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About The Wageworker. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1904-???? | View Entire Issue (Feb. 19, 1910)
WAGEWORKER By Maupin & Hogard WILL M. MAUPIN . -. Editor W. P. HOGARD . . - . Manager Published Weekly at 137 No. 14th Enteral aa second-class matter April 21, 1901, at the postofflce at Lincoln, Neli.. . usiler the Act of Congress ol March 3rd. 1ST9. TO LABOR UNIONS. Will you assist us by ap- 'pointing some one In your union to furnish us with news? 'The Wageworker wants to pub- lish the news of your local, and In order to do so must have your assistance. It is our aim to give our readers all the la- bor news that Is to be had and we wish to do It properly, so that you will be satisfied. By helping us In this way, you not onlv make this paper more val- uable and complete, but your knowledge of what is going on m In the labor movement is bet- ter and the good feeling among the various crafts is more stronalv cemented. When this fellowship Idea Is instilled thor- oughly among us there is less likelihood of a break in the ranks and it is certainly need- ed at the present time. GROWING VS. SWELLING. There Is an old Baying to the ef fect that some men grow under re Hponslbility, while others merely swell. The more we think of the re cent action of City Clerk Ozman the more wo are inclined to believe that he la not growing. It Is a good thing for - th "dry" supporters of Lincoln that the city clerk was practically alone in his contention that the refer enduni petition was not good. It is also a good thing for the "wet" advo cateB that a brash youth unexpectedly elevated to a responsible position awcllcd up with the idea that he was about the biggest mite In the cheese, The Wageworker is satisfied, now that the referendum Is all right. The Wageworker has never been an advo- cate of the saloon system, but if it had to take its choice between a huL drcd saloons in Lincoln and the possi bility of any young political upstart knocking the referendum Into cocked hat. The Wageworker would choose the hundred saloons. The prin ciple of the referendum is too dear, and it has been secured through too many sacrifices of time and money and effort, to have it knocked out now. With the referendum inviolate we can effort any reform wo choose that Is to say, the people can and are we not tho people? We can readily understand how City Clerk Ozman came to make such a foolish break. It is merely one of the indiscretions of youth. Youth is in clined to impulsiveness. We ' know, for once upr.n a tlnio we, ourselves, were younK. The city clerk, swelling with Importance, thought t himself: "Now Is the time for me to make my- sei: everlastingly solid with the 'drys tho saire b ilng in the majority and thus insur not only personal glory to myself but also re-election and mayhap political preferment In the future." As we remarked before, youth is In cllned to jump at conclusions just tSat way. But while City Clerk Oz man was studiously imbibing at our state university the knowledge of how to scrute the inscrutable and poss the impossible, a lot of horny-handed toil era were fighting for the intlatlve and referendum, and they didn't propose having anybody depriving them of what tb7 had fought for and won Thus it came about that the genial but mistaken city clerk got his bumps- ana got 'em good and proper. The referendum is safe in Lincoln- yet. It is not likely that it will soon again be attacked. Now let the battle rage! CRF.ATOR AND CREATED. Now what do you think of that! The supremo court of the District of lumbia, which soaked Mitchell, Gomp- era and Morrison for contempt, actu ally seeking to enjoin committees from the national house and senate from vestlgatlng grafts and crooked coin bines. Talk about this being a repre sentative government, gentlemen? It's joke! This is a government of judges. Once upon a time this coun try rejoiced because it believed in the pleasant little fiction that we had three co-ordinate branches of government, the legislative, the judicial and the ex ecutive. Co-ordinate means to put in the same class, rank or order. In other words, the country long believed that these three branches were equal But that was a long time ago. We know a lot better now. And we are learning a lot more every day. A legislature may enact a law, and a governor may approve. Then comes along some squirt of a country lawyer. elevated to the bench by corporation favor, and with a sweep of his stub . V 1 . . ,1 pen knocKs tne legislature uu governor galley west. Congress may enact a law, and the president may