The labor argus. [volume], May 30, 1907, Image 1

About The labor argus. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1906-1915

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- ' CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA, WAY 30, 1907. ^^SToq y
CHAIN ChLLO]
IS ,
j. Robert Barton Bra
Talking to the
The Cat
PLAIN WORDS AN]
lvlueation is a b'essing to man- M
l.iml. Su-n by stei) the ambitious 11
hiUl ascends the mountain of in- |!
triiigcnce, gathering courage in!
every ven urollsell'ort, to strength-j1
i n hi" desire to be taught by and j 1
li nn from master minds ripe in '
knew ledge, experience and the ele '
meats of education, enlarging that
desire as he rises to be capable :
himself of imparting to others a I
i satisfactory understanding that he :
' may have ample assistance in cor- h
ivc-ing what is erroneous, re-!
treiiehing what is unimportant, I
Useless and stiperlluous, compress- j
lug what is prolix, elucidating
what is obscure, enucleating what I
is mystifying or left doubtful,!
pointing oht the untruthful and i
inerednious, supplying what is
lacking, retouching the defective!
and bringing up the whole to thai ;
slate which scientitic ami practical ]
educators of the present day erect i
as a foundation upon which to rest j
this blessing. In privileged brevity
his wish is not to be tlucnt but full
anil free, not to be ornate but elo- j
ipieni. violent out iorceiui, lanci- i
I'lil lint real, visionary but zealous !
and strong and incontrovertible in |
argument, fact and truth. lie is
satisfied if lie writes and speaks
faultlessly himself the language of
his country and knows when he j
and others are dull, uninteresting
and censurable in a choice con- I
, struetion and use of material in- I
dispensable and necessary to con- i
vey intelligent and cmvinciugj
t lought,
I h s state extends over many I
years and title to it must be founded
on something more than mere
ability to realize its distinguishing I
featuies and advantages. It must;
he so perfect and substantial that i
it will win and hold coulidenceand
appreciation and be accepted as j
impregnable to challenge to prove
il will insure and assuie that what ;
it teaches or may teach is sound in i
e\c Hence, theory and practice, j
embodies pure and simple fact and
truth and title to it is absolutely j
and wholly unincumbered.
! I is gratifying to know that there
are in thegeneration of today minds 1
mi broad and" eminent as to be |
ins.l v entitled to assert and prove
their l ight to this claim. Some j
have already done so and shown
theirs i- built upon principles of
son, fijiiity and justice. There
is sin intellectual picsisure in scekg
views. We are not only better
informed ami profited, but tie
-!i eil to keep such minds before
n- or consultation.
>11 i lie other hand, it is lamented
to realize that there sire others
pin seating themselves as claimants
i" this title whose thought and
spce: !i stamp their incompetency
and unworthiuess to even pretend
to >o high an honor. In the breast
ol every person, especially those
who siufer from a poverty of iauguage
courageous enough to com
plain it is not in their power to expose
the fallacious foundation upon
which such claimants base their
claim there arises an inclination
to be generous and ascribe the
possession by the claimants of a
decree of conceit and egotism as
the groundwork ol' such claims as
we class in the lamen able division.
1 rue. not every person is under
such poverty, but every one who
is contends not against any disgrace.
but simply a misfortune,
perhaps, circumstances wearisome
and protracted in their duration.
In their souls, however, they conscientiously
believe and are conscious
that their hearts are sincere,
> their motives honest atid pure and
that in one they hold a high regard
and in the other exert noble
efforts for the happ ness. the
security and the prosperity of their
lellowmen particularly those whom
R DAY
ANSWERED.
ice Does a Little
: Educator in
penter*
D PLAIN TRUTHS
I
they believe are being mercilessly
tioddeu upon by the tyranny of
sordid capital.
