The Butler County press. [volume], November 19, 1915, Image 1

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Perhaps it would not be amiss
for rae to say a few words to you
on the subject of law enforcement.
In the matter of labor legislation
Ohio is already in the front ranks
The laboring people «f the state
have made their influence felt in
bringing about the passage of de
sirable legislation. But in the mat
ter of law enforcement they have
not exerted their influence to the
same extent. It is useless to se
cure the passage of good laws un
less those laws are striclly and hon
estly enforced. It seems to me,
therefore, that we should be more
concerned at this time about the
euforcement of law than about the
passage of additioual legislation.
Leaving out of consideration such
questions as a law to. compensate
the victims of occupational disease,
there is no industrial reform that
cannot be accomplished through
the industrial commission, without
even bothering the legislature,
providing the men who compose
that commission are favorably in
clined, and are furnished with ade
quate means to carry out the pur
poses of the law.
The industrial commission is not
only charged with the duty of en
forcing labor laws, but it has au
thority to go beyond the specific
requirements of the statues, and
issue orders requiring employers to
do anything that could reasonably
be considered necessary to protect
the life, health and safety and wel
fare of employes.
To this commission is assigned
the responsibility of inspecting the
workshops, mines, public buildings
and steam boilers, and also the ex
amination of applicants for license
to operate steam engires and boil
ers—all with the object of protect
ing the life, limb and health of the
workers against the dangers of
their employment*. And if work
ers are injured or kil'cd in the
course of employment, then this
commission, through its workmen's
compensation department, is re
quired to see t© it that the injured
worker, or the dependents of the
killed worker, are paid compensa
tion as provided by law. Through
its fiee employment offices it is re
quired to do its utmost to provide
employment far the unemployed.
Through the department of inves
tigation and statistics it is required
to see to it 'hat the injured tistical
data and investigate and study in
dustrial conditions, just as a phy
sican would diagnose a case of dis
ease, in order to know what reme
dies to apply in the effort to im
prove the conditions.
Can you think of any public mat
ter that it is of more importance to
the laboring people of Ohio than
the work of this commission It
seems to me that to obtain the best
results this work must be in the
hands of men whose minds are
friendly, whose hearts are sympa
thetic, whose knowledge and ex
perience are such as to qualify them
to d« justice to all concerned, and
who have the will and the courage
to do their duty.
Address Made by T. J. Duffy, to the
0. S. F. of L. Delegates at
liansfieid. 0., October, 1915.
In the past the Ohio State Fed
eration of Labor has effectively ex
erted its influence to bring about
the passage of desirable legislation
I want to appeal to you today to
exert yeur influence to put 'his
state labor department on such a
basis that no matter what political
party triumphs in this state this
humanitarian work will go on un
disturbed and unhampered by those
who unconsciously hid the spoils
of office above the life, limb, health
and welfare of the workers.
Under the law the members of
the industrial commission, and they
alone are lesponsible for the work
of the various departments under
the commission. You cannot ex
pect the best results if conditions
are such that a majority of the
members of the industrial comtnis
sion are compelled to sacrifice their
own judgement and practically
permit the employes of the com
mission to be selected by outsiders,
who know nothing about the needs
of the department and wh are in
no way responsible for the results.
If we want to get the best service
from the minds and energy of the
n who compose the industrial
commission we must surround them
by conditions that will permit them
to utilize to the best advantage
whatever knowledge and experience
they posess, and to exercise their
best judgement unintimidated by
active or latent threats of removal
from office unless they submit to
hings which, in their judgment
are detrimental to the effiiciency
of the department.
In the matter of intelligence you
delegates who compose this con
vention are above the average of
the laboring men of this sta*e.
Yet how many of you could today
inspect a factory or a mine and
point out the dangers of life, limb
and health, and show the employer
how to safeguard his employes
against those dangers? If w* are
to continue making progress in the
work of accident prevention we
must have factory, mine and boiler
inspectors who are thoroughly
equipped with the knowledge nec
essary to accomplish the results de
sired. There is neither wisdom
nor economy in recklessly throw
ing aside the experience acquired
in public service, and if these state
departments under the industrial
commission are to be the spoils of
political contests, ther the life
limb, health and welfare of the
workers will be the spoils of in
efficient service.
