The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1916-09-01
LABOR ACHIEVEMENTS
Continued from Page Two

soil sacred to freedom, a country upon
which a bondman may not step without
losing his legal letters. Freed and
given an opportunity to protect them
selves, the seamen are pressing their
demands for higher wages and better
conditions. Section of the Clayton
antitrust art contains the most adj
vanced concept of freedom.
According to old-time philosophy
political economy and legal thought,
labor power was a commodity and
article of commerce in no way diff
ferent from coal potatoes and iron
Under this concept the most recent
attempts have been made to hold
workers in oppression and under the
domination of employers, but the
power to produce commodities is
something different from the COM
modities themselves. 1t is personal,
human, a part of life itself. Under
the concept that labor was a com
modify, and therefore property, EN-
ployers have tried to repress efforts
of workers for progress and for larger
liberty by Furnishing these efforts I'M
der antitrust legislation and by at
tempting to restrain them through the
injunctive process. 1t was to protect
the workers against these abuses and
to establish recognition of the concept
that the workers and all of their at
tributes were human, that the labor
sections of the Clayton act were
enacted. In addition to these big
achievements, many other important
humanitarian laws have been enacted
by congress increasing in number
with every session of congress since
the fifty-ninth session.
AS Labor Day, 1916, comes in one
of the most critical political cam
paigns since the civil war period, it
is we'll to call attention to the big
issue of the campaign which has a
national as we'll as an international
relation. The issue is the attitude OF
the political parties toward questions
of humanity and human welfare. The
party now in power has in it's legis
lative achievements placed the highest
valuation upon human life and human
-, i i
and enacted by any political party in
power.
The question that concerns the
workers is how to hold their present
advantages and how to secure from
political parties still greater oppor
tunities for freedom. The thing which
is fundamental is Section of the
Clayton antitrust act, the labor of g
human being is not a commodity OF
article of commerce. The representa-
tives of the American Federation OF
Labor went to the political parties
and asked them to declare themselves
upon this principle. The answers that
the political parties gave are in thei1
platforms where all may read.
The democratic party openly and
favorably declared and emphasized
| its position. The republican party
took no notice of labor's request that
they declare themselves upon that
which the workers considered OF
greatest importance to them.
The international issue that now
comes closest to the labor movement
is the policy of our government toward
Mexico. The cause of humanity is in
the balance in Mexico. The people
there are trying to work out their own
problems and to establish their own
ideals of political social and economic
justice. The labor movement in Mex
leo has developed; that is, the most
power and the most constructive
product of the revolution. Representa-
tives of the labor movement of Mexico
have Joined with representatives of
the labor movement of America to
insure to the workers and the citizens
of Mexico the rights of human beings,
opportunities for freedom and for in
dependence. Many of the problems of
the Mexican workers are problems of
the workers of the United States.
Their welfare is our welfare. The
boundary line between the two conn
tries is only an artificial division that
has little or NO effect upon the course
and the nature of industrial and COM
mercial development.
The problem Of industrial welfare in
the states Of the Southwest is largely
a Mexican problem. With low stand
ards of life and work prevailing upon
the 100000 of Mexicans, there ex-
lists an obstacle to the establishment
of higher standards within the United