I
t ,
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, DECEMBER L0, 1007
NO. 3S
ml
Temple Boosters
Still Boosting Away
This is the way the Labor Temple
siock subscription stands to date:
Carpenters' Union Shares 115
-Tj pographlcal Union Shares 115
Electrical Workers' Union. Shares 128
Bartenders' Union .Shares 100
Omaha Carpenters Shares 5
Vallejo 1. B. E. W Shares 5
f'BnltAl Auxiliary Shares
Barbers' Union Shares 100
, Painters and Decorators,
No. 18 Shares 100
Leatherworkers Shares 100
Electrical Workers, Fre- '
mont ". ..Shares 5
, Cigarmakers Shares 10
Plumbers "....Shares 20
Individual subscriptions.. Shares 434
Total Shares 1,160
At the meeting last Monday even
tug the Labor Temple Committee took
the first preliminary step in the pub
licity campaign that -will be started
noon after the dawning of the new
year. Five thousand copies of the
articles of incorporation, together with
a brier description of the plans union
ists have in mind for a Labor Temple,
will be printed and distributed to the
general public.
Just to show that trades unionists
in other cities are interested In Lin
coln's movement for a Temple, Fre
mont Leatherworkers' Union No. 32
bought two shares of stock. Other
unions are cordially invited to do the
same. ,
The committee decided to skip next
CAPITAL AUXILIARY.
Electa Officers and Winds Up Its
Work for the Year.
Capital Auxiliary Xo. 11 to Typo
graphical Union Xo. 209 met with Mrs.
J. E. Worley on Friday of last week
end elected officers for the ensuing,
jfar. The officers-elect are as follows:
President, Mrs. Fred W Mickel.
Vice President, Mrs. J. E. Marshall.
Secretary, Mrs. C. B. Rlghter.
Treasurer, Mrs. C. E. Barngrover.
Chaplin, Mrs. G. M. Walhan.
Guide, Mrs. F. McKenney.
Executive committee, Mrs. W. d.
Norton, Mrs. August Radebach, Mrs.
H. W. Smith, Mrs. Charles Simmons.
ThlB was the last meeting of what
lias been a very satisfactory year for
the organization. The Auxiliary has
pushed the label with vigor, has en
joyed many social good times, and
has added, much to the good work of
unionism. The organization has not
been depleted by death, for which the
.members are thankful. However,
death has visited several Auxiliary
homes, and when it did the members
, strove to exemplify the fraternal
teachings of unionism by extending
the hand of help and sympathy.
The next meeting will be held on
January 10 at the home of Mrs. Comp
ton, and it is to be hoped that this
first meeting in 1908 will find the
' full membership present There is
much work that needs to be done
which the Auxiliary can do, and every
member should try to do her full
share. 1
A committee has been apiolnted to
assist No. 209 with the silver anniver
sary ball on February. 25.
. Have you. any stickers left
Mrs. Tompson, 402 South Twenty
fifth street, and Mrs. Peat, 1557, North
Thirty-first street, have been on the
sick list.
Mrs. Radebach returned from her
Chicago vlsft sooner than expected.
Mrs. A, L. Com p ton has moved to
2029 N street.
Mrs. Creal, one of our "used to be"
members, has had a lovely Christmas
present of a little daughter.
LABOR SUNDAY.
Rev. Charles Stelzle Want to Know
Sentiment of Unionists.
Shall we observe Labor Sunday on
the Sunday before Labor Day in Sep
tember, or on the second Sunday in
May, which would being it In harmony
with the resolution adopted by the
last convention of the American Fed
eration of Labor with reference to
! the observance of that Sunday as
"Labor's Memorial Day?"
For three successive years the
Presbyterian Department of Church
Monday night, owing to the nearness
of Christmas, and the next meeting
will be heid on December 30. Unions
that hive not yet sent a representa
tive to the committee should get busy
before that time.
H. J. Pickard showed up from the
Plumbers' Union with the proper cre
dentials and will take the place of
former committeeman' A. V. White,
who has left town. Mr. Pickard got
the glad hand.
! Every member was present at the
la3t meeting with the exception of
Committeeman Walker of -the Bar
tenders' Union, and he sent an excuse
that was deemed amply sufficient.
