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LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, SEPTEMBER 21, I90(i
NO. 24
5
he Utte Futility of
Chasing Rainbows
,The Wageworker has the utmost re
spect for the members of the minis
terial union pt this city, and it has
never at any time, nor in any place,
questioned their sincerity or the hon
esty of their motives. Neither has it
been at all backward about criticizing
them when it felt that just criticism
was called for.
The very recent agitation aroused
because of Chief Cooper's action with
legard to the "red light" district dur
ing fair week, is, we believe, uncalled
for. Let us say right here and now
that we do not commend Chief Cooper's
action. We believe it was ill-advised,
and we doubt not that Chief Cooper
now sees it In the same light. But
the man who would quebtlon the mo
tives that actuated Chief Cooper does
rot know him. Having known P. H.
Cooper tor something like sixteen
years, we are prepared to take issue
with any man or any1 organization that
would assert, openly or by insinuation,
. that he would use his official position
in a manner he knew to be wrong.
But all of us learn by experience, and
''even Chief Cooper, with all of his
years and experience, is neither too
old nor too experienced to profit by
further experience. ,
With the reverend gentleman who
said he had investigated the social evil
in Lincoln and in Pittsburg, and found
it worse in the Nebraska city than
in the Pennsylvania city, we take most
s decided issue. , The reverend gentleman
Is undoubtedly honest in his asserted
belief, but the assertion does his pow
ers of observation no credit. A twenty
years' experience in daily newspaper
work gave the editor of this paper
some knowledge of metropolitan life
a better knowledge, perhaps, than that
of the average minister. The editor
of this humble little paper has worked
a a newspaper man and as a printer
1nH scores ot cities larger" than Lin
coln, in. many others of similar size,
fand in some smaller but still to be
classed among metropolitan cities. And
it is with vast pride that he, as a citi
Ken of Lincoln, can stand up. and as
sert in all honesty, and truthfulness,
that there Is not another city of equal
size In the United States, so far a3
he knows, that is as free from the
social evil as Lincoln; that in no city
of equal size is the liquor traffic so
well regulated, and that there is not
another city of equal size in this re
public so free from the trapa and
snares that beset the feet of young
men and young women.
. The Wageworker Is just as much op
posed to the virtual licensing of the
social evil as any minister in Lincoln
It is unalterably opposed to the system
of monthly fines Which, obtains In
most cities But it recognizes the fac;
that this evil, which Is as old as time
Itself almost, will continue through all
eternity. "There are some things that
even the Almighty can not do. That
being true, why not admit that , there
are a vastly greater number of things
that finite men can not do, and that
one of them is to eradicate the social
evil? Then why not do the best we
can, guided by experience? Confine
it into the smallest area possible, make
its practice as ' odious as possible
and then get after the real criminals
in the case the frequenters of the re
sorts. 1
Reverend sirs, would it not be bet
ter to turn your attention to the many
things possible of accomplishment
all of them calculated to benefit our
city and its people than to be forever
harping on the one thing that is im
possible of accomplishment, the eradi
cation of the social evil? -
A few years ago, In the city of
Omaha, there was a minister who pre
sided over the largest Protestant
church in that city. He began a cru
sade against the social evil similar to
the one now engaged in by the min
isters of Lincoln. The fight waxed
warm. One day the madam of a no-
.torlous house came to him, and with
tears In her eyes declared that she was
tired of the life she had been leading
and wanted to reform and live a Chris
tian live thenceforth. This minister
of course encouraged her. He gave
her sonie good advice and said he
would be her friend. The woman
closed her house, bought a little cottage
in the "respectable" portion of Omaha
and lived quietly and honestly for a
' year. Then she went to the minister
and said she wanted to uecome a Chris
tian and identify herself with the
church. That minister told her that
she could not join his church, and
advised her to join a little mission
church down in the "red light" dis
trict which she had foresworn. This
incident became public, and the min
istry of Omaha has not been abTe to
counteract the effects of that mis
guided preacher's action to this day.