I find fault with no man for ac
tively participating in the affairs
of the political party of his choice
It is his right as an American citi
zen to do so and it is nothing to
his discredit if he exercises that
right. But there are seme things
that should be placed above mere
partisan politics and the humani
tarian work entrusted to the in
dustrial commission is one of them
I am not going to take up any
of your time discussing the work
men's compensation law. All that
I want to say is, that since your
last convention, our commission has
passed upon more than seventy-five
thousand claims for injury or death
Since the law went into effect we
have paid out about three and one
half million dollars to the victims
of industrial accidents. We now
have a balance in the fund of near
ly three million dollars. Out of
this must be paid the balance of
the compensation yet due in some
of the cases already decided. Our
last financial statement shows that
eighty-seven per cent of the earned
premium collected fully covers all
the losses chargeable to the fund
While improvements can be made
in the present workmen's compen
sation law, I am still of the opinion
that it is the best workmen's com
pensation law that has yet been
passed in any of our states. I am
more convinced than ever that the
great success we have had, thus
far, in the administration of the
state insurance fund, can be made
permanent, providing those in
their endeavors to administer the
fund on the same principles that
obtain in private principles.
The greatest menace to the state
insurance fund today is the spoils
system. Ever since the compensa
tion law has been in effect ia Ohio
that has been the one thing which
the emploers of the state have
feared and it has been the one
thing in which the enemies of the
law, the insurance men, have placed
their hopes of being able to ulti
mately destroy the state insurance
features.
I an not going to discuss the
ruling of insurance commissioner
Taggart. You are familiar with
its contents. But I want to refer
to it to make one point. That rul
ing of the insurance commissioner
gave to the enemies of the work
men's compensation law strength
and ammunition which they are
now using in an active campaign
against the law. Yet, at the same
time, those in charge of the admin
istration of the law hive had their
position weakened by the lo^s of
some of their most experienced and
competent men. Thus, our ene
mies are succored whilst we are
crippled.
During the past year the com
mission, through its chief deputy,
T. P. Kerns, and its safety director
Victor T. Noonan, has done much
along the line of industrial safety.
Hundreds of mee'ings have been
held in which short addresses on
safety were made to the workmen,
foremen and superintendents.
These meetings were held right in
the factories. The employers
showed their earnestness in this
work by allowing their employees
from thirty tosixtv minutes during
the working hours to attend these
meetiugs. In this way a much
larger attendance was secured and
much tetter results were obtained.
Through the chief deputy of the
minning department, J. M. Roan,
much good work was done along
safety lines by a system of bulle
tins calling the attention of the
miners to the manner in which
miners had met with accidents and
show'ng how such accidents could
have been avoided
During the past year we have
been working on a code of safety
and sanitation for the workshops
and factories of the state. We have
had sub- committees of employers
and workmen of the varicus trades
working on these rules. We had
hoped to have completed the work
long before this. But it turned out
to be a much bigger job than we
had thought. We have called a
meeting of the committees on safety
and sanitation for the 2oth of this
month. At that time we hope to
have final action upon the adoption
of a code of rules on safety and
sanitation.
Mr. Crcxton has told you of
what has been done through our
statistical department, so I won't
take up any of your time to sp«.ak
of the great and valuable work that
has been done there.
Although little or no labor legis
lation has been gained in any of
the states during the past year,
th»re is no reasoH for us to feel
discouraged. The labor sections of
the Clayton Anti-Trust act, and
the Seamen's Act, are, in a sense,
the greatest legislative victories la
bor has ever gained from the con
gress of the United States
I hope the next victory will be a
measure making it unlawful to dis
charge a man for belonging to a
labor union. If men can exercise
a lawful right only at the saciifice
of their bread and butter *hrt right
is more of a mockery than a benefit.
Our opponents sometimes say
that they are opposed trade un
ions because the unions sometimes
force men to join when they would
prefer not to do so. They say that
this is tyranny that it is an in
fringement upon the personal lib
erty of the individual citizen that
this personal liberty is a sacred
thing and that it is more impor
tant to preserve this personal liber
ty of the individual than it is to
attain any object that organized
labor is trying to accomplish
I just want to take a minute or
two of your time to put this per
sonal liberty argument to the test
of logic and see how it will stand.
If we go back to primitive times
we won't find any civil government.
Man's natural rights existed prior
to any earthly government. But
as the population of the world grew
the people found that one man in
the exercise of his natural rights
sometimes came in conflict with
another man's natural rights.
