Newspapers / The Labor News (Greensboro, … / May 15, 1908, edition 1 / Page 1
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3- ' I -, -i - - . -- r , -. . . i " 4 ' .. , . .. ; - .. . - . .... . ...-. 1 , "Jn, Ft j .5 1 " ORGAU-OF THE STATE FEDERATION OF LABOR. ENDORSED BY GREENSBORO TRADES COUNCIL. MOTTO : ORGANIZATION, EDUCATION AND ELEVATION. yo Mh HtMtmy.-yr? rn?9-vi ;?invlBER 38. A i L IAlV' - . --.Tr-r: A t-'6"- 4 , 4 V A PRACTICAL WAY, man who toils -for his daily bread And is only'SL working-man Jvi. jlust strive to obtain the .best results And leanf all he possibly can;e - - He sells his .skill to., the highest bid To the man 'with cash to pay, ." " But he gives his best of brain and brawn -And works in a practical way ' ' : A workman skilled in his chosen craft Finds industrial life a school, While using the mitre, plane and saw His is also the "Golden Rule"; He wears the badge of a union man, For he gives and. demands fair play; He reads the papers and studies And works in a practical way. The bargain lies in an honest job irS'rnm the man with labor to sell, t ,Th world deuends on this sort, of s ". man - . For the work that mus.t be done C well; The law pf kindness is in his heart, m. He believes in an eight-hour day, But of earnest toil he gives his best, And works in a practical way. And the world respects a union man, . . For it finds his plans are good And" the Union respects himself As a Unionist always should. He knows he is right and goes ahead Oils principles true to obey, Honest to others, just to himself, He works in a practical way. : Exchange. A NEEDED REFORM. To the Labor News. .'. Mr. Editor: Our country is just 5. now awaking to the fact that there is ''- great need of improvement along the - 'line of morality, and the question of state prohibition is to be submitted to v t' a". vote oi uie yt;uxi uu mc um "j- this month. This is a question or vast - importance to the working men and ..women-of North Carolina. But there has been so much said and written on this question, that I am not going to add my humble views or - opinions here. I do wish to say a few words, however, about an evil which is so common among our people today ; that very little is said about it in the pa pers that we read. This is the vile habit of profanity. It has become so generally used that very little notice is taken of it. Men who speaK tne words often do not think what they are saying. Many use it, tney say, w - give emphasis to what they are say " ingt tlhave always felt my respect iwjpTtedr, ,fnr the opinions . of anyper? son who must back up his statements Jwith ' an oath, not seeming to think It sufficient that his honest word as a man of truth to vouch for what he says. This evil is so insidious in its na ture; it is so easy to form the vile habit; because so many men thought lessly engage in it, they feel tnat or dinarv conversation without it is dul and lacking in manly expression. Boys hear their elder companions and as sociates use the words which they have been taught, not to use; soon to fall into the habit without realizing the awfulness of the words which they are thoughtlessly uttering. This evi is not confined to the lower class of workingmen. but men of high stand- ins, lawyers, physiciams and proies sional men, as well as the men who wear the overalls and the shop apron and even by men sometimes (I am ashamed to say) who have some stand ing in the church as Christian gentle men. I am sure that our ministers :&nd our ladies, often hear some, of "this disgraceful profanity because the habit has become so general that to restrain themselves has become very hard indeed. I do hope that after the question of prohibition has been settled, that a general crusade against tne evn win be waged, until we can walk on our streets with 2 lady and feel safe from the fear of having hef ears burn at the sound of some Vile profane words used by men who are talking oh tne street. . .. ... .. GEO. T. N3RW6(5D. CHURCH -AND -LABOR. Social Unrest At a sociological conference held re cently a speaker made the assertion that during the last twenty-five years social unrest had increased threfef old- He said, furthermore, that during tne same period the church had increased in the same ratio. Therefore, he con cluded, the church had been absolute ly non-effective in the matter pf keep ing down the spirit of socialf unrest Then he began, a tirade against the church because of its apparent fail ure. ' f Granted that his statements