Evening journal., 1910-01-25
JUSTICE FOR
THE WORKERS
Pastor Wells Believes Short
Hours Make For Broad In
tereStS of Society
KEEP CHILDREN
FROM GRINDING TOLL

GOdW
Mr.. Wells said in part
"Our prime concern is with justice.
Conceptions of justice grow. Of course.
! from generation to generation. Our
! fathers practiced with clear consci-
ence what we can not practice If we
would be just . We mean by JUS
tice' the best expression Of the best con-
ception Of Justice as It is held by the
best men of our generation. Con
servation'a' business Is with that JUS
tice And what do we mean by Con
servation?" Conservation, as 1t is de-
fined by its author is 'The application
of common sense to common problems
for the common good We venture
70 speak Of Conservation from this
! pulpit because it is moral ISSUE We
are beginning to see, says the author
of the Conservation Policy, that the
conservation question is a question Of
right and wrong, as any question must
be which may involve the difference
between prosperity and poverty. health
and sickness, ignorance and education.
well-being and misery. to hundreds OF
I thousands OF families And again.
/ Conservation is a moral issue because
It involves rights and duties What is
/
mentally the moral welfare Of our peo-
| pie. But we are beginning to
see that we can not conserve the
moral welfare of our peo-
pie until we conserve the material base
upon which it rests We need not
expect-we have no right TO expect
10 grow wholesome wheat out OF un-
wholesome soil. We cannot expect
to grow good men out Of mean condi-
tions. Now and then good men do
seem 20 grow out OF mean conditions.
/ but when they are so grown they are
abnormal.
''rhe qualities that make for material
welfare, and so for the moral welfare
( Of people, arc industry and thrift. We
must conserve these qualities as of the
highest importance in the development
/ of men and women. How shall we
/ conserve them? BY rewarding them
TO such degree that we put a premium
upon them. We must make industry
and thrift worth while to the plain
man. We must reward them, too, by
refusing TO reward qualities less desir-
able. Faith i'm industry and thrift
as the means TO getting on has been
rudelv shaken during the past twenty
five years in this country. The great
est rewards have been going, IL seems,
not to industry and thrift, but rather
to what is called hustle and 'shrewd-
ness" But that ceaseless. fussy ac-
tivity is a poor quality TO possess and
! certainly deserves no substantial re-
ward from society. II should rather
be frowned down by all persons TO
whom gentle feelings and gracious
manners are worth while. Hustle
robs life of it's grace and charm, and
we have been paying 1t out Of all pro-
portion TO whatever virtue II may
possess. And so of 'shrewdness' which
Is only another name for craft and
cunning and too often only another
name for deft cheating Tho greatest
material rewards have. I say. gone to
subsidize hustle and 'shrewdness' to
the great detriment of industry and
thrift among us. II we are to con-
serve the qualities that can always
attach TO some high moral standard
then we shall pay large regard to in
dustry and to thrift. and. by the same
token. We shall see TO 1t that hustle
and business 'shrewdness, which we
can attach legitimately TO no high
moral standard. go unrewarded. The
chief function hitherto in these United
ness has been TO secure and TO con-
serve privilege. Privilege of every sort
thrives by these Virtues and mono
poly of our material resources-rightly
the property of all of us-is but one
menacing phase OF privilege Con-
servation is the foe Of privilege. the
foe Of monopoly. and it's purpose is &
eliminate them utterly A country
and a people is civilized in direct pro
portion TO the powerlessness of privi.
lege In it's midst. Where does privi
lege most thrive? In tho Orient
Privilege is the concomitant Of barbar-
ism and the sure and certain index o.
the amount of II. Privilege reigns il
Turkey. in China, in Russia Amonl
progressive nations # struggles desper
ately against the steadily vanquishinl
forces committed to it's death. w,
shall reward. therefore. industry anS
thrift, and we shall cease to rewar,
hustle and that cunning which is call
: ed 'shrewdness," In the interest OF tina
moral welfare which is our chiefes
concern.
Conserve Health Of Workers.
I'VE shall conserve the health OF th
worker. First by the prevention Of al
preventable diseases. Experts tell "a
that there arc some three million per
sons In this country constantly an'
seriously IN and that more than hal
Of this illness is distinctly preventable
There are one hundred and fifty thous
and persons dead from tuberculosi
annually (at the present rate OF death
three fourths of which mortality 4
known to be preventable. The costlies
piece of mechanism in industry is tn
. skilled. trained. specialized mechanic
He is our best Industrial asset. TIL
men who know tell us that we cal
readily add fifteen years to the life o
the mechanic by conserving his health
y And we shall conserve his health b,
literally furnishing him with IN
= knowledge and the materials necessar.
: TO health. We shall conserve the iif
y OF the worker. to lengthen II. Hoy
shall we DO that? BY seriously settin
about 70 obviate-practically TO elimi
y :, nate-industrial accidents. The Pitts
u burg Survey has recently revealed Al
appalling-appalling because unneces
sary-waste OF life through industrial
!. accidents in the factories and mills o
: Pittsburg. A like survey In other IN
dustrial towns would. we believe, re
veal a like waste.
Short Hours Beneficial.
IL I'VE must shorten the hours OF labor
not because union labor demands II
but because II shall make for tn
broad interests OF society-because I