The Wageworker. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1904-????, December 21, 1906, Image 1
Ul NO. ;7 VrOL. 3 LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, DECEMBER 21, 1906 3 o) A S ADESICOUNClLo) Still Harping About That Labor Fab Elsewhere In this issue will be found An article taken from the Lincoln Herald and relating to the present la bor fair. The editor of The Wage worker does not know whether to take It as a roast, a compliment or a joke. The Herald intimates . that "many unionists seemed to labor under the impression that the fair was a scheme of graft Inaugurated by the editor of The Wageworker." Such an intima matlon is neither a joke nor a compli ment. The Herald, however, is kind enough to declare its disbelief in any such idea, for which it has the thanks of the editor of The Wageworker. If there is a unionist in Lincoln or elsewhere who believes that the edi tor of The Wageworker had a scheme of graft In connection with the labor fair, he Is cordially Invited to make his belief known to the editor of The Wageworker. If such unionist is fin ancially responsible he will be haled Into court as soon as the proper papers can be prepared and given the op portunity to either prove his charges or pay damages. If he is not finan cially responsible the editor will un dertake to find recourse in another way. The editor of this humble little labor paper Is not going to waste time paying attention to the "knocks" of men who are always "knocking," but he is more than ready to pay atten tion to the contemptible liars who charge aim with using The Wage worker to further any - scheme of ."graft." Mr. Maupin's connection with the labor fair was not at all secret His agreement with the Central Labor Union has been made public. He is not ashamed of that agreement, but having having had the experience he unhesitatingly declares that he would not make another one like it. As a mat ter of fact he would not again perform the work he did and undergo the wor- J ry he was compelled to undergo in trying to make the fair a success, for a sum equal to the gross receipts of the recent labor fair. He can make money easier by paying close atten- tion to his profession, and have his evenings with his family instead of walking the streets trying to arouse unionists to a sense of their duty The Herald says: "We understand there is some feeling among unionists against Mr. Maupin of The Wage worker because of his constant efforts to push himself to the front and his burning desired to lead." We prefer to believe that this Is one of the Her ald's jokes. If there are any unionists who have such a feeling they may lay it aside and sleep soundly. If there is any one thing Mr. Maupin does not yearn to be it is that thing, a leader If he has any ambition at all in the labor movement it is to be an earnest, consistent and helpful worker in the ranks. He stands ready to further any good work calculated to advance the cause of labor, but having seen the sort of reward handed out by the rank ' ad file to the men who have sacrificed themselves to become leaders, he is more than willing to follow. Labor leaders are usually allowed to do all the sacrificing in order that the fol lowers may profit thereby. We are under obligations to the Herald for saying: "We do not be t lleve Mr. Maupin to be a grafter, and take pleasure in doing what little we can to dispel this idea." Thanks. In this connection Mr. Maupin desires to state that if there Is a man in Lin coin, or elsewhere, who can prove that Mr. Maupin ever grafted one penny, in any manner whatsoever, he will . be given The Wageworker, In whole, free of incumbrance, as a reward for sub mitting such proof. And The Wage- worker is pretty good newspaper pro perty,' loo. The Herald further says. "When the unionists, singly or Individually, sub scribe to mtintaln a labor paper, they feel that the editor thereof is their 1I, man arxA nlinnlil An tYtalf KM ding. If there is a unionist or a union on the subscription roll of The Wageworker that thinks that way, it would do well to cancel its subscrip tions at once. The Wageworker Is the organ of no union, and it is the prop- - erty of the unionist whose name is at the head of the editorial column. It does the bidding of but one man its editor. The union or the individual who tries to dictate to The Wage worker because it or he happens to be a subscriber, is going to be the victim of a rude shock. The position of The Wageworker is well" known to the unions subscribing for it, and those who do not subscribe for it are wel come to think what they blamed please.. But if they think the editor of The Wageworker is a "grafter" they ought to be manly enough to make the charge