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if IP If V" LABOR S STRUGGLE FOR Ml'HKMVCV IS HElOMIMi MOKK II1TTER BACH. DAY. The Opposition to tlie Miners in tlie PreNcni Strike it* Not AR'iiiiiNt mo Mucli Th«'ir Demands mm it 1m the Fear of Strengthening" Their I iiion—The Labor OrKaiii/iition.s ltenlly Got Stronger A Iter Knell Hat tie. (By John B. Wilson.) In reading the comments of some of our leading newspapers on the anthra cite coal strike and from the state ments of the operators themselves, it appears to be the belief that the strike is the result of interference on the part of the organization and not from the fact that the men were underpaid, for, as they state, "If the men had been left to themselves they never would have sruck." That this is an error is irue, and in justice to not only the men directly affected, but to the organiza tion as a whole, should be correctcd. Taking into consideration the report of the committee before the industrial commission, the report of the commit tee sent by the medical association of that state and our own practical knowledge of the field, there is question but that the strike was justi fiable. There is no place on this great continent presenting a more dismal and distressful picture of crushed hu manity than the anthracite coal fields if Pennsylvania, and the outward and visible signs of poverty and distress as reported by the various committees sent there are only indicative of how much is suffered of which the public knows absolutely nothing. It is one shall conduct his business to best sub long continued struggle for existence a desperate battle with conditions that should never have existed in this gront land of free and equal rights to all. Less than half a century ago a gigan tic struggle was precipitated over the wrongs and sufferings of four millions of people. The sympathies of the nation were aroused over what was consid ered the monstrous sin and evil of American slavery, yet here we are facc to face with a slavery far worse in ev ery essential respect, more degrading and more terrible than that which was known before the civil war. This dis tressful picture of crushed humanity in the anthracite coal fields is surely sin exemplication of that statement which is being daily forced upon us of a land "where wealth accumulates and men. decay."-^.-:- evet-y jnt€IMgfent obseWor abun prove it. On every hand may be seen the evidence of thils acquired wealth. .. .. Immense establishments have been erected and surplus profits have been invested in ways which have added many more millions to the aggregate possessed. Not content with this, they have amalgamated forces—formed trusts—the result of which is to more and more oppress American labor, to control the situation with a firmer liand, to reap larger profits, to prevent by every means possible the complete organization of American labor and compliance with its just demands. That this is especially true of the an thracite coal fields can not be success fully disputed. Here a mere pittance is paid the miners, and not satisfied with the miserable wages they pay them, they compell the people to trade in "pluck-me" stores and pay exorbi- 1 tant prices for everything they use and get. Not content, this band of high waymen hold up the consumer and make him pay extortionate rates for the coal he uses, and the wonder is there has not been an outbreat before this in consequence of the open plun dering to which the people have been Kuhjected. It is no longer the Roman against the Hungarian, but the corpor ation as agaist the union. The readi- peacefully conducting themselves sure ly demostrates this fact. What great er insult can be offered law-abiding American citizens than for troops, with their bands playing "Battle Cry of Freedom" to come in among them to intimidate and to prevent them from ever speaking to a set of men, that is, through their work, giving efficiency to a system that is beggarizing the honest worker and adding more and more to the power of an already grind ing capital. The public must under stand that the scab is to his trade what the traitor is to his country—only use ful to the party in troublesome times. He is the last to contribute assistance and the first to grasp a benefit he never labored to gain. For monetary and worthless approbation he would betray his friends, his family and his country. A traitor in every sense of the word, who first sells his fellow man and is himself afterward sold by his employ- I er and stands an enemy to himself, to the present age and to prosterity. For to uphold this Judas in his work will only prolong your embarrasssments. To sit down and act indifferently, to al low without a murmur of protest the state troops to be called into use to as sist grinding capitalists to