I?
E TRADES !SMel1 COUNCIL")
VOL. 6
LITCOIi, XEBEASKA, MAY(2lJ 1309
X). 7
73
.
Among the Live Workers
Here, There and Elsewhere
Vnless the unforseen happens the
meeting to organize a State Federa
tion of Labor, which will be held in
Lincoln. June 21-22. will be a rousing
success. Already the election of dele
gates from fifty locals has been re
ported, and other locals have written
that they will elect later. A pleasing
feature is that every trade represented
by an organization in Nebraska, with
one exception, has already elected at
least one delegate.
A yet no program has been com
pleted for the meeting. Before June 1
each local and Its delegate will be in
formed as to meeting place, hotel
rates, program, etc. It nothing hap
pens to prevent Raymond Robins of
Chicago will be one of the speakers.
If Mr. Robins comes he will speak
in the First Christian church, which
baa been kindly placed at the disposal
of the Federation for that occasion.
Permission will be asked to hold
the regular meeting of the Federation
in either the house or senate chamber
at the state house. As these
chambers have been put at the dis
posal of other meetings it is believed
that no objection will be made to let
ting the wage earners hold their meet
ings therein. .
There are those not trades union
ists, however who are seeking to
make it appear that there is a politi
cal scheme in calling for the organi
zation of a State Federation of La
bor. The charge is nothing less than
an insult to the intelligent union men
of the state. The intimation that any
man. or set of men. can organize a
body of representative union men of
all political beliefs into a Federation
and then manipulate it for political
ends is so silly that the newspaper
that makes it merely writes itself
down an ass.
Nebraska is the only state west of
the Allegheny mountains that has no
State Federation of Labor made up
of accredited delegates from the or
ganized trades of the state. The Kan
sas State Federation of Labor is rec
ognized by statute, the state appro
priating $500 a year towards the ex
penses of the annual Federation meet
ing, and the Federation elects the
state labor commissioner.
Some politicians complain that on
ly union men will be allowed to hold
seats in the convention. Well, what
of it? The state recognizes the Doc
tors" Union to the extent of appropri
ating a neat sum yearly for a "state
board of health. and only doctors car
rying union cards are allpwed to sit
on that board. More than that, only
doctors carrying union cards are al
lowed to work at their trade for pay
in Nebraska. You let a doctor who
hasn't a union card in the shape of
a certificate from the state board of
healthy try to practice his profession,
or butt in on a state meeting of the
doctors, and then wait and see the
aforesaid non-union doctor go jver the
transom. They even send non-union
doctors to jail in this state for trying
to work at their trade. And a doc
tor's certificate merely shows that he
is a competent workman, just as a
mechanic's union card shows that he
is a competent workman.
Speaking about iron-bound unions
ever investigate the lawyers' union?
If you don't believe they have a union
you just try to practice law before
the district court of Lancaster county
or the supreme court of the state. If
you can not show by your union-card in
the shape of a certificate that you are
a competent workman at the - legal
business you'll' be thrown down the
court house or the state house steps.
And the doctors' union and the law
yers unions are recognized by statute,
too. Yet there are those who protest
against the trades unionists organiz
ing a state society along the lines of
the State Medical Society, or the Bar
Association, and when the trades un
ionists insist some pinheaded news
paper reporter working under an
equally pinheaded editorial .superior
intimates that somebody is going to
manipulate that bunch of level-headed
mechanics for political purposes.
It is to laugh.
The Omaha and South Omaha Cen
tral Labor Unions are the only cen
tral bodies that have elected delegates.
Louis V. Guye will represent the Om
aha Central and Frank Hart will rep
resent the South Omaha body. The
Lincoln central body will elect a dele
gate next Tuesday evening. A letter
from Fremont says that the Fremont
central will surely have a delegate
present.
Emmet Flood, organizer for the
American Federation of Labor, who
is now working in Omaha and south
Omaha and South Omaha, will be
"among those present" at the meet
ing. Deputy Labor Commissioner Maupin
officially announces that his connec
tion with the State Federation of La
bor will consist of calling the first ses
sion to order and asking for the elec
tion of a temporary presiding officer.
