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LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, MAY 4, 190
NO. 4
i" i'V'" '
How Toronto Built a
Great Labor Temple
For several years the Union men
of Lincoln have been talking about a
Labor Temple. If words were legal
' tender Lincoln would now have a La
bor Temple that would make the Coli
seum at Rome look like an Indian
tepee. As it is, nothing tangible has
been done. The Central Labor Union
has appointed a committee to write to
the secretaries of central bodies in
cities having Labor Temples with a
view to learning how the temples were
built and how they are conducted.
Last summer the editor of The
"Wage worker had the pleasure of at
tending the International convention of
his union at Toronto, Canada, and
there saw a Labor Temple that was a
delight to the eye. The story of how
tbe Toronto Unions secured this splen
did Temple ought to be interesting, and
the simplicity of the plan ought to
bo an inspiration to Lincoln Unionists.
Those who falter . because they think
the sum needed Is too big an under
taking are Invited to ponder on the
Toronto plan.
The initial steps towards securing a
temple In Toronto was taken by the
Toronto District Trades and Labor
Council corresponding to our own
Central Labor Union in March, 1904.
A special committee was appointed and
.delegated to outline a plan whereby a
building might be acquired for the
purposes of education, organization and
recreation. Within a month the com
mittee reported, recommending the
purchase of the old Athaneum Club
building, Nos. 1C7-69 Church street, at
a price of $30,000. Then it outlined
the plan, which was as follows:
The organization of a stock com
pany for its purchase and management,
capitalized at $40,000, divided Into 40,
000 shares of $1 each. The report was
received and the committee given pow
er to act. Nobody arcse and hinted
that perhaps somebody would get a
"bit" out of it. Nobody arose to de
clare that the scheme was impossible.
Everybody agreed to help a little. The
committee incorporated, formulated a
constitution and opened subscriptions.
They didn't wait to sell all the stock.
Within ninety days subscriptions to the
amount of $10,500 were paid in. Then
the company paid $5,000 down, gave a
mortgage for $25,000, and took posses
sion. The preliminary steps were tak
en in March, and on December 21 of
the same year the Toronto Union3
were housed in a magnificent building.
The building has a frontage of 50
feet, with a depth of 112 feet, and is of
a substantial and Imposing character.
The basement contains bowling alleys,
THE PRINTERS.
Will Nominate Officers Sunday and
Vote on Them Wednesday, May 16.
Lincoln Typographical Union No. 209
will meet in regular session next Sun
day afternoon, and there is an im
mense amount of business to be tran
sacted. The final disposition of the
revised constitution is scheduled for
tlie first order of business, and after
the regular business U transacted the
union will proceed to nominate offi
cers for the ensuing year, including
one or more delegates to the interna
tional convention at Colorado Springs
in August. The delegateshlp is the
ripest plum, as it is the coveted honor.
Last year Lincoln had two delegates
and it is thought that the same num
ber will be allowed this year. There
are no avowed candidates as yet, al
though several aspirants have coyly ad
mitted that they are in a receptive
mood.
Owing to the heavy assessment the
Colorado Springs Club project was al
lowed to drop, but despite the expense
a lot of the boys have declared their
intention to make the trip if they can
find "subs." Speaking about the 10
per cent assessment, the boys are no:
kicking on paying it, but they are
anxious to know something about Its
disposition and the probability of a re
duction in the near future. It is caus
ing a great many hardships among a
number. There is a suspicion that the
ntrike benefits are so large in many
places that a lot of "snitches" prefer
to loaf all the time for the benefit than
to work and pay the assessment. For
Instance, in Omaha the benefit for
married men is $11 a week, on which
there is no assessment. If a man
a billiard room, reading and smoking
room, plunge baths, shower baths and
other lavatory accommodations, and a
caterer's room, with cooking stove, cut
lory, etc. On the ground floor the
business agent's office, the board room ,
two large lodge rooms and two com
mittee rooms are situated. On the
first floor is a large assembly hall,
with sitting accommodation for 1,000
people, and two lodge roonw. The sec
ond floor contains three lodge rooms
and the third floor a well equipped
gymnasium and caretaker's rooms. The
building is heated by steam and lighted
by gas and electricity.
