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sense of exclusive individual nursery-m aid and nursery-governess she m ay not be and be anyth in g else.

Questions
1. Why does Gilm an foresee a radical change in the economic position of women? 2. What changes in fam ily life does she envision as a result of the grow ing economic independence of women?

114. John A. Ryan, A Living Wage (1912)

Source: John A. Ryan, A Living Wage: Its Ethical and Econom ic Aspects (New York, 19 12 ), pp. 6 7-7}, 29 7 -30 1.

During the Progressive era, the ideas of industrial freedom and indus trial democracy, which had entered the political vpcabulary during the Gilded Age, moved to the center of political discussion. They had many meanings, including im proving the general standard of livin g and work ing conditions, and empowering workers to participate in economic decision m aking via strong unions. In any form, these terms challenged traditional definitions of freedom, as well as the idea of the inviolability of private property. The government, Progressives believed, had the right to expand liberty by regulating economic activity in the public interest. One of the eras foremost advocates of social justice was John A. Ryan, a Roman Catholic priest and professor at Catholic University in W ashing ton, D.C. In 1891, Pope Leo XIII had called on Catholics to engage in social activism on behalf of industrial workers. Ryan became the leading propo nent of the idea that all persons had a natural right not sim ply to subsis tence but to a living wage, which would enable them to share in the fruits of modern technology. His book on the subject helped to popularize the idea, and influenced legislation of the Progressive era and New Deal establishing m inim um wage levels. Ryan would become so close to Presi-

The P r o g r e s s i v e Era , 1 9 0 0 - 1 9 1 6 dent Franklin D. Roosevelt during the 1930s that he was known as the Right Reverend New Dealer.

T he

r ig h t

to

a L ivin g W age is derived from the right to live from

the b o un ty of the earth. The latter right acknowledged by m ost nations and insisted upon by C hristian ity. It is evident from a view of m an s nature and h is relation to the earth. It is superior to and lim its the right o f private ow nership. M eaning a decent livelihood. Its rational basis is the sacredness of personality. M en have not nat ural rights to equal am ounts o f goods; for they are unequal both in in d ivid u al needs and productive powers. Nor rights to equal satis faction o f the totality o f th eir needs___ A m an s n atural rights are as m any and as extensive as are the lib erties, opportunities and possessions that are required for the rea sonable m aintenance and developm ent of his personality. They m ay all be reduced to the right to a reasonable am ount of external liberty of action. Som e o f them , for instance the right to live and the right to m arry, are origin al and prim ary, in h erin g in all persons of w hatever condition; others are derived and secondary, occasioned and deter m ined by the particu lar circum stances of particu lar persons. To the latter class belongs the right to a Living Wage. It is not an original and u n iversal right; for the receiving of w ages supposes that form of in d u stria l o rgan izatio n k n o w n as the w age system , w h ich has not alw ay s existed and is not essen tial to h um an w elfare. Even today there are m illio n s o f m en w ho get th eir liv in g oth erw ise th an by wages, and who, therefore, have no juridical title to wages o f any kind or am ount. The righ t to a L iv in g W age is evid en tly a derived right w hich is m easured and determ ined by existing social and industrial in stitu tio n s___ ; Private property is m orally legitim ate because it is the method that best enables m an to realize his natural right to use the gifts of m aterial nature for the developm ent o f his personality. It is, there' fore, m erely a m eans, and its scope is determ ined and lim ited by the

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Voi ces o f F r e e d o m

end w h ich it promotes, and w hich is its sole justification. The private right of any and every individual m ust be interpreted consistently w ith the com m on rights of a l l ... . Hence a m ans right to a superflu ous lo af w hich is his by a title of private ow nership does not absolve h im from the crim e of injustice when he w ithholds it from his starv ing fellow m an ___ So m uch for the right to subsistence, to a bare livelihood. By a decent livelihood is meant that am ount of the necessities and com forts of life that is in keeping w ith the dignity of a hum an being. It has no precise relation to the conventional standard of livin g that m ay pre vail w ith in any social or industrial class, but describes rather that m inim u m of conditions w hich the average person of a given age or sex must enjoy in order to live as a hum an being should l iv e .. . in a reasonable degree of com fort_ _ He must have food, clothing and shelter. He m ust have opportunity to develop w ith in reasonable lim its all his faculties, physical, intellectual, moral, and sp iritu al_ _ The obligation of providing the laborer w ith a L ivin g W a g e .. . rests upon the State___Negatively, liberty is the absence of restraint; positively, it is the power to act and to en joy.. . . The absence of State intervention m eans the presence of insuperable obstacles to real and effective lib e rty ... . [Such legislation] w ould secure a w ider m easure of freedom in larger econom ic o p p o rtu n ity . . . The State has both the right and the duty to compel all em ployers to pay a Living Wage.

Questions
1. How does Ryan justify the idea that people have a right to a Living Wage? 2. W hy does he see governmental action to promote a Living Wage as an expansion of liberty rather than a threat to it?

The P r o g r e s s i v e E r a , 1 9 0 0 - 1 9 1 6

83

115. The Industrial Workers of the World and the Free Speech Fights (1909)
Source: Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, The Free-Speech Fight at Spokane, International Socialist Review, Vol. 16 (December 1909), pp. 483-89.

The most prominent union of the Progressive Era, the American Federa tion of Labor, m ainly represented the most privileged American workers skilled industrial and craft laborers, nearly all of them white, male, and native born. In 1905, a group of unionists who rejected the AFLs exclusionary policies formed the Industrial Workers of the World (I WW), which sought to mobilize the im m igrant factory labor force, m igrant tim ber and agricultural workers, women, blacks, even the despised Chinese. But what really attracted attention to the IW W was its battle for free dom of speech. Lacking union halls, its organizers relied on songs, street theater, impromptu organizing meetings, and street corner gatherings to spread their message and attract support. In response to IW W activities, officials in Los Angeles, Spokane, Denver, and more than a dozen other cit ies lim ited or prohibited outdoor meetings. To arouse popular support, the IW W filled the jails w ith members who defied local law by speaking in public. In nearly all the free-speech fights, the IW W eventually forced local officials to give way. W hether they agree or disagree with its meth ods or aim s, wrote one journalist, all lovers of liberty everywhere owe a debt to this organization fo r ... [keeping] alight the fires of freedom.

T he w o r k in g

c l a ss

of Spokane are engaged in a terrific conflict,

one of the m ost vital of the local class struggles. It is a fight for more than free speech. It is to prevent the free press and labors right to organize from being throttled. The w riters of the associated press new spapers have lied about us system atically and unscrupulously. It is on ly through the m edium of the Socialist and labor press that we can hope to reach the ear of the public. The struggle w as precipitated by the I.W.W. and it is still doing the active fighting, namely, going to jail. But the principles for w hich we