The labor argus. [volume], June 06, 1907, Image 1

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

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Vol]-2. No. 2. CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA, JUNE 6, 1907. $1.00 a Year In Advance
WESTERN I
United States Senatoi
Lumber Barons anc
Engaged in the
Amazing r volutions of a conspiracy
to defraud the United
Slates of millions of dollars' worth
of mineral and timber lands will
i... i..iit l.idVu-1. flu* ?ri*<i nrl inrius of ji
)i:11 f dozen states within a few days.
The frauds, it is alleged, will involve
in criminal charges, men
high in business and political
eireles. They include:
< )ne United States Senator.
One former United States Sena
tor.
A man reputed to be one of the
wealthiest men in the world.
A railroad man known from the
Atlantic to the Pacific.
Two of the wealthiest lumber
barons in the United States.
Numerous smaller fry, including
railroad officials, coal operators
and men at the head of fuel companies.
The men, whose names for obvious
reasons cannot be made public
before the grand juries act, it is
clared in Washington, will surely
be indicted by the evidence which
is now in the hands of United
States District Attorneys in half
a dozen western cities.
These frauds, it is charged in an
official quarter, extend into a number
of states, including California,
Colorado, Washington, Oregon,
Idaho, Montana, Minnesota and
tln? Dnknias.
Much of the evidence in these
frauds was obtained by Detective
I turns who -is engaged in the
municipal graft prosecution in Han
Francisco, and by Francis J.
lleney, who' is prosecuting the
same San Francisco grafters.
I'pon the conclusion of their
work in San Francisco, Attorney
lleney and Detective Burns are expected
to return to the government
service for the prosecution of the
timber aid mineral land thieves.
Some of the grafters in San Francisco
are also said to be implicated
in the frauds.
The framis have been under investigation
by the secret agents of
the interior department for more
(han three years.
These seer. I agents have line.irilied
startling evidence showing
In.I tne puli.ic ooinaiii has lilci
e.i.y been lent d by corporal ions
who have been prompted and aid
.d in their operations by United
slabs Senators and federal oHiciais.
.Mist o. the lands acquired by
tne so-eabed conspirators were
.AND FRAUD
4s, Railroad Magnates,
I Others Have Been
Graft for Years,
Over six hundred men are now on
the strike roll.
District President Cecil lias
charge of the strike and has received
the able assistance of President
Green, ^'icc President Sulli:
van and Secretary Savage on
| several occasions. The daily press
| has greatly exaggerated the re- i
ports of disturbances among the
strikers and scabs, and there is no
further trouble between the
"black-legs" and the union men I
anticipated.
I A mass nicotine is held everv
Monday which is proceeded by a
parade headed by a brass in which
all the strikers and their synipai
thizers participate, a large nuinher
| of the most prominent business
men being among the latter.
Who Will be Next?
Local Union No. 1, of District
No. 17, United Mine Workers of
| America, has sulxscribed for the 1
! Labor Argus for the entire mem- *
bership of the local. Who is the
j next local to come to the front t i
! Don't all speak at once, but send
| the subscriptions.
TRIAL OF
HAYWOOD
i Is Now on in Full Blast After
j Many Delays?Orchard Prosecutions
Only Hope.
The long delayed Moyer-flaywood-I'ettibone
case has at last
! been commenced and William D.
| Haywood is now on trial for his
j life charged with every crime on
I lie calendar by the notorious mine
j owners' association.
After buttling for a jury for
: fifteen days the following named
j twelve men were chosen to act in
i hat capacity: Thomas It. (less,
real estate d aler; Kinley AJcUran, '
rancher; Samuel I). Oilman, farmer;
Daniel Clark, farmer; George
i'owell, rancher; <). V. Sebcrn,
farmer; II. If. Messcar, farmer;
Lee Scrivener, farmer; .1. A.
iiobertson, farmer; Levi Smith.
