Loup City Northwestern
J. W. BURLEIGH, Publisher.
LOUP CITY, - - NEBRASKA.
Cheer Bp! The Texas yield of ■wa
termelons will very soon be 3,000,000
a day.
Perhaps some day the marriage
ceremony will read: “Till death 01
divorce do you part.”
An automobile race in which no
lives are lost is almost too tame to
be designated as “sport.”
Two pests possibly might be abated
if the gypsy moth and the boll weevil
could be turned loose on each other.
Haiti continues to furnish substan
tial ground for the theory that it is
in for a spanking one of these fine
days.
Imprisonment having become a
tame story, our war correspondents
are now getting themselves shot as
spies—almost.
With 100,000 more men than wom
en in Canada, the necessity for reci
procity with the United States needs
no further argument.
It is not true that the college motto
is: Cast your honorary degrees upon
the waters, and legacies shall return
to you after many days.
Three hundred more people have
been hurt in toy pistol accidents. Sac
rifices on the altar of foolishness n«ver
cease for a lack of victims.
It is easy enough to understand how
such an office as that of Governor
General of Finland might have to do
considerable searching for the man.
Begin now to look in the New Eng
land papers for little items about un
fortunates more or less seriously in
jured by falling out of cherry trees.
The name of Betsy Ross, who made
the model of the United States flag,
is a good deal better known than the
names of thousands who have died
for it.
It might fce well also to teach every
body that nobody need drown who
keeps his arms under water and his
legs working as though he were going
upstairs.
Some scientist has discovered that
the burnng of incense will keep away 1
mosquitoes. Most men will, however,
Sling to the idea that tobacco smoke
is just as good.
If the long-expected event now immi
nent in the imperial family at St.
Petersburg gives the czar a son, he
will have good reason to believe his
luck has changed.
Venezuela has a new constitution.
Those South American “republics”
feel that they are falling behind the
fashion unless they get a new consti
tution every year.
The straw vote promises to be un
usually heavy this year. And the fool
that rocks the boat will be found
among those who vote early and as
often as the hat is passed.
It appears from Col. William F.
Cody’s autobiography, just published,
that tie killed an Indian at the tender
age of eleven, and thus laid the foun
dation for his future career.
Perhaps the cut-rate immigrants
who are turned back have no reason
to complain. Twice across the Atlan
tic for less than $10 is cheaper than
staying at home, and the trip is rest
ful.
Nearly every day it is reported that
a new bull movement is started in
Wall street. But the Wall street bull
has become a critter that merely
looks around and then walks back and
lies down.
Mrs. Frances Crane Lillie may be
right in the opinion she expresses
that girls should be put into boys'
clothing, but she is likely to have
discouraging experiences if she ever
tries to do it.
Again has come the season of the
year that reminds us of the old maid
who hired a boy to pick her cherries
for her and stipulated that he should
whistle briskly all the time that he
was up the tree.
A New York physician has a plan
to make electricity take the place of
whisky. That is entirely practical up
to the next morning. The old-fash
ioned convivialists will miss the head
ache and the “dark brown taste,"
We hope that Dr. Cook of the Agri
cultural department, who has started
from Guatemala with several colonies
of fierce red ants to fight the boll wee
vil, has them safely caged. Other
wise he may have a memorable
voyage.
The pallbearers at tlie funeral of
Laurence Hutton were six men who
had beftn his dependents in life—a
coachman, two hack drivers, a gard
ener and two farm hands. At the fun
erals of most authors this would not
be possible. .
Robert Treat Paiae of Brooklyn has
Just married a beautiful and accom
plished girl against all sorts of pa
rental opposition. It will be remem
bered that Mr. fine’s ancestor of
the same name put his Joha Hancock
on the declaration of independence.
Statistics ’show that during the year
before'last more than 5,070,000,000,000
conversations were held over the tele
phones in this country, but what they
don’t show is that perhaps 10,140,000,
000,000 conversations would have been
held if the operator hadn’t said, “The
line is busy.”
