I'm steady efforts I'm many
djtier nj DIRECTIONS, to bring about a con-
work, with hand or with brain. the labor
ers, the sup~erintendents, the men who pro-
a anSe Tor the market and the men who
shall AWE q far greater share than at
present, OF. the wealth they produce, and
pc enabled to invest 1t In the tools and
on.
As far as possible 7 hope to see a frank
L~ecognltlon OF the advantages conferred
or labor, accompanied by an EFFORT to
pring 0 a larger share In the owner
snip by wage worker Of railway, mill and
that we wish to see the farmer own his
own land; we do not wish to- see the
p b%pms SO large that they become the
the farmer becomes IKE a European
peasant. Again. the depositors in our
tenth of our entire population. These
are all capitalists. who through the saw
inss 6anks loan their money to the work
selves--to carry on their various indus
tries. Tn more we increase their num- |
per. the more we introduce the principles
or cooperation into our industry. Every
increase In the number of small stock
holoers In corporations Is a good thing,
employees are the stockholders the resuit
Is particularly good. Very much of this
movement must be outside OF anything
but butt le aas q aGSS Sn Go a GOD By d Ies1t'lfs5i S.i!
al savings banks will make II easy for |
the poorest to keep their savings in
absolute safety. The regulation of the
national highways must be such thai |
tney shall serve all people with equal
Corporate ~nances must be superv,sea
so as to make 1t far safer mar at pres
emf Tor the man Of small means TO in |
nest ms money In stocks. There must
Of woman labor, shortening of hours Of
all mechanical labor, stock watering
should be prohibited and stock gambling
should be a progressive inheritance tax
on large fortunes. Industrial education
should be encouraged. IS far as pos
taxation on the small man. we should
put q premium upon thrift, hard work,
and business us energy: but these qualities
iating a fortune long before that for
tune reaches a point where 1t would be
seriously affected by any Inheritance tax
that the nation should fix the terms upon
which the. great fortunes are Inherited.
They rarely do good and they often do
harm TO those who inherit them In their
~
Protection for Wage Workers.
The above Is the merest sketch, hardly
even a sketch In outline. of the reforms
" III VIC sIlulIu WOTk. But there Is |
one matter with which the Congress
should deal at this session. There should
no longer be any paltering with the ques-
who. under our present Industrial system.
become killed, crippled, or worn out as
part OF the regular incidents of a given
must have their rights secured for them
by state action; but the national govern
ment should legislate in thoroughgoing
and far reaching fashion not My for all
employees of the national government, but
for all persons engaged in interstate
commerce. The object sought for could
far as those killed or crippled are con-
Gferned' BY proper employers liability
the fact hat definite steps toward pro-
vlding old age pensions have been taken
In many OF our private industries. These
association IN contTibu tory
schemes, or through the agency of saw
lngs banks, as under the, recent Massa-
teal measures should be our immediate
uuty; II Is not at present necessary to
consider the larger and more general
governments a found themselves
obliged TO adopt.
Pending a thoroughgoing investigation
which should be enacted at once. The
law, passed at the last session Of the
granting compensation to GER
should be extended to include all
employees of the government and should
be made more liberal In its terms. There
Is no good ground for the distinction
in the law between those engaged ;
N hazardous occupations and those not ,
so engaged. II a man IL injured or killed
any line of work, 1t was hazardous in !
case. Whether one per cent or 10 ,
per cent Of those following a given occu-
patton actually suffer injury or death ,
ought not to have any bearing on the !
of their receiving compensation. ;
l., Is q grim logic which says to an
injured emplnye or to the dependents of
one killed that he or they are entitled TO
40 compensation because very few people
)ther than he have been injured or killed i
n that occupation. Perhaps one Of the I,
most striking omissions IN the law is
hat IL does NOT emhrann naacn nftanars !