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About The Wageworker. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1904-???? | View Entire Issue (Jan. 30, 1909)
1 -mM 1 ARMSTRONO'S JANUARY SALE This is an Excellent Time to Buy An Excellent Suit or Overcoat Our Entire Stock of Suits, Overcoats and Cravenettes are Divided Into Five Great Lots Reduced as Follows: LOT NO. 1 AT $22.00 Embraces all Suits, Overcoats and Cravenettes that were priced $40, $35 and $30 LOT NO. 2 AT $18.00 Embraces all Suits, Overcoats and Cravenettes that were priced $27.50, 25, 22.50 LOT NO. 3 AT $14.00 i Embraces all Suits, Overcoats and Cravenettes that were priced $20 and $18 LOT NO. 4 AT $11.00 Embraces all Suks, Overcoats and Cravenettes that were priced $16.50 and $15 LOT NO. 5 AT Embraces all Suits, Overcoats and Cravenettes that were priced $12 and $10 ARMSTRONG GLO GOOD CLOTH ES MERCHANTS THING CO. Standard Oil company? Can't we ar range this thing on a more equitable basis and send these men to jail on the day the Standard OH company pays that $29,000,000? Paterson Even ing News. SAME EVERYWHERE. Schenectady Labor Paper Waxes Sar castic About Them. "Of course the daily newspapers are flying to the defense of the rights of the workers. What's the use of sup porting the labor newspapers?" Lin coln Wageworker. ' None at all. They are a' superfluous adjunct to the labor movement; a la bor editor is no good; he's a hot-air artist, "living off the hard-earned dol lars of the downtrodden toilers," etc.. until a strike or lockout occurs" or some boycott is to be exploited, and then what an influential publication becomes the labor paper In the sight these knockers! and what a power and convincing writer Is the editor! The editor's reward is, of course, a little advertising, censored by , men who are not subscriebrs, or if they are, in the 'majority of cases, delin quent, and if by any circumstance should -pay their, bill, do so in a man ner that would indicate that they were giving to charity. , Schenectady has many "union" men of this stripe, and, no doubt, hell is crowded With them.' Schenectady Labor Leader, " t PRESSMEN ON STRIKE. Last Tuesday evening ten pressmen and ten pressfeeders walked nut. . nt the establishment of the West Publish ing company, St. Paul, Minn., on strike. This action was a result of the absolute refusal of the " company to concede the forty-eight hour week in augurated for the two crafts on the first day of January, and cheerfully agreed to by every other printing house and publishing concern in the city. . THE GOMPERS-MORRISON-MITCHELL CASE USURPATION. Former Judge Maguire of the San Francisco Bar Gives Opinion of , . Justice Wright's Decision. , ' The decision of Judge Wright of the supreme court of the Dis trict of Columbia, in the Gompers contempt case, is the most far reaching step yet taken to undermine and destroy the freedom of speech and of the press guaranteed by the federal constitution. Pri marily it is intended to curb the growing power of organized labor, if not to destroy the labor movement; but it can not be limited to that purpose. If finally upheld, it must ultimately lead to the gen eral censorship of speech and of the press. If a court may, by in junction or otherwise, determine, in advance, what subject may or may not be discussed, or what may or may not. be said in a labor paper, why may it not, in like manner, abridge the freedom yof all other publications? The fact that judges, nearly all of whom are appointed, through influences unfriendly to labor, and are out of sympathy with the labor movement, may deem it inexpedient or un desirable to abridge the freedom of other publications, is no an swer to the proposition that the assumption of power to do so in any case, places the entire press of -the country at the mercy of an ir responsible power, as great and as arbitrary as the Russian censor ship, to be exercised at will. If the courts can enjoin the publica tion of any statement in "The Federationist," they can certainly enjoin the publication of the same statement in any other paper; and, if they can enjoin the publication of one statement, or the dis cussion of one subject, their power extends to all statements and to all subjects. The truth of falsity of the enjoined statement is wholly im material and is not considered by the court, either in granting the injunction or in determining the guilt of the publisher when cited for contempt of court. The publication, contrary to the injunction, constitutes the crime, though the statement may be, as in the Gompers case, absolutely true. Ihe constitution or the United btates provides that congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech or of the press," but Judge Wright says that this provision does not guarantee the right of anybody to print or publish anything; that it is a mere inhibition upon the direct action of