HARBINGER
H
ORGANIZATION. EDUCATION. ELEVATION.
Vol. I.
RALEIGH, N. C.. SATURDAY, JANUARY ifi. 1902.
No. 2
V
V
i
THE UNION WORKING CARD.
Two brothers working at one trade, .
Hadn't Kt for quite a while.
One had a discontented look,
The otber wore a smile.
'One brother dressed np neat and clean,
Ha4 money left beside ;
Theher had to hit the road,
Hadn't money for to ride.
"Twas on Labor Day they met,
At the Temple, up on Pike.
'Tom said to Sam : "How do you ride,
While I am forced to hike?"
"'How is it, Sam, you dress so neat.
And always pay your rent ;
While I can't get a decent suit,
And never have a cent?"
"How can you smoke such good cigars
You always smoke the same
While I just have to smoke a pipe
I tell you, it's a shame?"
'".How is it you get paid so much,
Your hours are so short ;
While I cant't make enough to live
And have enough to eat? "
"How is it when you meet your boss
He greets you on the street,
While every boss I ever had.
Ne'er looks up when we meet?"
"I'll tell you, why these things are,
It isn't very hard ;
This piece of pasteboard is the cause ;
It's a Union Working Card."
Seattle Union Recotd.
INDUSTRIAL CONFERENCE.
The American Federationist, edited
by Samuel Gompeis, President of the
American Federation of Labor, has the
following to say editorially of the Con
ference held in New-York city, De
cember 15 and 16, 1 901, in the January
number, just issued :
A conference was held in New York
city on December 15 and 16, which
no doubt will have a very excellent influ
ence in the whole field of industry. It
was an endeavor in the direction of in
dustrial peace, and was composed of
some of the largest employers of labor,
some of the most conspicuous represen
tatives of organized labor, as well as
famous men in public life. After a
number of addresses were delivered, a
committee, consisting of Lewis Nixon,
Oscar S. Straus, Frank P. Sargent and
Samuel Gompers, was appointed to
draft a declaration of the purposes of
the body named, "The Industrial De
partment of the National Civic Feder
ation." The declaration is as follows :
The scope and province of this department
shall be to do what may seem best to promote
industrial peace ; to be helpful in establish
ing rightful relations between employers and
workers ; by its good offices to endeavor to ob
viate and prevent strikes and lockouts ; to aid
in renewing industrial relations where a rupture
has occurred.
That at all times representatives of employers
and workers, organized or unorganized, should
confer for the adjustment of differences or dis
putes before an acute stage is reached, and thus
avoid or minimize the number of strikes or lock
outs. That mutual agreements as to conditions un.
de'r which labor shall be performed should be
encouraged, and that when agreements are made
the terms thereof should be faithfully adhered
to, both in letter and and spirit, by both parties.
This department, either as a whole or a sub
committee by it appointed, shall, when request
ed, act, as a forum to adjust and decide upon
questions at issue between workers and their
employers, provided in its opinion the subject
is one of sufficient importance.
This department will not consider abstract in
dustrial problems.
This department assumes no powers of arbi
tration unless such powers be conferred by both
parties to adispute.
This declaration was reported to the
general conference, which adopted it
without dissension.
As will be observed the aim of this
movement is to be helpful in establish-
ing rightful relations between employ
ers and the workers, and to endeavor
to prevent or reduce the number of
strikes and lockouts, and where either
has occurred, to bring about peace.
There can be no questions that in
the hands of organized labor lies 4
power to inflict immense injury uporl
capital, and there is beyond doubt on
the part of employers a manifest strong
desire to avoid this. This is naturally
strong enough motive for conciliation
and concession to labor.
By the very order of things the work
ers have but little materially to con
cede. They get too small a share of
the products of labor to be able to make
many concessions. Their share in the
product must of necessity be continu
ally larger and larger ; but the desire
for industrial peace, that is, the avoid
ance of strikes and lockouts, is just as
intense as it is among the employers.
Much as absolute industrial peace
may be desirable, not even the most
sanguine friend or participant in this
new effort entertains the belief that
strikes and lockouts will be entirely
eliminated from our industrial life, but
that it will make for the good and for
the better recognition by each of the
rights to which the other may be enti
tled, no sane or reasonable man will
dispute. One of the great contentions
for which organized labor has stood for
years is the opportunity to bring its
demands or grievances to the attention
of the employers, and have conferences
for such purposes. - These the new
movement unqualifiedly declared for
and stands committed to.
The representatives of the employ
ers, by participating in this conference
and equally standing for the declara
tion made, have placed their seal of
disapproval on the hackneyed and un
warrantable position occupied by many
of their fellows "there is nothing to
arbitrate." '1 he hope is entertained,
as it certainly should be realized, that
this phase of the differences, controver
sies, and if needs be, struggles between
the workers and their employers may
be relegated into the limbo of oblivion
never to be resurrected.
