3
o
TRADES IKarSI COUNCILS
VOL.
LINCOLX, XEIJRA 5KA, JULY 3, 1909
Among the live Ones .
Here and Hereabouts
The 190$ convention of the Inter
national Printing Pressmen and Assis
tants Vnion was held In Omaha last
week near enough to make U ot al
most local Interest to the unionists
t Lincoln. In point ot attendance the
convention was the largest In the
history ot the organisation, almost
Sv0 delegates being present, and as
many more visitors. The convention
opened Monday afternoon, June 2.
and was In session five days. During
the time large amount ot business
was transacted, and tie local union
ists, headed by the Pressmen and As
sistants, showed the delegates and
visitors a splendid time during the
social hours. The headquarters were
at the Rome hotel.
With one exception there was no op
position to the re-election of the old
international officers, and President
George Berry received an ' ovation
when the vote was taken on the presi
dency. He was re-elected with a great
cheer. This was an endorsement ot
President Berry's management ot the
eight hour "campaign, the special as
sessments levied and his fight against
tuberculosis. The officers for the
ensuing year are as follows:
President, George L. Berry, San
Francisco.
First vice president, Peter J. Dobbs,
New York City.
Second vice president, Michael H.
FUnnery. Chicago.
Third vice president, Clayton Pense,
Chicago.
Secretary-treasurer. Patrick J. Mc-
Mullen, Cincinnati
Mr. Pense Is the on ylnew officer in
the above list. He. too, was elected
without opposition.
Interesting addresses were made by
visitors representing other ..unions,
among them being President Lynch of
the printers, Organizer McSwiggen of
the Bint glass workers and Vice Presi
dent Keppler of the machinists.
The convention unanimously record-
- i. in r.Mi dt mitrinff wnrxl mil it
. . v v. -- - o m
and print paper on the tree list, and
the resolution was forwarded to Sena
tor Xorris Brown at Washington and
was by him presented to the senate
on the day ot its receipt.
It is pretty generally admitted that
the most important work ot the con
vention was to vote in favor of Presi
dent Berry's recommendation to es
tablish a home tor union pressmen af
flicted with tuberculosis. A commit
tee ot five, with President Berry as
chairman, to frame a comprehensive
plan for carrying out the resolution
was appointed. The adoption ot the
report ot this committee will be left
to a referendum vote ot the 22,000
members. The only objection to this
came from those who wanted some
thing done right away.
It was decided to Increase tin? force
ot organ irers by three, but only tem
raiily in case it is found too expul
sive 'or the results obtained. If tec
result warrant it the increase v-H: be
made uermanent.
The usual trouble over the allied la
bel came up. the pressmen objecting to
what they call the "appropriation of
property, rights in the label by the
Typographical Union. A committee
will be appointed by President Berry
to attend the next session ot the joint
conference board and demand equal
property rights. .
The social features of the conven
tion included about everything calcu
lated to make the leisure time of the
delegates and their attending relatives
full of joyful Interest. There were trol
ley rides galore, "Dutch lunches,"
banquets, receptions and socials. The
Omaha members were ceaseless in
their efforts to make tne stay of the
visitors thoroughly enjoyawe.
The effects of the convention upon
the union situation in Omaha will be
good. The business-like actions of
the convention were in marked con
, trast to what the "union busters"
would have the people beTTeve such
organization conventions to be. The
solidarity ot the union, the great In
terest manifested in the efforts at
social betterment, and the very appar
ent success of those efforts, all went
to cheer and hearten up tne other or
ganizations of the big city. From every
point of view the convention of the In
ternational Printing Pressmen and As
sistants 1909 at Omaha was a re
markable success, and the Omaha
"bunch is to be congratulated upon
the way it handled the big gathering.
ALLIED TRADES SMOKER.
Printing Craftsmen Get Together and
Talk Over the Situation.
The "smoker" tendered by the
Typographical Union to the allied
printing crafts of the city was" held
last Tuesday night at Fraternity hall,
and from every point of. view it was
a success. Representatives of every
printing trade save one the s.tereo
typers were present and enjoyed
the union-made cigars and the several
good union talks. George Locker,
president of the Allied Printing
Trades Council, presided with dig
nity and kept the matters going at
a lively rate until eleven o'clock.