The president of the Kansas Federa
tion of Labor announces that the
Federation's legislative committee se
cured the enactment of eleven laws
in the interests of the wage earners,
and the defeat of three bills that were
inimical to labor. This may give Ne
braska workers some idea of the
necessity of a live, working organization.
Are the Hatters Paying
Too Much for the Label?
AND OTHER PLACES.
The terrible sleeping sickness is
also prevalent outside of Africa. It
has been known to attack public offi
cials in New York. New York Call.
Are the United Hatters of North
America waranted in making such
an awful sacrifice for their label? The
history of unionism does not reveal
such a magnificent fight nor such will
ing sacrifices as the hatters are show
ing every day in their struggle to keep
their label. The question is. are they
warranted in sacrificing so much when
other unions and union men ignore
the label? Eighteen thousand hatters
have been on strike for three months,
and for two or three weeks they have
had to be content with a dollar each
in the way of strike benefit. But they
are keeping a solid front. It is a burn
ing shame and disgrace that a body
of unionists like the hatters always
ready to fight for other unions are
allowed to be put off with a paltry
benefit of a dollar a week. Every last
one of them ought to be drawing full
time and would be in every union
that has been assisted by the hat
ters would come back with the right
spirit.
There are hundreds of men in
Lincoln who carry nnion cards and
spout about their "unionism" who are
wearing "scab" hats while those mag
nificent fighters for the union label are
living on a dollar a week. How many
unions in Lincoln have sent a dollar
to the hatters? How many union men
have sent individual contribution to
their fighting fund. - Every nnioa ta
Lincoln ought to be assessing its en-
bers at least ten cents a week for
the benefit of the natters.
There is this much about it, if the
hatters lose out, good-fay to any fat are
force behind the anion label move
ment. The unions with labels ought to
bear this fact in mind.
The Wageworker will start sub
scription fond for the benefit of the
United Hatters, and head It with. i.
What will you give? Send your contri
butions to W. M. Maopin. 24 Nona
Thirty-third street. Every eentribntkn
to the "Hatters Fund" will be ac
knowledged in these columns.
TRINITY WAKING UP.
Trinity church Is at last beginning'
to tear down its unspeakable tene
ments and promises to make Tar
reaching improvement Heaves
knows they were needed, and I don't
see how a single prayer of Trinity
could have reached the Throne of
Grace with those plague-spots stand
ing between the Pharisees and the
judgment seat- And this tearing down
of the long blocks brings to mind the
valorous fight waged against then ia
The Call by Charles Edward Raise IL
Congrat ulations New York. CaH.
HOW COURTS HELP CORPORATIONS OUT OF A HOLE
Of course it would be rank treason to charge that the courts
make rish of the workingmen and flesh of the big corporations.
It would be contempt of court, of course, to charge that judges
render decisions from a biased standpoint. And to charge that
the courts favor the rieh and powerful, and make horrible examples
of the weak and poor, would be attacking the integrity of the
courts and bringing them into disrepute with the unthinking and
the unreasoning. To even intimate that the courts are not wholly
free frora bias and favoritism would be anarchy, treason, mayhem,
arson, burglary, incendiarism, fratricide, homicide, trespass and
larceny.
Hut is there anything wrong about calling attention to a few
facts as they relate to some of the courts?
For instance, suppose we contrast that decision in the Gomp-ers-Mitchell-Morrison
case, with the decision in the commodity
clause case.
You will remember that Gompers. Mitchell and Morrison were
sentenced to jail, not for violating any law, but for ignoring the
order of a judge. A burglar, or a highwayman, or a horsethief, would
have been given a trial by jury if they had been charged with a
crime. But Gompers, Mitchell and Morrison were such horrible
crimnals that they were deprived of a trial by jury. They are
said to have violated a court order, hence they were not entitled to
a jury trial, but were sentenced off hand by the judge issuing the
order. Their sentences might have been longer if the judge's di
gestion had been a bit worse.
Wasn't any trouble to sentence some ordinary- workingmen
to jail, was it? Not even when they were not charged with any
crime against the laws.