openly and not sneak around behind the bush to do it. The Herald says it "regrets the fail ure of the fair." It need not waste time in idle tears. The fair was a fin ancial success. It will clear a very neat sum of money. Again the Her ald says: "The Herald understands there Is a financial shortage as a re sult of the fair, and that it is likely to fall on the publisher of The Wage worker." We take immense pleasure in correcting the misunderstanding of the Herald. There is no financial shortage. On the contrary there is a neat balance in the treasury of the Central Labor Union as a result of the fair, and the publisher of The Wage- worker loses nothing but the time he devoted to trying to make the fair a success. His only regret is that the fair was not more successful from a financial standpoint. Perhaps it would have been better and fairer, if the editor of the Herald had interviewed Mr. Maupin before writing at such length upon the fair. We believe the editor of the Herald meant to be fair and impartial, and we cheerfully give him credit for being honest in his motives. But a very short talk with Mr. Maupin would have set him right on several important points. As for the union men who think the acme of unionism is to "knock" and shout "grafter" at every unionist who tries to do something for the ad vancement of unionism well, fudge on them! Until they accumulate enough manhood to make their charges in the open they are not worthy the attention of a man who has to hustle for his daily bread. are necessary to complete the shoe. So with the workingmen. We are de pendent upon each other. WTiy re main' unorganized and alone? Get to gether for mutual benefit and protection. WHAT UNIONS DO. Help A GOOD START. the Non-Unionists to Better Things of Life. John P. Altgeldt once said: "Every time union labor achieves a victory it not only raises the standard of the union men, nut of the non-unionists, who receive the benefit' of all that union labor receives.'' Every time the non-unionist takes a striker's job and crushes a union he not only low ers the status of the union, but him self and his own family, who must share the degradation of all labor. But few working men are capable of stand ing upon their own bottom during these days of mad commercialism. Merit is forgotten in the terrible race for wealth. A workingman may be ever so capable, but he will receive no more wages, except in extraordin ary cases, than his employer is will ing to give him. The amount usually depends upon the size of the employ er's conscience. This is where the value of a trade union is manifested. It makes an injury to one the con cern of all. Have you ever passed through a large factory, equipped with machinery of the most modern type? If you have, did you notice how each piece of machinery was dependent up on the others? In a shoe factory, for instance, each machine has its par ticular work to do, anJ all of them Musicians Should Get Busy Now and - Organize a Local. The musicians of Lincoln those who believe in unionism ought to get busy at once and organize a local. There were enough in the labor fair orchestra to complete an organization with a little work, and they owe it to themselves and to unionism . to or ganize. There ought to be a strong Musicians' Union in Lincoln. This city ought to have a first-class union orchestra and a first-class union band. An. orchestra made up of union mu sicians will get lots of work, and it's a cinch that hereafter there will be no non-union bands in Labor Day pa rades. Get bsuy, you musicians! Tou have a good start. . Is This a Gentle Roast Or Jtist a Little Joke? CARPENTERS OFFICIAL NOTICE. To all Members of the United Brotherhod of Carpenter and Joiners of America, Local No. 1055 : You are requested to present due books to the trustees for comparison with ledger before January 1, 1907, under pen alty. . . ED BLY, Recording Secretary. ' The Lyric has a strong week. bill this Big Holiday bill at Bijou next week. The Pullman porters are organizing Five hundred silver workers are striking in New York City. The labor fair which was on at the auditorium last week was eonsiderable of a failure so far as patronage and interest on the part of unionists was concerned. Many unionists seemed to labor under the impression that the fair was a scheme of graft inaugurat ed by the publisher of the Wageworker and thus much patronage and moral support was withheld. The Herald be lieves this was a mistaken idea. We understand there is some feeling among unionists against Mr. Maupin of the Wageworker because of his constant efforts to push himself to the front and his burning desire to lead, but we do not believe he is a grafter, and take pleasure in doing what