The Temple is managed by a board
of fifteen directors elected annually,
the officers of the company being a
president, vice-president, secretary
treasurer and associate secretary. The
staff of employes includes a bookkeeper
and stenographer, caretaker and as
sistant, bowling alley and billiard room
attendants, bowling alley boys and ci
gar stand attendant. Revenue is ob
tained from the billiard and poolrooms
and the bowling alleys, meeting rooms,
assembly hall, cigar stand, business
agent's office, etc. Over fifty different
local unions in the city have sub
scribed for stock in the Temple, and
there are from five to a dozen meet
ings of different unions on each night,
and space is so limited that it Is even
suggested that the company may ac
quire the two smaller buildinga next
door.
Of course Toronto is about five times
larger than Lincoln and has about six
times as many union men. But what of
It? Couldn't 3,000 union men and
tbere are that many in Lincoln, includ
ing the railroad brotherhoods raise
$10,000 without any trouble? A five dol
lar note for five shares of stock from
every unionist in Lincoln would put
the. unions in possession of a splendid
Labor Temple just as soon as the me
chanics could build it. And the rentals
would not only pay interest on the de
ferred payments but would pay divi
dends to the stockholders.
Now what's the use of fooling away
time on it? All that needs to be done
1-5 to lay aside a lot of foolish jeal
ousies, a lot of foolish delay, and get
right down to business. Every dollar
that the unions of Lincoln pay out
for rent is a dollar wasted. Enough
has been spent for rent in the last
ten years to have paid one-third down
on a Labor Temple that would meet.
every requirement. " Every day's delay
merely emphasizes the' unwisdom of
the local unions in not rising to their
opportunities.
works four days at the scale he draws
$12, on which he pays $1.20, leaving
him $10.80. It is reported that some
of the strikers refuse a day's work
when offered because they can get
along on the benefit. If this is true,
and the same situation obtains in other
cities, the men behind the assessment
want to know it. The men who dig
ur- the 10 per cent are pretty unan
imous in declaring that the man on
the strike benefit list who refuses to
work a day when it is offered to him,
ought to be summarily removed from
the benefit list.
BEATRICE PRINTERS ORGANIZE.
Fourteen Charter Members and Make
a Scale of Wages.
The competent printers of Beatrice
organized themselves Into a Typo
graphical union on April 29. The young
union start3 out with sixteen charter
members and was organized by Organ -ier
Pat Boyle of Omaha. The following
officers were elected:
President D. C. Jenkins.
Vice-President M. M. Falk.
Recording Secretary Sherman Bly.
Financial Secretary Frank Wilson.
Sergant-at-Arms A. G. Nelson.
The union starts out with bright
prospects, and the boys are very en
thusiastic. They have set an example
that the printers of Fremont, Hast
ings, Kearney, Auburn and Grand Is
land should follow. Nebraska City
used to have a union but gave up its
charter some time ago. Alliance had
a union for some time, but was forced
to give up its charter because seven
competent printers no longer remained
iu the city. The editor of The Wage-
worker assisted in organizing a Typo
graphical Union in Fremont in 1894
and was honored by election to the
office of vice president. But the hard
times came on and the eligible print
ers drifted out of town until thers
were not enough left to hold the char
ter. But Fremont is a good printing
town now, and it ought to have a
Typographical Union. Indeed, the un
ion owes it to the fair employers of
Lincoln and Omaha to insist upon the
establishment of a union in Fremont.
AUXILIARY NOTES.
What the Better Halves of the Printers
Are Doing.
Every member of the Auxiliary is
urged to be present at a special meet
ing May 8 for the election of interna
tional officers and a delegate to thi
Colorado Springs convention. The
meeting is to be held with Mrs. C. H.
Turner, 1202 P Street.
The ladies have bought a box cf
union-made laundry soap, which they
are hoping to dispose of. It is a good
white soap, made by the College City
Soap Works of Galesburg, 111. The la
dies will sell It at cost, making seven
bars for a quarter. It is good, both
for your clothes and your conscience.
Mrs. Turner, 1202 P Street, has the
selling in charge.
Friday, May 4, the Auxiliary met
with Mrs. Radabach. The chief busi
ness was the nomination of delegates
to the International convention at
Colorado Springs.
Master Richard Metcalf Maupin has
begun to return some of his numer
ous calls.