proceed to execute that law as he is 'sworn to do. But along somes a court that usually divides "five to four," with the five always on- the side of the trusts and corporations, and imme diately an injunction is issued and the law Is given its quietus until such time as the five honorable justices may agree upon some way of sa'ying that in their opinion the law is no good. And when some of us object to that sort of thing we are warned not to at tack the courts. And if we persist In objecting we are denounced as "agi tators" or "anarchists," and if we in- Bist upon exercising the rights guaran teed by the old instrument that creat ed the courts, we are told that the creator is infinitessimally smaller than the created, and we are Hhrust into jail for the awful crime of contempt. And to be in contempt of court is an awful crime. It is worse than mur der. A man charged with murder has a chance to prove his Innocence be fore a jury of his peers. A man charged with contempt has no such chance. The judge Is at once law maker, law interpreter and law en forcer and there you are. Three co-ordinate branches of gov ernment!" God bless' you, men and brethren, you are liable to be thrust into jail for contempt of court if you even intimate that you believe in such an outworn and outrageous doctrine We have three branches of government now the state courts, the federal dis trict judges and the supreme court of the United States. Legislatures and congresses are mere jokes. Governors and presidents are mere figurehead?. A judge is tho whole thing. He is bigger than all the rest put together. If perchance he Is a federal judge he is a cz?r, a monarch whose rights none dare dispute. Representative government forsooth! The man who talks it or believes i ought to go out and have his head bored for the simples. We still insist that the Rogers tract, O street between Thirty-first and Thirty-third, is the finest site for a high school that could be found plenty of ground, high, convenient to street cars, and just ciose enough to this editor's property to materially benefit it without inconveniencing the family. We are for the Rogers tract. Every time we see a lot of earnest union men enjoying a little leisure time at the Labor Temple, the prouder we are of the fact that the first propo sition for a Labor Temple appeared in The Wageworker, and the first meet ing to consider it was held at the home of The Wageworker's editor. As between the B. S. of Roosevelt which stands for "big stick." and the B. S. of Taft, which stands for "but ter scotch" or "backing sugar. darned if rve don't prefer the Roosevelt brand. Richard L. Metcalfe is the "compro mise candidate" for United States sen ator. That Is to say. everybodv nre rers Mot" to anybody else unless they are blinded by partican preju dice. Those who attended the democrat! banquet at the Lincoln hotel last Mon day night are now conera.tiilntinn- Mayor Jim" upon his excellent facili ties for taking the side track. If the United States senators are able to show the courts of the Dis trict of Columbia where to get off, we 11 take back everything ill we have said about the senators. If union men would pay half much attention to fundamentals they do to fool fads like the "meat 1 ...... . uuycou, it would be better for them. A Chicago physician declares that rats cause leprosy. We don't know as to that, but we do know that "rats" breed "scabbles." Tho hest way to bust the butter trust is to remove the fool tax oleomargarine. on Up to date a number of eminent re . . 1 . t vuuui-Hu biaresmen in the First Con gresskmal District have shown an in clination to contest with John A. Ma guire for congressional honors. But up to date we haven't heard of any body but lawyers. Wouldn't it be a relief to have a chance to vote for a union man? Meat packers say the price of beef and pork is high because the supply is short. All right, let the president and congress knock the tar out of the tar iff on cattle and hogs and sheep, and watch the prices tumble. "Gripe Guts" Post offers to bet 5,000 there are no peanut ' shells in HIS breakfast food. Charley is merely betting that he doesn't eat hfs own dope at the morning meal. On the dead square, we didn't get a single valentine, comic or other wise. LIFE IN A TENEMENT. Some of the Problems Cinfronting Workers in Crowded Cities. There are twenty-two families In our tenement four on each of the five floors and two in the basement. Per haps the story of the family that used their bathtub for a coal bin (cover ing it at night with boards and a mat tress for a roomer, has reached even you. I don't know