The Butler County press. [volume], February 19, 1915, Image 1

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UNION
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Trade Unionism Has Dons
Much For Mankind.
labor is young in its
modern, vigorous, practical
form and has made some mis
takes. So, also, have educa­
tion and government and the holy in
stitutions of religion. Time would fall
me to read you the dark pages of these
great institutions for the betterment
of mankind. The opposition to trade
unionism has been from a controlled
press, from Ignorance and prejudice,
all inspired by the spirit of greed. To
the employer it means high class men,
contented Avorkmen and safe invest
ment for capital and a stronger indus
trial commonwealth. To the wuge earn
er it means reduction of hours, in
crease of wages, the dignifying of toil
and improved conditions of health and
home. It has undertaken and accom
plished many reforms that society at
large should have undertaken. Every
step of progress that labor has made
has been won by the trades union.
Organized labor stands for a living
wage, and a living wage means a com
fortable home, educated children, self
respect and good citizenship.
The nonunion man who works union
hours and for union wages has ignored
the demands of honor and common
brotherhood. He receives the benefits
for which others have sacrificed and
struggled and fought to attain, and re
fuses to contribute the least toward
that which is of equal benefit to him.
He weakens the hands of his best
friends by staying out of the union
and gives comfort and support to those
who seek to destroy organized labor
and thereby rob every laboring man
of fair hours and wages. He is either
grossly ignorant of his obligations as
a brother man, or is a cowardly traitor
to a cause whose success means only
good to him.
Nobody would rob him of the "non
union man's rights," but it is not one
of his rights to wrong his fellow wage
earners by refusing to co-operate with
them In their effort to get a fair dis
tribution of the prosperity which their
labor most largely produces. In re
fusing to affiliate with the union the
wage earner exercises not a right, but
a wrong.
The immeasurably better conditions
at the beginning of this century over
those at the begiunlng of the last are
attributable directly to the influence of
labor organizations.
Some one says, "Are we not opposed
to trusts, and is not labor a trust?" I
answer, No. A trust is an organization
seeking to exclude from its benefits ev
ery one possible, in order that greater
profits may accrue to a few. Union
labor seeks to control its resources,
but to Include as many as possible in
Its benefits and to enlarge the scope
of its protection and to help to the ut
most limit—the very opposite of the
trust spirit. It gives every man a
right to have a voice in setting the
price on his own commodity.
Time and the age and the progress of
mankind fight for this worthy cause.
What It has suffered it will endure no
more. Its progress is permanent. Its
every step is forward. Every throb of
its great heart makes more life and
blood and energy. God ward and
watch union labor and keep the hearts
of its mothers and daughters as pure
and sweet and the arms of her sons as
strong as they are today until the
hope that never falters and the faith
that has never staggered are realized
in the fulfillment of the Golden Rule
Rev. James
S.
Oapltal.
Myers in Topeka Daily
Railway M«n to Open 8tor«.
Green Bay (Wis.) railway employees
Who are planning to embark in a co
operative enterprise have abandoned
the scheme of purchasing a 500 acre
farm to be conducted for the benefit
of the workers and will establish a co
operative store under the Rochdale sys
tern. Plans are well under way, and
the store will be organized and busi
ness started as soon as $1,000 worth of
stock has been sold.
Urge Laws For Labor.
Organized labor in Alabama will
urge these laws before the state legis
lature: A compulsory education law
bill mechanics' lien law taking con
victs out of the mines and putting
them on public roads work a compen
sation law strengthening the mining
and child labor laws, provisions for a
state constitutional convention.
YES, SHE DID KNOW.
And Provj It to H«r Critic®! OM
dinging Master.
Many years ago, in an old French
church in Berne, a great choir under
the famous old leader, Father Ileichel,
was having its final rehearsal for the
production of the "Messiah." The
chorus had triumphantly sung through
to the place where the soprano solo
takes up the refrain, "I Know That
My Redeemer Liveth." The singer was
a beautiful woman, whose voice had
been faultlessly trained. As the tones
came out hijih and clear the listeners
were filled with wonder at her per
fart toehold.!*. Her hreathixur was
... ."•. .. •.,,... ••. ,•
TRADE UNIONS AID
jt TRADE UNIONISM HAS DONI MUCH FOR MANKIND, j*
V
faultless, ner note placing perrect. tier
enunciation beyond criticism.
