The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1922-07-18
Fully Fifteen Hundred
People Heard Col. Ed
win Spencer and Rev.
Ben Yeargin On Mon
day Evening

day Evening
May we realize that the teachings
of the blessed Saviour provide the
only solution to the great problems
of life and especially the pressing
problem of today. May we all learn
to obey the Divine command that
we believe in and worship God and
love our neighpor as ourself so that
selfishness may be destroyed and
Christ's kingdom come into the hearts
Of mem"
That was the substance of the rev.
erent invocation uttered by Rev.
Holmes Logan, pastor of the Myrtle
street Methodist church who was call
ed on to lead in prayer by Chairman
c. r. Clark at the opening of the
great mass meeting of Lakeland Citi
Zens to the estimated number of
l 500 that filled The Auditorium on
Monday night. S. A. Helms acted
as Il song leader, directing the sing
ing of America" by the entire audi
encc.
In his few Introductory remarks
Chairman Clark said that all the
sEopmen and other workers wanted
at the hands of their employers is
Il living wage so that their children
may grow up to be useful citizens
in the community and able to enjoy
all the reasonable comforts Of the
average American.
Col. Edwin Spencer, Jr., was the
first speaker of the evening and for
almost an hour he eleoquently set
forth the righteous cause of labor
/ in this present fight. He paid elo-
quent tribute to the men who make
! ii possible for the millions of people
every day in the year to travel about
the country in safety and comfort.
men who risk their lives and their
health in hazardous occupations that
! the commerce of the nations may
continue without interruption. He
traced the history of the railroads
from the period just before the enter
I ing of the United States into the
world war TO the present day refer
I ring to the breakdown OF the trans
/ p0rtation system and how the railroad
men came to the rescue, making it
! possible to transport men and muni
items and raw materials for the pur-
poses to effectively prosecuting the
wal. AS a result of government
operation the country had food and
coal and raiment Then came the af
ter war conditions and the passage
OF the Esh-Cummins bill which the
speaker denounced as the most dam
nabe piece of legislation in the his
q f.,. ,NFf h., old Ta11 4
Write" and congress wrote. There
has since followed famine and suffer
ing and misery. He told of the or
ganization OF the United States Rail
road Labor Board, supposed to ad-
just disputes between capital and la
Dor. He dubbed it the tool of Wall
street and menace to the peace OF
, the country. One of its recent deci-
siOns is the new wage scale of %
cents an hour or $184 cents a dav
for common labor. He asked how it
can be possible for a wage Garner
drawing that small pttance to feed
and clothe his children, let alone edu-
cate them.
Dealing with the contention of the
lcapitalistic class that labor is com
modify Colonel Spencer waXed elo-
quent as he traced the progress of
man from the stone age on down
through history to the days of the
Romans and then to the later period
of serfdom in Continental Europe and
still later to our own slavery days.
Said he: The labor board declares
that labor is a commodity subject to
the law of supply and demand. There
was a time when human beings were
sold at auction, when slavery was in
demand. but that time has passed. Yet
today who ever dreamed an official
board of the United States govern
ment would have the nerve and eff
frontery to declare that labor is a
commodity to be hawked about and
sold to the lowest bidder? That is
indeed treason to humanity. The
clash between capital and labor will
last only so long as greed lasts. This
lis not struggle against the govern
ment and the flag but a struggle
against organized avarice."
Colonel Spencer concluded his ora
tion by asking the biblical question:
Am / my brothers keeper" and he
answered it ironically as the mouth
piece of greed by answering: "Yes, I
am. keen him hard at work, keep
the fruit of all his labors and that
of his children"
The Matter Of Apprenticeship.
Before introducing the next speak
er, Chairman Clark took advantage of
the opportunity to mention one phase
of the old national agreement which
contained a clause providing for a
four year term for apprentices where
as the new agreement cuts the term
to three years and specifies that ap-
prentices must have technical educa
/ tion with the idea in view of making
these apprentices foremen as soon
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