The Wageworker. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1904-????, February 26, 1910, Image 1

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VOL. VI. LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1910. 8 PAGES !NO. c.
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TALKS AT THE TEMPLE
Fifty men assembled at the Labor
Temple Sunday afternoon to hear the
nrst of the series of "Temple Talks."
The attendance should have taxed the
capacity of both the big halls. That
only a becgarly handful of men heard
tiie splendid addresses of Rev. Mr.
Zenor and Rev. Mr. Harmon is a
matter of regret, first, because It does
not show the proper interest on the
part ot the wage earners, and second,
because it is seldom that such ad
dresses are to be enjoyed.
The meeting opened with a couple
of songs and an invocation by Rev.
Mr. Harmon. The singing was led by
George H. Walters, who promised to
continue and to have a quartet pres
ent at the next meeting. During the
services Mr. Walters sang a solo,
"The Song of the Workingmen," which
was greatly enjoyed.
Rev. Mr. Zenor was the first speak
er, and he took "Manhood" as his
topic. He considered manhood from
three angles physical, mental and
moral and described each in well
turned phrases. He plead for a better
physical development cf the race, but
said that he who gave heed only to
the physical thought only of the brute
side. With too much attention to the
mental alone, honesty and justice
were overlooked. He who thought
only of the moral, neglecting the
physical and the mental, became '"sis
sy fied" and was of no real service in
the world's work. The crowning man
hood was that which well balanced
the physical, the mental and the mor
al a sound mind and a moral con
science in a sound body. The speaker
Slid:
"There are many popular, though
false, estimates of manhood. The man
who wears good clothes may or may
cot be manly; but if he fails to be in
sympathy with his poorly clad brother
he certainly is lacking in courage. If
I 'fail to have been sufficiently devel
oped so that I can see my brother
who is in need, and at the same time
unwilling to help or assist him to a
better advantage, to a broader vision
and a higher level, and pass him by
just because I have been a little more
fortunate than he, I am a cowardly
cur. In the seeking for the greatest
good we must give the greatest range
for freedom in order that we may at
tain the best manhood.
We have a freedom of which, we
are proud to boast, equality, not in
manhood but in citizenship only. All
citizens are equal at the polls and
there only. Each, one of us has there,
regurdless of the amount of this
world's goods we possess, the same
right before the law that is possessed
by any other citizen. But can we
claim the same thing for our children
in the schools? No, for again our ad
vantages are not the same. However,
in order to this end the state is mak
ing great and heroic struggles; she
is furnishing us schools, providing
teachers and in the cities, many of
them, is furnishing the books and ma
terials free of cost. But even this
fails to reach the end sought, and
moro is yet to be done. We must
furnish, our people employment at
such wages that they can furnish the
children suitable clothing to enable
them to attend the' schools now main
tained in this interest, or clothe the
child by a system similar to the pres
ent school system, in order that they
may be developed in body, mind and
soul. There will doubtless be some
who will cry out against this and say
that all the manhood needed by the
poorer classes Is physical and that he
is too independent and wants too
much for. his labor. To all such I
would answer that a one-sided man
hood Is a very dangerous thing and
cannot be depended upon. He must
know his worth and earn all he can
una lutsreuy aiscnurge we luncuon Ot
his obligation to all classes of his fel
low-men."
Rev. Mr. Harmon took "Brother
hood' for his topic, and upon this he
builded one of the strongest union la
bor talks every delivered in Lincoln.
There are many in Lincoln, of the
working ranks, who have long known
where the popular pastor of the First
Christian church stands on the ques
tion of organized labor, but Sunday
afternoon's talk was an eye-opener.
Rev. Mr., Harmon did not mince his
words, but he poured out vitriolic lang
uage in his denunciation of those who
corrupt legislatures bribe courts and
purchase legislation. His denuncia
tions of graft under the guise or "big
business" were most emphatic and
he made his little audience sit up
straight. He made a strong plea for
unity of action not only industrially
but politically and asserted that or
ganized labor had a magnificent part
to play in redeeming the republic from
the grasp of those who have prosti
tuted it from its high purpose to the
low purpose of selfish gain. His de
nunciation of the Aldrich-Cannon tar
iff of the land grabs and of other bits
of vicious political legerdemain were
as strong as the English language
could make them. In concluding the
speaker said:
"Xo soldier on the fervor of his pat
riotism ever drew his sword in a
worthier or holier cause than that
which engages the unselfish devotion
of union labor in this and other lands.
