GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, _April 22, 1886_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
The Constitution imposes upon the President the duty of recommending to
the consideration of Congress from time to time such measures as he
shall judge necessary and expedient.
I am so deeply impressed with the importance of immediately and
thoughtfully meeting the problem which recent events and a present
condition have thrust upon us, involving the settlement of disputes
arising between our laboring men and their employers, that I am
constrained to recommend to Congress legislation upon this serious and
pressing subject.
Under our form of government the value of labor as an element of
national prosperity should be distinctly recognized, and the welfare
of the laboring man should be regarded as especially entitled to
legislative care. In a country which offers to all its citizens the
highest attainment of social and political distinction its workingmen
can not justly or safely be considered as irrevocably consigned to the
limits of a class and entitled to no attention and allowed no protest
against neglect.
The laboring man, bearing in his hand an indispensable contribution to
our growth and progress, may well insist, with manly courage and as a
right, upon the same recognition from those who make our laws as is
accorded to any other citizen having a valuable interest in charge; and
his reasonable demands should be met in such a spirit of appreciation
and fairness as to induce a contented and patriotic cooperation in the
achievement of a grand national destiny.
Pages:
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185