V
THE
Lincoln, Nebraska, July i, 1904.
.Vol. i,
Nan
A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER WITH A MI5SI0N AND WITHOUT A MUZZLE THAT IS PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF WAQEWORKER5 EVERYWHERE.
WAGE WORKER
S3
i
(
POOR OLD
TRACTION
Months ago the city council appoint
ed a 'committee to investigate the af
fairs of the street railway company,
with a view to ascertaining if it would
be wise or politic to enact a six-for-a-quarter
fare ordinance.
During all the months Intervening
the aforesaid councilmanlc committee
ostensibly labored, and at the meet
ing or the council last Monday night
it brought forth a mouse.
' The report of the committee Is just
what was expected of a council notor
iously controlled by the traction com
pany interests, and which manifests
eagerness to do traction company bid
ding at every turn of the road. The
, Lincoln Traction company has Its ten
tacles fastened in just the right
places. It is in politics up to its cor
poration eyebrows, and it never falls
to have Its pliant tools on guard when
ever there is the least danger that
traction company interests will be an
tagonized. It has shirked its taxes,
Ignored the public, subjected its pa
trons to annoyances that only a Lin
coln public accustomed to corpora
tion domination would endure, and on
last Tuesday it gave an exhibition of
how it could take a city council by the
tail and swing it around its general
offices like a schoolboy swings a dead
rat at the end of a string.
The "report of the committee looks
good on the surface. It asserts that
President SVudder showed it the
books, and that a study cf the figures
satls.led it that the traction company
could not stand a six-for-a-quaiter
ordinance. In the classic and elegant
diction of the Tenderloin" district:
"Rats:"
or course Presideut Scudder showed
the honorable committee a set of
books. Undoubtedly he told It that
the books were a full and complete
showing. And undoubtedly the com-
' nmt believed it. It was that kind of
.1 committee. Trust the gentlemanly
and oily management of the traction
company for that. When a man wants
'to b hypnotized by a corporation it
requires only a few passes to put the
man to sleep.
The Lincoln Traction company owes
this town a blamed sight more than
a slx-for-a-quarter fare ordinance, and
if the people of Lincoln had any sand
in their craws they would get what is
coming to them without any further
loss ot time. What does the Lincoln
Traction company owe thi3 city be
sides a reasonable fare?
It owes the city 560.000 in unpaid
taxes.
, H owes the city a decent service.
It owes the city cars that do not ie
Hembie the dilapidated cowsheds of a
rack-rented Irish tenant.
' It owes the city lines that do not
give patrons kidney disease and jolt
the internal economy of the passen
gers into a chaotic state of dlsar
rupgeraent.
It owes the city a conductor on ev
ery car, Instead of compelling pairons
to submit to the annoyance of "car
hopping'' and rinsing the bell for
themselves when they want to get off.
And the Lincoln Traction company
owes its employes decent wages In
stead of the paltry stipend that it
pays, backed up by a promise of in
created pay at the end of a stated
term of service, only to And some ex
, c.use for letting the men out Just
about the time the end of tnat term is
nt hand.
ir the people cf Lincoln had the
norvo to demand their just rights they
would tale such action as would force
the traction company o beg on it:
bended knees for the privilege of put
ting a slx-for-aquarter fare into effect,
Think of it for a moment. A single
track to the union depot, and a weary
wait at Tenth and P streets every
time a car happens to be down on the
union depot stub. How often have
you teca compelled to hop from the
waiting tar and tear down the P
street incline like a buliet shot out of
a gun, only to reach the depot plat
form in time to see your train sailing
iaway around the curve?
How olten have you felt the tor
tures of the damned souls of Inferno
when riding In those fiat-wheeled,
lcaking-roofed, gei in-infested and loul
smelling relics of ancientry that the
traction company calls "motor cars?"
Think of a city or 50.000 people hav
ing a street railway service that quits
running cars at 11:23 p. m., and starts
its first cars out at 5:30 on Sunday
mornini;! Just about the time you
begin to wake up and enjoy yourself
at a social function you have to grab
vour wraps and' hustle out to catch the
last car that starts from O street just
auout the time the average man's
evening has fairly begun.
How often have you had a night
mare in which you dreamed you were
bing bumped over switches find low
joints in a car that threatened to fail
to pieces every time the motorman
turned on the power?
Of all the wretched, insufficient, mis
erable and inadequate street car ser
vices in the country, no city of equal
or greater size has a worse one than
Lincoln. It shirks its taxes. It pays
its employes starvation wages. It
the Lincoln Traction company. And
when the people murmured a little the
company insolently orders its city
council to investigate and make a re
port that exonerates the company and
makes it appear a public benelactor. .