The committee is planning some
thing big in the way of publicity soon,
but until all arrangements are made
and they are now under way nothing
definite can be announced. But it
will be a three times winner when it
is pulled cff.
Due notice should be taken of the
fact that this committee has been
meeting some ten weeks without a
skip, and ' the absentees have . never
numbered more than two. Chairman
Dickson comes in from University
Place every week, and other members
often pass up social enjoyment to give
their time to the good wwk. If 75
per cent of the union men in Lincoln
would boom the Temple project as
hard as the members of this commit
tee have, we'd dedicate the Temple
next Labor Day Instead of merely lay
ing the corner stone.
Fremont Leatherworkers. .Shares , 2
and Labor, of which I have the honor
to be the superintendent, has been
advocating, with considerable success,
that the 11,000 churches in our de
nomination discuss the labor prob
lem on the Sunday preceding Labor
Day. Hundreds of thousands . c'f
workingmen, , besides large numbers
of employers, have . attended churc's
or. that Sunday, to hear the labor
question discussed. It has been found,
however, that on account of the fact
that most ministers take their vaca
tion during the weeks Immediately
preceding the first of September, not
sufficient preparation could be made
to make the most of this opportunity.
It has, therefore, occurred to me that
the -second Sunday in May would be
more advantageous, first, because we
shall have a better chance to gei
leady for it, and now, second, because
the American Federation ef Labor
has decreed that the second Sunday
ir May shall be observed as indicated
above.
But I desire to get the personal
opinion of those who are directly in
terested, and I shall be glad to have
the' readers of this journal write me
very frankly as to what they think
about having the churches of America,
not only the Presbyterian, but the
other denominations as -well, declare
that the second Sunday in May
shall hereafter be known as "Labor
Sunday" throughout the churches of
America.
Address me at 156 Fifth Avenue,
New York. Rev. Charles Stelzle.
KILO-ED CHILD LABOR LAW.
Ohio Circuit Court Declares the State
Law Unconstitutional.
An Ohio circuit court has pro
nounced unconstitutional the auti
cklld labor law of that state, which
prohibits the employment of minors
under 14 in any factory, mine or other
establishment. The court regards the
act as an unwarrantable interference
'with the liberties guaranteed to tho
people of Ohio by their state consti
tution as well as by the organic law
of the United States. .
This decision will ' astonish all
friends of child labor legislation and
a good many legal students of the
'questions involved in such legislation.
'Certainly the precedents are all
'against the opinion of the Ohio court.
Legislation restricting child labor and
prohibiting it entirely under certain
ages and conditions has been the rule,
rather than the exception, for a num
ber of years, and decision after deci
sion from the highest state courts has
sustained such interference with "lib
erty" as an entirely valid exercise of
the police power of the state the
power to safeguard the health and
moral welfare of the community. The
Ohio child labor law is hardly more
advanced than the child labor laws
of other northern states. New York
by no means a "radical" state has re
cently strengthened its child labor
law, at the instance of Governor
Hughes, by providing that no minor
under the age of 16 shall be permitted
to work in any mine or quarry. vIn
factories children between the ages of
14 and 16 may be employed, but not
at night that is, not between the
hours of 11 p. m. and 6 a. m. .
Even , the south is no longer
' enemy's country" for the earnest ad
vocates of restriction of child labor.
Of late, progress in that section has
been gratlfyingly rapid and substantial
in the premises, and it is hoped that
in a few years its child 'labor laws
will be fully abreast of those of the
states that have taken the most ad
vanced position in opposition to this
evil. Chicago Record-Herald..
THE CARPENTERS.
General. Organizer Michler Works Up
Renewed Interest Here. .
William d! Michler of Kansas City,
general organizer of. the United
Brotherhood of Carpenters' and
Joiners, has been in Lincoln for sev
eral days, assisting the local union in
many ways. Mr. Michler has strength
ened the lines in many places and has
succeeded . in removing several diffi
culties that lay in the way of further
success. The good results of his work
are already manifest.
Mr. Michler conveys the welcome
information that the American Fed
eration of Labor is preparing, to put
an organizer in Nebraska early in the
year for the purpose of organizing a
state federation and putting a numbe
of local unions Into the harness. This
is something that has . been long
needed.