Those who attended were rejoiced
to meet Robert Glocking, president
of the International Brotherhood of
Bookbinders. He made a rousing
good organization talk early in the
evening, and then later he made a
union label talk that caused the
craftsmen to sit up and take notice.
Mr. Glocking is a forceful speaker
who wastes few words in getting to
the points he wants to cover. He
gave he careless union men several
home thrusts 1 for their failure to
make the label the greatest weapon
in the union armory.
"The uses and abuses of the
label" was a subject assigned to W.
M. Maupin, but he begged off from
discussing it to any extent, giving as
his excuse the fact that he had
been too busy with other matters of
greatest importance for a few days.
Fred Mickel and F. M. Coffey ot the
Typographical Union, and Walter
Brown and Col. Brooks of the Press
men were among others who spoke
to the point. All the talks were
along the line of bettering conditions.
not only for the union printing crafts
men, but for the fair employers.
The "smoker was a splendid suc
cess and those who engineered it
are entitled to the thanks of the
printing craftsmen.
They strike together, when neces
sary; hunt jobs together when out
of work, are locked out together
when they begin to show a little
spirit of independence; but they
never vote together. If they would
stop "scabbing" on each other on
election days they could accomplish
more in a few years than they can
accomplish in a lifetime by clinging
to political party prejudice. From
Railway Clerk.
MUSICAL UNION.
First July Meeting Scheduled for the
Glorious Fourth at Eleven A. M.
TYPOGRAPHICAL UNION.
Printers Will Meet and Witness the
Installation of New Officers.
Lincoln Typographical Union No.
209 will meet Sunday afternoon at
2:30 at Fraternity hall. Because it
is the Fourth of July and nothing
else on in the way of a celebration,
there is every reason why there
should be an unusually large attend
ance. One of the features of the
meeting will be the installation of
the new officers who will guide the
destinies of the organization for the
ensuing year.
The matter of affiliating with the
Nebraska State Federation of Labor
will also come up, and the consti
tution ot that organization will be
submitted.
There will be some organization
talk, too, as the printers are a little
bit anxious to have a closer under
standing of the uses of that instru
ment of unionism.
CAPITAL AUXILIARY.
The Musicians' Protective Union
will hold its regular semi-monthly
meeting at Brnse's hall Sunday morn
ing at 11 o'clock. This is the first
lime in the history of this organiza
tion that a meeting has fallen upon
the glorious Fourth, and the mem
bers are talking about making it a
record-breaker in point of attendance
and interest.
There is little apart from routine
business to be taken care of. Sev
eral matters will be reported upon.
Among them wHl be the matter of
the Lindell hotel. A committee
called upon Steve Hoover to see him
about employing student musicians,
and he readily agreed that hereafter
if the hotel furnished music to its
guests it would come from instru
ments in the hands of union musi
cians. The student orchestra has
disbanded for the summer, and so far
as the Lindell hotel under the pres
ent management is concerned it will
be no more. The matter of the Elite
theatre will be reported upon.
Park concerts are now an assured
fact. Professor August Hagenow
took the matter up and the money
has been raised for a series of twenty
or twenty-five concerts, and there
will be at least two a week at
Antelope Park beginning early this
month. Professor Hagenow is now
drilling a band for concert purposes.
Of course it will be a union band
Toiessor Hagenow uas been an
honorary member of the union since
its organization, but he has taken
out an active card.
The opening of Capital Beach has
added something to the opportunities
of union musicians. It gives employ
ment to a band and orchestra. By
tne way. capital Beacn is more in
viting than ever this year, and it is
deserving of the patronage of the
whole people.
The musicians who turned out. de
spite the busy times, and helped to
make the Raymond Robins meeting
a success are entitled to the thanks
of the unionists of the city, and the
thanks are forthcoming, too. The
editor has heard many good words
for the loyal musicians for their ef
forts. And the editor also wants to
state that the Lincoln local had a
mighty good representative at the
Federation meeting in the person of
Dr. Gains.