con cerning the development of both the church and social unrest are truey and granted that the church has not re tarded the growth of social unrest, " there is yet another viewpoint. The speaker seemed to imagine that it is the business of the church to keep down every protest against the present social wrong. This prom ise is altogether wrong. Rather Is the opposite true. IT is THE BUSI: NESS of the CHURCH to CREATE SOCIAL UNREST. And the church is doing it! There are no labor troubles in dark est Africa. But the Christian mis sionaries who are being sent there will create them. They will point out to the natives their low standard of physical, mental and moral life. They will then show them the higher ideals of Jesus Christ.- and urge them to at tain to the splendid possibilities of. the better life. Naturally, there will: come a dissatisfaction with their pres ent state, and there will follow a spir it of unrest, which will manifest it- self JnJLheJiunger for the Ideal. This has-been the -history of the church. . It. is .only .after,; the. church has pre pared the1 way? by pending its best men and women Into darkened lan d ' I r-who of ten suffer death and poured millions :of doliars into s these fields that ; the professional social agitator steps in and builds upon the founda tions 4 already laid uy the church. Then, , in all likelihood, he will turn around . and denounce the church for its non-effectiveness. HE never lays the foundation. HE never makes the sacrifice. He is simply the irrespons ible critic, whose very safety and comfort has been made possible by the devotion of the martyrs whose blood was sacrificed for him. Have you ever heard of a social pro pagandist going to a cannibal island to build up an ideal social system? THEY surely need his help. But not much! It's easier, and sfer, too, to remain In even a. "so-called" Christian land, and do business there. Rev. Charles Stelzle. THE SI. AVERY OF IMITATION. We hear a good deal just now about the simpler life. We hear every day that we shall only arrive at it by a more rigid form of diet, and yet all that one sees and hears indicates that the luxurious life is the one that is really being lived, and is likely to be lived, at all events in the Immediate future. Such an outlook, one cannot pretend is an encouraging oiie, for un doubtedly, it must end in disaster. Never yet has a nation maintained a luxurious standard and' permanently flourished. Therefore to advocate the simpler life is not, as some erroneous ly suppose, to strike a blow at- trade, but, contrariwise, to keep it more evenly supported and to avert the de struction which must inevitably be brought about if people continue to live on an ever-increasing scale of lux urioucness. We cannot blind our selves to the fact that it is on this scale that the people have been living of recent years. In every class of so ciety this disposition has been all in the direction of display and extrava gance, and though this may seem to circulate money, it really brings it in due course to a standstill, since this state of affairs tend to thriftlessness, to debt, and, consequently, to general bankruptcy.- But extremes are always bad. While on the one hand over luxnriousness spells ruin, the simpler life, on he other hand, need not in dicate meanness and dreariness. All thatuis asked is that people should es say to live within their meansand ac- Srmifg-Tir-B dia this there would De more money for everybody. And this is the matter which specially concerns women. They are largely responsible for the foolish extravagance of the age, and on them depends whether or not we shall attain to the desirable simpler life, which, in other words, means liv ing on the pl?.ne vhereon we have been set instead of trying to imitate those of a higher stage. If only peo ple could be persuaded that they can have quite as good a time and, in deed, escape the burden of heavy an xieties by living within their means, and with no pretentions to be other than they are, we would need to hear nothing more of the simpler life or of desperate means to bYing it about. It has been well said that people can not be made moral by passing laws, and assuredly they will not after their whole standard of living at the bid ding of a few enthusiasts. This kind of thing comes but by the exercise of common sense and the display of fine sense of dignity. Pretentiousness is never dignified. One can but hope, therefore, that women will show their superior wisdom by