Before one of this class of unfortunate
humanity, the writer of
this article stands an ideal reprc- i
sentative of thfe lamentable divisiou t
L>f simulated instructors?.lames K. [
Day, chanc-dlor of the university
at Syracuse, X. Y.,- and as the!
gentleman speaks in the lirst person,
so now will 1. l'lain words
are my preference, plain truths j
my support, facts my reliance and !
honor, honesty and candor my up- j
peals for appreciative attention. j
Imprimis, I am tempted to move
the high court of public opinion to i
appoint a lunacy board to inquire
into the sanity of the gentleman j
who by his ill-conceived or influenced
utterances has brought himself
before the bar of the court,]
1 rising my application not so much t
upon liis attacks upon the laboring]
111.in itim laiior unions ana tneir
inoinliers as upon his assertions that !
no liege presidents "are all conscious
of the depraved conditions and the j
setnes of debauchery in many of
the universities;" that "while
heads of colleges seem zealous in
guiding the student along lines of
study, few place morals first," and
that "if college presidents would
unite along a common line of
thought and action, dissipation
among students would be wiped
out in thirty days."
On, God, if these things be true,
in Thy mercy send home our sons
and daughters, whom we know
were undeliled when they left us,
lest the blot fall upon their unsullied
souls, and the "unwritten
law" prevail.
Hinging in my ears are other
utterances of this man, who may be
free born, and, there are not being
the slightest doubt that he is of
lawful age, may have some claims
to being an educator, though it
seems clear at least to me that his
tongue and his pen rattle oif things
that do not commend him and his
ellort.s as ot good report, hence my
soul is stirred to regret that he is
real and of my sex.
"I think," he says, "the poor
are getting wages for all they do.
and that a great percentage are
getting payment for more than
they do," which I construe to
mean that the employers are honest
enough not to cheat their employes
out of what they earn, but
that the latter are stealing from
the former what the law. will not
allow the workman; and I seen to
hear the ''poor" (I am one of
them) answer: "You, chancellor,
: are gelling well paid for what you
say, but better paid for evading
truth."
''it is no longer," you say, "a
; question with hitn (the laboring
man) of how much I can do for
the.man who gives me employment;
ra her how much I can do for the
most money."
"Well now, Mr. Chancellor, you
i surprise me I had thought you
could see 110 honesty in the working
mm; stili I am ungenerous
enough to ask. Are you. sitting in
you elegant oflice at the university
| at Syracuse, endeavoring to see
how much you can do for the least
monev ? Let me indulge in slang
and shout "You bet you're not !"
Anyhow, I am anxious to have
you answer me, since you present
a problem new to the industrial
world but old to your capitalistic
friends, who have been and are
working their brains to their utmost
capacity to discover how they
can compel their employes, skilled
and common, to do the most work
for the least money, and I am
ready at your call to back up my
assertion upon facts statistical and
otherwise. Frankly X am bold
. enough to challenge you to answer
me. Why are employers opposing
labor's demand l'or better pay and
more reasonable bonis, instead of
compelling?1 understand the full
meaning of this word?courts to
sustain them in forcing their employes
to serve them at longer
hours and less pay i
Millionaire Phobia" was the
subject you were recently called
upon to speak on. and 1 am curious
to know why you did not take up
the text. Instead, if you are correctly
reported?my informants
being the general press, the open
simp, ami anti-union papors?you
stood before your auditors as a tlielogieul
alienist defending millionaires
against the charge that they
are insanely opposing labor's just
demands and assorting", in effect?
not proving?by all the power of
your speech, in which I looked for
sparkling purity, brilliant diction
and rounded periods, that ''the,
poor," the laboring man, trades
union and unionists were tbeives,
assassins of honesty, companions
of the indolent, land, repulsive
drones, worthies of the lazaroni
and the greatest depots on the face
of the earth.
You state you have studied the
labor question, though from whose j
or what point of view you do not I
say. I assume, however, that you
are well enough informed to tell
me liotf many tin re are of wageearners
in the United States! How
many of these belong to trades
unions? Whether union members
form the majority of population !
Whether their number controls religion,
society, professional and
commercial life, manufacture, mining,
agriculture, wealth and the
a Hairs of local, state and national
<riivin*ii in??ii: ' I I'*.... ..-ill
' v.ii v. i ?-? ,? ?'?l ?? i I 1 11H"
;i statistical answer as to the two
tirst requests, an<l a separate
answer in the allii mative as 1o the
others, I admit that 1 may iiiul
myself compelled to .acknowledge
"no greater despotism reigns on
the face of the earth than trade
unionism," though I may ask you
to tell me also in what potency you
class their despotism, for your declaration
proves nothing, invites
discussion and challenger your'
right and claim.