Trustee Pinney expects to push or
ganization work in Nebraska while
he holds the important office. He
opines that there is room for a
couple of more organizations of
musicians in Nebraska, and if he
finds upon investigation that he- is
correct hell build them up. In the
meanwhile he will look up the scat
tered ones and induce them .to join
either the Lincoln or Omaha local.
ginger. Chief Stone, however, proved
his ability to take care of his side of
the case.
The barbecue and field contests held
at Capital Beach Wednesday attracted
a large crowd. Judge Cosgrave and
Mayor Love gave addresses of wel
come and . the ox was roasted to a
turn. The contests were full of ex
citement and lasted until a reasonably
late hour.
There was considerable adverse
comment among union men of other
crafts on the fact that the commit
tee in charge of the engineers "reunion
turned out a lot of its printing minus
the union label, and that right in
the midst of the hatters" strike, it wag
widely advertised that the engineers
would offer as a prize in one of their
main contests a "five dollar Stetson
hat." If there is any worse "scab'
hat manufactured on earth than the
S'atson a lot of union men who study
the game are not aware of the fact.
Chief Stone's claim that the Broth
erhood of Locomotive Engineers
an organization stands "head and
shoulders above all other labor organ
izations" was quite natural coming
from a man deeply interested in his
own organization and calling, but it j button?
brought a smile to the faces of some I Sure!
men who belong to unions that have
never yet lot a really big strike, and
that poured millions into their de
fense fund without sweating a hair.
Also the faces of a lot of union men
who have a habit of digging down
and helping brother workers when
they are in trouble.
Taken as a whole the reunion was a
decided success, and the committees
in charge have a right to be proud of
the results of their efforts and are en
titled to the thanks of their fellow
craftsmen.
Pressmen and Assistants
Have Big Convention
There are about 300 more live
unionists in Lincoln than there were
ten days ago. About 20 of the num
ber are new unionists, and the other
hundred are union men who have
grown just a little careless and luke
warm. The organization of the Team
Drivers and the Street Railway men
injected new life into the lukewarm,
and in other ways added vastly to
the organized labor movement in Lin
coln. It was a joy and a pleasure to
the old timers in the movement to see
the active interest taken by the men
who formed Lincoln's new organiza
tion. It is a sign that there is some-
unions present, and it ought to he
worth while to be on the floor mad
greet the representatives of the street
railway men and the teamsters whea
they show up. Both of these org a a t
zations will be represented ia the cen
tral body and their presence and as
sistance will go a long ways towards
helping make the work of that body
successfoL
Funny thing happened over ia
Boone. Iowa, a week or two ago aaj
while it was fanny It also demoe
strated the power and efficiency of or
ganization. Boone has a street rail-
thin. doing when men will work hard ; way system and it is manned by ssioa
all day at their trades and then work
until two or three o'clock in the morn
ing helping their brothers to organize.
And say, Mr. Old Time Union Man.
don't it look good to see about nine
ty percent of the motormen and con
ductors proudly wearing the nnion
And things will look better
when the teamsters begin displaying
their buttons as they guide their teams
through the streets. One old time
unionist who is a much better Chris
tian than the most ot us, remarked
as he saw the splendid activity along
organization lines:
Boys, this almost makes me feel
like exclaiming in the words of the
prophet of old, 'Now let thy servant
depart in peace since mine eyes have
seen the glory of the Lord."
THE CARPENTERS.
Getting Ready to Take Action Con
cerning the State Federation.
The Carpenters will meet in regulsy
session next Monday evening, and at
tlm.'' time will install the officers
elected for the ensuing term.
A special called meeting will be
held a week from next Monday even
ing., at which time the constitution of
the Nebraska State Federation of La
bor will be taken np section by sec
tion and analyzed.
Work is showing no signs of abate
ment. The building boom in Lincoln
is still on in full force, and the union
carpenter who is idle is so from choice
not from necessity. Tfiere are really
more calls for nnion men than can be
supplied. This, of course, does not
obtain always. In the last two years
a large number of non-union carpen
ters have been brought to Lincoln by
various means, and when work slacks
up the effect of their unfair compe
tition is felt by the men who have
done all that has been done to bring
about the better conditions that the
non-union men have equally shared in
without cost, either of money or of
effort.
THE LATHERS.
Little Notes About the Better Halves
of the Printer Men.