If Lincoln submits to this sort of
thing any longer it deserves to be con
demned to a thousand years of bob
tailed horse cars, unpaved streets and
gasoline street, lights.
If the Lincoln Traction company
would spend a whole lot less In po
litical manipulation and a little more
lor improved service, it would be a
big winner.
thing behind the resignation. What
ever the facts are, it must be said that
Mr. Rewick has made an eflivient sec
retary, and the club will miss his services.
The Difference.
Have you noted the difference be
tween the treatment accorded to I-'r-dicaris
and the treatment accorded
union men in Colorado? Perdicaris
is a naturalized citizen who was cap
tured by a bandit of Algiers and held
for ransom. Immediately every energy
of the government was exerted to se-
happen to. get Into trouble by going
contrary to the wishes of the men who
have the money.
A Union's Loss.
General President P. McMahou, of
the International Union of Steam En
gineers, died at his home fn Peoria,
111., June 25. Mr. McMahon was jone
of the best known labor leaders in
the country, and was universally loved
and respected by craftsmen generally.
He was elected first vice president of
the Steam Engineers' Union at its first
convention at Pittsburg, and at the
4.
The Foundation of American Liberty.
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
the Unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of JJmerica.-
WHEN, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected
them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature
and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes
which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to lie self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain un
alienable rights; that among these are Life, Liberty, and the. pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are in
stituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the' governed;
That, whenever any Form of Government becomes , destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it,
and to institute a new Government laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall
seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, ill dictate that Governments long established should not
be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly,, all experience b-h shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while'
evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses
and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it
is their duty, to throw off such Government and to provide new guards for their future security.
Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies, and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former
System" of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all hav
ing in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid
world:
He has refused his Assent to Laws the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operations till his
Assent should be obtained: and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the
right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them,- and formidable to tyrants only. ......, ,
ITe has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Kec- '
ords, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected whereby the. Legislative Powers, incapable
of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for the exercise, the State remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers
of invasion from without and convulsions within.
He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states, for that purpose obstructing the laws for the Naturalization of For
eigners, refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
He has made judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has enacted a multitude of New Oflices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us in times of peace, standing Armies, without the Consent of our Legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent. of, and superior to the Civil Power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and unacknowledged by our laws, giving
his Assent to their acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these.
States:
For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world: ' -
For imposing taxes on us without our conseut:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jurv:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offenses:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighboring Province, establishing therein a:'i Arbitrary
rging its Boundaries, so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolu
government, and
lute rule into these
enlargint
Colonics:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, altering fundamentally, the Form of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has aixlicated Government here by declaring us out of his Protection and waging war against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is, at this time, transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, al
ready begun, with circumstances of Cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head
of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow citizens, taken Captive on the high Seas, to bear arms against their Country, to become the execu
tioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the merciless
Indian Savages, whose known rules of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have
been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit
to be the ruler of a free People.
Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. Wc have warned them from time to time, of attempts made by
their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration
and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them, by the ties of our com
mon kindred, to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They, too, have
been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity which denounces our separa
tion, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace, Friends. -
We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America in General Congress Assembled, appealing to the Supreme
Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do in the Name and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, sol
emnly publish and declare, that these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, Free and Independent States; that they are Ab
solved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is,
and ought to be, totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, con
tract Alliances, establish Commerce, and do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do.
And for the support of this Declaration, with firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence we mutually pledge to each
oilier our iives, our r ormnes, anu our sacred nonor.
maintains cars that should in all con
science be condemned by the board of
health and burned. Its lines arc as
rough as the rocky road to Dublin,
and its management is as careless of
public opinion as old Vanderbllt, who
achieved fame by the declaration:
"The people be damned."
Only a corporatlon-rldden, politics
Infested, cheap-politician-bossad and
nerveless and spineless public like
Lincoln's would submit to what Lin
coln has had handed to it for years by
Rewick Resigns.
E. C. Rewick, secretary of the Com
mercial club, has tendered his resigna
tion, to take effect August L Mr.