After the final note there was a
pause, and all eyes were turned toward
the old conductor to catch his look of
approval. Great was the surprise,
however, when a sharp rap of the
baton was heard, as a command for
the orchestra to pause, and with a look
of sorrow Father Reichel said to the
singer, "My daughter, you do not real
ly know that your Redeemer liveth.
do you?"
With a flushed face she replied.
"Why, yes, I think I do."
"Then sing It." he cried. "Sing It
from your heart Tell it to me so I
and all who hear you will know and
know that you know the joy and pow
er of it" Then with an imperious
gesture he motioned for the orchestra
to go over it again.
This time the young woman sang
with no thought of herself or of tech
nique and applause from her hearers.
She sang the truth that she know in
her heart and experienced in her
life and that she wished to send
home to the hearts of the listeners. As
the last notes died away there was no
wonder at the craftsman's work, but
there were quickened hearts that had
been moved by the glorious message
they had received. As the singer stood
forgetful of applause, the old master
stepped up and with tears in his eyes
kissed her on the forehead and said,
"You do know, for you have told me."
—Exchange.
CHASING THE RAINBOW.
Curious Legends That Are Told In
Different Countries.
We have all of us heard stories of
the treasure at the end of the rain
bow. There is a pot of gold there, you
know. And if we could only walk far
enough, run fast enough, we might
find it and be ever thereafter happy
That is what our nurses tell us when
we are children, isn't it?
And sometimes we learn that the
rainbow is a bridge, and the thunder
is the roar of the heavy wheels going
over it.
These are the stories that we hear
In childhood about the rainbow. Chil
dren of other lands hear many other
stories.
In Greece nurses tell the children
that if any one by chance stumbles
over the end of the rainbow his or her
sex is changed. A fine story that to
tell a child! The little Greeks must
run away from the ends of the rain
bow instead of seeking them to find
our pot of gold.
The little Turk hears from his nurse
that if he can but touch the band of
orange that spans the heavens in the
rainbow his head will turn to silver,
with rubies for eyes and teeth of gold.
In many parts of Russia the rain
bow is called a pump, and in Hungary
It Is called "God's pump" and "Noah's
pump."
In Russia, in some provinces, the
wells are covered with strong plat
forms, so that the water cannot be
drawn from them by the rainbow, and
In other provinces it is said that three
angels have charge of the rainbow
one to draw water through it from the
earth, another to give water from it to
the clouds and another to return the
water to the earth In the form of rain
—Boston Herald.
Ypres In England.
We have the name of Ypres in Eng
land—in that of the Ypres tower at
Rye, in Sussex, though local talk
knows nothing of its proper pronunci
ation and broadly calls it the "Wipers
tower." It is a twelfth century build
ing, the oldest secular building of all
the Cinque ports, and was at one time
the only stronghold of the town, though
later walls and gates were built. The
reason for its name is to be found in
the commonly accepted statement that
it was built by William des Ypres,
earl of Kent—London Globe.
"Is It Possible?"
Prince George of Denmark was nick
named Est-il-possible by James II. It
Is said that when the startling events
of the revolution of 1(588 succeeded one
another with breathless rapidity the
emotions of Prince George found vent
in the repeated exclamation. "Est-il
possible?" King James, enumerating
those who had forsaken him, said,
"And Est-il-possible has gone too!"
A Lamblike Lion.
"Well, did you have that soblal lion
at your reception that you were tell*
ing me about?"
"Oh. yes He was there.'*
"And did he roar?"
"No. His wife was also present, and
he could only bleat." Birmingham
Age-Herald.
Meek Reproach.
Lady (who has given tramp a plate
of sera s)-You must feel the humilia
tion of begging for food Tramp—it's
not that so much, mem. What hurts
me is that I'm depriving the pore tn
nercent fowls of a feed —London Tele
graph
Peace batta higher teat* of manhood
than battle ever knew Whlttler
-S*
v
VOL. XIV. NO. 46. HAMILTON, OHIO, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19,1916.
THE DREADFUL
', -v* 4
Miner's Wife Tells of Strike
Killings in Colorado.
IIS. xMAUI lUilTlUCCI, wife
of a miner at Ludlow, Colo.,
i
was a witness before the fed
eral commission on industrial
relations recently in session at New
York city.
Greeks among the striking miners at
Ludlow, Cal., were celebrating Easter
Monday on April 20,1914. In tent No.
1 of the colony in which the strikers
lived Mrs. Mary Petrucci was dressing
her six-months-old baby, while her two
year-old girl and her four-year-old boy
played at her side.