The young man at Harvard who has
Just won a Rhodes scholarship must
n't expect to see half as much about
himself in the papers as If he were one
of the chosen athletes who are get
tins ready now to row with Yale.
WITH THE WORLD’S
WRITERS
CARLYLE’S CONTEMPT OF MAN.
Carlyle’s opinion of Herbert Spen
cer as “the most unending ass in
Christendom” must, of course, be
read in conjunction with Carlyle's de
rision for mankind in general. “Most
ly fools,” he cheerfully thought of us
all. Darwin, we know, he would not
have at any price—not a word of him.
Cardinal Newman, he estimated, had
“the brain of a medium-sized rabbit.”
Ruskin was a bottle of soda-water.
“A bad j'oung man” was his sum-up
of another eminent writer, whom we
need not name, for he is still living.
But these hostile phrases were sub
ject to considerable modification if
the man against whom they were
aimed came near enough to Carlyle
to do him a personal favor, even to
pay him a personal compliment. Dis
raeli, whom he had described as a
mountebank dancing upon John
Bull’s stomach, offered Carlyle a
baronetcy, and elicited from him, to
gether with a refusal of the title,
many tributes to his magnanimity.
He said very little about Disraeli
henceforth in print, and in private he
spoke of him only as “a very tragical
comical fellow.”—London Chronicle.
DO WE EAT TOO MUCH?
Physiologists say that the Japa
nese present the most perfect phy
sique of any /ace in the world. Most
of the diseases common to the Occi
dent are unknown among the sub
jects of the Mikado, and this happy
condition they themselves attribute
to the fact that they eat sparingly
and only of plain, nourishing food. A
Japanese visiting in this country is
appalled at the quantity of food con
sumed by his host in one day. Especi
ally is he impressed with the extrava
gance of our poorer people. In Japan
meat once a day is a luxury even
among the well-to-do.—Robert Web
star Jones in the June Housekeeper.
FIRST CATCH YOUR HARE.
Russia has served notice on the
world that after she has whipped the
Japanese she will make peace in her
own way without interference by
other powers; and now announce
ment comes from Tokio that after
taking Port Arthur the Japanese will
hold it forever, to guarantee lasting
peace in the^east.
These evidences of the unconquer
able will of the contending nations is
edifying, but we cannot help reflect
ing that the Russians are a long way
from having the Japanese beaten.
War has so many uncertainties
that no man can tell how the pres
ent struggle will end. but simple folk
who know nothing of its workings, or
of the great game of diplomacy in
which the official manifestos men
tioned appear to be a part, cannot
help recalling that in war, as well as
in other things in life, it is the best
policy to catch your hare before cook
ing him.—Boston Globe.
CURBING LAWYER'S VERBOSITY.
The supreme court of Pennsyl
vania, in an opinion just sent to
Schuylkill county, notifies the law
yers that they can profitably edit
their too verbose arguments. The
court warns attorneys that the
court’s judgment of the importance of
a case is not at all influenced by the
enormous size of the paper books
submitted to it. ’Tis a warning per
tinent wherever law is practiced. The
infinitude of words which the law
sanctions, if it does not require, as
lawyers so often insist, is a source of
infinite weariness to laymen. To
them this broad hint given by the
supreme court of Pennsylvania seems
well worthy of being passed along
down the line of states. It is not so
impossible to make a compact, clear,
yet comprehensive statement, as
some of the lawyers train themselves
into believing.—Springfield, Mass.,
Republican.
NOT SO MUCH OF A SUCCESS.
