Newspaper Page Text
TH MOKNlNGr TIMES, SUNDAY, APRIL 11, 1897,
20
A W fflUOL ftLGEH
The Plans and Views of the flew
Secretary of War.
HISTORY OF SHERMAN EPISODE
Bis Enrly Struggles ami How Ills
Grunt Fortune Was "Won He Was
-ever Afraid of Worlt Michigan
anl Its Great lat crests A Clmr
ucter SUutcli.
In the national Republican convention of
18S4 one of the delegates Iron the State
or Michigan was Gen. Kussell A. Alger, a
wealthy business man or Detroit, who had
never been active m i olitics, had never
held an office, and had never made a
public speech Leaving the coiivenJon
hall with some otlier Michigan delegates,
Gen. Alger walked -with them to his hotel.
They talked about the coming State con
vention and the necessity lor nominating
a strong candidate to beat Gov Bogole, a
greenback Democrat, who was standing
forr re-election. In the course of the dis
cussion some one suggested that Gen.
Alger would be a strong candidate spe
cially fetiong with tlie soldier element
because of hih war record. They a-.fc.ed Gen.
Alger If he would accept the nomination.
He took the matter under advisement.
Before the delegation left Chicago he had
consented to be a candidate, and when
he reached Detroit the canvass was begun
actively among the old soldiers, When the
State convention met lie was nominated.
"Until that time,'' said Gen. Alger in
a conversation I had with nim a few
days ago. "I had never had any thought
of holding public- oflice. Alter my nomi
nation 1 was asked to address the -on-veniion.
When 1 went on the platform
to speak, all the faces in my audience
hceined to merge in one another and be
come one face 1 did not know what 1
fcald or how I said it. I spoke only two
or three minutes, I think, and when I
sat down on the sofa at the baok of the
platronn I was dripping with perspira
tion as though I had been ducked. I
went into the campaign and made Borne
speeches five minutes at first, then ten,
never moie than fifteen minutes but 1
don't know that I pleased my friends or
helped my cause by any speech-making.
1 was elected. After serving a term I
found the care of office very irksome,
and I was glad when I completed my
term 1 have never held an office since,
until rresident McKinley made me a
member of his Cabinet.'
I asked Gen. Alger what truth there
was in the recently published story that
Gen. Harrison had orfered him a Cabi
net place, and then had withdrawn the
offer.
"I never spoke with Gen. Harrison on
the sul.ject, and he made me no offer
directly or indirectly," said Gen. Alger.
"About 9Q per cent of the newspapers
or the country assumed that I was. go
ing to be in the Harrison Cabinet My
friends took the clippings, and kept track
or what was being said. A great many
of my friends thought Gen Harrison
would otter me a place in the Cabinet,
but he never did. One day Gen. Harri
son nsked our Senator-elect he is now
our Senator Mr. McMillan, to come to
Indianapolis Mr. McMillan went. Gen.
Harrison Paid he had sent for him be
cause he could not send for me. He
wanted Mr. McMillan to tell me that lie
could not offer me a Cabinet orfice
Mr McMillan argued the matter with
him they probably had a stormy time
but Gen. Harrison said he could not
change his mind Michigan, he said,
-was tov near Indiana, and he had de
cided to give one Cabinet place to In
diana. "When Mr .McMillan returned to Detroit
he telephoned to ask if I would be at
home, and then came up to the house.
He looked as though he had had an attack
or the grip. When he told me the lesult
of his trip, 1 said it was all right; and,
going over to my desk, I wrote a note to
Gen. Harrison, saying: "Senator McMillan
has given me your message of yesterday.
It is all right, I never stand in the way
or a friend.' That ended the matter. I
had lctteis afterward from Mr Blaine
nnd othci f i lends who had thought I -was
to be in the Cabinet, expressing regret;
but I had never had an orfcr, or an assur
ance of any kind, from Gen. Harrison.
Only the newspaper reports and the con
viction of my friends led many to believe
that 1 might be appointed."
Secretary Alger does not talk about
his reconciliation with Secretary Sherman,
but from another source I learn that Mr.
Sherman made the voluntary suggestion
to Major McKiulcy that he would like to
tee Gen. Alger in the Cabinet so the
rumors that he objected to Gen. Alger's
appointment, which -were in circulation
when Mr. Sherman visited Canton, were
without foundation
"As to the facts of -what Mr. Sherman
suited in his book," said Gen. Alger. "I
made a complete reply to them at the time
the book -was published. I showed them
that sixty Southern delegates voted for
me "While HO voted for Mr. Sherman Of
the sixty, more than thirty had served
in the Federal or Confederate armies, most
or them -white men It was natural to
Kiippo.se that their influence would be used
for me. Take Gen Powell Clajton, of
Arkansas, for example. He sent "word
from Chicago that he -wanted to see me.
1 went down the road to meet mm. He
came from Chicago 1 rode -with him a
little "way and then returned to Detroit.
Very few people knew 1 had left the city.
