The San Francisco call., 1910-09-06

represent the only way in which,
after all other methods have been
exhausted, it is possible for the
laboringman to stand for his
understood that a strike is a
matter of last resort. The public
sympatfizes cordially with any
movement for a good standard of
living and for moderate hours
OF employment. q personally,
for instance, cordially believe in
an eight hour day, and in one
day In seven for complete rest.)
Where men and women are
worked under harsh and intoler-
no. relief without strike, or,
indeed, where the strike is clear
ly undertaken for things which
are vitality necessary-and then
only as last resort-the public
sympathy will favor the wage
them unless such conditions as
these are fulfilled. and it will
condemn them If they resort to
lawless violence. Therefore, 1t is
becoming more than ever i'm
portant that the labor movement
should combine steady, farseeing
leadership with discipline and
control in It's ranks. Dishonest
leadership is curse anywhere in
American life, and nowhere is it
a greater curse than in the labor
movement. If there is one lesson
my fellow Americans than any
other, 1t is to hound down the
dishonest man-no matter what
his condition-and to brush aside
with impatient contempt the
creature who only denounces dis
honesty when it is found in some
special social stratum.
All that can properly be done
should be done by all of us to
help upward-ti1e standard of liv-
ing and to improve the ability
OF the average man to reach that
standard. There are still in the
United States great masses of
skilled and unorganized labor,
whose conditions of work and
living are harsh and pitiable.
Our commercial development
should be heartily encouraged,
but 1t must not be allowed to
commercialize our morals.
1t is not merely the duty of
the wage Garner, but it is also
the duty Of the general public to
see that he has safe and healthful
conditions under which to carry
on his work. No worker should
be compelled, as q condition of
earning his daily bread, TO risk
his life and limb, or be deprived
of his health, or have TO work
roundings. Society owes the
worker this because it owes as
muchs to itself. He should not
be compelled to make this a
matter of contract; he ought not
to be left to fight alone for
decent conditions in this respect.
His protection in the place where
he works should be guaranteed
by the law of the land In other
words. he should be protected
during his working hours
against greed and carelessness
thoughtless employers. just as
outside of those working hours
both he and his employer are
protected in their lives and prop
erty against the murderer and
the thief.
This opens vitally important
field Of legislation to the national
government and to the state
alike. 1t is humiliating to think
how far we of this country are
behind most of the other coun-
tries in such matters.
So il is in the matter of in
juries to employees. In what is
called employers liability"
legislation other industrial coun-
tries have accepted the principle
that the industry must bear the
who is injured shall have fixed
and definite sum. The United
States still proceeds on an out
worn. and curiously improper
which it has too often been held
by the courts that the frightful
burden of the accident shall be
borne in its entirety by the very
person least able to bear it. For
tunately, in a number of states
IN ncif IN
for instance-these defects in
our industrial life are either be-
ing remedied or else are being
made subject of intelligent
study. with a view to their
remedy.
beyond all question, be protected,
and in their cases there can be
no question that the government
should act. They should be par
ticular objects of our solicitude,
and they should be guarded in
demands of a too greedy com
mercialism. On my recent trip
in the neighborhood of Scranton
and Wilkesbarre every one I
spoke to agreed as to, the i'm
been wrought by the effective en-
forcement of the laws prohibit
ing children under the age of ii
years from working and prohib-
iting women from working
more than 10 hours a day. Per-
sonally, | think 10 hours too
: long, but, be this as it may. 10
hours a day was a great advance.
Among the planks in the plat
form of the American federation
of labor there are some to which
] very strongly subscribe. They
are:
I Erea ccbooIs. free taythool-
and compulsory education.
2. A workday of not more than
eight hours.
8. Release from employment
one day in seven.
4. The abolition of the sweat
shop system
5. Sanitary inspection of fac
tory, workshop, mine and home.
6. Liability of employers for
injury to body or loss of life.
form as inadequate, What we
need is an automatically fixed
compensation for all injuries re-
ceived by the employe in the
course of his duty, this being in
initely better for the employe
The only sufferers will be the
lawyers of that undesirable class
which exists chiefly by carrying
on lawsuits of this nature.)
4 The passage and enforce
ment of rigid anti-child labor
laws which will cover every por-
tion of this country. Similar
laws limiting women's labor
should be enacted
s. Suitable and plentiful play.
grounds for children in ali the
cities.
Inasmuch as prevention is al
ways best, especial attention
should be paid TO the prevention
of industrial accidents by pass
ing laws requiring the use of
safety devices. At present the
loss of life and limb among the
industrial workers of the United
States is simply appalling. and
every year equals in magnitude
the Killed and wounded in a fair