and from stream to stream, made possible sustenance for a larger number, it was not until the agricultural stage that great wealth really existed. So long as master and servant worked side by side in the earlier occupations there was no need of organization among the laborers. But with the advent of the factory system when spinning for the market could no longer be done at home on account of the introduction of improved machinery and steam, thousands left the country districts allured on by the mystic call of the steam driven wheel, where it seemed 'a living was possible, and here the labor question had its beginning. Specialization of labor at once commenced. The factory owner could no longer know his thousands of employes; the personal relationship became impossible and the sympathetic relationship between the employer and employe became reduced. During the latter part of the eighteenth century the crop failures in England drove hundreds of thousands to the city, and this unchecked, unrestrained labor supply flooded the markets and wages dropped to the starving point. The factory owners made individual contracts and the man without an aged father or mother or family to support could labor cheaper than a man who had a parent dependent upon him or a wife or little one crying for food, and he was hired. It was a cruel war; a war not for leisure, but for work; a war for bread; a war in which men offered their life's blood in order that a sick or starving child might be given a wormy crust. Human beings were crowded into the worst slums of the city, in cellars, in attics, anywhere-and in many cases it was months before the sunlight shown upon a little baby's face. Despair was written upon the foreheads of many of these people. Those with stronger hearts prayed while others cursed and said there was no God, and hissing between their teeth challenged hell. The unsanitary con ditions, alike destructive to morals and health, bred numerous diseases and epidemics were frequent. The hours of labor in the factory were increased to fifteen and sixteen and in some cases longer. The length of the day was determined by physical endurance, and when the men and women fainted at their posts they were carried

out.

The fear of being replaced was a stimulus stronger than any drug, for it meant starvation. These conditions greatly increased drunkenness, insanity increased at an alarming rate, and the criminal class was made seven fold larger.

SOUGHT AN IMPROVEMENT.

While in the factory conditions were almost beyond description, they constituted a paradise when compared with the conditions in the mines. Here the miners 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.

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. Then came a storm of protest. The mine owner and the capitalist said they would run their business as they saw fit. The sulphuric 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

blush before the world, boasting as we do of the freedom of our institutions, and the integrity of the American character.

In furthering the ends of unionism crimes have been committed. Strikes have been ordered, which while lawful when not accompanied by violence or intimidation, have often led to riots and men have been slugged and killed. However, the unions have condemned these acts in no uncertain terms. They realize that each act of violence is a step backward, and tends to lose the respect and confidence of the people. The Woodworkers' union of Evansville, Ind., a few years ago struck for shorter hours and higher wages, and the strike carried on was a splendid example of the orderly manner in which strikes are conducted of late. The Karges Furniture Co. applied for an injunction to prevent the strikers from picketing, intimidating and otherwise interfering with the plaintiff's employes. The union had voted to conduct the strike in an orderly manner, and according to a definite formulated policy. It was shown by testimony that several of the union men did assault non-union men. In passing upon the injunction the courts from the lowest to the highest said that a restraining order would lie against the actual aggressors only and not against the union, which had officially discountenanced coercion. Quoting from Judge Hadley's opinion: "It is, however, generally conIceded in this country and in England that workmen when free from contract obligations may not only themselves singly and in combination cease to work for an employer, but may also as a means of accomplishing a legitimate purpose use all lawful and peaceful means to induce others to quit.

UNLAWFUL STRIKERS SHUNNED.

I honestly believe that the unlawful striker is as much out of harmony with the majority of union men as the criminal is out of harmony with society. To strike a man on the head with a brick is a crime, for a corporation to accept a rebate is a crime, but in the nature of things the one is magnified much more than the other. It is not necessary for the unions to go outside of the law to accomplish their object. It is just as lawful for a labor union to say to a corporation that we will furnish you so

much labor at so much as it is for the Standard Oil Co. to say to the consumers that we will furnish you oil at so much.

