The Struggle for Dignity
An editorial on the right to rest and the evolving power of the working class as Labor Day approaches.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
On September 7th, the labor organizations of the city of Walla Walla will celebrate Labor Day. The world has hardly, as yet, got used to the fact that labor has a right to a holiday. The old-time idea that the high class should boss, or own, the lower class, still sticks in the minds of the non-working man. Slowly but surely, the man that does things by honest hard labor—that creates new and beautiful forms, and fabrics, and takes deserts and makes them into blossoming gardens; takes wildernesses and makes them homes for thousands; takes great expanses of virgin continents and makes them into republics and homes of modern civilization; takes the off-scourings of the old, king-oppressed countries and makes them worthy citizens of the United States; takes unorganized man and makes him know he has rights that all must respect—is educating the world. The whole world, rich and poor, capitalist and working man alike. Labor conquers all things. In these days when capital is denying the right of labor, when it is crushing thousands of workingmen, when arbitration committees are trying to adjust difficulties, when legislatures are endeavoring to pass laws to meet the demands of the laborer but are deterred because of capitalistic influence, it may be well to recall the fact that labor conquers all things.
“The old-time idea that the high class should boss, or own, the lower class, still sticks in the minds of the non-working man.”
Written in 1903, this editorial highlights the tension between organized labor and corporate capital. It reminds modern readers that the 'weekend' and the 'holiday' were not gifts, but hard-won concessions in a long-standing civic struggle.
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