A NATION'S VALO
Shown by the Kind of Citizens It
Produces.
MEN ARE THE REAL TEST.
Our Country Strong on Government
but Fears to Enact Laws For Work
ers Interests Get Legal Aid, bul
Paternalism Forbids Help For Toilers.
It lias been said by an Arueiicat
writer who has made a careful studj
of the institutions of his country, says
the Los Angeles Citizen, that "the tesl
of a nation's value is the kind of mer
it produces" and that "the first busi
ness of a nation is the manufacture oi
souls of a good quality."
Franklin Pierce says, "No people in
history ever relied so implicitly on th(
making of laws, the creation of con
Rtltutions and the protection of life and
property through courts as the Ameri
can people."
As a people we are strong on govern
ment. Of the making and application
and. it may be said, misapplication
of laws there is no end. But how lit
tle of government is actually devoted
to the real living interests of the peo
pie!
The instant a demand is made foi
government provision for the worker
in the' way of employment for the
masses of unemployed or protection
for those employed in hazardous in
dustries that instant the cry goes up
against paternalism.
Railroad magnates ask for rights ol
way and franchises. Manufacturers
request subsidies and legislative pro
tection. Indeed, the fortunes of the
"captains of industry" have drawn
most of their growth out of privilege
and protection, But when the laborer
asks the government to provide jobs
for him and his kind be is looked upon
as a mendicant, begging for that to
which he is not entitled.
The constitution of the United States
does not affirm any one's right to a
fortune, but it does affirm that a man
has' a right to life, liberty and pursuit
of happiness. How can the laborer
live and support those whose lives are
under his care without work? Liberty!
How can a man be free unless there
is an opportunity to exchange labor
for the necessities of life? Pursuit of
happiness! How can one be happy
unless there is employment of a kind
to enable him to keep his family on a
decent plane of existence?
If a man becomes insane the govern
ment supports him. If he commits a
crime it furnishes him a job, food,
clothes and shelter.
Unemployment is the cause of much
insanity and crime.
Wouldn't it be cheaper and wiser for
the government to furnish employ
ment? If there Is danger in government
help, let the government cease helping
those who do not need it, for that's
where the danger lies.
It's always safe and wise to help
those who need It.
Hours of Labor In Holland.
During a "speech at a recent public
meeting In Amsterdam a member of
the states general announced that
there would be introduced in the sec
ond chamber a bill prescribing a maxi
mum of ten hours as a day's labor for
workingmen and that the bill would
provide for an eight hour working day
eight years after this measure became
effective. It is ajso contemplated to
prohibit the employment" of "children
under thirteen years of age or still sub
ject to compulsory education in any
work whatever.
The proposed measure is designed to
repeal the present law as to hours of
labor. This law places no limitation
on the working hours of males over
sixteen years of age, but provides that
males under sixteen and females snail
not be engaged more than eleven hours
a day in factories and workshops and
that their labor shall not begin before
5 o'clock a. m. nor continue beyond 7
p. m., though various exceptions are
allowed by the law. A child under
twelve years of age is forbidden to do
any work.
The Union Must Pay.
The unlawful strike in the granite
quarries of Wells Bros, of Hopkinton,
Mass.. which cost the foreman, Ma
riano de Minico, his job will cost the
Milford branch of the Granite Cutters'
International association $707 by or
der of Judge Morton in the supreme
court at Boston following a full bench
decision that the strike was unjustifia
ble. The order was directed to Uavid
Craig, president and secretary of the
Milford union, and the adjustment
committee, who were ordered to pay
De Minico $500 in damages and $207
costs.
4"Hi"i"i"i"i"i"H"i":"i"i"i"i-i"i-i..i..t.i.
f TEST IN WHAT YOU BUY. '
Dnionism and the union label
go hand in hand. One is thje
same as the other. You cannot
claim to believe in the former if
you leave out of consideration
the latter. Deeds speak louder
than words. Nearly all articles
of apparel and very many com
modities can be purchased with
the sign of good, sanitary work
manship attached. If you buy
the other kind your unionism
isn't even skin deep. Labor
Clarion.
INFORMERS DETESTED.
Even When Telling the Truth They
Are Universally Disliked.
One of the lawyers employed to de
fend the accused ironworkers out in
Los Angeles shows the delicacy of his
sensibilities by refusing to have any
thing to do with McManigal. "I will
handle no informer's matters foi him,"
this lawyer Is quoted as saying. "The
other attorneys can do what they
will."
This lawyer does not explain
whether his horror of McManigal is
based on the conviction that the in
former Is lying or on the general prin
ciple that an effort to save one's guilty
self from deserved punishment by the
betrayal of one's associates in crime
is the culmination of human baseness.
Apparently he ignores the possibility
that the informer may be what Or
chard claimed to be a man who has
repented of his evil deeds and has de
termined, regardless of consequences
to himself, to do what he can to serve
society by telling the whole truth.
