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About The Wageworker. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1904-???? | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 1904)
ER ' THE WAfiiWORK -. f i . - . . ' - 1 ' ' - 1 1 1 I L A Newspaper with a Mission and without a Muzzle that is published in the Interest of Wageworkers Everywhere. ' ' . - .. f . ... "-- . ' I VOL. 1 LIXCOLX NEBRASKA, OCTOBER 21, 1904 " . . ' , ' ' TxO. 28 J Why Union Men Should I For WatSOn and TibblCS Nebraska Independent J The first reason why members of or luUcd labor should support the pto )!.' party candidates for presidcut ana vi'c president is because all electors should at all times vote for their own pen.c:.al interests. This is the only sure and correct guide to au intelligent ballot et all times and in all places. The first reason why members of or ganized labor should not vot3 for cith tr Parker or Roosevelt is because those elements in our political life against whom organized labor Is forced to tio battle are in favor of thesa two candi dates cither one of them will do. I would net appeul for a vote from or ganized tabor upon the low ground 01 class consciousness, but merely fron; , a.: recognition that economically speak ing we are at war. And just so Ions as we are forced into war, just so long will it be both unwise and criminal fur us to vote for those who are araigncd on the other side of the line of battle. Nor would I appeal to members ot organized labor as well as all other laborers to vote as I shall take pleas ure in voting because of this ill-advised and ignorant condemnation of so called "capitalism.' Capital is and always must be the handmaiden of la O bor. Capital is itaelf labor in con crete I'orm. It is stored-up labor. It is i he accumulated wealth of past labor used for the purpose of producing more wen 1th. Under a fret) society capital and labor would recognize their "heaNenly twinshlp." and discord be tween them would forever cease. , Our complaint today Is not against " capital. Our complaint is against mo nopoly. It is because monopoly has secured its death-grip upon the natur al resources of this earth that both capital and labor are denied the op portunity to joia huuds for the further production of wealth. Until we dis cover the source and destructive power of this monopoly of natural resources. we shall contir.r.etojbe engaged n I struggle!;, trials and tribulations be tween ourselves and th;se whose cup jrtal joins with us in the production of Ytlie world's needs. A. i might Just as well clear the ground right here and assert that the strength of monopoly does not lie in "machin ery," as the socialist asserts; it does not lie in the establishment of the "gold standard," as the fres-silverits asserts; it does not lie In the tariff, as the free trader asserts, nor does it lie iu the "general cussedness of human nature," as the pessimist asserts. To assert that machinery is the source of monopoly is as absurd as to assert that the man in the moon is, for Ubor could again reproduce every ma chine in the world, if given an oppo; Q li'uiiy. To assert that the gold sland K n'd is the source of monopoly Is as absurd as to say that without money men i oiiid not live, for men could, without the sold standard or with it, line a thousand ways to exchange the products of labor, if they ouly had an opportunity to-labor. To assert that it '.las in the tariff is also absurd, for if ) wu admitted all products from for eU.t. shores, it would still be possible for monopoly to tighten its grip upon ih-? sources of all supply the land. Aim to assert that it Is the general :iis!:f dness of human nature is to assert t'lat the great Author either had not S'ued His apprenticeship in the uni Vers.t' college of life, or if He had, Ha i .art a bad job of His work or had re tired from the overseeing of things ind allowed His works to so to the (itvil. I am so thoroughly satisfied ot the truth of this, that I declare that h:t('. 1 the divine power to alter human nature, I would not change one attrib-i-;.! of it. As I view it. human nature possessed of just exactly the right (j rlities to Insure peace and happi t i'mi and prosperity for all mankind, monopoly, or the attempt to inter ior with divine decrees, would just Ktcp aside, and afford natural law free scope. Old mythology had it that the world rested upon the shoulders of Atlas, who was supposed to be a giant. Let us Imagine this to be true, and that for seme reason or other Atlas takes his nd and scoops from the surface of Che earth all the people. In one hand he holds the people; in the other the earth, Universal distress of the people hercan be easily imagined. The peo ple would appeal to Atlas. Would they say, Let us have common ownership of the machines of production and dis tribution? Would they, say. What we need is bi-metallism or greenbacks? Would they say, The thing we need is tree trade? Or would they say. The trouble Is. human nature is selfish what we need is a re-generated man? Hardly any of these things would they Vote By Uurie J Quinby