The Ordway new era., 1916-10-27
Speech Of Roosevelt
Continued from page -

! York Times, from which ! quote the above
sentences. contained statements from the
leaders of the Brotherhoods whom be was
befriending, in which they said that they
would never consent to the legislation pro
vidng for future arbitration for which
President Wilson asked; and President
Wilson kept a weak and nervous silence
about this defiance He did no; ge, the
legislation which he declared was essential
to 'vindicate the principle" in the future
All that be accomplished was the violation
of the principle in the present. in the con-
crete case at issue The only law be Sc
cured established the precedent of viola
tion n the principle. All that he did was
to establish the most evil of all precedents
for democracy the precedent Of violat-
ing a principle under the duress of threa.
and menace 1t is precedent which will
return TO plague throughout all future
time whenever We have in the White
House a Presiden, who is tirnid IN the face
of threat OF physical violence OF who
subordnates duty to the hope of personal
political rroht
President Wilson further said while try
ing to glVss-ove- his tirnidity in the pres
ent by assuming attitude of frowning
defiance as regards the uebulous future,
that the American people must be made "a
fh4 thcI Tie stltletiltnI OF t1aI
interrupt the life of the nation" that il
must enforce the partnership and see to
it that no organization is stronger than
that organization to which we all belong,
our own Government" and that we. the
people, must say to any outside organiza-
ton that it must not interrupt the Ma
tion1l life without consulting us" These
are hne words about the future. They are
intended to cover up. but as matter of
fact. they furnish the strongest condemna-
ton OF Mr.. Wilson's deed in the present
In these words Mr. Wilson exactly de
scribes what he ought to have done with
the Brotherhoods, and explicitly condemns
the action which he in fact took. If the
principles he laid down were good for
the future. they were good for the present
Do it now, Mr.. Wilson, Do not use fine
words about what somebody else ought to
| do in the future in order TO cover your own
| shameful abandonment of duty in the pres
ent
Mr.. Wilson has adroitly maintained that
the question at issue the eight-hour
| day. This is not all fact The question at
issue was the question of wages. The law
! does not say that there shall be an eight.
hour day. 1t says that eight hours shall
"be made the measure of a days work for
In other words, it was primarily an
increase of wages and not diminu.
tion of hours that was aimed at
! ! believe in the eight-hour day. 1t is
| the ideal toward which we should trend
But | believe that there must be common
/ sense as well as common honesty in achiev-
ing the ideal. Mr.. Wilson has laid down
the principle that there is something sa,
bru b.,o bn,, J,,,s s,rh L..
I it improper even to discuss it. Ii this is
so, if it is applied universally, then Mr.
Wilson is not to be excused for not apply.
ing it Immediately where he has complete
| power, and that is in his own household
| If the principle of the eight-hour day is
1 sacred and not to be changed under any
| circumstances, then the housemaid, who
in Mr.. Wilson's house arises at seven must
be left off at three in the afternoon; and
| If Mr. Wilson's butler is kept up after a
State dinner until ten, he must not come
on until two of the following afternoon
| and no hired man on a farm must get ur
to milk the cows in the morning unless he
\ quits work before milking time arrives
that same evening. Of course, the simple
truth is that under one set Of conditions
| an eight-hour law may be too long or al
least may represent the very maximum oi
| proper work; whereas there may be other
conditions under which man working
more than eight hours one day gets one
or two days of complete leisure following
| or where the work is intermittent through
out the day, or is of so easy OF varied q
/ type that no exhaustion accompanies it, OF
| where rush of work for few days will
be compensated by complete leisure on Ger
/ tain other days. II IN ridiculous 70 say
| that an engineer Of ! hishfpeed train mn
\ der especially difficult conditions. an en-
K 5i11eS ~ > low-speed trsiz under vssJ
nis6h eliies epndi itions, y farm laborer Il
\ ! h4fye4t f1te. man es4sd as q wntch
i @ s'ss a !: u !: s. & s Z : eisst |,s