lTTI
I l TgAPI TOUHCIQ
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VOL,. 5
lilNCOKST, JfEBEASKA, MARCH 18, 1909
NO. 49
Among the Live
Here, There
There are two exhibits at the "Made
in Lincoln" exposition that look
mighty good to The Wageworker man.
Of course all the exhibits look good,
but the two referred to look espe
cially good.
We have reference to the exhibit
ct the Depuly-Spangler Hat and
Glove Co., and the exhibit of the
Cigarniakera' Union. The Deputy
Spangler Co. Is showing a splendid
line of gloves made right here in Lin
coln, and every glove bears the label
of the Gloveworkers" ' Union. The
Union Cigarmakera have an exhibit
of cigars made in Lincoln, and every
cigar on exhibition wab made by
union men.
These are industries that The Wage
worker loves to boost industries
tbat employ men and women at good
wages, work reasonable hours and
provide sanitary conditions; . indus
tries that recognize that the toller
has some voice in the disposition of
his toll
We have the word of the Deputy
Spangler Co. that it is realizing the
benefits of unionism. The "little
joker" in the glove is being recognized
everywhere, and as a result the de
mand for the "Hardy Glove" is grow
ing by leaps and bounds. ' Hundreds
of Lincoln union men wear gloves
' while at work, and every one of them
ought to be wearing a "Hardy Glove,"
union made and Lincoln made. If
your favorite dealer does not handle
them, change dealers.
If you are a smoker, just pause for
a while in front of the exhibit of
cigars that are made right here in
Lincoln by well paid union ' cigar
makers. No tenement house or Chin
ese coolie mado cigars in that case.
No ' germs of consumption or worse
in the tips of those cigars. Never
a human hope or ambition blighted
by oppression has been wrapped into
those cigars. They are clean, well
made, and in quality are the equals
of any cigars put upon the market.
Every time you smoke a Lincoln-made
cigar you are doing two good things
boosting .Lincoln's Industries and
helping honest men earn honest live
lihoods. Can you afford to do other
wise?
Shortly before the .opening of the
"Made in Lincoln" exposition the
editor of The Wageworker received a
1 rinted letter from a local manufac
turing firm, boosting for the exposi
tion and boosting for "home patron
age." It was a well written letter,
and it complimented "ye editor" by
appointing him a committee of one to
"boost for Linccln and Lincoln insti
tutions." It sounded awfully good
for a minute. Eut the editor of The
Wageworker happens to be a printer
by trade, and he is always anxious to
know a few things when he sees a job
of printing, so he always "rubbers."
He proceeded to "rubber" in this in
stance and to his astonishment he dis
covered that thit letter, asking him to
boost for Lincoln Industries, was print
ed in St. Louis, Missouri.
Wouldn't that jar you?
Now, how'n thunder does that Lin
coln manufacturer expect to get the
money of Lincoln printers when he
rends the money for his printing to
(St. Louis printers? So far as this in
dividual printer is concerned, that par
ticular Lincoln manufacturer can go
to St. Louis oi elsewhere for his
patronage, at least until he gets
enough sense in his head to buy hi
printing in Lincoln before asking Lin
coln printers for support. .
There was a strike against the State
of Nebraska last week. It lasted but
a couple of days, and the strikers
went back to work, having gained con
siderably. The strike was indulged
in by the clerks In the house bill room,
who objected to so much work and
such little time allowance. After be
ing out twenty-four hours they went
back to work with a definite agree
ment as to overtime. They lost one
day and gained two days' overtime.
John J. Ryder, formerly deputy
commissioner of labor, is now a can
didate for the republican nomination
for councilman in the Ninth ward of
Omaha. "Jack" knows quite a few
things about the political game, and if
he don't show his competitors a merry
nace we miss our guess. We do not
Workers
and Elsewhere
know who "Jack's" republican com
petitors are, nor do we know who his
democratic opponent will be in case
Jack" gets the republican nomina
tion. Neither do we care a conti
nental. We are hollering for Ryder
and hoping he will win. And he will
if the voters of the Ninth ward want
a "live one" representing them in the
city council.
Deputy Commissioner of Labor
Maupin announces tbat some time
during the early summer he will call
a meeting at Lincoln for the purpose
of organizing, i? possible, a State Fed
eration of Labor. His idea is to have
each local organization in the state
send one delegate, and that this dele
gate convention draft the plans for
the future government and organisa
tion of the , Federation. He is as
sured of the assistance of the Amer
ican Federation of Labor, and feels
that he should have the hearty co
operation of the local organizations
throughout the state. ' .'
