The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1916-02-05
TWO CENTS.

$4,000 a share since the dissolution,
thus making rich men more than
three times as rich as they were he,
fore and impoverishing the working
people in the same ratio. It seems
impossible, he stated, for the courts
to learn to distinguish between the
substances on which men work and
the souls which animate them-be-
tween dead matter and the human
being of the workingman. Some few
Of the judges have acquired this
power, but as body they are slow
in getting it, and it is this want
of perception that makes them so
unjust and unreasonable in labor
cases which come before them for
trial.
Commissions Report Discussed.
Turning his attention directly to
the Walsh report of the federal in
dustrial commission, the speaker de-
clared that the work of that CON-
mission was the most courageous and :
straightforward in our history. He
stated that the commission had in
vestigated our industrial relations
and the causes Of unrest without
reservation and had suggested a rem
edy for every ill it had found. He
called attention to the fact that a
strong effort has been made by the
privileged interests to prevent having
the report of the commission printed.
They feared it's publication because
all it contained was true, while the
working people wanted 1t for the
same reason. He then urged the
union men present to arrange to have
the report read and discussed from
time to time in the meetings of their
organizations, as it crystalized the
wrongs done to working people of
this country by their. employers dur
ing the last So years. e..
Salient Points of Report Noted. :
Mr. McEwen called attention .speci-
fically to sundry strong points In this
commissions report. He showed how,
it effectua1ly disposes of all argu-
ments drawn from comparisons with
past conditions in the industries and
establishes that working people
should get more than a mere living
for their labor. He claimed that they
were entitled to the full product of
their labor. In this connection he
cited figures. showing that the wealth
of the country had increased 1873 per
cent in % years, and the wage-earn-.
er's share of the net product was now
only 40.2 per cent, whereas In 1889
it was over A. per cent.
Four Specific Causes of Unrest. -
Recurring to the Industrial COM
missions report, Mr.. McEwen noted
that it named four things as specific
and leading causes Of unrest among
the American working people. These
are:
4. Unjust and unequal distribution
Of wealth.
2. Unemployment and denial of
opportunity to make living.
). Denial of justice in the crea-
ton and administration of law. "-
4. Denial of the right and oppor-
tunity to form effective organizations.
In discussing these the speaker re-
called the history of the past. He
alluded to the feudal slavery of long
'ago and said it had been succeeded
in our day by industrial slavery
brought about by the improvement
and multiplication of machinery and
the granting of large volumes of the
natural resources of the country to
a few privileged men. He reminded
his hearers that the workers had al
ways resisted encroachments on their
rights, but they were helpless until
they learned the power of organiza-
ton. Meanwhile the bosses had gone
on, stealing for their own benefit
(COntinued on Pace 2l