You will hear of the fortune that is
paid annually to George Odom, the
best American jockey for his services
in the saddle. The figures will startle
you and at first you will be much in
clined to wonder. Then, as you look
at his attenuated figure and the old,
old face, and note the heaviness of
his speech and the sometimes pathos
of his voice, then it is thrust in upon
you that, after all, at 21, it is hardly
worth while, and that George Odom,
Jockey, earning more each year thaif
directors of great human events, is
underpaid. There is brilliancy, ac
claim, praise in extravagance, syco
phantic following—all of that for the
little old man-boy who rides. But he
has lost so much.—Everybody’s Maga
zine. f
PATRIOTISM STILL A FORCE,
Perhaps the world will some time
admit that patriotism was but a stage
in human development. Perhaps
humanity will grow out of it into
something better and broader—more
universal. But it is evident that it
has not yet grown out of it. Few
stronger motives now dominate the
heart of man. It is an enlargement,
a glorification, of the love of father,
of mother, of home and fireside, of
the hills and woods and flowers of
one’s native land.—New York Even
ing Mail.
WHERE SPECIALISTS LOSE.
The advantages of the minute di
vision of labor are manifest, and there
is no doubt that in medicine and
surgery especially a higher degree of
skill is achieved by thje devotion to a
single branch. There is, however, an
other side to this. The specialist
gains efficiency at the cost of breadth
of mind. It is undeniable that devo
tion to a particular small pail of any
production tends to make a mere ma
chine of a man.—Philadelphia Record.
OUR BAD COLLEGE SPELLING
Much is said in the papers about
I college English. The people within
and without college walls declare
that students write badly. But there
is a thing more fundamental than
their poor English style; it is the mat
ter of their spelling. Many college
men, as proved by their essays, can
not spell. They frequently make the
mistake of transforming writing into
writting, and of dining into dinning—
an echo probably of the noise of a col
lege dining-room.
But poor spelling is not confined to
college students. College professors
are not free from the blame. A let
ter lies before the writer in which the
distinguished head of a most import
ant department in an American col
lege declares that a certain candidate,
whom he has recommended as “com
petant.” A New England college pro
fessor has recently said that in mak
ing applications for a place in Eng
lish several candidates wrote of the
salery. Of course, also, a man may
lack culture and spell correctly. Spell
ing is more or less a matter of an ar
bitrary bit of knowledge. But what
ever may be the psychological rela
tions of the art, the schools should
teach boys and girls to spell. By in
correct spelling the higher ranges of
learning are rendered less impressive.
—Leslie’s Weekly.
QUALITY OF PATRIOTISM.
A New York paper tells a story of
a Japanese cook. When his mistress
spread a newspaper on the kitchen
floor, for cleanliness sake, he hastily
snatched it up and carefully dusted it.
Upon being asked the reason he point
ed to a picture of the Mikado and
said, in a voice tearful with pride:
“My King.” The paragraph closed
with the extremely witty remark:
“Wouldn’t that make you laugh?”
The person who wrote this would
doubtless approve of a big placard
that may be seen on local billboards
depicting the American flag waving
over a bottle oi a certain brand of
whisky, which is surrounded by typi
cal veterans of the Rebellion. We
might with advantage absorb a little
of this Japanese patriotism and rev
erence for the national emblem.—Los
Angeles Times.
INTERNATIONAL QUESTIONS.
Every war brings to the front new
questions of an international charac
ter to be passed upon by the different
governments and to add new chap
ters to international law. Already
two such questions have been
brought out by the war between Rus
sia and Japan. One of these involves
the treatment of the wireless system
of telegraphy, the other the use of
floating mines at sea. These are two
of the new problems which the pres
ent war has brought to the front
There may be others. In any event,
there will be something for the in
ternational lawyers of the foreign de
partments to busy themselves about
after hostilities have been concluded,
if not before.—Atlanta Constitution.
BEST FRIENDS OF HEALTH.
The sea and the soil are so far from
the office of the professional man or
the counting room of the man of busi
ness that it requires time to reach
them, but the experience of those who
have tried these friends of health,
these soothers of the nerves, is that
they not only prolong Ufa, but main
tain strength am; health. There are
vitality and healing in the waters and
winds of the sea and in close contact
with the soil rich with all growing
things. The closer men of any age
get to nature the more contented anJ
the more humble they are likely to be,
and, says Shapespeare, “content is
rich.”—Philadelphia Ledger.