The state of Kansas appropriates
$500 annually to defray the expenses
of a State Federation of Labor meet
ing, but Nebraska declines. However,
Nebraska appropriates $1,000 for a
chicken show and $20,000 for farmers'
institutes.
Three or four directors of the Labor
Temple Association happened to get
together Monday evening and they
decided that it was up to the direc
tors to get busy and either proceed
with the work entrusted to them or
take legal steps looking to the dissolu
tion of the association. With this in
view they decided to meet next Mon
day evening at the office of the Dep
uty Commissioner of Labor, at 8
o'clock sharp. The commissioner's
office is the firs; door on the right as
one enters . the east entrance of the
state house. Every . director - should
make it a point to be present, no mat
ter what previous engagement may
have been made. A great deal is at
stake.
George H. Moore, the Burlington en
gineer who was injured in a wreck
rnar Platr.smouth a couple of weeks
ago, is able to be about again, but he
is not yet quite ready to resume his
place in the cab.
The first, annual ball of the local
Barber's Union was such a success
that it will dorbtless be followed by
similar functions every year. The at
tendance was quite large, and those
who were present enjoyed themselves
hugely. The barbers have reason to
be. proud of their first effort in the
annual ball linn.
The managers of the 'Made-in-Lin-coln"
exposition decided against the
Lee Broom and Duster Co., makin
an exhibit.
Of course the decision was noc
based on the fact that the Lee
Brooms are prison-made.
Certainly not!
The decision was made on the sim
ple fact that the Lee brooms are not
made In Lincoln. They are made in
Lancaster, Nebraska. That is a sep
arate postofHce.
The union bakeries of Lincoln an
nounce that they will put the union
stamp on their bread just as there
is a demand for the aforesaid stamp.
It that isn't pointer enough for the
union bread buyers of Lincoln then
there is no use giving them pointers.
Tuesday evening a big bunch of un
ion men went from the Central Labor
Union meeting to the "Made-in-Lin-
coln exposition ' Immediately they
surrounded the two exhibits of union
made goods and coldly passed up two
or three other exhibits that would
have been equally interesting had
they not been composed of non-union
goods. For instance, there was an ex
hibit installed by a local shirt fac
tory. The union label on those shirts
would not deter a single non-union
man from buying. The absence of the
union label keeps thousands of N
braska unionists from buying them.
Not being a "thorough business man'
we are unable to fathom the intelli
gence of the business man who re
fuses to make a shirt that every men
can buy instead of making a shirt
that good union men simply will not
buy. If the shirt company in ques
tion will put the label on its goods
The Wageworker will do its best to
convey to 2,000 IJncoln unionists the
glad news that they can buy Lincoln
made shirts that are also union made.
By the way, William Howard Taft,
another "advance agent of prosperity,"
is now president of the United
States. Since his inauguration have
you noticed in the newspapers any
announcements of increases in wages?
We haven't, and we see something
like a dozen daily newspapers every
day. But we've seen plenty of notices
of wage reductions.
"The same old story in the same
old way."
Labor Day, 1909, falls, as usual, on
the first day of the state fair. Here
a suggestion for Secretary Mellor and
the State Board of Agriculture:
Hustle out and secure Samuel
Gompers, or John Mitchell or Ray
mond Robins, or some other noted
labor leader, for an address .on that
day. Have Mm speak in the after
noon at the state fair auditorium, then
offer the Centra! Labor Union a per
centage of the gate receipts.
If the receipts ,for the day are not
from SO to 100 per cent larger than
any other Monday's receipts in the
fair's history, The Wageworker will
humbly admit that it don't know a
darned thing about state fairs.
The union printers of Lincoln are
getting 3 cents au hour more for their
work than ever before.
.'The former employes of the Citi
zens' Railway Co. are getting a cent
an hour less than they formerly re
ceived.
The street railway men are not or
ganized. ,
The printers are.
That's the reason.
At Wilkesbarre, Pa., the superin
tendent and foreman of a Lehigh Coal
Co. mine were found responsible for
the, death of eighteen miners, who lost
their lives because the superintendent
and foreman had neglected and rs
fused to provide the safeguards re
quired by law. Were the superintend
ent and foreman sentenced to jail?
