Denver labor bulletin., 1916-09-02
President Wilson's Address
at Labor Temple Dedication
Complete Text of Chief Executives Fourth of July
Speech in Washington

dedicated on the birthday of the ma
tion. You know, my fellow citizens,
that the mind needs air to breathe just
as the body does. You can not rise to
/ the tasks Of the day with any kind of
zest and interest unless YOU know their
significance; and they have a very
narrow significance If you merely look
upon them as a means of keeping body
and soul together. 1t seems to me,
therefore, that the most heartening thing
that a man can do is to think as often
as he can OF the relation which his work
bears to the place he lives in, to the
country he lives in. You know that
every man who is man takes pride in
doing his work well, but why should he
take pride in it, Merely to glorify and
distinguish himself from the common
run of workers - That will only make
I prig of him A man who works in or
der that he may be distinguished is
sooner or later going to do some selfish
| thing that VIII disgrace him, because his
object is himself and not the ideals
which he serves. And therefore it seems
| to me that every one OF us should re-
mind himself every day that he is work
| ing for something besides wages; that
he Is working for some persons whom
he loves, for some community that he
| Nl>hts " assist. lot SOME nation Inat
he is ready to serve and defend. That
is the reason why, it seems to me. that
this is happy conjunction OF da,
and occasion. Because, my fellow cit
liens, You Will realize that in position
such as l occupy for the time being. |
! am not at liberty to think of any one
1 class OF our fellow citizens to the eS-
elusion of any other class, and since l
| have been asked to make the dedicatory
address of this building | am going to
take the liberty of dedicating to COM
mon counsel and common understand
ing. l am going to take the liberty of
dedieating it to the thing that | be-
lieve III most, the accommodation of the
interests of various classes in the COM
munity by means OF enabling those
classes to, understand one another and
cooperate with one another.
The way We generally strive Tor
rights is by getting our fighting blood
up, and / venture to say that that is
the long way and not the short way
II You come at ME with your fists
doubled. think can promise YOU that
mine viii double fast as yours; but
If you come at me and say, Let us sit
down and take counsel together. and,
We differ with one another, understand
why it is that we differ with one an.
other, Just what the points at issue are
We will presently find that we are not so
far apart after all; that the points in
which we differ are few and the points
in which We agree are many, and that
If We only have the patience and the
candor and the desire to get together
We Will get together
! The trouble in great many OF the
labor contests we have had. my fellow
citizens AS YOU will bear me out in say
ing. is that one side or the other did
not wish to sit down and talk it over
and that the great difficulty of getting
candid and dispassionate conference with
regard to the points at issue. The great
difficulty about the relationship between
capital and labor is this: Labor is in
immediate contact with the task itself,
with the work, with the conditions of
the work, with the tools with which it
is done and the circumstances under
which they are used, whereas capital in
too many instances is at great remove.
1t is owned and controlled by many who
have not taken the pains to go and see
the workers at their work and know Just
what the circumstances are: and the
thing most to be desired is that capital
should be humanized by being brought
into eomprehending contact with the
conditions OF labor. You have seen what
has happened in some instances. You
have seen men who had sat in their Of
fiees in some great city and directed
the use Of capital presently realize that
they did not know how IL was be-
ing used and themselves go to the fac.
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