dump down in communities where men are con tending for that which is justly due them, the putrid ferment of other states, is to sow seeds which will in the end bring national decay. If the gradual rise and development of the working class is the great social fact underlying the whole industrial question. Labor organizations that con duces to the permanent moral eleva tion and physical well-being of the la boring classes, should be cheerished as, a natural and legal right—in fact, the sheet anchor of prosperity, and con stitutes the only medium through which we will gain this much desired end. If it is right that the employer serve his and his family's interests, it is just as right that the worker shall conduct his with the same end in view, and he has a just right to an equitable share in the profits which may legiti mately arise from the development of the industry in which he is employed. HERE TO STAY Organized Labor Is More Firmly Es tablished Than Ever Ilefore, Organized labor is an aggressive force, says the Labor Journal. It is ever on the go and never sleeps. No matter what may be the development of today, even though defeat may perch upon its banner, toriv'• \w, every inch of ground l«?*t is k.eRa.ined in connection with trade unionism*. raitorsbe ness with which state militia are sent those who have proved unfriendly to lo the scene of a strike when men are the cause will not be bright. I'-tPvY -j ."•T'i' tray it, it may go down in seeming irretrievable collapse, but any check is but temporary it always rises to its feet again and reasserts it self more determinedly than ever. If history has demonstrated one truth, that truth is, that organizations of la bor cannot be crushed. The employers of labor who enters into a contest with them may win out at the time, perhaps after an enormous expenditure of money, but as sure as fate, sooner or later, the organization he has sought to crush comes to life again and he must recognize the fact. No sane ob server to day but that will admit that labor is more powerful at the present moment than ever before. There never was a time when so many recruits were flocking to its standard or Its membership so large. To its enemies the most significant fact should be that every year its pow er and influence is increasing^nd that no rebuff can set it back. Labor has a long memory, it has begun to discriminate against its ene mies and in favor of its friends. Its motto is, "We never forget," and when it is fully alive to its opportunities, as it assuredly will be, the outlook for Why wring out your clothe* (and your patience) by hand, when you can get an $8.00 BEMGH WRINGER FOR $0.00 Cash or Easy Payments, 25 Cents Per Week, If purchased, at our store. 8 Cast Superior Street. VOL. 6, No. 24. DULUTH AND SUPERIOR, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1900. I HJA I AILO RLLLLTLRA THE REAL ISSUE IS THE ANTHRA CITE COAL REGIONS. Peaceful Communities Terrorised by Soldier*—Attempt* to Incite the Miners to Lawlessness—Why Isn't the Trust "Prosecuted—They Vio late Both National and State L«w. Armed Force of the State Is Be hind the Coal Trust. Before another shot is fired or an other life lost in the anthracite coal country it is important that the respon sibility for this great struggle of 130, 000 mine workers against a small group Qf mine owners shall be fixed. It is evident that the coal trust is re lying for victory upon a riot which will arouse public sentiment against the starving miners and divert attention from the real Issue. When the streets of the mining settlements are spattered with blood, passion will take the place of reason. Behind the coal trust are massed the soldiery of Pennsylvania and an army of private employes with loaded rifles, ready to blow the lives out of the min ers on zi slightest provocation. The mine owners know that if they can pro voke a co'ifMct the men who have been for weeks pleading for living condi tions and offering to submit their greiv ances to fair arbitration will be put in the position of lawbreakers. The real issue siiould be considered soberly and in cold blood before brute force usurps the scene. The coal trust should not be permitted to hide its re sponsibility behind the uniforms of the troops. That is an old device of tyr anny familiar to the whole world. If any citizen doubts that the coal trust is deliberately attempting to in cite the striking coal miners to give its armed representatives an excuse for slaughtering them, let him read these statements: Hazelton, Pa., Sept. 24.