Not much. The court decided that
although the two men were guilty, the
finding was a sufficient sentence and
the pricking of their conscience .would
be adequate punishment.
Now let that soak in a little bit.
Men guilty of the death of eighteen
men "sufficiently punished by the
prickings of their conscience." But
Gompers, Mitchell and Morrison must
be given a jail sentence for having iu
terf erred with the "vested rights of
capital."
But what's a human life When
weighed in the balance with an al
mighty dollar?
Will we ever wake up.
F,pr the 'steenth consecutive time
Sam DeNedry has been elected secre
tary of the Washington D. C, Trades
and Labor Council. Those of us wno
know Samuel can understand why he
is retained in that important position.
He is a "live one" in union circles,
and as a printer is as well known as
the head officials of the international.
Samuel isn't a whole lot for pulchri
tude and sartorial display, but what
he lacks in those respects he mora
than makes up for by hustling to
beat the band in the interests of his
fellow wage-earners.
TLPOGRAPHICAL UNION.
Breaks Another Record ty Holding
Two Meetings in One Day.
' The. Typographical Union was un
usually busy last Sunday. It held
two meeting in one day. The first
was an adjourned special meeting, at
which, time the work of revising the
constitution and by-laws was com
pleted. Then it proceeded to hold its regu
lar monthly meeting for the transac
tion of regular business. Outside of
routine business about the only mat
ter considered was that of taking part
in the employment of an "educational
secretary" along lines previously dis
cussed in these columns. A commit
tee was appointed to investigate the
matter and make report to the union.
The ball committee reported rail ex
penses paid and a neat sum, left over.
Just what the proceeds will be is not
yet known, owing to the fact that not
all who sold tickets have made report.
Is there any fire behind all this
smoke about a new daily paper in
Lincoln? That is a question agitating
the minds of Lincoln printers. First
we hear that a contract has been
made with a weekly newspaper hav
ing a big plant to do the mechanical
work. Then we hear that an order
has been placed for the machines and
the presses. , Then we hear that an
order is about to he placed. Then we
hear that this or that building has
been selected as an office. Then we
hear that a new office building is to
be erected at the corner of Goose and
Spruce, or somewhere else. What is
there to all this talk about a new dem
acratic daily paper in Lincoln? We
inquire to know.
Another linotype has been set up
in Lincoln. It is in the office of the
Wood Printing Co., and F. H. Heb-bard-is
one of its owners It will en
gage largely in commercial work.
The printing for the "Made-in-Lin-coln"
exposition bears the union label.
CAPITAL AUXILIARY.
Preparing to Give the Monument Fund
a Goodly Boost.
! dapital Auxiliary No. 11 to Typo
graphical Union No. 209, will help
swell the fund that is being raised
to erect a monument over' the graves
of the union printers who have been
buried from the Home at Colorado
Sprjings. In order to do this the Aux
iliary will give a social dance at Bo-
hanan's hall, 209 South Tenth street,
on March 25. The admission will be
50 cents. The Auxiliary wants to
raise a neat sum, and as the object
is a most worthy one, every friend of
unionism ought to help. '
The Auxiliary met with Mrs. O. C.
Jones Wednesday afternoon, and the
attendance was good. All the sick
members were reported convalescent.
Mrs; Righter rejoiced her friends by
attending the meeting after several
weeks of illness. .
Mrs. O. F.! Young is in' charge of
the work of selling tickets for the so
cial on March 25. Refreshments will
be 'served during the evening.
A committee has been appointed to
arrange for ,an April social, the pur
pose being to raise money to send a
delegate to the St. Joseph convention
next August, i The committee has not
decided upon the form of entertain
ment, but a "country store" is in mind.
CENTRAL LABOR UNIOIN.
Short Meeting Well Attended and Full
of Interesting Detail.
The Central Labor Union met Tues
day evening and proceeded to trans
act its business in ship-shape style.
One interesting feature was the semi
annual report of Secretary Kates. This
was the best report submitted by a
secretary of the Lincoln central body.
It gave the average attendance of
every meeting, the amount of money
received and paid out, and every other
detail of interest to the body. The re
port shwed the central body to be
growing slowly in point of attendance,
and those who are attending already
know that it is growing in interest
and usefulness. The report of Secre
tary Kates was highly complimented.