say, but it can easily be imagined that ilioy would rise up as one man and say, Oh. Atlas, give us back the earth. Now, this. I asert Is' typical of this earth and its institutions today. Land monopoly has capital and labor by the throat. It . is this institution of land monopoly that lies at the bottom of every human curse. It is this system that affords opportunity to a few to hold the many in subjection. It Is this crime that makes necessary the wars between capital and labor as well as uetween nations. It is this crime of crimes that establishes contests be tween starving men for a chance to toil, pulling down wages to the very l:ottom pol.t. It is the recognition of this helplessness of laborers to relieve themselves in any other way that forces them into labor unions and the like. Every time you pay rent to any private person for the mere use of any spot of this earth, your wealth is being confiscated, and you are paying tribute to land monopoly. And every time you pay taxes upon the products of your toil, either directly, as when you step up to the' public treasurer, or when you are forced to pay the same tax with interest when you buy a suit of clothes or eat a mouthful of food, you are paying further tribute to land 'mo nopoly. So at bottom it is land monopoly against which we are really at war, whether we realize it or not. And I desire to ask any intelligent thinking man whether he seriously believes that the powerful interests of this land; whose base is in land monopoly, would be contributing hundreds of thousands aud millions of dollars to the election of both Roosevelt and Parker, if they thought that either of these candidates would jeopardize their graft? Have these interests ever in any age of the, world honestly endeavored in any way to establish a system of society that would afford all men an equal op portunity for the pursuits of life, of liberty or happiness? The Rockefellers and Morgans, the Belmonts and money sharks are not contributing to the election cf Mr. Watson. That is a very fair reason why you should. Mr. Watson is the only candidate in the field in this campaign who really espouses Jeffersonian democracy. And what js Jeffersonian democracy? It is just that which I have been endeavor ing to illustrate in this article. It is the sovereignty of the people. It is the proposition that "all men are born equal; that they are endowed with cer tain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of hap piness." And this means that every living thing, by the very fact of its existence, has au equal right w(Ith every other living thins to "enjoy an opportunity to get,' at nature's store house and produce its quota of the world's wealth, that if? may enjoy lib erty and the pursuit of happiness. Those are the principles for which Mr. Watson has' waged the manliest cam paign for the people that has been waged since the days of Jackson, with but one possible exception. Mr. Watson, as well as his running mate, is a son of poverty. He has Known the trials and sufferings of those who toil. He has "toiled and sweated in the sun, according to the curse." His life, his entire life, has been one long, ceaseless struggle with adversity, and these facts make it pos sible for him to understand and be affected by the struggles of those who are forced to wring from' monopoly ev ery little consideration, as though they were very slaves. There is no monop olists backing his campaign. For him there Is no hope of office or other reward. In his great speech a few days ago before the labor unions of New York, he stated what he hoped to gain by his campaign in these noble words; ' "Talk to me of reward? What more do I need than that having unfurled the standard of Jeffersonian demo cracy iu lis darkest hour, when those who had promised to die for it had deserted? It is an honor to cham pion a great cause, no matter how heavy the task may be. There is glory in defending the right, no matter how goes the tide of success. There is inspiration in working for the plain people when they cheer you on as they are cheering me." I have no quarrel with those, who ever they may vote for, who are ready afld willing to "throw their votes away" for any candidate other than Roosevelt or Parker. Whether they vote for Watson or Debs or Swallow, they are casting a vote against present iniquities. They are registering their mighty protests against wrongs. They are using the best weapons they have to be free. Like men they are adding their mite to the advancement of the world. It is not so with those who con sciously vote for a wrong. And if they vote at all they ought to understand truly for what they are voting. No man has a right to be ignorant of the principles involved in his cast ballot, when he knows that whether for weal or woe that vote will affect the hap piness of every other human being. The responsibility rests upon him, and him alone, for the righteousness of his act. Can he afford to be ignorant? Can he be careless in this? Can he allow himself to be influenced by threats, intimidation or violence of any kind? If he