Gen. Clayton asked nothing of inc. neither
money to use among delegates nor pledges
of uny kind but he cast the vote or Ar
kansas for me from the beginning, and
long after it -was known that Harrison
-was nominated. There was nothing at
nil in the stories that monc y -was used fo
secure my nomination, and 1 hope Senator
Sherman -will see fit to correct some day
the iujustice he did me in his book."
When Secretary Alger met Secretary
Long, of Massachusetts, here a short
time ago he had an opportunity to re
call an incident of the convention of
1884, Avhlch concerned them both. Gov.
Long, as the head of the Massachusetts
delegation, presented the name of Senator
Edmunds to the convention in a speech
which Gen Alger describes in glowing
terms. Edmunds was very popular In Mich
igan, and a number of Michigan delegates
voted for him on the first two ballots.
On the third ballot Gen. Alger was one
of two Michigan men who left Edmunds
and voted for Blaine. When the conven
tion had adjourned, Gen. Alger spoke to
Mr. Long, who drew himself up rather
stiffly;, but when he found that Gen.
Alger wanted to compliment him on his
speech, he unbent and was all gracious
ness. Gen Alger's dislike for the duties or
governor was not due to a disinclination
for work. His partner, Mr. Smith, told
me recently that he had been for thirty
years one of the busiest men in Detroit.
Gen. Alger says he expects to continue to
be one of the busiest men as long as he
Is able. He will keep an eye on business
while he is in Washington, and when his
term ends lie will go back to take up
his work where he dropped It. He thinks
it is a great mistake Tor a man who has
been accustomed fqr years to a life of
activity to give up all business occu
pation. He has so habits of idleness
and he loses very soon all interest in
life.
Gen. Alger was thrown on his oTvn re
sources when he "was a boy, and he is a
millionaire today, because he was not
afraid to work "with his bauds. He worked
by the mouth as a laborer on a farm many
years to earn the money to pay for his
schooling. When he had become a lawyer,
after arduous lalior, he found the confine
ment of a law office was too severe for
his health. Then the war came and he en
listed, working his way up to a colonelcy
anu the brevetof brigadier and major gen
eral before his health compelled him to re
sign his commission.
"I came to Detroit in 18G7," he said,
"without a dollar in my pocket, "with few
friends and no prospects. An old friend
told me that If I would go to the woods
aud look for pine timber land he would
furnish the money to buy it and divide the
profits. I accepted the offer, gob some
maps aud studied up the country. There
was a good deal of Government land In
Michigan untakeu then, you know. I
hired an old man who lived up on Laka
Huron shoie, who was a timber finder,
and, taking with us a blanket and a man
to help carry our rations, we started out.
We were pioneers nnd we had to cut our
way through the trackless woods. I car
ried a pack most of the way, and we must
have walked nearly two hundred miles.
We got several pieces of timber land, and
RUSSELL
when winter came on we decided to make
a camp.
I went back to Detroit and got Mrs. Alger
aud our oldest child, who was only three,
aud we went by sled nearly a hundred miles
to camp. We lived in a litUe hou-e, not so
big as this room, with a low roof. -Mrs.
Alger cooked my breakfast for me, aud 1
went out with the laborers, taking a hand
at all kindsof work Welivedin that wilder
ness all winter, and ,with twenty-five to
thirty men working for me, I got out
about 1,250,000 feet of logs, board meas
ure. In the summer I went out and lo
cated more timber land, and the following
winter, Mrb. Alger not being well enough
to be with me, I was alone in tec camp.
We got out S,000,000 feet that winter
and 20,000,00.0 the next winter; the busi
ness increased every year. Very soon
it was so big that I had to have several
camps, with a foreman at each. and. 1
went from one to the otlier, supervising
the work. Since that time! havenotlooked
arter the details of any business. At first,
in the camps,! even kept my own accounts,
Arter five years I remained in Detroit.
I have never lived in a logging camp since,
but I know all about the lirethere, and am
in all respects a practical lumberman.
"I think I was fortunate to be a poor
boy and obliged to work my way up. I
said to a rich young man one day, i'ou
will always live in the shadow of your
futher's name. And he answered, 'It is
true though no one ever expressed it to
me before. Whatever I do I find I am
always my father's son. I have no iden
tity of my own. He had the misfortune
to be born rich. There are two misfortunes
in a young man's life for which I have a
great deal of sympathy-one that his father
Is rich, and the other that he has done
something wrong. I always say to the
boys at the Reform School fa Lausing, I'ou
must be a little better than other boys; be
cause what would not be a fault in them
may be considered a great offense in you.
You must be a little better thau other boys
because you have been worse.' But I think
it is as great a misfortune for a boy to
have a rich father who does not teach him
to work. Wc never care so much for what
is easily attained as we do for the things
we must strive for."
I asked Gen. Alger IT he was raising
his children in a practical way, and I quoted
the cae of a young man whose father had
grown wealthy in brewing, who was com
pelled to work in the brewery with the
laborers, so that he might gain a practical
knowledge of the business.
"I don't believe in that," said Gen.
Alger, "because while the young man's
knuckles were being swollen by labor his
brain wouldn't have a chance to grow.
