The labor argus. [volume], July 18, 1907, Image 1

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

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5 ! " "" 5 ~~~ -- - N $1.00 a Year in Advance
WHA1 HAY'
TF
Graphic Pen Picture of t
Idaho Conspira
Eugene 1
IViKips tli?! most unfortunate!
II,:: ^ ai?>ut the trial now 111 pro- i
l.l lir. ff,.m tint I
. KK. >IV> VIM VIIU It V?l
,ini of view is that so few
iiin.t'i-tiiiiil its true meaning, its;
ii-..; ns licance, its full import, j
li .> < <>f the strange freaks of I
li> ..t \ that it makers tire not to
11,. ai.derstood by their cointern- j
|ii.iui ii-s. but that they, especially
tlx- greatest among them, must!
itii- ignomiuiously ami wait fori
ui-c eiling generations to iterpert.1
it. : woi ils and do them justice,
When .lolin ilrown was jiut upDii
trial in Oharlestown, Va. 48 1
year- ago, few people, extremely
lew. understood its meaning,, and
although half a century has passed
anil t he fiercest civil war.in history
of which that trial was but the
[piciiiile, has been fought, .the
gica; mass of people lias not yet
anakem-d to its significance and
anothci century or more will be re
liiiicil before the strike at Harper's
I'd i v and the trial at Oharlestown
?iil Im- nn lei stood in their larger
meaning, as written in subsequent
r-veii'.by the American people
ami the world.
ilalph Waldo Emerson was one
ill' llu- lew who understood that
historic trial of half a century ago
the trial ot a despised agitator and
hated insurrectionist. His prophetic
eye pierced the future as he
said: "John Broxyn will make the
pillows as glorious as Jesus Christ
made the cross." The coining
centuries will vindicate the prescience
of the sage of Concord and
the gallows upon which John
blown, the liberator perished will
I*-kept green with wreaths of immertiles
hv the countless children
of freedom. '
d'he outcome o: the pending trial
i-awaited with equal concern by
the ( /at of Russia and the Jl'resident
of the liuilcd States. They
at least understand in some measure
ihe vital issue that is involved
and the wide spread inlluence the
outcome will have upon their respect
ive countries.
W hen the Czar of Russia expressed
his imperial approval of
rre-hient Roosevelt's eliaractcri '
I'liin nf Meyer and Haywood as
"midesirable citizens" he not only
added his testmony to the world
wide interest in the trial, hut unwittingly
recognized the international
class struggle of which !
the trial in itself is but the merest j
incident.
It is this very fact?a fact of the ;
v ..iv-.-M# impurciincc?max tno ]
> ipiiiilist powers are striving by;
ah conceivable means to conceal I
limn the working-class; upon their]
mi cress in so doing depends the
< -elimination of the conspiracy lo
destroy i gani/.ed lalior and rule]
tlit- wage slaves of the western
i'ccs and smelters with a rod of
con for years to come.
i lie trial now going on, viewed i
com any comprehensive stand-]
1" it. is anything but a murder j
trial, lu the war between labor]
acl capitol in the Rocky Moutitains
during the last 30 years?
-"inetimes in pitched battles and ,
again in guerilla fashion?hund'
oils have been slaughtered, but
'nr. all of them combined have
rivaled a tithe of the furore arous"
' by the taking off of Frank
"Moiuienberg, the particular murder
which lies at the foundation of
his prosecution and which must
bo understood in at least its essential
features to account for the]
world-wide interest it has awak- ]
ened.
Hundreds of minejs have been
hilled under circustatices quite as
cruel as the assassination of Steuenberg,
but who can pronounce the
...j.nir (ii even one of them.
Ah. that is the xioint! AVhy
w ere the hundreds of workingmen
slain so inconsequential and easily
forgotten, while the killing of
fHeunenberg has aroused the whole
universe?
s- the answer comes of itself.
! rank Steuneuberg belonged to the
ruling class. As governor of
Idaho lie had served that class
V
WOOD
IAL MEANS
he Meaning of the Great
.cy Drawn by
V. Debs*
I
I
with peculiar fidelity. As a re- j
tired capitalist he was identified
with that class. llad lie been
killed while still a union printer
under precisely the same circumstances
scarcely anyone outside of
Idaho would have heard of it and
by them it would soon have liven
forgotten.
STATE OF IDAHO
IS ON THE BUM.
f I
The Pinkertons and Union Smashers
Have Bankrupted the State's
Treasury.
The Mine Owners' Association
lias apparently put the state of
Idaho on the "bum"' ii' there is
any truth in the following clipped
from a newspaper of recent date:
"The banks now take the position
that it would not be conservative
banking to advance large sums
to the state and take chances on a
legislature paying the bills two
years from now. The bills of the
state have been enormous. In ad- !
dition to attorneys lees and the
*30,000 that has been paid to the
Pinkertons, many thousands of
dollars have been paid out for witnesses.
Men and women have
been brought hereto testify for the
state and they have coine all the
way- from San Francisco in the
West and Minneapolis in the Hast.
Scores were brought here from
Colorado, and sent away without
being called to the witness stand,
and the mileage and hotel bills
ran the state expenses above *"0,000
for this item alone."