Now just notice how the court will juggle around to give the
trust magnates, the big rieh, the best of it. Never heard of a man
being sent to jail for violating the anti-trust laws, did you! Xor
for violating an injunction, like the beef packers did?
The commodity clause of the Hepburn rate law forbids any
railroad to own and operate a coal mine. The coal carrying rail-
State Federation Meeting
Has your local a delegate to represent it at the meet
ing called for the purpose of organizing a State Federa
tion of Labor? If not, why not? It is entitled to one
and it should elect one. You need the Federation; the
Federation needs you. Every local union, every central
labor union, every Federal labor union all are entitled
to one delegate each at the initial meeting.
Lincoln, June 21,22 Do Not Forget
Those are the dates, that's the place. Now is the
time to get busy and get in line with the progressive
workers of other states. The meeting will be a success
without you, but it will be a bigger success if you are on
hand in the person of a duly accredited delegate. Lots
of things that need to be done that cannot be done with
out organization. It will be a meeting of business not
a joust.
roads said the law was unconstitutional and attacked it in the
supreme court. But the supreme eourt said the commodity elan
was constitutional.
Great rejoicing among the trust blisters!
Going to put the coal trust off wateh right away. AH over
but the shouting!
The railroad may not own a coal mine, bat the railroad may
own stock in a coal mine. It may own enough to elect all the
mining officials, direct the policy of the coal company, tell when
to mine and when not to mine coal, -put the dividend in the trea-11x3-
of the railroad or such part thereof as mar not be diverted
to official pockets but the railroad can not own the mine.
See how easy it is for the eourts to eineh the the workinman
and then turn around and jndieially provide a way for the trnt
magnate to evade the law?
The railroad does not own the mine; it merely owns the stock
in the mining company that owns the mine! Thus it i not the
owner, therefore it is not a violator of the law.
So simple! The railroad companies mar own and control al!
the coal mine companies they want to. just so they do not own the
coal mines.
If you do not understand it fully it is because you are one
of those ignorant, unlawful, anarchistic trades unionist.
It is all very clear to the trained legal minds compo-tinsr the
honorable supreme court of the United States and don't yon dare
intimate that the honorable justices of the snpreme court might
possibly be mistaken.
When is a door not a door?
"When you have answered that puzzling connnndrnin well in
vite you to answer 'this one:
When is the owner of a coal mine not the owner of the coal
miue he owns?
ACH. LOUIE!
One Man Who "Stuck Back In Lin
coln, Still Sticking.
Louis F. Taylor, one of the Asso
ciated Press operators ot Lincoln who
track and "stuck" a couple ot
years ago, is back in Lincoln. Taylor
Is again, taking press report, but not
toe the Associated Press. When be
struck be meant it. He refused to
go back when others did. and went
out and took a Job as operator at
about bait tbe wage be could have
pulled down at tbe A. P. key. He'd
be there yet It it was a case ot go
ing back to the Associated Press.
But Taylor ts again taking tbe
press report, but it is for the Scripps-
McRae League, now being used by
tbe Evening News. He's tbe kind of a
anion man that counts. Also, Taylor
ia tbe kind of a union wan that likes
to keep tbe labor paper's wheels
greased. May bis tribe increase!
The Labor Movement in Europe
Rev. Charles
Stelzle
WAGES PAID WOMEN.
Tbe wages paid women average ?.0t)
per week. Tbe following; is a schedule
of tbe wages as earned by women:
Cotton goods. J. OS; hosiery. -01;
silk goods, $6.1; shoes, $7.60; men's
clothing. $.0T; women's clothing.
J S3; shirts. $3.SS, and glass goods,
STt.OS; these are tbe earnings of the
women per week. There are 23.433,-
559 women In the Vnited States and
of this number there are 4.833,630 who
are bread winners; one woman out
ot five on an average being compelled
to earn their own living.
WORKINGMEN IN POLITICS.
There is more interest and greater activity iu politics in Eng
land among working people than there is in any other country that
I visited, and they are making good. Already the Labor Party
in Great Britain has iu the House of Commons 31 members; but
in addition to these, the Miners' Union has elected twenty members.
