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LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, SEPTEMBER 27, l:07
NO. 20
Two Political Platforms
Frankly Compared
It is Interesting to compare the plat
forms adopted' by the two party con
ventions in Lincoln last Tuesday. Not
less Interesting Is the comparison be
tween the two gentlemen who officiat
ed as chairmen of the resolution com
mittees. William H. Thompson, an
attorney of Grand Island, was chair
man of the committee In the demo
cratic convention. Ross L. Hammond,
editor at the Fremont Tribune and a
member of the Hammond Printing
company, was chairman of the repub
lican committee.
The republican platform is absolute
ly silent, on many questions of vital
concern to workingmen
It is silent on th! question of the
shorter day work.
It Is silent on the question of In
junctions, save as it relates to federal
judges enjoining states.
It is Ilent on the question of ar
bitration. The chairman of the republican
committee, Mr. Hammond, not only
refuses to put the eight hour day into
effect in his printing establishment,
but' he refuses to unionize the plant,
or to recognize the . unions in any
way.
The republican platform objects to
the issuing of injunctions by federal
judges restraining states from putting
statute laws into force and operation.
It Is as mum as an oyster on the
Issuing of Injunctions against organ
ized labor whereby men are restrained
from exercising their constitutional
rights pnd thrown into jail without
trial if they stand upon those consti
tutional rights.
Is it possible that the republican
platform is silent on these momentous
question out of deference to Mr
Hammond, the union hating, long
work day employer, who, by the way,
Is a 'candidate for appointment to the
position of collector of Internal reve
nue with the backing of Senator E. J
Burkett?
The democratic platform is clear
cut and explicit in its references to
these questions.
It comes out fairly and squarely for
the eight hour day.
It comes out fairly and squarely
for arbitration of disputes between
corporate employers and employees
It comes out fairly and squarely
. against the abuse of the writ of in
junction whereby workingmen are de
nied the right of trial by jury and ar
bltrarily Imprisoned for maintaining
their constitutional rights In defiance
of the mandates of a federal judge,
The democratic platform says:
"We favor the eight-hour day.
"We are opposed to "government by
injunction"- the system under which
the writ of Injunction ia used to deny
to laboring men the protection of trial
by jury."
Then, wishing to make this declara-
tlou more emphatic, the democratic
convention adopted this supplement
ary resolution:
"Believing that the writ of injunc
tion hi been prostituted from its
original purpose until it is now, to all
intents and purposes, a weapon in the
h.-.nds of capitalistic combines for the
terrorizing and enslavement of organ
' ized 'workingmen, we pledge our best
efforts for the enactment of a law that
will safeguard the rights of the wage
earners by providing for trial by Jury
in all cases of contempt not arising in
open court."
In Ills address to the democratic
convention Judge Loomis, the candi
date of the fusion forces for supreme
Judge, clearly expressed himself as
opposed to the abuss of the writ of
Injunction and planted himself square
ly ou the platform declaration. In his
address to the republican convention
Judge Fteese, the candidate of the re
publican party for supreme judge, was
us silent on this question as his plat
form.
Was Judge Reese silent on thl
question out of deference to Mr. Ham
mnud, or because he did not think the
mutter of enough Importance to meri
his attention?
The abuse of the writ of injunctio
hits grawn up since Judge Reese was
her of tho suureme court. He
may not be aware of how this writ
has been, and Is being, used as a club
to beat workingmen. When It Is
called to his attention he may be just
as much opposed to it as Judge Loom
Is. But is it not reasonable to Insist
that a man who is aspiring to the
supreme bench of Nebraska should be
posted on a matter that is of supreme
importance to ten thousand' wage
earners and heads of families?
Judge Lomis has watched the de
velopment of this evil, and he has set
his face against it.
In 1901 Judge Loom is represented
Dodge county in the lower house of
the legislature. At that session, as
at former sessions, - a garnishee bill
was introduced. Largely to Judge
Loonrls's efforts the bill was prevent
ed from getting out of the commit
tee room. In 1903 he was again a
member of the house, and again, the
garnishee bill came up. He opposed
it with all his might and main, but
despite his efforts ihe bill passed the
house and was soon after passed by
the senate. This Is the garnishee bill
that Governor Mickey vetoed. In 1901
Mr. Cunningham, representing an as
sociation of retail dealers went to
Fremont and 'tirged the retail dealers
not to return Judge Loomis to the
legislature, but advocated the return
of his colleague, who had voted for
the bill.