congress, but leaves congress free to create courts With power to abridge sueh freedom, by writs having the force of statutory laws. This is ar- i-ntit. nnnispnsA and neither deserves nor needs discussion. x But, says Judge Wright, the defendants are charged with hav ing conspired among themselves and with others to make the pub lication in question, for the purpose of injuring the property (the business) of the Buck Stove company, and that, as the publication was but an incidental overt act in execution of the conspiracy, the court had a right to enjoin it, although an individual, not conspir ing with others, might not be subject to such injunction. This in volves the absurdity of holding that an individual citizen may. law fully and rightfully publish an article in a newspaper, which it would be unlawful for several persons, having the same object in view, to publish in the same newspaper. What property ot the buck stove uompany were the delendants i-; : ; u.. v, ; : ,1 nkint;nn4 T i : c ser&iug lo iiijuie ujr tne cujuiucu puuiitaiiuu i its uuoiijes, ui course. And how were they attempting to injure its business? By inducing the members, and friends of organized labor to withdraw their patronage from the company during its controversy with the unions. But the Buck Stove Company has no property right in such patronage, it belongs to the customers and not to the company with which they' may, at any time, choose to deal, and may be withdrawn by them at will, either with or without reason. What possible property,' or property right, of the company can be injured by requesting a customer to transfer his patronage to another? None. Yet an injunction can be issued in such cases, only to pre- pvent injury to property or property rights of the complainant. Another argument of Judge Wright is that the enjoined pub lication was, and . was intended to be, an interference with inter state commerce, and was therefore a criminal act in execution of the alleged conspiracy, How did, or could, the publication interfere with or obstruct interstate commerce, assuming, although we deny, that it might be properly enjoined "upon that ground ? If every person in every state of the union, should, as a direct result of the publication, refuse to purchiase any stove or other article manufac tured by the Buck Stove Company, that fact would not in the least interfere with interstate commerce. The company would still be perfectly free to ship their wares into every state in the union. They might find no purchasers in any of the states, but that is a matter entirely beyond the scope of the interstate commerce laws, and be yond the jurisdiction of the federal government itself. Judge Wright, as a further basis for his decision, appeals to the higher law of necessity, "the argument of tyrants." He con tends that, if such injunctions cannot be issued and enforced, there is no adequate protection to the citizen against false and libelous publications injurious to his business. Of course he does not find that by anything published by the defendants was false .or libelous. It was manifestly true, and its truth or falsity was legally imma terial in the contempt proceeding. It was true that the Buck Stove company had been placed upon the "unfair list" of the American Federation of Labor, and it was true that members of the Federa tion "do not patronize" the company. These were the enioined publications, for publishing which they were found guilty of con tempt of court. Injunction is not, and never can be, a remedy for libel or slander, but, it it were desirable to adopt such a remedy, the ju dicial department of the federal government has never been com- i speakers, both inside and outside the ranks of organized labor, will be heard A program of music will also he pro vided. All union men and women arer urged to be present. ! It was intended to make this a monster mass meeting, but owing to circumstances this was found impossi ble, so a meeting on a smaller scale will be provided. Proper resolutions protesting against the decision of Jus tice Wright will be introduced and doubtless adopted.- ' The meeting of the central : body Tuesday night was unmarked by any important business, routine work be ing given the right of way. : missioned to legislate upon the subject. DO NOT PATRONIZE i BUCK STOVES AND RANGES! PROGRESS OF CIGAR MAKERS. THE PRINTERS. Arrangements Completed , for the Twenty-sixth Annual Ball. The twenty-sixth annual ball of Lin coln Typographical Union No. 209 is going to be the "best ever," and that means something in view of the past magnificent successes achieved by the union in the matter of annual balls. It will be held at Fraternity hall on February 17, Quick's orchestra furnish ing the music. The commfttee from the union and the auxiliary have worked hard to make the arrange ments complete in every detail, and a grand success is already