would be a man an up right man he will assert that man hood, and intelligently seek to under stand fully the result of his vote, and having so understood its effect he will cast it with a courageous heart, though the heavens fall. And to those who fear to vote a pro test against present wrongs, because their "vote would be thrown away," I wish to impress upon them, if possi ble, the fact that the only vote that was ever thrown away was that which did not represent the best thought of th e voter. It is a prostitution o'f the ballot when it is cast without regard either to the principles involved or to the interests at stake. Every voter should fear to vote any other way than he feels; for every act he performs not only represents the general character of the man, but every act re-acts upon the doer until his very character is af fected for good or ill by his perform ance. Every time any man casts a vote he ought to think of his home and fire side; of the companion of his bosom there, and the little blossoms that add so much to the sweetness of his life. He ought to remember their welfare and happiness. He ought to consider whether the vote he is about to cast will enlarge the scope of life for those he loves. He ought to make it his supreme test, whether the vote he is about to cast will contribute to the joy and peac. of the lo-ed ones at home and the prosperity of those who come after him. If he fully considers these things and forms an intelligent esti mate of them, he will not cast a vote for those whose grip upon this earth is choking the life and peace and joy out of those he loves. OOOOOCOO(X)OOOOOCOOOOOOO(XCOOOOOOOOOCOOOOOOOOOCXX200Q OVER ONE THOUSAND. The Wageworker guarantees to advertisers over 1,000 actual, bona fide, paid-in-advance subscribers, nine-tenths of whom reside in Lincoln, University Place, Havelock, Col lege View and Bethany. The subscription books are open to inspection by anyone who can show cause and adver tisers come under that head. SO YOU MAY KNOW. A List of Fair and Unfair Makers of Shirts and Collars. It is often difficult for union men to keep track of fair and unfair goods. This is especially true of all articles of wearing apparel save clothing. The label of the United Garment Workers of America is always sewn in the In side breast pocket of the coat. But la bels on shirts, collars, cuffs, etc., are not so easily found or recognised. The Shirt, Waist and Laundry Work ers' International Union has issued a card giving both fair and unfair makes of shirts, collars and cuffs, and every man should get one of the cards and carry it in his pocket for reference. In the meantime the following may be clipped from The Wageworker and used as a guide. The lists follow: Unfair: "Monarch" shirts, made 'by Cluett. Peabody & Co. Arrow Brand collars and cuffs. Oriental collars and cuffs. Van Zandt, Jacobs & Co., collars and cuffs. Ivy brand. Twentieth Cen tury. Double Triangle. "Lion Brand"; shirts, collars and cuffs, and other goods made by the United Shirt and Collar Co. Fair: Union Collar Co., Troy, N. Y. Thread City Collar Co., Willimantic, Conn. Elgin Shirt Co., Elgin, and Chi cago. 111. Lesser. Levi & Co., Chicago. A. Livingston & Co.. Chicago. J. E. Teehan & Co., Chicago. J. A. Brew ster. Camden. Me. Steppaeher & Stern. Baltimore. Fitehburg Shirt Co., Fitchburg, Mass. H. A. Swain Shirt Co.. Lynn, Mass. Boulevard Shirt Co., St. Louis, Mo. Peter A. Casey. St. Louis. Mo. J. H. & S. Ballin, "Herald Shirt." New York. Weinstein Bros., New York. A. Schulder Co., New York. S". Werbin & S'ons, New York. 'Nirenberg & Silver, New York. Reis- ner Brothers, New York City. W. G. Fischer, .Albany, N. Y. Victor Shirt Co., Cincinnati (also Shirt Waists). National Shirt Co., Cincinnati (also Shirt Waists). Enterprise Shirt Co., Philadelphia. Pilot Shirt Co., Philadel phia (also Boys' Waists). Myerhoff, Sons & Co.. Philadelphia. Gross & Raab. Philadelphia. Ferguson, Fergu son & Co., Pittsburg, Pa. UNION LAUNDRY WORK. Plans All Made and the Scheme Is Ready - to- WorK. By next week The Wageworker will be ready to announce something def inite concerning the union laundry scheme it proposed several weeks ago. It takes time to work up a scheme like that. But inside of ten days union men and women of Lincoln will be en abled to give their laundry work to a union laundry. There will be a wagon out collect ing the laundry, and it will be driven by a union man. The laundry will be done by union men and women and de livered by a union driver. The wagon will be ornamented by the label of the Shirt, Waist and Laundry Workers' International Union. Now wake up and get into the union game. If you want your laundry work done in a union iaundry, send a postal card with your name and address to The Wageworker, 1216 G street. It will cost -you no more to have your laundry done in a union laundry than it does now to have it done in laundries owned by the trust and. man aged by men unfriendly to organized labor. The collection and delivery will be just as prompt. If you are really in earnest, now is the time to prove it. GRAFTERS