Judge Loomis had no nten-
tion of being a candidate for re-election,
but immediately after Mr. Cun
ningham's address he did write an
article for the Fremont Herald in
which he stated his reasons for work
ing and voting against the garnishee
law, and praising Governor Mickey
for vetoing it. Governor Mickey, who
was a candidate; for re-election, used
that article widely and it contributed
much to his re-election.
Judge Loomis was not a member of
the 1907 legislature. That session
enacted the present garnishee law,
which was signed by Governor Shel
don, who was chairman of the repub
lican convention last Tuesday.
The plain and simple statements of
facts are given to the readers of The
Wageworker, and they .are invited to
act upon them as they think best.
The Wageworker will not oppose
the candidacy of Judge Reese. Nei
ther will it advocate the election of
Judge Loomis. It will content itself
with giving to its readers the plat
forms upon which they stand, the of
ficial acts of both, and the records of
the two parties in this state as It re
lates to the questions which are of
chief concern to the wage earners in
a state election.
SURPRISED THE FOLKS.
Friday evening, September 20, some
ninety friends of Mr. and Mrs. S. A.
Swanson surprised them by going in
a body to the home of their- son, Gus
Swanson, 1786 E, who was acting as
a host for his parents on that occa
sion. The event was in honor of
Mrs. S. A. Swanson's seventy-eighth
birthday. The evening was delight
fully spent by the friends and neigh
bors, one of the chief pleasures being
a musical prog-ram. A poem ' com
posed for the occasion by Mrs. Mc
Donald, was read by the author and
given much praise. Refreshments
were served, and at a late hour the
guests departed, wishing Mrs. Swan
son many happy returns of the day.
-STILL PROGRESSING.
The Citizens Street, Railway com
pany has opened up its Vine street
line for business, and is now prepar
ing to extend its line from Twelfth
on South street to Twenty-seventh.
The survey has been completed and
the work of construction will begin
in a short time. To the surprise of
the stockholders the Twelfth street
line has developed into the best pay
ing line, all things considered, that
the company has. When extended
east on -South street it will open up
a good field and will be more profit
able than ever.
Queensland sugar planters report a
scarcity of labor.
Temple Committee Ready
To File Incorporation
The Labor Temple committee has
practically completed the work - of
drawing up the articles 'of incorpora
tion , for the "Labor Temple Building
Association of Lincoln, Nebraska."
Everything will be 'in readiness for
filing next Tuesday morning,- the only
thing remaining to be done being the
signing of the articles, and making
the requisite number of copies. The
articles will have to be filled with
the secretary of state and with the
clerk of Lancaster county.
Briefly stated the incorporation pa
pers call for .the following: s
An association with a capital stock
of $50,000.
Limitation of stock to $1,000 to any
one individual, subject -to' the sta
tutes relative to inheritance.
Limitation of stock to $5,000 to any
trades or labor union, only unions
affiliating with the American Federa
tion of Labor to be allowed to hold
stock as organizations. v ' , .
Each union holding $100 or more
of the stock of the association to be
allowed one director. Six directors
FROM THE WORKINGM AN'S VIEWPOINT
In a recent number of The Public, Louis
Post's paper, a striking article written by
Thornton West was published. The Commone'
reproduces this article in full: It follows:
f AS WOKKIXGMKN MUST SKE IT
Are there 'two kinds of law in the United
States one for the rich man and one for the
poor man? Are the petty thief and the poor
criminal to be promptly and adequately pun
ished, while the rich thief and the powerful
criminal go unpunished, save for an occasional
fine during the stress of aroused public opinion?
Are members of organized labor to be prosecuted
for capital crimes on dubious testimony, while
rich and powerful mine-owners can bribe legis
latures, ran appoint governors and state supreme
court judges, can openly, defiantly, and violently
trample under foot state and federal laws, and
with the aid of governor and militia the latter
confessedly In the pay of the mine owners sus
pend the writ of habeas corpus, nullify all civil
law, depose civil officers, deport citizens, sup
press newspapers, destroy property, and creato
'lawful" anarchy with absolute impunity and
without even a pretense of prosecution by state
or federal authority?
From the viewpoint of organized labor and
its sympathizers, those questions constituted the
real issue in the Boise trial. This fact explains
the deep and widespread suspicion and the ex
pressed bitterness against "the state" that is,
the prosecution in the Boise trial, and the de
nunciation of President Roosevelt for his un
timely and unfortunate classification of the
three accused men as "undesirable citizens."
