c
-.
THE
Patronize
The Wa geworker I
Advertisers
A Newspaper with a Mission and without a Muzzle that is published in the Interest of Wageworkers Everywhere.
"VOL 1
lilXCOL.N, NEBRASKA, MAIICII 24, 1903
WAGE WORK
. ' ' ' ' ,p2-:- ' . i
Beef Tt tist Hits
The Toilers
A dispatch to the Chicago Record
Herald, under date of Kansas City,
March 12, says:
"Cuthbert Powell, coirimercial editor
of. the Journal, and for more than a
quarter of a century in close touch
with the packing house and live stock
interest of the west, has prepared an
article, based on accurate figures to
feliow that Commissioner Carlield was
in error when ho reoortcd that pack
rs make a pioIU of on:; yy cents a
head.
"Air. Powell's investigation shows
that the average net piofit to the
puckers, Instoad of 2' per cent on the
pilce of the cat tie, is $7.11 a head, or
15 per cent on the price of cattle,
srnd that this piofit is turned over
every two to four weeks twelve to
twenty-i'our times a year.
" 'Of course,' says Mr. Powell, 'all
cattle do not kill out alike, some gross
ing; more than others, fhey net all
the way from fifty-two to sixty-two
pounds to the hundred pounds in clear
meat, the latter being; the percentage
for choice export steers.
" 'The following figure!? arc based
upon tho year's killing of a big west
ern packing plant, representing all
grudes coming to It in that time, and
ate eminently fair. Including as many
or more cheap and medium cattle as
better ones:
Value of the Offal
"Slaughter offal of cattle and its
market valuo:
r. ,
Texnns, av., cured 70112. 50 8.75
Colorados, av., cured. . .75lt).75j 8.0S
Cows, av., cured I5010.25j 5.12 Va
Bulls, av., cured SO; O.OOj 7.20
Yield of Fats
"This gives an average of $7.32 per
heud. The following shows the yield
of fats from a week's killing of 6,000
nutive steers averaging 1,205 pounds;
crude fats, 86 pounds; finished prod
uct, 69 pounds:
a. , .
C a
S o
3 a.
SB?
v la a
,14:8.00 .11.12
!2!!!.2r. I 2.31
U9!S.625j 1.63
rt
lll'4.623! .50
Stearine
Stearine (extra)
Oleo oil, Nos. 1 and 2
Tallow
"Total value per head, $3.56.
"This yield includes all the trim
ming fats and those from the tongue,
neck, tripe, etc.
"The horns average two pounds in
weight; No. 1 horns are worth $275
per ton; No. 2, $1S5; No. 3, $100. The
average is $186.66. The average pair
of horns weighs ihreo-quarters of a
pound, worth about 9 1-3 cents a pound,
or 7 cents per heud for the horns.
Other Returns
The other offal is represented as
follows:
Value
pet
head, cents.
16.200
3,125
10.800
.625
8.400
1.200
2.400
. 6.560
30,000
1.500
3.500
3.500
13.200
4.720
'" .880
2.000
6.350
6.500
2.500
1.150
40.000
.30.500
.$ 7.32
. 5.56
. 2.26
Weight,
pounds.
Blood . . 91
Switches 1
Neatfopt oil IV
Hoofs 6
Skulls 71
.laws 1
Knuckles 2
Shins 2
Glue 3.1
Dladder ' . , Each
Heart Each -
l.lver Each
Cheek meat 4.4
Weasand 6.3
Ox lips 7
Tongue meat '. . . 1
Sweetbreads 31
Tripe 1
Tails 2
Drains ;.'... .77
Tongues ..."3.1
Casings
Average value of hides
Average value of fats
Average value of offal
For Mayor of Lincoln, Frank W. Brown,
Successful Business Man and Fair Employer
The Wageworker is always ready to give its reasons for adopt
ing any line of action. It will always be found ready t oppose any
thing bad that may crop out in unionism, and it will always.be
found ready to defend the right, no matter how unpopular it may
be. There are no strings attached to this 'humble little newspaper.
Just now The Wageworker is supporting Frank W. Brown,
the democratic candidate for mayor, not because he is a democrat,
but rather in spite of it, and is quite ready to give its reasons for so
doing reasons that should be apparent to every union man within
the corporate limits of the city of Lincoln.
