Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1918-09-02

memories. He shakes his head when
asked about the past To him the
present is enthralled with all its
agonies that are the birth pains of
a new era.
This Labor day will be the
the greatest of all Labor days in
the history" he said, because in
the trenches of Europe are many
thousands of trade-unionists and
sons of trade-unionists fighting for
the principles they have upheld
from year to year. The motto Of
the Knights of Labor is, That is
the most perfect government in
which an injury to one is the con
Germ of ALL and in this country one
can not find a tTade-uniOnist who
does not believe this. When Bel
GUM was crushed it became the
concern of every nation on earth
that loved liberty, and one by one
all the allies have arrayed them
selves on the side Of Belgium. La
Dor day will be celebrated in the
trenches by men who believe in
that principle.
Heretofore Labor day has been
e
This year it will be celebrated not
alone by men wearing our uniform,
but by men wearing the uniforms OF
different nations and fighting to-
Eether for one cause, all believing
that an injury to one is the con-
Germ of all. When President Wilson
gave the great message to the world
that it should be made safe for de
momcracy, he emphasized this
motto.
There will be more men and
women gathered around speakers
stands on the first Monday in Sep
TENDER than were ever gathered to-
Eether for any purpose since the
world began and all believing the
same thing, that what we enjoy and
prize in life must be ultimately en-
joyed by the people Of all lands,
even Germany, for the soldiers of
human freedom Will not rest con
tent until the people of that land
are educated to know what all 9th
ers are entitled to rights as well
as they,
The word brotherhood is loom
ing very large on the worlds hOTi-
Zon, and when we read the lists of
those who give their lives that lib
erty may not perish from the earth
we find English, French, Italian,
Slavic, Polish, Russian, Scotch,
Irish, WEIGH, and even German
names among those who have gone
from this land as soldiers of the
army of the United States. When
the boys come back after they have
wiped out kaiserism, they viii have
q new conception of foreign lands
and foreign peoples. They viii
have learned in the fullest sense
that all men are equal and that an
injury to one is the concern Of all
That is the lesson Of Labor day
1918. that the millions have come
into the recognition of the brother
hood Of man, that class lines have
been removed, and the Fundamental
relationship of the human race is
understood.
It is a changed world since that
early autumn day of 1882 Going
back we read in the newspapers
that there were wars then The
English are doing little on the de-
fensive," a dispatch from AIexan-
dria, Egypt, announces; and one
from Athens says that 1000 white
kiIted mountaineers Of northern
Greece had started for the Piraeus.
There is comment on the early OPP
ching Of Henry Irying's Lyceum
theatre in London, Robert Inger-
soil is representing the defendant
in the star-route trial. The decis-
ion Of the July wheat committee is
announced under the headlines,
Squeezing the shorts. The Green
hackers are active in politics The
announcement of another post