You need no other credential of your
divine call to service than the good
which has attended your efforts every
where. You need no higher encour
agement than the ever-increasing num
ber who are co-operating with you to
realize your ideals. Brotherhood is
the big word of the century in which
we live. The great world is being bap
tised with this sound and the ears of
multitudes have waxed gross and the
true age of man shall come. ;
"The streaks of the dawn of that day
appeared centuries ago when the great
Brother of man walked the earth; the
beams of light are now striking the
hill tops and one clay the valleys shall
be filled with sunshine and the whole
earth flooded with splendor." x
Rev. Mr. Harmon referred to the
proposed "labor Chautauqua" and said
it was one of the greatest things ever
proposed by organized labor in Lin
coln and he believed that it was the
first time organized labor had ever
taken hold of such a thing. He prom
ised it his undivided and hearty sup
port. "It is the poor man's college:
the place where the worker denied
the privileges of a university educa
tion can get from first sources th
combined excellence of the world's
best thought" he said. "I want to see
the union workers of Lincoln the first
to hold such a Chautauqua and I wan,
them to make . it' such a magnificent
success that the plan will be adopted
In every other city in our land. It is
one of the greatest things ever pro
posed.' - v .
The second of the series of "Tem
ple Talks" will be given at the Labor
Temple next Sunday afternoon at 3
o'clock when Mayor Love will speak
on the "Commission Plan of Municipal
Government." It should be borne in
mind that the "Temple Talks" are
open to the general public. Non-union
as well as union men are cordially in
vited and business and professional
men will be heartily welcome. The
women are cordially invited to attend.
LABOR TEMPLE BOARD.
Regular March Meeting Slated
for
Next Monday Evening.
The regular monthly meeting of the
Board of Directors of the Lincoln La
bor Temple Building Association will
be held at the Temple next Monday
evening. Every director must be pres
ent, as business of the most vital im
portance must be transacted at that
meeting. It is an emergency call.
Secretary Ihringer will have a com
plete statement that will be of great
interest, and Manager Rudy will have
a report to submit. But there is a
matter on hand that will require the
best ' judgment and the united efforts
of the directors to properly care for.
The director who fails to be on hand
is not doing justice to the stockhold
ers whom he represents. "
TEMPLE TALKS
Next Sunday, 3 p. k., at the Labor
Temple, Mayor Love will toe the
speaker at the second of the series of
'Temple Talks." The mayor will talk
on "Commission Government." Every
body invited.
PRESIDENT JOHN WALKER.
Honors Given to a Mighty Square Man
by Illinois Miners.
John H. Walker has been elected
president of the Illinois State Mine
Workers' Association, and the hono
could not have been conferred upon a
more deserving man. Walker was a
member of the laws committee at the
Toronto convention of the A. F. of L.,
and the Reid faction of the electrical
workers owe him a debt for the fair
and unbiased way he acted during that
now famous controversy. He prevent
ed the covering up of a lot of matter
that other committeemen sought to
conceal, and he offset the prejudices
of the Tazalears on the committee. He
fought for and was instrumental in se
curing the compromise report that
promises to result in a settlement of
that trouble. Before the convention
he made a plea for arbitration that
carried the report through, and to
Walker more than any other member
of the committee is due the fact that
the convention did not get into a row
over the arbitrary decision of the
swell-headed Jim Duncan. We con
gratulate the Mine Workers of Illinois
on their good judgment.
SUREST THING YOU KNOW.
And With Every Boost Put Up a Dol
lar for Your Temple.
Every workingman in the city
should be a booster for Evanston's
Labor Temple and the city. Every
thing which benefits the community
PRESSMEN &
Earl Scott is shortly to leave ' the
Woodruff-Collins shop. Paul Burke's
father has bought -a farm and expects
to take Scott out with him. ,
Ray Mooberry goes out on a claim
this spring.
