The Wageworker. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1904-????, August 21, 1909, Image 1

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    TUT
VOL.
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, AUGUST 21, 1909
8 PAGES
NO. 23
3
V-
Among the Live Ones
In Little Old Lincoln
John H. Bury announces that his
San Francisco Star is now In its
twenty-sixth year. The Star may not
be familiar to a majority of The
Wageworker readers, but it should
I. If ever there mas published a
weekly newspaper that stood foe the
right, that stood for the worker and
his ranse. that stood for the best in
public affairs, that weekly newspaper
is the San Francisco Star. John H.
Irry Is as courageous as a lion and
s honest as mortal u:an can be. The
Star has stood for civic righteousness
and common humanity from its first
Issue to the present time, and despite
clouds that often hung low Mr. Barry
never faltered in his determination to
s:and feur-souare. He was a personal
friend of that prince of labor's cham
pions, Henry George, and helped to
set the type on the first edition of
"Prosxess and Poverty. If the edUor
of The Wageworker had the millions
of a Carnege he would not waste them
In building bis library buildings nor
furnishing "hero medals." He would
put two weekly newspapers into the
hands of every man who toils for
wages the San Francisco Star and
the Chicago Public, the former edited
by Jchn H. Barry and the latter by
Louls F. Post. The influence of these
two great newspapers is limited only
by their circulation. They ought to
be supported by every member of
the group of toil, for they are the
ablest champions the cause cf labor
has. This humble little newspaper
extends its best wishes to John H.
Barry, and may he live long to con
tinue his splendid labors upon the
Sau Francisco Star.
a pleasant Tisit with relatives and
friends in Missouri.
Lorena and Dorothy Maupin re
turned last Saturday from an extended
visit with relatives in Minden, Nebr.
John Marshall, formerly of Lincoln
but now of Greeley. CoUx. is in Lin
coln, undergoing treatment at the
sanitarium. His health has been poor
for some time, and he hopes the heal
ing waters of the sanitarium will be
beneficial.
Will M. Maupin was in St. Joseph
vteanesaay evening, wnere ne re
sponded to the toast "Nebraska' at
the annual banquet of the St.' Joseph
Ad. Club. The banquet was served in
the auditorium and fifteen hundred
plates were laid.
proach of the fall season, should impel
the delegates to be mere regular in
their attendance. - Let there-be -a full
delegation from each, local union next
Tuesday evening. The central body
is expected to help a lot in the ad
vertising of the Labor Day celebration.
A Baptist print shop at Detroit has
gone wrong, its manager, a Baptist
minister, declaring for the cpen shop
which means ten hours a day .and
decreased wages. The'shop turns 'out
a Baptist newspaper and does a con
siderable job business. Perhaps Bro.
Samuel Zane Batten might be able to
help the Detroit printers square the
the shop.
Wilkinson block at the corner of Six
teenth and O. This change was made
necessary on account of the rapidly
increasing volume of business, making
it necessary to secure greatly enlarged
quarters. The company now has
plenty of room.
STREET RAILWAY MEN.
Why Street Railway Mm
Should be Recognized
The two Lincoln delegates to the
Typographical- convention at St. Jo
seph, Linn Freeman and G. L. Locker,
returned Saturday. They attended
every session of the convention and
will be found recorded on every im
portant vote taken. This is the first
convention experience of both of
them, but they declare that it.wili not
be the last.
A couple of weeks ago The Fage
worked announced that the press feed
ers and assistants had peacefully with
drawn from the Lincoln Pressmen's
and Assistants Union and organized
a local of their own. The Wageworker
was misinformed, although the press
feeders and assistants are contemplat
ing, such a step. The division has
not yet occurred, and all the press
room boys are still members of the
same locaL
Chairman Chase of the Labor Day
- committee says the workers of Lin
coln may rest assured that there will ( braska State Federation
Regular Meeting Last Saturday Night
I Was Largely Attended.
Tile -street railway men held a
largely attended regular meeting last
Saturday night, and the session lasted
until along towards the dawn. A lot
of important matters were discussed
and the reports of a couple of import
ant committees were given considera
tion. Nothing definite was done, however,
but jprogress was made along well
defined lines. The business trans
acted was of a nature that it is not
well at this time to make public
The association is getting stronger
numerically and financially, and is
cementing its ties more firmly every
day.'
The Central Labor Union will meet
next Tuesday evening and it promises
to be an important meeting. The
president-elect , and other officers will
be iustalled, and the new president
will try and be ready to appoint some
of the more important committees.