It is "dangerous" and "unpatriotic" to min
imize tbe revelations of the trial at Boise. Yet
the labor troubles in Colorado and in Idaho are
different only in degree from what happened in
the street railway strike at San Francisco, from
what happened in the Homestead tragedy, iu
the anthracite coal mining strikes, in the rail
way union strike at Chicago, and in a hundred
other sti Ikes of less impression on the public
memory.
I On the part of organized labor, what is the
meaning of this unmistakable lack of faith in
law and government, of this too ready resort to
primitive and barbaric methods to obtain justice
as its members see it? On the part, of organ
ized capital, what is the meaning of this gener
ally insidious,' but when necessary, flagrant and
defiant violation and usurpation of law and gov
ernment? Surely, it is not merely a contention
between employers and employes as to whether
or not wages shall be temporarily increased or
reduced?
Is not the present attitude of organized
capital and of organized labor the outgrowth
of a different method of doing business on a
large scale, of a different spirit in industrial
and In commercial enterprises the different
method and the different spirit being the pro
duct of the marvelous growth of corporations,
especially of trusts?
Professedly, a trust is formed to reduce
the cost of production and to establish and to
maintain prices that will be just and fair to
consumer and to producer alike. In reality,
a trust is formed to crush out competition, to
control the supply of the raw material and of
the finished product, to reduce wages, to make
the price of the product as high as the public
will stand,, and to limit the disbursement of
profits to as few persons as is practicable in
short, to prey on the necessities of the people,
to subordinate humanity to money.
Are not the violence of labor troubles in
the last twenty-five years, and the almost uni
versal and unanimous condemnation of the
high-handed methods of railroads and all other
monopolistic corporations are not these an ex
pression of a profound popular discontent
caused by the glaring injustice of special privi
lege on the one side, and of constantly lessening
industrial opportunity on the other?
Is not President Roosevelt's wonderful pop
ularity due to the fact that be has called a halt
on the abuse of corporate power, and has de
manded at least the regulation of a few special
privileges?
Are not the bitterness of organized labor
and the strong popular feeling against monopol
istic corporations potent proof that the world
old struggle is now being waged in this country
more openly and more fiercely than ever before
the struggle between those who earn without
getting and those who get without earning?
The continuation of this article will be found on Page 4.
Do not the masses of the American people
plainly see that now, as never' before in our
history, all men are not equal' before the law?
It is universal knowledge that the officers
of three of the largest insurance companies in
the world used trust-funds for speculative pur- ,
poses, opened their treasuries to the devotees
of "high finance," to the Wall Street sheep
shearers all for greed, for private gain. Not
even one offender has been punished.
The few men that autocratically control
the railroads of the country have brazenly vio
Jated law and equity, .hay? treated the public
with defiant insolence, and have maintained
lobbies to corrupt state legislatures and "con
gress. Yet the railroads owe their very exist-
ence to special privileges granted by the people;
and every dollar used to build, to equip, and to -operate
the roads has been furnished by the
people, directly or indirectly.
These same railroad autocrats have "won"
hundreds of millions of dollars by juggling rail
road stock in Wall Street, while the service and
the equipment of the roads were not capable
of handling the freight offered them. There is
no record of any stock manipulator or railroad
president being punished.
"Watering stock" is a favorite pastime of
"high finance." Watering stock is but another
name for stealing; it is taking money and giving
nothing for it. Yet it places a heavy secret tax
on the American people and their posterity. All
of these hundreds of millions of fiat stock must
pay dividends, and the American people will do
the paying in the name of legitimate earnings
but in fact for extortionate charges. A small
group of men, dealing in public utilities and
domestic necessaries, have made hundreds of
millions by watering stock. No stock-waterer,
no dealer in fictitious property, has yet seen the
inside of a prison, by operation of law.
The prices of nearly all the necessaries and
the commodities of life are arbitrarily fixed by
trusts. As a trust means no competition abso
lute control of the supply the American people
have no other course open to them than to sub
mit to being "lawfully" robbed. Notwithstand
ing his hold-up methods of money making, the
trust magnate continues to be an eminently re
spectable and. exemplary citizen.
The American people have been plucked
of hundreds of millions of dollars by means of
the "Dingley bill," a protective tariff law passed
by a pre-election bribed congress, in considera
tion of the munificent contributions in the first
McKinley-Bryan campaign a bargain and sale
that has no parallel in history for its audacity
in deliberately taxing all the people for the bene
fit of the few.