—Three com panies of the Eighth regiment, under command of Colonel Hutchinson, marched into McAdoo from Shenan doah at 5 o'clock this morning. Day was just breaking, but Burgess McGeehan was up. He gave the new arrivals a hot reception. Speaking to Colonel Hutchinson, he said: "This is a disgrace and an outrage. You come here to terrorize a peaceful community. •There lia* been. ,np, demonstration are not needed herev "Jfou are/ not wanted." If you come Into this town a step further you do so in violation of the law. You do not represent the state nor the county. You are the hirelings of a corporation, armed by a corporation to defend its property. Get out of town and keep out of it. You may patrol the mine property as much as you please, but you must not come into our town.—Mayor Leonard of Mahanov City in driving 200 armed mine guards from the town. Troops are not needed in this section of the anthracite region, and the call of Governor Stone to have the Ninth in readiness has only served to incite the men. Since the strike was declared the miners here have been peaceful and will, I believe remain so. The labor troubles of the past 30 years have shown beyond a possible doubt that the deputies posted about the mines by the coal operators are re sponsible, and not the strikers, for all bloodshed. Every mine in this city is completely tied up, and the leaders of the United Mine Workers have done everything in their power to preserve law and order. Troops are not needed and only dark en the prospects of an early settlement. —Thomas F. Corcoran, Mayor of Pitts ton. The simple and undeniable truth is that the mine workers of the anthracite coal regions have entered upon this struggle because the trusts have raised the price of the necessaries of life, while the coal trust has held their wages down. A thorough and impar tial investigation of the situation .shows that meat, flour, sugar, oil, coal, shoes, clothing and everything that enters into a workingman's expense account has risen in price from 25 50 per cent. These are the thing pro duced and controlled by trusts. Th$ mine workers have been receiving the same wages they got before the trust system raised the price of living. How can a workingman live in such circumstances? Be fair. Consider the cruel lot of a mine worker, crushed be tween the irresistable working of twj trust principles—one keeping his wages' down and the other putting his house hold expenses up. How can he livet What is he to do? The anthracite mine workers present ed their grievances to their employers through the local mine workers' un« ions. They asked for better wages, for a reduction in the extortionate charged for powder, for the abolition of the in-! famous company store system and, when sick, the right to select their own doctors. The coal trust ignored the local un ions of the mine workers. The un* fortunate men presented their case in temperate, respectful, almost humble words. They pleaded with their em ployers for a conference, promising to withdraw from any position proved tc be wrong. They asked for a reasona ble arbitration of the issue. The coat trust still ignored them. Then the coal unions appealed td '2? ,™ a ii a 8anization, theMine mission to strike. The national leader? were oPP°sed t0 a struggle. They ap- pealed to the coal trust and its allied to make some concession, to agree tc a conference, to arrange for arbitra tion—anything to avert a strike. The only reply of the coal trust wasf made through the newspapers—they would not recognize the miners' un ions. Then came the strike. Consider the facts. The coal trust consists of the following corporations: Pennsylvania Railroad company, Al exander J. Cassatt, president. Lehigh Valley Railroad system, Al fred Walter, president. Delaware and Hudson Railroad com pany, R. M. Olyphant, president. Deleware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad company, W. H. Truesdale president. Central Railroad Company of New Jersey, J. R. Maxwell, president. Philadelphia and Reading Railroad company, Joseph H. Harris, president. Erie Railroad and New York, Susque hanna and Western railroad, E. Thomas, president. Delaware, Susquehanna and Schuyl kill company, Irving A. Stears, presi dent. New York, Ontario and Western rail road, Thomas B. Fowler, president. As these nine railroad companies pro duce about 72 per cent of all the hari' coal supply and absolutely control the, freight charges for all the mines, the: are supreme. They regulate the amount of coal mined and the price at which it is sold. The coal trust violates the federal' anti-trust law. Yet its members go unwhipped of justice because Presi dent McKinley and Attorney General Griggs refuse to prosecute them. Th coal trust violates the consitution ot Pennsylvania, which prohibits railroad corporations from owning or operat ing coal mines. The coal trust violate? the law of Pennsylvania, which coir mands coal companies to pay their em ployes every two weeks instead of every month. But the members of the eoal trust keep out of