EUROPE'S MILITARY BURDEN.
Conscription as it is now practiced
in Europe is a modern development
of the Roman military system, and
while it has been adopted in one or
another form by all, it has reached its
most drastic shape in France and
Germany. It was the terrible power
of conscription that enabled Napo
leon to carry on the gigantic wars
which placed all Europe at his feet.
Prussia’s ingenuity in evading the
hard conditions imposed upon her in
the treaty of Tilsit, by adopting the
“short term and reserve system,"
was the foundation of the practice by
which entire populations pass under
military training, and by which Eu
rope has been turned into “an armed
camp.”—Philadelphia Ledger.
THEORIES UPSET BY JAPS.
It has always been the favorite
theory that when Asiatics accomplish
anything striking it must be done
under the leadership of a European,
but the Japanese have upset all these
theories. They have shown that skill
in handling a fleet or an army is not
the exclusive perquisite of the w-hite
man. Certainly no European naval
officer could have done better work
than Togo has done at Port Arthur,
nor could an army commander have
sui passed Kuroki in his march across
the Yalu or done* finer work than Oku
in his capture of Kin-Chou and his
swift advance upon Port Arthur.—
San Francisco Chronicle.
FEWER PARTY ORGANS.
How many party organs are there
left among the great newspapers of
the country? They can be counted
on one’s fingers, and the few that are
left are not always to be relied upon
as truly loyal. The most marked
change in American Journalism of late
years has been its development of in*
impendence.—Boston Herald.
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By Earl M. Pratt, Oak Park, Illinois.
Arthur Mitchel, who preached Pres
ident Garfield’s funeral sermon at
Cleveland, one Sunday told the chil
dren of the congregation that many
of his sermons were based on notes
taken in church while he was a boy.
The following is taken from a little
church newspaper:
This report of last Sunday morn
ing’s sermon was taken by one at our
girls. Only half of it is given here.
It is good practice:
Winning in Life’s Battle and More
—“In all these things we are more
than conquerors.”
“There are fewr chapters in the Bi
ble well worth reading more than the
8th chapter of Romans. There is no
condemnation, is the first stroke of
the picture: 2d, freedom; 3d, peace;
4th, awayening to higher life; 5th,
patient in suffering, courageous, hope
ful, confident that God will not with*
hold any good things from his chil
dren.”
“We all agree that this is a most
beautiful picture, priceless as one of
Ruben’s masterpieces. I think he
thought of all that see the picture is,
‘O that it might be a picture of my
life.’ ”
“The whole Epistle ought to be
read to find Paul’s thought; the pow
er of God to save the world. He
shows the descent of the people of
Rome.”
“In the 3d chapter Paul shows that
some people talk a great deal of their
righteousness. He gives a descrip
tion of the contest going on in all
souls and then gives the beautiful
description of the Christian life in
the 8th chapter. The first step that
a man must take to acquire life is
faith.”
Why Lawyers Make Money
There are 2,000,000 civil suits
brought in this country every year. If
the plaintiffs were different in every
case, one in eight of the voting popu
lation could be said to be a litigant.
As it is, the actual number of differ
ent litigants is not in excess of 800,
000—400,000 plaintiffs and 400,000 de
fendants—which is 1 per cent of the
total population of the country, now
about 80,000,000.
The number of lawsuits brought in
a year in Trance is 80,000.
In Italy—Italians are much inclined
to litigation—it is 1.400,000, and in
Germany it is 3.000,000, a very much
larger number, both actually and rel
atively. than the number in the Unit
ed States.
Civil actions of all kinds begun last
year in Great Britain and Ireland
numbered about 1.500.000, or one for
nearly every tenth male or female
adult in the United Kingdom. In
1902 there was an increase of nearly
62,000 ov?r the previous year, and
472,041 actions were heard out of 1,
410,484 that were begun.