discouraging in all ways the foolish expenditure and the1 craving for seetSlng other than we are which is the robCvot most of the evil oVmodern life. O. I. See, in Ashevllle Saymgs THE WEATHER. The wether is 3atwky$'?ahUinter'est ing question; for distfdsiion. The spring has been Unusually cokT and "back ward, still Nsa.turg.Js verjr btfSy -Jn her work, and t&eran Jsayirig that the leaves In this section are always grown on the 10th Of May. Further more, we have never known this to fail. Nature is always true to her children. If children were as true to mother Nature, obeying her laws as thev should, there would be fewer drug stores in the. world, a smaller number of hospitals and a much small er number of doctors. It is not only right to obey her laws, but it pays to obey them.: Goldsboro Record. WHAT UNIONISM IS DOING. The "modern trade union is the champion and protector of childhood and womanhood. It' is the trade union that is agitating anQ fighting to rescue the child from the drudgery of factory life and place it in the school just as the same agency Is demanding an equal wage for men and women for equal work performed. It is the trade union that has abolished the sweat shoo conditions existing in thousands of workshops, thereby enabling thou sands of women : to receive oetter wages and improved conditions. It is the trade unions that today saves thousands of youngi women from sell ing their honor on the street. ;The trade union is the greatest moral in fluence of the twentieth century, and it has done, and is doing more to up lift the toiling masses than all other agencies combined.fTlndustrial Ban ner. . ' The Brotherhood of Boilermakers and Iron Shipbuilders of America will meet in convention at St. Paul on June 1. r . f I LABOR NOTES. Secretary Dougherty reports that the eight-hour assessment receipts for March . exceeded those for February by $6,543. That's going some. ' The International convention meets in Cincinnati, June 8. It will be a large gathering, judging from interest taken. ..' The big firm of Meyer and Thalhel mer, Baltimore, Md., swung into line for the eight-hour day. CARPENTERS. At the regular meeting of the Car penter's Union, held on Thursday night, $20 in sick benefits were grant ed and the scale committee reported that four additional contractors had signed the wage scale, making now-forty-four contractors who have signed up. Reading, Pa., Advocal'e. According to Secretary Duffy's last report the membership of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Join ers is approximately one hundred and eighty-six thousand, comprising 1,924 local unions. The Carpenter's union has occasion to rejoice over present conditions and future prospects. The season has opened well for it with not a ripple on the surface of its entire peace as to wages or working requirements, with plenty of employment in prospect, and with nearly all of its 1,200 members already employed. Minnesota Advo cate. CIGARMAKERS. At the meeting of the Cigarmakers' Union Monday evening it was report ed that all of the strictly union shops were working full time, while the open shops are working on better time than for some months. All of the members of the union are working. Three new members were elected to membership, and $55 relief money was paid out. All of the machinery for the printing house that will be run by the cigarmakers has arrived and is being placed in position. Reading, Pa., Advocate. In twenty-eight years the cigar makers have paid in benefits $7,786, 527.87. Last year it paid $473,270,58. Since esablishing the traveling bene fit it has paid $1,092,492.05. Attor norektPnt VASTS nf hffl 'Work niakiner of -cteart. In the penitentiaries of Michigan has been abandoned, says the Cigarmak ers' official journal. BRICKLAYERS. Bricklayers and Stonecutters. At the international convention of the Bricklayers and Masons Union re cently held in Detroit, steps were tak en with a view to promoting harmony between the bricklayers and masons and the Journeymen's Stonecutters' Association. A plan to create a re serve fund large enough to meet any and all contingencies was adopted. Reports from the various sections of the country show that a large propor tion of the unions heve secured the eight-hour day and that wages have increased very materially. The in crease in membership during the last two years has been phenominally large, upward of 200Jiew unions with an aggregate membership of 20,000 being added to the original