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A Newspaper with a Mission and without a Muzzle that is published in the Interest of Wageworkers Every where. '
I . - . y '
VOL. 2 LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, FEBRTJAEY 23, 190( NO. 40
' . . s : 1 ' -4 . - - .
FROM THE UNION STANDPOINT
Ministerial Union Listens to a Union Man's
Presentation of the Claims of Unionism
Lincoln Preachers Show by Word and Ac
tion That They are Friendly to Trades
Unionism Only One Discordant Note
Heard.
Last Monday morning the Ministerial Union
met in regular session at the City Librae, the
attendance being larger than usual on account
of the announcement tliat Rev. Charles Stelzle
would .talk on "Trades Unionism from the
Standpoint of a Trades Unionist." If trades
unionists who heard Mr. Stelzle Sunday after
noon were pleased with his adress, they would
havo rejoiced even "more had they heard his
Address before the ministerial union. It was
i, square, fair, earnest and forceful presenta
tion of the claims of trades unionism, and it
hiit' a splendid effect on the, minds of the min
isters present. Mr. Stelzle frankly admitted
that he spoke as a trades unionist.
11 v. Mr. Marshall, whose views are well
knu vn to Lincoln unionists, struck the only
discordant, note, lie doesn't believe that a
Christian workingman should belong to a labor
union in which non-Christian workingmen hold
membership,, and he repeated his position
Again. But his position was an isolated one,
for none of the ministers took a stand with
him.
"All that is Utopian," declared Mr. Stelzle.
"Let the employers, with his supposedly bet
ter information, his better advantages and his
better opportunities, take the lead, and don't
exjwet the workingman to make all the conces
sions and all the advances."
The Monday Evening News coptained a good
Abstract of the address, and it is here given:
, Rev. .Charles Stelzle of Chicago, who ad
dressed the men's mass meeting at the Oliver
theatre yesterday, read , a paper before the
ministerial association .this morning on "The
Ethical Value of Trades Unionism," and a
number of the preachers entered into a discus
sion on the subject. A motion presented by
Rev. Samuel Z. Batten that the association-express
their appreciation to Rev. Stelzle for the
address was carried. The paper met with the
Approval of the preachers present.
"Nothing is ever gained by mere denuncia
tion of the trades union," began the speaker.
"The time has come for a saner study of what
Carlyle has called 'the universal vital prob
lem of the world.' Ordinarily trades unionism
is judged by a newspaper item which has its
birth in an insignificant strike event, but which
was nurtured by the irresponsible reporter of
a sensational newspaper.
"Sometimes the story of tyranny or lawless
ness practiced by some trades unions is true,
but this lawlessness is not an essential part of
trades unionism, any more than class rushes or
hazing are essential parts of the college cur
riculum. I frankly confess that labor unions
are ,not ideal.
"It is sometimes forgotten that the labor
union is not the labor question. If every labor
union in existence were to be wiped out, the
labor question would still be present, and that,
too, in a more aggravated form than it is to
day. It cannot be denied that in. spite of its
shortcomings, trades unionism has brought us
nearer a solution of the industrial problem. It
is easier and far more satisfactory to deal with
men collectively than to attempt to deal with
them as individuals. As a matter of fact, in
this day of great corporate interests, individual
contracting has. practically gone out of prac
tice. , Furthermore, if workingmen were to be
denied the right to organize and to elect rep
resentatives to care for their interests, such
denial could only result in a state of individ
ualism which would end in chaos and anarchy.
It is the fact that this right still belongs to
them that makes our American life so free
. from the so-called anarchistic propaganda, and
which accounts for the small response on the
part of Ameircan workingmen to such appeals.
It seems almost superfluous to add that trades
unionism does not endorse the plan for the dis
ruption of our American form of government.
Nowhere can be found more loyal citizens than
in the ranks of organized labor.