Frank W. Brov.n is one of the largest employers of labor in
the city. Apart from the public franchise corporations there are not
to exceed two, or three at most, employers in the city who pay out
more in wages each week than the concerns managed by Mr. Brown.
If there is a union of men in any line of work needed by Mr.
Brown, his employes must belong to that union. The Lincoln Sash
and Door Mills, of which company Mr. Brown is secretary-treasurer,
is a union mill from cellar to skylight, and the seventy or more
millmcn there employed are all members of the Carpenters' Union.
The teamsters employed by the F. W. Brown Lumber Co., are all
members of the Teamsters' Union. The painters and finishers arc
union men. .-''..
Mr. Brown is in hearty sympathy with the principles of union
ism, and has shown his sympathy by his actions. He not only recog
nizes the "closed shop," but does so voluntarily.
The business enterprises in which Mr. Brown is engaged pay
out upwards of $1,100 a week in wages, 95 per cent of which is paid
out to union men, the balance to men working in lines of industry
not organized.
The excise question seems to be the question of paramount in
terest in some quarters. Mr. Drown's record as a member of the
Speaking of "Experience" "
This is a Good Sample
"Frank W. Brown, the democratic candidate for mayor,' says
the F.vening Xews, "has absolutely no experience in municipal af
fairs." Perhaps not, but we are willing to wager a big red apple that
Frank W. Brown is too good a business man to erect a building and
install a costly lighting plant on ground that he neither owns nor
has a lease upon.
"Mr. Hutton," says the Evening News, "has had six years'
experience in municipal affairs and is competent to attend to the
city's business."
Well, there is room for doubt. Mr. Hutton is chairman of
the lighting committee, and poses before the people as the ''father
of the municipal lighting plant. In fact, Mr. IIutton's,name appears
on a huge tablet adorning the front of the building in which the
municipal lighting plant is to be installed. He has had more to do
with that business than any other member of the city council.
The people have a right to expect that he would carefully safe
guard their interests. Now whatare the facts?
The municipal lighting station has been erected upon a lot to
which the city has no deed, and upon which it has no lease. The
lot is owned by a private individual, and it is within his power to.
buld a fence nine thousand feet high all around it if he wants to
and is willing to spend the money that way.
Any business man of ordinary intelligence and capacity would
have known better than to erect a building on another man's lot
without first securing a lease thereon. A public servant of ordi
nary shrewdness and ability would have first secured a deed or a
lease before sppnding the taxpayers' money building a municipal
building on a piece of ground platted and lying within the city
iiriiits. ' '
It is fortunate for Lincoln that the lot upon which the municipal
lighting plant stands is owned by a public-spirited gentleman who
would not under any consideration try to hold the city up. But
what if that lot were owned by a "shark" who wanted to squeeze
the city? Why, he could make the city pay him anywhere from $500
to $'v000 for a lot that is not really worth more than $75.
"Six years of experience,' indeed! "Competent to look after the
interests of the city," forsooth ! Any schoolboy would have known
better than to do a trick like that. ,
And yet our esteemed contemporary, the Evening News, would
have us believe that Mr. Hutton is the only candidate in sight com
petent to handle the- affairs of this city. Lincoln would be in an
almighty bad fix if that happened .to be the case.
Total $13.14
"It Is plain from these figures why
the little houses can not prosper. The
small offal and the fats yield the big
houses a proflt of $7.82 per head, which
is mostly lost by the little killer. And
when the value of the cured hide is
added, the large packing companies
receive & gross Income from the side
products of $15.14. Native steers on
the hoof, average 1,205 pounds, and
dressing 58 per cent In killing, make
'700 pounds of clear meat., were sell
ing on this market $4.75 per hundred
weight, which would make their cost
nt the yard on tho hoof $57.23. Taking
from this the value of the offal, shown
above to he $15.14, and the cost of
the net carcass to the packer Is $42.09.