roll. CLERKS. Forced Into Organization by the Far mer. The organized farmers down around Sherman and Dehhison. Texas. , have given the workingmen ih' citis aiid towns a nne illustration or going things right. The pernicklty clefts 6t Sherman couldn't organize. , Oh,. dear, no! They were not workingmen! Didn't the wear white shirts and creas es in their trousers', and weren't they likely to be eight dollar clerks today and proprietors of department stores a week from next Tuesday? But the hayseeds in the backwoods, who got the organization fever good and proper, passed the word along the line, and when they hitched up to go to town for the purpose of doing their trading and arrived at the forks of the road the procession, instead of go ing into Sherman, drove over to Den. nison, where there was a Retail Clerks' Union. In other words, the union farmers quietly put a boycott on Sherman, for they wanted to be waited on by union clerks who had sense enough to organize. It is no credit o the Sherman cierKs to add that, after the merchants learned why the farmers gave them the go-by they compelled their em ployes to form a union. But perhaps in the fullness of time the Sherman clerks will forget their sissy Ideas and learn that they owe something to the useful people in society who put up with their boorishness. There are some clerks in this town who should be given a dose of the same medicine. Organized working men ought to demand their union cards, and, if they don't produce them trade with those clerks who have paid up cards. DO IT NOW AND SAVE TIME AND DOLLARS BY USING VICK'S SPRING TONIC AND BLOOD PUR IFIER, TAR HEEL SARSAPARILLA. $1.00 BOTTLE FOR 50c The Commercial Telegraphers' Un- ion of America will meet in Mllwau- kee June 8. .';rourf to be a Union Printer. George W. Peck, ex-governor of Wisconsin, in a humorous article on hls, early days in a printing office, says; "From what I have confessed you will agree that I am proud to be anj old-time union printer, and among ms assets when I get my last 'take' amj have my 'string measured up by St4 Peter, the foreman, that old union-card from New York City will be about the most valuable thing I shall leaye to the boys. The printers of this country compare well for honesty and good fellowship with any class pf citifeens. They are generally poor, thus they are lucky. None of them arehe greatest people in the world, but the whole bunch will do to tie t0-S.d 1 had rather be with them at ;rtmvention than attend a national convention ct any political party." ',, Four million dollars is a very re spectable sum of money, even when measured by the standards of a Rockefeller or a Morgan; nor does it grow less when it is remembered that it was assessed upon and paid out of the earnings of the working members of the I. T. U. Generalship which re quired such an amount to . carry put Its plans is entitled to touch elbows witn the frenzied financiers. X Oa Wednesday, May 20, the mem ber of the International Typographi cal tJiiion of North America will elect thei" officers : President, Vice-President, and Secretary-Treasurer for the ensuing two years. : 4 v i RAILROAD NOTES. Time Increased. Th'e Reading Railway Companjr yes terday put its 650 car shop employes on ten hours a day. They have been working only nine hours a day for a long- time past. Eig Four Shops Reopened. The Big Four shops at Bellefon taina, Ohio, the largest on the sys tem, resumed work last Monday morning, after a shut-down of some time. Six hundred mechanics Were at their posts on Monday. " S. P.'s Big Engines. Four tremendous locomotive en- ginesy&he largest ever operated in.the South,! have been ordered by and de- livered to' the Southern Pacific Rail way Company by the American Loco motive Cojmpany from its Schenectady Tai?tThe -'weight of '-oeefcr is 340 000 pounds, with 160,000 on the driv ers. Union Pacific Reductions. According to reports among rail road men the Union Pacific has made some drastic reductions in operating expenses that are beginning to be felt. The net earnings for the second week of April are said to compare favora bly with those of a year ago, while those of the Oregon Short Line actual ly show a slight increase. Southern Pacific shows a decrease in net of only about 3 per cent. 300,000 Men to Go to Work. Several thousands of idle men are to be given work on spring repairing of tracks, buildings, bridges and equipment on the railroad lines enter ing Buffalo within a few weeks. The railroads have permitted this