A rifle shot sounded from the bill
side above the camp. Mrs. Petrucci
and her children hid in the little cel
lar beneath the floor of their tent. The
men scattered, and by noon what the
strikers now call the "Battle of Lud
low" was well under way. Eleven
children, ten men and two women lost
their lives in It, and two days later
the strikers issued their "call to arms."
"When did you leave your tent on
April 20?" Mrs. Petrucci was asked.
"I didn't leave the tent at all. I Just
stayed there with the children all day.
In the evening when the fire started
we had to run out."
The fire destroyed the colony. It
has been established that it started in
the Petrucci tent but who was respon
sible for it is still a matter for con
troversy.
"I was sitting with my baby in my
lap," Mrs. Petrucci continued, /'when
I saw the fire and started out. I saw
a lot of milit' under the water tank.
They hollered to me to look out and
they was shooting at me. That scared
me the lots more than the fire. I
suppose the milit* was twenty-five
yards a way from me when they fired.
"Right back of our tent was tent
58. It had a cellar under it that was
all nicely timbered and had beds in
it Women weut here to become moth
ers. Just inside the door of the tent
there was steps dug out of the earth
leading down to this cellar. The steps
was about six feet. deep. I ran for
this cellar because on one side was my
tent, which was on fire, and on the
other side was the milit' firing.
"The door to tent 58 was open when
we got there, and it was left open
behind us. There were three women
and eight children in the cellar when
I got there. I had my baby in my
arms, and my little girl—she was two
and a half years old—was holding on
to my dress at the side, and my boy
followed after ne. lie was four years
old."
Mrs. Petrucci paused an instant and
added:
"He would have been five years old
if he had lived until yesterday.
"When I got into the cellar I told
one of the women that they was burn
ing the tents, and she said it was bet
ter where we was than trying to get
anywhere else, because the milit' was
shooting. It was no more than ten
minutes till the tent over this cellar
was on fire too.
"Then I got unconscious, and I was
that way till the next morning about
5:30. Just as soon as I came out I
started to look for a drink of water,
I was so suffocated. There wasn't
any water in the cellar or In the tent,
and I started over toward the tank.
"The guards there was laughing as
I came along, and I kept looking back
because I was afraid they would shoot
after me. They did the day before.
I suppose I was like a drunken per
son, fw I remember the road was all
wavy before me.
"I got down to the pump station
and there I asked a woman would she
go back and look for my children. She
went, but she couldn't find the tent
where we was. If 1 hadn't sent her
down nobody would have known they
was dead in there.
"Then they took me to Trinidad, and
I had pneumonia for nine days."
"What did you think had become of
your children when this woman came
back and said she couldn't find the
tent where you had been?"
"I wasn't thinking anything then.
They told me about this afterward."
"All your children lost their lives In
this cellar?"
"All that was left I had one other
one that died March 7."
"And only you came out of the cellar
alive?"
"There was one other woman that
did. Two women and eleven children
was smothered."
Both the coroner's jury and the first
military commission that Inquired into
the Ludlow affair held the militiamen
responsible for the starting of the flre.
Wages Out of Surplus.
Warren S. Stone of counsel for the
enginemen in the western railroad
Wage arbitration at Chicago expressed
the opinion that if railroad companies
could pay dividends out of surpluses,
as he alleged they did in 1914, they
could draw on the same source for the
advance in wages which the men were
seeking. "It has bee?) alleged here,"
said Mr. Stone, "that railroad earnings
have been steadily decreasing of re
cent years. Forty-four roads showed
a dericit In 1014 and forty-one a sur
plus. Yet it is a fact that 105,105
jmilpR. represented by these forty-one
loads, or
NO
per cent of the mileage of
|httM» roads, showed surpluses."
DAY
.: :..-JS •.•••-•• -.-- .•*.•• v
THE BUTLER COUNTY PRESS.
MAKE THE UNIONS
RESPONSIBLE.
I believe in democracy. I be
lieve in placing the greatest re
sponsibility in the bands of the
people. If I were an employer
I would contract with the unions
and then put upon the unions all
the responsibility possible and
would hold them to the strictest
accountability for the discharge
of that responsibility.
Capitalists and capital shouldn't
be condemned for the acts of a
few capitalists who commit
atrocities any more than bank
ers should be condemned as a
class because some scoundrel
among them wrecks a bank and
robs unfortunate people of their
money. We should not hold up
the exceptions but the average
man as the representative of any
body of men. The trouble is
that the worst men In the unions
have been held up as typical of
the unions.—John Mitchell.