We are glad to report an improve
ment in the health of our little ones.
Mesdames Pentzer and Odell have suc
cessfully nursed their children through
a siege of the measles, Lillian Wathan
is not gaining as rapidly as her par
ents would wish, but they are hoping
much from the warm, sunny days that
must soon come. Gladys Greenley 1
able to be out again.
Mrs. C. S. Heacock has returned to
Quincy, 111., for an extended visit with
her mother.
All we can hear from Printerville Is
sewing, housecleaning and gardening.
Mrs. Barngrover reports the onions up
and growing fast, but we couldn't hear
about Mrs. Locker's chickens.
Mrs. Chas. Righter has recovered
from a severe sickness and is able to
attend the meetings again.
Joe Hatch is stepping high these
The "Omaha
The Wageworker suggests to the
Central Labor Union as a means of a
rousing interest in the work of that
body, as well as a means for giving it
some tangible reason for its existence,
that it proceed without delay to in
augurate in Lincoln what is known as
the "Omaha Plan" of boosting the Un
ion label. Hundreds of label schemes
have been tried, with more or less suc
cess, but not one of them has ever come
vithin shouting distance of the "Omaha
Plan" for success. The gentlemen who
conceived that plan ought to have
their memory perpetuated in bronze
and marble by grateful union men of
all trades.
Briefly the plan is this: A list is
made of merchants handling Union
made goods, and the goods are classi
fied by names, not by labels. For in
stance, under the heading of shoes will
appear firm names, together with the
names of the firms manufacturing the
Union-made shoes handled by the
aforesaid firms. The prospective buyer
merely keeps one of the lists in his
or her pocket, and when wanting a pair
of shoes looks up the firms handling
Union-made shoes, goes into one of the
stores, calls for a shoe by name, an 2
13 assured that it will be Union made.
The same thing prevails in all classes
of goods shoes, shirts, collars, cloth
ing, shirts, overalls, brooms, starches,
cigars, tobaccos, hats, caps, neckties,
etc. It makes it easy to purchase Union-made
goods.
A committee of the Omaha Label
Lf ague has charge of the list, and a
revised list is published each week in
the Western Laborer. The publisher
has absolutely no control over the de
partment. The merchants do not pay
a cent for the advertising, the expense
being paid by the various Unions in
the shape of due to the League. The
merchant who has Union-made goods
aiid wants them listed, notifies the
League'3 committee, investigation is
days, all because Mrs. Hatch presented
him with a nine-pound boy last Thurs
day. Mother and son are getting along
nicely.
OVER A BARREL.
That's Where the Omaha Painters
Have the Bosses Just Now.
The Master Painters' Association of
Omaha is doubled up over a barrel
just now. Recently It appealed to the
Union Busters' Association for help,
saying that all it wanted was assist
ance in putting the "open shop" sys
tem in vogue. Then the painters
flashed a letter from the Master Paint
ers asking for a conference. Then the
bosses complained about the scale and
the painters quit. The bosses' made a
grandstand play about being able to
get plenty of non-union men, and the
union men immediately went to con
tracting as individuals. The result is
that the bosses are frantically adver
tising for men and offering 10 cents
an hour more than the minimum asked
by the union. And while the bosses
can't get competent men every union
man in the city is working and making
more money than if toiling for wages.
Then the bosses pitifully called upon
the Union Busters' Association to put
a stop to all painting and decorating,
hoping thus to starve the union paint
ers into submission. But the foxy
quillers running that association re
fused to bite off a chunk of that size.
The union painters in Omaha have
all the best of it, and are wearing
smiles that couldn't be hid under forty
coats of paints.
BARBERS ACT.
Cut Thirty Minutes from the Working
Day. and Quit at 7 P. M.
A delegation from the local Barbers'
Union called at The Wageworker of-)
flee last Friday and announced that
hereafter all union shops would close
proihptly at 7 o'clock every evening ex
cept Saturday. The opening time re
mains the same.
"There'll be no Sunday opening of
barber shops in Lincoln," declared one
of the delegation. "Nobody is think
ing about such a thing."
The general public is invited to make
note of the fact that the journeymen
barbers quit work at 7 p. m. now in
stead of 7:30 p. m.
