The labor argus. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1906-1915, 1910-01-20

among working people betokens we'll for
the future of this nation. 1t stimulates
thought and develops intelligence. Labor
left free to develop its problems in its
own way will work out it's own destiny.
Being the foundation spring from which
everything originates, there is no danger
of the world going far wrong so long as
labor holds sway,
From the time that kings reigned su
preme until the present day there has
always been a certain percentage who can
not conceive such 4 thing as a govern
ment, or a labor union, or an organization
of any kind, in which the will of the
rank and file. rules. They seem unable to
grasp the conception of n socalled leader
who in reality is merely doing the will of
the majority of those whom he serves
Their conception of life is the serf or
slave idea in which a master rules over
n large number of inferior men and wo.
men, and being supposed to have master
mind, it is considered that he is better
able the decide for his slaves what is best
for them than they are themselves. But
in the gradual evolution of man from
barbarianism to the presentday civiliza-
ton the slaves and serfs have risen to
the state of freedom today enjoyed by
labor. However far this may be from
actual freedom, it is great step in ad.
vance from the time when men were
owned as property in not distant past.
This has been possible through the in
crease of intelligence that has been dis.
seminated among the masses of the peo-
pie who formerly were kept in ignorance.
AS intelligence has increased, the cause of
freedom, independence has also increased.
With the increase of this spirit the slave
idea of mankind has decreased. No
longer can the master rule so arrogantly
rs formerly. The laborer who formerly
was an owned slave now has something
! to say about the conditions under which
he shall work and live. 1t is this working
class striving for betterment that is caus-
ing the upheaval of today. The rank and
file are at the bottom of it all. 1t is
their thought and their efforts which in
reality make the gigantic labor movement
of today, instead of the handful of lond-
crs and agitators who are held RESPONSE.
bic for it all. The latter merely put into
words what thousands and millions are
thinking, and this is the secret of their
influence.
1t is human nature to resist any force
that has n tendency to reduce one to n
state of servitude. To be owned by Others
is repulsive to all of u.s. The man who
attempts TO enslave his fellow-men must
not be surprised if he meets with opposi-
ton. There was time when this could
be done, but the world is rapidly reaching
Il point of development when the masses
will not tolerate enslavement, although it
still exists in various FORMS The slave
spirit still largely exists among the en-
ployers of today, and the spirit of servi-
tudc characteristic of the slaves of old
is still quite marked among a number of
laborers who are supposed to be free men.
But the spirit of independence and free
dom is growing, and there is an increasing
number of men who recognize that they
have right to enjoy the liberties that
hitherto have been denied them by those
who have controlled their lives and their
destinies. An effort made to encroach on
these rights and liberties will meet with
greater and greater opposition, and this
IS just what is taking place today in n
= ~.
Much of the spirit of unrest, which is
deplored by men, is nothing more nor less
than the natural and just resistance which
rs aroused in the breast of man when he
IS being robbed of rights and liberties for
which he and his forefathers have strug.
gled.
1t has been thecustom through so many
ages to hold out to the toiler as his hope
for better things something else than toll.
He has been led to believe that the way
to improve himself is to get into some
thing else than the labor he is performing
That he could hope to improve himself
where he has been considered impossible,
and the result has been, and is largely
still so today, that the majority of men
look to, some profession of business as the
channel through which to improve them
selves. Evidently sight is lost of the
fact that most people must labor, and that
II all were to cease doing the manual
forms of work there would very soon be
nothing left for others to do but starve
or get out themselves and do the very
work so many are foolish enough to de-
spise- Without the woodsmen and saw
mil workers to prepare lumber, the mil
9TH