prison because the governor of Pennsylvania will no hale them into court. The open crimes of the coal trust crimes that injure a whole people—are committed with impunity. Why? cause the members of the coal trust contribute liberally to the Republicar campaign corruption fund. Is that unfair statement? Are the facts not as clear as sunlight? enmhj w*e" the starving coal miners combine la^ully to secure more wag. they are denounced, and their organi tjd£ m9U feavp* E? flagrant criminality leaves him unmoved. trust—th iS*?,iffere™ With the HFAF 1^ MIL ITA IILKL Jabor trust the Mine Workers' Union of America. A scuffle, a blow, a random pistql shot, and the armed soldiery of ^n2 an? ls, instantJy in motion, the hills and valleys swarm with eager troops and armed mercenaries hired by the coal trust and its pliant sheriffs. Presently the starving miners are call ed upon to look down the mouths of loaded rifles and cannon. The whole armed force of the state stands behind the coal trust. Why should the crimes of the coal trust go unpunished while the slightest offenses of its workingmen are visited 2" 19003 *h New York Journal, Sept. STRIKING OBSERVATIONS. They Are a Manifestation of Unity of Labor's Interests. the Strikes are condemned as being use less when they fail, but nothing is said when they succeed. Strikes which take place at a season able time, backed by good organization, invariably win. Strikes rushed into, pell-mell, without means, are usually lost, and are used to illustrate the im potency of strikes. Public opinion may aid a strike, but strikes dependent up popular sympa thy alone usually fail. To be preparred to strike is the best way to avoid a strike either by con cession made to the union or by the re fusal of the employers to assume the aggressive. These silent victories, which are by*far the most numerous, are not recorded. Lost strikes are bad, but often a re fusal to strike under sufficient provo cation is worse. It is peace purchased at the price of manhood. A person's capacity to cause respect and consid eration even lost strikes do that. Strikes are revolts against injustice. They are the manifestation of the unity of labor's interests. Strikes are to industry what a thun der cloud is to a sultry day. Banish the possibility of strikes and greed will have no bounds. Strikes are resorted to mostly by in telligent and educated workers, and take place in the most progressive countries. Strikes are industrial wars, and like all wars, should be avoided if possible, but peace at any cost means subjection, degradation. Strikes will continue as long as labor is bought at the lowest price. The strike is the workers' demand for re cognition as human beings. A strike istan indefinite holiday taken by labor for labor's benefit, but it is but a. moment compared to the time usually lost while out of work. A strike only requires the joint action of fellow workmen in a shop, upon is sues simple and direct, while. general reforms depend upon tjie uncertain "public." Philosophers have pronounced the strike a* wasteful struggle, but the 'un appreciate" workingmen still refuse to take heed. The strike may be a-crude weapon,' but a better one is still to be devised. Skagway, Alaska, printers have or ganised.* GOOD EXAMPLE OF MILITARISM IX PENNSYLVANIA. A Correspondent for the Indianapo lis Press Writes of the OntraKCi Committed By Soldiers In the Coal Fields of Pennsylvania—Their Presence Incites Riot—Many Are Drank and Women Are Insulted. The militiamen who form the Na tional Guard of the State of Pennsyl vania, are not as a class, nice young men fond of gentle society, says Otto Carmichael, in the Indianapolis Press. They are busky youths. They are rug ged and ready for mud and nasty work. They swagger and sweat, smoke black pipes and go unshaved. Their faces are tanned, their hands are hard, they march up and down these hills with unflinching steadiness, stand guard with a growl, sleep on brick sidewalks cr the raw grotind with composure, swear at and for their colonel, and generally speaking are not soft, city-bred youths. Where they come from I do not know, but their hardening process is more severe than given by the drill of militia companies. Pennsylvania has a reputation of fur nishing good soldiers. When one sizes up these lusty, reck-* less chaps he can well believe it. They are from eighteen, to thirty years of age, and run to about 150 to 160 pounds. They have lean faces,, good eyes, sinewy arms and legs, thin bod ies and are built for endurance- They like green whiskey and noisy trouble and are sorry every minute they are not in a fight. If the great State of Pennsylvania should declare war against the great State of Ohio these lads would be tickled to cheers and never ask what the trouble is about. Here and