lit tle we can to dispel this idea. While it is always commendable in a man to endeavor to get to the front and reasonable ambition is always laudable, Mr. Maupin does not seem to have learned that the editor of a labor paper is one who is debarred to these privileges, while anything even remotely bordering ' on officiousness affords a most excellent and wieldly club for the knocker. And there are many reasons for this condition of af fairs. When the unionists, individu ally or collectively, subscribe to the maintenance . of a labor paper, they feel that the editor thereof Is their hired man, and should do their bid ding and not assume to lead, or dic tate, or aspire. If he . attempts any personal preferment he is using his paper as a booster. If he proposes any financial enterprise and figures con spicuously in it, he has a graft and there are always plenty of jealous, would-be leaders ready to hand out F "KEEPING CHRISTMAS IN THE HEART" Richard L. Metcalfe in The Commoner "A gran' rasslin' match is goin' on in ivry corner iv th' civylyzed globe," says Mr. Dooley in the American Magazine, "an' we're all in a tangle, flghtin', quarrelin', robbin', plundhrin', or murdhrtn', accordin to our tastes. It's what Hogan calls th" struggle fr existence, an' it'll always go on while there's a dollar in. the wurruld, a woman, or a ribbon to wear in our coats. But on the three hundred and sixty-fifth day suddenly we hear a voice: 'Gintlemen, gintle- , men, not befure th' chlldher.' An' we get up an' brush th' dust off our, clothes an' shake hands pretindin' it was all fun. Th' kids have come in." Wouldn't things be changed if after the truce observed December 25, 1906, the men and women of the world failed to renew the fighting and the quarreling? Wouldn't life be more than worth the living if after keeping Christmas in the form, by filling the children's stockings on Christ mas eve and exchanging gifts and salutations with friends on Christmas day, we kept Christmas in the heart for the balance of the year? One writer gave us a hint when he said that the kindness and good cheer generally prevalent during the Christmas season represents the nor mal condition of society when it shall reach that perfection possible among human beings. And ' there are those who believe that in spite of wars and rumors of wars between nations, in the face of oppression and greed among individuals, we are moving to that very condition where keep ing Christmas in the heart men and women will obtain during all the year the inspiration and ex altation they derive during the few hours of the designated season when they keep Christmas in the form. And those who. indulge in this bit of optimism tell us that love Is leading the way. Well, Love knows the way; and the men and women who follow her call will find it. And how are we to put in the entire year "keeping Christmas In the heart?" Certainly not by hanging up the stockings every evening of the year: nor by continual exchange of gifts; nor by making perpetual the strain and labors of the Christmas season as we now observe it. But rather by toning down some of the madness or. If you prefer to call it, the enthusiasm of that season, so that in our efforts to make a showing for ourselves and our immediate friends we put no undue strain upon the pocketbook of our bread winner, and impose no undue burdens upon the poorly-paid shop girl. She though we sometimes forget it is the child of some other parents who arc just as anxious that their child be comfortable and free from vexatious burdens as we are that our child be surfeited with Christmas gifts. It is by the use of a little leaven that leaveneth the whole lump; by a little spreading out of the great pile of friendly salutation, of generosity, of good cheer and of kindly disposi tion that now characterize the Christmas sea son; so that without detracting from the joy of that period, we contribute to the continuing hap piness of men and to the permanent well-being of the world. "But only Love may lead love in, to Arcady, to Arcady." One would be thought simple, . indeed, were he to ask in this day: "What is love?" There are, ready at hand, so many answers to the ques tion and most of them are plainly, illustrated in every day life. The mother bending o'er her first born tells us that is Jove and the love light that lies within that mother's eyes tell us that, at least, is truth. The father, ready to sacrifice his ay for the . future of his boy, tells us that is love;- and we know that he speaks as one who feels, and, feel ing, knows. The maiden knows that love is described in that picture where: "A warrior so bold, and a virgin so bright Conversed as they sat on the green. They gazed on each