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16
The Commoner.
VOLUME 12, NUMBER 3g
Bull Moose Perkins and Labor
In tho courso of his speech in Boa
ton, August 17, Thoodoro Roosevelt
waa interrupted by tho question:
"What about Perkins?" And this is
what Roosevelt said in reply:
' 'Tho primo reason why I am
. with you ho (Perkins) told mo,
. 'Js bocauso I have children. I have
, como to tho conclusion that this
country won't bo a good place for
. my children unless wo have substan
tial, justice; unless tho relations be
tween capital ana moor are on a
bettor basis. I wish to support any
movement which will bring that
about' "
This statement is interesting in
view of a certain investigation that
is now being conducted by tho Now
York stato factory investigating com
mittee. The hearing at Auburn, N.
Y., occurred at the plant of the Os
borne Twine company, a branch of
the International Harvester comnanv.
Tho testimony showed that George
W. Perkins is a director of this com
pany (the harvester triiBt) and that
A. Cyrus McCormick is president,
while a great part of tho FcCormick
fortune is invested in tho company.
As Medill McCormick is one of the
principal owners of tho Chicago Tri
bune, which is supporting Roosevelt,
tho whole circle of interests is com
plete. But Mr. Perkins is tho man
who "has children" and is so solici
tous for "substantial justice" be
tween capital and labor. Perkins is
a director in the company owning the
factory where tho following testi
mony was taken:
Mary Previ, employe, testified as
follows: v
By Mr. Blkins How long have
you been in this country? A. Four
years in December.
Q. Don't you speak English. A.
Little bit.
Q. How long have you worked
hero? A. Three years this Decem
ber. Q. How old are you? A. I am 19.
Q. Worked here three years last
December? A. Yes.
Q. What room do you work in?
A. Vhe preparation room.
Q. What time do you come in the
morning? A. Half past six.
Q. You get here about half past
six? A. Yes.
Q. What time do you stop at
night? A. Six o'clock.
Q. What. time do you come Satur
days, same time? A. Yes.
Q. What time do you stop on
Saturdays? A. Five o'clock.
Q. How long do you have for din
ner in the day time? A; Fifeen
minutes.
Q. Fifty minutes? A. Fifteen
minutes.
Q. Fifteen minutes? A. Yea.
Q. Well, do you work by the
piece or by the week. How do you
get paid, by the piece or by the week?
A. Seven or eight a week.
Q. How is it, by the niece or bv
tho week? A. Piece voik, because
one week I make less and one week
more.
Q. How is it arranged? A. I
don't know.
Q. Some weeks you get seven,
and some weeks eight? A. Yes.
Q. Have you done this work since;
you have been here for the three
years or more? A. No.
Q. What else did you do? A.
Only in the preparation room.
Q. What did you do in this prepa
ration room? What kind of work
did you do? A. Feed the machines.
Q. Did you stand up or sit down?
A. Stand up,
Q. Are there any seats? A. No.
Q. You can stand all day from
the time you come until lunch time?
A. Yes.
Q. Then you start right in after
lunch. A. Yes.
Q. Do you eat your lunch In the
lunch room or do you take it just
where you are? A. Go home to
lunch.
Q. How can you go home and
back in fifteen minutes? A. I live
only, five minutes I am homo.
Q. How long does it tako you to
eat? A. Five minutes.
Q. And fivo minutes to come
back? A. Yes.
Q How much do you eet ner hour
or for each piece of work you do?
A. I don't know. No ono ever told
mo how I am paid; all I know is I
get my envelope, sometimes it is
more, and sometimes less.
Q. Do you ever work at night
time? A. No.
Q. Have you ever been sick in
threo years? A. Yes.
Q. Had to stay homo? A. Yes.
Q. What was the matter with
you? A. I was. sick.
Q. From tho work? A. My
stomach head disease and stomach
troubles.
Q. Do your feet ever hurt you at
night? A. Very much.
Q. Every night? A. Yes; every
night.
Q. Do they swell up? A. No;
Q. Do you have to go to bed when
you get home, right after supper?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Would you like to sit down if
you could when you work? A. Oh,
sure.