Of the number of appeal cases
heard, one in every three was suc
cessful, against one in four or five,
years ago. The total cost of British
litigation in 1903 was placed at $7,
809,875.
The best measure of litigation is
usually the number of laws or stat
utes. and not, contrary to general be
lief, the number of lawyers. In this
country it is found generally to be the
case that the largest amount of liti
gation does not originate among
Americans, but among newcomers
here, who appeal to the courts for
the adjudication of matters of trifling
account. In no other country in the
world are there so many damage suits
brought as there are in the United
States.
Made His Death Tragic
In a squalid court in Edinburgh
many years ago a man who had been
notorious for his cruelties as a slave
trader lay dying. Mental terror made
his end appalling to witness. Accord
ing to Scotch custom, the family
opened the door to let the spirit pass.
To their infinite horror the bloody
head of a black man suddenly rolled
into the room. The family shrieked
with fright, the man on the bed gave
a yell of terror. They turned to his
bedside, but he expired as they
watched. When they looked toward
the door again the head had disap
peared. There was a splash of fresh
blood upon the floor to mark the spot
where it had been, but nothing else
to certify that the horrid sight had
not been a creation of morbid imagi
nation.
This appearance of a negro’s head
in the room of a man dying after he
had committed innumerable barbari
ties upon black slaves was a strange
coincidence and nothing more. Prof.
Owen, the famous anatomist, had
been attending an anatomical lecture,
where the body of a negro had been
dissected. He was taking the head
home with him to examine it more
carefully. The streets were wet and
slippery. Just as he was passing the
open door of the house in which the
man lay dying he tripped and the
head, slipping from the cloth in
which he had it, rolled into the little
room. The cry of the dying man di
verted the attention of those who
were in the room, so that Owen was
able to secure his treasure and de
part unnoticed.
The Tyrant of To-day
And it came to pass that, in the
very height of modern times, an arbi
trary tyrant ruled over a great coun
try called America.
The name of this tyrant was Every
bodydoesit, and all the inhabitants of
the land bowed themselves to his
will.
Terror of the autocrat caused grown
men and women to cast aside every
dictate of common sense—sometimes
of honesty as well.
Children overstudied, wearing out
precious eyesight, cramping growing
organs, yet mothers whispered under
their breath the name of Everybody
doesit, and the evil went on.
Men bought houses and European
passages, automobiles and other ex
pensive luxuries, the cost of which
was out of all proportion to their in
come.
“Everybodydoesit” was the explana
tlon they gave.
Sorriest of all was the case of the
young girls.
They patronized unwholesome
plays, read books produced by dis
eased minds, they overdressed, aban
doned the gentle ideals of theii
mothers’ day, and grew old before
their time.
“Everybodydoesit,” they said.
And thus it was in all classes of
society throughout the broad land.
All men and women, young and
old. recognized the sway of Every
bodydoesit and bowed their necks to
his yoke.
Fiction in the Making
No farther Southwest than Communipaw
Was it ever my fate to go;
Nor Indian nor cowboy I ever saw
Except with a Wild West show;
But I’ll weave you a tale of the bound
less plains.
The gulch, and the mining camp.
The mountain trail, und the burro trains.
And ranges where wild steers stamp.
It is true that I flinch ut the sound of a
gun—
My nerves are deplorably weak;
All quarrelsome persons I carefully
shun—
My nature is shrinking and meek;
But the Alkali Alecks and Piute Petes
Through my powder-grimed chapters
shall prance;
They shall shoot tip the town as they
dash through the streets.
And make the pale tenderfoot dance.
Oh, it’s Whoop for the broncho-buster
bold!
And it's Wow for the fierce bad man!
—June Critic.
And there’s always a market for stories
told
On the strenuous border plan.
I never have sailed on a gallant ship,
And I've vowed that I never will:
For It only requires a ferry-boat trip
To make me unpleasantly ill;
But I’ll spin you a yarn of the salt, salt
sea.