Plan's" Success
made, and if the merchant's claims
are all right he gets in the list. It is
valuable advertising and in every city
where the plan has been tried the mer
chants have vied with one another in
their efforts to get Union-made goods.
In Omaha the success of the plan
has been wonderful. The Garment
Workers' international officers sent a
representative to Omaha to investigate
and ascertain the sudden demand for
Union-made clothing. The Huiskanrp
shoe people were so astonished at the
receipt of scores of telegraphic orders
for Union-made shoes for women that
it wrote to the Central Labor Union
and asked for an explanation. The
Boot and Shoe Workers' International
Union sent a representative to Omaha
to investigate the plan, and as a re
sult that great body is enthusiastically
pushing it wherever it has a local.
The manager of the shoe department
in one of Omaha's largest department
stores told the editor of The Wage
worker that within six months after
the Omaha Label League got busy he
was compelled to search the country
for Union-made shoes for women or
lose a big share of his trade. "We cau
tell a Union woman the minute she
comes in," he said. "She never men
tions the label, but she asks for a shoe
that is made by a Union firm, and
when we hand it to her she merely
looks' at it, tries it on and if it fits,
and suits, she takes it. When she
starts to look our clerks simply smile
and say, 'Yes, the stamp's there, all
right.' "
A year ago clothing firms that never
paid a bit of attention to the label have
had to wake up. As a result they are
now boasting of the big stocks of la
beled goods they carry.
The Central Labor Union in Lincoln
ought to get bu3y right away. If it
will take up this Omaha plan an.l
work at it industriously it can make
this good old town sit up and take no
tice. " -
The Protest From the
Colorado Springs League
Two or three weeks ago printer cir
cles were stirred up by a protest sent
out by the Woman's Label League of
Colorado Springs, charging that the
management of the Union Printers'
Home at the place - was spending the
money of union men with members of
the Citizens' Alliance, known to be
violently opposed to organized labor.
The protest was signed by the League's
officials and pointed out with seeming
accuracy several instances wherein the
money of union printers went to fill the
coffers of union haters. Before pub
lishing the protest The Wageworker
waited to hear from the trustees and
superintendent of the Home. The re
ply has come to hand, and both pro
test and answer are here given. The
protest of the Colorado Springs Wom
an's Union Label League is as fol
lows: Colorado Springs, Colo., April 16.
To the Editor of The Wageworker:
Woman's Label League, No. 81, Colo
rado Springs, was organized March,
1903, to extend the use of all union
labels, to create a demand for union
made goods, and to assist organized
labor generally in securing better
hours, wages and conditions.
A year later the Citizens' Alliance
was formed here. Its object, as stated
in the public press, over the signature
of its secretary, was "to compel every
union man to tear up his union card,
and beg for an Alliance card before
getting a day's work."
During the days of proscription and
persecution which followed, the union
women, under the lead of the Label
League, concentrated their trade to
those firms which withstood the fierce
pressure against organized labor.
We believe that union men's money.
wherever possible, should be spent
among employers and merchants fav
orable to our cause. This course, we
regret to say, has not been followed by
the management of the Union Printers'
Home, an institution in which we feel
the greatest pride. The failure, after
repeated supplications by the League
members and others, to effect a dis
continuance of this practice, has cre
ated such universal dissatisfaction - as
to lead to the voicing of this protest.
It is our earnest desire to confine a
discussion of this matter largely to
those who will have a voice in its solu
tion, and avoid such publicity as will
reflect discredit upon the Home.
We submit the following facts, de
tails of which will be furnished by the
League on application.
In the Typographical Journal each
month is a list of firms supplying the
Home with necessities. Among the
list appears the following who are
members of the Citizens' Alliance, a
copy of whose roster is In our posses
sion: Shields-Morley Grocery Co.; Seldom
ridge Bros., hay and grain; Ira J.
Morse, commission merchant; O. E.
Hemenway, grocer; Giddlngs Bros.,
dry goods; Perkins Crockery Co.; Mc
Cracken (now McCracken & Hub
bard), furniture; -Lowell-Meservey,
hardware; Hallet & Baker, undertak
ers; and others.
Holbrook & Perkins, although in the
Citizens' Alliance, employ union clerks
and carry union label goods.