Q. Do any of the other girls sit
down that work in the preparation
room, or do they all stand up? A.
Yes; all stand up.
Q. How many work there, do you
know? A. I don't know. .
Q. Is tho floor slippery? A. Yes;
very slippery.
Q. Do you wear shoes in there all
the time, or do you wear shippers?
A. Shoes. v
Q. Is the light good in the room?
A. It is dark, but there is olectric
light.
Q. How about the dust; is there
dust in there from the twine? A.
Sure, awful; it hurts.
Q. Gets in your throat? A. Yes.
By Senator Wagner Since you
started to work here, have you al
ways earned about the same amount
of money each week? A. Yes.
Q. About six or seven or eight
dollars a week from the' time you
started three years ago? A. Yes.
Josephine Cristenoli, an employe,
testineu as ioiiows:
, By Mr. Elkins Were you born in
Italy? A. Yes.
Q.. How long have you been here?
A. Around seven years.
Q. How old are you? A. Six
teen. Q. How old were you when yon
came to this country? A. I was
around 7 years old.
Q. Didn't you go to school at all?
A. Yes, I Went tO School nmnnil
threeoars.
Q. What did you do after that,
work? A. Wqrk.
Q. At what time did you come
here in tho morning? What time did
you come? A. Seven o'clock.
Q. What time did you leave at
night? A. Six.
Q. How long do you have for
your lunch? A. Half an hour.
Q. How much do you make a
week? A. Make around $7.
Q. Seven dollars a week? A
Yes.
Q. What do you do? What kind
or worK oo you do? A. Spinning.
Q. You put the twine in the m
cuines? A. Yes.
Q. And pull it out? A. Yes.
Q. Do you have to push those big
barrels of stuff? Do you push those
alone? A, Yes.
Q. How much do theywelgh; do
ma-
yon know? A. I know how much
my balance weighs.
Q. How much? A, Sometimes
threo hundred and two or threo hun
dred and five.
Q. Pounds? A. Yes.
Lucy Charles, an employe of the
Asborne Twine Works, being duiy
sworn, testified as follows:
By Mr. Elkins How old are you?
A. I was 17 the 18 th of April.
Q. How long hSve you been
working here? A. The 26th of April
was one year.
Q. What room do you work in?
A. The gplnning room.
Q. Do you stand up or sit down?
A. Stand up.
Q. You are tired out pretty much
every night? A. Yes.
Q. Do you ever have headaches?
A. Yes, lots of times.
Q. Is there noise in your room,
great deal of , noise? A. Yes, the ter
rible noise dbwn here.
Q. How much is tho least you
made? A. The least I get, I had to
work all week and work as hard
terrible hard, and I got $7.14.
Q. What do you mean by work
ing terrible hard? A. To make a
little more money.
Q. Work your very best, just as
fast as you could? A. Yes.
Senator Wagner And never sat
down, I suppose?
The witness No; nobody sit
down. They keep them always go
ing, always going.
Q. vYpurfingers Hurt in the ma
chinery? A. A lot of times I get
hurt myself.
Q. You did? A. Yes.
Q. Where, on your fingers? A.
Most of the time I had to go up to
No. 1. I had a sore hand right down
to here (indicating) and they had to
fix it up some.
r Q. What did they do; sew it up
for you? A. No;, they put some
thing on. And last week I cut my
finger right down . hero, here and
here, and that it was in my bone here
and it was raw for two days, and I
commenced work again.
Q. Did they nav vou -wMlo vrm
.were away? A. I couldn't work.
Q. What did they use that knife
for (indicating knife)? A. They
use this knife to cut the . strings
around on the machine and take the
bobbins put. You qan't work with
out a kntfe; you have to keep the
knife.
Q. Do they, supply you with a
knife, or is that your knife? A. We
have to pay for if. ...
Q. How much? A. Ten cents.
Q. How long does tl e knife last?
A. Lasts as long as .they won't
steal one.