I carpenter; A. I*. Hums, retired
! rancher, and Samuel F. llltssell, ^
1 farmer
The prosecution base all their
'i hopes for conviction in the alleged
. | confession of Harry Orchard to
.lames Mrl'artlahd, a I'inkerton
j detective. Orchard has been
j watched with vigilant eyes and no
' one has been permitted to approach
the sacred presence of the slarl
i j Witness of the prosecution, save;
. | the trainers who have been groom
i; ing him for the onleal on the wit
nes* stand, strict orders were given ;
L j that under no circumstances must j
i j lie be exposed to the influence of
i anyone, save the virtuous and)
< saintly Mcl'artland ami Ids trusted
>j spies, who credit themselves with ;
i the reformation of the alleged self
> confessed murderer of twenty-six :
i human beings.
The immaculate MePartlund has
3 been averse to the self-confessed i
murderer being disturbed in the
reading of his bible and lifting his j
eyes toward the vaulted blue dome
of heaven, praying to the great j
: ? 11.?.1
, Jehovah to guide mm uiei uici
ilurk waters into the placid harbor
of eternal joy.
Jt is strange and singular that
t such precautions were taken with
Orchard in order to keep him unditilcd
and sancitilied and preserve
him from the unholy touch of the
defense. If his story or alleged
confession was based upon facts
s and the prosecution believed in the
e sincerity of his reformation, why
s is such fear manifested that the
s regenerated one can only be right1
cons and holy, when guarded and
- protected by men, the majority of
u whom have made a business of
n bidding for blood money t There
I is something peculiar about the
. whole proceeding and the evidence
limber tiac.s in tin- west, of which
hundreds of thousands of acres
have been I..ken from the public
domain.
In some instances the services ul
dummy" entry men were utilized
fur the purpose. Iu others the
title was obtained through the list
of lieu land script.
In obtaining the conviction ol
the men said to be involved, tin
government expects to regain
po.-se.ssion of large acres of forest
lands, some of which has been ii
the hands of lumber operators foi
many years. Much of the land, il
is understood, has not yet been
out over.
It is admitted by certain officer.'
that in a number of instances tin
oil'ciiders will be immune front
criminal nrosecution owing to tin
I'act that the statute of limitation
will aplv, but in all such cases Hit
title to the laud will revert to tin
govern incut.?Labor World.
POMEROY MINERS
ARE STILL OUT
Men are Determined to Win if i
Takes all'the Summer to
Do So.
T'lie miners strike which ha
been on in I'oineroy bend sine
binuary still continues, and bid
lair to last for some time yet, a
the men are standing firm and wil
continue to do so until the opera
tors g.ant their demands, T\v
joint co "'jrences between the inoi
and the t perutors have been heh
but no ugM ement could bo reached
of the trial will disclose what it
was.
A fair and impartial trial is all
the defense asks, and if they securi
it one of t he most dialtolical plots
that was ever conceived by man
will lie revealed to the world which
will sound the death knell of matij
of the so-called detective agencies.
Pinkerton Spy
Is Knocked Out.
A man named Kiddle, a sp>
known on the I\i kcrton lnioks as
No. 42, was e!ec?d to the forthcoming
convention el tlie Western
Federation of 31 inet s, to lie held in
Denver next month, from a loeal
union in 1'tah into which he has
worked himself. Unfortunately
for the Pinkerton agency tlie
unions have found out a few things
:md this miserable fellow, at least
will not sit in the convention.
CHARGED WITH
Against Union Men Employed
Is Public Printer Stil
Big "Op
Charging that Public Printer
Stillings has made a determined
effort to break down organized
labor in the Government Printing
office by discriminating against
men in making discharges in the
big shop, Delegate Feeney of the
Washington Bookbinders Union,
threw a bomb into the meeting ol
the Central Labor Union in Typo
graphical Temple at its session last
week.
