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The labor argus. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1906-1915, September 20, 1906, Image 1

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Vol. I. No. 18. ======
_ CHARLESTON. WEST VIRGINIA. SEPTEMRFR ni -===
^ $1.00 a Year in Advance
nuAioi :> unjNU
He is Despised by AH Honest Wori
Emplc
HE IS A MISERABLE,
The "Scab" Workman is Simply a
Labor and is Not Entitled to
American Citizen?Not T<
Any worker who sides against
his fellows and helps break up a
strike, is indeed a "scab" on humanity.
His nature is a combinaItion
of hyena, hog and shark.
The fat man, with full stomach,
hard heart and selfish blood, has a
l\un<rllt.V W!IV nf i 1\cr tllu /.nnn
.........-J ?J ? ? (-. 4" "
tious that he does not understand.
Most sickening of platitudes, most
nonsensical of nonsense concerning
man's relations to man is the customary
talk about the "scab"
workman.
A number of men combiue to
better their coudition. The law
will not help them?it considers
I only supply and demand and the
rights of property. Public opinion
helps them a little, but not much.
They must strike, and their only
hope is in their own courage and
the loyalty and decency of other
workingmcn. They are making a
sacrifice for their wives and children.
They are Ugh ting one of the
lights that gradually bring up the
scale of living to a grade of decency.
And each time their enemy
appears in the form of other workers.
Every time that men, hard
pressed, strive to better themselves,
there are found vile and selfish,
and heartless creatures to take the !
places of the men on strike. 'And
what does snug prosperity say to
this f What is the attitude toward
the "scab" of those who should be
at least sympathetic t
They talk balderdash al>out "the
right of the laborer to work where
he will."
They shriek and howl this tune:
"The sacred right to earn a living
must not be interfered with.
Whatever else happens remember
that any man may sell his labor to
whom and where, to do what work
he pleases." Sickening hypocrisy,
heartless hypocrisy !
When this nation is fighting another
nation do we allow any of our
men to sell "his work" to that
other nation 1 Suppose an American
in the Philippines was starving,
and sold his muscle and lighting
ability to our enemy. What would
happen! Would the prosperous
say that he must be permitted to
sell his labor, and do as he chooses
with himself! Not at all. He
wohld be despised by every human
l>eing, even by those who hired
him. And, if caught, he would l?e
hanged, as he deserved to be
hanged, with the shortest of trial,
and all possible disgrace.
The "scab" workman is simply
a traitor in the army of human lal>or.
He is a miserable, cowardly
renegade. He is despised by all
honest workers, he is despised
equally by those who hire him.
Unless utterly depraved he despises
himself.
Some strikes are based 011 righteousness
and need?most of them
are. Some strikes are based on
hasty decision, on a misguided sense
Of power, or on ot.hpr p\-il? rT'V.......
are good strikes anil bad strikes,
good workmen and bad workmen,
good employers and bad employers
But of "scabs there is only one
kind. They are all cowards, all
ti-aitors at heart, and all deserters
for profit.
But if we must endure the "scab"
let us at least not try to excuse
him. let us not shed sorrowful
tears over the plight of a hyena
eating a corpse.
So man has a right to take the
law into his own hands. The right
to vote gives to the majority power
to make laws. If workers lack
brains to use that power, it is their
own fault, and they have no right
to make themselves the law. Therefore
it is wrong, criminal, unworthy,
to visit physical punishment
upon even the meanest "scab."
But contempt he should have, and
he has it.
The men who plead for the
"scab," always hypereriticallv and
always despising him in theii
hearts, are those who use him, the
employers fighting their men.
IN Uh A "SCAB."
i
sers and Equally So by Those Who
>y Him.
COWARDLY RENEGADE.
Traitor in the Great Army of Human
be Recognized as an Honest
>lerated Among Employers.
These employers are not to be
blamed. Fight is light, and eveiy
army takes advantage of deserters
from the other side. But employers
should cease to defend the
"scab." They do not tolerate
"scab" among themselves.
Let some capitalist try to make
profit out of the present dilemma
of the coal mine owners, and see
what will happen to him. He will
be boycotted by banks and railroads,
shut out of clubs, snubbed
in public, jeered at in private?his
life will lie made a burden.
