River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1917-11-22

has right to stop the processes of Ia
Dor until all the methods of concilia-
ton and settlement have been ex-
hausted, and / might as well say right
here that l am not talking to you
alone. You sometimes stop the course
of labor, but there are others who do
the same. And that / am speaking of
my own experience not only, but that
I am speaking of others, when 1 say
that you are reasonable in a larger
number of cases than the capitalists.
Parties Must Come Together.
81 am not saying these things to
them personally yet, because haven't
had a chance. But they have to be
said, not in any spirit Of criticism,
because I would like to see all the
critics exported, but in order to clear
the atmosphere and come down to
business. Everybody on both sides
has got to transact business and the
settlement is never impossible when
both sides want to do the square and
right things. Moreover, a settlement
is always hard to avoid when the par
ties can be brought face to face.
"I can differ with man more rad
ically when he isn't In the room than
l can when he is in the room, because
then the awkward thing is that he can
come back at me and answer what I
say. It is always dangerous for man
to have the floor entirely to himself.
ST always like to remind myself of
a delightful saying of an Englishman
of a past generation, Charles Lamb
He was with group of friends and
he spoke very harshly Of some man
who was not present. I ought to say
that Lamb suffered a little bit.
And one of his FRIEND said: why,
Charles, didn't think that you knew
so and So
"'Oh,' he said, I don't. can't hate
man I know.
Can Get Together if We Want To.
'There is a great deal of human ma
ture, of very pleasant human nature,
in that saying. It is hard to hate a
man you know. I may admit paren-
thetically that there are some politi-
clans whose methods I do not at all
believe in, but they are jolly good
fellows. If they only would not talk
the wrong kind of politics with me
would love to be with them.
"And, so it is all along the line in
serious matters and things less Sc
rious. We are all of the same clay and
spirit and we can get together if we
desire to get together
Therefore my counsel to you is:
Let us show ourselves Americans by
showing that we do not want to go
off in separate camps or groups by
ourselves, but that we want to CO.
operate with all other classes and all
other groups in a common enterprise,
which is to release the spirit of the
world from bondage. I would be
willing to set that up as the final test
of an American. That is the meaning
of democracy. I have been very much
distressed, my fellow citizens, by some
of the things that have happened re-
rectnly. The mob spirit is displaying
itself here and there in this country.
I have no sympathy with what some
men are saying, but have no SYM
pathy with the men that take their
punishment into their own hands, and
want to say to everyone who does
join such mob that I do not recog-
niZe him as worthy of the free insti-
Protests Against UniawfuInsss.
"There are some organizations in
this country whose object is anarchy
and the destruction of law, but would
not meet their efforts by making my
self partner in destroying law.
despise and hate their purposes as
much as any man, but / respect the
ancient processes of justice, and I
would be too proud not to see them
done justice, however wrong they are.
And SO | want to utter my earnest pro-
test against any manifestation of the
spirit OF laWleSSnesS anywhere in any
cause. Why, gentlemen, look what it
means. We claim to be the greatest
democratic people in the world and
democracy means first of all that we
can govern ourselves.
eff our men have not self-control,
then they are not capable of that great
thing which we call democratic gov
eminent. A man who takes the law
into his own hands IS not the right
man to cooperate in any form or de-
velopment of government and institu-
tions. And some of the processes by
which the struggle between capital
and labor is carried on are processes
that come very near to taking the law
into your own hands. I do not mean
for moment to compare them with
what I have just been speaking of, but
I want you to see that they are mere
graduatiOnS of the manifestations of
the unwillingness to cooperate and the
fundamental lesson of the whole situa-
ton is that we must not only take
common counsel, but we must yield
to and obey common counsel. Not all
of the instrumentalities for this are
at hand. I am hopeful that in the
very near future new instrumental
ties may be organized by which we can
see to it that various things that are
now going on shall not go on.
There are various processes of the
dilution of labor and the unnecessary
substitution Of labor and bidding in
different markets and unfairly upset
ting the whole competition of labr,
which ought not to go on mean
now on the part of employers-and
we must interject into this some in
strumentality of cooperation by