Mr. Feeney declared that the
recent discharge of 204 members
carried more than was shown on
the face; that members of the Bookbinders'
Union who had been
active in the. interests of the organization
had been summarily
dismissed on the ground that there
"is no work for them to do." lie
asserted that they had been discharged
for no other reason than
that they become distasteful to Mr.
Siblings because of their activity
in union matters.
He pointed to the fact that
William K. Gallagher, linaucial
secretary; Joseph liradbent, recording
secretary; a former secretary
who had been in the bindery
for ~h years, the arbitration board,
the executive committee, and every
one of the special committee wlui
had been charged with the duty ot
looking after the unions' interests
in thcCiovcriimcnl I'rinling <)l1ice,
were among those discharged. This
he declared, was most significant.
Delegate 1'eeney announced that
he proposed to at the next meeting
of the <'enti al Labor t 'nion to present
a resolution for the appointment
of a strung i eprevntative
committee to call on the President
and show him that i'ul i'c I'rintei
Stillings was goi ig c tP of his
ollicia! duties to disehatg'- union
men for the reason lliaL tin ;, were
union men. lie said that tie be
Moved that the President was unadvised
of the facts in id would not
stand for such a policy.
Delegate McMantts, also of the
bookbinders, said lie thought that
President Hoosovelt knew what
Mr. Stillings was doing, that hi
i ; it ?'* l. 4 1.4V l iiAii/liiflfrr
was < miller IL Willi tin: uiiu..i?.v,6v
mid. consent of Mr. Poosevelt, and
that the President would ignore
any effort that Central Laboi
Union might make to correct this
alleged wrong.
The cause which led up to the
above criticism was on account ol
the recent discharge of "204 employees
of the bindery department,
when Mr. Stillings gave out
the following statement:
"ltecau.se of the continued falling
off in volume of work in the
bindery department of the Government
bindery ollice, the Public
Printer, has again been forced tc
make a reduction in the force, and
has today dropped from the rolls,
because of lack of work, 7G men
and 128 women in the pamphlet
binding divisions of the bindery.'1
A Fable About Mules.
A certain captain of industry,
who had been busted by the trusts,
thought he would try his hand ai
farming. Unlike most farmers In
found at the end of the liist seusoi
that he had five hundred in monej
and a barn full of hay and gruin
Important Notice.
The Labor Argus has made ar>
rangements whereby we can fur'
nish a copy of "The Pinkertou
Labor Spy" with each paid up
1 yearly subscription. Every union
man in West Virginia should get
u copy of this book and read the
history of the reign of terror instituted
by the mine owners to destroy
the miner's union in Idaho
and Colorado, preceding the lawless
kidnapping of Moyer, Hay
wood and IVtlibone. Send in
i your subscription at once as the
supply will not last long, liemember
we give you the book absolutely
free with each paid up
subscription for one year to The
Labor Argus.
Do you drop your dues on the .
financial secretary's desk and walk
out t If so, how do you know
what will be done at the meeting.
DISCRIMINAHING
in Government Printing Office
lings?Echos from the
en Shop."
After discharging his men lie called
his mules together and informed
them that the rush reason was over
and their services would no longer
Iks required. Said he: "My barn
is full of feed, which at the present
market price ought to net me
another live hundred dollars. I
fed you well while you worked and |
next summer, if you are around ;
this way about harvest time, I i
. shall he glad to give you another i
i job." lie accordingly dismissed I
the mules and lived on the fat of i
the land until next summer. Hid
the mules did not make application :
c 4i n*i ..11 ,.i. i
lui' kikiuin jiiu. uii nim vmi
I lo death.
. I The captain forgot that he was
. not dealing with men.
floral: This fable does not need
j one. '
NOT A MINER
ON THE JURY
That Investigated Whipple Ex- ;
plosion Regardless of Daily
Press Reports.
