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Show --. RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF LABOR. BY CARDINAL GIBBONS. I say labor contributes to the prosperity pros-perity of the country, and whatever contributes to a nation's welfare is j worthy of commendation. It is not the : office or occupation that dignifies the i man. but it is the man that dignifies the office. "Honor and shame from no condition rise; Act well your part there all the honor lies." Cincinnatus lent dignity to agriculture agricul-ture by working at the plow! Caligula by an infamous life degraded his crown and imperial purple. De Tocqueville could not pay a juster and more beautiful tribute of praise, to the genius of our country than when the wrote, in ls3ii, that every honest occupation oc-cupation in the United States was honorable. hon-orable. The hotiest, industrious man is honored hon-ored among us whether he work with his hands or with his brains, because he is an indispensable factor in the nation's na-tion's progress. He is the bee in the social hive: he is the benefactor of his race, because he is always producing something for the commonwealth. Our sympathies for those in our employ, em-ploy, whether in the household, the mines or the factory, are wonderfully quickened by putting ourselves in their place and asking ourselves how we j would wish to be treated under the circumstances. I We should remember that thev are I our fellow-beings; that they have feelings feel-ings like ourselves; that they are stung by a sense of injustice, repelled by an overbearing spirit and softened by kindness, and that it largely rests with us whether our hearts and homes are to be clouded with sorrow or radiant with ioy. Surely men do not amass wealth for the sole pleasure of counting their bonds and of contemplating their gold in secret. No, they acquire it in the hope that it will contribute to their rational ra-tional comfort and happiness. Now, there is no enjoyment in life so pure and so substantial as that which springs from the reflection that others are made content and happy by our benevolence. be-nevolence. And I am speaking here not of the benevolence of gratuitous hountv. but of fair dealing, tempered with benignity. It droppeth as the gentle rain from Heaven Upon the place beneath: it is twice blets'd: It blessed him that gives, and him that takes; 'Tis mightiest In the mightiest; it becomes be-comes The throned monarch better than his i crown. j While applauding the tender feelings j and masmanimitv of any capitalist. I ! am constrained in the interest of truth, humanity and religion to protest against the heartless cvonduct of others, whose number, for the honor of our country, is, I hope comparatively small. No friend of his race can contemplate without painful emotions those heart -j less monopolists exhibiting a grasping j avarice, which has dried up every sen-I sen-I timent of sympathy, and a sordid set- fishness which is deaf to the cries of distress. Their sole aim is to realize ! large dividends, without regard to the paramount claims of justice and Christian Chris-tian charity. These trusts and monopolies, monop-olies, like the car of juggernaut, crush every obstacle that stands in their way. Thev endeavor, not always, it is alleged, al-leged, without success, to corrupt our national and state legislatures and municipal mu-nicipal councils. They are so intolerant intoler-ant of honest rivalry as to tise unlawful unlaw-ful means in driving from the market all copeting industries. They compel their operatives to work for starving; wages, especially in mining districts and factories, where protests have but a feeble echo and are easily stilled by intimidation. In many places the corporations are said to have the monopoly of stores of supply, where exorbitant prices are charged for the necessaries of life: bills are contracted which the workmen are unable to pay from their scanty wages and their forced insolvency places them entirely at Hie mercy of their j taskmasters. To such Shylocks may well be applied ap-plied the words of the Apostle: "Go to, now, ye rich men; weep and howl for your miseries which shall come upon you. You have stored up to yourselves wrath against the last days. Behold the hire of the laborers which by fraud hath been held back by you crieth and the cry of them hath entered into the ears of the God of Sabbaoth." How forcibly this language applies now to our own country, and how earnestly ear-nestly the warning should be heeded by the constituted authorities! The supreme law of the land should be enforced en-forced and amide protection should be afforded to legitimate competing corporations, cor-porations, as well as to the laboring classes, against unscrupulous monopolies. monopo-lies. But if labor organizations have rights to be vindicated and urievanees to be redressed, it is manifest that they have also sacred obligations to be fulfilled and dangers to guard ainst. They should exercise unceasing vigilance vigi-lance in securing their body from the control of designing demagogues who would make it subservient to their own selfish ends of convert it into a political politi-cal engine. ' They should also be jealous jeal-ous of the reputation and good name of the rank and file of the society, as well as of its chosen leaders. For while the organization is ennobled and commands com-mands the respect of the public by the moral and civic virtues of its members, the scandalous and unworthy conduct of even a few of them is apt to bring reproach on the w hole body and to ex-cite ex-cite the disUrist of the community. Activity is the law of all Intellectual and animal life. The more you live in conformity to that law, the happier you will be. An active life, like the purling rivulet, is an unfailing source of gladness, health and contentment, while an indolent life, like the stagnant-pool, stagnant-pool, breeds discontent, disease and death. No man enjoys with a keener relish the night's repose and the Sun day and holiday rest than the son of toil. -S- A life of patient industry is sure to be blessed with a competence, if it is not crowned with an abundant remuneration. remu-neration. The great majority of our leading men of wealth are indebted for their fortunes to their own untiring industrs-. Take an acyve personal, conscientious interest in the business of your employer. Be as much' concerned concern-ed about its prosperity as if it were your own. Foster habits of economy and self-denial. self-denial. No matter how modest your income may be, always live under it. You will thus protect your liberty and business integrity and guard yourself against the slavery and humiliation of debt, which is too often the precursor' and the incentive to commercial dishonor. dis-honor. - While honestly striving '.o better your condition, be content with your station in life and do not yield to an inordinate desire of abandoning your present occupation for what is popu- larly regarded as a more attractive vo- cation. Remember that while the learned professions are overcrowded there is always room for skilled and unskilled labor and that, it is far better to succeed in mechanical or manual work than to fail in professional life. Be not overeager to amass wealth, for they who are anxious to become rich, fall into temptations and into the snares of the devil, and into many unprofitable un-profitable and hurtful desires which drown men in destruction and perdition. perdi-tion. A feverish ambition to accumulate a fortune, which may be called our na tional distemper, is incompatible witn piece of mind. Moderate means, with a contented spirit, are preferable to millions without. with-out. Sobriety will be an angel of tranquility, tranquil-ity, will bo an angel of comfort to yourself your-self and family. While this virtue should be cultivated by all men, it ought to be especially cherished by the laboring classes, who are so much exposed ex-posed to the opposite vice. Intemperance Intemper-ance has brought more desolation to homes than famine or the sword, and is a more unrelenting tyrant than the grasping monopolist. |