where it originated, but I have an impression that it is a newspaper . yarn. A real -bath tub would be such a luxury and the ren tal of an apartment containing one would be so great that no one but a fool would think of doing such a thing. It it were a matter of making money out of it, it would be more business like to hire out the room to one's neighbors, who crave the luxury of a genuine bath. But seriously, most of my friends andi neighbors want to be clean. It Is pathetic, sometimes, to see how hard they try to keep out the dirt. There is so much of it where there are so many people, that it is difficult to conquer it, but many of them succeed at least so far as hu man limitations will permit. There are some who become discouraged and let things slide, but most work ingmen's wives are everlasting busy with their housework, and they de serve great credit for it. There might be some justification for storing coal even in a bath tub, be cause there is no place to keep it In quantities, excepting down in the cel lar, where each family is given a lit- the closet-like affair in which to keep their miscellaneous belongings. But there is'nt much fun in lugging a .scut tle of coal to the third or fourth floor so practically everybody buys coal by the pail and has the coalman bring it up, although it costs about three times as mucn as Duying it Dy tne ion, The same is true of flour and about everything else that we need in the way of food. That's what makes the cost of living higher than most folks imagine more, even, than it costs the rich, for the same things. And we pay cash for everything too. Strange as it may seem, we pay higher rent, pro portionately, than is being paid by many 'an up-town family, for the same able over-crowding in our neighbor-' hood. I've never had a chance to count my neighbors, but I would esti mate that there are at least one hun dred and fifty people in our tenement. Some of the tenements have more than that. In one of the five acre blocks in another part of town there are nearly seven thousand persons lov ing. Another block on the 'east side contains 1,672 persons per acre. In a little "tract" of fifty acres, there are more people than live in the entire state of Nevada. My home is in the midst of the most densely populated part of the world. Talk about China and London they aren't in it ; com pared with us. Rev. Charles. Stelzle in Letters From a Workingman." THE NOBLES LEAVE US. Mr. and Mrs. Horace V. Noble, who have been identified with the Lyric for severaK years, were given a hand some send-off when they left for Den ver last Saturday. A more popular couple never bid good-bye to the the ater goers of Lincoln, and nothing was left undone to convince them of that fact. The sadness of the parting was lessened, however, by the knowledge that Mr. and Mrs. Noble have mater ially benefited themselves by the change. -May good luck and good for tune attend them, is the wish of The Wageworker. ORDER OF OWLS. Nest of New Organization Being Built In City of Lincoln. J. H. Bayard, national organizer of the Order of Owls, is in Lincoln, busy with the work of organizing a nest in this city. It takes fifty members to secure a charter, but Mr. Bayard has already been assured of double that number. The Order of Owls is a se cret society of good fellows who be lieve in love, laughter and the king dom of heaven on earth. They help the sick, bury the dead, brighten dark mo ments, light up gloomy places. Some are not saints. None are in na pot ter's field, county suroucs or poor houses. None are hungry. They do good, speak kindly, shake hands warmly, and respect the honor of their women. The order is fraternal and pays a burial benefit and sick benefits. It also has an insurance feature which is not obligatory. A little study of the plans of this organization will demonstrate that it is formed along right lines, and that its membership will secure mutual advantages at a nominal cost. We sug gest that the workingmen of the city investigate its merits. Organizer Bay ard is a union man, belonging to the Switchmen. It should also be borne in mind that all of the printing of the Order of Owls bears the label of the allied printing trades. J. W. Colley, organizer of the Switch men's Union, is in Lincoln for a few days. He is helping Mr. Bayard, but incidentally is injecting a little new vigor into the local switchmen. MOVING TOWARD SHORT DAY. Machinists Expect to Reach It In 18 Months By Gradual Steps. According to a plan now developing, the International Association of Ma chinists expects to obtain ' the eight- hour day within the next eighteen