there is the grizzled old ser geant who has plainly served through two or three wars, and he is the most at home of any one in the camp. The officers are a study looking lot. The line officers are gray, evidently with service in war to their credit. Gen. Gobin is never happier than when sol diering, and would not become Lieu tenant Governor of the State until he could be sure that he need not give up his place as Brigadier General, com manding the Third Brigade. And yet, -with all this gray and gay and devilish gallantry, the people of Shenandoah are wondering which is worse, riots or military occupation. I was in Tampa shortly after the close of the Spahish war, and* one of the r«ta- S*ve 1TIILI I HKIvITI IV a dure I alnjoSPNvish the Spanish war3 had never" taken" place. That* army was something awful here." This was recalled to Me when I saw the streets of Shenandoah filled with drunken, almost riotous soldiers. They were infinitely worse than the strik ers. The military occupation of a city is not a pleasant sight. Many of the soldiers arrive In the city drunk from whiskey carried from homer in their flasks and the officers are fresh and almost unbearable in their pompous importance. In this case it was all so ridiculous, for the cause of this vast array of military force was so utterly insignificant. A group of excited min ers were, arguing about the question of going to work. The coal company offi cials rushed in and butted their heads together. There was a scrimmage. A lively bar-room row is infinitely worse. The deputy sheriffs rush in and kill children and innocent outsiders. A number of strikers^ are wounded, but not an officer ls touched. With others I have put in much time investigating this. It is of more than a little 4mpor tancei. Riots are made the excuse of forming military dictorships in great countries sometimes. In this case an invented riot was made the excuse for suspending civil law in this rich and populous county and substituting mil itary government. When I arrived in Shenandoah late at night, the report had already gone around that the soldiers were coming. Every one was excited, and the offi cers were telling of their gallant deeds of the day and drinking much raw whisky. This took place in a crowded cafe: "Is any further trouble' expected?" "Expecting another outbreak every minute." "Are you prepared?" "You bet," and «there was such a pulling of guns as I had never seen before. Each man had two—two guns —and many more than two drinks. If any one had shouted, "There they come now," there would have been fif ty shots before any qne knew what was coming. The deputies and the coal and iron police .officers were in a mur derous and vicious state.* If a cannon cracker had exploded in the streets, the business men would probably have petitioned the president to send fed eral troops. The murdered Russian lay in an al ley near where he fell. His country^ men shrugged their shoulders and said: "Dead man, no good!" These foreign miners notoriously care noth ing for their dead. He is from Russia —no one knows what place. One morning the sheriff and a num ber of us were having breakfast in the dining room. There was a shot, and some one shouted: "Here they are." We were expecting soldiers, but this sounded like rioters. There was a drawing of guns" and rushing for the doors. I was quick and got out first, but I was nearly killed in the crush in the hall. It was nothing. Then came.the. soldiers. Of the hun dreds who ha,d started .with full .flasks few had any whisky left—in the bot tles. In .some' manner about half ,pf the, soldiers Kot leave or Joiqk it. They staggered up' And down the* street' in a drunken condition and made themselves free in the beer saloons, the drinking places had been closed to keep ^he ... 6£tts atrlkers sobe* but th?y' ^ere opettedi thousand IIM®111'& the soldiers a chance to get drunk. They threw away few chances. The strikers were nowhere in sight. The blustering soldiers wanted to know "where in hell the strikers were," and with much vigorous profanity they told how they would have served them if they had only been in town when the riot started. They cursed their tough luck because they were away when the killing was going on. This bragging was not confined to the drinking sa loons, but went on boisterously on the streets, and all of which was harmless but the drunkenness was disgusting. The first thing a soldier does when "he arrives in a city on a mission of this sort is to try and learn how many women are willing to be friendly with him. He is not at all delicate in his way of finding this out. He does not need to be drunk to prosecute this in quiry. He considers it his privilege. In the course of a few hours the re spectable women of the city refuse to go on the streets without