The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1911-09-22
JUDGE {. c. O'REAR
SPEAKS ON LABOR
DISCUSSES ISSUES VITAL TO
FARMERS AND LABoRING
THE HISTORY OF ORGANIZATION
Address Delivered at Hsrtford--Pres-
ent Laws Of kentucky Sufficient for
Protection-Prison Labor-Progres-
sive Policies Would Help State.

biNc Policies Woutu rep otdtc.
Judge Z. c. O'Rear delivered great
Labor Day" speech at Hartford, Ky-
in which he traced the origin and
growth OF all kinds OF organizations
among laboring men, farmers and mer.
chants in a most interesting way, as
follows:
Fellow Citizens:
This day has been set apart by statute
and by custom in most Of the states OF
the union as Labor day A day commem-
GRATED to labor. A day set apart upon
which the people will reflect upon the
rights and the responsibilities OF labor.
Does 1t not strike you as singular that a
question like this matter Of labor should
be in such a formative state yet as to its
political rights, that IL is necessary that
there should be set apart at least one day
out Of the year. when business shall be
suspended. when the people shall be gath
cred in public assemblies, to study the
problems Of labor?
We speak OF the constructive genius OF
the times that has invented machinery
been multiplied by a thousand and in
which the arts have been multiplied. I'M
I'll those things which were at one time
regarded as the rarest Injuries, have
become Of the commonest enjoyment.
And we are apt. l am afraid. to attri-
butte this in the main. II not entirely, to
what we call genius, the exceptional in
ST noes. where men like Edison or Full
II. A..s
and OF their toll and Of their assiduity,
produced these marvels Of mechanism. by
which the labors Of the world have been
lessened and at the same time multiplied,
by which toll has been softened and the
fruits of labor have been expanded. But
II is not just to give praise altogether to
those men. nor even, l dare say, in the
largest part to them. Capital. it is true,
has its just share in the great achieve
ments which have been wrought just be-
hind US and are being to-day worked in
our midst. So also the geniuses have con-
tributed from their brains, the marvels to
which we have alluded. but the applica-
ton of these things. the execution of
them has fallen to the lot of labor in the
main.
Man a Creator.
Did you ever stop to reflect that when
1t was said that man was created in the
image OF God, that it meant that man
was created creator; and no man fulfills
the purpose of his creation who is not
creator? He must make things He must
add something to the worlds stock of
wealth, to what the world needs, to what
the world wants. Not the man alone who
q IL
place, who swaps 1t one for the other.
but the man who takes the raw product
and out OF that erects, builds. creates
something that the world must have.
We are in the habit. however. of re-
garding this subject of Labor day as a
day set apart for those who labor as ar
tisans in the shops and mines and mills
and factories and upon the railroads and
such. This is entirely too narrow an APP
plication of the sentiment Of the hour. II
is for all who honorably labor. Tnose |
have named. included? Yes But y
those who labor upon the farm as well
From the humble plowboy to the landlord,
from the maid in the kitchen to the mis-
tress of the home. All who contribute by
toll to the ame'ioration Of the worlds
condition, to making 1t happier and bet
ter, TO making 1t more serviceable to
themselves and defeating it in broader
field to their progeny. this day is set
apart to all such
Past Was Different.
1t has not always been thus. my coun-
trymen. Strange TO say. singular to note
for centuries upon centuries the man who
labored was despised. There, was mark
set between him and those who ruled
You would think that he only who had
committed the crime Of fraticde should
have placed upon his forehead a mark to
distinguish him from his fellowa5. but So
ciety put brand upon the man who la
bored. the man with the calloused hand
and the stopped form and the sun-bent
brow, he who wore the wooden Shoes
who came to be dubbed clod -hoppers. aft
erwaTd hay seeds. who are caricatured In
the so-called funny papers of the country
to-day as ridiculous old fellow with
boots too large. baggy breeches and an
old shirt without collar and long goat
chin whiskers and straw in his mouth
He is the type Of laborlng man upon the
farm, in the eyes Of the funny people,
who do not labor. | speak Of that only
10 point you 10 this truth: That there re-
mains now a remnant Of the idea prevail
ing away back yonder. that the men
who labored, who worked. were OF a diff !
ferent class from the men who Ruled. The
men who ruled claimed as a matter of
right, as a matter OF authority. as a mat
ter Of rightful power, the privilege OF
working these other men and of taking
the fruits of their labor and applying II
TO their immediate necessities. even to
their Injuries.
: Before the time Of Christ and ever since
the rule was that the man with the
strongest arm and the boldest heart. who
welded most skilfully the sharpest sword.
was the most important man In the COM
mupity. and when enough OF them would
band together In adventure. In exploits
upon the field Of battle. they would run
down and run over this other class. taxi
ing them singly. Kidding them Of their
And these with swords estab-
lished authority over those with the pillow
and the hoe. and those with the swords
having thus established authority main
tanned IL by force. and that they called
and that they wlled TO their
children and TO their chldren's children
To make II binding. they invented the
fiction that II was derived from Heaven