New-York tribune., 1908-12-09

sponsible and accountable hands 1t lies III
having the power nsuffiCienuy concentrated 50
that no one can be held responsible to the PEE
pie for its use Concentrated power Is p4pptI i tIJ
visible, responsible. easily reached. qulcEly ne5"
| TO account Power scattered through many aI-
uinfstra tors. many legislators many men VINO
work behind and through legislators anu at-
ministrators. is fmpalpable is unseen IS ~ -
spOnsible, cannot be reached. cannot oe heIu -
{ account. Democracy is in peril wherever CiJ
administration of political power IS scatIeIet
! among variety of men who work IN secret
whose very names are unknown TO the CornHlph
people. It is not in peril from any man ~ ~
derives authority from the peopLe VINO sror7 time
to time compelled to give an account OF us eAeI-
else to the people 49,, ~
the status of the wageworker to which / should
like to draw your attentlon: N:
[ sbor but an exhaustive discussion or
the problem in all its aspects IS
not now necessary This administration IS near
government the solution of the problem depends
upon the action of the states as much as upon
the action of the nation. >Nevertheless, there
are certain considerations which ! wish 10 SET
before YOU because 1 hope that our people VIII
more and more keep them in mind bind ana
ignorant resistance to every effort for the reform
of abuses and for the readjustment Of society
to modern industrial conditions represents not
true conservatism. but an inCitement TO the
widest radiCaiism; for wise radtcallsm and wise
conservatism go hand III hand, one bent on
progress the other bent on seeing that no Challge
is made unless in the right direction. l believe
in d steady effort. or perhaps II would De more
accurate say in steady efforts in many dlner-
directions. bring about COnGlLOn OF
affairs under which the men who work Win
hand or with brain, the labOrers, the superln-
tendents. the who produce for the market
and the who find market for the articles
produced. shall own a far greater share than at
present of the wealth they produce, ana De en-
abIed 10 invest il in the tools and instruments
, by which all work is carried As far as
possible | hope to see a frank recognition or the
advantages conferred by machinery, organlza-
/ tion and division of labor accompanied by an
effort to bring about q larger share in the own
ership by wage worker Of railway. mill and fac
, tory. In farming. this simply means that we
I wish TO see the farmer own ms own Iahd' we
do not wish to 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 European peasant. Again.
/ the depositors in our savings banks now number
over one-tenth of our entire population. These
are all capitalists. who through the savings
banks loan their money to the WOrkers-that is,
In many cases to theInse Ives-to carry on their
! various industries The more we increase their
number. the more introduce the principles of
cooperation into industry. Every Increase
/ in the number of small stockholders n cor
poratiOns il a good thing, for the same reasons
and where the employees are the stockholders the
result is particularly good. Very much of this
movement must be outside Of anything that can
be accomplished by IegisatiOn but legislation
can do a good deal Postal savings banks viii
make il easy for the poorest 10 keep their saw
ings 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 I'm stocks There
| must be prohibition of child labor, diminution
Of woman labor, shortening Of hours of all me-
chanical labor: stock watering should he pro-
/ hbted. and stock gambling so far as is possible
! discouraged. There should be progressive
! inheritance tax on large fortunes. Industrial
/ education should be encouraged AS far
/ possible should tighten the burden Of taxa
! ton on the small man We should put pre-
| MUM upon thrift. hard work, and business en-
ergy, but these qualities cease to be the main
! factors in accommodating a fortune long before
that fortune reaches point where it would be
| seriously affected by any inheritance tax such
| as l propose. II is eminenty right 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 in
! herit them in their entirety.
! The above is the merest sketch, hardly even
sketch in outline OF the l reforms % for & which e. we
! Protection for matter with which the Congress
Wageworkers. should deal at this session.
There should no longer be any
paltering with the question of taking care Of the
/ wageworkers who. under our present industrial
! system, become killed. crippled or worn out
part of the regular incidents of a given business
| The majority Of wageW0rkers must have their
rights secured for them by state action. but the
/ national government should egislate ir thor
/ oughgoing and farreaching fashion not only for
! all employees OF the national government, but for
! all persons engaged in interstate commerce The
! object sought for could be achieved to meas
! urable degree, 5 fac those killed crippled
! are concerned, by proper employers liability
! laws. As far as concerns those who have been
worn out. | call your attention to the fact that
! definite steps toward providing old age pensions
! have been taken in many Of our private in
! dusrries These may be indefinitely extended
/ through voluntary association and contr Ibutnrv
! schemes or through the agency Of savings
! banks as under the recent Massa chusetts plan
/ To strengthen these practical measures should
/ be our Immediate duty, II is not at present
! necessary to consider the larger and more gen
! eraI governmental schemes that most European
! governments have found themselves obliged to
/ adopt
our present system. rather no system
| works dreadful wrong, and is of benefit 70 only
! one class OF people-the lawyers. When a work
| man is injured. what ne needs is not an
/ pensfye and doubtful lawsuit but the certainty
! Of relief through immediate administrative dc-
| ton The number of accidents which result
! in the death gripping of wageWorl,ers in
! the Union large is simply appalling: in a
/ very few years il runs up a~tota far in eX-
Z cess OF the aggregate of the dead and wounded
/ in any modern No academic theory about
] freedom Of cOntTaQt' constitutional liberty
! to contract" should be permitted to interfere
with this and similar movements. Progress in
! civilization has everywhere meant a Limitation
! and regulation of contract. | call your es-
/ pecial attention to the bulletin OF the bureau
/ of Ia Dor which gives a statement of the meth
ods Of treating the unemployed In European
| countries, this is subject which in Ger
many. for instance Is treated in connection with
! making provision for WOrnout and crippled
! wOrkmen
Pending a thoroughgong Investigation and
! action there Is certain legislation which should
/ last session Of the Congress. granting com
! pensation to certain classes Of employees of the
/ government. should be extended to include all
employees Of the government and should be made
more liberal in its terms There is no good