"Now for thlH carcass, the same date,
puckers were receiving an average of
7 cents per pound. This would give
for tho 700 pounds of meat $52.50 for
the average. Killing, the cost .of which
approximately is 50 cents per head,
leaves $52 net for the carcass. De
ducting from this $42.0f, the cost of
tho live f Imal, after allowing $15.14,
the value t the offal, and there re
mains a g.oss profit to the packer of
$9.91 per head.
"But there are the general expense
of the plant and extraordinary disburse
ments to be accounted for, and $1.50
per head on cattle will be allowed for
this, which Is a very liberal estimate,
Still there remains $7.41 per head net
proflt to the packers.
"Applying the average profit of $7.41
on cattle, 20 cents on hogs, 50 cents on
sheen and 50 cents on calves, to the
total number, of head killed in a year
by the combine packing houses. Elves
a total proflt of $47,727,412. Figuring
upon the total capitalization, undoubt
edly heavily watered, of $110,500,000,
we have 43 per cent."
. -, ' , 7 '
' The Woman's Union Label League will give a recep
tion to and entertainment for the workingmen of the city
at Central Labor Union hall, 1034 O street, Monday even
ing, March 27.. ; Union men are urged to be present and
bring your wives, for there will be plenty to arouse their
unionism. Non-union men" are urged to be present with
their wives, for there will be much "to instruct them in the
principles of unionism.. There will be an entertaining pro
gram, and the social features will be worth while. , Some
thing unusually interesting is promised but just what it is
can not be revealed, here. rThe women having the social in
charge insist on keeping it a deep, dark secret. Let every
workingman feel that he is especially invited. There is no
charge for admission. ;-,-.. "
THE EXPECTED HAPPENED.
Of course the .bill compelling street railway companies to -enlarge
the scope of transfers was killed.. Nobody expected anything
else. The committee on municipal corporations listened to the pleas
of the wage earners with owlish-wisdom and then quietly recom
mended the bill for ' indefinite postponement. The welfare of the
street railway companies was of paramount importance. T'ell with
the workingman ! He can not hand out free passes or subscribe big
funis to campaign funds. ' -.
Every law asked for by the laboring men of Nebraska has
been turned down in the legislature. Clinton R. Lee, who holds a
very one-sided contract with the state for the labor of convicts,
got what he wanted, but the !aboringmen got it in the neck. The
street railway companies had more influence with the legislators
than the workingmen had, consequently ,the street railway com
panies can go right ahead working their graft. The railroad man
agers can hand out annuals and provide long and hilarious junkets
therefore tthe. railroad , employes can whistle for damages sustained
while -discharging their duties, for the employers' liability act was
indefinitely' postponed on the motion of. Senator Laerlif&pQ"
duced it "by request" and killed it as a small measureof jet jirn Wi
the annuaj !t,pas)5gahe..Jrec)!ejved as , a ."xourteironwtUe, railr$j$l
managers. ' ' ' '
Everything the corporations have , wtfhtedjrtias been granted
excise board for two terms is an open book. He has always stood
for strict enforcement of the excise laws and rules, and the records
of the board show that he secured the revokation of the only license
ever revoked in Lincoln for violation of the excise laws. It was
in the case of M. L. Meyer, who operated a saloon in the Lindell
hotel. Meyer violated the excise laws and rules several times, and
in spite of warnings persisted in keeping open after hours. Mr.
Brown insistd on disciplining the offending saloonkeeper. The case
was taken to court, and a conviction secured. Mr. Brown secured
a copy of the court record, and when the excise board met submitted
the record. The minutes, of the board show the following entr3r :
"Moved by Brown that license of M. L.' Meyer be revoked."
"Carried." . - -
The license was revoked and Meyer was closed down. Further
more he did not again open up.
Mr. Brown's record as a business man and as a citizen is a
guarantee that he will play no favorites, but will stand for the
strictest enforcement of the law. His success in managing his own
business affairs is a guarantee that he possesses the ability to man
age the large affairs of the city of Lincoln. Personally, he is
:iffable, courteous and generous, and any man having business to
transact with the major will be assured of a respectful hearing and
fair treatment.
The Wageworker supports Mr. Brown because of his attitude
on the labor question, because of his ability as a business man, and
because of his record as favoring the strict enforcement of the laws
and rules pertaining to the saloons.
Lincoln needs a business man as mayor, because the business
of a municipality like Lincoln is large and varied and needs the
careful supervision of a man of large affairs.
