The labor advocate. [volume] (Cincinnati, Ohio) 1912-1937, 1916-06-24
Hurrkrrrt:
Nm. l4an-l4aH
Malnut 6tr.
CINCINNATI, "

grandparents from learning the alpha
bet, for when they knew the alphabet,
and could understand, the days Of slav-
cry were thing of the past. The work
ers do not ask for special privileges, but
justice before the law and in every walk
of life"
He then took up the local situation
and said that the conditions in the mills,
where men were compelled to work 12
hours a day, 365 days a year, was blot
on our civilization. He spoke of the s.
hour day and what it meant to the en-
ployer and the employe and to society at
large.
"The men who work s hours day."
he said, have a purpose. What aim
has the 12-hour worker-to work-that
is all He works, eats and sleeps, and
has no other thought or purpose; he
has not the time. He does not work to
live, he lives to work. He has nor needs
no enjoyment. He has not the time.
He does not wish to have a piano in his
home, he might be disturbed while he
sleeps. He does not go to theaters, not
even movie; he has not the time. He
does not read, he needs his spare time to
recuperate for his next 12-hour stretch.
He has no knowledge even of how his
children fare. The man, however, who
works eight hours, has the time. OF
course it may be true that some men
abuse this leisure time, but what does
that prove? Lord McCauley once said
that the remedy for the abuse of newly
acquired freedom, was more freedom
and this will, if followed also correct
the apparent abuse of the shorter work
day | might say, and with truth, that
the shorter workday spells temperance,
for it is the ong-hour man that re-
qures stimulants and eventually becomes
Incorporate, and he cannot be blamed
for doing this"
President Gompers then went into the
statistics of the Cigar Makers Union to
prove that the shorter work-day had
increased the average life of the mem
Der fifteen years.
In speaking of the criticism of the
opponents of the labor movement and
their statement that they were selfish,
President Gompers devoted some time in
proving that every condition that has
been gained by the organized workers
had benefited the unorganized, and
every law that had been written on the
statute books through the efforts of la
Dor, were of benefit to all our people,
thus proving that this question of sell
fshness was unfounded and untruthful.
In speaking of the s-hour day and
what it did for the employer, President
Gompers stated that he had visited one
of the largest industrial plants in this
country, and one that was not favorable
to unions, and the representative told him
that when they reduced the hours of
their workers from 10 to there was a
20 per cent increase of product, and the
product was increased GO per cent, when
the men were reduced to eight hours
thus proving that the eight-hour day
was profitable to the employer, the en-
ploye and the country.
In speaking of the violence that at
tended the strike of the workers in East
Youngstown he said that while he was
not there to accuse anyone. it was a
strange fact that while the homes of the
workers and the business places of their
friends were destroyed, the plant, which
was right there, remained untouched,
and the average man could make his
own deductions
In speaking of the strike that is now
on among the workers, he said:
st is dangerous to permit such con-
dition to continue without an effort al
adjustment. want to say to the EN-,
ployer: Don try to break the spirit OF
the workers of Youngstown, for history
has proven the result of such action, To
the workers would say: Select {
committee of the members of the Cen
tral Body, and let them meet with ;
committee of neutral citizens, and lie
them appeal to the Mayor to see that thu
arrangements of these concerns come tC
an amicabe adjustment of the presen
dispute and if the companies refuse tC
do so let the workers, organized and un
organized, get out of Youngstown. The,
can do it now and they are justified il
getting their share of the present pros
perity."
He was given an ovation at the con
cluson of his address.
In the evening banquet was tendereC
the visitors and the committee at thu
Ohio Hotel, at which the organizers anc
President Gompers spoke, and ended ;
day that will long be remembered il
youngstown.