The Ogden standard. [volume] (Ogden City, Utah) 1902-1910, 1909-04-19

eject in giving dignity TO labor and
also been instrumental In inducing
Many men to remain in the ranks
fighting for labor when other avenues
opened TO them.
Those behind this church move
nent need not be surprised If they
are not received with great acclaim.
The workers instinctively know you
are only doing now what you should
have had an uninterrupted history OF
doing. Il am In the labor movement"
said Mr.. Prescott. ''long enough to ap-
rreciate what II means 10 have
church in Toledo offer its parish house
five nights week for union meetings.
ana 10 have hundreds OF union men
addressing church meetings. 1t means
u spreading OF the light. a mighty
force coming TO pour oil on the trou-
bled waters, thereby fastening the
day when questions that now provoke
rancor and even bloodshed will be dis
cussed calmly and dispassionately."
do not wish to be understood as
proclaiming the trade union an ideal
institution Indeed, in themselves
they are not desirable, and in the
sense that they are both restrictive
anG repressive they must be termed
necessary evils. But they are the in
ev!table result Of existing economic
conditions, and must remain a potent
| factor In the great struggle OF the
| toiler TO better his condition, mentally,
morally and physically Evils, then,
though they be, many OF our men of
affairs. those whose environments are
such that they are unable to investi-
| gate their many virtues, accept this
| plea for their destruction. To such
| as these we ask?
What have you to offer in their
| stead?
BY destroying organization. would
| you have us become anarchists? Or
| would you have us return to the yoke
| as serfs7
A study of labor's progress through
| organization, especially from the
| guilds of the 14th and 18th centuries
J TO the present, is most interesting
and should be given some attention
| before these queries are answered.
Was 1t not by combination of the
toilers that first enabled them to
strike off the shackles OF serfdom and
| place their feet firmly in the path that
led to liberty and progress?
Was 1t not the labor unions that
| dIspelled the superstition that some
men ruled by divine rlght-that some
were chosen 10 live in luxury and ease
while the great masses must un-
| ceasingly toll with scant remun era
| tion?
If these are facts, is it not fair to
presume they assisted materially in
The inspiration for republican form Of
| government?
So many "isms" surround the trade
unions of today that ! deem 1t essen
tial at this time to explain my posi-.
ton. am speaking as trade union
ist as represented in the principles
| enunciated by the American Fedora
ton of Labor. These are not theories.
They stand emphatically for progress
sive goyernment-a government Of,
BY and for the people, social enlight-
enment. and higher civilization.
Permit me to enumerate some OF
them;
They demand that the evil of child
labor be eradicated that the million
and half children be removed fsom
| the mills and factories of this country
and compulsorily placed In school,
They deman an equal wage for thu
women who toll.
They demand an equal wage for the
sweatsbop and filthy tenement house
and penitentiary products; they are
striving for sanitary workshops, and a
living wage.
These are sufficient to demonstrate
the foundation on which the AmeGi-
can Federation of Labor is rearing its
structure OF industrial peace.
AS to the origin of the trade unions.
we need not discuss at this time, be-
Ing content with our previous state
ment that they are the inevitable re-
suit of economic conditions.
After giving brief review Of the
early struggles of the Typographical
Union from their first serious strike,
153915i4, down to 1872, Mr. bennett
said:
Despite the many interdicts against
their associations. the journeymen Of
Lyons and Paris had the courage TO
address joint memorial to the par
lament in 1872 This remarkable doc
ument not only represents their per.
sonal grievances and the injusticeS OF
which they were the victims, but IL
rises above the Quarrels of the trade.
It Is the cry of the working classt5
against oppression, and reads In part
as follows
IF there is any profession or trade
whose masters and superiors en-
deavor by infinite means to subjugate.
constrain and treat with the utmost
| ri fha Of
workers Of their vocation. 1t has ever
| been and is now the art of printing
The publishers and printers (notably
those of Lyons) have always sought by
the most devious ways and indirect
metans 20 oppress and enslave subor-
dinates, who nevertheless perform the
most important and best work OF the
printing art. BY these means have
they usurped most tyTannical au-
thority, accompanied by an extreme
contempt and consummate ayarice to-
ward their associates, who daily yield
to them great riches at the price of
| their toll and marvellous industry ani
more often at the price of their very
blood For. Notwithstanding the great
hardships the journeymen endure in
their eXacting occupation, they acquire
nothing for old age or for their de-
pendent women and children, their
only reward for their industry being
biting poverty and various ailments
In consequence OF their incredible la
boIs, So that, while publishers and
master printers are everywhere grow
ing rich and powerful, the poor jour
neyman printer. after having spent
4 his yptlth and manhood tba ipInc-