escorts. In the course of a few more hours the escorts refuse to go with the women. They learn that their presence is not sufficient to guard the woxnen from im pudent and often insulting remarks. The soldiers shout ugly sentences to the shop girls and others whom they happen to see in houses. There is no decent limit to their conduct. The offi cers see it all and make no effort to check it. Tlffey have had experience "with soldiers in the southern towns during the Spanish war, and know what is going on, but it ls a sort of tradition that the first night in camp almost "everything goes." The com manding general was spoken to about the insults to women, and he said he would tighten up the reins next day. The first night of the soldiers was one of terror. They rushed up and down the street in squads, making the night hideous. If the strikers had been disturbers of the peace, these unfr* formed ruffians were annihiliators of the peace. It was a notoriously dis graceful night. The Pennsylvania newspapers, with a proper pride in the state soldiers, refused to mention the occurences. The officers were nearly as bad as the men, although not so drunk. I saw only one officer being helped up from the railroad station to the cab on the side of the hill. I saw many privates being dragged up by swearing comrades. On the second day there was better discipline. The soldiers who were on the streets were not so drunk, but just as indecent toward the women. Many of them seemed to go on the under standing that they had driven the re spectable women from the street, and that all others were fair game for them. They were mistakefi, of course, but it did iio fo# to teH ^hem. The military rule -might citizens have no rights. The soldiers look at all as a sort of prey. The min ers disappeared. The more ^ignorant ones were afraid they would be shot on sight. There was a soldier with a gun for nearly every striker who had none. They felt that the odds were against them. They looked on them as the employes of the mines, and were badly frightened. On the third day a number of strik ers were leaning against a rotten board fence watching the soldiers pre pare dinner. They were not more than fifty feet from the soldiers, lounging around the camp. Without a crack for warning the fence gave way, and the miners tumbled into camp. In an instant 200 were rolling head over heels toward the soldiers. They jumped up bewildered and astonished. They ran every which way, and some few ran on toward the camp. The soldiers thought the camp was being attacked by the miners. In a minute they began rushing with low ered bayonets toward the men who had tumbled through the fence. Those who had gained their feet saw them and made a rush for home. Some of them are probably running yet. The report went all over the district that thfc miners were rioting again. Labor in South C'arollna. Growth of labor unionism in the south has further illustration in a re cent gathering in Columbia, S. C., of representatives of various unions in the state who thought their strength in numbers warranted the organization of the South Carolina Federation of Labor. Its announced object & the se curing of "proper recognition from em ployers, the general public and the va rious municipal, state and federal leg islative bodies" and the enactment of laws "to alleviate the condition of the wogeworking class." It will ask of the legislature an anti child labor law, carrying with it compulsory education, a state labor bureau and inspector of factories, reduction in the hours of la bor and a law to compel the branding of convict made g:oods and to impose a special tax on dealers in duch wares. .Negroes mm 31111 Operatives. Another effort to turn the nogro into a first rate cotton mill hand is to be made in Texas under the auspices, of the North Texas Fair and Cotton Ex position association. The general pur poser according to the Dallas News, is to excite in the negro, whether he lives in the country or in town, a greater in? terest in the production and manufac ture of cotton. "The promoters of the enterprise," says the News, "believe there is in the cotton patch .and in the cotton* factory plenty of room fpr every negro in the country and that oppor tunities may be found in this line which iviil not excite any serious com petition or antagonism" between the races." As operatives in cotton mills, in the south negroes have not yet prov ed a general success. Sign the Scjsfc/ Most of the glass factories' aibou Pittsburg, Pa., have signed'the union scale and 850 pots will soon be in oper ation affording employment to many FIVE CENTS. THE LABEL IS A PEACEFUL WEA POX FOR LABOR It Is an Assurance That Goods Are Made Under Conditions Tending to Perpetuate Freedom—It Rests With the Purchaser—The Label Will