The meeting of the local Tuesday
night was addressed by Mr. Michler
and his talk was listened to with great
interest and approval. He will" go to
Kansas City this week and remain
with his family until after the holi
days, and expects then to return to
Nebraska to do same work in various
cities where the carpenters main
tain organizations.
Brother Flynt, who has been work
ing in Lincoln for some time, bid the
boys- good-bye Tuesday -and on Wed
nesday started for his old home in
Paughkeepsie. N. Y.
The first of the week ; Mrs. Frank
Methodist Church and Labor
To the Editor of The Wageworker:
The Xebraska annual Conference of
the M. E. church sends the following
memorial to the General Conference,
which sits at Baltimore, " Md., ' next
May: ' ,
"To the General Conference of 1908.
Dear Fathers and Brethren, Greeting:
The Nebraska Annual Conference
hereby sumbits to your judgment tfnd
action the following memorial : '
"Believing that the prevailing con
ditions and current changes of the
social system indicate imperative and
specific duty of the church in the in
terests of the kingdom of God, it is
therefore our petition that you do or
der and appoint a commission, . to
which shall be referred the considera
tion of the relation of the church to
the social -problem -with specific re
gard to the moral aspects of the rela
tions of capital and labor, the promo
tion of international peace, the puri
fication of politics, the problem of in
toxicating liquors, the protection of
the Sabbath, of the family and of the
youth and other questions of urgent
moral import. We further suggest
that the said commission be instructed
to' deliberate during the ensuing four
years, and also, during that time, to
inove the church at large to vigorous
and purposeful thought concerning
these themes and at the end of that
time to report to the general confer
ence of the year- 1912 in the follow
ing particulars, subject to the final ex
pression and action ot said general
conference:
1st. What principles and measures
of industrial, political and moral re
form are so evidently Christian and
righteous as to warrant the specific
endorsement and support of the
church?
2nd. How can the existing agencies
of the Methodist Episcopal church be
wisely used or improved with a view
to promoting the principles, and meas
ures thus endorsed?
3rd. To what specific co-operation in
Xaracong , of University Place re
ceived a telegram from Oklahoma an
nouncing the sudtlen death of her
younger brother, Mr. Irwin. Mrs.
Xaracong is the wife of the president
elect of the local carpenters' union.
Business Agent Dickson says that
when he is in his office he often re
ceives calls for union workmen1 of
other ' crafts.i He suggests that the
local unions giva him the address of
their secretaries and information as
to how he can locate men when they
are ealied for. In this way he can
be of great service -to all the unions
while taking care of the business of
his own union. ,
WRONG MAN SENTENCED.
Operator Sentenced for Forgery Par
doned by Governor.
Governor Hoch of Kansas has
granted a pardon to James G.' Jarboe,
a telegraph operator sentenced to the
penitentiary for forging a telegram on
which he tried to secure transporta
tion, from Dresden, Kansas, to Colo
rado Springs. Jarboe asked the
Rock Island for a job as operator and
was sent to Dresden. When he got
there he found the job filled, and
nothing was open but a night job as
watchman and mail tender. He de
clined and asked' for return transpor
tation, which i was promised. He
'waited for four or five days at his
own expense, but the transportation
did not come. So he fixed up a fake
telegram authorizing conductors to
carry him to Colorado Springs and
signed the division superintendent's
name to it. He got as far as Good
land when the operator at Dresden,
mad because Jarboe had refused to
stay, thus throwing the night work
on ' him, "flagged" Jarboe and Jtb
conductor handed him over to the
f officers. Jarboe was advised to fight
the case, but declined, saying he was
guilty of forging the superintendent's
naiwe. He received an. indeterminate
sentence of from one to seven years.
Now that he is out his first duty
should be to return to Dresden and
throw the switch for1 the dirty pup of
r.n operator who peached on him.
GOOD MAN SICK. 1
Robert Strain, member of the Bar
bers' Union, is quite sick at his home
in University. Place. Brother, Strain
is one of the old union standbys, and
he has a host of friends who are wish
ing for his speedy recovery- '" '
this behalf shall we invite the several
evangelical denominations?
' "4th. How can our courses of min
isterial study in seminaries and con
ferences, be modified with a view to
better preparing our preachers for a
social ministry and for efficiency' in
moral reform?"