, "Trades unionism is not a labor trust. A
trust excludes the many for the benefit of the
few. Trades unionism opens wide its door
to every workingman iti the craft, frequently
reducing or abrogating the, initiation fee in
order to make it easier for the candidate. A
trust is a close corporation; a trades union dili
gently seeks new . members. Its officers are
not high salaried officials. They are usually
tinder-paid, when one considers the character
of the work and the other demalnds which are
made upon them. The business agent of a la
bor union receives, as his salary only, the rate
of wages which prevails in this craft
"The principle of the so-called closed shop
is accepted in every-day business life. The
' dealer will agree with the manufacturer to
handle only a certain kind of goods. ' This is
considered perfectly legitimate. Why does it
seem unconstitutional when precisely the same
bargain is entered into between the employer
and his employes? Logically, then, the real
open shop is the union shop, because any one
may enter it.
"The trades tinion is unincorporated,' so
that an employer cannot hold it to its contract-
while heJiimself is liable to damages. This is
not true. Tfxis well known that an nnincor
. noratcd concerSvcan neither sue nor be sued,
(so that the emnT5vI and the trades 'union
are on an equality before the law in this re
spect. , "
A successful, suit tor damages would prac
tically disrupt the organization. If all the em
ployers were absolutely honest, the incorpora
tion of the union might be insisted upon, but
for the reason given, organized labor is nat
urally cautious about taking a step which
would bring it practically no advantages, while
it would lay itself open to the assaults of its
enemies. .
"The right to run one's business as he pleases
must have its limitations. Great changes in the
conception of personal property rights have
come as part of the democratic evolution. In
some respects a man can run hs' business ashe
pleases, but in other respects public opinion,
and frequently matter of employment, it is be
ing recognized that there are two parties in
stead of one. A man may do as he pleases only
so 'far as that liberty does not injure the well
being of his fellow man. One may not set
fire to his own house, nor may he exercise, that
privilege which might injure somebody else."
A discussion followed, and each minister who
spoke on the paper first expressed himself as
being wholly in sympathy with the views of
the writer. " "
"I am in sympathy with the writer," de
clared Rev. N. S. Ilaynes in his three minutes'
discussion of the paper. "Why is a non-union
man depreciated and called a scab?.
A non-union man is allowed in some places
to work with union men," declared the writer
of the paper in answer to the question of Rev.
Haines. "It. angers the union man to have a
scab take his place at a machine for this rea
son. It is for the scab, as well as for the bet
terment of the working men, that a union is
formulated. When scabs take. the place of
union men they cause, in many cases, the union
men to lose the strike."
"It is my duty," -declared Rev. J. L. Mar
shall, jr., in his discussion of the paper, "to
look after men, that are members of a union,
and to. see that they are Christians, and to also
see that they are given work.. I should do this,
in the best way I can. It is the duty of all of
us ministers to look after union men and help
them in any way possible. to lead a better life.
The heads of these unions, that is many of them,
are good Christian men. It is my opinion that
there should be organized a Christian labor
union, or that we as ministers should do as
much as possible to connect the unions with the
church." . .. .... f
"It would not be a wise step," declared Mr.
Stelzle, "to make the unions Christian organ
izations. The labor question in the last analy
sis is a moral question." .
Several other members of the association en
tered! into a discussion of the paper.
Rev. Mr. Batten made a short and earnest
plea for fairness and justice. "When they had
the trolley strike in Brooklyn Rev. Mr. Barrons
preached a sermon denouncing lawlessness and
demanding that it be put down with a strong
hand. I wrote and told him to preach another
sermon denouncing the lawlessness of the trol
ley company and the dishonesty of the men con
trolling it. And I told him that if he did not
do it lie was false to humanity, false to God
and false to himself."
Several ministers spoke on the paper, and all
were strong in their endorsements of it. Mr.
Stelzle said it was the most consistent minis
terial union meeting he had ever attended, be
cause it had confined itself absolutely to the
paper.
A PAIR OF ANARCHISTS.
One in Omaha and One in Russia, With Slightly
Different Bombs.
A few days ago a peasant in Russia threw
a bomb and blew a Russian general into etern
ity. .'...'
That was anarchy.
