Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1908-12-09

the man of small means to invest his
money in stocks. There must be pro-
hibition of child labor, diminution of
woman labor, shortening Of hours Of
all mechanical labor; stock watering
should be prohibited, and stock gamb-
lirg SO far as is possible discouraged.
There should be a progressive inheri-
tance tax on large fortunes. Indus
trial education should be encouraged.
As far as possible we should tighten
the burden Of taxation on the small
man. We should put premium upon
thrift, hard work, and business ener-
gy; but these qualities cease to be the
main factors in accumulating a for
tune long before that fortune reaches
a point where it would be seriously
affected by any Inheritance tax such
as I propose. 1t is eminently right
that the Nation should fix the terms
upon which the great fortunes are in
herited. They rarely do good and
they often do harm to those who in
herit them in their entirety.
The above is the merest sketch.
hardly even sketch in outline, OF
the reforms for which we should
work. But there is one matter with
which the Congress should deal at this
session. There should no longer be
any paltering with the question OF
taking care of the wage-workers who,
under our present industrial system,
become killed, crippled, or worn out
as part of the regular incidents OF a
given business. The majority of wage
workers must have their rights Sc
cured for them by State action; but
the National Government should leg
islate in thoroughgoing and far-reach-
ing fashion not only for all employees
of the National Government, but for
all persons engaged in Interstate
commerce. The object sought for
cuold be achieved to a measurable de-
gree, as far as those killed or crippled
are concerned, by proper employers
liability laws. As far as concerns
those who have been worn out, l call
Your attention to the fact that definite
Steps toward providing old-age pen
sions have been taken in many Of our
private industries. These may be in
definitely extended through voluntary
association and contributory schemes,
or through the agency of savings
banks, as under the recent Massachu-
setts plan. To strengthen these prac-
tical measures should be our imme-
date duty; it is not at present neces-
sary to consider the larger and more
general governmental schemes that
most Europena governments have
found themselves obliged to adopt.
I renew my recommendation made
in a previous message that half-holl-
days be granted during summer to all
wage-workers in Government employ.
/ also renew my Recommendation
that the principle of the eight-hour
day should as rapidly and as far as
practicable be extended to the entire
work being carried on by the Govern
ment; the present law should be
amended to embrace contracts on
those public works which the present
wording of the act seems to exclude.
The Courts.
I most earnestly urge upon the Con-
gress the duty Of increasing the to-
tally inadequate salaries now given
to our Judges. On the whole there is
no body of public servants who do as
valuable work, nor whose moneyed re-
ward is SO inadequate compared to
their work. Beginning with the Su-
preme Court the Judges should have
their salaries doubled. 1t is not be-
fitting the dignity of the Nation that
its most honored public servants
should be paid sums so small compar-
ed to what they would earn in private
life that the performance Of public
service by them implies an exceeding
ly heavy pecuniary sacrifice.
It is earnestly to be desired that
some method should be devised for
doing away with the long delays
which now obtain in the administra-
ton of justice, and which operate
with peculiar severity against persons
Of small means, and favor only the
very criminals whom it is most de-
to punish. These long delays
in the final decisions of cases make in
the aggregate a crying evil; and a
should be devised. Much of
this, intolerable delay is due to i'm
proper regard paid to techniealities
which are mere hindrance to justice.
In some noted recent cases this over
regard for technicalities has resulted
in striking denial of justice, and
fragrant wrong to the body polite.
Forests.
If there is any one duty which more
than another we owe it to our children
and our children's children to per-
form at once, it is to save the forests
of this country, for they constitute
the first and most important element
in the conservation of the natural re-
sources of our country. There are Of
course two kinds of natural resources.
One is the kind which can only be
used as part Of a process of exhaus-
ton; this is true Of mines, natural
oil and gas wells, and the like. The,
other, AID of course ultimately by far
the most important, includes the re-
sources which can be improved in the
process of wise use; the soil, the riv-