s.wrn 4Vp & f!f "
The Commoner
14
VOL. 10, no,
I
r
Democratic Labor Legislation
Tho so-called "labor planks" in iho party
platforms have long been regarded as a joke,
alblot a somewhat sardonic one. Tho failure of
tho party in power to live up to its promises has
come to bo regarded as in the natural order of
things. Political managers have come to regard
the "labor plank" as a promise that may bo
mado and broken with equal impunity.
Labor itnolf is the only party in interest that
has taken tho matter seriously. The continued
insistence of the labor representatives, despite
tho continual disappointment of their hopes, has
bcon regarded as an evidence either of the force
of habit or of tho "hope that springs eternal."
In short, tho "labor plank" has been regarded
as a thing of less real meaning, if that bo pos
sible, than any other feature of tho declarations
of purposo periodically issued by tho political
parties.
Times are altered. The hopes- of labor have
at last been realized in abundant measure. For
onco tho party in power has actually kept its
pledges. Tho "labor planks" in Its platform
have been translated into tho law of tho land.
Four years ago tho democratic party adopted
as a feature of its platform for tho national
campaign a number of proposals iri tho interest
of labor that is, of tho people at largo. Many
of those proposals were fundamental, evon rad
ical, if you please; all of them woro of the
highest importance to largo bodies of our citi
zenship. Tho democratic party was returned to power,
and in opon defiance of all traditions proceeded
to mako good its promises. Tho record is now
opon for inspection. That record is in itself a
record of great achievement for tho cause of la
bor; by comparison with previous records, it is
nothing short of marvelous.
It is to bo noted that tho "labor planks" in
tho democratic platform of 1912 covered a wider
Hold than in any previous instance. Tho legis
lative measures enacted by tho democratic party
are correspondingly numerou, and varied in tho
scope of their influonce upoa industrial condi
tions. A complete summary of these measures
would "fill a book." only tho moro important
of these measures can be dealt with in an article
of this kind.
Tho democrats secured a majority in the
house of representatives of tho 62nd congress.
Many labor lawg. were passed ' by that congress.
Several of these measures, including some of the
most fundamental in character, wore vetoed or
pocketed by President Taft. Among tho labor
laws passed by tho G2nd aro tho following:
LABOR LAWS PASSED BY C2ND CONGRESS
(APRIL 4, 1011 March 3, 1913)
Abolition of "gag-rule" a., applied ,to Post
onico and other civil sorvico employes.
National Eight-Hour hv- mado applicable to
contractors.
Mandatory enforcement of eight-hour day for
letter carriers and postal clerks.
Children's bureau established.
Commission on Industrial Relations estab
lished. Department of Labor cheated.
Seamen's Bill passed. (Vetoed by President
Taft.)
Anti-phosphorous-match bill.
Labor organizations exempted from prosecu
tion under Anti-Trust act. (Vetoed by Presi
dent Taft.)
Investigation of labor conditions in iron and
steol industry.
Throe-watch system for ships' officers.
Increased wages for pressmen in government
printing ofllco.
Increased wages for employes of Naval Gun
factory.
Investigation of textile strike at Lawrence,
Mass.
Investigation of the Taylor "stop-watch" sys
tem. Both branches of tho G 3rd congress were con
trolled by the demodrats, and a democrat occu
pied the White house. Following is a partial list
of the measures in the interest of labor enacted
by that congress and now in effect:
LABOR LAWS PASSED BY G3RD CONGRESS
(APRIL 7, 1913 MARCH 4, 1915)
Exempting labor and farmers organizations
frorat prosecution mirier Anti-Trust act; limiting
tho use and preventing tho abuse of the injunc
tion in labor disputes; defining contempt of the
injunctions; providing jury trial and restricting
punishment in trials, for contempt of tho injunc
tion; prohibiting department of justice from
using funds to prosecute labor and farmers' or
ganizations under tho Anti-Trust act. (Signed
by President Wilson.,
Seaman's bill passed. (Signed by President
Wilson.) , .
Conciliation, mediation and arbitration act for
railroad employesi
Eight-Hour law for women and children in
District of Columbia.
Eight-Hour law for employes under Alaska
Coal Land act.
Public construction of Alaska railroad.
Industrial education.
Taylor "stop-watch" system prohibited in
United States arsenals, navy yards, gun factories
and torpedo stations.
Piecework prohibited in post-office depart
ment, Washington, D. C.
Public construction of warships and other
vessels in navy yards extended; repairs to be
mado in public instead of private yards.
Protection of ships' officers in reporting de
fects or violations of law.
Bureau of Mines act extended and strength
ened. Investigation of labor dispute in coal fields of
West Virginia, resulting in great improvement in
miners' conditions.
Compensation for injuries extended to post
offico employes.
Letter carriers salaries restored.
Locomotive boiler inspection extended to in
cludo engines and tenders.
Investigation of labor disputes in Colorado
coal Holds and Michigan copper region.
Increase of wages of metal trades mechanics
at Washington navy yard.
Additional appropriation for children's bu
reau. Additional appropriations for the department
of labor.
Every one of those measures means much to
large'classes of the American people. Many of
them affect vitally the welfare of the nation
itself.
To describe these measures as "labor laws"
hardly conveys an adequate impression of their
significance. They are in fact people's laws,
since their influence is bound to affect for good
the people, not only of the so-called labor class,
but of every other class. They are in the truest
and broadest sense democratic laws, since they
deal with the conditions that underlie the whole
social structure, and by improving these condi
tions they make for the establishment of equal
ity upon an ascending plane of social life.