work to remain undone during the period of depression, and things have run down to an extent where extensive repair ing is now necessary. No less than 300,000 men will be put to work on all the lines of the country. Ireland Scores One. Ari Ifishltian and a Yankee were standing together in one of the busy streets of London watching some builders at wrlt building" a house, When the Yankee, with an air of pride, turning to the , Irishman, said "Why, Pat, in Ameffca they could build a house in a week." In a moment Pat turned afOSfid to the Yankee,, and repliedr "Sbure, that s nothing to what they can do ifi PHlOireland. I've seen them laying the foundation of a house when I would be going to work in the morn mg, and when I would vbe coming nome to my dinner, be jabers, they would be turning the people out for back rent." Liverpool Mercury. , Pat Was Going Some. An Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotchman were one day arguing as to which of the three countries -pos sessed the fastest trains. "Well," said the Englishman, "I've been in one of our trains and the tel egraph poles have been like a hedge." "I've seen the milestones appear like tombstones," said the Scot. "Be jabers!" said Pat, "I was one day in a train in my country, and- we passed a field of turnips and a field of carrots, also a field of cabbage and parsley, then a pond of water, and we were going that quick I thought is was a broth." Judge. The Modern Way. "Will you have this woman to be your lawful wedded wife?" "That's what I 'lowed I would." , "Will you love, honor and obey her?" ' A "Ain't you got that switched around, parson?" asked the bridegroom. "John," said the bride-elect, "don't you reckon the parson knows his bus iness? Answer that question!" Yes. sir" said tne Driaegroom, meekly. "I reckon I'll have to. I Atlanta Constitution. A bill to prevent the "shylocking" of wages has been introduced in the New York assembly. The printers were the first craft of any importance to extend their organi zation throughout the entire country. The National Typographical Union was established in 1852. The pressmen of Louisville have been on strike for nearly two months. The pressrooms are in a demoralized condition and the end of the strike victorious to the union, is in sight. President Riggs, of the Chester, Pa., Traction Company, has agreed to take the striking motormen and conduc tors back at the wages they were cut to t the time of the strike, the pay later to be increased. Poor housewives and bad cooking is - a cause for the increase in the drink harbit. Woman, take notice! and , don't waste your time talking lo cal option, but study how to cook. Fox River Leader. Unless the contracts of Reno, Nev.,' employ none but union labor the $100, 000 Catholic church, which is being constructed at that city, may be de layed indefinitely. Father .Thomas M. Tubman, head of the parish, refused to allow non-union men to work on the edifice. Indictments were returned at Park ersburg, W. Va., by the federal grand jury against the Colonial Trust Com pany, the Baker Contract Company and the Sheridan Kirk Contract Com pany for alleged violation of the eight hour law in employing men in the construction of locks and dams for the government on the Ohio river. What a wonderful change there" would be in the labor organizations of the country if the laboring people throughout the land would buy noth ing but union made goods. There is hardly an article used by any of us today, but is produced by union hands and bearing a union label. Roches ter Labor Journal. Fifteen hundred machinists, boiler makers and members of kindred trades working in the Denver and Rio Grande shops went on strike recently in response to an order issued by W. J. McQueeny, representing the ma chinists' national organization, after a final conference at which Manager a. C. Ridgway, of the railroad, re fused any concessions. Telegraph operators who were put on a,basis.ot Sight hpnrsa, JLa to con form to the new law limiting their working day to nine hours, are said to be organizing to protest against a cut which it is said, unofficially, will be made In their wages. New York labor unions have con tributed about $5,000 to the fund asked for by President Gompers of the American Federation of Labor to fight the injunctions issued by the dis trict of Columbia courts in the suit against the federation by the Buck's Stove and Range Company. President Underwood of the Erie railroad has denied a report from Hornell