assured. Mrs. Will Norton and family will leave for Humboldt the first ot the week to make that city their future home. Mr. Norton is now editor and publisher of the Humboldt Democrat and making good as might have been expected. Mrs.G. N. Wathan is visiting with relatives and friends in Kansas City. The Auxiliary met last Wednesday afternoon with Mrs. Hoffmeister. Gene Lyman can have a . couple of overcoat buttons by calling at- this office, proving property and paying for this notice. LABOR PROTEST MEETING. Will Be Held Under Auspices of the Central Body, February 12. A protest meeting will be held un der the auspices of the Central Labor Union at Bruse's hall on February 12, the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln. Good Fine Showing of the Organized Part of the Craft for 1908. For the year 1908 the Cigarmakers International. Union makes the follow. ing showing to the American Federa- tion of Labor: Charters issued,-8 surrendered, 11. Gaift in membership, 200. Number of strikes, 68; final re ports have been received in but 36; won, 22; compromised, 5; lost, 9; number of persons involved, 3,426; benefited, 1,055; not benefited, 170, Thirteen strikes were against redue tion in wages; 6 were successful,;! compromised and 1 lost. Death bene fits, $203,500; sick benefits, $173,- 505.67; traveling benefits, $50,063.86 unemployed benefits, $60,000. As a re sult of the improvement in the condi tions of the members brought about by the organization, - death rate from tuberculosis has been reduced '15 per cent and length of life increased 6 per cent in males and 8 per cent in wives of members. ELECTRICAL WORKERS. President Gompers has notified Pet er W. Collins, grand secretary, and J. F. . McNulty, grand president of the International Brotherhood of Electri cal Workers; that the A. F.' of L. exec utive council had. rendered a decision to the effect that they are the borii fide officers of the Electrical Workers. A WORTHY BILL. House Roll No. 162, introduced by Representative Nettleton of Clay, 1 re peals the garnishee law as it jiow stands, and1 provides for the exemp tion of sixty days' wages of heads of families.: The bill ought to pass with out a dissenting voice. ' The . stenographers of the supreme court of Nova Scotia have refused to take notes as a protest against small : pay and recently Judge 1 Russell de clared he was not going to be both judge and stenographer and Joined the ranks of the strikers. - Additional death benefits of $250 for a membership of seven or more years and $300 for one of ten or more years have been established by the Brotherhood of Painters, Decorators and Paperhangers. . 1 ' His Vocabulary. He was an only child, i They wer vai-v nartlcnlar about his manner f speech, constantly correcting him ao that he would use beautiful fcnglisn. He, however, was allowed now- and then to associate with other children. He played with a neighbor boy a long while one day - and when he came home there was an ecstatic smile on his face. "I like that boy, mother," he said. "I like him very much. He swears beautifully. He knows every word." Starch, Ilka everything else. Is h ing constantly Improved, the patent Starches put on the market 25 years ago are very different and inferior to those of the present day. In the lat est discovery Defiance Starch all in jurious chemicals are omitted, whits the addition of another ingredient, In vented by us, gives to the Starch !.a strength and smoothness saver ap-1 proached by other brands. ' Adaum rinllr In' Four States. , Bromine, useful in medicine, pho tography, the manufacture of dyes and in certain metallurgical , opera tions, is produced commercially In only four states of this country--Mlch-Igan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Last year's output was 1,379,496 pounds. I - A REASONABLE SUGGESTION. Gompers, Mitchell and Morrison, labor leaders sentenced to jail for con tempt of court, don't want to go, any more than other men would in their places. 5 What's more, , they don't in tend to go if they can help it, and there are a great many laboring men all over this broad land who hope some other way out of the difficulty will be solved. Just as a suggestion, why not saw this thing off with the The roller mills of Arlington have changed hands and the new owners expect to put It into, operation after an idleness of several years. One of the owners was in Arlington recently trying to make arrangements with the electric light company for power to run the mill and steam for heating and steaming the wheat. Hanson & Edgecombe, who recently bought the Beatrice Daily Express. purchased" the Beatrice Weekly Times of Colonel W. S. Tllton, who has pub lished the paper for the last twelve years. The Dally Express will be con solidated with the Times plant - and will soon be moved from Ella street to . Court street in the building occupied by the Times. . '