The attendance for the past three or
four meetings has not been what it
should be, due doubtless to the ex
treme heat, but the near approach of
Labor Day, together with the ap-
THANK YOU!
Will M. Maupin, recently appointed
labor commissioner of Nebraska, has
been elected president of the Xe-
of Labor,
be no "scab Stetson hats offered as
prizes at the Labor Day celebration
at Capital Beach.
Some startling labor news may be
expected from Havelock almost any
old day. Things are not quite as se
rene and peaceful over there as they
might be.
CHANGED LOCATION.
The Dairyman Publishing Co. has
changed its location and is now snugly
located in the basement of the new
which was recently formed at Lincoln.
Brother Maupin is well fitted for the
position and will build up the state
organization very rapidly, being an
aggressive man who can meet all
kinds of people and make good.
Springfield (Ills.- Tradesman.
Union building trades workmen at
Lincoln, Neb., have constructed a fine
bandstand and presented it to the
park board free of cost. This is the
sort of civic patriotism that counts.
Pueblo Industrial Review.
Recently a committee from the Lo
cal Division, Amalgamated Associa
tion of Street and Electric Railway
Employes waited upon Manager
Humpe to protest against the dis
charge of a motorman. Manager
Humpe asked the men if they came
as individuals or as representatives
of the union, and when told that they
came as representatives of the union
he told them that he would not recog
nize them.
There are several very good reasons
why the Traction company should rec
ognize the union, and ont one good
reason why it should not. The union
nas appointed a grievance board to
take up all matters pertaining to the
welfare of its members. If a member
of the union is discharged, and he
thinks the grounds for discharge are
not sufficient, he lays the matter be
fore the grievance board, and the
board undertakes to seek redress.
It will be claimed by some that the
management of the Traction company
has a perfect right to discharge whom
it will whenever it will. This is not
true. As a matter of common fairness
and justice the company should be
compelled to give a good and sufficient
reason for the discharge of any motor
man or conductor. We make this
statement on the following grounds:
The motormen and conductors are
paid on a sliding scale the first year
men receiving so much an hour, the
second year men a little more per
hour, and so on up to five years, when
the maximum wage is received. When
a man is placed upon the company's
pay roll it is an implied contract with
him that if he serves faithfully and
The primaries are over now. and
with the candidates nominated we
nay expect to see a suddenslump in
the "friend of labor" market. Lan
raster county Is so overwhelmingly
republican that a nomination on that
ticket is equivalent to an election. Be
fore the primaries, when the candi
dates were as numerous as flies
around a molasses barrel, the friend
ship for the worker was so thick it
could be cut with a knife. With elec
tion practically assured the g. o. p.
candidates will discontinue their fran
tic friendship, but the democratic can
didate will continue the exhibition,
hoping against hope that something
will happen to elect them to office in
old Lancaster. f
'I
Lsilbor Bay in Lincoln
Labor's Annual Holiday will be celebrated in Lincoln, under the auspices of the
affiliated Trades Unions of Lincoln and Havelock- The
celebration will be held at
What's the matter with the Carpen
lens" Union? Two years ago it num
bered upwards of 230 members. To-
dav its membership has dwindled un
til barely half a hundred are on the
rolls. Two years ago this anion was
a big force in anion affairs; today it
seems to be catting a mighty small
quantity of Jce. A half-dozen men
have striven faithfully to keep up the
union spirit among the carpenters, but
despite their efforts things seem to
be going from bad to worse. While
other unions have been strengthening
their lines,' the carpenters have been
growing weaker. There certainly is
a reason for it. and the reason should
be located. Today there are more
than 400 non-union carpenters work
ing in Lincoln. Steadily the wages
are being decreased, while the cost of
living is increasing. Every advantage
that the carpenters enjoy is because
of the good work of the union in days
son by; every loss ! due to the
failure to keep the organization in a
healthy condition. Eagerness to make
a little extra money by working long
hours; failure to see the necessity c
paying dues and keeping every ad
vantage gained; neglect of the union
meetings; backbiting and backcapping
these are some of the causes of
this once powerful union's decline in
IJucoln. The carpenters of Lincoln
ought to get together and make a
fight for better conditions. The union
ought to be given a revival or
resurrection. Personalities" should be
forgotten, and all the carpenters
should get together for the common
good.
Beautiful! Capital Beach
Mrs. Ben Rood, who has been in
h hnsnital for some time, is re-
uorted improving.
Mrs. Roy Kennedy Is very sick, and
is under the constant care of phy
sicians.