These are only a few of the ques
tions and answers of the hearing
which concerned more than 300 wo
men and girts. They worked ten
hours or more a day amid distressing
conditions. They were required to
stand on their feet for ten hours
They had only fifteen mluutes for
12 ' The dust madQ tbem flIck and
their feet were diseased. They were
docked half a day when a few
minutes late an4 they were required
to drag bundles of material weighing
HO pounds to their machines. In
fact, the workincr nnmiiMnnn
wretched and many women and Hrls
were hurt by the machinery and
were broken in health by the unusual
strain of their employment. Mr
Perkins who "has children" and is
anxious to "join any movement" that
will bring "substantial justice" to
the working people is one of the
directors of this concern. Mr. Mc
Cormick is president. All the orders
come from Chicago. Both Mr. Per
kins and Mr. McCormick are vigor
ous bull moose adherents in the
cause of "social justice" and tho
"rights of labor." They Mr
"pleased" at the platform ofn,a2
moose party which rionio;i i.
shorter working days and better con
ditions of employment. But in their
zeal for the working peonle fu
overlook the fact that tSandaf
their own employes in the Interna
tional Harvester company mills w
little better than slaves, ground
down to the most meager wages and
required to work day and night for
ten-hour stretches save for the flf
teen-minutes lunch time. This is in
deed a fine commentary upon tho
?mu8;rad h0,ly poso oC perkins and
the McCprmicks. Dubuque (Iowal
Telegraph-Herald. l wa'
STANDARD OIL CONTRIBUTIONS
The Republic owns its inability to
get excited over this Penrose-Roose-velt-Standard
Oil affair.
Who doesn't know that the Stand
ard Oil company owns everything in
Pennsylvania republican politics ex
cept that which is the personal prop
erty of the Pennsylvania railroad?
Who doesn't know that Roosevelt, aa
a candidate, was the immediate and
personal beneficiary of the fat-frying
methods perfected by that prince
of political chefs, Marcus Alonzo
Hanna? What man has so short a
memory as to have forgotten Mr.
Roosevelt's close friendship with
Matthew Stanley Quay, over whoso
political footwear Boies Penrose of
Philadelphia and . William Flinn of
Pittsburgh have quarreled acrimoni
ously since Mr. Roosevelt so touch
ingly paid tribute to the dead boss'
memory?
Did the Standard Oil company help
elect' Roosevelt? Of course it did. So
did Cain kill Abel, and it was a great
wrong and a lamentable tragedy
but why grow excited about it now?
It is not necessary to go back into
the holy gloom of a year when great
tribunes of the people like Cornelius
N. Bliss were still alive and saints
like Quay and Hanna were just enter
ing into rest in order to prove Roose
velt's close and intimate connection
with the powers that prey in Ameri
can finance and politics.
A director in the United States
Steel corporation, whoso organizers
have taken tens of millions of dollars
from the investing public for "under
writing" alone, is a member of tho
executive committee of the "progres
sive" party. This man George W.
Perkins is also chairman of the fi
nance committee of the International
harvester company of America.
Another member of the "progres
sive" executive committee, William
Flinn, was openly exulting recently,
that "he was wise enough to know
how Penrose could be controlled
without the necessity of buying him"
by "requesting the Standard Oil chief
to give orders to his man Penrose in
my behalf." Yes, Flinn, too, is "pro
gressive," and hand in glove with tho
man who would not sit down to eat
with William Lorimer because Lori
mer was tainted with the imputation
of corrupt use of money in politics!
These things are of today. The
progressive platform, too, with Its
laudation of the protective tariff, is of
today. So is Roosevelt's declaration
that he is in favor, not of less "prize
money" under the tariff, but more, so
long as it is "more equitably di
vided." So long as these shameless alli
ances of Theodore Roosevelt with
predatory wealth and with machine
politicians reared in the Archbold-Quay-Penroso
school are facts of the
present hour, so long as this unblush
ing indorsement of a principle in poli
tics which the American navy has
abandoned in warfare on the high
seas is of the present hour, we feel
but a mild interest in the historic
doubts of Mr. Roosevelt as to events
of 1904 and the fierce protestations
of Messrs. Penrose and Flinn. The
American people, on November 5, wlu
register its verdict upon Theodore
Roosevelt and his political affiliations
in 1912, and in the light of that judg
ment the stubs of Standard Oil check
books of the vintage of 1904 will be
of mighty little interest to anybody.
St. Louis Republic.
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