These labor members co-operate in all legislation which affects the
interests of the masses of the people. The appointment of John
Burns to the Cabinet was a recognition of the Labor Wing in Par
liament. Even though they are in the minority in the House of
Commons, the labor members are often in a position to dictate leg
islation favorable to labor, because they frequently hold the bal
ance of power. It was due to the entrance of workingmen into the
political life of the nation that the Taff- ale decision was reversed.
While probablv two-thirds of the labor members are Socialists.
only one member of Parliament was elected on the Socialist ticket.
The labor unions were elected upou a bona fide trades union ticket.
Thev are not dreamers, these meu of labor. They are not work-
iug for the passage of a resolution which Mill sweep out of exist
uce all the prevailing ills of human society, meanwhile spending
their time simply in agitation. but they are opportunists, accepting
the next thing. It is in this way that they are making very decided
progress. The budget presented by the Prime Minister of England
and passed, last week, by Parliament, which provides for Old Age
Pensions. Out of Employment Benefits, and many other reforms.
is largely the result of the political agitation of the workingmen in
Great Britain. The liberal policy adopted by the Socialist trades
unionists in Parliament of seeking to obtain these reforms, one by
one. has aroused considerable antagonism on the part of the ex
treme Socialists who are led by Victor Grayson, the representative
of the Socialist party in Parliament. These expected the represen
tatives of the Labor party who are Socialists, to fight exclusively
for Socialist measures and thev resented the friendly relations whieh
have been maintained with non-Socialist Labor M. P.'s and with the
Liberal Party generally. As a result of this lack of confidence in
the policy of the Socialist Trades unionists, the ablest leaders of
the party, Mr. J. Ramsey MacDonald. Mr. Keir Hardie, Mr. Philip
Snowden and Mr. Bruce Glasier, within a month, resigned from the
Council of the Independent Labor Party, which is the Socialist
wing of the Labor party and represents about 15 per cent of the
trades unionists actively engaged in the political propaganda.
In Germany the political movement among the workingmen is
distinctly Socialistic, although I was told by the leaders of the
trades union movement that only about 13 per cent of the orga
nized workingmen are members of the Sm-ial-Demoerat party. This
is about the same percentage of Socialists, therefore, that is found
among the trades unionists, although the difference in the situation
is that the Germans eleet socialists as such to represent them in the
Reichstag, while iu England the representatives of the workingmen
are bona tide trades unionists and the question as to their being So
cialists or not being Socialists is not insisted upon. The matter of
the Englishmen's socialism is purely personal, as is the question
of his religion.
Belgium contains one of the most effective political organiza
tions among the working people in any part of Europe. Laboring
under many disadvantages, on account of the previous strength of
the oppents of labor, the Belgium Trades Unionists, the Coopera
tives and the Mutual Insurance Societies are organized into a La
bor party which, however, is practically a Socialist movement.
CENTRAL LABOR UNION.
Will Elect a State Delegate at Tues
day Night's Meeting.
The Central Labor tnios will Beet
next Tuesday evening, and one of the
important items of bosines slated
for transaction U,the election of a
delegate to the State Federation of
Labor. This Is really a most impor
tant matter, and every delegate shoald
" there to assist in picking out tbe
.'ry best man possible for tbe po
sition. The label and home industry cooc
mittees will have something important
to report something that means mon
ey in the pockets of every worfc&g
man is the city.
And the Central Labor Tales owe
it to itself and to its sister bodies is
the state to get busy and frame Bp
something: ia the way of entertain
ment for the delegates who win ax
tend the State Federation meeting.
Nest Tuesday's meeting- of the cen
tral body will or ought to be one
of the really important meefisgs of
the year.
ARRESTED FOR PARADING.
Fourteen striking brickyard employes
at Kingston. X. T, were arrested last
week for no other reason than daring
to indulge in a quiet street parade,
for the purpose of gaining the ; oto
pathy of the citizens. Plans to fsiHtU
the grievances between employers sad
the strikers to a board of arbftrmifca
hare been without stall.