No one reigns supreme over
labor, it is not a monarchy, but a
government of many constituencies
governed?not ruled?by many interests.
At the head of these interests,
working in harmony
throughout the domain of this
government, are men whose powor
| and inlluencc is greater than any
president, king, emperor, czar or
whatever title one may or can hold
in governing people. Their aim
and endeavor is to govern all
I classes under them with a wisdom
mat win redound to the pence
happiness and prosperity of the
governed, sentiments and efforts
! which, yon know, stir not the
heart of any despot. They are
I lighting, with all the methods and
means, the right and privileges
guaranteed to them by the constitution
of their country, for those
I very rights and privileges and
i against every effort, in whatever
gnise or condition it appears or
may appear, to make iftoney the
master of themselves and their
i subjects, and so long as they tire
! true to their trusts, they will
i reign and be loyally supported by
who are under them. In this
capacity they are kings of labor,
none a conspirator to overthrow
civil or political government, no
destroyer of social life, 110 mine
under the industrial waves of fair,
honorable andsiibstuntial business.
You will not find tliem or theii
people in or of the class and clan
i that seek employment at wages sc
low that it is utterly impossible to
sustain themselves. You will not
find them among the bogging
menials whom your consulting and
consulted friends, grasping capitalists,
employers' associations,
manufacturers' leagues, citizens'
alliances, open shop advocates and
tyrannical servitors of tyrannical
: employers are enslaving them.
S"o. you will not find them in out
land two-room tenements, clieaj
boarding houses, ii\e and ten cent
lodging rooms, tottering shacks 01
empty freight cars, ready to answei
the call of the I'i11 ket'tons of tin
land. Xo, you will not lind then:
in scant, ragged raiment, tlieii
countenances indicating want ami
penury and poverty, tlieir gait
shambling and sly as the sneaking
wolf's, their look suspicious ot'colt!
refusal, their speech hesitating and
incoherent and their approacl
manifestly burdened with appre
hensious of being called upon tt
produce evidence and testimonials
of their honesty, integrity, industry
/
anil skill from sources acceptable
as reliable.
"Where, then, will 1 fiiul them !
you ask.
U pon an equality, so long as
they and their people are paid and
are mentally and physically able
to earn living wages, with you,
and your and their neighbor upon
whom the grocer calls regularly
for a weekly, tri-weekly or daily
order for supplies for the table and
the house. Upon an equality with
the landlord who collects their
rents, the authorities who receive
their taxes, and with tl?ose who
have or have ' id sons ami daughters
that attended or attend institutions
of education ami learning,
though they, in view of youri
assertions regarding those places,!
may never again attend or think of;
attending them. Yes. you will |
tind them calmly and intelligently
reading, aye, weighing every as-j
section you make concerning their !
moral and industrial life, lind them j
building houses of God and for
God's people, edifices of learning?
they built your university?all the
great structures of wonderful
height, beauty, areliitectuie and
conveniences, of enterprises that
magnify the llepublic in the eyes
of the nations of the earth and
carry us from shore to shore and
over the oceans of the world and
still you say their unions are "the
greatest despotism 011 the face of
theiaitli." it is true unionism,
if despotism, simply sublime, more
to be desired than universities and
colleges where the mind is po bjiiI
oil with fallacies and virtue stolen
in the si.cnce of college seclusion.
Xow, Doctor, in the candor of
' iny conscience, I solemnly declare
1 am, before all trades unions, all
laboring men, the citizens of the
! Hailed Slates and the people of
I the world, as one apprehensive
j that you are a victim of Dolinatian
l Dementia Americana or that your
I university is so sadly on the wane
that it is in absolute need of a
sensational mouthpiece to attract
attention to it. Anyhow, Doctor,
I will thank you to show me the
' weakness of my position and its
tine of argument .and thought; not
! its literary imperfections, of which
I there may be many. Otherwise I
[ and my friends, the laboring men
land trades unions and trade unionists,
will assume that you are
| under pay of our enemies, the
1 capitalists?or are utterly incom:
potent to truthfully and honestly
substantiate your remarkable, and,
; to my mind, rash assertions.