There may be one way to eradicate
the social evil first, the reformation
of the men who demand it, and, sec
ondly, the reformation of the women
who submit to it. But to scatter it is
to inject the poison into every artery
and vein of the municipality.
The fact of the matter is that the
ministers of Lincoln know vastly more
about matters spiritual than Chief
Cooper. But there is another fact
equally important and equally true
Chief Cooper knows more about the
suppression and the control of crime
than the ministers. . This being true,
suppose Chief Cooper gives the minis
ters a few lessons in criminology in re
turn for a few ministerial lessons in
spirituality.
WASH WO MEM ORGANIZE.
Russian Laundresses Get Together and
Demand Decent Wages.
The Russian washwomen of Lincoln
have evidently learned something that
the better educated laundry workers
have not , yet learned. The Russian
women have realized the value of or
ganization and have organized a little
union of their own. It hasn't been
chartered by any international, it is
not affiliated with the American" Fed
eration of Labor, and so far as known
it has no officers. But it is a union,
just the same.
Heretofore these Russian washwom
en, most of them Ignorant so far as
book learning goes, have been washing
for a dollar and a dollar and a quarter
a day and almighty hard work it is,
too. A few days ago they decided that
they were not getting enough, so they
simply got together and agreed among
themselves to demand a fair wage.
Hereafter you'll have to pay the Rus
sian women 25 cents an hour and
throw in a luncft if you want them to
do the family washing. It is worth
the price, too.
Now if the street railway employes,
the retail clerks and the laundry work
ers would muster up as much sense
and courage as these ignorant Russian
women, they might soon be enjoying
decent wages and reasonable hours.
They ought to be ashamed of the fact
that the ignorant Russian washwomen
beat 'em to it.
IN DIRE STRAITS.
New York Typothetae Desperate in Its
Efforts to Win.
New York, Sept. 8, 1906. Mr. James
J. Murphy, President Typographical
Union No. 6, New York:
Dear Sir We disclaim all responsi
bility for the advertisementsin the
September number ot the "Inland
Printer" and the "American Printer"
for compositors, proof-readers, etc., to
work in open shops, 9 hours a day,
and requesting applicants to address
N. Y. Typothetae, and with list of sig
natures, among which is that of the
Burr Printing House.
Very truly yours,
BURR PRINTING HOUSE.
' W. Driscoll, Pres.
This is a sample of the unfair tac
tics the New York Typothetae is com
pelled to resort to, and it is by these
methods they are postponing the com
plete victory of Typographical . Union
No. 6 in its struggle for the shorter
workday; nearly 300 offices have
granted the eight-hour day, leaving
about 25 offices struggling against the
Inevitable.
OFF DUTY.
George Moore, more familiarly
known as "Sandhill," the popular Bur
lington engineer, is taking a lay-off for
the purpose of giving his undivided at
tention to a little case of rheumatism
that struck him recently. Up to date
he has won a majority of the rounds
with the aggravating disease and feels
sure of winning the decision in a few
days.
The Omaha Labor Advocate issued
an unusually fine edition last week,
celebrating the week of organized la
bor's .festivities at Krug Park
SMITH AND QUICK.
Union Men Who Ask to Be Elected to
the Legislature.
Harry W. Smith and George F.
Quick, two staunch union men, are
candidates for the legislature. They
ask the vote of every union man, and
of every other man who believes in
fair play. They are not running as
partisans but as union men, and if
elected will use their utmost endeav
ors to secure legislation in the inter
ests of the toilers. There is no taint
upon their unionism. They are both
representative unionists and to be a
representative unionists means to be a
good citizen. They are able, earnest
and courageous. j
Mr. Smith is a member of the Typo
graphical Union and Mr. Quick is a
member of the Carpenters' Union.
