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Show DIGNITY OF LABOR. A . Catholic Priest Points Out Its Rights. Rev. James H. Cotter, the eloquent and scholarly rector of St. Lawrence's church. Ironton, O., recently spoke as follows on the dignity of labor: "Christ himself was singled out of the crowd as the son of Joseph, the carpenter, and St. Paul was by trade a tent maker. Labor in Christian times is dignified both in its origin and its history. The whole world over has been beautifully! fashioned .by the hand of labor. God's 'hand and labor's hand have done everything estimable on earth. Labor ever built, while luxury has ever ruined, and though luxury is not another name for capital, luxury lux-ury is more kindred to capital than is the sweat of toil. A man's hands are not more his own than is the labor of his hands; it is part of his life that he bestows for his living. He has, therefore, there-fore, the right td protect what is so near and dear, and to strengthen, if he so chooses, individual protection by multiplying its force in union. True, indeed, is it that unions, like individuals, individ-uals, make mistakes, but if mistakes would argue against rights, then sinners sin-ners would have no rights, and yet we know that we have many. . "Labor's rights are not capital's wrongs. On the contrary, respect for labor's rights points the way to respect re-spect for capital's rights; for truly, the best way to have our own rights respected re-spected is to respect the rights of others. oth-ers. A child of tha church of the poor, I hope that labor wfll win its present contention. Men are more than money. "Born in a land that has ever suffered suf-fered from foreign landlordism, misapplied mis-applied capital, as an Irishman, I do not qualify my antagonism to the wrongs that have more than once bent the back of labor, I hope that labor will win a true victory by .never employing em-ploying unlawful tactics, for the end never did and-: never will justify the means not by interfering with the liberties lib-erties of others, be they employer or employed, except through appeals to their conviction, but win, and win splendidly, through the bloodless battle bat-tle of principle, fearlessly waged, as it is waged, by cool, strong and learned leaders." |