The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1912-08-31


hour day for women workers. And w
don't say we stand for it with thu
knowledge that the. higher courts of thu
nation will declare it unconstitutional
We claim that the people have the right
to say and to make their representatives
respond to their well.thought-ou senti
ment and that the people shall say
whether the courts shall be instruments
for defrauding our social justice. II
New York we passed a law limiting
/ women's working hours to ten, with nc
work to be performed after 0 o'clock al
night 1t wasn't the best law evei
passed, but the best that could be passed
under the circumstances. And yet the
New York court of appeals declared ouI
law to be unconstitutional Well, We
are going to have the right to cut WON
ems hours down to less than ten and
to keep them from working nights at all
And we are going to contend that ths
people have the right to say whether
/ that law shall be enforced.
I'm the same way we are declaring a
law dealing with continuous industries,
whereby there shall be one day of rest
/ for every one and three shifts Of eight
hours each, instead Of two shifts of IL
| hours. We are going to declare against
the labor of children and that prisoners
shall have their earnings applied to the
support of their families. When / was
! police commissioner in New York, u
brute who beat up his wife was put in
| Jail for thirty days, well fed during this
period, while his wife and children were
almost starving. | would have liked to
hurt him physically, but that was i'm.
possible, OF course. We can't do that,
so we viii make such people work and
give their wife and children the benefit
Of their labors.
II Am Unconstitutional They Say.
"These are concrete proposals of what
we actually intend to do, and we can
and will do them if we get into power.
Every performance is judged by the per-
formance of the past. You have heard
many assaults upon me. Chief among
these is the contention that / am uncon-
sttutionaI, with reference to the pur-
chase of Panama lands, the settlement
OF the coal strike. just word about
the latter incident.
"Back during the big coal strike got
in touch with the miners. The owners
told me that / couldn't interfere. But
| did interfere. The governor of Msssa
chusetts appealed to me to avert the
disaster which impended if the strike
were not settled. and made up my
mind that | would be derelict to my
duty if / hesitated because | could find
only the spirit and not the letter of
the law to bring about the settlement.
was president at the time, and | made
up my mind to avert this disaster which
so imminently threatened the people. /
met the miners and the owners, but the
first conference did not amount to any
thing, although the miners behaved bet
ter than the owners, must say. Well,
got old General Scofield put in com
mand Of soldiers and told the mine own
ers that would run the mines as their
receiver and that the miners would come
back Mt their old wages while ! had
the differences amicably settled by an
arbitration commission. Word of my
plans reached the operators, and they
came back In much better spirits. You
know much Of the remainder IN nFsVflkcss
barre, a report in which both the owners
and the laborers .werc interested. stated
that conditions in the coal district were
much improved.
81 believe that this is the kind of
stewardship which a president should ex-
crcise, and it is this spirit Of progress
which Is the life Of the platform upon
which | stand 1t is the only platform
whose promises can be performed, and
il is the only platform which promises
social justice tosall people.
Not Attacking Capital
capital il all bosh. | viii stand by cap
ital as long as il is in danger of injus
tice, but it must deal Justly in turn.
| have been much amused by an assault !
made upon me by Penrose and Archbold. !
But | will not deal with the personal
assault. Upon receipt Of the news, /
wired the subcommittee a l
Washington and asked for hearing. !
Only one member could find it convenient
to hear me: the rest were suddenly !
called elsewhere. That one member was
Senator Clapp; he speaks in Montpelier |
tonight, and | advise you to hear him. |
All other members scattered to the four
winds OF the heaven, and Arehbold of a |
sudden felt called to go to Europe /
have written a letter to each of these
men, which will be ready for the press
next Monday. | hope it will be given
the widest publicity. hope that even
the newspapers that have been retained /
on the other side win print il as a mat
ter Of news. | do not ask them to favor |
me editorially, but simply request them
to forget Wall street long enough to
print the news.
"The Penrose and Arehbold affair is
really an attack on man who is dead
would call your attention to the testi-
mohy of Penrose and Arehbold.
"Penrose advised the Standard Oil to
to the campaign because II
iidn't want to incur the hostility of the
administration. | have repeatedly stated
HAT | am never hostile to any corpora
ion so long as it is honest. Why, then,
would the Standard Oil company stand
n fear of hostility? Because it was
strictly honest? The testimony Of these
.wo partners shows they paid money /
,nly to escape being held accountable
or disobeying the law. And now they
IRE simply complaining because they
lidn't get what they paid for!
Il wish | could stay longer and delve
leeper into the reasons why the Pro-
yressive movement deserves your sup
'ort. We appeal to every business man,,
very farmer. every wage Garner and
very man in Vermont, if he is honest
o his state and honest with himself
o. consider these things. If he wants
o be ruled by bosses or if he feels he
ant rule himself. then we want him