The following' comments may ren
der the foregoing more interesting to
the readers of The Wageworker:
First, the General Conference to
which this petition is addressed is
the Supreme legislative body of the
M. E. church. It meets once in four
years, remains in session for an en
tire month and represents a constitu
ency of more than three million mem
bers. There is probably no other body
which can express or influence so
large a portion of the public senti
ment except the Federal Congress
and the National Conventions of two
great parties. '.,'"
Second, The action 'petitioned for
would, touch several subjects of vital
moment to the laboring classes, such
As the rights of organized labor, the
hours of work, the employment of
children, the Sunday, rest, the living
wage, qp-operation and profit-sharing
and the relation of the liquor question
to the labor question.
Third, It should be noted that the
action indicated is not yet taken by
the General Conference but is merely
petitioned for toy -the Nebraska Con
ference. Hence it is desired that this
petition be as strongly supported as
possible. Any expression of approval
which may emanate from lahor organ
izations or the labor press will be yery
helpful to this end and will be regard
ed with great Interest and respect by
lUe General Conference. The writer
of this article will be grateful for any
expressions of this kind that may be
forwarded to him and will see that
they are put to effective use.
Ever a friend of labor,
' WILLIAM N. BALCH,
1601 So. 16th. St.
Lincoln Made
i
The Wageworker , has taken occa-
1, . . e T" : . 1 l t 11.. :
sion to speak of Richard L. Metcalfe's
now famous book, "Of Such is the
Kingdom," and in its humble way do
something to add to its sals. On
merit alone the book should sell by,
the hundreds of thousands. , In senti
ment, in inspiration Wd' in helpful
ness it has Rev. Charles Sheldon's
'In His Steps", backed oft the board
which is expressive even if not in
harmony with the spirit of both books.
But there Is another reason; why "Of
Such is the Kingdom"! should be boost
ed for fair by union men and women
it is a union made book "from kiver
to.kiver," and it looks it. ' It .is as
pretty as a book can be made and sell
for a dollar. The man who wrote it,
while not a trades unionist by mem
bership only because he is not a
craftsman is a trades unionist in sen
timent and in practice., When he got
ready to "have the book printed he
submitted the manuscript to union
print shops and asked for estimates,
It is not strange that two or three
shops employing "free and indepen
dent workmen" , asked . for a bid and
offered cut prices. Such shops can
bid low because they don't, pay wages.
But the author refused to, consider
their estimates, declaring that it had
to be put out by union men. And It
was. The printers were members f
the International Typographical Un
ion, the pressmen were ( members of
the international Printing Pressmen
and Assistants' Union, the hinders
were . members of the International
Brotherhood of Bookbinders, and he !
ASSESSMENT REDUCED.
Pressmen Get a Christmas Gift of Five
j Per Cent. , ' , ,
1 The union pressmen of Lincoln were
gratified last week by receipt of , an
official notification that on and after
December 18 the . strike . assessment
would be only 5 per ent. It has
been 10 per cent. The notice is posi
tive evidence that the strike is being
won despite injunctions and threats of
imprisonment for contempt. .'''
Local pressmen are - feeling' ' good.
The benefit list is practically nothing,
and overtime work has been common
for several weeks. V'-"' ,-' ' .'''"
; A former member of . the union is
serving as a strikebreaker in a local
"rattery'V He is a prominent church
worker who selfishly seized chance
to benefit at the , expense of his fel
lows. ' ; ' ' ' f:'rl
' -,,'(',';.- ,
NOT ORGANIZING JAPS.
San ' Francisco, . Dec. , 14. Advices
from Honolulu state that' it i denied
officially by the secretary of the Hono
lulu trade and labor assembly - that
any representative of the American
Federation of Labor Is i in Hawaii
seeking to organize the Japanese plan
tation labors into a union allied, with
the federation. ; ';'' .,-
AFTER STILLINGS.
) ' ; . .... .... ...
Incompetent Public Printer is Having
.a 'Heap of Trouble.
The following special dispatch to the
Omaha World-Hearld appeared under
a Washington date line on Decem
ber 16: " :' ,' '-';'
"Organized labor is actually on the
trail of Public Printer' Charles A.