Tom Barnes has taken a withdrawal
card and will turn farmer with his
uncle.
Ray Winch is in charge of the job
bers and cylinders at the Free Press.
Bill Oleson is feeding at the West
ern Newspaper Union. .
Harry Bamberger and George Willi
ams have been on the sick list.
The number of pressmen seeking
farm situation is an indication that the
craft is becoming pretty much dissat
isfied with existing conditions. They
want something that has more of a
future, something that will promise
better returns after years of effort
The February Engineering Magazine
says that if the employers do not want
their employes to become dissatisfied
and organize unions, they must exert
themselves to prevent dissatisfaction.
Just how to do this in the printing
business is a problem. The Santa Fe
employed the efficiency per cent plan,
and some employing printers watched
it with hopes. But it hasn't panned
out in the railroad business as ex
pected. What the pressmen of Lincoln want
is a wage that will enable them- to
live decently and educate their chil
H A
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THE STEREOTYPERS
The international convention of the
Stereotypers and Electrotypers is
slated for Omaha this spring, and the
craftsmen in that burg are working
night and day to frame up plans for
entertainment. If the social features
of the convention are not all right it
will not be the fault of the Omaha
committee.
"Jim" White, well known in Lincoln,
has charge of the official souvenir, and
he says it is going to be superior to
anything ever before gotten out by
one of the allied crafts. The Monarch
Printing Co. of Council Bluffs gets the
job, which is a guarantee that the me
chanical work will be the best ever
The souvenir will be a source of reve
nue to the local committee.
The Omaha convention promises to
be the largest In the history of the
organization.
The stereotypers ought to join in
protesting against the proposed in
crease in postal rates. They are inter
ested because the proposed increase
will, if enacted, make it all the harder
also benefits the toilers. Let's all
join with the Central Labor Union and
push the good work along. Evans
ville, Ind., Advocate.
That's gospel truth. But it takes
more than boosting to build Labor
Temples. We of Lincoln know that.
It takes dollars. And! the dollars in
vested 'in the Lincoln Labor Temple
are the best invested dollars of rec
ord. Ask the business men. Ask the
mechanics. Ask the wives and moth
ers. '
Keep right on boosting, you union
ists of Evansville, - but with every
boost put" up a dollar. Come over to
Lincoln and we'll show you how it's
done. The "Lincoln plan" is liable to
become ' as , famous in labor circles as
the "GalvestoA . plan" or the ',. "Des
Moines plan" is in municipal govern
ment circles.
ASSISTANTS
dren, and not; put the little ones to
work before t,hey have had their right
ful, playtime ;and a good education.
One .rsjJi..8trJikingv things in the
trade is' the number of men "'who' no
longer "hit the booze." A few years
ago a pressman who stood for no
license was a rarity today they are
legion. The pressmen of the new gen
eration have grown wiser in a great
many ways. '
Dick Chevront has thrown up his
job as make-up at the Western News
paper Union and gone to Denver,
where he expects to catch on at some
thing. "Shorty" Pierce succeeds him
at the "p. g." shop:
The Wageworker this week takes
pleasure in showing a picture of the
Home for Superannuated Pressmen
and Assistants. This home is now in
process of construction and is located
near Rogersville, Tenn., between Pine
and Black mountains. The Home is
surrounded by 519 acres of land and
is acknowledged to be one of the
prettiest sites in the famous moun
tains of Tennessee. Originally built
for a sanitarium and then abandoned
because of financial difficulties, the
new Home Is all that could be desired
and was secured at a rare bargain. As
a health resort it is equal to the best,
and the Printing Pressmen and Assist
ants' Union has every reason to be
proud of what they have bought and
of the great work of love they are en
gaged in. "'
to secure just wage scales in the
future.
The Omaha local has an auxiliary.
What's the matter with the Lincoln lo
cal having the same kind of an ef
ficient helper?
