Los Angeles herald., 1910-09-06
Roosevelt Warmly Welcomed by Labor Day Crowd

the same course as regards city government
The stay-at-home man in union is Just as
much responsible for the sins Of omission and
commission OF his organization as the staY-at-
home man in a city is for the civic conditions
under which he suffers AMI about which he
complains.
All that can properly be done should be
done by all of us to help upward the stand
ard of living and to improve the ability OF
the average rAan to reach that standard. There
are still in the United States great masses
Of skilled and unorganized labor, whose con-
ditlons of work and living are harsh and
pitiable II is a shocking Indictment Of our
Industrial condition to be told in matter Of
course way in government report that thous-
ands of workers IN this country are compelled
to toll every day IN the week, without one
day Of rest, for wage of s45 month. Such
a condition is bad for them, and in the end
bad for all of us. Our commercial develop
ment should be heartily encouraged; but It
must not be allowed to commercialize our
morals.
1t Is not merely the duty Of the wage
erner, but It is also the duty OF the general
public, to see that he has safe and healthy
conditions under which to carry on his work.
No worker should be compelled, as a condi-
ton OF earning his daily bread, to risk his
life and limb or be deprived Of his health or
have to work under dangerous and bad sur
cause it owes as much 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 careless
ness ON the part of INSCRIPTIONS and thought
less employers. Just outside those working
hours both he and his employer are protected
in their lives and property against the muir
derer and thief
Women and children should, beyond all
question, be protected, and in their cases there
can be question that the government should
act. They should be particular objects of our
solictude and they should be guarded in
effective fashion against the demands of too
greedy commercallsrn. On my recent trip
in tho neighborhood Of Scranton and Wilkes
barre everyone l spoke to agreed as to the
immense improvement that had been wrought
by the effective enforcement OF the laws
prohibiting children under the age Of Il
years from working and prohibiting women
from working more than ten hours day.
Personally, think ten hours too long, but.
be this It may, ten hours day was
great advance.
Among the planks in the platform Of the
American Federation Of Labor there are some
to which very strongly subscribe. They are:
First-F'ree schools free textbooks and COM
pusory education.
Second-A workday OF not more than eight
hours.
Third-Release from employment ono day IN
seven.
Fourth-The abolition of the sweatshop Hys-
tenn
Fifth-Sanitary inspection OF factory, work
shop, mine and home,
sixth-Liability of employers for injury to
body or loss Of life.
q regard the demand in this form as in
adequate. What we need is an automatically
fixed compensation for all injuries received
by the employe III the course of his duty,
this being infinitely better for the employe
and more just to the employer. The only
sufferers will be lawyers OF that undesirable
class carrying lawsuits of this nature)
6eventh-The passage and enforcement OF
rigid anti-child labor laws which Will cover
every portion Of this country.
Eighth-Suitable and plentiful Fairgrounds
for children in all the cities.
Inasmuch as prevention is always best es-
pecial attention should be paid to the pre-
yention of Industrial accidents by passing laws
requiring the OF safety devices. At pres
ent the loss of life and limb among the in
dustrial workers OF the United States is simply
appalling and every year equals in magnitude
the killed and wounded In a fair sized war
Most OF these casualties preventable and
our legislative policy should be shaped accord
ingly. 1t would be good idea to establish
in every city museum Of safety devices from
which the workers could get drawings of
them and information to how they could be
obtained and used.
From the park the colonel returned
to his hotel and took dinner with Con-
gresham and Mrs Hanna,
Col. Roosevelt left tonight for St
Paul to address the conservation con-
gress there tomorrow.