The statement has been made by several large firms that they were forced into bankruptcy by the union men demanding too much wages. It must be remembered that a great many firms where a union man has never worked have gone into bankruptcy. However, there is a danger but I believe that the unions are becoming more and more conservative. The failure of a firm means the livelihood to thousands of men and women and radical action can not be tolerated for a moment. Boards of conciliation have adjusted many disputes the past few years and seem to be growing in favor where there is an honest difference, but there is little use for them where one side says there is nothing to arbitrate. It must also be remembered that John Mitchell, president of the United Mine Workers of America, reduced the wages in the coal district 5.5 per cent, and kept them for over a year.

In this day of keen competition it is necessary for the employer to trust implicitly to his men. A large body of laborers, whether they be union men or not, can destroy large industries if they are not honest and do not give an honest day's work. Never before did so much depend upon the laborers; never before have laborers been so free; and never before have men been trusted so implicitly. You are powerful, and into your hands is intrusted much of the country's future prosperity.

THE STATE IS CONCERNED.

Twenty years ago the state took the position that it had no interest in matters pertaining solely to employers and employes. That it was beneath the dignity of the public to enter into private affairs of the buyer and seller of labor, who must be left to fight out their own differences alone. But a new position has been taken, and the state is concerned with all problems, which affect its prosperity, and the contentment of the working classes is of the greatest importance. The state has an interest in every life, and men are not permitted to work in ill-ventilated factories, and the greatest safeguards are thrown about employes in factory and in mine. The government did not

agree with President Baer when he said that he would run his business to suit himself. The agitation on the part of the labor unions, and the interference on the part of the government have given better sanitary conditions, and owners of industries have been compelled to safeguard dangerous places. A man has a right to refuse to work in a poisonous atmosphere, and he can demand conditions of safety to life and limb.

The peace and prosperity of our country in no small degree depends upon the contentment of the working classes. The best blood of our nation flows in the veins of those who keep in motion the wheels of industry. Through your ranks have come some of our best statesmen. The voice of the workingman has ever been on the side of reform. He may be opposed, for a day or a year, he may be cajoled but he cannot be bought. He has fought a good fight, he has suffered ignominy and abuse, but he has not lost faith in our institutions, and when the summit is reached, and the battle is carried on above the clouds I have no doubt but that our progress can be safely trusted to him. It has been a long struggle from slavery to freedom, and it has been a bitter struggle. To deny that a laborer has a right to strike and break the chains of serfdom; to demand better conditions in mine and factory and to be given enough to support a wife and family, is to impeach the men who fired the shot at Lexington and Concord, heard 'round the world— more it is to disbelieve the phrase that "all men are created free and equal,” which is written in the grandest document ever produced by man-the Constitution of the United States. The American workman asks neither sympathy nor the gifts from philanthropy. He asks for the just share of the fruits of his labor.

A FACTOR IN CIVILIZATION.

Organized labor will be a factor in our industrial civilization as long as the present system endures. "No man need fear or

ganization among his employes if he approaches the honest differences between them through boards of conciliation," remarked ex-Gov. William L. Douglas, at the annual meeting of the New England Civic Federation Club. "As a workman at the bench," said Mr. Douglas, "I was a member of all the organizations of my craft, and since becoming an employer I have always felt that my employes had the same right to belong to labor organizations as I had myself." The labor unions are not a hindrance to our prosperity, our country is just in the early dawn of a new period of prosperity. Our 80,000,000 people have hardly scratched the 3,500,000 square miles of surface of our country, and we have plenty for many times that number. In our state, which offers exceptional possibilities, we have several hundred thousand acres of free land, and any man can become a capitalist by digging a well and building a shanty.

In conclusion I would say that an organization which has restored manhood to human beings, which has protected helpless children, and thrown every safeguard around the family hearth, which has elevated labor from disgrace to dignity, and which is founded on the broad principles of justice and humanity, is a large factor in the building up of our civilization, in creating a broader sympathy between man and man, and while the lines of labor and capital diverge for a period they are both tending towards the same goal, which will ultimately bring both factors into perfect harmony. Two million and a half of men with higher ideals, better morals and more intelligence are bringing order out of pandemonium, raising the standard of citizenship of the world, increasing the happiness of hundreds of thousands of homes, and by doing these things they are making more secure the foundation upon which our liberties rest, and are accelerating the current which is sweeping humanity forward to the golden goal.