And the storm-lashed Atlantic’s surge.
Of masts by the board, and of surf a-lee
That moaneth the sallorman’s dirge.
I am not quite sure If the mlxzen-truek
Is a rope—or a species of sail;
If the flying jib-boom with glue is stuck.
Or merely held fast with a nail;
But I'll prate you of main topgallant
stay.
Of capstan and crossjack lift.
As I tell of a voyage to far Cathay
Or where Arctic Icebergs drift.
Then it’s Yo-heave-ho! and Avast below!
And Shiver the binnacle light!
For why ever to sea need a landsman go
A nautical novel to write?
Bruin Lost His Job
Bruinskl, the pet bear of the Colum
bia’s jackies, was not sent to the "Zoo”
because he tried to eat the captain’s
dog, says an officer of the ship, but be
cause he turned a solemn ceremony
into a farce. Every day after dinner,
Bruinskl and his particular friends in
dulged in a nap. Bruinski stretched
himself out on the deck and his chums
spread themselves around him, using
him as a pillow. Just after Capt.
Wilde came to take command of the
yard he sent word that he was going
to visit the ship at a certain hour.
The men were mustered as quickly
as possible, to receive him with all the
honors. Bruinski’s friends with the
others responded to the bo’s’n’s call,
but Bruinski slumbered on until after
the men were all lined up on deck.
Then he roused, and, missing his
friends, went to seek them. He mount*
ed to the deck where the men were
lined up and, erect on his hind feet,
passed slowly dow'n the long line until
he came to the group of his associates,
v Then he turned, and, backing slowly,
wedged himself into the line. His
solemn visage and pendulous paws
were to much for the commandant as
well as the other officers. The cere
mony was cut short and Bruinski hus
tled below. The captain of the ship
thought the presence of the bear could
be dispensed, with after that, and he
was given permanent shore leave.-*
Philadelphia Press.
Encouragement.
Never mind, my boy, if they frown on
You now,
They’ll give you praise some day;
They will lift their hats and they 11
solemnly bow
And think of kind things to say.
Never mind, my boy, if they fail to per
ceive
Your usefulness here on earth,
Some day they will gather around ana
frieve
exaggerate your worth.
Never mind, my boy, if they hurry along.
Not deigning to yield a nod; .
They'll regret, some day, that vney
judge you wrong— .
When you're sleeping under the soa.
Never mind, my boy, oh, never you
mind, .
Though your merits are now denied,
Some day. if you may look back, you ii
find
That they have been multiplied.
Never mind, my boy, if they scoff to-day.
For the grave is not far ahead.
And they’ll all have excellent things to
say
As soon a» you're safely dead.
— 3, L. KlSci.
NEWS OF THE LABOR WORLD.
Items of Interest Gathered from Many
Sources.
Prussia has 2,033 associatiors of
stenographers with 51,291 members.
Portsmoutph, N. H., musicians are
planning to organize a union in that
city and nearly all are favorable.
The Central Labor Union of Boston
is assisting to raise funds for the
Free Homes for Consumptives, to be
built in Dorchester.
The Chicago Electric Fixture Hang
ers’ Union has raised its dues to 10
cents a day, the highest paid by a
Chicago labor union.
Chicago freight handlers voted $5,
000 and assessed themselves $5 a
week for the support of striking mem
bers of the union in the east.
Union musicians in New \ork ^ill
soon have a building of their own
worth $125,000. Ground has been
I cleared and excavation commenced.
Don't hold your meetings on the
street corners—the place you pay for
1 the privilege of so doing is where they
should be held.—The Steam Fitter.
Typesetting machines are to be in
stalled in the government printing
office, and next December the Con
gressional Record for the first time
will not be set up by hand.
The call has been issued for the
annual convention of the British
Trade Union Congress, which will be
^ held in Leeds this year, meeting there
on Monday, Sept. 5. The last time
the congress met in that city was in
i 1873.
