The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1917-05-16
PRESIDENT DELIVERS
STIRRING TALK TO
LABOR LEADERS
belleves Working Men Will Make
Any Sacrifice Necessary to
Win War.
SAYS KEEP UP STANDARD
Would DeplOre the Setting Aside
of Any Law Which Safeguards
Labor.

Washington, May 15.-A dclcpation
of labor leaders here for conferences
with the British labor envoys were
told by President Wilson at the White
House today that he considered that
nothing would be more deplorable"
than any movement in the present
crisis to set aside temporarily the
laws which safeguard standards Of
labor
II do not doubt" said the President
that any body of men representing
labor will be willing to make any
sacrifice that is necessary to carry
this contest to q successful issue and
IN this confidence feel that it would
be mcxcusable if we deprived men
and women of such spirit of any of
the existing safeguards of the law"
In the delegation were about $50
labor Gompers and his associates on
the labor committee of the National
Defense Council.
In addressing the labor delepates
the President said:
This is a most welcome visit be-
cause it means most welcome thing,
the spontaneous cooperation of men
from all walks in life interested to
see that we do not forget any of the
principles of our lives in meeting the
great emergency that has come upon
us.
"Mr. Gompers has expressed al
ready one Of the things that have
been very much in mind of late.
nave been very much alarmed at one
or two things that have happened at
the apparent inclination of the lepis-
latures of one or two Of our states to
set aside even temporarily the laws
which have safeguardcd standards of
labor and of life. | think nothing Of
men representing labor in this com.
try speaking for their fellows will be
willing to make any sacrifice that is
necessary in order to carry this con-
test to a successful issue and in that
confidence feel that itwoud be in
eXcusable if we deprived men and
women Of such a spirit of any of the
existing safeguards of law. There.
fore, shall exercise my influence so
Tar as it goes to see that that does
not happen and that the sacrifices
we sholl make shall be made volun-
tarily and not under the compulsion
which mistakenly is interpreted to
mean a lowering Of the standards
which we have sought through 81
many generations to bring to their
present level.
Approves GOmpcr's statement
Mr. Gompcrs has not overstatcl
the case in saying that we are fight
ing for democracy in larger sense
than can be expressed in any political
term. There are many forms of dem
ocratic government and we are not
flghtlng for any particular FORM but
we are fighting for the essential part
OF it all, namely, that we are all
equally interested in our social and
political life and all have right to
a voice in the government under
which we live and that when men AMI
women are equally admitted to those
rights we have the best SAFEGUARD Of
justice and of peace that the world
affords. There is no other safeguard.
Let any group Of men, whatever their
original intentions, atcmpt to dictate
to their fellow men what their politi-
cal fortunes shall be and the result
is injustice and hardship and wrony
OF the deepest sort. Therefore W.
are just now feeling as we have never
felt before out of sense Of conrad
ship. We shall feel it even more be-
cause we have not yet made the sac
rlflces that we are going 70 make:
we have not yet felt the terrible pres
sure of suffering and pain of war and
we are going presently to feel it an
have every confidence that as its
pressure comes upon our spirit will
not falter but rise and be strength
ened and that in the fast we shall
have national feeling and national
unity such as never gladdcned our
hearts before"