The Oak Hill correspondent of
the Fayette .Sun in discussing the
reports published in several papers
in this section stating that a jury
: composed of miners exonerated the
I company of sil 1 blame of the
Whipple mine disaster, has the ,
11 following hot shot for the parties
I sending out the report:
j "Some one furnished that item
i for the press?a jury of miners; if
any of the jury ever mined coal it
i ! lima tit tttvi. It iwitilM/t fiimtU U'fi flt'A
rather of the opinion Unit a portion
of I hem at least, never were even
inside of a mine, yet with no
knowledge whatever of mining, of
the science of ventilation, who will
, frankly tell you that they are not
. even familiar with many of the
: terms and expressions used iu de
scribing the workings of a mine
I are selected to decide who and
what are responsible for the death
of men in an explosion. Those
i men, no matter how conscientious
! they are could not give a just veri
| diet.
1' "There are prcnty of practical
j miners in this field, who are cap'
able of serving on a coroners jury,
. but they never serve. There must
be a reason."
? ? T. *T? ( f
' I Peonage cases to at iriea.
Several of the AVeat Virginia
i peonage eases will come up for
[ trial at the term of Federal Court
which is now in session in this
i city. Asst. United States Attorney
General Charles W. Itiissell, is
1 here from Washington to prosecute
the cases.
Practice What You Preach.
i Every union man and his family
, should read theadvertisingcolumns
t j of The Labor Argus. They reproi
sent business men who not only
i solioit your patronage but patron
; i/.e the paper which advocates your
. cause.
MINERS' G<
Membership In Distric
Increase Last Mor
pet Tfirnttahni
VW V AAMVWQMV'
]t will I?o gratifying news for
the mine workers of this district,
its well us organized labor of West
Virginia in general, to learn that
the metnloership in District No. 17
is rapidly increasing. During the
past month its growth was steady
and the indications are that this
month will add doable as many
members to the roll as did last,
month. There is lieing more interest
manifested by the tnemberdiip
throughout the entire District
than at anytime since the Cabin
Greek strike. The men are beginning
to realize what the orgnnixarion
means to them and are at last
taking some interest in their own
tlfuirs. The olliciuls, both local
tnd national are .doing good work
organizing line if they continue
;o receive the support and cooperation
of the entire membership
t will not bo long before West
Virginia miners will bo receiving
die same benefits and conditions
diat exist in other coal producing
states. Keep at it boys, and show
die miners of other states that
West Virginia is coining to the
'rout regardless of all the obstacles
vvnii wiucn sue nus 10 comeim.
* * *
President J. M. Craigo and Organizer
ChappelJo wore in attendnice
upon the meeting of the local
union at Smithors on Monday evening
last and addressed the membership
and were given a rousing
reception. It was one of the best
meetings ever held at that place
and the enthusiasm displayed was
very gratifying to.the new president.
The men at Smithors are
determined to do their part toward
the thorough organizing of the District
and can lie relied upon at all
times to do their share of the work
and hear their share of the burdens.
* * *
Secretary Morris and Organizer
Krallman addressed the local union
at Hickory Camp on Monday
night. The meeting was largely
attended and a very successful
nne. The situation at that place
is brightening up, and the local is
in splendid condition, and the men
are putting forth their best efforts
to get every man in that locality
into the union and are confident
that they can do so.
* * * *
The lociil union at Wucomnh
held a big mass meeting and picnic
last .Sunday which was a great
success. The weather conditions
were not of the hest, but this did
not prevent the people from turning
out in great numbers. Among
the speakers were .Messrs. Harry
iiousficld and Charley Kralluiau.
* * *
Advices received from Washington
last night stated that Immigration
Commissioner .lolin Nugent
had sailed for the old country
where ho expected to remain until
September in (piest of desirable irnigrants
for certain sections of the
West Virginia coal fields.
* * *
K. M. Holbert and Joseph bogan,
President and Treasurer respectively
of the newly organized
local at lilakely, were in the city
Monday, and reported their local
in the best of condition and increasing
in membership at each
trwwif.inrr.