Giddings Brothers are especially bit
ter against union men. They will al
low no union clerk in their employ. A
member of the firm of the Lowell-Meservey
Co. declared with oaths that he
wanted every union man driven from
the state and the leaders hung. Shields
& Moreley refused goods to grocers
who catered to the union trade.
From this It will appear that the old
union printers are being fed, clothed
and burled by Citizens' Alliance peo
ple. Reputable union firms have re
peatedly offered to furnish all these
supplies at prices and terms at least
equal to those now paid, but are denied
the opportunity of bidding on same.
We will furnish a list of such firms to
those who desire more definite in
formation. We know that this matter Is within
the province of the Board of Trustees
and ask that in voting for said officers
on May 16, that you elect only those
who are favorable to such action.
Respectfully,
MRS. LILLIE E. GOMER, Pres.
MRS. ELA WEST, V.-Pres..
MRS. ELEANOR D. SMITH, Sec.
Committee Woman's Label League.
This protest was sent broadcast over
the country, and it was up to the Home
management to get busy. On April 21
the Colorado Springs ' Typographical
Union held a hurriedly- called special
meeting and adopted the following res
olution: Colorado Springs, Colo., April 22,
1906. To the Officers and Members of
All Sister Unions: Ladies and Gentle
men At a special meeting of Colorado
Springs Typographical Union No. 82,
held this day, the following resolution
were adopted, with ' one dissenting
vote:
Whereas, A circular purporting to
emanate from the Woman's Label
League of Colorado Springs, reflecting
upon the character and union integrity
of the Board of Trustees and Manage
ment of the Union Printers' Home, and
by inference charging every member
of Typographical Union No. 82 with
disloyalty to union principles in per
mitting to exist within its jurisdiction
conditions detrimental to the interests
of the International Typographical
Union, has been circulated throughout
the I. T. U. jurisdiction, and
Whereas, The members of this union
are thoroughly informed of the abso- ,
lute falsity in every particular Of the
statements contained in said circular
and of the malicious intent which actu
ated them to be made and circulated:
therefore, be it
Resolved, That this union hereby in
structs its Executive , , Committee to
prepare a statement denouncing in the
strongest possible manner the whole
sale falsehood contained in said circu
lar, and the perpetrators thereof, and
cause the same to be sent, under seal .
of Typographical Union No. 82, to all
sister union throughout the I. T. U.
jurisdiction; and be it further
Resolved, That a copy of this circu
lar be reproduced in the Typographical
Journal and ' in the Labor News of
Colorado Springs.
' W. J. SNIDER, President.
J. T. REAMES, Secretary.
This was sent out to every local
Typographical Union in ' the United
States and Canada, and was accom
panied by the following statement of
the local executive committee:
After the most careful and conscien
tious investigation, this committee is
in a position to state upon their honor
as union men, that the statements con
tained in the circular in question ara
absolutely without foundation in fact.
: Investigation further develops the
fact that the circular was especially de
signed as a personal attack upon mem
bers of the Board of Trustees '.of the
Union Printers' Home and its man
agement.. It has been ascertained, and is here
with stated, in justice to the members
generally of ' the Woman's Label
League that they were probably in ig
norance of the contents and real pur
pose of the malicious and .false pub
lication. During the course of the investiga
tion, the committee obtained evidence,
upon wihich charges were preferred,
under sworn affidavit, against a mem
ber of Typographical Union No. 82, ac
cusing said member of the authorshio
of the publication. A committee was
immediately appointed for the purpose,
and the trial will proceed at once. This
fact accounts for the one negative vote
to the adoption of the foregoing reso
lution. The Union Printers' Home is one of
the strongest forces for unionism and
the union label In the country. Every
sirlcle of use or consumption in the
institution bears the union label where
it is possible to procure the same, and 1
all the merchants with whom the Home .
deals are compelled to keep lines of
union label goods. At the present time
there is no Citizens' Alliance here.
During the Cripple Creek labor trou
bles nearly all the merchants in the
city' beuanio members of the. Alliance
many being coerced into joining, but
the organization went to pieces elgh
teen months ago, and the merchants as
a class are not antagonistic to the
union label, and, in fact, have done
everything within their power during
the past several months to demonstrate
their friendship for the Typographical
Union and the Union Printers' Home.
You are aware that No. 82's mem
bership Is not large, and that without
the material co-operation of the busi-
(Continued on" another page.)