The trade union movement seeks to
reach agreements with employers as to
wages, hours, and other conditions un
der which labor shall be performed
This the declaration proclaims, and
adds what our movement has always
insisted upon, the faithful adherence
to their terms inboth letter and spirit
Some mistaken friends have urged
that the legislatures in the States of
our country should enact laws for the
compulsory arbitration of disputes be
tween workers and employers ; but
none "have gone so far as to insist that
the State should enforce compulsory
arbitration unless both parties, that is,
the employers and the workers, con
sent thereto.
This conference and the establish
ment of the Industrial Department of
the National Civic Federation, is the
effort by both parties in industry, the
workers and employers, to avoid con
filets, to bring about peace when e
strike cr lockout has occurred, and to
voluntarily arbitrate matters in dispute
when both parties in interest agree
thereto, without interference of the
politician and the courts.
The influence of the conference, the
declarations made, and the personnel
of the executive committee, have al
ready had a splendid ' influence upon
the public mind. It Is a recognition
of the special services rendered to the
cause by organized labor. It is a prac
tical acceptance by employers, gener
ally, that .there is something to con
cede, discuss and adjust. That the
workers' constant agitation and insist
ence that they become greater sharers
in the product of their toil is justified ;
that the employers have no right to as
sume the position of Absolute dictation
as to terms and conditions under which
labor shall be performed.
There is no attempt to confuse the
situation by proclaiming that the in
terests of the workers and employers
are identical ; but there is a mutual
desire for peace with the hope for in
dustrial improvement and economic,
social and human progress.
And in so far as the effort has been
brought forth the declaration quoted
above and the establishment of the In
dustrial Department of the National
Civic Federation, it should be hailed
by all, the workers, the employers, and
the general public with cordial sym
pathy and supported to the end that
a.
it may make for the good of all.
We take pleasure in recording the
names of the officers and executive
committee :
Chairman, M. A. Hanna ; first vice-
chairman, Samuel Gompers ; second
vice-chairman, Oscar S. Straus; treas
urer, Charles A. Moore ; secretary,
Ralph M. Easley. J. -
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
On the Part of Employers :
MARCUS A. HANNA (Coal Mines,
Iron, Shipping and Street Railways),
Cleveland.
CHARLES M. SCHWAB (President
of the U. S. Steel Corporation), New
York City.
S. R. CALLAWA 7 f President of the
American Locomotive Works), New
York City.
CHARLES A. MOORE (President
The Shaw Electric Crane Company),
New York City.
JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER, Jr., New
York City.
EDWARD P. RIPLEY (President
Atchison, Topeka & Sante Fe Rail
way System), Chicago.
J. KRUTTSCHNITT (Vice-President
Southern Pacific Railroad Company),
San Francisco.
H. H. VREELAND (President of the
National Street Railway Associa
tion), New York City.
LEWIS NIXON (Proprietor Crescent
Shipyard), New York City.
MARCUS M. MARKS (President Na
tional Association of Clothing Man
ufacturers), New York City.
JAMES M. CHAMBERS (President
American Window Glass Company),
Pittsburg.
WILLIAM F.; PFAHLER (former
President .National Founders' Asso
ciation), Philadelphia.
On the Part of Wage-earners :
SAMUEL GOMPERS (President of
the American Federation of Labor),
Washington. ' v
JOHN MITCHELL (President of the
United Mine Workers of America),In-
..aianapoiis.
FRANK P. SARGENT (Grand Mas
ter Brother Locomotive Firemen),
reona,' HI.
THEODORE J. SHAFFER (Presi
dent Amalgamated Association of
Iron, Steel and Tin Workers), Pitts
burg.
JAMES DUNCAN (General Secretary
Granite Cutters' National Union),
Boston.
DANIEL J- KEEFE (President Inter
national Longshoremen's Associa
tion), Detroit.
JAMES O'CONNELL (President In
ternational Association of Machin
ists), Washington.
MARTIN FOX (President Iron Moul
ders' Union of North America), Cin
cinnati. JAMES M. LYNCH (President Inter
national Typographical Unio 1), In
dianapolis. EDW. E. CLARK (Grand Chief Con
ductor, Order Railway Conductors),
Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
HENRY WAITE (General Secretary
United Garment Workers of Amer
ica), New York.
W. MACARTHUR (Editor Coast Sea
men's Journal), San Francisco.
On the Part of the Public.
GROVER CLEVELAND (Ex-President
of the United States), Prince
ton, N. J.
CORNELIUS N. BLISS (Ex-Secretary
of the Interior), New York City.
OSCAR S. STRAUS (Ex-Minister to
Turkey), New York City.
CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS (for
mer Psesident of Union Pacific Rail
road), Boston.
ARCHBISHOP JOHN IRELAND
(of the Roman Catholic Church),
St. Paul.
