The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1916-11-02

3 tello are as much Interested as an
c other Of tho people whom I have tn
!. honor in part to represent. l am goin
. to discuss with you what is known q
the wage bill, or eight-hour law, whic
! was passed In the closing days of thi
, session. AZ you perhaps know, with
II out my telling you, voted against tn
: passage OF that measure. I am NO
| here simply to justify my vote. becaus
am not q candidate before the peopl
| of the state, and do not know that
} will ever be, but I do want to discus
: with you the merits and dement's o
that measure, and see, II possible
what 1t IL advertised to me, and wha
Its consequence may be, not only t
} the country, but I want particular.
to discuss 1t as to its effect upon tn
laboring men whom it is supposed t.
have served.
Now, my friends, in the first place
IL you will permit personal refer
ence, I had the honor to put through
the eight-hour bill for all public works
carried on or constructed by the Unit
ed States government, or for which thu
United States government contracted
When I went into the Senate, I had
the honor to be appointed chairman
of the committee on education and la
Dor, and urged the bill providing TO,
an eight-hour daylight hours t.
constitute days work for all mer
employed upon any work in which the
United States government was inter
ested, whether it was public works
such as putting up building, OF
whether 1t was contract work wherein
the government employed the United
| a fnS will ~
any other construction company tc
| construct certain piece of machinery
Under that bill any one working for
| the government under contract could
only employ their labor for eight
hours. That bill was passed, as the
working men of the country know, and
! became law
that bill provided penalty or a pun
| ishment for the individual who en-
ployed men or permitted men to work
over eight hours. If men actually
worked more than eight hours, the
man who had the contract was penal
lied for permitting them to do so, and
that is an eight-hour law. In other
words, it limits the actual hours work
to the number of eight, and you can
not work beyond that
AS you know, this bill does not limit
the hours of work, and a man may
work ten hours or may work longer.
1t is simply a basis of estimating the
wages.
1t may be, my friends, that these
men-and there is no finer class of
men than those who handle our trains
were entitled to higher wages, but
did not know so. There was not a
scintilla of evidence before me, offered
or suggested, as to what their wages
were, what they were in comparison
to other wages, or what they were as
compared with other employees.
AS I say, investigation might have
established the fact that they were en-
titled to that wage, and I want to take
this privilege of saying what / said
upon the floor of the Senate when we
were told that if we didn't pass that
law by Saturday night that the men
who run the trains of the country
would have stopped all transportation
and left the country at the peril of
starvation. I took the liberty upon
the floor of the Senate in saying that
in my judgment it was absolutely un-
true, and said If the Congress of the
United States will today pass resolu-
ton promising an investigation and
full consideration of this question, and
a hearing from all parties, and con-
sideration of the facts, l will venture
to say that the men who run the trains
Will Iun IiiCIIl uALI VIC 61ldlA AdNC A1c0
an opportunity to know what the facts
are. (Applause.)
You need not tell me, don't care
what any representative of labor says,
you need not tell me that the men who
are entrusted with these trains and
millions of dollars of property, who
associate in their neighborhood and
with the best people of the
country, would not have given Con-
gress an opportunity to know the act
ual facts. And, therefore. said, let
us investigate, and have a full hear
ing, and ascertain all the facts.
Now, my friends, if this is an
eight-hour day, 1T was a question
of principle, wasn't it? Tell me
how you can apply question of
principle to twenty per cent of
the men working in an industry?
If it is an act embodying prin-
ciple or act of humanity, it should
apply to the men in the machine
shop just the same as the men
who operate the trains Cap
plause.)
And when you bring bill into
the Congress where I have the
honor to sit, and say to me that
this Is an act of humanity; that
the men should not be permitted
to work over eight hours, the
strain is too great, then / will say
to you to include the other eighty
per cent Of the men, because hui
mainly Is not limited to few.
(Applause)
Was it question of wage? If
it was a question of wage, the
same rule applies. How can I
say without single fact before
me that these men in the machine
shop are given enough wages
while the men operating the
trains are not. They are in the
same industry, connected with the
same transportation system, and
whether it was an act of hui
manity, or an act of principle, or
question Of wage, take the po-
sition here tonight before the
working men of this community,
as 1 took 1t in the Senate, that
every man engaged in that indus
try was entitled to hearing as
to whether or not he was being *
Disseminated against. [
1 was passing through the State of
heard. from Maine. CAP y
lause.) 1 was passing through the
tate of Maine few weeks ago, and {
pom the Kennebac River they throw ]
he train across the river with ferry. I
was walking on the deck when the y
nree gentlemen who were running the t
My friends, are you included in this e
wv which we have just passed. They s
aid, no" I said: II don't see why; \