The locomotive firemen at Wichita
Falls, Texas, have formed a mechani
cal and reading club and they meet
once a week to discuss mechanical
subjects. The lodge rooms are open
as m library to the members at all
times.
The executive board of the Elevator
Constructors’ International union or
dered on strike the 7.000 men employ
ed bv the Otis Elevator company at
! New York. The strike is in sympathy
with the workers in Boston and Phila
1 delphia.
Outside of plans for organizing
work and agitating and pushing the
union label, the international conven
tion of the Ladies’ Garment Workers’
Union accomplished practically noth
ing. The general strike suggested by
the president was not ordered.
Judge Littleford at Cincinnati held
that blacklisting could not be reme
died or prevented by injunction. He
refused to restrain the proprietors
from blacklisting members cf the
Cab Drivers and Hackmen s union,
who have recently been on strike.
There was recently a disastrous fire
at Yazoo City Miss., in which several
of the churches were destroyed. Ya
zoo carpenters’ union voted a 5 per
cent assessment on the wages of each
member for one year, the entire
amount to be distributed equally
among the destroyed church parishes
and societies to assist in rebuilding
and continuing their work.
Nearly every shop in Boston and
all the shops in Cambridge and in the
South Boston district have granted
the request of journeymen horse
shoers’ No. 5 for a Saturday half-holi
day during June, July and August. A
special meeting of the union has been
called for this afternoon at Jefferson
hall to take decisive action regarding
the few' shops which have not yet de
cided to close Saturday afternoon.
The Brotherhood of Railroad Train
men is the strongest numerically and
the most aggressive of the various
railway labor organizations. Although
it has always worked along conserva
tive lines and endeavored to avoid
strikes, on several occasions it has
shown itself ready to fight if that be
came necessary. In that respect it
may be said to be more of a trade
union than any of the other railroad
brotherhoods.
The teamsters’ unions of Chicago
are planning a Labor day celebration
and parade this year, since the Chi
cago Federation of Labor decided to
abandon the usual marching owing to
the heavy expenditure attached to the
labor organizations taking part. With
this object in view the teamsters’
council adopted a resolution favoring
the project and ordered a vote taken
by the sixty locals. Should the team
sters make a display it is counted
that at least 25,000 men would turn
out.
The Chicago Federation of Labor
has gained at least 10.000 members in
the last year, according to the report
compiled by Secretary Nockels. “With
all the battles organized labor has
fought wdth employers and employ
ers’ associations in the last year,
which resulted in the defeat of a num
ber of unions, we still gained in mem
bership,” he said. “A year ago the
Chicago Federation received per capi
ta tax from unions representing 170,
000 members: this year 450 locals are
paying on 180,000 members.”
At the convention of the Engineers’
Union, in session at Boston, resolu
tions denouncing General Bell of Colo
rado for what was termed his perse
cution of the miners and members of
other labor organizations In the Crip
ple Creek section were adopted and
madb a part of the record of the En
gineers’ union. When the resolution
was introduced by President William
R. Whelan of Boston every person
present rose to his feet and cheered.
The vote on the adoption was unani
mous.
Sympathetic strikes among trades
unionists working for the same em
ployer received the Chicago’Federa
tion of Labor’s approval June 20, after
it had voted down a section of its new
constitution making possible a general
strike of organized labor in Chicago.
The section adopted provides for a
concentrated attack upon any em
ployer when he violates a working
agreement, and reads as follows: “If
one agreemnt is violated by an em
ployer all other agreements between
that employer and other unions are
thereby abrogated.’’
Tie-up of lake navigation which,
through the strike of the Masters and
Pilots’ association, has kept approxi
mately 150,000 men in idleness and
bottled fleets of grain, or • and coal
and freight vessels in the gr*>at lakes
for six weeks, has been definitely
broken. The captains, seceding from
the union in which they were afikiaf
ed with the mates, surrendered to the
Lake Carriers’ association, leaving the
mates to fight it out alone. The cap
tains decided in Cleveland to return
to work for the Lake Carriers’ asso
ciation without having gained a point
in their struggle. A settlement with
the mates and pilots followed the
capitulation of the skippers.