I am trying to bring my boys up prac
tically. 1 am teaching them to be eco
nomical and industrious, and to keep their
obligations. I am teaching them my busi
ness so that they can take my place in it.
At the same time I am giving them a
better education than 1 could get when
I was of their age."
One of Gen. Alger's sons Is in business
with him. He will look after his father's in
terests in conjunction with Mr. Smith, who
has been Gen. Alger's partner for nearly a
quarter of a century. The details of tne
business, of course, are in the hands of
men whom Gen. Alger and his partner
can trust. Gen. Alger has great faith in
his judgment of men.
"I have been deceived only twice in my
whole business career," he said, in answer
to a question. "One case was when I
sent a man to Tennessee to report on some
lands. You may have seen the report
of the suit in which I figured. The man
made a false report The owners painted
a coal mine which was on the properly,
and paid him $3,000 to misrepresent it
to me. We have a photograph of his
receipt for the $3,000. We paid $103,
000 for the land on the strength of his
report, and it is worth only $60,000. By
the way, that is the second time I have
been in a court in my lifetime."
Gen. Alger has lost very little through
fraud; but he has lost a great deal through
the misfortunes of others. Not so long ago
he let a man have $45,000 to invest in a
"sure thing," and lost every cent of it.
But he has no fault to findso long as
the money was lost legitimately.
T try to deal with honest men," he said
to me. "In my business I don't care so
much about a man's capital as I do about
his Integrity. If we bold only to rich men
there would be no chance for poor young
men, such as I was when I came to De-
trblt-'
When I asked Gen. Alger it he had any
active Interest in the movement to pro
tect the forests, he said, laughingly, that
his business was cutting down the trees,
not preserving them. But he added: "The
pine has been thinned out a great deal In
Michigan and the adjoining States, and
if we cut timber now as we did ten years
ago in this State the supply wouldn't lust
five years. But we go to Canada now for
a great deal of our timber, aud the South
is supplying some. The Southern pine will
never take the placaofthe Northern wood,
except for cheap structures, because it is
resinous, and as thehcat fries out the
pitch moisture takes it place, so that the
wood quickly decays. But what Is replac
ing our pine chiefly Is the steel ued in
light railroad bridges, the steel used in
the structure of our modem business build
ings, and the hard wood which Is used so
much now for Interior work."
"Still the supply must be exhausted In
time," 1 suggested.
"Then -we shall have to find other things
to take its place."
"Is there no way to stimulate the growth
of the trees?"
"Not of pine, It burns too easily. The
fire sweeps right over tlte tops of pine
trees. ' 1 saw a forest ire that traveled
fwo miles In three minutes over pine tree
tops. My timber Tinder climbed to the top
of a pine which stood on an elevated
place to sec if he could spy-some timber.
A. ALGEIt
As soon as he had climbed up, he cried
out to me that a fire was coming; and
before he reached the ground the top of
the tree was afire. We ran for a clearing
and escaped injury. No, it is not likely
that Ave shall plant pine trees, but we may,
in time, plant spruce and some of the
hard-wood trees In the German Empiie
when a man cuts down one tree he must
plant another. That is the law. Wc
don't do tilings that way. We move too
rapidly to stop for tree planting when we
cut timber But there is not such danger
of the destruction of the forests as people
think. When we first began to cut tim
ber in Michigan we thought the supply
would not last ten years. That was more
than a quarter of a century ago "
Gen. Aiger told me he had determined
just one question of policy in regard to
the War Department before coming to
Washington.
"I iutend to make myself personally
familiar with everything in my depart
ment as soon as possible," he said. "I
don't intend to have anything in my charge
which I don't know all about."
"Arc you familiar with the present sys
tem of coast defences?"
"Reasonably familiar. The whole theory
of coast defence has changed since the
war. AVe have learned that no masonry
would stop a shot from a modem gun, and
the forts which were under construction
then were abandoned. I shall have to make
a study of the new system and I shall do
It as early as is practicable, visiting Sandy
Hook with competent experts and study
ing the whole matter thoroughly. I have
been lookiugover the Blue Book, and I see
that the river and harbor improvement
work keeps a very large number of men
busy. 1 shall have to give a great deal of
thought and attention to that matter, 1
suppose."
"Are you familiar with the proposed in
crease in the army, and the battalion for
mation winch Congress has had under con
sideration?" "In a general way only. I shall have to
look into it further before expressing an
opinion. As I said, the policy of the de
partment is to be determined when I have
made myself familiar w'th Us work."
Gen Alger was too busy before March 4
to give much time or thought to depart
ment affairs. Before he left Detroit he
had to acknowledge the receipt of 2,500
letters and telegrams of congratulation.
He had a great deal of other special
mail, some of it relating to affairs.