Therefore, they deemed it ad
visable to organize some kind of a
governing body to which they
would sacrifice a certain portion of
their natural rights in return for
certain recognized regulations or
laws that would protect them in
the exercise of the remainder of
their natural rights. As far as his
tory gives us light, the people at
v $
,,
^.sr«*iS .*
70L. XV. NO. 32. HAMILTON, OHIO, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1916. $1.00 PER YEA*
first decided that their welfare
could best be subserved by organ
izing into tribes latei on some of
them decided that their interests
could best be subserved by organ
izing into nations others by organ
izing into empires, etc., Thus a*
we come down through the ages
we find various monarchies, repub
lics and empires that have appeared
in ttte various stages of the world's
histoiy. In our own land we find
our people, for certain purposes,
organized into cities, for other cer
tain purposes into states, and for
certain purposes into a nation,
And it is a recognized principle
with us that, within the limits of
our state and national constitutions,
the will of the majority is suppos
ed to prevail in all things.
Among other powers, our various
legislative bodies are empowered
to impose taxes upon the citizens.
There taxes are levied for various
purposes that art supposed to be
for the welfare of the people. Some
of the tax, for instance, goes to
pay the expense of our public
schools, some to pay the expense
of our police forces and our fire de
dartments and for the lights that
illuminates our cities at night, etc.
J{I TI I:R COUNTY PRESS.
Now suppose that when taxes
are due, a citizen comes to the tax
collector and says: "I am not in
favor of public schools I send my
children to a private school and
pay for their educati' n, and I ask
you to deduct from my taxes that
portion that goes to pay for the
public schools." Another citizen
says: "I am not in favor of electric
lights I don't go out at night and
can get along without them, and I
ask you to deduct from my taxes
that portion that goes to pay for
electric lights.', Another citizen
says: "I am not in favor of a po
lice force I am a good citizen and
obey the laws and I don't need any
police, and I ask you to deduct
from my taxes that portion that
goes to pay for the police force,"
But to all of these the tax collector
says: "The majority, throagh the
city council or state legislature,
whichever it might be, have de
cided that we must have these
things and have levied taxes ac
cordingly. "But," argue these
men, "we don't favor these things
and to make us submit to some
thing we don't want to do is an in
fringement upon our personal lib
erty and don't you know that this
persoual liberty is a sacred thing
and far more important than any
object that the city, state or nation
aims to accomplish "That is
the law," says the tax collector'
"and if you don't pay your taxes
we will have to sell your property"
They all pay their taxes.
Now, if it is right for people to
organize as a city, as a state or as
a nation, and the majority rule and
compel the minority to obey, I ask
in the name of reason what logical
argument can be advanced as to
why people should not be allowed
to organize as a trade or craft and
the majority rnle and compel the
minority to obey
I notice that John D. Rockefeller
Jr., claims that the plan which was
recently submitted to the employes
of the Colorado Fuel and Iron com
pany, and which the employes
"voluntarily" adopted, is superior
to the trade union plant.
Without taking up your time to
give the reason why I do not agree
with Mr. Rockefeller, let me say
that if there is anything in Rocke
feller's plan that is beneficial to the
employes they can thank organized
labor for it and not Mr. Rocke
feller.
If organized labor had not made
the fight it did in Colorado, Mr.
Rockefeller would not have visited
the mines there and bis pet plan
would never have been heard of.
Organized labor taught Mr. Rocke
feller and his colleagues the lesson
that it costs just as much to keep
men down in oppression as it does
to help to raise them up to a higher
plane of comfort, intelligence and
prosperity.
A year ago I spoke to you at the
Youngstown convention about the
war in Europe. 1 little thought
then that when you again met in
convention we would still be wit
,£
nessing that bloody spectacle. I
am going to refer to it today only
long enough to cite one thing which
shows how the war spirit warps
the moral view of mankind, to say
nothing of the loss of life and pro
perty and the enormous cost of
carrying it on.
You probably read in the papers
within the past six months that,
in England, there were twenty
thousand unmarried girls who were
about to become mothers. These
girls have become known as war
brides. According to the newspa
per accounts the England parlia
ment passed a special act that the
children of these unmarried motb
eers should be considered legitimate
when born and the government
made financial provision to take
care of these mothers and their
children.
Now, we sometimes hear about
a factory girl who, after a bitter
struggle to get along on an inade
quate wage, gives way to tempta
tion and sacrifices her virtue for
some of the comforts of life. I am
not willing to admit that this hap
pens as often as some people claim,
but when it does happen society
brands such a girl with disgrace.