MUST GO. Union Men Should Stand Firmly for Honest Methods. The labor grafter must go. We mean the union man who uses his unionism or histleauership to extort money from employers. The man who sells his in fluence with union men is worse than the professional lobbyist or the treach erous public official. Phil Weisenheimer, former president of the building trades alliance of New York city has been convicted of ex tortion. He was charged with having extorted $ 2,7700 from George Essig un der threat not to permit work to con- tinue on some apartment houses where in Essig had the plumbing contract. He had a fair trial and was found guilty. The amount of money involved is not large. The principle involved is stupendous. . While Weisenheimer was making a paltry amount of money he was sacrificing principles which every true man would die rather than betray. Weisenheimer took a little money, and in return for it he bertayed his fellows and perpetrated an injury that will take years of toil and a mint of money to retrieve. It is union labor's shame that it has not long since rid itself of the Parks and Weisenheimers. It will be union labor's eternal damnation if it does not rid itself of such cattle now. THE LEGISLATIVE TICKET. Think for Yourselves and Vote for Your Own Interests. Wase-earners are peculiarly inter ested in the legislative election this fall. A United States senator is to bo elected, and the man elected will soon er or later be called upon to vote for or against the 8-hour law and the anti injunction law. Every workingman who owns his own home is interested, because the legislature elected on No vember S will revise the revenue law. Considerably more than partisan suc cess is at stake. Investigate the can didates. Throw aside partisan preju dice and vote for your own interests. The Wageworker will have something to say about candidates next week. The Central Labor Union meets next Tuesday evening, and every delegate sLould be present. Some very impor iaiit business is to be transacted. Union Men For Tags only The unionism of some union men can be measured by the tags. In other words, they are willing to sacrifice their unionism for the sake of the dinky little tag that may come with a chunk of "scab" chewing to bacco or a sacti of "scab" smoking tobacco. "I-can't chew that union terbacker," says one union man. "I got ter chew 'Horsehoof or 'Bootleg' or 'Stir.' I just can't chew none of them union terbackers." And then he calls for a "scab" to bacco and digs off the tag and chucks it away in his pocket with infinitely more care than he pockets his Week's wages. - That kind of a union man thinks more of the cheap tag on his "scab" tobacco than he does of his union ism. It is the same way with the smoker. There are plenty of good union smok ing tobaccos made. But there is a cheap little tag that goes with most of the tobacco put out by the "scab" em ploying tobacco trust, and the union man thinks more of that dinky little tag than he does of standing by his fellow unionists who happen to be em ployed in tobacco factories and are striving to better their condition. The unionism with a. tag on it isn't worth a tinker's dam. Neither is the union man who has that kind of union ism. Just think of an alleged union man sacrificing his unionism for a tobacco tag. When he gets seven million of the tin tags he can trade 'em off for a pair of cotton socks,, or a buggy whip Study Both Sides of the Case There are two sides to every labor controversy your side and the em ployer's side. Don't forget this important fact. It may save you a lot of trouble, as well as prevent considerable suffering on the part of your family. Whenever your union has a misun derstanding with your employer, don't begin to cuss the bosses. Stop and think it all over. It is barely possible that the right is not wholly on your side. . Go to the boss and talk it over. Pre sent your side of the case and listen to his side. Then invite him to view "it from your standpoint while you get over and view it from his standpoint. It won't hurt anything to do this, and it may do both of you a world of good. There is scarcely a brtakeman on the railroad but what thinks he could give the general manager cards and spades WILL BE REPRESENTED. Central Labor Union Will Send a Good Delegate. At the last meeting of the Central Labor Union Mr. J. B. Mickel was elected a delegate ' .to represent the body at the coming meeting of the American Federation of Labor at San Francisco in November. In order to defray the expenses of the delegate it was decided to give an entertainment and Messrs. Evans, Maupin and' Bush were appointed a committee to ar range for the entertainment The com mittee will be ready to report next Tuesday night, and the entertainment will be held within a few days there after. A. L. Bixby, the Journal's poet-philosopher, and Mr. Sands, the well known cartoonist and "chalk talker," have kindly tendered their services. Others' will be drafted, tfnd a program of unusual interest will be offered. The program will be just long enough, and not too long, and at its conclusion an orchestra will tune up and all who so desire may dance for an hour or two. Every trades union in the city should take an active interest in this' matter, and the proceeds should be large enough to defray Mr. Mickel's expenses and leave a neat balance for the treas ury of the Central Labor Union. , Mr. Mickel will not receive any large sum he will receive only his actual ex penses while in Slan Francisco. But he will represent the central body with ability. This section of the country has not received sufficient considera tion at the hands of the national body, and it will be Mr. Mickel's mission to convince the national officers that is high time they got busy in the mid dle west. -.