If the prosperous man, with
everything that he needs?even in
strike times?hates the "scab" in I
ins class, let liim not wonder that
the tailoring "scab" is despised.
He seeks to make profit out ol" his
brother's suffering. lie works
knowing that lie is keeping women
and children hungry. For immediate
gain he opposes the permanent
welfare of the whole class to
which he belongs.
He is unspeakably vile and repulsive,
and his well known name
of SCAB describes him.
THE ARMY OF TOIL
Composed of Those Who are Born
Without the Golden Spoon.
HE CANNOT ESCAPE THE DRAFT
From the Mighty Army Arrayed in the
Never-Ending Class Straggle
For Bread.
1
Every man who is not born into
the class of capitalists is born into ,
the army of wage workers. He is
forced froin the day of his birth to
become a part of a mighty army i
arrayed in this bitter, never-ending
class struggle. lie does not enlist
as a volunteer; he does not
even have the chance of lotterydrawing
to escape the draft, lie
is enrolled by the very fact of
birth. His entrance into this world
without property carries with it;
the articles of enrollment among
the class of wage slaves. Here,
then, is war into which the combatants
are drafted by the inevit- j
able law of birth. The gage of j
battle is life and death to the |
workers, their wives and their
children. But in this battle one
straggler can ruin the cause; all
must stand together or the battle is
lost, for wages are fixed by what
the weaker ones can be forced to
i._l i. 1 A- i.1 -i ' -
uiKe, iiyu wuut tiii> Mroiimwi may
demand. A desertion from this,
army then, is the most deadly of
treason. It is as if every man had
the key to the fortress within which
all were lighting. If death is recognized
as the proper penalty
for the traitor in every army the I
world has ever known, what shall
! we say of the penalty due him who
! plays the traitor to the great army
of industry? In any ordinary sol- j
diery the private carries little assistance
to the enemy; he has generally
entered the army of his own j
free will; he never has such tremendous
interests at stake as in
the industrial struggle. On the
contrary, he is generally fighting
,' some quarrel of his economic mas
ters and enemies, the decision of
which is of no consequence wliat
ever to him or his class. Is it not
. plain why the "scab" is, of all
i traitors the world has ever known,
the most damnable? He betrays
an army whose members are his
fellow-workers and whose cause is
. his own; he betrays men, women
and balies to a lingering death in
: city slums and factory dens; he
1 curses unborn generations with the
slave portion; he damns a race to
contkmal bondage and fastens let.
ters ukxiu babes yet unborn.
What is Brotherly Love?
i A shirt making firm in Philadelphia,
running a "model" open
shop, subjected their employes,
uliout ISO persons, mostly girls, to
a tax of fifty cents a week for power
and for the use of a machine,
five cents a week for . towels and
soap two cents a week for drinking
water, five cents a week in summer
time for ice and five cents a
week in winter for heat anil light,
in all about fclllfi a week ("mm !<"
whole force. Repeated requests for
the abolition of these .exactions
were denied, until the girls went
011 a strike and got what they
wanted'. And this happened, too,
in the city of brotherly Love.
BIT OF PHILOSOPHY
To Workers by T. L. Lewis, of the
Mine Workers.
OUR INTELLIGENT DISCONTENT
The Kind that is Progressive and Helps
to Upbuild and Elevate Mankind
in General.
These are the days of discontent.
Discontent, everywhere, in the
ranks of labor, in the midst of capital,
in political parties, in government.
In fact, nature itself seems
to lie discontented as the mighty
eruptions that are taking place over
the globe attest.
Much of this discontent in the
human family will ultimately lead
to a bettor and stronger condition
of mankind. Discontent is the
Inundation of progress. Discontent
is also tlie Cumulation of senseless
and wieken revolutions?Revolutions
that make for evil and not
for good. In other words, there
are two kinds of discontent, intelligent
and ignorant.