OF REST UPHELD.
New York Court of Appeals Sustains
Labor Law Requirements.
New York court of appeals has up
held the clause of the labor law giving
employees in factories and mercantile
establishments one day of rest in sev
en. The question in dispute, however,
is likely to be carried to the United
States supreme court
The opinion was unanimous and was
written by Judge Illscock, who said:
We see at the outset that it is ap
plicable only to certain classes of em
ployees, but these are they who work
in factories and mercantile establish
ments. We know as a matter of com
mon observation that such labor is
generally indoors and imposes that
greater burden on health which comes
from confinement, many times accom
panied by crowded conditions and im
pure air. Thus special conditions are
presented which become a reasonable
basis for special consideration.
The thought of one day of rest in
seven has come down to us fortified
by centuries of recognition. It is true
that often it has been coupled and per
haps subordinate to the desire for re
ligious observances. But the Idea of
rest and relaxation from the pursuits
of other days has also been present
and, whether we like it or not we are
compelled to see that in more recent
times the feature of rest and recrea
tion has been developing at the ex
pense of the one of religious observ
ance.
In our opinion the views we thus en
tertain are supported by both authori
ties frescribi?ig general rules for the
exercise of the police power and by
those dealing with this specific subject
of health legislation for employees.
Way to Industrial Betterment.
The workers cannot be saved they
must save themselves. The shorter
work day for the unorganized and for
women Is a problem of organization.
Let us not be beguiled into short cut
methods that lead into the quicksands
of lethargy imposed by legislation. In
dustrial betterment and progress lie In
the well known paths—agitation, edu
cation, organization.
Trade union movement now consti
tutes an economic state within the po
litical state, determining and regulat
ing those things that can best be dealt
with through economic activity. With
splendid independence the A. F. of L.
deals its economic problems without
asking political favors. Any deviation
from this tried and established policy
would weaken the militancy and inde
pendence of the federation and its af
filiated organizations. Samuel Gom
pers.
Deputies Indicted For Murder.
For the first time in the history of
New Jersey guards employed to pro
tect corporation property during a
strike were charged with criminal of
fenses when twenty-six so called dep
uty sheriffs of Middlesex county were
indicted for murder in the first de
gree. The defendants were charged
with the wanton and deliberate slay
ing of two strikers and the wounding
of twenty others in the borough of
Roosevelt In the course of the fer
tilizer workers' strike in the Chro?ne
and Carteret plants of the American
Agricultural Chemical company.
Demand State Insurance.
The Detroit Federation of Labor has
gone on record as being opposed to the
operation of private insurance business
in connection with the state employ
ers' liability and workmen's compensa
tion law. The unionists urge that em
ployers be compelled to insure with
the state.
v
OF INTEREST TO LABOR.
The United States free employment
office is now open.
Printers at Rochester, N. Y., will de
mand $4 a day April 1.
An attempt to organize the workers
In Cuba will be made by the A. F. of
L.
A St. Louis baking company has an
nounced a profit sharing plan for em
ployees and customers.
Orders were recently issued by the
H. C. Frick Coke company to flre 1,000
foke ovens that have been idle a year
Dr more.
It is estimated that the additional
expense to the railroads of the United,
States by the passage of a Federal
full (tew law would be more than $20ir
000,(XJO.
., -nwywwimw.
Sk-
L'X' ---M hatKl-
/'v'
DEMAND RIGHT
10 ORGANIZE
What Labor Wants Is Inde
pendence, Not Charity.
JOHN
MITCHELL, former presi
dent of the United Mine Work
ers of America and now a mem
ber of the New York state work
lngmen's compensation commission, tes
tified recently before the federal com
mission on industrial relations. In re
sponse to an inquiry he said:
"It has been largely during the last
fifteen years that large combinations
have grown up. In some instances
they have resulted in improvement for
the men. The United States Steel cor
poration has done that in safety and
sanitation. But, on the other hand, it
has curbed the rights of the men, par
ticularly in denying the right of organ
ization. I want to give the corporations
all the credit due them, but nothing
compensates for the denial of the right
to organize. There will be no perma
nent industrial peace unless it is based
on justice. It will never come as long
as the men are denied the right to or
ganize. I think the discontent is a
healthy, constructive one which makes
for the building up of better things."