' On the same day a district judge in Omaha
enjoined union printers against using mora!
suasion in their efforts to win their strike.
The judge who issued that decree is a more
dangerous anarchist than the Russian peasant
who threw the bomb.
The' Russian anarchist tried to override the
law by the employment of force.
The Omaha judge tried to do' violence to the
law with a sacred weapon which the people
had placed in his own hand.
The .Russian . anarchist was impelled to the
deed by a hatred which had been inspired by
the damnable treatment accorded the peasants
by the Russian aristocracy.
The Omaha judge was inspired to his an
archistic act by long service as a fawning pup
py at the feet of .the monied aristocracy in Ne
braska. That's all .
Except that the Russian anarchist is entitlea
to better regard than the American judge who
teaches anarchy by violating the law which he
has sworn to uphold. Columbus (Neb.) Tele
gram. CLERKS GROWING UNEASY.
Ask Ministerial . Union to Help Them Get
Shorter Honrs of -Work.
At the Ministerial Union meeting last Mon
day Rev. Mr.-' Thomas called attention to the
fact that the clerks in the retail stores of the
city were compelled to work long hours on
Saturday. As a result many of them who want
ed to attend church Sunday morning wergun-
able to do so.
"I have bet
bring this ma
and ask it to
That is real
printers ask tin
shorter workda
ask the ministers1
workday? If they had waited for help from
that sources they would still be working ten
or eleven hours a day. "Not that the ministers
would not have helped for they would. But
the ministers are helpless when it comes to a
thing like that. The whole matter, rests with ,
the clerks. . They can get shorter hours if they
will go about it right. The way has been blazed
for them. The plan of campaign has been laid
out and successfully followed by scores of or
ganizations. Note that word ''organizations.'
Instead of whining around and asking the
ministers to help them, let the clerks exhibit
a' little backbone. Let them organize a retail
clerks' union and then make a concerted re
quest for shorter hours. Their request will have
the endorsement of 3,000 union men and women
and these represent the bulk of the purchas
ing power of the city. Let them unite and work
collectively for something instead of remaining
separated and begging as individuals for what
is due them as o. body. , .....
Now let us see if there are any retail clerks
in Lincoln who have the "sand" to take the
lead in organizing a local of the Retail Clerks'
Union. - - , -
THE WARFARE HURTS.
Woman's Home Companion Feeling-the Effects
of the Campan Against It.
The AVoman's Home 'Companion; published,
by Crowell & Co., Springfield, O., locked out
its printers last October. Then it secured, the
usual blanket injunction. Naturally the print
ers resented this action, and thev began a little
fight., . i '
Of course it is illegal to boycott, and print
ers wouldn't do anything illegal. Neither
would they violate an injunction. But there
is nothing illegal ,in pointing out your friends
and your enemies.' Crowell & Co. are enemies
of organized labor. This fact was made known.
The result hurts the Woman's Home Companion.-
Unsold copies by the car load are be
ing returned to the publishers.
Now Crowell & Co. are sending 20 , extra
copies free each month to newsdealers in order
to spur them up, and also increase the circula
tion for the "benefit" qf vdvertisers.
The printers have got the.' "rat" Woman's
Home Companion on the toboggan. Don't
boycott it but just tell youi union friends that
it is a "rat" publication. UMiat's ought to be
sufficient. ; - '"' r- ' --- r;zr---z
HE DIED A MILLIONAIRE.
Stetson, the Hat Manufacturer, Who Couldn't
Afford Union Wages.
John B. Stetson, the hat manufacturer, died
in Florida the other day. Mr. Stetson couldn't
afford to pay the scale of the union hatmakers.
It would ruin him and his business. He had
to keep figuring close all the time to- escape
bankruptcy, and if he acceeded to the demands
of the union hatmakers he would have to close
his factor'. ' , ,' .
But John B. Stetson died a millionaire three
times over. He had a palace in New York,
cottage at the sea shore, a private yacht and
automobiles. The poor '"scabs "who worked
in his open shop didn't have any of these
things. 1 They were almighty lucky to have
enough to eat and a place to sleep. But Mr.