Both have been honored by their
unions by election to official positions
in the union. It would be only common
courtesy for the trades unionis of the
city to invite these two gentlemen to
appear before them and tell what their.
aims are. It would be wise if the
union men of the county went to work
as a unit to elect these gentlemen to
the legislature.
t
THE CRAFTSMAN
Whence comes this message clear and sweet
That bids war's fierce alarms to cease;
That calls a halt to martial feet
And bids the world to live in peace?
Not from the palace of the great
Who rule by might of yellow gold;
Not from the kings of high estate
Whose hands the sceptered power hold.
A Craftsman's voice that rjngeth free
The Carpenter of Galilee! -
Kings crowned by earthly hands have died '
And long since crumbled into dust; .
Their kingdoms with their boundaries wide ;
Long since succumbed to wreck and rust. '
The gorgeous edifice of power
Raised high by force of warrior might,
Shone forth resplendent one brief hour, ., " ; '
, Then faded out of human sight. ,
Yes, these are gone; yet still we see
The Carpenter of Galilee!
v Soothsayer, prophet, poet, sage,
The statesman and the warrior bold,
Their one brief hour have held the stage
Then to the graveyard dust and mold,'
But through the years has greater grown
The humble Craftsman's peaceful sway;
And 'round the world His love has flown
Until it rules mankind today. ,
Forth from an humble workshop He
This Carpenter of Galilee!
When right is might, when wrong shall cease,
When all shall seek the common good;. ,
When all shall seek to bring increase
Of joys of common brotherhood,
Then shall the world full tribute pay
- Unto the Craftsman who has wrought
Through all the. years the better way
And into it the nations brought
This Craftsman raised on Calvary,
' The Carpenter of Galilee!
: Will MS Maupin in The Commoner.
A HUGE DIFFERENCE.
How a Judge Came Mighty Near Mak
ing Fatal Error.
The attorney v rushed hastily into
Judge Skinem's chambers and ex
claimed: . ' '
''Judge, I want an injunction right
away."
"Sure," said Judge Skinem, reach
ing for his pen. "Have you got the
writ made out as you want it?"
" "Yes, your honor."
"Have the company employes struck,
so that you want, an injunction re
straining them from peaceful picket
ing, conversing with the free and in
dependent workmen and congregating
on the streets?"
"No," your honor. I'm not represent
ing the company any more. I am rep
resenting the strikers and this injunc
tion is to restrain the corporation
from" .
"Say, what do you take this court
for?" yelled Judge Skinem as he tore
the writ into "shreds. "The writ of in
junction is not to be debased to such
ends. I've a great mind to commit
you for contempt of this court."
The attorney fled in haste, and as
he disappeared through . the door Judge
Skinem wiped the perspiration from
his noble brow and muttered:
"My, that was a narrow escape from
losing the support of the most influ
ential corporation in the district."
The Commoner.' j
CHILD LABOR IN LINCOLN.
Western Union Telegraph Company
Violating the Law Every Day.
The Western Union Telegraph Co.,
notoriously unfriendly to organized la
bor, and about the biggest robber cor
poration engaged in managing a public
utility, i3 violating the labor laws of
the state, every day by employing
children under age. It lias messenger
boys 10 or 11 years of age. It works
them. long hours and sends them to
places that should not be visited by
grown men, let alone boys of tender
age.
The Western Union Telegraph Co.
is a bloodsucking corporation that con
siders everything fair so long as it
makes dividends for the company. It
eats up children blood raw. It robs
the public by extortionate rates, and
robs its employes by paying starvation
wages.
The authorities should investigate
this concern's child employment sys
tem. If our child labor laws do not
cover it, then our child labor laws are
criminally lacking. i -
There is a scarcity of unskilled la
borers in Waukegan, 111.
. t
THE PRESSMEN.
Notes About the Boys Who Do the
"Squeeze Act." '
' It has been decided that members
three months, in arrears will no longer
be carried. "Members should take no
tice of this fact and act accordingly.
Charley Pierce is back from Wilber
and is again accustomed to looking at
the electric lights without' blinking..
