Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1912-08-29

at a loss for an argument to support
their contentious, have at times
thoughtlessly charged trade unionists
as being thoroughly materialistic' in
possessing no ideals or sentiments, .
and influenced by no great "soul-mov-
ing forces"
Sentiment In Organized Labor.
Such expressions can only come
from those who are not informed. or
such as are burdened with prejudice
In order that those who run may read
and understand, few facts are here
with unfolded so that cynics, critics,
opponents and friends may obtain a
glimpse in a condensed form of what
these same trade unionists have &C
mplished-because of a great soul
moving force burning within them
Conserving Men and Women.
The farther the American people ad-
vance in this direction in the future
the more surely will they observe true
economic principles-that is to say,
the conservation of human resources
and human energy of the toilers
means the ultimate safety and well
being Of the nation and while it is
only too true, and pity tbs tbs true"
that the greatest form of waste from
which our people suffer at this time is
the terrific waste of human energy,
due to uneconomic methods The aw-
full slaughter of the workers whose
bodies are manned, or whose lives are
unnecessarily destroyed in some in
dustries and in transportation, is gen
orally caused by long hours, ignorance,
incompetence, haste or greed.
STILL while it is true that these
grave charges are daily substantiated,
yet, If 1t had not been for the con-
slant vigilance and heroic persistence
of the workers in providing remedies
for such awful possibilities, every
trade and occupation would be equally
subject to as frequent casualties as
now occur in the mills and blast fur
naces of the iron and steel industry,
where organization of the workers
has been slow to develop, as well as
in those coal fields, where the mine
workers are still subjected to serf-
like conditions by agencies of preda-
tory wealth.
1t is, therefore, perfectly appro-
pirate to draw attention to such
comparison before enumerating the
legal measures of prevention and
safety already established In the sew
eral states.
The first subject covered Is natur-
ally the Conservation of Time" or
'"The 8-Hour Day" Without time to
recuperate, observe, study, reflect,
the workers are rendered hopeIessly
unable to act either in their own be-
half or in cooperation with others for
the public good
Shortening the Working Day.
Observe the communities where the
steel trust, the sugar trust, the cord
age trust an dthe rubber trust are
dominant, and, where greed is all pow
erful, where the workers grind out a
miserable existence twelve hours per
day, and in many cases seven days
per week, never less than seventy-two
hours, frequently eighty-four hours
per week. In such places race suicide
runs rampant, sickness, vice, disease,
drunkenness and deaths by violence
are the rule rather than the excep-
ton.
Boarding house shacks, corner sa-
looms and squalor abound; homes,
schools and Libraries are conspicuous
ly rare or absent
Human life is held cheapest in
Pennsylvania, where the long and the
many work days are prevalent. But
Ter loses 374 out of every hundred
thousand Of its people by violent
deaths fh industry; Pittston, $50, Nc
KEGS Rocks and McKeesport 200,
Shenandoah PIG, Pottsville PIC and the
large city, Pittsburg, with its diversi-
fed population, revels in a violent
death rate of 1911 per one hundred
thousand pee pie, according to the
mortality statistics Of the United
States census bureau in 1906
The average age Of these deaths by
accident is thirty-three and a half
years. This fearful drain occurs
among men doing the work of the
world before they have reached the