Mr. Mitchell pointed to Lawrence,
West Virginia and other places where
big strikes have occurred in the last
few years. He declared these dis
turbances due to the corporations' re
fusal to allow the employees the right
of association and organization, and
these strikes might have been prevent
ed, the witness thought, if the employ
ers had given the workers that privi
lege.
"There wili be no permanent indus
trial peace unless the workingmen
have the right of collective bargaining
for the sale of their labor," continued
Mr. Mitchell. "What these men want
is not gifts, but independence. They
want reasonable security in their jobs.
They want to feel that they will not be
discharged except for a just cause."
The laws for the protection of work
inginen are more strictly enforced in
the states where the laborers are or
ganized, the witness testified.
"Where the men are organized they
have a political power, not an active
power, but a potential political power,"
he added.
Mr. Mitchell thought the corpora
tions and large organizations of cap
ital had tended to lower the standard
of American citizenship wherein they
had made the men work longer and for
less wages.
"The standard of citizenship is in
separable from the standard of wages,"
he declared.
"Wherever there is an increase in
wages I have found there is a raising
of the intellectual and moral standard.
"While the anthracite miners do ?)ot
get as high wages as they should and
work too long, their condition today
Is infinitely better than it was fifteen
years ago."
As for tin- profit sharing plans of
some corporations, such as the United
States Steel corporation, in which the
workingmen are sold stock, Mr. Mitch
ell was dubious. He expressed a doubt
about the men acquiring a real voice
in the conduct of the business, al
though they might deceive themselves
into thinking they had a part owner
ship.
Appeal For Funds.
The convention of the American Fed
eration of Labor, held in Philadelphia
last November, considered appeals for
financial assistance from three inter
national uhions, and the matter in each
instance was left with the executive
council of that body to take such ac
tion as It deemed fit. Later the council
issued a circular to all affiliated bodies
requesting that donations be made to
the International Glove Workers' Un
ion of America, the United Textile
Workers of America and the Western
Federation of Miners. Central bodies,
local unions and individual members
are requested to contribute to the fund.
Send all contributions to Frank Morri
son, Ouray building. Washington, who
will receipt for same and promptly for
ward one-third to each of the three or
ganizations.
Canaf Workers Protest.
A meeting wras held at Panama the
other day of organizations of canal
workers to protest against the pro
posal to charge canal employees for
rents, fuel and light as provided for
by an executive order effective March
1. Letters of protest were sent to la
bor leaders in the U?iited States, in
cluding Samuel Gompers, president of
the American Federation of Labor.
The contention of the workers is that
charging rent is a reduction in their
wages and that a promise had been
made that no such reduction should be
made during the construction period
of the canal, which was extended to
July, 191G, by congressional action.
Labor Joins Hands.
For urging the passage of various
labor measures by the Illinois legisla
ture a joint legislative board, com
posed of the following organizations,
has been formed: Illinois State Feder
ation of Labor, Chicago Federation of
Labor, United Mine Workers of Amer
ica, each of the four railway brother
hoods, Chicago Federation of Teachers
and the State Teachers' association. It
Is believed that the farmers will bo
represented on the board.
O K i n A i A n A i A PmiArn in #inr n i n
oquaio id me Hdiiic, oi|Udicid uui fliiH
All Suits and Pants made to your
individual order in a
Union Shop
The SquareTailors
106 HIGH STREET
HolbrocK Bros.
Felianie Liealers in
Dry Goods, Carpets, Cloaks, Gtuoonswaro
Millinery. House Furnishings
oss-Holbrock Stamps with
all ..
a
Pu a-es.
Meet him at
Cor. Front and
rear's Cafe
Hili
Merchants' Dinner Lunch
Served every Day
Lunch CounterConnected
Used by all the leading Cafes
and Business Houses in the city
No Bad Odors and Perfect San
itation at All Times
330 East 5th St. CINCINNATI, IHII
Just Bear In Mind
The Ohio Union Bottled Beer
When you want a good Beer, all who have drank
it are delighted. Nothing but hop* and Malt of
Quality are used in making our
Zunt Heit, Special Brew and Tannhauser
Sold by all Leading Cafes in Hamilton
Ohio Union Brewing Co.
Cincinnati, Ohio
NEED MONEY?
We make Loans on Live Stock, Imple
ments or other chattle property.
Long time. Low rates. Gall, phone
or write.
The Hamilton Collateral lean Co,
208 S. Third St. Both Phones 28
READ THE PRESS
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