Although the patronage of his depart
ment does not include more than three or
four places, he has had more than 3,000
letters asking for his influence in getting
appointments in other departments. Since
he took charge of the department he has
not been able to give his personal atten
tion to all this correspondence, Mr. Mason,
his private secretary, sifts out what Is
personal and submits it to the Secretary,
but other mail is answered formally in his
name. If he tried to answer personally
all the letters lie receives, the Secretary
of War would have no time for anything
else. As it is, the dictation of letters
and conferences with public men who call
to see him consume the major part of
his time. His visitors are jiotall men who
come on public business Gen. Alger has
had for many years a wide acquaintance
among public men, and all hlaold friends
in Washington have called to congratulate
him on his appointment.
Secretary Alger has taken the home of
ex-Secretary Larriont and he expects to
live there through this Administration. It
is a plain, substantial, old-fashioned, double
brick house, painted yellow. It faces La
fayette Square and, across the square, the
Executive Mansion, It is near Corcoran
House, the home of the Brices, which it is
reported Mr, Hanna will take. It is a
modest house compared with the one in
which Secretary Alger lives in Detroit
His Detroit home is near the business cen
ter of the city, and only one square from
the Wabash Railroad station. He prefers
to live near the center of activity, and
his fine hoiibc stands opposite the site ot
the first house In which he lived when he
came to Detroit.
Gen. Alger has his wife and daughter
with him. He is expected to entertain
handsomely. In fact, with so many
wealthy men associated with the new
Administration, Washington society is
looking forward to four very gay win
ters; and not the least share of its re
liance is placed in Secretary Alger.
GEORGE GRANTHAM! BAIN.
THE OCTAGON HOUSE.
"Sou pabs by an old, ruined house in a
desolate lane, and heed it not. But, if you
hear that that house Is haunted by a wild
and beautiful spirit, It acquires" an interest
and beauty of its own."
Even before Shelley's fair young widow
penned these words, the ghost seal had
been placed on the Octagon House. It has
long been the most noted of the haunted
lesidences of Washington. Whether the
wild spirit which haunts it is indeed
beautiful, no one seems to lie able to state,
but It iscei tain that whlleghosts have come
aud ghosts have gone in tl.e Capital, pub
lieinterchtin the Octagon House lias never
abated. Its outlook is not upon "a deso
late lane," for la occupies the northeast
comer of New York avenue and Eighteenth
stieet. One block east rise the white
marble walls of the new Corcoran Ait Gal
lery. The White House and the State,
War and Navy building are but a few steps
faither away. Westward btietches wlint
was, a half century ago, the lashionabie
section of the city. Acioss the Mail
gleams the Potomac: the hills of Virginia
foim the backgiound! of the picture, and
the Washington Monument occupies the
middle distance.
The house was; begun in 1798 by Joliii
Taylde, a Virginian of the old school, and
known in hisluryas the intimate friend of
Washington. Tnyloe was one of the few
really wealthy menu of his day, having
been the owner of countless slaves, and
at least a half dozen broad estates in the
.Old Dominion. Tiadltion asserts that the
house was built with the advice and
at the suggestion of Washington, but it
is difficult to believe that the conser
vative and dlgniriud master or Mount
"Vernon had atiuht to do with the plan
or this eccentiic structure, the walls of
which rorm three sides or an octagon.
It was finished in 1801. The front en
trance is a portico, with ten broad stone
steps, and a stone pavement Tor a floor.
Over and around it trail neglected vines. A
pondeioiiH door, and a knocker, seem
Ingly useless with age, complete the
melancholy tout ensemble. The dingy
brick walls or the house converge to
ward the rear, where other brick walls,
fully ten feet In height, enclose a gar
den, which is enteied from the rear
porch a small hooded struetuie, paved
with bioken tiles. The entire property
Includes 23,000 bquare Teet or ground,
even now or immense value, and likely to
Increase.
The front door opens on a large circular
vestibule, which, in the palmy days- of
long ago, was paved with white marble,
.with a centerpiece brought from Italy, and
now to be seen in the form of a table
top, as a portion of the Tnyloe collection
in the Corcoran Art Gallery. Tills vesti
bule contains two niches, in which stand
two small stoves, red with rust, and said
to have been placed there by the first
lorn and master of the house
The circular vestibule leads Into the
hall, from wliich rise stairways, with old
fashioned, easy landings, leading to the
second and third btories. At the right
and left of the hall, doors lead into what
were once the drawing-room and the spa
cious dining-room.
The former was an apartment of un
usual magnificence, and still contains
the btucco mantelpiece, or fine Italian
workmanship, for which a wealthy United
States Senator has offered $r00 This
mantelpiece consists or female figures,
cherubs, and garlands. In high relief,
and grouped with allegorical significance.
Tlie room which contains It was once the
social center of tlie young republic; for,
when tlie White House was burned by
the British, John Tayloe placed nis town
house at -the disjiosal of the President,
who occupied it 'or more than a year
The room in which Dolly Madison held
her official receptions and danced tlie
minuet is now the kitchen, dlning-ioorji
and bed chamber of the cnietnker and his
son. The walls, which in earlier days
were hung with portraits of stately squiies
and dames, have no adornment save
cheap lithographs, destitute or frames.
The exquisite mantelpiece, which once
upheld costly candelabra and rare works
or art, .h occupied by homely household
utensils.