We do not understand that McMan
igal makes any such claim or that
anybody makes It in his behalf, but
that may come later. And it cannot
be denied, or at least shouldn't be.
that the informer does sometimes have
a theoretically adequate excuse for be
traying his accomplices and does oc
casionally perform real public serv
ices. There must be some good rea
son, however, for the instinctive detes
tation of the informer which we all
feel, even when he tells the truth a
feeling out of which we find it im
possible to argue ourselves. His act
THE NIMBLE NICKEL.
It takes twenty nickels to make a dollar but it takes
only one nickel to unmake a dollar. If Adam had invested a
nickel at 4 per cent compound interest when he first woke up
in Eden, and that nickel had remained until today drawing
interest at that rate, there wouldn't be enough gold and sil
ver coin bearing Uncle Sam's imprint to pay the loan.
That is what interest will do. Big fortunes are not based
on dollars earned by men, but upon dollars earned by other
dollars by investment and re-investment: keeping the dollars
working for the man instead of the man working always for
dollars. You can cultivate the saving habit like any other
habit. And while cultivating it you can be providing for the
inevitable rainy day. A dollar a week saved and deposited
with us means a comfortable income at the end of twenty or
twenty-five years. It would pay you to study our system
and learn the wonders of interest. Let us explain to you.
AMERICAN SAVINGS BANK
132 North jith St.
We will soon be in our handsome new quarters.
may be beneficial in the abstract, but
his motive Is either obviously hideous
or widely open to the suspicion of be
ing so, and he can never prove it high
or disinterested, even when the chance
that It may be so exists.
The fact is that the world has decid
ed that it could get along well enough
without the assistance of informers,
and it makes- use of them with reluc
tance and nausea. Even honest detec
tives suffer in reputation and esteem
because of the betraying of confidence
they have to do in the course of their
business, and that in spite of the
unanimous admission of moralists that
good faith need not be observed to
ward public enemies when It endan
gers public safety.
As for McManigal, it is only fair to
assume that the suddenly changed at
titude of union labor toward him is
due to a belief that he is lying, not to
the fear that he is telling the truth.
New York Times.
LABOR IN VERMONT.
Progressive Laws Passed by Aid of
Trade Unionists.
That the trade unionists of the coun
try are becoming alive to the influence
which they can assert along legislative
lines is illustrated by the accomplish
ments of the Vermont state branch of
the American Federation of Labor. It
Is not an easy task to initiate new
legislation into the legislatures of the
older and more "sedate" states, for
countries long settled do not change
In opinions or methods rapidly. The
officials of the state branch, therefore,
are entitled to much credit for the ex
cellent results accomplished during the
last session of the Vermont legislature.
The sum total gained can best be told
In the language of Alexander Ironside,
secretary of the state organization:
"As a result of organized effort there
were enacted an employers' liability
bill, a voluntary compensation plan
on lines adopted in New York state,
a valuable amendment to the child la
bor law, making it the best law in
New England, and a bill to amend the
state constitution, giving the voters the
right to say whether compulsory com
pensation should be legalized. We
were also successful in defeating a bill
designed to establish compulsory ar
bitration. We are well pleased with
the fruits of the session."
A Plea For Unions.
"If Christ were here today he would
put emphasis on the support of union
lit ! i tfirl.. lin lnffoimnnt
of the working people," said the Rev.
Henry A. Atkinson, secretary of the,,
Congregational brotherhood, at a recent
ters' union in Chicago. "There is
nothing in common between,,, the
church and these unions,, but we .can
co-operate with them, in securing bet
ter conditions for working people, sani
tation, shorter hours and better en
vironments: Labor unions, -are (.not
organized for -strike purposes, but to
protect and benefit working men, womr;;
en and children.' Let us give such sup-i-"port
to them as we can, and givej
freelv."
uereai mni workers ro wiore.'-" '
In accordance with resolution No.
49, adopted at the St Louis conven
tion of -. the American Federation of
Labor, ,the International Union of
Flour and Cereal Mill Employees has
ceased to exist All local unions which
were formerly attached to the inter
national will be furnished American
Federation of Labor charters free of
all cost Central bodies, where these
unions are affiliated, are urged to ad-,
rlcn 1 rr o I nnfnna of ahia nffiltatA .
themselves direct
The Federation's Growth.
"May 1, 1911. finds the eight hour
day established in many places where
it has never been known before," said
Secretary Morrison of . the American
Federation of Labor, "and the organi
zations affiliated with the federation
have Increased their membership by
200.000 in the last twelve months.
There are more than 1,800,000 paying
members in the organization.".
Victory For Brewery Worker.
By the terms of the agreement
signed by committees representing th
Syracuse Brewers' Exchange and the
unions directly and Indirectly interest
ed in the strike all the strike breakers
are to be discharged and all the men
who went out are to be reinstated in
their former positions. The brewers
unreservedly granted the wage in
crease of $2 a week demanded by the
strikers.
Garment Workers Active.
A strike involving nearly a million
garment workers in all parts of the
United States will, it is said, be called
In August if garment manufacturer
do not accede to the demand for 'bet-"
terefl conditions for employees, wlifch
will be made at chat time.
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