other with tenderest delight, Alonzo the Brave was the name of the knight The maiden's the Fair Imogene." The manly lad with the first touch of down on his lip knows what love is when, turning to the sweetheart of his youth, he says: : "If you become a nun, dear, The bishop Love will be; The cuplds every one, dear! Will chant 'We trust in thee!' " One poet tells us "Love is madness, love is sadness;" another that it is "The sweetest joy, the wildest woe." One grown crusty in bachelor hood calls it "a delusion and a snare;" and a hopeless one declares "Love is the tyrant of the heart; It darkens reason, confounds discretion; deaf to counsel it runs a headlong course to des perate madness." But the biliousness of the poets and the cyni cism of the despondent can not affect the views of the man who has walked by love's side; walked by love's side when he gathered the myrtle with Mary; walked by love's side when he led to the altar the girl of his choice; walked by love's side at the cradle of the first born to that holy union; walked by love's side and held within his own trembling grasp love's firm hand by the little grave in which was centered that common inter est which binds two hearts closer than any mar riage vow yet spoken by a priest. We know that when the maid and the lad, the mother and the father, and the friend have . spoken they have told us of love1 and that that is love, indeed! But all these are but representa tive of the real thing the out-cropping in particu lar individuals of that which was to affect all In dividuals; the triumph in particular quarters of that which was to dominate in all quarters.; the hint strong and beautiful, but a mere hint never theless of that great "truth of truths" which Disraeli described as "The principle of existence and its only end." Keeping Christmas in the heart as a rule of life rather than as a mere holiday pastime it will not be necessary "when the children come in" for us to "brush th' dust off our clothes an' shake hands pretindin' it was all fun." Then "the chil dren's season" will last the year 'round; then the air will be full of music; the world will be full of flowers; life will be full of hope because the hearts of men are full of love. The world is not growing worse as some of the disconsolate would have us believe. It is growing better and there flows, at this moment, from the hearts of men more of the milk of hu man kindness than at any other time in the his tory of the world. What if meanness and oppres sion are revealed? The very revelation shows the power of public opinion: and shows, also, , that the trend of men's thought is upward. What - if doctrinaires complain that men are becoming indifferent to the details of creeds? That is be cause they are more determined than " ever in their efforts to get closer to God. . Dr. P. L. Hall, one of the best known of Ne braska bankers, responding to the question : "Is the world getting worse?" replied, "No," and added: "There never was a generation in this country in, which the moral hazard as a basis for credit entered so largely as in this." Practical men are turning to the better things of life. They know that love and the things it stands for are alone worth cultivating; they know that to cherish malice, to lay traps for one's neighbor, to encourage vanity and .indulge in bombast is a veritable waste of time. They feel with the poet of old who wrote: "The warrior for the True, the Right, -Fights in Love's name; - The love that lures thee from that fight Lures thee to shame; "That love which lifts the heart, yet leaves The spirit free That love, or none, is fit for one V Man-shaped like thee." . " "Keeping Christmas In the heart" will yet become the habit of men; and he who adopts that habit will find "My bounty is as boundless as the sea, My love as deep; the more I give to Thee ' The more I have, for both are infinite." In art and literature the little child is made the representative' of innocence for obvious rea sons. The Danish queen who wrote, "Oh keep me innocent, make others great" voiced what is to day the wish of many thoughtful parents with respect to the future of their children, as it well might be the wish of thoughtful men with respect to the future of their race. Men of - the past who were controlled by vanity where they were not moved by greed, struggled under the embarrassments and handicaps of those who would be "great;" let the men of the future be touched with the satisfying qualities of innocence and find that contentment awaiting those who arc willing to seek it along the simple lines where Love will lead the way. , For my own children I breathe this Christmas prayer: Give them knowledge; but hold them true. Ripe;n their