Archie Wiliams of Los Angeles has
deposited his card with, "the Lincoln
union and will work in Clay Center. .
W. O. Dndlinger of Los Angeles has
deposited his card in Lincoln.
Harry Rogers of Denver has depos
ited his card-with the Lincoln local.
Business is reported good in all of
fices at present, and the outlook is un
usually bright.
. Having decided to quit carrying dead
timber the union dropped a few delin
quents at the last meeting.
"A GET-TOGETHER."
Mrs. Charles B. Righter issued invi
tations for a "get together" of those
who attended ' the. Colorado Springs
convention, the date set being last
Sunday evening. The terrific rain in
terfered with the program and com
paratively few of the delegation could
respond to the invitation. Those who
did brave the storm, however, enjoyed
a fine time, as is the Invariable rule of
those who partake of the Righter hospitality.
A Few Wotds With
There is a well defined suspicion
among the craftsmen of this city, and
especially among the carpenters, that
your organization, or members there
of, are advertising in various sections
of the country for carpenters 'and
other building tradesmen. It is also
believed that your organization, or
members thereof, are holding out the
promise of good wages and the "open
shop" as an inducement to non-union
carpenters to come to Lincoln. What
ever the truth may be in this connec
tion, it is a fact that the city is being
overran with non-union carpenters,
and that many of them find employ
ment on jobs being conducted by lead
ing members of the Commercial Club.
These men receive, as a rule, the union
scale of wages, thus benefiting by the
sacrifices and the energy of men who
have created these conditions, but
without paying one penny for those
benefits. '
It is not our intention at this time
to lay especial stress upon the union
feature of this situation, but rather
to call your attention to a purely
financial matter. We long since
learned that the quickest way to arouse
the interest of the average merchant
was to appeal to his poc.ketbook.
, A ve"ry large majority of tlhe union
carpenters of Lincoln are men of fam
ily, arid a goodly proportion of them
own their own homes. Every dollar
they make in Lincoln is spent in Lin
coln spent, with Lincoln merchants.
They pay taxes which go to support
our public schools and our city, county
and state government., They contrib
ute to the support of the churches.
In short, they belong to that element
of society which builds up and' main
tains Lincoln. .." '
On the other hand, the non-union
carpenters imported into Lincoln by
misrepresentation, ..by cunning con
tractors and by business men; who are
antagonistic to labor 'unions, either are
not men of family, or have left their
families elsewhere. The money they
make in Lincoln is spent elsewhere,
save a comparatively small proportion
spent for board and' lodging. Of the
516 or $17 per week made by the non
union carpenter whose family is else
where, only 4 or $5 is spent with Lin
coln merchants. The rest is sent to
other cities to be spent with the mer
chants of those cities. , ,
The whole matter resolves itself into"
a single mathematical proposition a
simple business proposition. '
From your standpoint the stand
point of a merchant would you not
rather have 200 union men of family
spending $15 a week each in Lincoln
than to have 400 non-union men with
out families spending $6 a' week each
in Lincoln?
We maintain that unionism makes
for better citizenship; that it encour
ages sobriety; that it encourages
home building and home owning. We
maintain that the better the trades
of a community are organized the bet
ter the business conditions of that,
community. We maintain that com
mon business sense ought to influence
any retail or wholesale merchant to
lend every aid and encouragement pos
sible to legitimate trades unionism.
' jWe maintain and the proof is abun
dant that unionism makes for better
wages, shorter hours and happier con
ditions,' and as business men you cer
tainly know . that better wages and
shorter hours mean a larger volume
of business.
We have mentioned .the oarpenters
specifically in this article because
they, more than the members of any
other craft, have suffered by the im
portation of non-union carpenters.