WOMEN AND
UNIONISM.
The Reverend Charles Stelzle Con
tributes Interesting Article
on the Subject.
Organized labor was paid another
compliment the other day,
when the women school teachers
ol'New York appeared before the
Central Body in that city, requesting
that a committee be appointed
to see the mayor, using their in
fluence to have him sign a bill
which voted equal salaries to men
and women, doing the same work.
As all trades unionists know,
organized labor has long been conI
tending for this point. It has been
almost theonly organization which
has insisted that women should receive
the same wages as men for
lliesameamount and kind of labor,
for this reason alone, it is clear
II that trades unionism is the friend
i of womankind.
Another reason why women
: should look with favor upon trades
unionism lies in the fact that for
many years it has been contending
for universal peace. For who
suffers more during a time of war
than the women in our homes!
I! Amay from the glamour and
heroics, they silently give their
lives to the cause for which their
i husbands, their sons, their brothers
and their sweethearts are con
tending on the battlelield. Some
day war shall cease, but it will be
when the workingmen of the world
i declare that they will no longer
kill their brother for the aggranI
disement of a selfish, covetous
. ruler.
Women are helped by. trades
f unionism through the benefits rel
eeived during a time of illness,
i unemployment and especially when
the bread-winner dies. Millions
> of dollars are annually disbursed
r (Continued on Page 3.)
president;
nugei
Will Devote His Ei
Office of State
Commis;
VICE PRESIDENT
The following interview given l>v 'e
President John Nugent uppeart'il
in the Charleston News of Mu> i
U-ltli, which is self explanatory:?i a
"lion. John Nugent, president >
of District 17, Uuitetl Mine Work- 1
ers of America, embracing the
states of West Virginia, Virginia i
anil the northeastern portion ol '
Kentucky, yesterday teiulered to <
1!. K. Morris, secretary of this dis i
trict, hisresignation to take effect 1
Juno 1, HHlT. Uis resignation '
came as a surprise and x\ ill lie re '
ceived with much regret among t he t
organized miners of the state, who i
I knew him well, llis successor as
I the head of the United Mine Work- <
j eis in this district will lie J. M. i
Uraigo, vice-president of this dis |
j trict who lives at Uui bondale. ji
"Mr. Nugent serves his connect- <
ion with tln^largesL body of organ- jl
j ized men in. the state under the I
j most favorable conditions. Never
ill the history of the state was
i there less strife between the minei-s |
jand the operator than under the ,
; regime of the retiring president. <
"Impressed with the idea, or j i
something more definite, the nolicv i .
that tlii'mining industry in West).
Virginia, tin; second coal producing |
state in the union, couhl only pros ;
per with a mutual confidence lie- |
tween the miner and the mine i
owner, lie has worked faithfully
toward that goal and not withstand- ,
ing thill this policy has licen oppos
ed by some of those connected with
the Mine Workers in different ,
vocations, the wisdom of the same
j has been demonstrated by.the paei- i
| lie conditions which exist today. ,
"The retiring president of the
i Mine Workers came to West Vir
ginia in 1902 as a national organizer
l'roin the stale of M ichigan. In
September 190-1, he was chosen by ;
the unamious action of the district
executive board, as president of
this district to succeed l>. <'. Kennedy,
who. severed his connection |.
! with the organization at that tiliwrT
i In April 190fi, he was re-elected ;
and again in 1900 and 1907 he was
| reelected without opposition. Ilis
| term of office would not expire until
A m il HO. 190S. but he tendered
his resignation in order that he ;
might devote liis entire time to the
importation of Kn^lisli speaking j
praetieal miners into the coal lields j
of West Virginia.
"Mr. Nugent is a linn advocate
of the policy that the introduction
of Knglish speaking miners into the
state, men who have been trained
in the co il mines of the old world.