It is a truism that laws are good or bad ac
cording as they are well or ill administered.
In this respect the record of the present admin
istration parallels its record of legislation. A
striking, but by no means exceptional instance
is the administration of the department of labor.
Secretary of Labor Wilson possesses in the
highest degree, the qualities of an ideal official.
That Mr. Wilson was available for appointment
was a matter of good fortune, let us say. Nev
ertheless, his appointment was a stroke of
genius on the part of the President. More cor
rectly speaking, it was a stroke of courage. Some
of the qualities that make Secretary Wilson an
ideal man at the head of the department of
labor might be considered as detracting from
his availability on "practical" grounds.
It is characteristic of the President's whole
conduct in such matters that he did the right
rather than the expedient thing, and that in
choosing the man who should be entrusted with
the formulation of policies in the new field of
governmental activity he selected one who com
bines all the necessary qualifications, in prefer
ence to one who although lacking some of these
qualities m ght for that very reason be consid
ered more like y to "hold the balance even"
that is, to administer the affairs of the new de
partment with the least possible disturbance of
tho existing order of things.
In all other appointments President Wilson
has been actuated by a courageous and intelli
gent view of the needs of labor and he pur
1 mSe ?f Ule newly-enacted labor laws. The
officials intrusted with the administration of
ffiSr ,JnHS may be dePeid upon to discharge
their duties m accordance with the spirit as well
as the letter of the new order
The American Federation of Labor, in a re
cent review of its legislative achievement, says-
"Not all the members of organized law
its-friends fully appreciate the remarkable !7rog-
jess that has attended labor's political activi
Many critics and enemies of the political I ,,y'
of the American Federation of Labor half Cy
demned that policy and sought to minim?0!?
effectiveness. These objections need no nJlB
reply than an enumeration of the federal i i r
lative measures in behalf of labor enartoJi
March, 1906." llacted sIn
Labor is to be congratulated upon the trnr
ress it has made during the period named nS
especially in the 62nd and 63rd congresses X
record of which greatly exceeds that of the
ceding period. lit"
Great as is the work already accomplished
much remains to be done. Many labor measures
are pending in the present congress and in a fair
way of passage. The record already established
affords every assurance that with a continuance
of public confidence the present and future con
gresses will move on -to still greater achieve
ments on behalf of the people of the United
States. San Francisco Star.
INJUSTICE TO MUR. BRYAN
Christian Science Monitor, Boston. Masq
Tuesday, May 23, 1916. '
Only the impartial, unbiased, careful student'
of contemporary political bistory in the United
States is able to account, to his own satisfaction
or to the satisfaction of others, for the bitter
ness and pertinacity with which William Jen
nings Bryan is pursued by certain writers, cer
tain newspapers and certain interests. To at
tribute the acrid tone of the abuse heaped upon
him almost without intermission, to his attitude
toward militarism and his advocacy of world
peace would be folly, for the harsh treatment
meted out to him dates much farther back than
the beginning of the European war or the inau
guration of the preparedness agitation. It can
not be due to the fact that he resigned from
the Wilson 'cabinet on a point of conscience,
because in other countries, as well as in the
United States, many other members of minis
tries and cabinets have so resigned without
bringing the integrity of their motives or tho
purity of their patriotism into question. It can
not be because Mr. Bryan resigned at what was
regarded as a critical moment in the country's
diplomatic relations, for a majority of such res
ignations are actually precipitated by govern
mental crises.
Mr. Bryan is not friendly toward the enlarge
ment of the military ffr naval establishments;
he is, and long anterior to the outbreak of the
European war he was, a warm advocate of in
ternational arbitration and of good will and
peace among men, but he has not stood alone
in either respect. Many of the leading men of
America have been in sympathy with his doc
trines, are in sympathy with them today. It
can not be that Mr. Bryan is singled out for
excoriation and condemnation from the scores
of prominent citizens of the republic professed
ly opposed to war. William Howard Taft, both
as private citizen and as president, has stood in
the past practically for the Bryan pacifist doc
trines. Woodrow Wilson as a private citizen
stood for them; is standing for them as Pres
ident. Theodore Roosevelt, while president, was
granted the Nobel peace prize. Maby have dif
fered from each of these, but none of the three
has been vituperated as has Mr. Bryan for be
lieving and declaring that war is something to
be abhorred and shunned.
As a proof that Mr. Bryan tean not-be disliked
or detested by certain persons, papers, or in
terests altogether because of his pacifist views,
an incident at the meeting of the peace confer
ence at Mohonk Lake, N. Y a few days ago
deserves attention. During one of the sessions
Major George Haven Putnam, member of a New
York publishing firm, began by attacking Mr.
Bryan's peace policies but had not proceeded
far before he found himself denouncing the dis
tinguished Nebraskan for "misrepresenting the
country by his theory of discharging its debts
at 50 cents on the dollar." Fair-minded men
at the gathering at once, and quite properly, pro
tested against dragging the partisan fight m
which Mr. Bryan was engaged in 1896 into the
peace discussion of 1916.
But we have liere a clew to the anti-Bryan
propaganda. He is evidently not disliked, and
he is evidently not being lampooned or traduced
so much for his Attitude on the peace question
as for his attitude toward "the interests." W
has been for a' quarter of a century an imPac" .
able foe of the ''financial manipulator, exploiter
and speculator.'" 'He' preceded -Roosevelt as an
enemy of the trusts"; indeed, he made it pos
sible lor Roosevelt to fight the trusts. To ary