The intelligent sort is the lieginning
of agitation that lifts men and
women from a lower to a higher
plane. It says in action, I am not
satisfied that present conditions
should exist, where one man must
toil to the end of his existence for
enough to feed and clothe him and {
l>e denied the higher enjoyments,
the recreations that should be his, I
the preparations for a peaceful and j
retiring old age, and the thousand j
and one things that should distill- j
guish the human lx-ing from the j
Ix-ast of burden. And following!
this agitation is the incentive to- j
ward intelligent action and an lion- |
est seeking for the remedy. I
Ignorant discontent is an agitation
that has for its purpose the
destruction of everything that is, 1
regardless of what may follow. It
reviles the action of every man,
however sincere his purpose, simply
1 >ecause he has acted. There is no
time taken to weigh any propositions
or conditions that may exist
with a view to bettering them.
This class of discontent has for
its symlKil and its creed?tear
down, destroy, abuse and malign.
If they do not know anything, they
imagine something, put it out as
the truth, try to get their neighlxir
to believe it, tell them to spread it,
create pandemonium, if possible.
This class of people may be aptly
called discontented dcstructionists.
They are the mill-stone that hangs
about the neck of progress. These
are the class of people in labor organizations
who are too cowardly
to go backward and too weak to go
forward.
GOO SPEED THE ARMV OF THE
INTEI.I.IUENT DISCONTENTED.
NO SCARCITY OF LABOR
Plenty of American Workingmen for
Any and All Positions.
In the course of a recent interview
Samuel (rompers sai?l he l?elievetl
Congress should make stricter
immigration laws ami thinks it
should have passed the anti-injunction
bill.
' The daily press continually
prints articles stating that lalior is
scarce in the corntry." he said.
That is not so. There is plenty
of lal or. and good, honest American
labor at that. Such statements
are merely the excuse of the manufacturers
for a Congress that is too
weak to enact proper immigration
laws.
"The farmers complain that they
cannot secure laliorers for the
"West. It is no wonder. Men are
not anxious to go into the country
i
I tor a few months' work at low
wages. My ailvicc to tlie working
men is: lie harmonious and fair.
: Transact business in open convention,
not in caucus. Never again
I make it necessary to resort to comII
dilution to secure the legislation
; you want. Never again permit a
; locality to wag the whole ma;chine.
Every improvement that has
| come to the life of the workingman .
he has had to tight for. The good
tilings have never boon brought to
him on a silver platter. There are ,
more good things waiting for him 1
if he will contend with all his organized
strength against governmental
tyranny and judicial usurpation."
A PLEA FOR LABOR
Its Power and Influence Is Rrro*n?Tff<t i
As a Great Factor ,
| IN PROMOTING INDUSTRIAL :
t
Peace And General Prosperity Through- J
out Our Glorious Land?It Rights ]
Wrongs of All. j
Tlio so-called labor problem is 1
| one that is fast forcing itself upon <
all thoughtful people who recognize 1
, the fact that sooner or later lal tor's 1
! bill of grievance must lie settled in
| a fair and equitable manner. The '
| question that is uppermost in the !1
minds of the great majority of toil- \
ers is to know what is the most 1
practical and surest way to raise 1
j themselves and their fellow work- 'J
! ers to a higher plane. That there '
lis world-wide discontent among the 1
1 toilers is becoming more ami more 11
I evident year after vear. stud M?wW
j discontent can only be allayed or I
satisfied by meeting the demands ,
of labor in a fair and reasonable 1
manner. It is said that no dispute I
is permanently settled until it is
settled right, neither will the labor I
problem lie settled until it is settled 1
right, and that time will only come 1
when lahor gets its just share of '
the wealth it creates; when that '
day arrives we will have better and 1
nobler men and women, and less !|
multi-millionairs to squander in f
riotous living the wealth withheld 1
from holiest toil. r
The object of the trade union 4
movement is to right the wrongs of ?
lalior and adjust its grievances, by s
conciliation if possible or by strike '
if neccsary. That progress is lieing ?
made is very apparent to every 1
careful observer. '
It is only but a few short years
since tnub's unions were discounte- a
I uaticed and ignored to a great ex- I
tent; now their power and influence 1
are rcognized as a great factor in <
; promoting industrial peace and
| general prosperity, liven among '
! large employers of labor it is ad- 1
initted that lalior unions are a *
; lienefit to all concerned when proj
pcrly and intelligently directed. Xo ?