The caretaker is employed as messenger
in one of the executive departments, and
occuplesas much of the house as lie deslies,
paying no rent, and receiving no pay for
his services as custodian. He is strong
and dark, or fine physique, and ridicules
the blood-curdling taleb which have made
the house famous.
"If theie are any ghosts here, I've
never heard or seen them," he laughingly
declares. "The only ghosts that haunt
tfils house exists in people's Imagination."
The writer quoted Longfellow's asser
tion that
"All houses wherein men have ever lived
aie haunted."
"Is that so," said the caretaker. "Well,
I'm not afraid of anything that haunts
around here."
In the department directly opposite only
the rats hold carnival now, feasting on
heavens knows what. The hospitality which
was once dispensed within its walls was
unexcelled in lavishness, and a retinue of
Tayloe slave,al wayson hand, provided safe
and comlortahle places above btairs for
those who found it overpowering. In this
apartment Madison's state dinners were
given.
The circular room just above the vestibule
was hisoffice. Herehe received the soldiers
and statesmen of the day, and here was
signed the famous treaty of Ghent. The
room adjoining it on the right was his
library, and the closet on the lelt still con
tains the pegs on which many of our na
tional celebrities hung their hats and top
coats. Never were there queerer closets and
wardrobes than this house contains, but tho
crowning eccentricity is the back stairway,
which must have been planned by an archi
tect suffering with delirium tremens. Dark
stories are told ot the groans and cries
which emanate from the passage wlilcli con
tains this stairway, and there are hints of
a closet which opened into it, now sealed,
and all traces of it forever obliterated.
Just whose crime has rendered the
house undesirable as a residence ha never
been fully determined, but popular opin
ion fixes the blame on the roistering old
Virginian who built it. Blood ran high
and wine flowed freely in his day, and
the straggling little American capital
was the theater of events wliich It is best
that the historian should not investigate
too closely.
There is one story to the effect that a
man, came to his death In a gambling
quarrel In the Octagon nou.se. There
is also a tiadition that a gallant officer
whether American or British is not
suited cut his throat in one of the upper
Tooms, and that ghostly blood drops
may be heard falling from the mantel
piece on which he leaned while his lire
ebbed away. Doors and windows which
open when closed, and close when opened,
shrieks in a woman's voice, the clanking
of sabies, and heavy footfalls arc grew
some features of "these traditions, In most
of which a beautiful quadroon slave
plays a prominent part. Tayloe was very
fond of this slave.'and became jealous of an
English officer who was, for a brief
period, an inmate of his house. He slew
his guest in an upper room, with only the
slave as a witness, and. though he gave
himself up to the authorities, he was
acquitted, his pica having been self
derense. Shortly arterward Taylge and
his family took up their residence in Vir
ginia, and never -returned to their town
residence. The beautiful quadroon had
1MnA. .llr.nnrtna.url vVl.lt if. ic fri'Tinm! V
tutuuuj uinm-if-.-", - .."- -- .--.-..--.,
I supposed that Her skeleton occupies the
scaled closet. Of tlilx closet, Tayloe Is re
puted to have bald in his will:
"In regard to a certain sealed closet In
my house In Washington city, I state, if
opened, or an attempt to open same is
ever made by the heirs or this house, they
will thereby rorever forreltsaid property.'1
Some years ago a party or spiritualists,
accompanied by a medium,spentan evening
In tlie house. The medium, in her trance
state, Implored not to be whipped, and
moaned and prayed to have her- feet un
tied. She was taken from the house In a
condition bordering on mental and physical
collapse, and her companions, with chat
tering teeth and trembling hands, added
another htunetothe foundation of their raith
In spirit return. A year or two later, an
other ghost-hunting party spent a night
there, with experiences sucli as they have
never wished to have repeated.
THE OCTAGON HOUSE
The house has been at long intervals ten
anted by families, but their occupancy las
been or short duration.- During the war
It was used as military headquarters, and
a little later a Roman Catholic sisterhood
opened in it a school for girls. Whether or
not the. prayers of the gentle sinter ex
orcised any of the cvjl spirits, is not
known, but the school continued only about
one year. The house then became a Gov
ernment annex, and was occupied for a
number of--years by the Marine Hospital
Service.
Few of -John, Tayloe's descendants re
main to enjoy his wealth. Hih son, Ben
jamin Ogle Tayloe, married Miss Warren,
a noted Northern beauty. They were so
cial leaders In Washington thirty years
ago. Tlie immediate heirs of the estate
reside in Norfolk, the younger being et
scarcely or age. Tiic residence which
John Tayloe built, doubtless in the hope
that it might be for many generations the
gathering place of wealth and distinc
tion, stands desolate. Though It has ic
celved practically no repairs for many
years, it is still a substantial structure,
and but for its broken window panes nd
general air of neglect, would be no dis
credit to its location. But even the unin
formed may easily recognize something
uncanny about it-some mystery which
will never be revealed until the great
books are opened and the dead are per
mitted to speak. G- M. J-
A PLEA FOR LABOR
ORGANIZATIONS.