Treasurer Evans made his usual
brief report, and it was found to be
correct by the auditing committee.
A communication was read from Des
Moines telling how the unionists of
that city secured the election of two
men to the board of commissioners
The matter was discussed at some
length and one or two plans decided
upon. i
The newly elected officers were in
stalled, with the exception of Presi
dent-elect Hannan, who was absent.
At the conclusi'on of the meeting
the delegates visited the "Made-In-Lin-
coin" exposition at the auditorium
and spent most of their time around
the booths displaying union made pro
ducts.
At Orange, N. J., last Monday a
summons was served on John A. Mof-
iltt, president of the United Hatters
of North America, in a suit for libel
brought against him by Robert N.
Drew, head of the firm of Austin,
Drew & Co., non-union hat manufac
turers, of whom Moffit is alleged to
have said on Lincoln's birthday that
he was a deserter from the Union
army in the Civil war and owed his
life to a pardon granted at that time
by President Lincoln.
The Bakers' and Confectioners' In
ternational Union made a gain of $16,-
516.62 in 1908 over 1907. This proves
the growth of the organization, which
is now actively engaged in bringing
its membership to the 50,000 mark.
Not a Fair Division
For
SENATOR KING SAYS IT'S UNFAIR.
Senator King of Polk county Was
the speaker at the Commercial Club's
Saturday noonday nooday luncheon
last week. "The Trend of Legislation '
was " the general topic of Senator
King's remarks, and they were full of
interest to wage earners, even if not
particularly pleasing to some others.
He gave facts and figures to show
that the trend of legislation was con
stantly toward the protection of spe
cial interests, and constantly away
from sentiment and from the inter
ests of those who were needing pro
tection. , '
"We are listing too many things as
crimes when we should be devoting
our energies towards making condi
tions such that men will not be im
pelled to become criminals in order to
secure the necessaries of life," said
Senator King. "We have forgotten
sentiment in our mad rush for com
mercial supremacy.' f .',
The .exemption law was cited by
Senator King as an instance of this
trend. It was an effort to make men
honest by law, to make men pay their
debts, when justice and right demand
ed that men should be paid enough
wages to make it possible for them
to pay their debts and remain honest.
He instanced that farmers' , herds are
exempt up to $2,000 and so is a man's
personality up to $500, but a working
man's, wages are exempt only to sixty
days and lately a law has been passed
releasing ten per cent of that. A bill
is now pending1 to lop off still move of
his exemption. ';. f : ' ' '','".'
The senator said that every pageof
the statute books contains some law
that might better be cured by. better
ing conditions that would do .a.y
with all such offenses.
Another instance of where the la
borer, the man who works for wages,
was discriminated against, was' to be
found in the appropriation bills., These
contained $28,000 for the gamf-war
den's office to enforce the "snowbird
law," while but $8,200 was appropri
ated for the labor bureau and all but
a few hundreds of this was expended
in gathering farm statistics. The state
spends $25,000 for farmers' institutes,
where the farmer is shown what he
may do to improve himself, but not a
dollar is spent " for labor meetings,
where workingmen may find out what
is good for them. Hundreds of thous
ands of dollars are spent to teach
farmers in our agricultural schools
how they may better their conditions
in life, but nothing at all is appropri
ated to teach the workers how they
may find more in life. .'.'
"Property Is held in , too high, es
teem," declared Senator King. "We
pay more attention to protecting the
dollar than we do to protecting the
man. We ought to get back nearer to
sentiment, for it Is sentiment, not dol
lars, that sustains the government in
the crises of war, and it is the main
spring of the great and good actions
of the .nations." : '
Senator King endeavored o secure
a repeal of the ten per cent garnishee
law, . but was defeated.. He has at
tacked the appropriation for game
and fish and declared that the money
ought to he given to the department
of labor to be expended in looking
after the welfare of the toilers in
stead of providing recreation and
pleasure for the already, well-to-do.
'The address, which was delivered
on short notice, held the close atten
tion of the business and professional
men present, and was freely compli
mented by them.
The Wageworker makes bold to
suggest to . the Central, abor Union
that it secure Senator King for an ad
dress before the legislature adjourns.
PROSPERITY NOTES.
How the Wave Is Benefitting the Men
. Who Work for Wages.
READING, Pa., March 6. F. C.
