Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1910-09-06
LABOR SPEECH
BY ROOSEVELT
AT FARGO Nd.
FORMER PRESIDENT EXPRESSES
CONVICTIONS FOR PROGRESS
slvE LEGISLATION IN BEHALF.
OF WORKERS.
Continued From Page H.

gathered. at Fargo to observe Labor
day Roosevelt's speech follows:
1t is true of wage-workers, as of all
other citizens, that most of the prog.
ress must depend upon their own mi.
Etiatiye and their own efforts. Never
theless, there are three different fac
tors in this progress, There Is, first
the share which the mans own indi
vidual qualities must determine. This
is the most important of all, for moth
ing can supply the place Of individual
|capacity. Yet there are two other fac.
tors also of prime Importance; name.
ly, what can be done by the wage
workers in cooperation with one an.
other, and what can be done by gov.
ernment-that is, by the instrument
through which all the. people work
collectively. Wages Aid other most
important conditions of employment
must remain largely outside Of gov.
eminent control; must be left for ad.
justment by free contract between
employers and wage earners, subject
to legislation which will prevent con.
ditions which compel man, or woman
to accept wages representing less than
WILL &CA6uIC uCCCAI llNllS.
Collective Bargaining.
But to attempt to leave this merely
to individual action means the abso-
lutte destruction. Of individualsim for
where the individual is SO weak that
he, perforce, has to accept whatever
a strongly organized body chooses to
give him, his individual liberty be-
comes 2 mere sham and mockery. 1t
Is indispensably necessary. in order to
preserve to the largest degree our sys-
tenn of individualism, that there should
be effectivel and organized collective
action. The wage earners must act
jointly, through the process of col
lective bargaining, in great industrial
enterprises Only thus can they be put
upon q plane OF economic equality with
their corporate employers. Only thus
is freedom OF contract made = real
thing and not q mere, legal fiction.
There Fare occasional occupations
where this ID not necessary but,
speaking broadly, 1T is necessary
throughout the great world Of organ
lied industry. I believe this. practice OF
collectively bargaining, effective only
through such organizations as the
trade unions, to have heen one Of the
most potent forces in the past century
insprom0ting the progress Of the wage
carriers and in securing larger social
progress for humanity. / believe in
the principle OF organized labor
and in the practice OF collective
bargaining, not merely as desirable
thing for the wage earners, but as
something which has been demon
strated to be essential IN the long run
to their permanent progress.
Labor Organizations Necessary. 4
This. does not mean that I unequiv-
ocally indorse any or allpractices that
labor organizations may happen to
adopt, or any or all principles. that
they may choose to enunciate. Labor
ORGANIZATIONS have the weaknesses
and defects common to all other forms
of human organizations. Sometimes
they act very well, And. sometimes
they act very badly; and | am for
them when they act well, and 1 am
against them when they act badly. l
believe that their existence is ne
cessity; / believe that their aims and
purposes are generally good; and l
believe that, all of them have Occa'
sionally made mistakes, and that some
of them have been guilty Of wrong
doing. Just in so far as they are
strong and effective they tempt de-
signing men who seek to control them
for their own interests, and stimulate
the desires of ambitious leaders who
may be clever. crooked men, or who
may be honest but visionary and fool
fish, In other words, in treating Of
labor unions, as in treating OF corpor-
atoms, or Of. hmanity generally. we
will do we'll to remember Abraham
Lincoln's saying that there is deal
of human nature in mankind"
Labor Should Heed Criticism.
Outside critics should appreciate
the necessity of organized labor, and
and sympathize with what
is good in it. instead of condemning
it indiscriminate1y On the other
hand those within it's ranks snoult
fearlessly analyze the criticisms d.
rected against 1t and ruthlessly elimi-
nate from the practices of its organi-
zation those things which Justify such
criticism and attack. This is the path
not only Of right. but of wisdom and
safety. Public opinion in the United
States is daily becoming more alert
and more intelligent and more force
full: and, no organization, whether
trades union or corporation, whether
industrial or non-industrial, can en-
dure or permanently amount to So
cial force if it does not harmonic
with wise and enlightened public
opinion. Hitherto we Americans have
been overoccupied with material
things. and have, neglected to watch
the play of the social forces about us.
But now we are awakening from that
indifference; and every formNof or
ganization representing an important
economic, political or social force
must undergo "a closer scrutiny than
ever before.
The Strike Question.
I think that the next quarter of a
century will be important politically
in many ways: and in none more so
than in the labor movement Not only
are the benefits of labor organizations
more clearly understood than ever be-
fore, but any shortening or vice dis
played in connection Herewith is also
more clearly understood and more