FORCESJJF LABOR.
Need of Organization Along
Trades Union Lines.
MENACED BY MANY FOES.
Co-operative Effort Alone Can Repel
the Encroachments of Privileged
Power Every Union Man Must Be
come an Organizer.
There never was a time, perhaps, in
the whole history of labor in this coun
try when there was such an oppor
tunity for organization as there is now;
neither was there ever a time when
the necessity was greater. Many
things have entered into combination
to bring about this condition, things
and elements that never had to be
considered before in the labor struggle.
Mighty forces created by great com
binations of capital and of effort have
made the more thorough and complete
organization of the workers a primal
necessity, which, if ignored and left
undone, will be more than disas
trous to' the cause of labor. Combina
tion and co-operate effort are the only
things that will not only bring us great
er measure of relief, increased liberty
and improvement of condition, but
they are absolutely necessary to
enable us to hold what we have al
ready gained and prevent their sacri
fice. Many hands are uplifted against the
organization of labor, particularly the
hands of those who recognize in it the
only formidable champion of the lowly
against the encroachments of priv
ileged power and monopoly. The priv
ileged few 'and the parasitical many
are opposed to labor's advancement,
and because of this they would not
only retard and check any forward
movement on the part of labor, but
would make it criminal for all who toil
and sweat to organize for mutual pro
tection and Improvement.
To circumvent the desires of all such
and to prevent them from putting
what they desire Into practice it Is
necessary that labor should organize
along trade union lines, and there
never was a time like the present to
do it nor a time, as already stated,
when the necessity was greater.
In order that the forces of labor
should advance and have a fair prom
ise of success In return for their ef
forts it Is first necessary to enlist the
great majority of workers into the
grand army5 of organized labor. After
that comes their education, but first of
all must come the enlistment. Every
effort must be made to bring as many
as possible; Into line, for the real
strength of any movement, particular
ly of an economic nature, lies in the
number of those who have identified
themselves with it In Its advancement
and growth. No stone should be left
unturned, nothing left undone, that
would be conducive to success or aid
in the work of organization; no task
should be considered too great that
has for its end the enrollment of a
greater membership in the ranks of
labor, for it Is only by sacrifice and
effort in this direction that the plan
can be perfected that will protect the
worker and make his position secure.
The most successful plan of organ
ization, the plan that has given the
best results and brought the greatest
returns, the best one of all, Is the one
which can be carried on by every in
dividual trade unionist every day of
his life. The grand rally" and public
meeting with social accompaniments
at times makes a wonderful showing
and brings Intermittent results and is
sometimes fairly successful, exhibiting
permanence in membership, as well as
an increase in numbers, but its success
is not to be compared with the success
that attends the efforts of the indi
vidual working' quietly as an organizer.
It is the trade unionist imbued wit.U.
the true spirit of unionism, working
steadily and quietly for the good he
can do, mocked, jeered and misunder
stood and ofttimes discriminated
against and maligned, but who strug
gles manfully along the path he has
selected, that shows the biggest gains
in the end. There is not a man
throughout our organization who has
not the opportunity in a greater or
lesser degree of adding to our member
ship by this means if he but make
the effort. It will not be necessary
at all times to make any degree of
sacrifice to gain a new member, and
no one need be fearful of consequences
should he make the effort. A word
in advocacy of unionism whenever the
opportunity occurs and a fair state
ment of what it Involves and the good
that will come to all who toil when
they are thoroughly organized will do
more good and more thorough work
for organization than bluster, bludg
eons or brass bands. It is the quiet
worker in the shop who quietly in
forms his nouunionist fellow workman
about the benefits that will come
through organization and who points
out that it Is a duty we owe to each
other to be mutually helpful that
builds up the trade union and has
placed it In the position that it now
occupies. It is the same quiet man.
steadily and conscientiously at work,
never tiring and never ceasing, who
will eventually place the trade union
movement on the high plane it is des
tined to occupy and for which it was
originally conceived. The time is ripe,
the harvest is rea.ly. Take your place
among the workers and help with all
the zeal in your power toward the high
ideal that can only be re-actied through
organization. Machinists' Journal.
Trade Union Notes.
Newfoundland's government has de
cided lo establish immediately an old
age pension system.
Mayor Lathrop of Springfield, Mass.,
recommends municipal ownership of
gas and electric lighting companies.
The Minnesota Union Advocate has
entered on its fifteenth year of con
tinuous activity in the cause of organ
ized labo".
The newspaper proprietors of, San
Diego, Cal., voluntarily raised the
wages of compositors $3 a week above
the union scale.
Owing to the opposition of the sugar
barons, the Austrian upper house has
rejected the bill prohibiting night wua-k
by women in factories.
William F. Houk, a member of the
Minneapolis '.typographical union, will
be labor commissioner of Minnesota
for the next two years.
The paper on which the Typograph
ical Journal is printed bears in the
watermark a facsimile of the label of
the International Brotherhood of Fa
permakers. That the Chicago. Burlington and
Quincy railroad must arrange for a
probable total wage increase of $2,700,
000 during the present fiscal year is
the statement made in a brief filed be
fore the interstate commerce commis
sion by Chester M. Dawetr, attorney
for the company.
Foolish Loiterers.
People who sit and wait for great
moments miss many wonderful small
i moments, and they are to be pitied.
A Double-Barrelled Story.
A negro banking company was organized in a southern
city a year or two ago, Shortly after it began business an
aged African deposited $9.74. Six months later he went in
to get his money.
"You all ain't got no money in dis bank," said the
cashier.
"But Ah done put in $9.74 six months ago," replied
the depositor.
" ' Cou ' se Ah remembers dat, nigger, "said the cashier,
"but de intrust done e't dat up long ergo."
That's the only bank of its kind we ever heard of, but
it gives us an opportunity to remark "dat de intrust eats
you-all up" if you have to pay it; it sets you up in business
if you have it paid to you. Catch the point. We pay you
FOUR PER CENT INTEREST on your deposits, and this
interest works twenty-four hours a day in your behalf. A
dollor or two deposited now and then, as frequently as poss
ible, soon gives you the opportunity of promenading on
Easy Street. Come in and let us explain to you the success
ful operation for upwards of ten years of our business.
AMERICAN SAVINGS BANK
132 NORTH 11TH ST.
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Wageworkers ask your
Fraternal Insurance Order WHY
they don't make a valuation each
year and prove to you they are
safe? THE MUTUAL PROTECT
IVE LEAGUE -makes annual valu
ation and shows it CAN pay all future obligation 100
per cent on the dollar. Demand this of your Lodge.
How do you know they won't bust to-morrow?
W Demand the Label.
C. E. Campbell, state manager.
Auto 6180 134 So. 18th ST.
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