We must hearten and quicken the spirit and efficiency of labor
throughout our whole industrial system by everywhere and in all
occupations doing justice to the laborer, not only by paying a living
wage but also by making all the conditions that surround labor what they
ought to be. And we must do more than justice. We must safeguard life
and promote health and safety in every occupation in which they are
threatened or imperilled. That is more than justice, and better, because
it is humanity and economy.
We must cooerdinate the railway systems of the country for national use,
and must facilitate and promote their development with a view to that
cooerdination and to their better adaptation as a whole to the life and
trade and defense of the nation. The life and industry of the country
can be free and unhampered only if these arteries are open, efficient,
and complete.
Thus shall we stand ready to meet the future as circumstance and
international policy effect their unfolding, whether the changes come
slowly or come fast and without preface.
I have not spoken explicitly, Gentlemen, of the platform adopted at St.
Pages:
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301