BISHOP HENRY C. POTTER, (of
the Protestant Episcopal Church),
New York City.
CHARLES W. ELIOT (President of
Harvard University), Cambridge,
Mass.
FRANKLIN MACVEAGH (Merch
ant), Chicago.
JAMES H. ECKELS (former Comp
troller of Currency of the United
States), Chicago,
JOHN J. McCOOK (Lawyer), New
York City.
JOHN G. MILBURN (Lawyer), Buf
falo.
CHARLES J. BONAPARTE (Law
yer) Baltimore.
RALPH M. EASLEY (Secretary " of
the National Civic Federation), New
York Citv.
Campaigning in Kentucky.
Campaigning down in Kentucky'
used to be a strange life. Rival speak
ers used often to resort to the sharpest
dodges in their speeches to defeat the
opposition candidate.
In 1882, Gen. Frank L. Woolford,
who was elected to Congress, met his
opponent, Gen. Frye, at Jamestown,
in a conjoint discussion. There were
3,000 people present and Gen. Frye
led off in an hour's speech, ending
thus:
" Gentlemen : This is the best gov
ernment the sun ever shone upon, and
the freest. Who ever heard of such
magnanimity as was shown by this
government to the Confederate soldier
when the war was ended?".
Gen. Woolford arose and said : "Gen.
rrye, I would like to ask you a ques
tion."
"Certainly," said Frye.
"Well, what did they do with the
great and good soldier, Gen. Robert E
Lee, when he surrendered at Appo
mattox?" Then, without pausing for
a reply, he answered his own question
"I will tell you. They tied his hands
behind him, tied his feet, put a rope
around his neck, and hung him on the
spot, Raise up, Bill Skys, and tell
what you know about it. You were
there.";'
Bill arose and said slowly: "Yes, I
was thar; it's so, gentlemen."
Woolford then proceeded,before grant
ing Gen. Frye time to collect himself
at the audacity of the witness' dishon
esty, and said : " What did they do
with Jeff Davis?' Why, I will tell
you. They took him to Fortress Mou
roe, put him in the hull of a gunboat,
and kept him there until he died from
rheumatic pains. Raise up, Bill Skys,
and tell what you know about that ;
you were there."
Bill arose, and answered : "I was
I was than I was one of the pall-bear
ers."
Then Woolford, as a sort of climax,
said: "They would have killed me,
too, had they not been afraid." Turn
ing to Frye, and pulling a six-shooter,
he fairly shrieked : "What have you
to say to that ?"
"Nothing," answered Frye; "there
is nothing between you and I."
AVorth Reading.
Referring to the recent labor trou
bles in San Francisco, the Star of that
city, in a recent article, has the fol
lowing: " In this age it is incomprehensible
that men should be found guilty of the
folly of believing that they can crush
trade unions and the trade union spirit
by 'paralyzing industry' or by proclaim
ing 'We have nothing to arbitrate,
and will run our business in our own
way, to suit own own selves.'
" But there are such men right
here in San Francisco as well as every
where else who, deaf to the voice of
reason and justice, have undertaken
the impossible task of compelling men
to think. as they do, and to act as they
wish.
"They denounce union men as ty
ranous because they refuse to work
with non-union men, while at the
same time they give notice to restau
rants and butchers with union rards
that they will not be supplied with
meats and other provisions.
"They go further, and coerce small
dealers by threatening them with ruin
if they accede to union demands, and
refusing credit to those who supply
the strikers with the necessaries of
life.
"If this is not tyranny, what is it?
"Imperfect as trade unions may be,
they have in the past been the only
hope of labor, and, if the trust mag
nates of the land could but know it,
have often stood between them and
anarchy.
"Without them labor would beat
the complete mercy of the most un
principled of the employees, who, by
their competition against fair employ-
, bring all labor to the same level.
Without trades unions labor would be
helpless ; even as a large city, in the
event of a great fire, would, without
an organized fire department, be de
voured in the flames.
"While labor should jealously guard
its union's as the bulwark of its liber
ties as its only weapon of defense
nnrlpr nrccpnt iminct rrvtiif irnc fl-io
mercantile community should foster
them, for the better paid the laborer
is, the more he will buy, and, neces
sarily, the more the merchant will
sell. Without trade unions, wages
would go down below the cost of
living, and all classes would suffer.
Editing a Newspaper.
Editing a newspaper is a nice job.
If we publish jokes, some people will
say we are rattle-brained; if we don't
we are an old fossil ; if fwe publish
original matter they sa1 we do not
give enough selections ; if we give
selections they say we are too lazy to
writ,e. If we do not go to church we
are heathens ; if we do we are hypo
crites. If we remain in the office, we
ought to get out and hustle for news ;
if we go out, we are not attending to
our business. If we wear old clothes,
they laugh at 11s ; if we wear good
clothes, they say we have a pull. Ex