"Ted Rtghter Is rusticatiag la Beat
rice this week.
Mrs.'Erstice King has returned from
Where the workers and their families will spend the day in rest and recreation.
There will be no parade, but there will be plenty of
SPORTS AND CONTESTS
With handsome prizes for the winners in each contest. Ladies Base Ball Throw.
Sack Races, Potato Races, Novelty Races, String Cutting, Nail
Driving, 50 and 100 yard Dashes, etc. Only
Union Men and Their Families Eligible to Enter These Contests
Miss Mary McDonell
OF CHICAGO
Will be the orator of the day. Miss McDonell is prominently connected with the Woman's Trades Union
League movement, and is at the head of the University of Chicago Settlement Work. She is a loyal
unionist, a woman of rare ability and a public speaker of more than National reputation.
Miss McDonell organized the women workers in the Chicago Packing Houses
z and helped them to win a fight for better conditions. Lincoln workers
never had an opportunity to hear an abler champion of labor.
GRAND BASKET SUPPER Bring your
baskets well filled and eat your Labor Day
Supper in the green grass and under the cool
ing shade. . ...........
DANCING AT AIR DOME in the evening
Come out and enjoy a rare good time on
Labor's Greatest Holiday. It will do you
good. . .
' L
i
well he will receive as advance of
wages each year. This being true, he
has every right to demand that faa
case of his discbarge he shall know
the reason why. and if that reason
is not good and sufficient -fee should
be allowed to serve oa and (has se
care the increased pay that comes
with longer service.
Without this saiegnard the nay
ment would find it extremely easy to
keep down its pay roll by calmly dis
charging men before the time set for
an increase in their pay. Those who
insist that the company woo Id not be
guilty of such a thing are asked to
watch carefully and note how many
new men are being broken is ea both
ends of the cars to note how many
strange races appear and ak for
fares.
I The management insists that the
men appear as Individuals, inn the
company acts through a representa
tive. If the employes must appear a
individuals, then why not have all the
stockholders present so the individual
employe may tell his story. If the ,
corporation acts through a general
manager and an executive committee.
where is the injustice in the employes
demanding that they be aKowed to
send a chairman and a cosamirtee to
handle their end of the questions at
issue?
The Traction company has nmh to
gain by recognizing the union. It fll
gain in greater loyalty in the service,
it will gain the good win of the whole
body of organized labor ta Lincoln,
and it will pat itself in n better Bght
before the people of the entire community.
Before the consolidation the men
in charge of the business of the Citi
zens' line were willing, eves anxious,
to have their employes organized.
Tbey did not look upon recognition
then as some of them do now.
Manager Humpe as good as told the
committee that he had orders from
"higher up' not to recognize the union.
(Later the committee waited upon Sir.
Sharpe, bat up to date nothing definite
has been decided upon.
The street railway men are per
fectly willing to rest their ease with
the general public. Indeed, they won Id
be willing to submit their case to
board to be selected by them and
the Traction management. Tbey be
lieve they can offer convincing re,
sons why their organization wawld bo
recognized by the Traction company,
and why a grievance board should be
allowed to investigate ail discharges.
The steam railroads recognize griev
ance boards, and trp to date no one
has ever heard n railroad manager of
today declare that this recognition ha
been detrimental to the welfare of his
corporation.
LABOR DAY EDITION-
The Wageworker Will Thorn Appear to
Handsome Magazine Form.
The Labor Day edition of The Wage
worker this year will be a departure
from the conventional style. It win
appear in magazine form, and will be
profusely illustrated. Incidentally It
will contain the Labor Day program
and n lot of reading nutter that will
be well worth filing away for future
reference.
The advertising spare is being rap
idly taken up, and these advertise
meats win not be the least valuable
or Interesting part of the edition.' The
Wageworker's special editions have
always been models of their kind,
bat the publishers want it understood
that this year's Labor Day edition C
eclipse all former record.
LEARNED SOMETHING.
Here I sa good one: The plasterers
In Fort Wayne. IwL. surrendered their
charter, which was followed by no
tification of an immediate redaction
in wages of 1 cents an boer. They
say the union was "no good." which
was correct as tbey constituted the
union and were n. g They wasted
something for nothing, dropped their
charter, and then handed something
for nothing to the bosses is tha shape
of 10 cents an hoar of good money.
Did yon ever hear of any worse block
heads? Later. The Fort Wayne plas
terers announce that they are going
to reorganize. Tbey seem to hare
actually learned something. Rending
Advocate.
0