Organized labor should rally to the support of Mr. Brown for
the reasons above outlined. .
them, and everything opposed by the corporations has been side
tracked. That is the brief and shameful record of the present legis
lature of Nebraska. The laboring man has been ignored, just as he
alwavs has been, and iust as he alwavs will he unless he nuits his
partisan foolishness and goes to voting in his" own interests in-
.... i r . i a i r i .
sieau oi ine interests oi nis oppressors.
TIME TO CALL A HALT.
That's an bid and a sterotyped headline, of course. But just
now it is pertinent. It is time to call a halt on some things in this
city that are ruining boys and girls. Look here: '
One evening last week a little girl not over 15 years old, reeled
and staggered along South Thirteenth street in company with a cig-aret-smoking
whippersnapper of a boy who should have been safe in
bed. The girl was drunk, and her escort seemed to think it was a
good joke. j . '
' Where did the girl get the liquor that intoxicated her? There
isn't a saloon in town where either she or the boy could have secured
a drink.
The answer is as easy as falling off a log at a soda fountain!
' This is an evil that is growing at an alarming rate in this city.
It is an evil that must be regulated, and at once. It is an insidious
evil that is piling up more grief and woe for parents than can ever
be assuaged. , "
There are drug store soda fountains in this city that are cater
ing to this class of trade and the trade is growing and very profit
able. Boys and girls.frequent these places, and thinking it smart t,o
"wink at the man," toss off concoctions that would soon put an old
stager under the table. The awful consequences that naturally fol
low such a practice must be left to the imagination. This thing is
growing worse every day, and its increasing number of victims come
from a class heretofore immune. It is a class that the saloons could
not reach. It is so easy, is becoming so "fashionable," and is so
"chic" that the results are beginning to manifest themselves in the
increased swagger of boys and girls, a growing disregard for par
ental authority, poorer work in the schools, and in time will wreck
homes and bring the gray hairs of fathers and mothers sorrowing to
the grave. The wine room, of which we see and hear so much in
other cities, is mild in its injurious effects compared with' the un
bridled soda fountain that concocts beverages loaded with alcohol.
Innocent girls are led astray, mere boys create an appetite that will
make them physical, mental and moral wrecks, and women who
would feel highly insulted if asked to go into a saloon or a wine room
think nothing of lining up at a soda fountain and drinking "soda"
that would tickle the palates of the most confirmed drunkard in
Christendom.
These be solemn facts, ladies and gentlemen. The Wageworker
known whereof it speaks. It can and if necessary, will give facts
and incidents to prove its every assertion. It can tell of an exem
plary citizen who came home to supper and found his wife drunk
on beverages drank at a soda fountain. It can tell of a woman who
apologized to a friend because her breath smelled of brandy, explain
ing that she had-just taken a drink at "Blank's" soda fountain. It
can tell of little girls barely in their 'teens frequently these places
and drinking drinks that were loaded with alcoholic preparations
disguised under high-sounding names. It can. tell of boys who have
taken their first lessons in drunkenness at these soda fountains and
are already well started on the downward road of unbridled dissipa
tion. Everybody who has given the naatter any consideration knows
that these things are true.
It is time to call a halt ! r
Too Previous
The shade of Warren Hastings
strolled sadly along the banks of the
Styx.
"Why mournest thou?" queried the
shade of John Law.
"Alas, that 1 should have missed
such a great opportunity."
"What opportunity did you miss?"
queried the shade of the Mississippi
Bubbler.
"The opportunity that would ' have
come to me had I lived a few hundred
years later and been allowed to dodge
the facts by submitting myself to the
investigation of a commissioner."
Pulling a copy of the Stygian Daily
News from its ghostly pocket, the
shade of Hastings turned to the Wash
ington date line . and resumed its re
reading of the Garfield beef trust report.
The Excuse
"I did hope that the late congress
would do something for the people."
"Perhaps it would have done so had
it not been so busy doing things to
the people."
Experienced
"Look here, Biggsby; did you say 1
was a liar?" '
"No, I jjid not;. That's not .what I
What did you say?
"I merely said that youp, assertions
werr en i'ijatj. with the ''gentlemanly
agreements of .the railroad- managers."