Banish the Sweat Shop and Tenement House Labor. That this world contains many self ish people who have no thought for the welfare of others is undoubtedly true, but we believe the. vast majority of people act from good motives and in tend to so conduct themselves as to benefit their fellows rather than injure them, says the Boot and Shoe Worker. If their personal conduct does at times indirectly cause injury to anoth er, it Is because they are not cogni zant of the natural consequences of their own act, and yet the gravest in jury may be done their fellow beings, and sooner or later react upon them selves. This applies with peculiar force to all persons when purchasing goods of any kind. The purchaser of goods makes a de mand for labor to the extent of the purchase. The purchaser is for the time being the employer of the labor engaged in producing the particular kind of goods and it rests with the purchaser to de cide what kind of labor he will pat ronize or employ. It is in the power of the puchaser to use labor well or ill. If a purchaser of fruit, while ap proaching the stand, should see the fruit dealer strike a little girl a blow, not one in a hundred would purchase fruit at that stand, no matter how at tractive the fruit. They would feel a resentment against that particular dealer and would go elsewhere, be cause this case came under their per sonal observation. Yet the same individual might go into a shoe store bent wholly on pleas ing the eye and the purse and buy shoes without thought of the conditions under which they were made or what sort of brute ran. the factory. Hun dreds of little girls may be ruined for life by hard work at a tender age, whole families may be improvished by the unbearable conditions, women may faint through fear of fines, or may be brutally advised* tp augment their meapre Twajfea-fe*!fc'UU£.of if •W5f "i al££*£' TMr .cfQiMufc ^atic ia'bor at a few cents a day, or they, may be made' by firms who publish pictures of factories full of girls and boys of school age. Any of these conditions hiay ex ist and still tlie well-meaning^purchas er buys the shoes in blissful Ignorance of what evil systems of labor may have produced the shoes, because not made"" under his personal observation. All this injury to unfortunate human\ beings cannot be eradicated in a mo ment, but every purchaser can make sure his money and influence has not been uesed to encourage employers to maltreat their employes and employes to tamely submit to injustice and op pression, no matter how attractive the goods. The union label affords the purchaser the only assurance that the goods are made under conditions tending to per petuate free institutions. In purchasing union label goods the purchaser may rest assured that the goods were not made by convicts or Asiatics, or under conditions calculat ed and in many cases intended to de grade the standard of living of the wage workers, who are the real found ation of society and of government. If all right-minded people, fully under stood the good they would do by pur chasing goods only bearing the. union label and the evil they encourage by buying goods not bearing the union label, the power for good of the union label, great as it is, would be in creased a thousandfold in a single day. Rapid progress is now being made in this direction. One after another of the strong unions of labor are en listing themselves in union label work. Other societies are falling in line. If all who seek the same result should once act together, this world would be a different and better place in which to live. The result is worth the effort. The progress made should stimulate all unionists to even more determined efforts. Booni all union labels. THE UNIVERSAL LABEL. it Will Re. Opposed By the Clsac makers' Union. The Label League of Chicago, is pre paring to go before the next convention of the American Federation of Labor with a proposition that a universal la bel be adopted, to be put on all goods manufactured by union men, believing that it is a better method of securing union condition's in all branches of in dustry. The cigarmakers will oppose this label very vigorously, on the ground that it is an injustice to their label, which they have maintained un der a heavy expense and many-difft cufties. They declare that a manufac turer can obtain the universal label by applying to the Boxmakers' union whether the contents of the box are union made or not. President George W. Perkins of the cigarmakers makes his reasons very plain in opposing the uniyersan label. A box. Of cigars made under union conditions beats litte ci garmakers,' .- bqxmakej*,' printers? and engravers' labels. By employing one of these trades that is union the manu facturer could put his goods before th«» 4ubHp aa a'genulne. union l.