And a HKtory of Their Helntioiis to
industry, Society and Government.
(SECOND PAPER.)
The true history of the English-speaking
working people was first related by -Prof.
James E. Tiiorold Rogers. From his works,
together with tlie history of the guilds
of the Middle Ages-, the condition of the
woiklng people of England from the close
of the twelfth to the beginning of the
sixteenth century may be readily ascer
tained. Frof. Rogers continues bib re
searches into the condition ot the English
laborer to our own time, and George How
ell, in his "History of the Conflict Be
tween Capital and Labor," and Sidney
and Beatrice Webb, in their "History of
Trade Unionism of England," give faith
ful accounts of the efforts of the labor
people to improve their condition; of the
resistance made by the employers to labor
organizations; of the laws passed for the
oppression and relief ot labor: of the bias
of the courts in favor of employers, and
of the principles and policies of labor or
ganizations. The history of the labor movement in the
United State's has yet to be written, though
T. V. Powderly and George E. McNeill
have given partial accounts of the rise and
progress or labor organizations.
From the view which history gives ot
English society at the completion or the
conquest of England by William the Con
queror, it appears that tlie great majority
of working people were villeins bound to
the boil, and transferable with it, a few
being serfs attached to the persons of lords.
In the cities and larger towns there was a
considerable number of working people
who possessed Iandb by some tenure, and
who supported themselves by their own
labor. These were generally artisans, but
there were undoubtedly some unskilled
laborers among the number. A landless
man was practically an outlaw who had no
civil rights whatever.
There was but little change In the num
bers or condition of the English people, or
of wages or prices, from the beginning of
the twelfth century until the black death
destroyed one-third or the population in
the middle of the fourteenth, though the
number of free laborers was considerably
increased by tlie manumission of serrs and
the commuting or tlie labor services owed
by the villeins to payments of money, and
to the purchase ot copyholds by the vil
leins. The servitude of the villein was not
a severe one; the labor he owed his lord
was so defined that there could be little
dispute about it, and he was Tree to work
Tor himself or another when his services
to his lord had been rendered, though lie
was subject to imprisonment it the latter
were not performed. He could not leave
his parish without his lord's permission;
his wages were fixed by his lord or his
bailiff, aud he could be Imprisoned if he
left his service before his contract had
been completed. The administration or
the laws In the thirteenth and fourteenth
centuries was very favorable to the free
dom or the villeins, and the Influence ot
the church was exerted for the ameliora
tion of their condition.
The villein had certain rights in the
soli of which he could not be deprived,
and he had a curtilage of a few acres
about his house, which he and his family
cultivated or used as pasture, and cer
tain parcelb of land called "furrows" in
the arable land of the parish, which was
divided from that of the others by "balks."
He probably owned both cattle and sheep,
and a horse or pony, with pigs and fowls
When the crops were gathered the arable
ground became common pasturage, and
this, with the pasture lands or tne
parish, he had a right to use for the
pasture of his stock. He had the right
of "pannage," that is, of pasturing his
pigs in his lord's woods in the fall, when
the mast was falling, on the payment of
a small fee, and of getting firewood from
the woods without charge. The villein
could save money, and many of them did,
and thus provided for the marriage of their
daughters, the education ot their sons, or
laid by something for old age. Many ot
them used their savings to change the
terniB of their tenure of land to a copy
hold. The condition of the villeins was not
an enviable one, but there was little ex
treme poverty among them. Nor was their
toil severe, their labor being as easily per
formed as thatot their descendants In Eng
land toduy.
In 1348 there begana greatchange. The
black death, supposed to be the some dis
ease as the bubonic plague ui the present
day, became epidemic In England, and
prevailed for three years, destroying at
least one-third ot the people. A great de
mand for labor arose, and there was a rise
in wages immediately. In a few years
wages were from 50 to 75 per cent higher
than before the plague. The custom of
commuting labor services Into money pay
ments had greatly increased before the
plague, and arter it the villeins demanded
such commutntJonsin greater numbcrs.and
the lords could not well reruse to comply.
"The plague,", says Piof. Rogers, "had
almost omancirated the surviving serfs."
The serfs were liberated, their wages In
creased and the cost of their living was
not enhanced. v - ;
But this result was not easily accom
plished. -The- natural Increase of wages
was met by a pioclamatloaot Edward III,
in 1349, forbidding the paying or receiv
ing of greater wages -than were paid in
13-17, the year before the plague, under
penalty of amercement. This proclamation
not having the desired effect, In 1351
tlie pioclamation was enacted into law,
since designated as the "statute or labor
ers," substantially as follows:
1. No person under sixty years or age,
whether serf or free, shall decline to under
take farm labor at wages wliich wen; cus
tomary in 1347, except they lived by mer
chandise, were regularly encaged in tome
-mechanical craft, were i.avHsed of pri
vate means, or were occnpers of lands.
The lord was to have the first claim to
the labor of his serfs, nud those who de
clined to work for him or for others were
to be sent to the common goal.