Capital Auxiliary will meet next
Wednesday, the place of meeting not
having been decided as yet. At this
meeting the following officers, electee
at the last meeting, will be installed:
President, Mrs. F. H. Hebbard. .
Vice president, Mrs. W. M. Maupin.
Secretary, Mrs. Orville Young.
Treasurer, Mrs. Abe Compton.
Chaplain. Mrs. George Freeman.
Guide, Mrs. Erstine King.
Mrs. Hebbard will represent the or
ganization at the international conven
tion in St. Joseph next month.
Mrs. Will Bustard and Mrs. "Hoff-
meister are both at St. Elizabeth's hos
pital. Mrs. Bustard is getting along
nicely, but Mrs. Hoffmeister's condi
tion is a source of worry to her hus
band and friends.
Mrs. W. M. Maupin and the fou lit
tlest Maupins are in North Bend, Ne
braska, where they "will spend the
Fourth and several days thereafter
wtih Mrs. Maupln's parents.
WORKERS WILL WAIT.
New England mill men, it is said,
have decided to spend $20,000,000
in new buildings. As many of their
employes have had their wages re
duced they will postpone indefinitely
their contemplated investments in
buildings which they could call
homes. Advance Advocate.
"SCABBING" AT ELECTIONS.
There are approximately two mil
lion voters In the United States who
are members of organized labor.
THE ENGINEERS' MEETING.
The Reunion of Locomotive Drivers
Was Seemingly a Success.
The reunion engineered by Division
No. 98, Brotherhood of Locomotive
Engineers was the success that its
promoters planned for it. About 200
engineers attended, and there were
even more visitors. Many of the at
tendants came from the remotest part
of the country. Several secret meet
ings of the Brotherhood were held,
but there were several open meetings
in which railroad men of all the
branches participated.
Grand Chief Stone made a strong
address during the convention, and he
and Mr. Willard. of the Burlington
managerial staff had something of a
clash which produced considerable
Loyal Little Band Has Taken on Re
newed Activity of Late.
The union lathers of Lincoln have
taken on new activity this season, and
as a result they are enjoying an in
crease in membership and in interest.
They are also enjoying a substantial
increase in their wage scale. In the
meanwhile a number of lathers who
should be in the union but are not,
are enjoying the benefits that the
union men have obtained for them.
Some very effective organization
work is being done among the non
union men of the craft and the union
is growing stronger every day.
G. A. Walker laid off Monday and
made a trip for the purpose of return
ing with Mrs. Walker, who has been
visiting relatives in Omaha for
couple of weeks.
THE "OPEN SHOP."
When the employers talk of the
"open shop" they mean a shop open
to the cheapest and most docile labor
ers and closed againt all who dare to
organize for the raising of wages and
the reduction of hours, and the better
ing of the conditions of labor. New
York CalL
The editor of the Laborer rounded
out his fourteenth year on the job
last Thursday, June 3, 1909. Beat
it, some of you guys in the labor
paper publishing business. It's the
recora in all tne west and we are
proud of it. Frank A. ' Kennedy,
Omaha Western Laborer.
motormen and conductors. The union
is small, having only eleven member,
and they were getting 17 1-3 cents an
hour. They held a meeting in n car
and decided to ask for 2 cents. Turn
G. JI. studied the matter over and
then refused. The men struck, and the
"system was tied np. If the maux. -had
mustered 500 members the inter
national could not have gien it better
support. Organizer Resin Orr ap
peared on the scene and managed ft
as seriously as though it was a Pitt-
burg strike. The eleven men stood
pat and had the support of the pob
lic In two or three days the man
agement capitulated and the strike
was won. It actually costs the com
pany about J 2.30 a day more now for
its conductors and motormen than it
did before it granted the increase of
2 1-2 cents an hoar. The Lincoln boys
ought to pluck np courage, eh?
