Norwich bulletin., 1912-01-20
CUTLERY WORKERS HAVE
 THEIR FIRST SHOP TALK

CUTLERY WORKERS HAVE
 THEIR FIRST SHOP TALK Rev. p. c. Wright Tells Why They
 Are Worth While.
 The first of a series of shop talks was given at the plant of the Inter national Silver company on Friday noon by Rev. P. c. Wright, under Y. M, c, A. auspices, General Score tary Starkey being present.
 There were two finely rendered So- los, Dana'S Flee as Bird and Rock of Ages, by Johnson. Mrs. George T. Lord being the soloist Miss Freeman furnished the accompaniments.
 Rev. MT. Wright said in part:
 This is a new thing in your shop life and the question will come to each one of you something like this: Is this thing worth while? With your short hours outside of work and dur ing the noon hour, is it worth while to take twenty minutes for a meeting of this sort?
 We are all, We believe, a part of great company of shop men through out cities of the United States and of shop workers who are convinced that 1t is worth while for several reason.
 Want a Better World.
 The first reason is that we want a better world to live in. While we be- lieve that America is the greatest country. known to the human family, things Are not perfect here. Our whole social structure is full of unrest and this will continue to be the case until many conditions are changed. As. long as children are compelled to work in mills something is wrong. As long as sweatshops exist, something is wrong. Society never can get on well while corporations own in the same com munity the factories, houses, stores, in fact, the whole town, so that the said owners make profit on the labor, the rent, the clothes worn by the peo- pie, the food they eat Only when human nature is better than it Is now can such a condition exist without harm. Something is wrong in society as long as capital earns 10 per cent. to 25 per cent. and labor barely enough to exist and not enough to support in old age. In this great country then, there are things which may be i'm proved.
 We do not want capital and labor wars. They cost the laboring men as well as capital. On the whole I think labor suffers the worst, inasmuch as the laboring man is cut off during the period of the strike from the wage which he needs to live upon, whereas the investor has enough to live upon during such a period. War is hell, D 1 said one of our great generals. We do not want such state of affairs. We l want peace. justice, equity, prosperity, good will.
 These wrong conditions in society 1 result from the selfshness which is to be found in men. You know We are all bit selfish, perhaps some bit more than others. If the conditions of society in this old world of ours are l to be for each man to secure his share of happiness and wealth we have got l to consider the principles involved in 1 the teachings of Jesus Christ. There 1 fore, that we may be enabled to assist 1 in the making of a better country to ] live in, we believe these meetings are worth while.
 Each One Needs Help. 1 The second reason for such a meet 1 ing is that every one of us needs help ] to live a better life than he Is living. ! Men are their own worst enemies, and | 1t is doubtless true of us all. If @ man ] goes home tonight with more than a | morning with swelled head, So swelled that neither his hat nor his 1 boots go on well, and he does such l poor work in the shop that day, spells l so many tools, that his boss gets mad l and discharges him, who is his worst l enemy? Society? The man who sold l him the drink? The boss? Or himself ? 1 We cannot escape the fact that each man is responsible for his life. All the 1 others may be at fault, but the man is 1 free to stand untouched by the stuff l which did the harm. We do not all 1 have the same fault, but we GH have 1 one or more. AS long as this is the | case, there is place for a meeting in 1 which the great messages of God to men may be manfully discussed and l considered.
 l Help Make Things Better. The third and last reason for such meeting is that there is obligation ] upon each of us to help make things 1 better. If poor tenements are the cause of tuberculosis in this or any ! city, it is our business to do what we may to change that condition. If any part of our community is suffering for | a condition which the community may | correct, it is our common duty to as sist in changing the condition. Ii | the condition of working men in this
 city is unjust. negotiable, it is mat ter of common interest, and those | truths which make for the bettering ot
 such situations need to be thought about.
 And again. men, we all know that we need help to be better men. We 1 need the help of God. We need the
 help of thought upon great truths ot righteousness. We need the help o1 men.
 After the address the men voted l unanimously to have the meetings l ortinued.