-That's all rigtt. But if you had
called me a liar we would have had
trouble right here."
Brain Leaks
True love is implicit trust.
Piety consists of doing, not of look
ing. The more we put Into life the more
we get out of it.
It takes more than dogma and creed
to make a Christian.
We strengthen ourselves, by the
exercise of lifting up others.
Satan wastes no time scheming to
get hold of a heart full of hate.
The happiest man is he who makes
the best he can of the worst ho gels.
Some of our greatest joys are re
calling the sorrows we have outlived.
It is impossible to make a moun
tain of "dollars high enough to reach
heaven.
The giving of a kind word often
accomplishes more than the gift of
much gold.
Some men train their consciences
to approve of evil, and then calmly In
sist that they are doing right.
The greatest reformer and teacher
the world has ever known never car
ried a "big stick," never swaggered,
never insured peace by preparing for
war and never posed.
. "We think baby, will make a great
politician V . " JT
"Why." ':- -
"Well, he crawls out. of everything
so easily -'v ! v '- " ' ," , ,
The oldij s6me "women get the -more
girlish thy try'to act. .. -.-v-.-v., vi,
Aaonymotis Critic
Given an AnsTrcc
The Wageworker is in receipt of the following letter from a !
man who-, lacks the courage to sign his name, and while the anony-t
mous letter deserves no attention, The Wageworker feels impelled
to discuss this one for the reason that it contains a few things A
worthy of consideration:" - ' .
"Chicago, Ills., March 14, To the Editor of The Wageworker:;
I happened to get one of your papers while in Lincoln, and have
read with much interest some of the articles, but have been look- .
ing in vain for some good advice to the laboring man. . Unionism is
all right in a lawful form, but the lawlessness to which the' labor
unions stoop ought to be righted by the strong arm of the law.
"Infraction of the law should be punished promptly and effect'
tively everywhere. A man has a legal right to quit work, but no '
man is justified in preventing another from taking his vplace" by- v
using force not in this or any other country. -
"Another thing: Where do you find the most deadbeats? ln ;--the
ranks of the labor unions. All men should be made to feel their
responsibilities for any debts contracted. Can you point to the labor '
union that has a law prohibiting membership to a man who is a;
dead beat? I do, not know of any. r ' V ' '
"It is this that 'keeps unions in disfavor, and will continae to ;
do'so until such dead beats are weeded out and refused member-'
ship. If such creatures are carried ' on the roster then the ' union '
ought to stand good for them and pay their bills. The, honest
members necessarily suffer for it. 4oth in and out of the unions tl
many of the honest members owning homes, stores, etc.,' are beaten vs
by that class, as well as the well-to-do. , - ; , '
' . "FELLOlWr MECHANIC"
In the, first place, this anonymous letter writer, is not honest,
because the letter is proof that it was written by a man much' more
accustomed to the use of a pen than to the use of a tool. ' Secondly.
the letter was written on scratch paper such as is used in all bust-'
ness offices. But the question is this :- Does the ; anonymous letter U
writer state facts? , , 4,
He says, "Infraction of the law should be punished "promptly
and effectively everywhere." Nobody denies it, but a lot of men
insist that the law should be enforced against the workmgmaa" who .vj
resists oppression but not enforced against his oppressors. The ".,,
workingman who violates a court injunction goes to Jail without t'
a hearing; the beef trust magnate who snaps his fingers at a court
injunction is not molested. And. yet men profess to wonder Why,
workingmen do not entertain a proper respect for our courts. , ' ? .
The "lawlessness of labor unions" is a favorite topic with the '
opponents of labor unions, but the lawlessness of the trusts ,and
corporations is never mentioned by them. The rich and powerful ' v
of France raised a great hue and cry about the first edition of Jean , i
Jacques Rosseau, and laughed to scorn the complaints of . the poor .f?
toilers. The second edition of Rosseau's book was bound , in the p. ;
skins of those who laughed at and denounced the first edition. What '
element is it in the labor unions that is guilty of assaults, riotings A .
pnd general lawlessness? The element imported into-this country ..ipt,
by conscienceless capitalists to beat the American workingmen down 4 ;
to the peasant level of Russia, HHungary, Finland and P.qtand. f
Riots, arson, assault and murder harvest in labor troubles is Yeop4 f ''
from the seed sown, by the men who mourn os bitterly about the
"lawlessness of labor unions."" .The seed was of their own : plant-1 .
mg: why should they mourn over the harvest?' And this ("law
lessness," now attributed to the labor ; junions..'would be a. thousand
times worse than it is were it not rurhed hv the restratnino influence
of organization. , j.