'2. Imprisonment is decreed against all
persons who may quit service before the
time whleh is fixed in their agreement-
3. No otlier than the old wages are to
be given, aud the remedy against those
who seek to get more i.s to be sought In
the lord's court.
4. Lords of manors paying more than
the customary amount ot wages are liable
in treble damages.
5. Artificers are liable to the same con
ditions, those enumerated being saddlers,
tanners, farriers, shoemakers, tailors,
binitlis, cprpenters, masons, tilers, par
getters, carters, and others.
6. Food must be sold at reasonable rates.
7. Alms are strictly forbidden to be given
to able-bodied laborers.
8. Any excess of wages taken or paid
can lie seized ror the king's use toward the
payment of the fifteenth or tenth lately
granted.
The statute also provided Tor the differ
ence between summer and winter wages,
and against the migration of the town
population to country places In summer
Tnelnwfalledofitsobjectastheproclania
tion had failed, for It was impossible to
enforce it, and it is strange that the king
and parliament did not see that It was.
The law was enacted niany times with
different and increased penalties against
the laborers or employers or both, but
without erfect, for the wages rose Tor
fifty years, remaining stationary or nearly
so, until the close or the reign ot Henry
VIII. Wages rose because of the demand
for lnlior, and the statute of laborers could
not be enforced because ot the resistance
ot the guilds, in which the workmen were
at that time organized; the readiness with
which those prosecuted could escape into
the marshes aud woods; and becauscactive
prosecution ot the laborers would besure to
make the number ot laborers less.
There was, however, considerable fric
tion between the lords and laborers, and
this Increased until tlie people rose in in
surrection, in 1381. The immediate cause
ot the insurrection was the attempt of the
lords to rescind the contracts by which the
labor the villeins owed tlie lords had been
commuted into payments or money. The
lawyers nodoubtadvised the lords thalsuch
contracts were not legal; that what the
sert owed was labor and not money, and
that ir the lord had taken money in the past
in lieu of labor services, that did not pre
vent him from insisting on payments in
labor, as the law provided, and once the
villein would no longer work for the legal
and customary wages, it was only ruir
that ttie lord should claim tlie labor serv
ices due him. Then, as in every age of
the world, lawyers have been found to up
hold the claims ot the strong against the
weak, and have attached themselves to
the side wliich could arrord to pay the best
fees.
The result ot the conflict was Tyler's re
bellion. There never had been any vil
leinage in Kent, and the people or that
county and Norfolk were foremost in the
insurrection This fact led Frof. Rogers
to remark that it is only among a free and
prosperous people that resistance to tyr
anny becomes successful, and, though a
people who are held down by evil conditions
until life is a mere animal existence may
arise and endeavor to overthrow their op
pressors, they seldom succeed. Webb con
firms this reflection when he says that
the trade unionism of the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries arose first "among
those Journeymen whose skill and standard
of life had been for centuries encouraged
and protected by legal and customary regu
lations as to apprenticeship." And this is
a lesson labor people should remember; it
will save them from many failures
Tyler was killed and the Insurrection
failed, if Its purpose was to change the
government. Numhcrs engaged in it were
executed and imprisoned, but It stopped the
attempt to restore the labor service ot
villeins and annul money payments. Wages
continued to rise, even after tlie population
had increased to its former numbers. The
wars of the roses greatly affected the
character and personnel ot the English
government, but they did not interfere
with the prosperity ot the working people.
Prof. Rogers declares that in the latter
part or the reign of Henry VI, and during
the reigns or Edward IV and Richard III,
the laborers had wou the day, their high
wages being practically acknowledged by
the act or 23, Henry VI, cap. 12. .,
For over 100 years the contest had been
going on between the government and tho
laborers before the wages demanded by tho
laborers were acknowledged to be legal,
and the serf had become practically a free
man. This result was mainly accomplished
through the organizations called guilds.
Had these not been already formed ana
grown powerful, the cause ot the laboring'
people must have at once gone down before
the power of the government, directed by
the lords of the soil.
Tlie guilds at the time of the black death
had grown numerous and powerful, bcingr
organized In the country villages as well
as In the cities. Guilds seemed to bavo
originated among the German people, prob
ably before their conversion to Chris
tianity, and were brought to England by
the Saxons. The word guild means feast,
and the feast continued to be a feature
ot the .guilds as long as they existed. Tho
first known guildsseem tohave been purely
religious societies, and all had religious
features. The members were all of tho
some rellgfjiis belief. They were natives
of England aud devoted to the interest
of their guild. There were as few divisions
among the members as would be possible!
among any people. Before the black death
the craft guilds, to which the arthans
all belonged, were the strongest body of
men In the kingdom, and practically govs
erned the cities, or had a share in their
government. The farmer guilds controlled
the villages. These two evidently united
their strength to foil the effort" of the
government to enforce the statute of
laborers. ,
Tlie working people of the middle agea
were provident and directed the affairs
of the guilds as well as they did their own.
