The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-08-06


 Social andS Industrial Justice to the Wageworkers.
 ' Referring to the opening sentence of his address, namely, that we are now lution,' MT. Roosevelt presented an ad- vanced and comprehensive plan to in- sure the rights and better conditions for labor. He gives it the paramount place in his speech. "The first charge upon the industrial statesmanship of the day." he said, lis to prevent human waste The dead weight of orphanage and depleted craftsmanship, of crip- pied workers and workers suffering from trade diseases, of casual labor, of insecure old age and of household de- pletion due to industrial conditions are, like our depleted soils, our gashed mountain sides and flooded river bot toms so many strains upon the na- tional structure, draining the reserve strength of all industries and showing beyond all peradventure the public ele- ment and public concern in industrial health" He proposed several specif1c methods for preserving and improving tour human resources, and therefore our labor power" Wage scales and other labor data should be made pub lie; all deaths, injuries and diseases due to industrial operation should be re- ported to the authorities; wage com missions should be established in the nation and state to determine the min in fnd1G- tries; the federal government should investigate all industries with view to estab ablishing standards of sanitation and safety; there should be mine and factory inspection according to stand ards fixed by interstate agreement or by the federal government national and state legislation should establish standards of compensation for indus trial accidents and deaths and for dis eases clearly due to industrial condt- tions; for the adoption by law of fair standard of compensation for casual ties resulting fatally which shall clear ly fix the minimum co1npensa ton in all cases: the monetary equivalent of a living wage varies according to local conditions, but should be sufficiently high to make morality possible and to provide for education, recreation, prop CT care of the children, maintenance during sickness and reasonable saving for old age; excessive hours of labor should be prohibited for all wage work CTS, and night labor of women and children should be forbidden; one day of rest in seven should be provided by law; continuous twenty-four hour labor . should be divided into three shifts of eight hours by law; tenement house manufacture should be entirely pro hibited, and labor camps should be sub feet to governmental sanitary regula- tion; all industries employing women and children should be specially sub ject to government inspection and reg ulRtion; insurance funds against sick ness, accident, inyalidism and old age should be established by a charge either in whole or in part upon the in dustries: the suffrage should be granted to women if for no other reason to enable working women to. combine for their own protection by the use of the ballot "As, a people we cannot afford to let any group of citizens or any indi- yidual citizen labor under conditions which are injurious to the common welfare. Industry. therefore, must sub init to such public regulation as will make it a means of life and health, not of death or inef1ciency.
 The Farmer.
 "The country life commission should he revived with greatly increased pow CT; it's abandonment was severe blow to our people. The welfare of the farmer is a basic need of this nation .'' The country school should be brought in touch with country life For this reason the Progressives approve of gov. ernment cooperation with the farmer to make the farm more productive Cooperative associations of farmers both for the production and the selling of agricultural products should be en- couraged. :.So long. as the farmer leaves cooperative activities with their profit sharing to the city man of busi- ness. so long will the foundations of wealth be undermined and the com Z forts of enlightenment be1mpossible in the country communities.
 In every respect this nation has to learn the lessons of efficiency in pro- duction and distribution and of avoid anee of waste and destruction. We must develop and improve instead of exhausting our resources. It is en- firely possible by Improvements in @ duction. in the avoidance of waste
 l in business methods on the part of the farmer to give him an increased Income from his farm, while at the sane time reducing to the consumer the price of the articles raised on the farm. Important although education is ev- anywhere, + has special importance in the Country. The country school must fit the country life. Ia the coun- try as elsewhere, education must be hitched up with life. The country church and the country Young Mems and Young Women's Christian asso- citations have great parts to play. The farmers must own and work, their own land. Steps must be taken at once to put stop to the tendency toward ab- sentee landlordiSm and tenant farm ing"
 ses1. The Tariff.
 On the tariff he says: II believe in q protective tariff, but believe in it as principle approached from stand point of the interests of the whole peo-