"No man should be justified," says this anonymous letter writer. .
"in preventing another man from taking' his place bousing force'
There is no room for argument there. But our anonymous corres- V
pondent means that a union man has no right to use and means, no ',
matter how peaceable, to prevent a "scab" from, taking his place. . "
And that's where we differ. This is a free . country, to be sure, but
as a citizen our correspondent has no right to. maintain upon hi p s
premises anything that will injure the health or the property of
his neighbor. Having bettered the condition of all classes of labor f
by organizatio nand self-sacrifice, the anion man has a right to use i -peaceable
means to persuade a non-union man from stepping in and
overthrowing all the good results obtained.: t
This anonymous correspondent then . asserts point blank that - .
the most dead beats are "found in the ranks of the labor "unions."
The assertion is absolutely false. By t coincidence the editor of The :-y
Wageworker was talking about that very thing with a prominent
Lincoln business man the morning the above letter was recciveds'.'l- -That
business man was emphatic , in the statement, that his best ' :r
and most prompt paying customers were the laboring men of the
city. "They pay their bills promptly," said this business man. H
"Sometimes they go in a little too deep and have trouble in getting i V
out, but as a rule they keep well paid up much better than the '
so-called well-to-do classes. The latter get mad if we present a ' . v ..
bill to them, but think nothing of letting one drag along for months." 'w , "
The Wageworker is quite willing to let the business men of Lincoln
decide the question raised by our anonymous correspondent. ,
VV by should labor unions, more than fraternal societies, churches
and secret societies, teach prompt payment of. obligations? The
Wrageworker can name a dozen Lincoln church members who have
taken ad vantage of the bankruptcy law within the last two years.
Can our anonymous correspondent, name one union man who has?
We venture to say . that the average' labor . union would take more
drastic measures than the average? church in dealing -with a member
guilty of fraud.' But neither the abor union nor the church shouRi
be made an agency for the collection of bad debts. Every labor
union's obligation includes a paragraph ito the effect that the initiate
will not wrong a fellow member or see hi mor her wronged, and w v
warrant our anonymous correspondent that the average union will s,.
I'nforce strict compliance with that obligation. .'.:... ft-
The trouble is that the opopnents of unionism insist on judging
the unions by their worst instead of by their average. . We warrant
he can fine more dead beats, dead heads, swindlers, thieves andj.
porch climbers in his political party than he can find in any labor;,''
union in America. But we opine he isn't damning his party on that v
account. ' '- ,
. ' ' , , . ... ' I x
1
0
Frank W. Brown employs all union men in the Lincoln 0
Sash and Door Mills.. He .employs .all .union teamsters "
in his extensive lumber yards. In his various enterprises 0
he pays out upwards of $1,000 a week wages to union men, " 0
to say nothing of the wages paid to men who work at occu- 0 -pations
not organized. Frank W. Brown puts upwards of 0
$60,000 a year into the channels of Lincoln business by rea- &f1
son of his extensive pay roll, and more than four-fifths of 0;.
this enormous sum is paid to union men. Union men in f
particular, and workingmen in general, should, take thi : ;
interesting fact into consideration when voting for men. to ; -conduct
the affairs of the city. a'
-, ' - ; V '"' ' ' -t ", f
We dp. not knoj&what ynion labor will aqjn Coloradcfwhco' tj",,
Jime comes to inject anqjthvr,iyrncyhtlt'wefare almighty.sure that,
we know what union laborought to do. Ancjj what jfc ought'ip do V
would he a plenty.o,tlebu1ic.h. of J'arryites tbatif ejifiolatei every .
known law of honesjy decency and fairness inpt .-r vto-t 1 at Alva
Adams out of the governorship.' ' r s . - ,
M
4 m