Stetson lived in luxury.
And a lot of men who claim to be unionists
helped him live that w:ay. The Wageworker
charges that railroad men, who above all men
should be consistent unionists, made Stetson a
millionaire If you don't believe it look at the
hat of the next railroad man who is dressed up
in his good clothes. It's a cinch he is wearing
a "scab" Stetson hat.
A "RAT"-IJNG GOOD JOKE.
Everybody's. Magazine, a "Rat" Publication,
Makes an Apology.
The March number of "Everybody's Maga
zine," a "rat" publication issued .by the
Ridgeway-Thayer Co., and backed by the
Union Busters' Alliance, naively springs a good
joke. It was not intentional, and that is what
makes the joke so rich. In the 'Publishers' De
partment of the March issue 'Everybody's"
says: ' ''.,-,
In anticipation of the strike (printers')
Which began 'on January 1, the March issqe. of
Everybody's Magazine went to press on De
cember 28 "
It is to laugh! Went to press two months
ahead of time.
And then it came out ten days late!
Lmion printers could have got it out on time
and it would not have been necessary to go to
press on December 28 in order to. get out the
March issue ten days late in February.
VISITING NEWSPAPER MEN.
Nebraska . Press Association Will Meet in Lin
v coin Tuesday .and Wednesday.
The thirty-fourth annual convention of the
Nebraska Press association will be held in Lin
coln on Tuesday and Wednesday of nextweek.
A majority of the members are friends of or
ganized labor, and not a few of them are union
printers. The .local newspaper fraternity is
preparing to give them a royal good time. On
Tuesday evening the entire membership will
of the local fraternity at a big
at the Oliver, when Primrose's
Erels will be on the boards. The
Iwill be something worth going
.The management is. going to Od,
Kints. for the visiting newspaper
It means that the general public
to nnss,it. . See the mmstf-el show
and hear some new ones that will be sprung
"for the Faber shovers. .
On Wednesday evening John T. McCutcheon,
the. famous cartoonist, will deliver an illustrat
?ed lecture, and again the visitors will be the-.
. guests of the local newspaper men. The gen
eral public will be admitted for the small sum
' of 50 Cents per head.
A VERY PLAIN TRUTH.
.Rev. Mr. Stelzle Tells Ministers of Unfairness
of Daily5 Newspapers.
At the Ministerial Union meeting last Moi.
day a member asked , Rev. Mr. Stelzle if he
meant to say that the daily press was inimical
to the trades unions.
"As a rule, yes," was the instant reply. "Re
porters are looking'for good stories, and they
do., not always take the trouble to look below
the surface. As a ease in point let me point
out the Chicago Chronicle. It has been filling
its columns" for years with tirades against-the
trades unions: A few months ago its owner
showed up in his true light. You all know what
it is. I unhesitatingly say that the daily press,
as a general proposition, is unfair and unfriend
ly to organized labor. This is due largely to
the fact that the owners of the big dailies are
the men who are interested as employers in big
corporations'" , V ' ;
uHTnion men should ponder on this fact for a
little while, and then some. They can be as
sured of fair treatment Only from- the labor
press and an occasional daily that is run by
conscientious men, who ha ve no selfish ends to
serve. ' '
'RAT" BISCUITS AND THINGS.
National Biscuit Company Making a Splurge in
Lincoln Just Now. V
-,The National Biscuit Co., an unff-.ir and no
toriously "scab" concern, is just now making
some demonstrations in Lincoln for the purpose
of recovering some of its lost trade. The mer
chant who lends himself to the advertising
of this concern is not commending himself to
unionists. N
The National Biscuit Co. not only employs
"scab" labor, , but , it has injured Lincoln
in a business way. It is a soulless trust. Very
recently it closed its factory here, thus injur
ing the business interests of the city merely
because it could thereby save a few; dollars.