* * X' 0
John F. Welch, of Longucre, s
member of the Sub-district Board,
was a caller at the District office,
Saturday, on ofliciul business connected
with his cilice. Ho informed
the Argus man that the organization
was rapidly gaining ground ii
his locality
* * *
"The Pinkerton Labor Spy':
giving sensational information in
regard to the methods resorted t<
by the infamous detective bureal
to break up the miners union wil
prove quite interesting and in
structive to tlie miners of this
state. The book will be given absolutely
free to every one scudiiif
in SI for a year's subscription t<
The Laixir Argus. They will hi
DOD NEWS.
_________ v ..
t 17 Shows a Healthy
ith?Renewed Interut
Jurisdiction*
I ready for distribution tlie liist of
the week. Now is tho timo to renew
your subscription or subscribe
Don't delayj solid at once.
* * *
Arthur Atkins, <1f Tomsburg,
! was a visitor to the District oilier,
Saturday. Mr. Atkins says Ilia
I outlook at his place is wry encouraging
ami that the membership is
! steadily increasing.
r\t\ i
rKADIO
UNIONISM
Graft Exposer Hcncy Pays High
Tribute to Organized Labor
In an' Address.
Francis J. lleney, tins attorney
who unearthed the graft machine
in Ban Francisco, is the hero of
the hour throughout the entire
west. It hail been supposed that
lleney was an opponent to the
trade union movement, simply Imscau.so
he spared no dishonest political
grafter whether he was
a member of a union or not. Ho
isn't worrying much about the
little politicians who never had a
dollar, and who yielded to temptation
when more money was offered
to him than he ever saw before
but he is absolutely merciless with
the "big fellows" desiring valuable
franchise who bribed the odieo :.:r
holders to get them on the most
favorable terms.
Mr. Heney delivered an address
recently to the students of the
t IS Pit fit to Mfufjt IT11 i vi?r?it,v. find
? '.*1.11/. MM? ' VMVV - .... 1, j
the sentiments expressed will
l?e somewhat of a surprise, in view
of attitude of the element which is
most active in the prosecution.
The speaker declared that tradeunions
were a potent factor in
political development. The salient
points of the address are (|noted in
the following extract:
"The trouble is in the government
of our cities?not in men.
And right here I want to emphasize
a condition in San Francisco.
Some men accuse the labor-unionists
of responsibility for all tho
graft and corruption, and the
labor party is condemned. Men
who attempt to place the responsibility
for our municipal evils upon
the labor unions are densely ignorant
or else they speak from hitter
and selfish enmity of base motives.
Labor men are'your fellow citizens.
Unhappily all men who toil do not
have the opportunity you have to
obtain a broad education.
"Itut these men who earn their
bread.have the same line sentiments
the same pure motives, the s.iihc
high purposes and asper.it ions,
the samecHeclions that you college
! graduates have, and they are in!
spired by the same principles and
j the same lovo for our common
I/umtii i-v mid its institutions. Ho I
urge you young men nut to permit
yourselves to believe that labor
does not include the highest citizenship
in the I'nitcd States.
Men who work respect the law and
they are entitled to the protection
of the law. I have not the same
confidence in the merchant class or
the corporation class.
"Do not misunderstand roe?I
( do not mean that all merchants or '
corporation men arc corrupt. I
mean that nine times out of ten
labor votes on principle, with no
personal interest, and nine limes
out of ten the merchant votes for
' his self-interest and against moral
I nrincinlcs."
, Do You Chew ?
i A. St. Paul writer says the
> the Minnesota Pure Food Comi
mission has been investigating the
I tobacco sold in the slates and finds
that English Curve Put and Lucky
i Strike contain 40 per cent, tobacco
and tho balance comnfon brown
? wrapping paper; Duke's ,Mix'u,"?
) is 10 per cent, lobicco and i'-ii
3 Durham has no lobacco whate'yv..
m
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