intellect; but keep their hearts young. Lead them to the heights where by learning much from their teachers men may give much to their fellows; but let them retain to the end a practical trust in the tenderness of men and a simple faith In the goodness and the allness of ; God. Let them be kind to every creature to every man grown weary, to every woman grown faint, ' to every child made homeless, to every bird in the air and to every beast in the field finding In all things something to command their concern, and in all beings something to stir their affections. Keep Christmas within their hearts, Swork-day and play-day alike, making each one feel, during all the journey through life, that: "Whatever mine ears can hear,' " ; . Whatever mine eyes can see, , In nature so bright with beauty and light, Has a message of love for me." packages that will asperse his mo tives, and class him as a unionist for revenue only. Labor unionists, are always suspi clous. They have been the victims of so many fakirs "and fakes that the mo-- - . ment a man of .their rank becomes conspicuously active, he is looked, up on as having an ax to grind, particu-. larly if he is the editor of a labor pa- ' per. Air. Maupin does not seem to realize the delicacy of his position or else he would not have undertaken a labor fair and mourning now that it . was a failure and in a fair way to cost him a neat sum, individually. The Herald regrets the failure of ( ' the fair. Though not a member, of:' any union at this time, a long life of -unionism gives me the most kindly " feeling and a real interest, in . union ' ism of the genuine character and I regret any failure of unionism where; ' directed to a legitimate purpose. Unionism means more ' than high wages, short hours and union label.' .... , It means brotherhood, co-operation in- . stead of . strife and antagonism, it -means education, elevation and the bettering of the laborers social condi tion. It ought to mean,, above all union ' at the ballot box, but in this it has thus far signally failed. While Lin- . , coin is -strong in unionism the Herald would like to see- more harmony pre- ' , vail; more interest, more ' general good feeling and less scabbing at the ... , ballot, box. Pardon this seeming . . boost, but the Herald household is -the best unionist In the community. i We pay the union scale for all labor ' ' we give out, have no scab- prices on - ; advertising and when it comes to the ballot box we cast our vote in favor of , giving to the laborer all he producer, which can only be attained ; by the adoption of i. The Herald understands there is a. ... .t) financial shortage as a result , of .the . t fair and that it is likely to fall on the . publisher of the Wageworker. j1 We -. trust the union boys will cease to question the honesty of any one's in- -tentions connected with the fair, put away all criticism along 'the line of ' , , mismanagement, put '. their shoulder , to the Wheel and pull out the shortage, turn their faces hopefully to the future, give the white winged dove of peace -an opportunity to settle down to busi ness and let the tomahawk be buried. - Lincoln Herald. . . 1 LEATHeRWORKERS ELECT. Officers Who Will Conduct-Afftirs for a .Time., ' . The local union of , Leatherworkers in Horse Goods have elected the fol lowing officers for the ensuing term: President, F. M. Lewis. Vice president, Jos. Lantry. T Secretary-treasurer, J. J. Stone. Recording secretary, Frank Porak. Chaplain, C. M. Smith. ., Marshal, W. H. Schleifer. Guard, Hoory McPherson. Executive Board, L. H. Neff, L. E. Marti, Peter Schmitz. Delegates to C. L. U., G. H. Bush, T. C. Kelsey, J. J. Stone. , - SUCCESS OF HIGH DUES. . . The United Hatters of America is . one of the most remarkable labor or ganizations in the country. Its offi cers state that its success , dates from , the time It adopted high dues. Every member pays 3 per cent of his earn ings into the union treasury. Two per cent goes to the international union, ; while 1 per cent is used for local ex- , I-enses. There are 9,000 members in the union out of $12,000 engaged' in the business in North America. Piano Workers' Journal. . A CHRISTMAS STORY. The Wageworker calls especial at tention to the article, .. "Keeping Christmas in the Heart," which ap pears in this issue." It was written by Richard L. Metcalfe, associate editor of the Commoner, and reproduced by courtesy of , that publication. It is written in Mr. Metcalfe's best vein the vein that shows him at his best, and no one can read it without being bettered. By the way, none, of us Is so good that we can not be bettered, so read this beautiful Christmas story, "Keeping Christmas in the Heart." - r. ' X 1 - Ji f 1 i1 - ,;4,