After "swollen fortunes" had been taken
from the- pockets of the people, the "Dingley
bill" promoters and beneficiaries formed trusts,
created monopolies, and wound up by issuing
hundreds of millions of stock without adding a
dollar to the actual value of the plants.
By the judicious use of a small percentage
of this special privilege tax, the "protective"
tariff beneficiaries have been successful, up to
date, in keeping congress in a "stand pat" atti
tude, and'the special taxation of all the people
for the benefit of the few still goes industriously
and merrily on. "
There is no more bitter sarcasm nor mockr
ing humor than the tariff beneficiaries' plea that
the "protective" tariff is for the protection of
the American workingman. It is. true that the
American workingman has wrested from em
ployers higher wages than ever before; but this
is through the -efforts and the sacrifices of or
ganized labor. It is true that he is better fed,
better clothed, and better housed than those of
his own class and occupation in other countries;
but he is a much more competent and valuable
workman than the foreign wage laborer.
Nevertheless the American workingman is
worried, and he has been led to do some think
ing and investigating; first, because 14,000,000
girls and women in the United States find it
necessary to labor; second, because his share of
"unprecedented prosperity" does not abide with
him, but is taken from him by the greatly in
creased cost of living the tariff-protected trusts
of all kinds and degrees, lined up in the front
-ranks of the exploiting class the class that Has
added nothing to the nation's happiness or to
its material welfare, but that has debauched
private and public, morals at home and has dis
graced the nation abroad. .
He sees the stoek-jugglers, the stock-water-ers,
the trust magnates, the tariff-tax beneficiar
ies, the special privilege recipients, parading
their evidence of unlimited wealth. He sees
them contributing with princely liberality to
churches, to libraries, to colleges to popularize
and to perpetuate the present system of protec
tive tariff, trusts, and "high finance." He sees
them with their villas and their castles at home
and abroad, their public post offices within their
private grounds, their private cars, their yachts,
their banks, their railroads, their newspapers,
their lobbies in and out of, the legislatures, and
of congress. He sees them on intimate terms
with law makers and federal judges, even hob
nobbing with royalty. , He sees all this, and he
feels that he pays a large part of the toll, very
much against his will. v.
He is not envious of the so-called plutocrats
because they have "lots of money;" but he is
convinced that lots of their money is pther peo
ple's money, for which they, gave no value and
to which they have no moral right.
He has learned that if he steals $50, He
goes to the penitentiary; but that the man Who
steals millions is admitted into "high finance"
and is heralded as a foremost American. : He
has found that if he violates the injunction of
a court, he goes to jail, and his home is .sold
to pay the court's costs; but that when
the corporation magnate violates an, injunction,
he gives bond and goes free.
He has learned that when a corporation is
the complainant, federal judges are not only
prompt to assume jurisdiction, but only too often
they assume also the spirit of the prosecutor.
He sees the leading business men of the
couijtry placing pride of pelf above pride of self.
He sees them proclaiming and exemplifying the
heresy that the dollar is the standard of suc
cess, and that this success is the standard. o
character, of worth. i, C
He hears himself patronizingly asked, to ac
cept a "full dinner pail" in lieu of a full share
of civic rights and full opportunities in life. '
He has discovered that the devotees of
"high finance" have two systems of arithmetic.
When they buy, they estimate the cost of labor,
material, and machinery, by the formula of 2
and 2 make 4; but when they capitalize to sell
stocks and bonds, it is 2 and 2 make 22.
He is told by the-railroads that the rails
made and sold by the steel trust at exorbitant,
protective tariff prices are defective, and are
continually breaking, thus causing railroad
wrecks, and' daily and. hourly endangering the
lives of thousands of people; and he is told by
the railroads that the tariff-protected steel trust
monopoly turns out these defective rails so as to
save , money the money going to pay dividends
on hundreds of millions of watered stock. But
no one in authority has even suggested that
the) steel trust rail makers are criminally re
sponsible. The government itself, tells him the' rail
roads, congressmen, senators, and men of large
wealth have conspired to defraud the people of
thousands of acres of valuable mining and tim
ber lands, but he sees one of these very senators
at the head of the prosecution of the mine union
leaders of Colorado.
He sees corporation lawyers appointed to
federal judgeships.. ' He sees corporation law
yers in the federal cabinet;",. He sees cabinet
officers go direct from the administration to be
come intimately associated with Wall Street
leaders of "high finance."
