Perth Amboy evening news., 1912-08-07

Ths Labor Question.
Let me say again that what we are
seeking is not destruction Of any kind
nor the disruption Of any sound or hon
est thing, but merely the rule of right
and Of the common advantage. / am
happy to say hat a new spirit has be-
gun to show itself In the last year or
two among Influential men of business
and, what is perhaps even more signif-
cant, among the lawyers who are their
expert advisers and that this spirit has
displayed itself very notably in the last
few months IN an effort to return in
some degree at any rate to the prac-
tees Of genuine competition.
If l am right about this, It is going
to be easier to act in accordance with
the rule Of right and justice In deal
Ing with the labor question. The so
called labor question Is a question only
because we have not yet found the
rule of right In adjusting the inter
ests of labor and capital. The welfare,
the happiness, the energy and spirit
of the men and women who do the
uhtf "bth III bui Iulllts anu ltS,
on our railroads, in our offices and
maFts Of trade, on our farms and on
the seq, are of the essence of our ma
tional life. There can be nothing
wholesome unless their life Is whole
some; there a be 40 contentment UNI
less they are contented. Their physi-
cal welfare affects the soundness of
the whole nation. We shall never get
very tar in the settlement OF these
vital matters so long as we regard
everything done for the w~orkingman,
by law or by private agreement, as a
concession yielded to keep him from
agitation and a disturbance Of our
peace. Here again the sense of uni
versel partnership must come into
play II we are to act like statesmen,
as those who serve not a class, but 4
nation.
The working people of Americs-if
they must be distinguished from the
minority hat constitutes the rest of
it-are, OF course, the backbone Of the
nation. No law chat safeguards their
life, that improves the physical and
moral conditions under which they
live, that makes their hours of labor
rational and tolerable, that gives
them freedom to act In their w in
terest and that protects them where
they cannot protect themselves can
properly be regarded as class legisls-
ton or as anything but as a measure
taken In the interest of the whole
people, whose partnership In right ac-
ton we are trying to establish and
make real and practical. 1t Is in this
spirit that we shall act If we are genu-
Inc spokesman Of the whole country.
Currency Laws.
AS our program is disclosed-for n 10
man can forecast it ready made and
before counsel Is taken Of every
concerned-this must be its measure
and standerd, the interest of all con-
cerned. For example, in dealing with
the complicated and difficult question
of the reform of III banking and cur
rency laws 1t is plain that we ought
to consult very many persons besides
the bankers, not because we distrust
the bankers, but because they do not
necessarily comprehend the business
of the country. Notwithstanding they
are Indispensable servants of it and
may do a vast deal to make it hard or
easy. No mere bankers plan will
meet the requirements, no matter how
honestly conceived. 1t should be a
merchants and farmers plan as well,
elastic in the hands of those who use
1t as an Indispensable part of their
daily business.
In dealing with the Philippines we
should not allow ourselves to stand
upon any mere point Of pride as If, in
order to keep our countenance In the
families Of nations, it were necessary
for us to make the same blunders of
self1shness that other nations have
made. We are not the II OF the
Philippine Islands. We hold them in
trust for the people who live in them.
They are theirs for the uses Of their
life. We are not eve their partners.
1t lis our duty as trustees to make
whatever arrangement of government
will be most servtceable to their free
dom and development. Here again we
are to set up the rule of justice and of
right.
Presidential Primaries.
The rule of the people is no idle
phrase. Those who believe in it-as
who does not that has caught the real
spirit Of America?-believe that there
can be no rule Of right without IT.;
that right in politics is made up Of
the interests of everybody, and every
body should take part in the action
hat is to determine it. We have been
keen for presidential primaries and
the direct election of United States
| senators because we wanted the ac-
ton of the government to be determin-
ed by persons whom the people had
actually designated as men whom they
were ready to trust and follow. We
have been anxious that all campaign
contributions and expenditures should
be disclosed TO the public in fullest
detail because we regarded the in1u-
ences which govern campaigns to be
as much a part of the peoples bust
ness as anything else connected with
their government. We are working
toward a very definite object, the uni
versal partnership in public affairs
upon which the purity of politics and
It's aim and spirit depend.
7 do NOR LDnu ouv Uraatar oueStiOn