Omaha daily bee., 1908-10-26

to Mr.. Taft and the care and SUI
which he has exercised, the men
who work for the government on the
are on the whole better paid, bet
ter protected. better cared for than in any
private Industrial enterprise in the United
States. MIR. T. ]. Dolan, the secretary
treasurer Of the International Brotherhood
of Steam Shovel and Dredge men, who has
most carefully investigated this subject be-
cause OF the large number of the men Of
his organisation employed on the isthmus,
has come to the same conclusion, and
largely because Of this fact he is ardently
supporting Mr.. Taft.
Bryan vague, Taft Explicit.
AS opposed to the entire vagueness OF
Mr.. Bryan's proposals, MIR. Taft stands
pledged to continue the definite and con-
structive program of social reorganization
outlined and already entered upon by the
present administration, which has never
hesitated in specific cases of sufficient inn
p~ortance to interfere for the purpose OF
securing an adjustment Of labor troubles
at the same time conserving the rights of
the wage-earner. A conspicuous instance
was the settlement OF the anthracite coal
strike. In April, 1907, when a strike was
imminent on the western railroads which
would have tied IN forty-four lines with
half a million employees and put half the
country in a state OF siege, negotiators were
sent by the administration who demanded
and secured in the name of the people a
settlement of the difficulty by arbitration;
and last spring the administration by its
vigorous action, prevented a general reduc-
ton of wages on the railroads Of the coun-
try which would have caused great suffer
ing and far-reaching disturbance; but If
Mr.. Bryan were elected 1 have little doubt
that the ensuing industrial chaos, %necessi-
tating great reduction OF wages, and wide
spread unemployment, would be beyond
the reach of such action as that which
averted the threatened disaster last spring.
When the public coal lands were falling
under monopolistic control the adminlstra-
ton withdrew millions of acres from entry,
insisting to the extent of its power that the
coal and oil under these lands shall re-
main a federal possession. For the first
time In our history the administration has
secured the enforcement of the eight-hour
law in the government departments and is
trying to secure its extension by legisla-
ton. In the District of Columbia It has
enacted a federal child labor law which
stands as a model law for state govern
VIZ oiiN AiACiA N'boA NAANhNS u
Administrations Aid TO Labor.
Beyond these remedial e~nactments and
arbitrations achieved by this administra-
ton stands a constructive and organic pro-
gram of federal activity in the way of
social and industrial reform. Toward this
end through the years I have been in office
have consulted with all classes and condi-
tions of men. We have been able on the
whole to arrive at a remarkably close
agreement among ourselves so long as all
parties. representatives of labor and cap
ital alike, kept in view their obligations to
the commonwealth as joint workers toward
this social reform. We are all agreed that
free play shall be permitted only so long
as 1t means fair play. We are endeavor-
ing steadily to secure a more equitable ad-
justment of taxation toward the ideal of a
distribution of the several costs of gov
eminent in a ratio to the benefits derived.
There is nothing in this of class or caste;
from our program doctrinaires, individu-
alist and socialist alike are barred. Soci-
ology comes not to breed a new class war
fare; it knows man only as man. This ad-
ministration has bent a large part of It's
efforts toward social advancement. The
question has been asked: Why has not the
national government, through it's bureau of
labor, done for the wage Garner what,
through the Department, it has done for
the farmer, by placing at his disposal
through federal research the latest results
of scientific discovery?
My answer is. the time had not yet come
when this was possible; we have advanced
in each case just as fast and as far as was
possible with the knowledge and means at
our command. Between pure science or
speculative theory and it's practical appli-
cation In the hands of a government lies
Of necessity a gap of years. years of pa
tlent investigation and experiment after
truth. Ten years ago organic evolution in
agriculture was still a speculative science.
To-day the farmer has only to specify that
his wheat must ripen by such and such a
date, stand up under a certain wind veloc.
ity. bear in its seed a certain percentage
OF starch, etc. and our department can
help build him a plant to order. The spine
lees cactus and the frost-proof orange, soil
chemistry, seed selection and diversified
farming have preceded IN time of their
discovery all those theories of social recon
struction upon which any bureau Of labor
could build. The entire task OF transform.
ing a population with every advance OF
mechanical invention, it Is no exaggeratior
Ia state, has awaited that precise knowl.
edge which has come only within the las
five years.
Problem OF the Unem pIoyed.
Given that knowledge, and given wisdom
self-restraint and high purpose in apply.
ing It. and there Is little this ration cannot
do for itself. With free scope for our
federal program We will do much TOWARD
helping zach member Of the industrial army
to get the chance TO make everything posi-
BILE out Of himself. We can solve this prob
lem Of the unemployed best by having M
/, more u~nemployable. Already our bureau
: OF labor, for the last twenty years OF neces
slty a statistical bureau, is practically
department of sociology. aiming not onl!
4, to secure exact information about indus
: trial conditions. but to discover remedie.
I for industrial evils. At this moment We az,
q conducting investigations as to the labo
OF women and children. the disease an,
1 mortality rates OF the various occupations
/, the problem q dealing with the unem
a ployed, etc. The whole principle Of ma
I terial and social advancement has come L
. a quicker fruition in our Department o
Agriculture for the reason that biology 1
4 more easily handled with reference L
seeds and plants and cattle than as re