Stillings, ' who is charged with being
hostile to organizations in the great
printing office. . Senator Burkett the
other day presented a resolution
passed by the Central Labor Union of
Omaha.-praying for legislation under
which Stillings will have to be re
moved. . , ..
j"Some serious charges about the
Stillings administration are made, one
just came to light Last summer sev
eral hundred people in the bindery at
the big establishment were laid off
indefinitely on the ground that there
was no work, for -them. ' Right after
wards, members of congress who had
business at the congressional library
discovered that it was Impossible to
consult bound volumes , of recent
periodicals, because these ' had been
held up at the printing office for a
year or more. There was no sufficient
force in the bindery to bind them,
and the library's facilities were badly
crippled i as a result. It is charged
that hundreds of tons of unbound
by
Lincoln Unionists
engravers were members of the union
c i , ... ' ; .
of that craft.
The sale of this book has not been
more than it deserved not by some
million or two copiesbut when the
average sale , of the average book is
considered if has been phenomenal.
It , is now in its tenth thousand, and
still going like buckwheat caltes on .
a December morning. ; -
Recognizing Mr.' Metcalfe's friend
ship for union labor the following re
solution has been, adopted by. the Lin
coln Allied Printing Trades Council 4
and Local No. 120 of the International
"Brotherhood of Bookbinders: ' ' '
"Resolved, By Local No. 120, Inter
national Brotherhood of Bookbinders
and Lincoln AWied. Printing ; Trades
Council, that we congratulate our fel
low townsman Richard L. Metcalfe
on the great success of his book, 'Of
Such is the Kingdom'; that we con
gratulate Lincoln on being the home
town of a .; volume that Is' destined
to be known the world over, and that
we point with pride to the fact that
all who worked upon that famous pub
lication were union printers, union
pressmen,, union bookbinders and un
ion engravers." . :. ; . X . ' ,
This resolution will be suitably en
grossed and signed and .presented to
Mr. Metcalfe. ; .; ' . ,
"Of Such is the Kingdom",, is ad
vertising Lincoln the world over, and
while doing that it is also advertising
that Lincoln's union 'men in the al
lied printing trades are first-class me
chanics and capable of doing the 'best
work in- their line. )
magazines and i thousands of books '
that need rebinding are stacked up.
both at the library and at the print
ing office, awaiting attention, while it
is given out that there is no work for
the binding force. ' Congress Is going
to find out, if possible, what the facts
are, and there may be legislation of
tee sort the unions want. Last ses
sion it was charged that incompetency
at the printing office delayed adjourn
ment many hours, to the great disgust
of members.". - , ..
WASTING THEIR TIME.
Corporation Promoters Waste Time
and Postage on Wageworker-
The "M. OA Publishing Bureau, 119
Nassau Street, New York City, is
wasting a lot of valuable time and
considerable postage in sending The
Wageworker 'its mess of'predlgested
editorial" in opposition to municipal
ownership. The stuff comes in the ;
shape of t newspaper clippings "and al
leged facts in opposition to the mu
nicipal ownership of public utilities..
The Wageworker gently, fires the
stuff into the waste basket without
opening it. We opened the first
batch or two and that, was enough.
The gentlemdn; who collates . the
"copy," Mr, Grant, has got a nice,
easy job, and we congratulate 'him. .
But The AVagewoTker man is more
than seven years old. - .. " --
The labor paper that would print
any of the dope sent out by Mr. Grant
needs an editor who is not in the
habit of buying gold bricks and biting
at the padlock game. The "M. O."
Publishing Bureau is expensive, but
the eminent corporationists who are
footing the bills evidently think they
are getting their money's worth. ; But
the small amount they Invest in send
ing their stuff to this humble little
labor paper is not well invested.
FALSELY ACCUSED.
Charges Against Union Men at Gold
. field Were Unfounded.
Goldfield, Nev., Dec. 18. The dis
covery was made today that the union
miners or their sympathizers had
nothing to do with the cutting off of
light and power through a break in
the Nevada & California Power com
pany's wires. Armed repairmen, re-.
turning from a search for the break, -reported
that an ice and snow slide
in the White mountains had caused
the poles to collapse, the impact snap-,
ping the wires. ' '
A SURE GO.
It looks like the Lincoln 'Labor Tem
ple would be a go. The Wageworker
is booming ' it for fair. 'Western La-,
borer.
