Every  man  has  the  same  right  to  live
and  work  that  he  has  to  think  and
breathe.  These  are  natural  rights.  They
come  from  God.  They  are  indisputable,
inalienable,    supreme !     Provide    the   wage-


REMEDY.  27

worker  with  steady  employment ;  reduce
his  hours  of  labor  to  eight  hours  per  day ;
pay  him  a  fair  and  just  compensation  for
his  services,  and  all  the  contentions  be-
tween capital  and  labor  will  vanish  like
snow  before  an  April's  sun.  And  all  these
things  can  be  given  to  labor  by  appropri-
ate legislation.  These  three  things  are
all  that  the  wage-workers  want.  They
are  all  that  the  wage-workers  can  ever
expect  to  obtain.  To  ask  for  anything
more  would  be  unreasonable.  And  where
is  the  man  who  would  not  give  these
things  to  the  wage-workers^  if  he  possess-
ed the  power  ?  If  these  three  things  will
satisfy    the    wage-workers,    restore     peace


28  THE  WAGE-WORKERS

and  amity,  and  pnt  an  end  to  all  further
antagonism  between  capital  and  labor,
why  not  grant  them  ?  Would  it  be  any-
thing more  than  fair  and  just  to  do  so?
And  is  it  not  clear  that  if  these  things
were  conceded  to  the  wage-workers,  that
the  wage-workers  would  then  have  no
grounds  for  complaint ;  that  all  labor
troubles  would  cease,  and  that  peace  and
prosperity  would  inevitably  prevail  ?

The  wage  -  workers  who  have  steady
work,  reasonable  hours,  and  good  wages,
are  not  complaining.  It  is  the  idle.
Those  who  cannot  find  work ;  those  who
are  reduced  to  poverty  for  the  want  of
work ;    those  who    are  worked   long   hours


REMEDY.  29

on  wages  that  are  barely  sufficient  to
enable  them  to  live,  and  those  who  are
not  paid  in  proportion  to  the  value  of  the
services  rendered.