If 'the retail grocers of Lincoln as a body
haven't nerve enough to resent , such a blow
at the city, they deserve nothing bu"dirt":
from the cracker trust. - "
A DESERVED PROMOTION.
One of Lincoln's Staunch Woman Unionists
Takes Better Position in Omaha.
Miss Ethel Thorngate, a member of Lincoln
Typographical Union No. 209, has taken out
a traveling card and gone to Omaha, where she
has accepted a positionvas proofreader in the
Western Newspaper Union. Miss Thorngate
is a staunch unionist, and has cheerfully borne
her share of the burden of financing the strike
for the shorter workday. She has been proof
reader at the Journal-News for some time, and
her new position is a deeided promotion as to
amount of work and wages.
The union printers of Lincoln rejoice thai
Miss Thorngate has bettered her condition, and
they will wish her well in her new position.
The Typographical Union of Omaha will find
that she is a unionist through and through, and
we commend her to the friendship of the
Omaha Union and its wideawake auxiliary. ,
THE PRIMROSE MINSTRELS.
Famous Aggregation of Burnt Corkers .Are
Due in Lincoln February 27.
Tlie famous Primrose Minstrels will be at the
Oliver -next Tuesday evening, February 27, ill
all the glory of burnt cork, "novel dress and
oriental splendor. The company this year.i:!
better than ever,, and that is saying much, for
it always was a leader in minstrel ry. '
The stag settings are .the handsomest ever
set, the individual performers are the first pick
of the profession, and everything is up-to-date'
and the best that the mind of man can frame
up. ' ."" : .':.'.'.
An added attraction will. be the presence jn;
the audience of 300 newspaper men and women,'
the occasion being a theatre party in honor of
the Nebraska Press association which meets in
Lincoln next Tuesday and Wednesday.
WHAT RYAN SAYS ABOUT IT.
Takes a Very Optimistic View of the Situation
' in the Mining Difficulty. V
Considerable has been said and published re-:-
garding the agreement between the. miners and
operators, inasmuch as ,the . joint s conference
adjourned without getting together. In - an
interview Secretary-Treasurer Ryan tells the
whole story in few words. He say: "The sit
nation is not as bad as some news reports have
given to the public. There is' two months yet
fe'r some kind of an amicable settlement, and
will in all likelihood be made. Howevei
there is no cause for alarm as yet.1 In fact tic
char.aes are about even at the present moment
for a unanimous strike or an a,mioable sit
tlemejitv'.'if Springfield Tradesman. ' - ' , ',
if. '.' 'J- s . 1
A MINISTERIAL PRESENTATION
The workingman who failed to hear Rev.
Charles Stelzle at the Oliver last Sunday after
noon missed one of the ablest pleas for organ
ized labor ever made in this section. .The pro
fessing Christian who failed .to hear it failed
to hear a masterly presentation of the gospel
of the Carpenter of Nazareth. ' The union man
who heard it got a broader and better idea of
the gospel. The Christian man who heard it
got a broader and better view of unionism.
Quietly,, and without any attempt at oratori
cal flights, and without appealing to prejudice'
or passion, Mr. Stelzle devoted his time, to prov
ing that the. gospel of Jesus Christ pisented
the only rational solution of the great eco
nomic problem of the- age. , He proved by
logic and by the scriptures that in the Nazar
ene the working people have their ablest cham
pion and defender. And his whole plea was
for men to get together upon the common
platform presented in the teachings of the
Master. . , ', , .
The opera house was well filled, and trades ! i
iimionists were out in large numbers. , Several ' i
union officials and representatives were upon -the
stage, and to the editor of The Wage-' '
worker was given the honor of introducing the ,' f
speaker. Mr. . Stelzle 's , compliment to the "
editor, while 1 undeserved . was thoroughly ap- .
