The Ogden standard. [volume] (Ogden City, Utah) 1902-1910, 1909-01-25
81
W | ILLIAM
MORRIS
REV. BROWN DRAWS LESSON
FROM GREAT POET.
"AlI Men Should Have Work to do
Which Shall Be Worth Doing and
Not OverWearisome."

At Unitarian hall last evening, Rev.
William Thurston Brown, In speaking
from the life of William Morris, said
In part
First OF all. said Morris, we chain
the right to good health. and we dare
to say that vast proportion OF peo-
pie In civilization scarcely know what
it means. To feel life q pleasure; TO en-
JOY the moving OF ones limbs and ex-
ercising ones bodily power; to, play, as
1t were. with the sun and wind and
rain; to rejoice In satisfying the due
bodily appetites of a human animal
without fear of degradation or sense
OF wrongdoing; yes, and therewithal
to be well-formed, straightforward.
strongly knit expressive of counten'
ance-to be. In a word. beautiful-that
also we claim. And where is the man
who cares to dispute the justice Of this
claim?
And yet. the economic system under
which we suffer nullifies this claim.
1t cannot be satisfied or fulfilled un-
der that system. II a man Is over
worked in any degree he cannot en-
Joy health; nor can he If he is chain
ed to one full round OF mechanical
work, with no hope at the other end of
1t; nor II he lives In continual sordid
anxiety for his livelihood; nor If he is
ill-housed, nor If he is deprived of all
enjoyment Of the natural beauty OF
the world. nor IL he has no amuse-
from time to time. All these things
hnl tA lot
as the right OF every man..
The next thing we claim Is educa-
ton, And In spite of the fact of our
common school system, great gain
though 1t be over anything our ances-
tors knew, the education which these
| schools afford do not satisfy this claim.
| And no system of schools that Is pos
sible under capitalistic system, un-
| der a social order which rests upon
| the basis Of class government and
| class interests, can possibly furnish
| the education which is the right OF
men today. The education to which
we confidently lay claim Is opportunity
| to have ones share of whatever knowl-
edge there is in the world according
to ones capacity or bent Of mind; to
have ones share of skill OF hand either
| In industrial handjcrafts or in the fine
| arts; picture painting, sculpture, mu-
sic, acting, and the like. 1t is the
claim of Socialists that every man be
given opportunity to develop all that
he is capable of, and all the forces of
society are working together, directly
or indirectly, TO warrant that claim.
It's justice cannot be disputed with
out denying all that is finest In civil
ization and blotting out all the noblest
achievements of human history.
| This, claim for education carries
with it the claim for abundant leisure.
Does that seem too ideal claim to
make? 1t ought to be evident to the
blindest that even under our present
wasteful system labor could be so di-
rected and employed as to afford far
greater leisure than is yet realized
And when once the slavery of profit
making is thrown of, labor will newt
ably be organized so economically
that no heavy burden need be borne
by any individual. AS 1T Is, in spite
of the bewildering multitude of so
called "labor-saving machinery" not
a man works all hour less on account
of them. They are a misnomer. and
they are so. not because they nigh,
not tighten the burden Of toll, but be-
cause they are In the possession of one
small class of men and are used pri
marily and solely for the production
Of profits for that small class, Under &
happier and saner order of things they
would be used for the purpose OF saw
ing labor, with the result of a vast
amount of leisure gained for the com
munity to be added to that gained, by
the avoidance Of waste Of useles:
luxury, and the abolition of CONNER
cial war. For Socialism, or in Other
words, genuine religion, contemplated
social order in which men shall be
OF more importance than things.
But there is another claim which W,
most earnestly make, and that Is fol
work that shall be useful and regular
No claim is more vital than this. none
more fundamental. Unless this CLAIM
can be satisfied, neither bodily health
nor anything worthy to be called III
education Is. possible No social orde
which does not make not only possible
but sure for all It's citizens some
sort of useful employment Is toler
able condition under which TO live
And this work which man Is entitled
to have must be reasonable work ant
1t must be suited to the capacities O
the work. 1t must be such work as 1
good citizen can see a necessity for
If 1t be objected by some one that M
one would consent to do the sort o
work that involves danger or hard
ship. II should be replied that ma
chinery is more and more taking th'
place of men In that kind Of work
and further still that no work whicl
represented real service to the com
munity and which did not involv
hopeless drudgery would lack for vol
unteers In a condition OF freedom. H
who says that men will efficiently re
spond only to the incentive OF pei
sonal profit In undertaking difficult o
dangerous or disagreeable tasks show
a complete Ignorance of history.
The last claim which we make TO
our work is that the places where l
is to be done shall be pleasant. Wit
the exception of very few occupa
tions, there is nothing prevents thi
being done except the necessity O
making profits on goods for those VII
do not work. In other words, Tn
goods are cheapened at the expens
> of the people being forced to work II
, crowded, unwholesome. squalid. nois
, dens; that is to say. they are cheal
] ened at the expense OF the workman
life. You cannot even imagine III