The labor world. [volume], November 07, 1896, Image 15

About The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current

Image provided by: Minnesota Historical Society; Saint Paul, MN

                
Where They Used to Burn
Witches.
How the devils must have ap­
plauded how the patriarchal
old sinners who exploit the labor
of others must have gurgled
their approval how wondering
ly the one or two workingmen,
who had strayed in by accident,
would gaze at each other when
one Timberlake, the "pastor" of
a church in Salem, Mass., belched
forth the following from his pul­
pit:
'1When it comes that the poor
laboring class shall dictate to
the rich corporations and manu­
facturers of this country what
they shall do and what wages
they shall pay they ought to be
shot down like dogs."
What a wonderful conception
of the rights of man this creat­
ure must have. What help and
consolation he would give to
the "weary and heavy laden"
who might call upon him in their
need. What a ^perennial source
of comfort he would be to the
poor and lowly, and, ah! how
eloquently he could preach from
the mandate of the founder of
his pretended faith, "Call no
man master!"
It is to be hoped, for trusting
humanity's sake, that this man
has been misquoted. If he did
say so, and voiced the senti­
ments of the class he represents,
struggling labor can hope for no
assistance from that quarter.
They ask for bread and are given
a stone.
Had a workingman only hint­
ed the same thing against cor­
porate power, what would he
be called?—Machinists' Journal.
There are a few campaign
predictions that need to be re­
membered. One of them is
that the Minnesota Iron com­
pany's representatives-elect are
pledged to reductions of the
royalties on state mineral lands.
Cut this out and paste it where
•you can refer to it again next
winter.
THE LABOR WOULD
Dun and Bradstreets' reports
show the greatest failures in
both number and amount, dur­
ing the past nine months, of
any in the history of the na­
tion. The failures, 11,280, are
greater than' the "panic" year
of 1893. Fifty bank failures are
in the number. "Best system
on earth," you know! A loss
by business failures in the last
nine months of $182,867,991!
To certain quondam organ­
ized labor men of Duluth a de­
puty sheriffship no doubt
seemed to be a "fat" thing. So,
too, the 30 pieces of silver
were a great temptation to
Judas Iscariot. Can we hope
that when the apples of Sodom
turn to ashes in their mouths,
the aforesaid q. o. 1. m. of d.
will have, like Judas, the good
taste to go hang themselves?
The Labor World did not
fight in the recent contest to
put a certain set of men in
office but for a principle—
justice to the working classes,
and favored those whom we be­
lieved would work for that prin­
ciple. The contest has gone
against us, but we do not join
hands with the victorious party
with a view of getting some of
the crumbs that may fali we
are still the enemy of plutocracy
and the money power and will
still continue our fight, as in the
past, along educational lines.
Uncle Sam's Way.
If you wish to send a letter to any
part of this country, or even to any
part of Canada or Mexico, all you
have to do is to put a 2-cent stamp
on it. "Uncle Sam" does the rest.
The two cents pay the cost of the
service, and "Uncle Sam" asks for
no profit. But if you want to send
your message by wire, that is a
very different matter. Then you
have to go to a private company,
submit to their terms and pay their
price, which always includes pro­
fit to private individuals and inter­
est on fictitious capital. If it is a
package instead of a message you
wish to send, then you must go to
an express company, and the cost
includes profit to private individ­
uals and interest on fictitious capi­
tal, and if the package has to be
transferred from one company to
another in transit, there is an extra
charge for each transfer. Not so
with a letter, for there is only one
postal company, and that is con­
ducted by Uncle Sam, not for pri­
vate profit or interest on fictitious
capital, but for the service of all
the people.
If you want to go yourself, the
conditions are even worse than
sending a telegram or express
package. If you will agree to go
and return by the same route with­
in a given time (generally a short
time), you are charged a certain
price. If you wish to stay longer
you are charged more if you wish
to stop on the way you are charged
more. Travelers frequently have
to return before they wish, else
their ticket will expire. A postage
stamp never expires! The more we
think of Uncle Sam's way of doing
things, in comparison with the way
private companies do, the more we
are attracted to Uncle Sam's way
and the more we wish Uncle Sam
would do it all.
Railroads seem to make a study
of how much they can hinder and
embarass railroad travel. Judging
from how Uncle Sam carries a
letter, we may infer that he would
relieve railroad travel from every
possible inconvenience and em­
barrassment. Railroads have made
a feeble attempt to reduce incon­
veniences by selling mileage books
but they are good only on the road
issuing- same they expire at the
end of a year and you must buy
1,000 miles at a time. If Uncle Sam
were doing it he would issue mile­
age books good on any of his roads
and good until used—and at a cost
of one cent a mile or less, for he
would not issue fictitious stock for
travelers to pay interest on. We
can get accustomed to almost any­
thing, and we are so accustomed to
the present unnecessary inconveni­
ences of travel that few realize that
there is a better way. The better
way
*will never come to us without
effort on our part. Capital will
cling to profits both present and
prospective whether just or unjust.
It has no conscience. It cares all
for profit and nothing for humanity.
No individual has any capital in­
vested in our postal system so it is
free to exist for the service of man
at cost and not for profit. Our other
public utilities should be taken (on
just terms) and operated in the
same way.—Dr. C. F. Taylor, in
"Medical World."
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