months. The scale now calls for nine hours. The plan outlined consists in taking twenty minutes off each work day for the first six months, repeating the process for the second and third six-month periods, the result being a reduction of the full hour at the end of eighteen months. Such a plan is now in operation on the Pacific coast. It is believed that the scheme will act as a preventive of strikes in that em ployers will have an opportunity to adjust by degrees their business to meet the conditions brought about by the shortened working days. DO YOU WANT IT? What the Open Shop Means to the Wage Earners Today. The "open shop" means porterhouse steak for the employer and liver for the workman. The "open shop" means individual bargaining so much desired by the op ponents of organized labor.- The "open shop' stands for the un fettered employment of women and children. The "open shop" means that the em ployer shall be the sole judge of what your labor is worth. The "open shop" gives the employer the privilege of being a member of an organization intended to prevent the payment of better wages, but denies the laborer the right to be a member of a labor organization. The "open shop' bars the possibility of a solid front on the part of the workers. The "open shop" declares that some can better conditions while others can enjoy the benefits without cost. The "open shop" denies men the right to sell their labor under any con ditions they elect. The "open shop" declares there is no "living line" no minimum for the price of labor. The "open shop" declares it is le gal for an, individual to do an act that is illegal for a collection of individuals to attempt. The "open shop" would place the so lution of factory sanitation and un guarded machinery in the hands of the employer. The "open shop" means that the em ployer will 'be the master and you will be the slave. Exchange. . GOMPERS AT BETHLEHF.M Takes Personal Charge of the Strike in Big Steel Plant. Bethlehem, Pa., Feb. 14. It was stated here today that Samuel Gom- pers, president of the American Fed eration of Labor will come here this week to take charge of the strike in the Bethlehem steel plant, giving weight to the report that the strike here is the beginning of the fight to force the unionization of the steel in- dustry. ' Five hundred strikers have left here to take positions elsewhere and it is said by the strike leaders they are doing so in order that they may turn a portion of their earnings into the strike fund. The federation is preparing to assist the strikers financially. An official statement was issued to day by the union officials, claiming that 3,500 men are out. This is denied by the company officials, who say the number will not exceed 900. At a mass meeting of the strikers it was announced that the 400 men still work ing have promised to join the strikers. LAW IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL. A Jefferson City, Mo., Feb. 12. The supreme court today decided the law prohibiting bakeries from working more than six days a week is unconsti tutional. Stove mounters in Bvansville, Ind., report trade good. Fits and are being given to men all over town, but you'll never get a misfit here. We are experienced cutters and fitters, and make it a noint to give every patron the best fit possible in the choicest fabrics, beautifully lined and finished and perfect in every detail of making. Yet we do not ask any fancy price for our high-class goods and superior workmanship. With Every Suit Ordered this Week an Extra $5.oo Fancy Vest SCOTCH WOOLEN MILLS UNION TAILORS 133 SOUTH J. H. McMULLEN, Farmers and Merchants BanK G. W. MONTGOMERY, President Open Saturday evenings 6 to r GREGORY, The Tailor Knows how to dress you up and has the finest line of fall and winter goods, ! in the city. : : : : : : : : Pressing a Specialty If You Want to Save Money Use CAPITAL COAL Clean, Hot, All fturns Up. Lvmp, Egg and Nut. IIUTCIimS and HYATT COUPaIIY EVERY SHOE "UNION MADE" HERE r KOMO The best coal in the market for the money LUMP, EGG OR NUT $6.50 For Furnace, Heating Stove or Kitchen Range. Try it. ?" 234 WHITEBREAST COAL CO. AUIO 0,4,40 linfl O Overcoat To Your ORDER and Measurement l Misfits 13th STREET I Mgr. AUTO 2372 H, C. PBOBA8CO, Cashier Small depositors are as welcome to this bank as large ones. ' Their accounts receive the same careful attention. Small " accounts be come large ones. Have you an account and is it growing? 8 F. & M. bldg. 15th & 0 Sts., Your Business Solicited Thompson Shoe $3.50 & $4 Handcraft Shoe $5.00 All How--"F0B KEIT-AII Ne Hen's Boafory 12th & P Sts. CO A L BTREKT