Here then we have our first lesson: _the duty of the worker to organize_. As Portenar says in his “Problems of Organized Labor” (p. 4), “the trade union came into being because it was needed; because the helpless individual found in concerted action with other individuals his best, if not his only, means of resistance to the arbitrary exercise of power, to injustice, to cruelty. It was a hard fight. Wealth, and the merciless power of wealth; the state law, forbidding workmen to co-operate for the purpose of increasing wages and fixing maxima, with its interpreters zealous for its rigorous enforcement; legislative bodies deaf to the cries of those who were denied the privilege of a voice in the selection of their members; and the broken-spirited timidity of those in whose behalf the union was created; these were the forces to be contended with and overcome.” But the trade union was born, and the trade union has won many a victory. But for this weapon of defense--and sometimes of offense--the condition of the worker would not have been what it is to-day. Through its efforts legislation has been secured. Through its efforts public opinion has been shaped, and it is to its efforts that we must look primarily for future betterment of labor’s condition. The first step, therefore, is one of organization; and, this step once taken, our subsequent progress follows logically. As the strength of the organized workers increases, more demands can be made, and with a much better prospect that they will be recognized. Legislatures, like parliaments, are no longer deaf and blind to the requirements of the workers. We have seen the circumstances under which the laborer existed in the past. We know from personal experience the hardships suffered by those who live under the lessened burden of to-day. “Looking broadly to labor legislation as it has occurred in this country,” said Carroll D. Wright, “it may be well to sum up its general features. Such legislation has fixed the hours of labor for women and certain minors in manufacturing establishments; it has adjusted the contracts of labor; it has protected employes by insisting that all dangerous machinery shall be guarded ... it has created boards of factory inspectors whose powers and duties have added much to the health and safety of the operatives; it has in many instances provided for weekly payments ... it has regulated the employment of prisoners; protected the employment of children; ... provided for the ventilation of factories and workshops; established industrial schools; ... modified the common-law rules relative to the liability of employers for injuries of their employes; fixed the compensation of railroad corporations for negligently causing the death of employes, and has provided for their protection against accident and death.”