Rewick says he has received a couple
of flattering business offers, and' rath
er opines that he will accept one of
them. The club gives it out to the
public prints that it is awfully sorry to
lose Mr. Rewick's services. There is
also a rumor that there is something
more than the offer of another good
cure his release. "Perdicaris alive or
Raisilius dead!" shouted Secietary
Hay. Raisilius is the name of the
bandit chief. But free born American
citizens are arrested without warrant
by commercial bandits, thrown into
bull pens and denied trial. Not in Al
giers, but in Colorado. And Secretary
Hay never split his throat denouncing
it. The administration never ripped
a rent in its nether garment. The
moral is plain: Don't expect the gov
ernment to do anything for you if you
next convention, held at Wheeling, Ue
was elected general president, which
position he held until his death. Lo
cal No. 154 of the International Union
of Steam Engineers met last nigbt and
adopted suitable resolutions in mem
ory of their dead chief, but they were
too late for publication in this issue.
They will appear next week.
Our ?2, $2.50, ?3, and 3.50 union
made shoes are the best in the world.
Try a pair. Rogers & Perkins, 1129 O.
CAPITAL
AUXILIARY
Capital Auxiliary No. 11, Typograph
ical Union No. 209, has been having
social functions galore since the last
issue of The , Wageworker. ,lt has
made a reputation for being the livest
Union organization in this section of
the country, and it seems bound and
determined to maintain it. Last Fri
day night the Auxiliary engineered a
lawn social at the home of Mrs. W. M.
Maupin, 2022 South 17th street. At
least it was advertised as a "lawn
social." . But there was an unusually
heavy fall cf "dew" on that particular
evening, consequently the social was
held in the house. It looked like a
dismal failure at 7 p. m. But by S
o'clock the members and their hus
bands and friends began gathering,
and instead of a failure it was one of
the biggest successes ever scored by
a union organization in Lincoln. The
Auxiliary netted a handsome sum,
which will be appropriated for the
expenses of the delegate to the inter
national, Mrs. Barngrover.
Last Tuesday Mrs. Frank Kennedy,
president of the International Auxil
jaiy, visited in Lincoln, and in the
evening a reception was given in her
honor at the home of Mrs. Maupin,
who entertained Mrs. Kennedy during
her visit here. The Auxiliary gathered
in force and a. delightful evening was
spent. . Mrs. Kennedy was one of the
pioneers of the auxiliary movement.
The first auxiliary was organized at
Atlanta, Ga., and the second one at
Omaha. The International Typograph
ical Union was slow to take up the
idea and give it official recognition,
and at the Cincinnati convention in
1902 organized opposition was - mani
fested. The chief opposition came
from New York, and a New York wo
man was present with the avowed pur
pose of preventing the Typographical
Union from officially recognizing the .
auxiliary. It-was then that Mrs. Ken
nedy showed herself to be the posses
sor of unusual ability as a political
tactician. She led the light for recog
nition and won a substantial victory
in the face of great oddi. As a recog
nition of her services she, was hon
ored with an election as first presi
dent of the International Auxiliary,
and in 1903 was unanimously reelected
at the Washington convention. This
year she refused to listen to appeals
to stand for re-election and will re
tire immediately after the St. Louis
convention next August.
The auxiliary to the Typographical
Union is proving to be a great educa
tor in union lines of thought and ac
tion. Men can do a whole lot of talk
ing about the label, but when the wo
men begin to agitate it the retail mer
chants soon learn to dance to union
label music. The Wageworker is ct
tlie opinion that every trades union In
the countiy should organize auxiliar
ies for the purpose of strengthening
unionism and stimulating the demand
tor tiie union label. What the print
ers auxiliary has accomplished is" evi-deno.-!
ot what might be accomplished
if tlie women were thoroughly organized.
Solemn Fact.
A loose cow wandered down S'outh
street to Seventeenth one day last
week. Just as ; sne reached Seven
teenth one of President Scudder's
beautiful and convenient cars reached
the end of the line, and the motor
man proceeded to turn his trolley, low
er the front fender, hook up the rear
fender, turn his seats and change his
plugs. While he was doing it the car
gave a sudden lurch and made the
motorman think he was struck by a
cyclone. Investigation showed the
cow standing in the aisle and calmly
chewing her cud. The animal thought
she recognized in the car her own fa
iliar shed, and naturally enough she
went in to escape the rays of the sun.
The Barbers.
One day last week Secretary Bowen
of the local Barbers' Union called up
The Wageworker by 'phone.
"Come up to my shop and get a list
of our membership and the money for
their subscription," he said. The pub
lisher was up there before Secretary
Bowen could hang up his 'phone. It
took about thirty seconds to transact
the business. Secretary Bowen hand
ed the publisher a list of fifty-one un
ion barbers and a check for their sub
scription. "The Wageworker is all right," said
Secretary Bowen, "and the boys will
stay with you."