-- A full program and all particulars will be made public shortly. TO THE POINT. Short and Crisp Advice to Union Men Everywhere.' If the members of organized labor would insist half as strongly for the or a box of toothpicks. And yet there are thousands of union men in tha country some of them in Lincoln, Ne brasica, U. S. A. who betray their unionism every day forHhat sort of a bribe. ' ' Just walk into anyone of the lead ing (Cigar scores of the city and laxe a loon through the showcase. ,' For every box bearing the union cigar makers' label you'll see ten without it, Seventy-five per cent of the cigars retailed in Lincoln are made by the tobacco trust, and the tobacco trust is notoriously the enemy of organized la bor. Seventy-five per cent yea, more than that of the smoking and chew ing tobacco sold in Lincoln is made oy this union hating, "scab", employ ing tobacco trust. ' And men who claim to be union men go right ahead ignoring the labeled goods and buying the product of the trust that is doing its best to destroy unionism, - Is It any wonder that the Parry gang is bowling over the unions' onej by one? Is it any wonder that the wage earning classes are up against it every , day in the year? The union man who buys a "scab" cigar is an enemy to unionism. The ' union man who buys "scab" chewing tobacco is giving aid and comfort fa the enemies of union labor. The union man who sells his unionism for a mis erable little tag or coupon, isn't worth hellroom from a union standpoint.- " For God sake, for your children's sake and for your own sake, Mr. Union Man, put a higher price on your union ism. than a dinky little tag. on managing the property. Same way in the print shop the men nearly al-' ways imagine they could make the business pay better than the manager does. Same way in the newspaper of fice. The night police reporter always has plans that would make the paper known from ocean to ocean, "but the pinheaded managing editor is too nar row to give the plans a trial. : ... The average employe thinks he isn't getting all that is coming to him, and is cocksure the employer is making too big a profit off of the employe'3 work. It may be, however, that while the employe is figuring what he Is go ing to buy with his week's salary, the boss is lying awake nights trying to figure out where'n thunder he is going to raise the money to meet the weekly payroll. Study both sides of the situation. It will broaden your minds, even if it does not change it. label upon the goods they purchase as they do for a reasonable day's work,' the necessity for strikes would ' be largely diminished. The label will secure more pay and shorter hours, without a resort; to the strike method. Kansas City Labor Herald. ; A GOOD SCHEME. The Union Pacific Gives Its Passengers . the News. The Union Pacific railroad company, in response to a genuine demand, has decided to issue a bulletin news service for the benefit of its passengers. It will be posted twice a day in typewritten form in the buffet car so that the pas-, sengers may always be kept in. close touch with the progress of, events. Through wireless telegraphy the same result has been reached on the ocean steamers. . l It goes to show the universal hunger for news, the nearness of the people of the world to each other and the ex treme interest, which each one feels not only ' in the doing of his neigh bors, but the larger movements of the ' government. , It . is that very instinct, that is bringing the whole world into closer relations, that is bringing about an era of better feeling and that will ultimately tend to lessen misunder standings which are so often based upon false or inadequate information. It is somewhat "remarkable that it has been left for a western road to in troduce this innovation. There is liti tie doubt that it will fill a "long-felt want" and that the plan will be eagerly copied by other railroads which are bidding for public favor and doing everything possible to increase tha . comfort of those who patronize them. Journal, Portland, Ore. PX)OOCXX)CXXXXXXXxDOCXOOOCO X , - - ... . . Q J . i, i l-i A m U 1 Ol-t . l . O- iTho union is the only-Instrument-Q that tiie laborer has for enforcing 0 , division of the fund (riven to the 01 .employer in trust and now the em O , ploynrs have organized to destroy O.- -tha union.-William J. Bryan. - CCCJO.'COOOOOOOOOOOCXDOOOOOOO r