seat. dark. For a moment he stared into the Then he felt far down. "What's the matter?' the fireman asked, as the conversation remained broken. "'Say,' and the face was blanched, ‘the turkey's gone.' ""Gone?' The other couldn't believe it. 'It's them d-n greasers.' The fireman wasn't in the habit of swearing, but he let an oath escape him. "Together they searched every inch of the cab, looked in the boxes, anywhere a dead turkey might or might not be. At last they gave up in desperation. "And to think I gave away your'n'—and the engineer couldn't quite keep in the sob. "Never mind; if I knew which of the d-n greasers'-he didn't finish. "The engine pulled into the depot, deposited its passengers, and was run to the round-house. The foreman came out and handed a message to the engineer. It was dated 'general headquarters,' and was signed by the superintendent of motive power. He was a new superintendent, had come from the west, and the men had heard much of him and his theories. He believed in a reign of good will, and so they dubbed him Golden Rule Wilson. "The telegram was short: "The superintendent presents his compliments of the season to Mr. Brown and begs him to accept the Thanksgiving remembrance which the foreman will turn over to him. This as a token of appreciation for the good service done the road some weeks since.' "There had been a washout, and a less careful engineer—but then, that was only in the line of duty. "Engineer and fireman both wondered what the 'token' might be. It wouldn't be a watch, the road only gave watches for preventing a wreck. And it didn't promise to be the news of a raise these hard times. They turned the order for the packet over to the foreman. He stepped into his office and handed over a chip basket with a ten pound turkey! This came with a card attached, again bearing the compliments of the road." Labor Day Address at Fargo, North Dakota BY J. F. T. O'CONNOR. In accepting the invitation of your committee to speak upon this occasion I am not insensible to the high honor which has been done me. The importance of this occasion can not be overestimated. The legislature of our state responded to a popular and just demand when it designated this day as a legal holiday. All progress means war. It is a struggle in which those best fitted to survive live. The animal and the vegetable kingdoms are alike affected by this principle, and indeed, it permeates our entire industrial system. It may be cruel, but in it lies the salvation of humanity from drudgery, and through it man sees the millennium. With the great sweep forward to things higher and better, living organs and organizations, and all problems associated therewith, become more and more complex, and strange as it may seem, at the first glance, more and more in harmony with every pulse beat in nature. Of the thousands of problems there is none more fundamental and complex than the relation of the wage earner to the capitalist. It is not a struggle of antagonistic forces, for they are so correlated and interdependent one upon the other, that so long as you have the one you must have the other. The result of mental and physical labor is capital, and at present that capital is directed and controlled by individuals. The collective ownership and distribution of capital is another question, but that subject is not for discussion here. The labor question has to do with the present system. PRODUCT OF INDUSTRIAL SYSTEM. Labor unions are a product of our industrial system. They do not exist in the earlier history of our race, when man roamed the forests in hunt of game, for he was unto himself master and servant, lord and slave. While the pastoral stage in which man drove flocks from field to field THE RAILWAY CONDUCTOR and from stream to stream, made possible out. The fear of being replaced was a SOUGHT AN IMPROVEMENT. While in the factory conditions were almost beyond description, they constituted a paradise when compared with the condiHere the miners tions in the mines. breathed poisonous gas, and lived for months in the depths of the earth with their families. The little children came into darkness; too weak to cry it was hardly possible to tell whether or not there was life in the tiny human form, as it cost money to take the little child to the surface of the earth-it was probably left until it was several years of age-then it knew not of sunlight or of fresh air; these things to the little child, the same as to its father and mother, cost money. Then up there where there were blue skies, sunlit heavens, gentle wind, flowers, trees and running streams, there was no home for the little child, no welcome, no friend. Then Strange as it may seem, the laborer, assisted by the statesmen who clearly saw that the strength of the nation was being undermined by these conditions, sought shorter hours and better wages. came a storm of protest. The mine owner and the capitalist said they would run their The sulphuric business as they saw fit. and the carbonic acid gas, which poured through the walls of the mine and into the lungs of the miner, his wife and his children, did not reach the comfortable home of the owner. He could send thousands into these hell pits day after day and no law of man was broken, no canon of God touched the mine owner's conscience. English courts branded the laborer, who sought to organize his fellow men to better these conditions, as conspirators against the common law, as well as the statute law, and fines and imprisonment were penalties. The employer was free to contract, but the laborer could not make stipulations regarding the sale of his labor. Indeed, he was restrained from taking more than a certain wage by English law. The factory and mine conditions, which I have just de scribed, resulted from individual contract between employer and employe. The one had a hundred to select one man from, the other had no capital and starvation drove him to make detrimental contracts. Trade unionism starts with the recognition of the fact that under normal conditions the individual, unorganized workman cannot bargain advantageously with the employer for the sale of his labor. About seventy-five years ago parliament legalized trade unions. The legalization acted like a lightning stroke on the minds of the slumbering masses and the shackles which bound the laboring man in slavery were broken. So great a force set free was bound to commit errors. Human institutions seldom reach perfection. John Mitchell said: "I do not conceal from myself the fact that trade unionism has made its mistakes. No institution fully attains its ideals, and men stumble and fall in their upward striving." ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF UNIONS. Now, as we have traced briefly the development of trade unionism, let us see what these organized men have accomplished. They have raised the standard of living of the workmen; they have increased his wages; they have made him a better buyer in the markets of the world; they have given him more leisure; they have increased his efficiency; they have protected the women and children from hard labor, and by doing these things they have raised their ideals of life, and they have become better citizens of the world. Let us dwell briefly on some of the points which are in dispute. When the question of more wages and fewer hours was first proposed it was violently objected to on the ground that it would give the workman more hours in which to indulge in riotous living. The men who propounded this theory forgot to apply the same law to themselves, and if they did not apply it, they failed to show wherein their nature was any different. On the contrary the average laborer has spent his time with his family, in his club reading, attending lectures, and he is taking advantage of our splendid system of free libraries. The man who works until he falls from exhaustion is more liable to indulge in improper living, for such continual work depraves a man, makes him morbid, pessimistic, and drives. him nearer to the animal, while the man who works reasonable hours is happy, his mind is not tired out, and he is anxious to enrich it in the ways I have mentioned. Shorter hours have increased the efficiency of the laborer. Is it not reasonable to suppose that the man who comes to his employment in the morning after a reasonable day's work feels much better and commences his toil with a lighter heart than the man who is tired, nearly exhausted, weary from too long hours. This has been demonstrated in numerous instances. A year ago two warships were built by the government, one was built under a contract which called for the long work day, while the other was built by government contract under the eight hour day. The results were closely watched and proved a decisive victory for the eight hour system. This is one of many instances, but I mention it as it is easy to get the figures from the department of labor at Washington. Many people have mistaken the impression that in order to obey the laws of the union a man must bring himself down to the level of the man with the least ability, and that no recognition is taken of a man's capacity to work. The union sets the minimum and not the maximum wage. In a great many cases an especially efficient workman is given a great deal more wages than is called for by the union scale. It is possible for a man of more than ordinary ability, who is protected by a union, to get along without exerting himself to the fullest extent. Such a man is taking advantage of the union; he has not the interest of his employer at heart, he is degrading and demoralizing his very nature by not taking advantage of the powers God has given him, and such man merits the just condemnation of his fellow men, which he generally receives. FOR HIGHER MORALS. The unions are largely responsible for the war which is being waged today against the "white slave trade," child labor, which is the one conspicuous blot on our national character and the one thing for which we lating a we dz mach labor at so much as it is for the Standard Of Co. to say to the consumen at we will furnish you oil at so much. The statement has been made by several large firms that they were forced into Tut ac- tangy by the union men demanding too much wages. It must be remembered i e le great many firms where a union man has never worked have gone into bark ruptcy. However, there is a danger but ! becere that the unions are becoming more and more conservative. The failure of a irm means the livelihood to thousands men and women and radical action can not ze mierated for a moment. Boards of comcitance have adjusted many disputes the past few years and seem to be growing n irror where there is an honest difference, but there is little use for them where one sice says there is nothing to arbitrate. It THX alse be remembered that John kimmel president of the United Mine Movers of America, reduced the wages in the co. Éstrict 55 per cent, and kept them for over a year. Instay of keen competition it is essay for the employer to trust inpicy is me A large body of labores made they be on men or not, can destory large industries if they are not rest and do not give an honest day's wart Never before did so much depend p the locrers: never before have laboras beat so free; and never before have ren tea trasted so implicitly. You are powerni, and to your hands is intrusted muct of the country's future prosperity. TEE STATE IS CONCERNED. ven years ago the state took the poster mat i sad no erest in matters peramng sity to employers and employes. I was beneath the dignity of the pub2 private affairs of the buyer mi seler of her, who must be left to For their own ferences alone. But A new poster has been taken, and the state somentet vis al problems, which affect mastery, and the contentment of the many assess of the greatest import The sure has an mterest in every men are not permitted to work in cerizi zones, and the greatest safeFund ET DE 200 employes in facn me. The government did not |