The guilds received irioueys from dues and
fines and from entering fees; their mem
bers gave them by will or donation moneys
and lands or other property for various
purp6ses, chiefly that masses might be
said for the deceased donors. They ac
cumulated In the several hundred years
of their existence considerable lands and
money. They built guild halls, some of
winch aie still standing, they loaned some
of their funds to poor members without;
interest, but exacting security; they 6ed
a part in apprenticing poor boys and giils;
in giving lnd'gent maidens marriage por
tions; in pensioning widows and xeliev
lug destitute members of the craft, and
in caring for the sick and burying the dead.
Many of them established and carried,
on free cchools and two guilds at Cam
bridge united their funds and founded one
of the older colleges of the university.
The guilds were the chief means of ad-,
vanclng the people of England, making
them wiser, better, richer and happier,
and enabling them to resist the oppressions
ot thegovernmentand to ussistin establish
ing those muniments ot freedom that are
the pride andboastof English-spcakingpeo-ple.
Those of London often turned the scale
in the civil contests of the klngdom.
They assisted Langton and the barons in
compelling King John to sign the Great
Charter; they aided in putting the bouse ot
York on the throne of England, and they
put Mary Tudor on the throne instead ot
Lady Jane Grey- For this act they re
ceived neither reward nor consideration.
No Tuuoi ever kept faith with anyone.
Henry VIII devised a scheme for debauch
ing his daughter, this .same Mary.andlnid
a wasier that it would succeed. What
could be expected of the child of siwh a
man, the foulest and meanest tyrantthat
ever ruled a people?
This monster, compared with whom
Caligula and Nero were decent and com
passiouate rulers, so corrupted the Par
liameutandthelords temporal and spiritual,
executing the best men or the kingdom
who opposed him, that the tyranny be
established continued until the final over
throw of the Stuarts No wouder that the
working people during his reign and that
of his son and daughters, lost all they
had gained I n the previous 200 years.
The downfall of the working people
has been ascribed to several causes, all of
which undoubtedly contributed to it, viz.,
the religious revolution, estranging the
people and dividing them; the rise ot
prices by debasing the coin of the realm,
aud the confiscation of the property of
theguilds. Henry VIII attacked the guilds,
but did not live to carry out hi schemes,
which were to confiscate not only the
guild property, but that of the universities
ot Oxford and Cambridge and the schools
ot Eton and Winchester.
The guilds held someot theirpropertyon
the condition thatmassesshould be said for
the souls of the donors. This was decided
by Henry to be a superstitious practice,
and the men whom Henry had educated In
villainy until they were second in vileness I
only to their teacher, and to whom he had
given the care of his son during his
minority, determined this was sufficient
cause to confiscate their property and
divide it among themselves, which they
proceeded to do; theguilds of London only
saving theirs by the payment of a large
sum of cash money. These London guilds,
however, permitted their funds to be di
verted from their original purpose, as en-
dowments of chairs at Oxford and Cam
bridge for the education ot the poor have
been diverted so that they are now used
exclusively for the education ot the rich.
The coin was partially debased before
the time of Henry VIII, but as there wasno
rise in prices Prof. Rogers thinks that be
fore his reign coin passed by weight in
stead of by tale. Whatever the reason,
prices rose 130 per cent la less than twenty
years, while wages remained stationary.
The guilds had permitted their power Co slip
away from them, and with the loss of their
property they were shorn of their strength
and were unable to keep up the proportion
of wages to prices- The result was that
in the early part of Elizabeth's reign It
took an artisan forty weeks to earn the
same amount of supplies that one earned
fifty years before in ten weeks, and he
worked over eleven hours in the twenty
four, while the former one only worked
eight hours. And such was the changed re
lation of labor to prices that an agricultu
ral laborer In the later time could not earn
In a whole year whatone could have earned
in fifteen weeks fifty years beTorc. In the
former time the laborers fixed their own
wages, at least in practice; In the later they
were fixed by the Justices who were em
ployers and representatives of the cm
ploying cluss.
In the third paper I shall conttnue tho
history of labor to the beginning of the
nineteenth century. H. M. BEADLE.
Tresence o Mind.
An old Lancashire miller, noted for his
keeness? in matters financial, was once in
a boat trying his best to get across the
stream which drove the mill. The stream
was flooded, and he was taken past the
point at which he wanted to land; while,
farther on, misfortune still further over
took him, to the extent that the boat got
upset. His wife, realizing the danger he
was in, ran frantically along the side of
the stream, crjinp tor help in a pitifid
voice: when, to her sheer amusemnt, she
was suddenly brought to a standstill by
her husband yelling out: "If I'm drowned,
roily, dunnot forget that flour's gone up
two sliillln' a sack!" Atlanta Consti
tution. Put Stamps on Yonr Letters.
A gentleman while conversing with an
employe of the dead letter oMice recently,
was told of a curious fact concerning that
department of the postoffice. The dead
letter man said that about 95 per cent, ot
the letters brought there because of in
sufficient postage contained something ot
espccialvalue. Thiscvidentlyinvolvessomo
mental phenomenon worthy ot the attention
of thought specialists. -Cleveland Plain
Dealer.
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