that any general reduction of 10 per cent, in wages had been or dered. He added: "The Erie has contracts with its engineers, firemen, conductors, trainmen and operators fixing the rates of any hours of ser vice, and the company would be vio viating these contracts by issuing such an order." . It is said on the best medical au thority that hard work or even over work does not cause nervous pros tration, but that work combined with worry, or worry ajope,, will play haYofc with neFVe. It is peintd out that the real laborers in lifer the men and women who earn -a day's wages and ask nothing more than the necessities their earnings bring each day are sur prisingly .free from nerve troubles. The higher we go in civilization the more sensitive becomes the nerves because our work is of a more deli cate nature and ambition has laid hold upon us. Much thinking, con siderable work, and irregular habits all combine against the health and strength of the nerves with the usual result of superior numbers. A saloon-keeper of Roswell, N. M., is a father, and one day his little daughter, looking up into his face pleadingly, said to him: "Papa, why don't you ever take me down to your store and let me play? Mary's papa takes her down to his store every Saturday when there is no school and lets her play there all day and come home with him." Oh relating the Incident to a friend the father said: "I am going to sell out and quIL I will not continue In a business that I am ashamed for my children to know anything about." Would that all saloon-keepers might be brought to realize that their busi ness is one with which no innocent child should ever become acquainted. Michigan Christian Advocate. It is said that you cannot Improve the future without disturbing the pres ent, and to some extent you. cannot improve one man without disturbing another. I shall go on what seems to me the path of duty s and benevolence and religion. General Booth. AN OLD SAYING, ,v- U It's an old saying and a true one: Goods well bought are half sold, ; While some of them are tearing their' shirts trying to get rid 6f"theirwin? ter goods and old hard stock 7 whfcS has accumulated from year to year, we are opening up new, springTooNd3 every day. We have just opened th i. nicest line ot Percales, White' L&wns Ginghams, Embroideries Lac-t. Dress 'l. Goods and lots of other things that we have ever shown. But tnese goods are not marked in such a way-asto sell them to you at half price and tnen make money on themr but they are marked right down now-; while they are new. Don't be swindled bT special sales but come where dneiLnfil always get genuine bargains every. day. We are now carrying a line o v Peerless Patterns at 5, 10 and 15c each. This is a line of patterns I am sure you will have no trouble with; it's an old line and been weTT v tried, so when you want a pattern get the best. Call and get fashion? sheet, 8 .pages. ' - '- The Original Racket Store, 318 S. Elm St., A. V. Sapp, PropiSg WANTED. , ; We want two or three men in each county to place catalogues and "ad vertise our Family Supply Union De-'. partment. $18.00 per week' 'salary with opportunity for extra comxnSy$w sions. Permanent positions. Address f ;: . . Lake City Wholesale Co., "453 Wet X '. .Jy 63rd Street, Chicago, 111. PRIDE OF ILLE Imoking Tobacco III! DM is made by - a Killed Hp union labor. . -VEver;0J! b ag has th e blue label on it and is the finest sinoHetbaMcfitati produced re of cost-.- OUR RALEIGH FRIENDS. Some firms who believe in helping . those who try to help themselves :7 . Thos. A. Partin 131 E.yettevleSt, Ralelgt), N. C, The New Dry Goods Store; Ladies' Furnish ings and No veltieo Give us a call, T.H.BRIGGS&SORIS RALEIGH, N: 6. THE BIG 'AS? 2C Sons of Mechanics t k Feiends op Mechanics , We will TREAT YOU RIGHT, ter Bros. & Brewer COMPANY M 210 Fayetteville Street' RALEIGH, N. C. DRY NOTIONS and LONG WEAR SHOES. GIVE DS A TRIAL AND BE CONVINCED 3r 6tte Raleigfci . . SAVINGS BAM RALEGH, N. C; JNO. T. PULLEN, President: CHARLES BOOT, Cashier, - Capital and Surplus, ;if, ' -V- ' Four per cent interest paid bn . deposits ;': - -' .' Write for farther iLfdnnVtioni n " iTT" 1 ' '' r-r it- r - rrin i. Hardware More ;, f ".;-s 111 r- . - , . 1 . . . f . - ! f- t v.-.'-y4-s.'i- -4 ' ? .- 5- - .1 . , t - : f - w -r " - ; ) V . .J" . r '. .
The Labor News (Greensboro, N.C.)
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May 15, 1908, edition 1
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