Smink, president of the Reading Ir,on
Company, issued a statement in which
he said that there has been a great, de
cline in the price of the various pro
ducts manufactured by the company.
Owing to this condition he announ ?ed
a reduction in wages in the different
departments of from 7 1-2 to 15 per
cent. The puddling basis will be at
the rate of $3.75 a ton. The former
rate was $4.50 a ton,
YOUNGSTON, O., March 6. Wage
reductions are predicted among the
iron and steel workers within a week.
the City Toilers
It was announced here today that both
the - so-called trust and independent
plants would likely be forced to cut
wages ten per cent following the wage
reduction announced by the Lacka
wanna Steel company.; President
James A. Campbell of the Youngstown
Sheet & Tube company, the largest in
dependent works in this section, today
said: ;
"Here in this section we can not re
dtfee the wages of ; puddlers. Our;
agreement with them does not termi
nate until July 1. However, if we
can n$t sell' our product on the new -basis
established by eastern producers
we will be compelled to shut down
our mills.'
The Lincoln Daily Journal says edi
torially: "Reductions In wages are
predicted "in the steel industry follow
ing the recent cut in steel prices. One
company, the Lackawanna Stel com
pany, has in fact already reduced the
wages ten per cent Paradoxically,
this promises better times instead of
worse. High , wages and prices havb "
been keeping down steel orders, so
that jobs have been few. Lower prices,
made possible partlyji, by;-1? lowered
wages, should increase ' the demand
for steel and call for the services of
many men now unemployed.";
'-. PHILADELPHIA, March 8. Crying ,
piteously and begging for mercy, Mrs.
Eva Jeff eries, a young matron of 32
years, was arranged before Magistrate
Toughiir this morning charged with
stealing a bottle of milk from a door- .
step at Third and Wilder streets. ,
": Just before, daybreak this morning
Policeman . Barker 1 saw - a .. poorly
dressed woman, shivering from the in
tense cold, pick up a bottle of milk and .
endeavor to hide it in an old tattered
shawl. y- He placed the womaa under -arrest.
..' ' ' '; ; ' ' ' ;
"Wh'eh""askea by the InaglstraieTto "
tell her story the woman broke dewn ,
down completely. ; She told the court '
of a new baby at home which only ar
rived three days ago, and three other ,
children, the oldest 'of whom was but
four years, who were crying for some
thing to eat. ' - V
"O, judge; I didgnpt like to do this,"
said the broken-hearted woman, "but
I could not stand the cry of my chil-
dren for food much longer. My hus
band is a machinist in, the navy yard,
but has not had a stroke of work for
six weeks. - He was' too ill this morn
ing to go out, or he would not have
let me do this. ;
"We have had to pawn every piece
of clothing we possessed to feed our -children,
and now that we have notn- '
Ing left, I was forced to steal.. ' Please
won't you forgive me, just thtej time.".
, Tears were in the eyes of the mag- '
istrate by this time. He wasted no
time ,in taking from his wallet some
thing which looked very much like a
five dollar bill and passed it to Mrs.
Jefferles. By .ttfis time the court at
tendants were passing;, the hat, and '
when it was brought back - ft con-N
tained much 'more, money than the
poor woman had seen in many days.v
THANKS AWFULLY.
The Annual Home-Patronage Edi
tion of The Wageworker, of Lincoln.
Neb., for February 20, Is a handsome
number. It has 12 pages; is worked
in two colors, and is illustrated. It
has many columns of write-ups of the
merchants and business men of the
city of Lincoln, and shows that they
are wide-awake and up-to-date, and
best of all, friendly to the cause of
the worker, We. congratulate Mr. W. ,
M. Maupin, the editor, upon his de
served success. Greensboro (N. C.)
Labor News. r t
STRIKE IN SHOE FACTORJES.
Lynn, Mass., March , 6. -A' general
strike of McKay machine stitchers in
Lynn shoe factories is threatened un
less an increase of one cent on every,
dozen pairs of shoes is adopted : by ,
Monday next. The stitchers in four
teen factories went out today.
ACTIONS, NOT WORDS, COUNT.
Typographical Union No.- 10S'
ncnoin, u., til iw regiuur. miiw
held . Sunday, donated $300 to
striking hatters and $100 to
ICUBG 1 LI 11 11 Ul LUIS A llltl llTiill F
decesion of Judge Wright.
