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Show HCHIEVEMENTS OF LABOR MOVEMENT Striking Accomplishments That Have Resulted in Public Good. WORK REVIEWED BY GOMPERS Head of tha American Federation Polnta to tha Things Organized Effort for tha Prevention of Human Misery Have Mads Possible. By SAMUEL GOMPERS rrrel'h-nl American PtaderUIIUU of (.ahor. In Kalieaa City Star The grandoal achlrvrmciit and the grrnleat glory ol thr Atucrlcnn labor ui movement u ita "ao. laudable effort t miser) it haa 1. jj III II t t ,- r P , lint Messs) T f' I SS i rilHr. glee, I or V 4aSS fl poll IM. Jrj "f labor huve ejBv . .rdfl 1 " r'1""1 1,1 ,,IM aUHjimH i, i. vie mHH edlrs for Indus wlun pitttted, or at a toss for an argument lo suppott thrlr cotitoutlotia, hno at times tbOttgbUeUSty charged Irndo lllilolllata aa being "thoroughly ninlerlallallc" In poBNcacliig "no Metis or aeiillmeniH," and Influenced by no great "soul-moving forrea." Sentimert In Organized Labor. Stub expressions ran only come from tlmae who ate not Informed, or such na are burdened with prejudice lu order thnt those who run may rend and Undentundt n fen facta are herewith here-with iinlolded so thnt rynlca, critics, opponenlB and Irlenda may obtUin a gllmpee In a SOadSMSd form of what thuUU same Irado BUlUUlrtl bavo ne- norupllsbed -beceuie of a great ioui moving force burning within them Conserving Men and Women. The farther the American people ad-vanrn ad-vanrn In this direction In the future Iho more aurrly w ill Ihry observe true rcouonilc principles that Is to say, the concrrvutloti of human resources and human energy of thn tollers mrnna tin ultimate eafely and well I ouly too (rue, and "pity 'tis 'Us true." I that Ihe grrntrat form of wnsto from which our prople suffer at this time la I tha terrllte wnsto of human energy, : due to uneconomic methods. The awful aw-ful slutighter of the Workers whose I bodies are maimed, or whoso Uvea am Bunecoeourily dee troy ed in aome in Idualrlea nnd In Irnnaportntlon, la gan-orally gan-orally rnuird hy long houra. Ignorance, Incomprtenre, haste or greed. Htlll. while It la truo that theae grave rhnrgea are dnlly aiibatantlated, yet. If It hud nol hern tor the ron-atant ron-atant vigilance nnd heroic persistence of the workers In providing remedies for aurh awful poaalhllltlca. every trade and occupation would be equally auhjeet to as frequent casualties as now occur In Ihe mills and blast fur-j fur-j MOSS of the Iron and steel Induatry, j where organization of lha workera baa been alow lo develop, aa well aa In thorn ronl fields, where the mine workera ara allll subjected to aerf- like conditions hy agencies of precis I tory wraith. It s therefore, prrlorlly appro prlai., to rilaw attention to aurh a compnrlsoii before .itinerating the ! legal measures of prevention and safety already established lu thn several sev-eral atatea. The first aubjert rovrred la nntur-nlly nntur-nlly Iho "Consrrvallon of Time" or "The S Hour Hay " Without tin s to I recuperate, observe, study, reflect, j the workrra lire rrndrrrd hopelessly i unable to act either In theft own lire half or In cooperation with others for the public good. Shortening the Working Day. Oharrve thn communities whore tha steel trust, the sugar trust, the rord-, rord-, age trust an dlhe rubber trust are dominant, and. where grrrd la ull pow srful, where lha workera grind out a miserable .listener twelve houra per dsy, and In many cases seven days per week, never less than seventy two hours, frequently elghty four hours per week. In such places race aulclde - runs rampant, sickness, vice, dlseaee, drunkrnnraa and dealha by violence are the rule ruther than the escep-Hon. escep-Hon. Hoarding house shacks, corner saloons sa-loons and squalor abound: homes, schools and libraries ars conspicuously conspicuous-ly rare or absent. Human life In held rhruprat In Pennsylvania, where Iho long and the innny work days ore prevalent. Mut-Irr Mut-Irr loses 374 out of every hundred thousand of Its people hy violent dealha In Industry; PtttftOU, BS9, Mc-Keea Mc-Keea Hocks nnd McKccaport 2U0, Shenniuloah Ml, Potlsvllln 271! nnd thn large city. Pittsburg, with Its diversified diversi-fied population, revels In s violent i death rain of 191 per ono hundred I thousand people, according to the morlHllty atatlaltrs of the t 'lilted I States census bureau In 19011. j The average age of these deaths by accident Is thirty-three and a half years. This fearful drain occurs I among men doing Ihe work of the I world before tbay bare reached the prime of life or the mailmiini of elf rtfj Thn unreasonably long work day that saps vitality and vigilance from the workera la Ihe principal cauae ol gts. 