preciated. He began by telling .of his child-,'. ' I"
hood in the basement of a tenement house on' n
the East Side in New York, where his widowed '
mother and four sisters and himself lived in J
poverty and misery, his mother supporting the
family by making wrappers at $2 per dozen
for a Hebrew sweat shop manager. He told
how he and his sisters often had only a piece
of bread with a pinch of salt thereon for sup-
per, while the mother went Supperless and t
worked far into the night. He told how he was
apprenticed as a machinist, and how he worked v i
for several years at that-trade. All his1 was
told simply and directly, and then he said : ' i'
; , "Knowing all these conditions as I do,-and i
knowing'what trades unionism has done for the
workingmen, I would be false to myself and"
raise to my (iod it 1 were not a trades union-, "
ist." , - ' , I
"If I thought the church of Jesus Christ was $ ,.
not-interested in this phase of our , economic ; f
'problem ; if I thought the church's mission was ' . ,
not to aid and comfort those who are op- '
pressed; if I thought it had no thought for the I
children doomed to slavery in the mills and '
factories, I would leave the church and devote j i"
my whole time to preaching trades unionism." I
Then the speaker gave voice-to his earnest.- f .
belief that the church was interested, and that- I-
'it was just beginning to awaken to its dvity in ' ? -this
regard. , Mr. Stelzle then proceeded to
preach a "sermon, earnest, thoughtful and in- f
structive, and the great , audience hung, upon ; I
every word. He showed that the labor qnes- I
tion is, in its last analysis, a moral question,,
and that moral questions are to be solved only J 1
by the application of the teachings of the Car- "
penter of Nazareth. The address was full of ,t
epigrammatic sentence that seized hold on the
minds of his hearers. . . I '
V "There is this difference between the religion
of Jesus Christ and all other religions," he "
said. "The religion- of Jesus Christ is the
result of God reaching down after and search- J
ing for men. All other religions are the result 5 j
of man seeking God. " Following is a brief . 1 v
resume of his closing remarks : i ' - r.
"Christianity is not dependent upon the in-" i -fallibility
of the church nor of the Bible.-The
church and the .Bible are, simply a means to t
an end, and not an end in themselves. Their' h
purpose is the revelation of God in 'Jesus - r "
Christ. - . -:i'.p
"Therefore,, the chief question that men are r
called upon to answer is not, ' What do you ' -think
of this doctrine, or that church, or that - I
system of theology?' but, 'What think yeofj
Christ?' Gladstone once said that this is the
greatest question of the age.. ' "
"You might be asked: 'What do you think f
of Plato, of Socrates, or Shakespeare? and you
could dismiss the matter with an off-hand re-
ply. But this questions asked of Christ passes ; !
into the most practical and the most personal
of ; questions : ' What shall I do then with ; ,
Jesus?' The question becomes insistent. .Men ' v.
cannot get away from it. It will follow them -.
to the ends of the earth. They may become
angry because of its presence, but does not that ij '
prove that it is no ordinary question? To dis- i
miss it by saying that Jesus Christ was simply
a great reformer will not satisfy. . To say that
he was only a good man, or that he was a great U -teacher,
but simply one of many teachers, " ;
brings the consciousness that one is only dodg- -, y
ing the issue. ' - ' V-'.
i "It is frequently stated that Christ came to
establish an ideal republic, or that he sought f. .
to inaugurate a Utopian democracy. Neither
statement is true. His own words indicate that ' - -
it was his purpose to establish an absolute mon- -
archy,; a kingdom, of which He should be the
h&acl. - This kingdom is to embrace all those ,
who will acknowledge His kingship. , ,
' -j "Therefore, when some 'social reformers'
"select from among the Words of ; Jesus Christ
-a few catch-words, which haVe to do only with
certain social affairs, rejecting everything else , f
that meets with their disapproval, especially . '
that which applies to their personal lives, and ' -then
claim to be the only bona fide followers f
Jesus Christ,, they are leaving out of their ..'
consideration altogether the most important ' - '
part of Christ's plan for the: complete eraanci- A
..pation of. mankind. , t . '
." 'What: think, yc'.of Christ?.' .Workingmen
vaniioi Hijoru io."evaqe xum. lie is -too often
quoted by themf, : He
their liyes. , More and
P treat's fa
ill this be
factor n
true,
- 4