The first convention of the Struc
tural Building Trades Alliance has
been called to meet in Indianapolis,
Aug. 10, where a permanent body is
to be formed. The two preliminary
meetings to form this alliance, which
promises to play an important part
in the labor world, were held in In
dianapolis. At the two previous
meetings no definite action could be
taken, as the organization at that
time was only proposed, but now near
ly all the building trades have taken
! favorable action on uniting with the
alliance, and an exact plan of work
and purposes can be adopted. The
national and international unions of
building trades which have indorsed
the formation of this body have a
membership of 500.000.
Union printers in the district sur
rounding Chicago have started a
movement for the establishment of
the eight hour day for their craft
throughout the United States. Plans
for the campaign were prepared in
the conference of members of the In
ternational Typographical union at
Chicago. Ats a result of this confer
ence recommendations will be made
to the coming convention of the union
that the following line of policy be
adopted: No new agreements to be
entered into except on the eight-hour
basis. The collection of a fund ot
$500,000 by an assessment of $10 on
each member of the unon, to be used
exclusively for the agitation for the
shorter day. The creation of com
petitive districts, in which all locals
shall act together.
The first financial statement of the
United Association of Plumbers’ Gat
Fitters. Steam Fitters and Steam Fit
ters’ Helpers of the United States ana
Canada is just issued and is the most
remarkable showing ever made by a
labor organization in this country.
The plumbers, through their high dues
system, paid $186,373.95 in dues alone,
against about $8,000 formerly. Wi»ta
the accumulation of this fund the par
ent organization was enabled to pay
$24,650 in sick benefits, $31,605 in
strike and $4,500 in death benefits.
Local unions were paid $29,322 for
various purposes, and the internation
al received only $26,825 from its lo
cals, making it a good investment for
the membership at large. The total
receipts from all sources for the year
were $307,724.20, and the expenditure
for all purposes $227,241.74, leaving a
balance of $80,482.46 on hand Jan. 1,
1904. The number of members who
paid dues for the year, excepting those
traveling or suspended, was 17,944.
The following editorial, clipped froir
the Worker, Brisbane, Australia, is
significant of what has been accom
plished and may be done by the labor
victories gained in that far-off coun
try. The editorial reads: “Labor has
come to claim its own. It is contem
as yet with a portion only. The time
is not far distant when it will be sat
isfied with nothing less than ALL.
‘Old age pensions’—that is the limit
of demand to-day. But for how long,
think you, can the creators of wealth
be appeased with a pauper dole?
‘Conciliate and arbitrate!’—that Is the
present ultimatum of labor to capital
ism. But one day the grim humor of
conciliating and arbitrating with a
system of organized plunder will be
recognized, and the ultimatum then
will be short and sharp—‘disgorge!*
Nevertheless, distasteful as the fact is
to ardent spirits, these palliative
measures are necessary stages on the
way to the final goal. And they will
be all the* sooner passed because we
have coming to the front in the move
ment men who honestly regard them
as measures of permanent value.”
Most thinking men, including many
who do not sympathize with organized
labor, are ready to admit that they
believe labor unions stand between so
ciety and anarchy or revolution. If
labor unions are driven from the eco
nomic field will they enter the political
field, not as they do now, but as a
class? Are not the employers making
a mistake from their owii point of
view in attacking labor unions, and
thereby accentuating class lines,
which must eventually result in a
state of socialism? The socialist the
ory is not calculted to benefit the
capitalists. It is aside from the ques
tion to say that socialism is impos
sible. That will not prevent working
people from seeking it if their labor or
ganization are destroyed. The labor
union serves as sort of s&fetjr valve.
It la probably more dangerous to the
employer to have it removed than it
is to the working class. They woold
do well to think the matter over sort
ously.—Chicago Inter Ocean.