; where all the dangerous gases art;
to lie found, will mean a new era
| in the historj of mining in this
' state, and although his plans are
] now merely formative, he will at
I once begin to put his ideas into execution.
He is an experienced!
' miner himself, thoroughly competent.
u; 'erstanding all the dangers)
| of a coal mine, and knows the class
| of miners needed in the southern
section of < his state.
"Mr. Nugent has made himself I
i a conspicuous figure in tl>t? organ i I
j zed labor circles of West Virginia. '
Besides being the head of the mine- >
workers he is also the president of
the State Federation of Labor and (
his prononuced views of labor ques- |
tions have ever been conservative
1 and his subordinates have looked i
up to him.
".During Mr. Xugent's leadership,
peaceful conditions have ex1
cited throughout the s ate. When
he ascended to the presidency of
the district, a strike was on at
Cabin Creek, but since that timej
there has been no laljor wars
among the miners of the state,
principally because the employers
? and Mr. Nugent placed faith iti each
1 : other and reach oil an agreement.
- His successor, Mr. < 'raigo is said
to be an excellent man with majiy
JOHN
*ST RESIGNS
titire Time to His
: Immigration
>ioner.
LEWIS IS HERE
nullifications for the position.
' Hoplyinj* to :i n nest ion concern nj*
the liilfcroncos tliut liuvc been
tilcfjcd to exist unions some of the
niiuMs' officials, anil his resignaion,
Mr. Nugent, said:
' Ueing unable toagree with Presdent
Mitchell, who lias never been
riendly to my ndiiiiiiislrution, and
lenicd the right of home rule in
Iireel ing the work of organizers in
ny district, and to prove my sinlerity
in my opinion that improvenent.s
in the general conditions of
he miners of this state can only
onto through the introduction anil
mployiuen't of practical miners
oining to our state with the intent
if making a home and becoming
icriiianeiit citizens, T have tendersi
my resignation as president of
listrict 17 and will devote my enire
time to the ollice of immigraion
coniinissioner."
is * s|;
National Vice-President T. L.
ewis, of the United Mine Works's
of America, of llridgeport,
iliio, arrived in this city Sunday
minting from Columbus, and has \
nit in several busy days since his
irrival. lie has visited several
,oeal unions whero his presence
uul advice was needed. In all
probability he will spend several
nore (lays in this district.
Mr. be wis is pretty well inform <1
till 1 111* punilii innc in llii?j
is In- has mailc numerous visits to
West Virginia during the past
several years, and from the further
laet that the lives just across the
Ohio river which alio ids him an
opportunity to keep informed as to
the situation in his neighboring
state. Mr. Lewis has a host of
friends in West Virginia who always
accord him a hearty welcome
nail do everything possible to
make his stay among us most
pleasant.
Iii regard to the general mining
situation throughout the country
Mr. Lewis has the following to
say:
"The mining situation over the
country is in very good condition.
At present there is little or no
trouble in any of the mining districts
except at I'omcroy, Ohio,
and Sturgiss, Kentucky.
"The mines in Western Pennsylvania
are working three fourths
time on an average with good
prospects for improvement as the
iyke coal begin to move more
rapidly. The most serious problem
effecting the miners interest in
Western Pennsylvania is the new
dump placed in some of the tipples
?iuu vi?v?uicvi i/jr strain Jli
use on account of jerking the car
in dumping the coal has increased
{lie percentage of coal pouring
through the screen and consequently
decreases the earning power of
the men. The adjustment of the
steam dump controversy is in the
hands of a committee of four men
with power to appoint an umpire
in case tliey fail to agree. There
are about twenty mines using the
so-called improved dump.
"The mines in Ohio are working
better than they have for several
years and the mines in Illinois are
also doing better for this season
than they have for several years
past.
"The Alabama contract expires
.Tuly 1st and what is known as the
onion onerntors ai<l their renre
sentatives, will meet, next month to
arrange a wage scale.
' There are some sections in
Ohio and Western Pennsylvania
where they need miners.
"In regard to the situation in
West Virginia, 1 may have something
to say about that later on."
* * *
National Vice President T. L.
( Continued on Page 3)