What is true of them is, however, prac
tically true In smaller measure of all
the building trades in this cityj It
will not be difficult to submit proof
that members of your 'organization are
responsible for this. Whether it is
Lwith the knowledge and sanction of
your organization, acting along a
well defined plan of opposition to the
labor unions, we can not tell. But
the fact remains that there is a grow
ing suspicion among the union men
of the city that your organization is a
party to it "all. If this suspicion is
ill-founded The Wageworker will glad
ly open its columns to your officials
to make denial. ,''.
What we want you to do is to study
this matter from the standpoint of or
The Commercial Club
dinary business sense. If it is to come
to a point when the unions of Lin
coln must face the organized opposi
tion of the wholesale and retail inter
est of Lincoln, as it has been forced
to do in other cities, we have no hesi
tancy in saying right here and now
that the unions are in pretty good
shape to take care of their end of the
struggle. But the unions will make
any reasonable sacrifice to preserve '
harmony and friendly relations. The '
union men make and spend on an aver-
age of $150,000 a week in Lincoln, and
there is a growing feeling among them .
that it Is their duty as union men to
spend It with those who are friendly
to them and to the cause of genuine
trades unionism. Thoughtful unionists .
long ago realized that their best
weapon was' the sensible bestowal of
their patronage on friendly merchants. '
And if there be any among you who '."
imagine that the union men of Lin
coln are not rapidly becoming ac
quainted with the real situation
learning io0 distinguish between the
real friends 'and the pretended friends
let such no longer , deceive them
selves. . !
There may be among 'the member
ship of , your organization gentlemen
opposed to the closed shop anf in
favor1 of the open shop. If so, they
should be 'willing to make their posi
tion public, and also willing to defend
that position in open debate. Nothing i
would give the union men of this city .
greater pleasure than to defend the
closed shop in a public debate With any
Lincoln business men who oppose it.
In all candor, and iu all friendship,
The Wageworker, speaking for 2,000 '
union men in Lincoln and its suburbs,
asks you to consider the. matters here
in mentioned.
CENTRAL LABdR UNION.
Meets Next Tuesday Evening and Dele
"'" gates Should Be Present.
tThe Central! Labor" Union meets
next Tuesday evening, and in view of
the present condition of affairs it
would seem that every affiliated union
ought to take steps to be represented.
For months only four or five unions
have, been represented with anyde
gree of regularity, and for months a
majority of the local unions have not
been represented at all, A few affil
iated unions , that have not been repre
sented for a long time are hereby ,
named: " ' ... ' :
. The Plumbers and Steam Fitters.
The Stereotypers. , . '
The Bookbinders. , . '''
The Plasterers. - , ,
The Lathers. "
otormen and Conductors, , .
Stationary Engineers.' (; .
The Barbers. ' ' '
The Bricklayers, while not affiliated
with the American Federation of La
bor, have usually been represented in .
the local meeting by a delegate, but of -late
the delegate has not been present.
The Bricklayers are invited to . get ,
into line again. The Locomotive En
gineers used to be represented now
and then, but it has been a year since
one of their delegates showed up. The
Central Labor Union meetings should
be attended by from fifty to sixty dele- '
gates every time, ' instead of by the ,
usual eight or ten. What can local
unions expect from a central' body in
which they take no interest. Despite
its handicap the central body has done
some good' work during the past year.
It can do a lot right now if .it will
wake up. .'
There may. be something doing next
Tuesday night that will start a little .
excitement. The American Federation
of Labor's political propaga'nda may be
referred to and a talk or two made by
some who are not delegates but who
are entitled to admission by virtue of
being paid up members of affiliated
unions. "
.Come on, boys! - , . . (
UNION MADE CLOTHING.
The Wageworkei; . desires to call
your attention to the advertisement of
Kohn Bros., manufacturers of union
' . , . 1 t- t s .
ipaae cunning, wmuii is uuw reeuituij.
appearing in these columns. Kohn
Bros, are "on the square,", and they
manufacture high grade clothing, em
ploying nothing but union labor there
in. You will make no mistake by buy
ing the Kohn brand of' union made
clothing, which is handled in Lincoln
by Mayer Bros. .