J reasonably minded man eonlil ?n i
! otherwise in view of the fact that '
! through the united effort of the i 1
| toilers the working conditions have i 1
j been greatly improved, hours of '
labor have been reduced and the j
workmen are 1 letter paid and lietter '
protected as a result of the trade '
union movement than ever lielbre. *
Tliat being the case then is surely 5
becomes the duty of every toiler to *
lieeome an active member of his '
trade union, h ? p in its deliberations
and .endeavor to make it more
perfect and add to its strength ! 1
i wherever possible. The more 11
powerful your organization the !
I letter the results will follow and
the sooner the goal will be reached. 1
Look Up.
We love the man with the rose
on his tongue, the man who notices '
your shabby coat but praises your 1
studious habits, the man who sees '
all faults but who is quick to
piaise, slow to blame. We like to i
; meet a man whose smile will !;
j brighten up deadness, whose voice ;
] is full of music of the birds, whose 1
handshake is an inspiration and his I 1
] "God bless you!" a benediction,
lie makes us forget our troubles as 1
the raven's dismal croak is forgot- i1
ten when the wood thrush sings.
, <iod bless the mail of cheer! There 1
is plenty of trouble here and we
need not increase it. There is a lot
of dying done ahead of time.
I
The turn of a woman's head ,
' often turns a man's.
The shady side of Wall street is i
a long way from the sunny side of i
| Easy street. ,
THE A. F. OF
A Forecast of the Work to Be Do:
Minn., in ]
BIG MASS MEETING OF LAB
Many Important Questions to Come
national and Other Bodies?Th
zauon will Be V
Frank Morrison, secretary of tlu>!
American Fish-ration of Lalx>r,
recently visited Minneapolis, fori
the purpose of looking after ar- j
angements for the convention of
-lu- A. F. of L. to be held there on
Sov. 12. Mr. Morrison went over
die convention program with the
oral men, and devoted all his time
.o business in connection with the
jroposed union label exhibit. It-!
s hinted that the exhibit will not
hi coniined strictly to a display of j
inion made products, but that sev- ;
-nil sweat shop scenes will show
Hinditions under which the nouluionist
works, particularly in tin-'
ailor and cigurmaking industries.
That the convention will cover
ully two weeks there is no doubt,
md the chances are that it will last
xmxidcrably longer. The present
s a critical time in the history of
lie American Federation of babor, .
md the advent of the federation
nto politics and the success or failire
of the move ' will have had a
iretly fair trial by the dale the
^invention assembles. That the
Mllitif'dl *?ime "1* * 1 : *!
?1 UK,- urgUllIZUUOtl
vill lie well considered and take
ip considerable time of the delegates
is conceded by nearly all.
besides the {Hilitical questions
.here are several stubborn controversies
lietwccn afliliated unions
vhicli will come before the convention.
Among these is the dispute
Hitween the steam litters and the
iluiubers, which has been an issue
it every gathering of the federation 1
or seven or eight years. 11 was
bought in some quarters that the
ecent action of the executive coun- <
lit in grunting affiliation and a <
barter to the steam litters would
ettle this matter, but notice has
>ecii given that the pluinliers will i
oiitinue their liglit in the conveu- i
ion for jurisdiction over the steamitters,
so the end is not yet. i
Two other organizations which
innually air their grievances are
he longshoremen anil the seamen,
icither being able to agree as to the '
loutrol of some lines of work. Year
ii and year out these unions conic
icfore the convention in an ell'ort <
o '"get together," but each sneerslive
attempt has proved a failure.
Then, too, the brewery workmen
ire in hot water, their trouble lie 1
ng that they are unable to eonlrol
.lie teamsters, engineers and lirenenemployed
in the breweries. In
his case several other organizations
lave StelllMsl ill mill el-ii...."! ......
:rol of the respective lines. 1mir
nstance, the teamsters' union asks
.hat brewery teamsters be compellk1
to atliliate with that organization
nul thi' same with the stationary j
Migineers and liremen, all three of;
which are claimeil by the Brewery
Workers' union.
One dispute which will in all j
prttl lability Is- settled, and settled 1
permanently, is that of the Amalgamated
Woodworkers and the
Brotherhood, of far pouters. Negotiations
have been in prog less for
several years, with the result that
an agreeinenl now seems certain.