He has been given ample evidence that
even the United States senate, the highest law
making body of the nation and the body that
confirms the appointments of ail federal judges
is controlled, when necessary, by senators
elected to represent railroad trusts, tariff-beno-ficiaries,
and other special privilege recipients.
. Then, too, he has learned that newspapers
being the largest beneficiaries of this increased are selling their columns, even their editorial
cost. ) columns, to those who fatten on special privi-
to be elected at large by individual
stockholders.
The board of directors to elect a
board of seven trustees, five of whom
shall be members ih good standing of
unions affiliating with the American
Federation of Labor, and no two trus
tees to belong to the same organiza- ,
tion. The president, secretary, treas
urer and vice president to be mem-,
bers of the board of trustees. ''
Treasurer and secretary to foe
bonded. ' , ' ' - "
: The association to have' power to
retire the stock of the association as
it sees fit, upon payment of "the cur-,
rent market price. - , . ''
No stockholder to act as a proxy
to other stockholders when the stock
represented by proxy added to the
stock held by the representative ex
ceeds 1,000 shares. -...
The cumulative system of voting to
obtain at all elections. ' . .' -
Every possible safeguard ' for the
smnll strtntehnlrlpr hac'hofm rmvtrlfl
and under the terms of the articles
of incorporation it will be impossible '.
to divert any property accumulated
by the association from 1 its original
purpose. '-,-'. . . . -.
This in brief is what the committee
has accomplished", and the -way has
now been prepared for the actual
work of raising the funds for the
erection of ' a Labor . Temple in Jjin
coln. The committee, after the filing
off the articles, will devote its atten
tion to preparing and carrying out a
financial campaign in which ; every
loyal union man and woman, is ex
pected to take part. ; X1 - .
The committee met ' last .." Monday
evening at the home of Fred' I-hringer,
1538 D street. The following com
mitteemen were present: tV
J. W. Dickson, Carpenters, t . '
. T. C. Kelsey, Leatherworkers. ,
A. B. Woelhaff, Painters. - '
T. W Evans, Cigarmakers. ' "T
Alex Weckesger, Pressmen.
1 Fred Ihringer, Typographical.
! A. V. White, Plumbers.. ' -
Fred Ress, Bookbinders. ' .
Anderson, the electrical workers'
delegate, has : not yet reported for
duty. Walker, the bartenders' dele
gate, has also, failed to report. The
lathers and . bricklayers have not yet
elected delegates. None of the rail
road brotherhoods has as yet shown
any sign of interest in the project.
At the meeting the articles of in
corporation as prepared were formal
ly approved as read,, and the secre
tary instructed to again submit them
to '- the committee's attorney. - Arrangements-
for the raising of the
filing fees were ma'de. The members
were instructed to file with the secret
tary a list of all local secretaries of
their international unions, and the
secretary ' instructed to correspond
with the ' Whitehead-Hoag company
with the view to securing a "Labor
Tempi Badge" for use in the finan
cial campaign.
An- "order of business" for future
meetings of the committee was
adopted. -' .
It is understood-that S. L. Chaplin,
who has heretofore represented the
barbers, will be compelled to with
draw from the committee on account
of becoming an emplpyer, -which ne
cessitates his taking's witharawal
card from his local;- The committee
is in .hopes that the barbers -will, find
some way of permitting: Mr. Chaplin
to legally' represent the union on the
committee. He has taken a deep in
terest in the project and shown by
his -actions that he can be depended
upon for a full share of the work..
. The committee will meet again next
Monday night at the home of A. V.
White, delegate from the plumbers,
923 F street. Committemen are re
quested to meet promptly at 8 o'clock.
Unions not yet - represented, and
especially those whose delegates have
been remiss, are requested to take
the proper action. ; This is the crucial
point in the project, and it is impera
tive that every union do its full share
to start the thing along.
He sees that there are two distinct classes
of citizens; the producing class and the exploit
ing class. He sees the shining lights of "high
finance." of stock-watering, of public franchise
huckstering, of special privilege, and of graft
leges, and who rob. and oppress the people-
lawruliy. C ,
Seeing and knowing these things, he feels
that there is something radically wrong in the
system of economy that brings forth, and in the
ENTERTAINED FRIENDS.
Miss , Faye Swanson entertained
eight of her little friends on Septem
ber 17, the occasion ; being her
eleventh . birthday. The hostess
served watermelons in plenty, and
the occasion was greatly enjoyed.