'J Ihla heedleas alnughter of human he 2?J Inga struggling for an existence. fr- fi So much for the (.hour day. We next romo lo the proposition of ron-serving ron-serving llfr nnd henlth by means of ' factory regulation and factory Inspection. Inspec-tion. If Ucb hrfn brrn rlono In mnny stairs along these lines and this accompli- hinrnt la dun to orgnnlzrd later la-ter Much la yet to tie done, and or-gnnlzed or-gnnlzed labor Intends that thn work ball be flnlnhed I , l-nws regulating guards for cleaning Of ntSChlttUry were adopted hy Mnnsn-obttSettl Mnnsn-obttSettl In 12, In New Jersey In MOW. Tbla was almost the hrglnnlng. As manufacturing tins developed In the other stairs aome protective provisions pro-visions have been adopted . The prca-cut prca-cut alattia of Ihelr provialons la aa follows: fol-lows: Twenty four states require factorlea to be ao ventilated that a suAtrlrnt amount of air spneo shall ten provided for each operative Thlrty thrro stntea rUQUfrU flrs es- ' v enpes on factorlea and public build- "1V Twrnty-four atntra rrqulre guarda on dangerous machinery. laeam Ttreaty seven states insist upon snnllary and aulTlclriit toilet rooms for Iho Thirty atatea provide factory In-I In-I pout OfS lo enforce observance of the Sevrnteen states make II mandatory for nipliners lo report all accidents HH lo an authorised atule official an that HBl acetirntn vital recorda can he rrndlly Obtained for ihe further advice nnd In- I, ,im ,ii,in of ihe people aa to the HH to SdS or addltlonnl conaervntloti of life nnd limb Tbla la an rapcclnlly necea- HB sary Thlii li ntulee restrict night wort Rsl by BBJ Compensating the Maimed. Thirty eight atatea huo ennrtrd some form of employers' Nubility law, very few of Which have brrn In-letpreted In-letpreted tavotahly for thn workera by the courts This Is lu he account-ed account-ed for largrly b.inuse the rourta hnva clung tenaciously to former prere- ib tiers of peculiar Judicial rrasonlngs, J which hnvo at limes brrn refrrrrd lo HBf na thn "unholy trinity," vis., aasump- HBf lion of risk," "contributory negll- HBj grm-ai" and "frllow-aervant" rulings, BBJ aa If thraa otiataclrs wrro not inrgn HJ enough lo offset a workmnn'a rlnlm HB for damnges. Another method haa BVJ I mi devised which the courts bavo duly rreogtilsrd ns valid and aulflclent BBJ grounds lo prevent an Injurrd em- BBJ ploye from obtaining au award for BBJ damngea Tbla running devlre haa BB brrn to Induce or coerce an employe BB When arranging for rmployment to BB algn a ennirart "waiving hla rlghta" to BB aue for damagea In caao of Injury dur- BB Giving Life a Value. Modllli iillons of the rommon law Bj nilliiga of "assumed risk" and "con- BBJ trlhutnry" to "comparative) nrgllgenrs" BBj hnvo been adopted In several atatea. BBj but aurh trifling with measures of BBj such grave Import la not aufflclent. BJ Juat. humane nnd effective legislation BJ must bo rnucted by the atatea legls BJ billon Hint Is uniform and uniformly BBj amid: effecilvo legislation that will BBj forever sbollab the defense known na Bj "fellow servant" rule, "contributory BBj negligence," assumption of rlak" and BBj "waiving or rights." BBj Industry mull beer Ihe Bnsnrisl Wm burden of SCddcnti lo Ihe huinnn be- BBj Ing. exnetly us It dors now toward me- BJ chanlcal uecldriila, or accidents that BBj occur through the imtural a lementa. BBJ Compelling Safety Appliances The next In Impnrlun, e are aafety Bj appliance lawa, enncted hy ths ron- BB grrss for the purpose of ronservlng BBj life on Iho Interstate railroads of the I tilled Itg tee. livery ono of (hese Bj laws la u liinniiinent lo the everlasting Bj crndlt of organized labor. BBj This rompllcullon of lire-snvlng und life preaervlng leglalatlon enacted by BB the alatn legislatures and thn United BB Slates congress at the tx lieat of thn organizations of labor Is far from be BB lug a rompla-tii record, but It la auffl- BB i lent at this time to SfltbttSS thr work- BJ era and to convince iho moat skeptical BB us to the great good which has been BJ accomplished for all labor unorgan- Bj Ized na well aa organized and partlo- Bj uhirly for thnt part of society some- BB limes denned us Ihe geiterut public, BB who bavo been safeguarded while BB truvellng on railroads, while resting BB In hotels, nmuaed In Iheaters, or when Bj coming In contact with those who BB might disseminate dlscuso propagated Bus! In workshops or fsclorlea that would nD remulu lnsaultary i ,1 dangeroua If It trW- hnd nol been for the vigilance, fidelity 93r and foresight of the orgunlzed wurk- T-'p: ers. ' I Ho we feel cheered on tbla Labor Hay. We even feel llko laying aside the hnrdtiess that la acquired In the course of many battles against big odds and allowing Ihe sentimental sides of our natures to abow themselves them-selves We feel like talking of our women and children, and Iho battle organized labor la wxuliig lu cuke them comfortable at Ihelr work and hculthy In Ihelr homes. We want to ello the human suffering I hut the orgunlzed or-gunlzed workera huve hesg able to , ubollsh, and to pledge ourselves anew to a 000 tinned buttle to bring decent working hours und conditions Into those dark places of the nation that are still Ita most crying disgrace. And, wlihul, we aro sanguine of a da Uutt Is coming when ull working people tuny perform thrlr taskn with the satisfaction sat-isfaction that r hepi'lci life In poaal- ' ble to them. The pros, cue has been i j such that then- la occasion for hope-fulness. hope-fulness. IK |