Now, is there not something radi
cally rotten with a moral condition
that puts the stigma of disgrace
upon the poor working girl who
loses her virtue in the struggle for
existence, and then put the badge
of honor upon the girl who gives
up her virtue to a soldier I
believe that purity is he brightest
gem that can bedeck the brow of
of woman, but if we are going to
discriminate these two, I think it
should te in favor of the poor
working girl who loses her virtue
battling against the temptations of
life, rather than the girl who be
comes the willing victim of a sol
dier's lust.
Hundreds of millions of dollars
have been spent by the various na
tions in the prosecution of this,
war and hundreds of millions more
will perhaps be spent. In the end
all that these nations will have to
show for this enormous expendi
ture of money will be the unmarked
graves of thousands of their best
physical manhood thoi.sands cf
wives and mothers with crushed
and broken hearts, with nothing to
look forward to but a dreary and
hopeless future and thorsands of
children bereft of a father's care,
compelled to go to the workshops
in their tender years in order to
keep poverty from the door.
Just think what a great improve
ment could have been made if these
hundreds of millions of dollars had
been spent in an effort to improve
the social and industrial conditions
of these people. It would then
have been used to build up a strong
physical manhood instead of bring
ing destruction to the able-bodied
men of the respective nations and
instead of crushing and breaking
the hearts of the wives and mothers
it would have brought to them the
sunshine of happiness and instead
of a heavy burden of taxation mak
ing the beacon of gloom and misery
they would have before them a fu
ture radiant with hope and with
the promise of a brighter, better
and hapDier day.
Delegate Farrel moved that a
rising vote of thanks be tendered
Brother Duffy for the excellent ad
dress made to those present. Sec
onded and carried.
Ulass Razor otrop.
"The best razor strop 1 ever had was
a piece of glass," said the boss barber,
as he sharpened the razor with a pull
in it. "An old barber gave it to me.
and I tell you it worked fine. Un
fortunately I let it fall and broke it,
and I have never been able to get one
like it There's some kink in the
grinding which I can't seem to figure
out. In these days a good razor strop
is a mighty hard thing to find, and I
would give a good deal if I could only
get that piece of ground glass back
again. It sure did put a cutting edge
on the razor."—Pittsburgh Dispatch.
No, He Had No Opinion.
"Before we take you on the jury, Mr.
Smith, we must ask whether you have
formed any opinion of the prisoner's
guilt or innocence."
"No," said Smith grimly. "No, I ain't
formed no opinion."
"And, Mr. Smith, have you or have
you not any conscientious objections to
capital punishment?"
"No," said Smith, more grimly still,
"not In this case."—London Opinion.
ji„„
Let...
$001 &
WORKERS UNION
UNION STAMP
Square is the name. Square is our aim
All Suits and Pants made to your
individual order in a
Union Shop
The SquareTaiJors
106 HIGH STREET
Hot brock Bros.
Reliable Dealers in
Dry Goods, Carpets, Cloaks, Queensware
Millinery. House Furnishings
Voss-Holbrock Stamps with
all Casb Purchases.
Meet him at
Gor. Front and High Sts.
Merchants' Dinner Lunch
Served every Day
Lunch Counter Connected
Figure with you, if you are
going to build, remodel or
repair anything. Estimates
cheerfully given
1026 Dayton St. nov. mf Home Phone 302-A
Earned shoes are frequently made
in Non-Union factories
Do Not
This UNION ST AMP
any excuse for Absence ot the I'M
ON STA Y
BUY
Boot and Shoe Workers' Union
246 Summer Street. Boston, Mas*
JOHN F. TOBIN, Pres. CHAS. I.. BAINE, Sec.-Trws.
Just Bear In Mind
The Ohio Union Bottled Beer
When you want a good Beer, all who have drank
it are delighted. Nothing but Hop* and Malt of
Quality are used in making «ur
Zunt-Heit, Special Brew and Tannhauser
Sold by all Leading Cafes in Hamilton
Ohio Union Brewing: Co.
Oncirtnatf, Ohio
•-5«
Jan-15-tf
I
Any Shoe
No matter what lis name, unless it
bears a plain and readable
impression of
tie S
Nric-rtijon, Po not
e*cept
MOSNEY?
We make Loans on Live Stock, Imple
ments or other chattle property.
Long time. Low rates. Call, phone
or write.
The Hamilton Collateral Loan Co.
208 8. Third St. Both Phones 28
oct,14Uf
IbkS:i
s
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&Stb kJki }'2atihL.i*JiI
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