Organizer Emmett Flood is entitled
to the bulk of the credit for the work
of organization. He came down to the
State Federation meeting and immed-
ately set about acquainting himself
with the local situation. With a com
prehensive grasp of affairs he soon
saw that the time was ripe fcr mis
sionary work. He selected some cap
able assistants and set to work. With
Assistant Organizer Guye, of Omaha,
he worked like a Trojan, and he did
not hesitate to draft men into his ser
vice. He did not find many shirkers.
either. Frank Coffey, General Kelsey,
C. H. Chase, and others too numerous
to mention, responded to the call. Ray
mond Robins spoke for fifteen minutes
to the street railway men, and they
were ready. Flood talked to his broth
er team drivers for half an hour, and
they were ready. Then the charter
lists were opened and the only difficul
ty experienced was in taking down the
names fast enough.
Today there are two new charters
hanging on the walls of Brnse's hall.
One is the charter of Division No. 522,
Amalgamated Association of Street
and Electric Railway Employes. The
other is the charter of Local No. 2-10.
International Brotherhood of Teams
ters. Now that the good work is start
ed what's the matter with organizing
so many more that it win he necessary I
to secure increased wall space for the
display of the charters?
The Kalamazoo Advocate is making
a kick because the president of a local
union was allowed to step back into
the ranks without even a vote of
thanks after flve years of hard work
in the interest of his organization.
While the Advocate is kicking we"H
bet a four-dollar dog against a couple
of two-dollar cats that the ex-president
is not. Well make the same bet that
he l9 glad to get hack into the ranks
without having had his motives im
punged, his honesty questioned or bis
services discounted by the "knock
ers." Retiring without thanks, in
deed: Bless your souL the man who
tries the hardest to advance the cause
of his fellows is the man who usually
gets the most cussing. Jast watch
things a bit and you'll easily locate tne
man who is doing the most, or his best
to push the good work along. He's
the man that the "knockers" are ham
mering all the time. He is the km
charged with being selfish, with look
ing after his own Interests, with haw
ing some political scheme in his head.
That Kalamazoo president is doubt
less almighty glad to get back into
the ranks without losing everything
he had.
Robert Glocking, president of the
Internationoa! Brotherhood of Book
binders, was in Lincoln last Tuesday,
and while here he performed some
good work in the way of arousing in
terest in the union of his craft. He
did not find affairs in the very best of
condition, but he did find a little
bunch of five or six loyal and faithful
unionists who' are ready and willing
to go the llmi? in increasing the neu
merical and mental strength of the
organization in the capital city. He
addressed an open meeting of book
binders at Fraternity hall at 7:0 on
Tuesday evening, and the result will
be apparent in increased interest and
membership. President Glocking at
tended the pressmens convention in
Omaha and while in the west will visit
a number of localities in the interests
of the craft
Are you interested in the graduated
income tax plan? If you are not you
should be. Those who are interested
are invited to attend a meeting at St
Mark's Reformed church, Q street, be
tween Fourteenth and Fifteenth next
Tuesday evening, at which meeting
the merits and demerits of the gradu
ated income tax will be discussed.
The Central Labor Union will meet
a week from next Tuesday evening,
and there is every reason why it
should be the biggest and best meeting
of that bGdv in several years. There
will
AGAINST LABOR INSURANCE. '
Plutocrats Trying to Destroy ft By
Underhand Means.
The insurance features of tabor
unions mark the latest form of attack
by viligant plutocracy, every alert to
the danger of losing a penny. At the
last meeting of the exeeotfve council
of the American Federation of Labor
President Gompers was ordered to is
sue a circular to the Tarious interna
tionals in which co-operation L asked
to resist a quiet movement fa se-reral
state having for its object the classify
ing or out-of-work, sick and death ben
efits with old-line insurance. The in
surance companies are alarmed at the
growing tendency of workers to famish
their own insurance and efforts are
now being made to smiound them with
snch restrictions that they win eiiBer
be driven out of the field or the exten
sion of this trade-union feature
checked. Thecircular wants the work
ers of their danger, which also in
cludes fraternal societies. Philadel
phia Trades Union News.
GUYE COMING BACK.
Louis V. Guye. of Omaha, assistant
organizer for the American Federa
tion of Labor, assisted materially in
organizing the two new anions of
Lincoln last week and this. Now that
he 13 better acquainted with the Lin
cola field be expects to give some
more time to it in the future, and al
ready has plans under way for the or
ganization of two or three more crafts.
The union printers of Pennsylvania
will hold a convention in PkHit.
be some delegates from new phia on the 27th last.