The entertainment committee at
Minneapolis has arranged for a|
banquet, a trolley ride in and about
the twin cities, a theater pai ty and
a mass meeting at the Auditorium,
;lt which prominent union labor
men of the United States and Canada
will lie present. Samuel Compels
will lie the speaker of the
evening, and John Mitchell, Dennis
A. Haves. William IIhIm" !
James F. Ballantyne, Daniel .T.
O'Keefe. Max Morris. JamesO'Con |
nell, James Duncan anil John B. i
Lennon, all memlx-rs of the execu- :
tive council, will be present.
Victor lierger, of Milwaukee,
will attend the convention sis the
representative of the Wisconsin
Federation of Lalwr and Max
Flayes of Cleveland, as the representative
of the Cleveland Central
Labor council. Both of these men
are well known exponents of socialism.
Frank K. Foster of Boston,
will represent the International
L. CONVENTION!
tie At Its Session in Minneapolis,
November.
OR LEADERS OF AMERICA.
Before the Delegates From Intere
Political Aims of the Organiell
Considered.
Tyjtogmitoical union. Mr. Foster
is it IuIhu- editor of renown-mid is u
clover public speaker and writer on
economic questions.
ouiuiiiy, Nov. IS, is designated
its "Ministers' Day." llpou Unit
date this Ki'v. ('hni los SU-l/.le, superintendent
of this department of
church mill labor of tin- Presbyterian
church, will holtl a nutss meeting
of ministers of tin- twin t-itii-s
anil outside towns. This meeting
hits for its object the bringing into
closer touch of till* church and the
Iallor union. Mr. Btcl/.le wits a
iiiacliinisl l>i-fort> lie iK-came a minister
and is a member of the ma
cliinists' union.
MITCHELL'S VIEWS
Favors Non-Partisan Political Action
By the Workingnicn.
ENDORSES POLICY OF A. F. OF L.
It is the Only Correct Way of Solving
The Labor Situation and Will
Do It,
John Mitchell, president of ttio
United Mine workers of America,
arrived in Pittsburg on Thursday
from his headquarters in Indiuiinpnlis
to confer with the oilicials of
the Pittsburg district. lie was
asked as to the general conditions
i?f the liiineworkcrs throughout the
country, and said:
"The ininets have never liren in
I >etter condition Our organization
at the pi-esent time lias less trouble
[>n its hands than it ever lnul Irelore.
Practically all our momlrerx
arc working, and the few strikes
now on are of such a character as
lo interfere to no material extent
with the workings of the international
organization."
In answer to an inquiry relative
to the entry of the American Federation
of l,al>or into politics, Mr.
Mitchell said:
"bring ollicially connected with
the Federttion, the move certainly
nas my licarty indorsement. As
it lias been made on a non partisan
basis, it is one that will commend
iUelf to tin- Americ ni voter, anil,
eonsiN|iicnll_v. suceee.I. We aim in
this campaign to stain I by our
friends anil resolutely to oppose the
men who are allied with the forces
that can lie honestly claused as enemies
of the trades-unionists and
the trades-union movement. . I feel
confident that the slop taken by
the Federation is the only correct
way of solving the situation."
SWEAT SHOP WAR
Inaugurated in Chicago by Chief Sanitary
Inspector Hedrich.
Chief Sanitary Inspector Perry
L. Hedrich, of Chicago, has opened
up a warefare on tlie terrible sweat
shop evil, which keeps 1,000 families
ami 10,00<> persons in that
city in hopeless slavery. Whole
blocks, in the rooms of which the
.*i..i nvi ?-i jwut'iniies, are given
over to tliis slavery. Weary sweat
shop workers sleep in these rooms
l?y night ami toil with the needle
by day. Itildinj; which can never
lie aired or sunned makes the air
noisome. Mildewed clothing hangs
on tlie walls and the lioors are
strewn with rags, clippings and
rubbish. Little children, pale as
celery stalks, and without an atom
of the joyous spirits of childhood,
move quietly aliout these rooms,
while their mothers and sisteis toil
at the "sweating" slavery which
yields?at most?50 cents a day,
and often not more than 20 cents.
Hut there is "unexampled prosper- ity"
in the country.

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