The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1913-08-23


no Joy in life. and the spectacle has
been one inexpressibly sad. 55.a
Wants Human Equality. =.$
I have wondered how it all came
about. have struggled to compre-
bend it, sought to discover the cause
OF it. And I have tried to find some
life concept, some light by which to
| be guided and above all, something
that could do to make conditions a
( little better. Religion teaches that all
men are the children of one common.
all loving Father. and therefore
brothers; our nation has proclaimed
to humanity in it's fundamental law
that all men are equal. And, ais
have looked out upon the world. and
witnessed the spectacle Of misery.
heard the long sad litany OF human
| woe have seemed to see that it was
all because we had lost faith in these
percepts. that we were living lives,
administering government, and all
that. in manner that traversed the
| claim Of human brotherhood, and de-
MED fatty the proposition of human
| equality. a.
| Looking more deeply, I have seen
that our governments have aban-
doned the principle that all men are
| endowed with equal rights, and have
adopted the theory that some are en-
! titled to more rights than others
| and that accordingly, few are to be
selected and favored by privileges,
| and that all others are to be pro-
scribed and compelled to toll, and to
give the proceeds of their toll to the
few privileged ones. AS a result Of
all this, there have been idleness and
vtciousnss and crime in the privil-
eyed, and those who have been pro-
scribed and denied equal rights have
been driven to poverty. and hunger.
and despair, and thence have come.
naturally, logically, inevitably, vice
and crime in them and their children.
Treason Against Government.
This condition is 'blasphemous de-
NAL of religion, it is treason against
our theory Of government. And it
has seemed to me that there was no
other thing for me to do than to try,
by the use of such poor power and
such small talents as I may possess.
to aid and advance that cause which
seeks to do away with privilege in the
land, and to bring about equality and
brotherhood. This is the Oldest, as
it is ever the newest, cause in the
world. Those who have enlisted in
it, even the. most obscure of them,
have found that It demands sacrifice,
and yet those sacrifices or any sacri-
fees are immeasureably outweighed
by the consultations that come with
the mere effort to serve humanity.
They find, indeed, a greater so1ace
and greater satisfaction than any of
which they had ever. dreamed. Life
has new meaning, existence a mob
her aim for In this old cause men
come into better and more beautiful
relations with their fellow men, es.
pecially with those who are suffering
end SHINING in. darkness and misery.
and they can look forward with hope
to that day when conditions will per
nit all men to live equal and broth
erly and beautiful lives.
Sin and Crime. ALL.
J. In this cause, the one for which
Eall the sacrifices Of the past have
Ebeen nude, the one In which all the
Ilongs line OF prophets and martyrs
land poets have enlisted, the one In
(which the hope Of the future rests.
linen learn a new philosophy. In that
philosophy, all crime. all evil, all sin,
Fare. as abhorrent on Monday, or on
any other day of the week, as on
Sunday. They are abhorrent by
lwhomsoever committed, whether rich
or poor, high or low. sH'* :.
II rvIro ho in erI nYs
IN a luxurious environment, is abhor-
rent to it. The prostitution Of a man
who sells his talents ais a lawyer, or
preacher, or editor, or cartoonist, or
speaker, to a cause in which private
~. he says he does not believe is found
to be not only as bad as, but even
worse than, that form which drives a
girl into the estreet. Gambling re-
mains gambling whether in low den
or drawing room, a swell club or a
stock exchange, whether on a. large
or small scale, whether it be for
pennies or for street car franchises.
In that philosophy, it. is as great an
ohense to steal railroad as it is to
steal a ride, az great a crime to ap-
propriate coal mine as It ii to pick
up coal along the tracks, In that
philosophy public : property is as
| sacred as private property. And
those committed to that philosophy
are trying to put an end to these
things, not by denouncing others who
do them, but by trying to live lives
that have no place for them. and by
doing their utmost, in every relation
Of life, to stop them. and by doing
away with the thing which very
clearly il, the cause Of them, that it,,
Privilege. i. ss .s &=f. q s.5 s,S
1, n Goodness BY Force Failure. ID
That philosophy has no faith in the
efficacy Of force in making people
good. It teaches that people get bet
ter and improve. not by the destruct-
I've processes Of hatred and wrath, but
by the constructive methods OF love,
and reason. It teaches that goodness
Ecomes from within; not from without.
that you can not beat goodness Into
people. or give them prescription
fol. it, to be taken In doses. like medi-
cine. but that they must generate It
out Of their own hearts, and it be-