Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1908-10-26

coal strike, In April. 1907. when
strike was imminent On the western
railroads which would have tied up
forty-fcur lines with half a million
employees and put half the country in a
state of siege, negotators We're sent by
the administration who demanded and
secured in the name of the people
settlement of the difficulty by arbitra-
ton; and last spring the administration,
by it's vigorous action, prevented Il /
general reduction of wages on the |
railroads of the country which would
| have caused great suffering and lar
reaching disturbance; but if Mr.. Bry-
an We're elected l have little doubt that
the ensuing Industrial chaos. necessita
ting great reduction of wages and
widespread unemployment. would be
| beyond the reach OF such d ,tlon as that
which avefted the threatened disaster
last spring.
When the public coal lands were fall
ing under monopolistic control the adj
ministration Withdrew millions of acres
| from entry, insisting to the extent Of
It's powe"s that the coal ond oil under
tiltSt ltllttS Sildll IeiildlIl IL ltutldi pos
session. For the first time in our his
tory the administration has secured the
enforcement Of the eight-hOur law III
the government departments and is
trying 10 secure its extension by legis-
lation. In the District Of Columbia it
has enacted a federal child labor law
which stands as Il model law for State
governments and their department OF
leGislaIiCr.
Administrators Aid to Labor.
Beyond these remedial e1lactments
and arGitr;;tions achieved by this ad-
ADMINISTRATION stands u constructive and
rganc program of Federal activity in
the way VI social and Industrial re-
form. Toward this end through The
years l have beer in office | hay. con-
suited with all classes and conditions
of men. We have been able On the
| whole t. arrive at q remarkably close
agreement among ourselves 50 long as
all parties, representatives Of labor and
capital alike, kept in view their obi
cations to the commonwealth as joint
workers toward this social reform We
are all agreed that free play shall be
permitted only so long as it means fair
play. We are endeavoring steadily to
= secure a more equitable adjustment Of
. taxation toward the ideal OF q diStribu-
ton Of the several costs of government
IL Il ratio to the benefits derived. There
:. is nothing in this of class or caste;
from our program dnctrlnaritS, .ndivu-
alist and socialist alike, are barred So
. GEOLOGY comes not to breed a new class
warfare; it knows man only as man.
huC hon l.,
a part of It's efforts toward social ad-
, Vancement. Tho question has been
= asked, Why has not the national gov
. crnm, Mt. through its Bureau of Labor
done for the wage Garner what
Il through the Department of Agricul-
tlre, it las done for the farmer, by
- placing at his disposal through Federal
q 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 ind
e as far as was possible with the know
: ledge and means at our command. Be
II tween pure science or speculative the
: Org and it's practical application in the
n hands of q government lies of neceSSit y
s gap OF years, years of patient inves-
II Ten years ago organic evolution i'll ag-
e riculture was still speculative science
r, Today the farmer has only to specify
II that his wheat must ripen by such and
&c such date. stand up under a certain
y wind velocity, bear in its seed a GER
e tain percentage of starch, etc, and
1t our department can help build hic 4
g plant to order. The spineless cactus
n che
e istry. seed selection. and diversified
o farming have preceded in time of thcil
n discovery all those theories of socia
: reconstruction upon which any bu-
If reau of labor could build. The entire
t task Of transforming a population with
s every advance. of mechanical invention
e it is no cxaggeration to state. has
awaited that precise knowledge which
@ has come only within the last five
e years
Problem of the Unemployed.
Given that knowledge. and given wis
dom, Self-restrant and high purpose in
Q applying it, and there is little this ma
= ton cannot do for itself. With free
;, scope for our federal program we will
do much toward helping each member
, of the industrial army to get the
:, chance to make everything possible out
> Of himself. We can solve this prob
:, lem of the unemployed best by having
no more unemployabe Already our
Bureau of Labor, for the past twenty
years Of necessity largely 4 statistical
+ bureou. is practically a department of
n sociology, aiming not only to secure
& exact information about industrial con-
4 dltions. but to discover remedies for in
f dustrial evils. At this moment we are
t conducting Investigations as to the Ia
|. Dor of women and children the disease
! and mortality, rates of the various oc-
t equations. the problem of dealing with
s th"unemployed, etc. The whole prin-
Ciple of material and social advance
t ment has come to quicker fruition in
0 our Department Of Agriculture for the
rcasOn that biology is more paSilv