Rumors of another fight between
the American Press Asociation and
the Western Newspaper Union are in
the air. The A. P. A. is promising to
get into the advertising game as
reprisal on the Western Newspape:
Union's enlargement of Its plate sor
vice. The bigger the fight the more
work for the stereotypers. Let 'em
fight.
THE PARK BONDS.
The park commission has decided
to ask for ?50,000 in bonds at the
coming referendum election. Every
workingman in Lincoln ought to vote
"yes" on the proposition, and work
for it without ceasing. The. plans of
the commission are fine, and when
carried' out will mean a lot for the
comfort and welfare of the toilers of
Lincln.
TYPOGRAPHICAL TIPS
Despite every effort of the executive
council, together with strong editorials
in the Journal, the mortuary benefit
plan was killed too -dead to skin. It
struck the sober and industrious print
ers as too easy for" the ne'er-do-wells.
The steady man paid the benefits by
putting up a too large' snare of the
assessments.
Charley Govan, a member of "Big
Six," is The Wgeworker's preferred
candidate for vice-p.esident. But the
printer-editor of The Wageworker is
not going to throw any campaign fits
this year. After the "lemon" handed
by New Orleans last time, and with
Reilly of Dallas the insurgent candi
date this trip, The Wageworker is go
ing to take to the woods.
Charley Barngrover has shaken the
dust of Loveland from his feet and is
now subbing on the News-Times , at
Denver. N--
Frank. Kennedy came down from
Omaha Saturday nignt and visited
with The Wageworker family.' Sunday
he visited the Labor Temple and got
his eyes full. He says it is the great
est ever.
Floyd McKinney is in Oklahoma
City. - '
Our good old friend, J. J. pirks of
St. Louis, is grieved because several
labor editors will not forget and for
give Reilly for his stand on the Shelby
Smith question at Toronto. We'd do
almost any old thing for Dirks, save
and except overlook what a lot of
putty delegates did at that convention.
Reilly says he stood by Smith until
Smith plead guilty on the floor. We
are sorely afraid that Reilly is trying
to cloud the issue by drawing upon
his imagination for his facts. ..-''
Charley Fear ought to be1; elected
delegate to the American Federation
of Labor, but we fear he is doomed to
defeat. The troublfe'wlth Fear is that
he has a fool habit of doing his own
thinking, and does not lack the cour
age to say what he thinks. He demon
strated this at Colorado Springs when
he fought singlehanded and alone for
a needed reform-in the Home manage
ment. That fight made Fear a
marked mad around international
headquarters. With Fear and DeNe-
dry on the delegation the invitations
would be that all would not be "har
mony" every time the A, F. of L met.
Despite Frank Morrison's throw-down
of the labor editors at Toronto, we
are still for him. But just wait until
we labor editors can get a crack at the
swelled head of one Jim Duncan. What
we'll do to that mutt will be a plenty
Billy Bustard is rapidly developing
into a' billiard shark, and wheni he
isn't playing he is dreaming of the
time when he will make" Willie Hoppe
look like a two-spot at the 18.1 balk
line game.
International headquarters recently
wrote to ascertain how the American
Homestead stood.1 That paper is pub
lished monthly in Lincoln by Charles
W. Bryan, and it is union from every
standpoint. The advertising manager
is a member of 209. The Homestead
is gotten out from the Western News
paper Union shop. f
Lincoln Typographical Union ought
to get into the game and file a protest
against the proposed increase in pos
tal rates. The proposed increase will
mean an added expense of several mil
lion dollars to' the publishers of this
country, and they'll have to get even
somewhere. And the wage scale is
the first place they'll figure on.
The Catholic Printing Co. of Du
buque, Iowa, has come into the union
fold. It has been non-union for twen
ty-five years.
, On February 1 the I. T. U. passed
the 50,000 mark in membership. The
official count was 50,281.
The annual hall Wednesday night
was a success. The attendance of
printers was larger than usual, and the
total attendance up to the usual mark.
The committee in charge looked after
every detail and left nothing undone
to add to the pleasrare of the guests
The grand march began promptly at
9 o'clock andi was led by Governor and
Mrs. Shallenberger. - .
