HOPE OF THE WORLD.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 14711, 17 September 1918, Page 9

HOPE OF THE WORLD.

TASK OF LABOR

PRESIDENT WILSON'S MESSAGE. NEW YORK, Sept. 4. Following is the Labor Day message bj' President Wilson: — My FeJlow-citizens : — Labor Day, 1918, is not like any Labor Day that we have known. Labor Day was always - deeply significant, with ns. Now it is supremely significant. Keenly as we were aware a year ago of the enterprise of life and death upon which tha nation had embarked, we did not perceive its meaning as clearly as we do now. We knew that wo were all partners, aud must stand and strive together, but wo did not realise as we do now that we are all enlisted men, members of. a single army, of many parts and many tasks, but "commanded by a single obligation, our faces set towards a single objective. We now know that every tool m every essential industry is a weapon, and a weapon wielded " for the same purpose tliat an army rifle is wielded, a weapon which, if we were to lay down, no rifle would be of any use. WHAT WE FIGHT FOR, And a weapon for what? What is the war for? Why are we enlisted? Why should wo be ashamed if w« were not enlisted? At first it seemed hardly more than a defence against the military aggression of Germany. Belgium had* been violated. France invaded, and Germany was afield again- as m 1870 aiid 1866, to work out her ambitions m Europe, and it was necessary to meet her force with force.. But it is clear now (that it is much more than a war to alter the balance of power m Enrone. Germany, it is now plain, was striking at what* free' men everywhere desire, and must have the right to determine — -their own fortunes, to insist upon justice and to oblio-e Governmenits to act for them and not for the private and selfish interest of the governing class. WHY LABOR. MUST SUPPORT. It is a war to make the nations and peoples of the world secure against 1 every such power as German autocracy represents. It is a war of emancipation. Not until it is won can men everywhere ! live free from constant fear or breathe freely while they go about their daily tasks and know that Governments are ■ their servants, not th-u'r masters. This is, therefore, the war of wars which Labor should support, and support with all its concentrated power. Tlie world cannot be safe, men's lives cannot be secure, no man's rights can be confidently and successfully asserted against the rule nad mastery of arbitrary groups find special interests so Ions: as Governments like that which, after long pre-, meditation, drew Austria and Germany into this war, are permitted, to control ' the destinies and daily fortunes- of men ■ and nations plotting 'while honest men work, laying the fire of which innocent 1 men, women and children are tp'be the' ' fuel. ' 7 .

You know the nature of this war/ It is a- war which industry, must sustain/ The army of laborers at". home is as important and as essential as the, army of fighting men m tho far fields" ot actual battle. And the laborer is not only needed as much , as the soldier m. this war. The soldier is his champion, and representative. To fail to win woujel imperil everything that the laborer has striven for and held dear since freedom first had its dawn and his struggle for justice began. MpDER_J CRUSADERS. Tlie soldiers at the front know this,

It steels their muscles to think of it. They are crusaders. They are fighting fen* no selfish advantage for their own nation. They would despise anyone who would fight for the selfish advantage of any nation. They are giving their lives that homes everywhere, as .well as the homes they lovet m America, may be kept sacred and safe, and men everywhere be free, as they insist upon being free. They are fighting for the ideais of their own land, great ideals which I shall light the .way : for #11 men to the I places where justice is done and men Jive I with lifted heads : and emancipated [spirits. That is tihe reason they fiorht j with solemn joy and are invincible.. Let us make this, therefore, a day of fresh comprehension, not only of what we are about and of renewed and cleareyed resolution, but a day of consecration also, m wliich .we devote ourselves without pause or limit to the great task of setting our own country and the whole wprlel free to render iustieo to all and of making it impossible for small groups of pr>litical rulers anywhere to disturb our peace or the peace of tho world, or m any way, -to make tools and puppets of those upon whoso consent and upon whoso power their otvii authority and their own very existence depend. ONE AND INDIVISIBLE. We may count upon each other. The nation is of a single mind. It is taking counsel with no special class. It is serving no private or single interest. Its own mind has beejn cleared and fortified by these days which burn the dross away/ The light of a new conviction has penetrated to every class amongst us. We realise as wo never realised before that we are comrades dependent on one another, irresistible when united, powerless when divided. And so we join hands to lead the world to a new and better day.