White Pine news weekly mining review. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1910-1920, 1910-09-11

SItoSy tucEc Cdu Dc uO pIOSICSo III
any community. But for the man
that earns his bread by the sweat of
his brow, to him this day is set apart
to be celebrated.
Labor day was first inaugurated
by the Knights Of Labor of New York
in 1862. Four years later the legis-
~latures of different states took up the
idea. But it remained for our sister
state of Colorado to make the day a
general holiday in 1887. Since then
nearly all the states have taken up
this idea and enacted laws making
this day a legal holiday. While the
United States cannot make any gen.
era1 avs or pass laws on the labor
movement, yet it has enacted the
eight-hour law for its own employees
and given the shorter hours to all
who labor. Personally l hope that
every state in the Union will follow
this good example.
Now, to all the labor committees
of this district; to every organization
in it; to everyone who labors, no
matter in what field, on behalf of the
city of Ely, l extend to you a hearty
welcome today. I hope that you will
SpChu tnC Qdy Will UcucnL " yOuI-
selves and for the benefit of the
whole community. l hope you will
enjoy yourself thoroughly and to one
and all l extend a hearty welcome
and the hospitality of the city.
In introducing the speaker of the
day, Chairman Cox said:
When the Central committee pre-
pared for this day we wondered
whether we could engage our brother
A. Grant Miller, to address us. This
comrade has spoken to the men of
the labor unions of two continents
and has been good enough to come to
us from Reno and to speak to the
working men of this district of Ely
today. / therefore have the pleasure
of introducing to you, A. Grant Miller
of Reno, Nevada.
MIR. Miller's Address.
Friends, and fellow citizens, and
fellow workers: In speaking to you
today l feel that there is a great res
possibility resting upon me. / do
not come to make an address merely.
If l cannot do something with you I
shall be sorry that / came. And
why? Because l believe that the
4uCSllOh VI oil 4uCotlOuS DclOIS tuc
American people today is the labor.
question. You may talk about tariff;
you may talk about conservation and
forestry; you may rend the skies
with oratory concerning the liberties
of the nation; but in my opinion the
great issue before the American peo-
pie today is the labor question.
You have various political doctors;
you have those who will say that they
will patch up the ills of the civic life
of the nation; they will tell you that
they do this by this and by that par
ticular method of procedure and this
and hat remedy. You have doctors
political, and you have doctors eco
nomic; but what o. and / want to
know above everything else is this:
where are we at? If we can find that
out then we shall be able to know
what to do that will be the right
thing to do, in order to get out of
life our portions of the good things
of life.
This makes me think sometimes,
when ! get to thinking af the labor
ing men Of the world, in their activi-
ties. in the political parties and
labor unions-it makes me think of
the darkey who went fishing one day
with a white man. You may have
heard the story. They were out after
the tarpon. You know they use the
harpoon in fishing for tarpon. Well
off they vent on to the water. Pretty
soon a big tarpon rose to the bait.
At once the white man hurled his
harpoon and struck the fish. 1t was a
very lively one and the darkey soon
saw that the white man had a larger
job on his hands than he could man
age and he slammed his harpoon on
to mister tarpon. Then there was
trouble, for the rope got tangled
around the leg Of the darkey and the
white nan had all he could do to
keep the black man In the boat.
Wien things got right the niger
turned to the white man with the
question: Say, boss, is dis niger
a-fshing. or is dis fish a a-nigger-
ing?" So 1t is with this question of
labor, and its claims in this land of
America. When We find out what we
are going to do, we shall do as the
Scotch say, we shall stand shoulder
to shoulder. work wisely together.
There are many issues before the
people today. And there is this labor
issue. These issues are coming up
year after year. And now 1t is time
that American citizenship should con
Germ itself with the issues of blood
with that which is draining the life
and the purity out of the American
citizenship of IL day; and this
issue must be settled by the brain of
the labor men of the nation.
We have people here from every
nation under heavens. They are
here from every cline, and from the
ivory isle of every sea. Sometimes
when ! have thought of the cosmo-
politan character of our population,
1t reminds me Of a great orchestral
organ that ] listened to at one time.
You turned a crank and you heard
THE Watch on the Rhine;" you
heard God save the King and 1.-THE
Austrian National Hymn" then
rang out the Russian National