COME AND SEE OURS.
We've Quit Talking About Building
We've Got It.
Fort Worth, Tex., unionists are talk
ing about building a Labor Temple
They have progressed as far as ap
pointing a committee to frame plans.
The Springfield, 111., Tradesman- takes
note of what is being done in Fort
Worth and says: .
"The Springfield trade unionists will
read the above with considerable
jealousy, no doubt, but it is our own
fault that we haven't built a labor
temple here long ago. Springfield is
considered one of the best organized
cities in the United States, taking into
comparison its population, and there
are over sixty local unions who are
holding there meetings once, twice or
four times every month. Some of these
local unions have a membership as
high as five hundred men, but not
withstanding all this, Springfield is be
hind her sister cities who have al
ready established elegantf labor tem
ples; which hate- proven a financial
SUCCeSS." -i :: :''""
Why, bless your soul, Brother Illi
nois Tradesman, we've' got less than
half aa many unions in Lincoln as you
boast of having in Springfield. but
we've got a Labor Temple. We passed
the talking stage some time ago, and
as a result twenty-four growing, en
thusiastic, wide-awake unions are
holding meetings in its commodious
halls, and hundreds of union men are
enjoying the pool and billiard tables,
and buying union made cigars and to
bacco at the counter, and eating in
the lunch room, and reading the books -
and magazines in the library- And
the union men and their wives and
sweethearts are dancing on a polished
floor" in the Temple whenever thev
want to. ' .'. ',:,''
Jealous of Fort Worth, where they
are only talking! ' Forget it! Sixty
unions and . no Temple? We are
grieved and astonished. . We are also
a bit "chesty.",. We were never jealous
we merely wanted a Temple, and
we've got it. (And we've got the hand
somest, most commodious and most
convenient Labor Temple on i the
North American continent, size of city
and number of unions properly con-,
sidered. '.-'.;
The way to get a Labor Temple is
to quit talking about it and get it. As
long as we merely talked we. met in
ratty old halls wherever we could find
them. We Lincotnites talked for three
years and didn't get anywhere. .One
aay we took tne Dull Dy the horns
and the next day we had a Temple.
Send a committee over from Spring
field and we'll "tell em how it was
done. "Any other city can do it the
same way. -
ONE JUDGE HAS LEVEL HEAD.
Federal 'Jurist Refuses to Enjoin
, Striking Unionists.
Federal Judge Baker, sitting in In
dianapolis, refused the American Tin
Plate Co.'s plea for an injunction
against its striking employes at El-
wood, Ind. The decision is a radical ,
departure from the custom of these
courts. Judge Baker held that union
ists had the right to strike, to present
wage scales and induce others to join
them. In answer to the company's
claim that El wood .officials were not
enforcing the law, the court called
attention to the company's failure to '
connect strikers, either directly or In
directly, with this condition. The
workers' attorneys acknowledged .
sympathizers had jeered and in some
cases . had used . insulting language,
but Judge Baker agreed that the po
lice .authorities of Elwood must
handle this phase 01 the question.
The decision is squarely tor the
workers, and is probably .the first
time a federal judge has thrown an
injunction application out of courti
St. Paul Union -Advocate.
BRIGHAM A CANDIDATE.
E. D. Brigham, ex-commissioner of.
labor, of Iowa, announces his candi
dacy for a commissionership in the
city of Des Moines. Here's hoping he
wins. Brigham made good as labor
commissioner. He is a locomotive en
gineer, a thorough unionist, and ready
to get into the game to help any of .
the crafts out. We expect to hear that
the union voters of Des Moines have
rallied to his support.
TEMPLE TALKS
Next Sunday, 3 p. m., at the Labor
Temple, Mayor Love will be the
speaker at the second of the series of
"Temple Talks." The mayor will talk
on "Commission Government." Every
body invited.
AWFUL FOR BILL! ,
The Steam Shovelers' Union, of
which President William Howard Taft
is a member, has made a demand for
increased wages, and if not granted
will go on strike. Won't that be awful
embarrassing for Bill? Oklahoma La-
bor Unit.