Another report from Boise says:
Governor Gooding is now occupying
a fearfully hiunilaling
pos.tion, as he failed to make good
his promise to the people when
asking for that- *101,000 to^ prosecute
Moyer, Jiavwood and Pettibone,
while Borah is so down in
the mouth that he makes little cr
no effort to conceal his disappoint- |
mcnt, and MeParhuid is fast be- |
coining the butt of ridicule for |
having allowed socialist Friedman j
free access to the records of thei
PiiiKerton agency when playing
spy to strengthen the defense
so ably presented by Attorneys
i?arro w ami iticnaruson. '
Jts before stilted. Gooiling,!
Borah, McPartland and othei*s of
the gang are on trial as well ;is
-Moyer, Haywood and I'ettibone.
It means political and perhaps
commercial annihilation ft r the
tirst-narned gents if the jury brings
in a Verdict in the favor of the
miners. Therefore, it is quite
natural that the politicians and
their plate masters to secure a
conviction or at least it disagreement,
and the public ought to" lie
prepared to hear of eleventh-hour
trickery to influence the jurymen.
?Cleveland Citizen.
GUILTY OF
PEONAGE
The Ritter Lumber Company Fined
$10,000 Li the Federal Court
After Pleading Guilty.
Two oftthe Peonagecases which
have been attracting wide spread
attention were disposed i:i the
Federal Court last Saturday when
the IJitter Lumber Co. was lined
the sum of 810.000 and costs, this
being the minimum, and a fine of
81,000 and costs was imposed in
the Raleigh Lumber case.
As to the Raleigh indictment, it
was against individuals, t^>t against
the company as a corporation.
The line of 810,000 against the
Ritter Lumber Co. is considered a
decided victory for the government.
It is to be hoped that object
lesson will be heeded and that in
the future the employees of some
SieiJI. |]
'
PROSPECTS BRIGH
The Fairmont Field Has Been Tt
Organizing Work Goi
Much Progress
In an interview with The Argils It
man yesterday in regard to tiie> t
progress the District Mine Workers ] <
were making. Secretary-Treasurer :
Ben F. Morris, liail the following i
to say:
"While the membership of our
Uniod is much. smaller than prior i
to our last Joint Convention, not- i j
withstanding this fact, prospects (
are brighter and conditions more
favorable for our organization than .
at any time in the history of the '
coal industry of our State. J
"Reports from all sections of the j
State show that sentiment is be- (
nruni?ii? ' ? 4" " ** il"
uuiiim^ All HIVUI* UL LIU! j j
Organization. While in the Kau- j
aw ha Distiict the coal operators j
are somewhat sliort of men, yet j J
their shortage is nothing eompar- (
etl with that of the operators of!
Jyiw liiver and Cabin Creek, j'
where the employers refused to j
treat with our organization. In- I
stead, of favoring the agents of J
New River and Cabin Creek coal operators
from inlluencing the
miners on Kanawha River to go to '
those sections, as they are attempt- j
ing to do, we are encouraging j'
miners to come to the Kanawha j
field. |
"We iind at this time that practical
miners are refusing to work | '
in non-union sections, and that the t
operator's of New liiver and other , *
sections who refuse to allow their i]
men to become organized, are be- jj
coming greatly handicaped for the!
lack of practical men.
"The time is not far distant s
when the coal operators of West |
Virginia will see the necessity ol |
treating with the United Mine >j
Workei-s and thereby dispense with {
the cost of transportation and;,
guard service, thus securing a .
sutlicieut number of practical men ;
to successfully operate their mines. ,
and have conditions in the West .
Virginia coal fields that will com |
pare favorably with those of Ohio. ,
Illinois Indiana and south western .
^ ?
stales. I
i- -r '-Y- | j
Secretary IJenj. F. Morris and I
i Sill)- 1 )ist riot Secret:n v Itert. I t-.wt - :
j ings held a meeting at Orescent on j 1
Tuesday night which was unite j?
well attended- The local at this i <
j place has ilbtbeeu in a very healthy 1
condition of late, but judging from
I the interest displayed by the mem !
I hers at the meeting its future pros j
I pects *are much brighter. It is.,
certainly to be regretted that the H
! Crescent Local Union, has hccn al 1
I lowed to slumber so long, as it was
one of the first ever - organized on
! the Kanawha.
* * *
I
Messrs. Cr.ugo and Cairns held
quite%an enthusiastic meeting at
Marting on Tuesday night and are!
| much encouraged over the situ
ation in that locality. ^Nevr members
are Jieing taken in right alongand
the" men are more energetic j
' than for some time past.
* S: X
National Organize is Lanham |
and Kral'man are "doing excel lent
work on Elk river and Blue Creek
this week. They report every|
thing extremely encouraging in
ft
of the big corporations in some
sections of the slate will receive at
least humane treatment. The
guard system in West Virginia has 1
done much to drive the good
mechanics to other states and it is '
hoped that the next legislature '
will pass a bill to kill the legal- 1
izing of these thugs as "guards," I'
as they do more to incite riots and 1
committ more otVensea against the 1
laws of the state than the rest of
the citizens of the commonwealth '
combined. / ,
General Strike Probable.
Unless an agreement is reached
at once. President Small of the
Telegraphers, says he expects a 1
general strike of telegraphers all '
over the country, which will '
cripple both the Western Union 1
and Postal Telegraph Companies' 1
business, lie expects to start for
Chicago this week, stopping in
wirious cities on route. He
promises to make public the result
of his conferences with Mr. :
Jamestown Labor Building.
The organized labor headquarters
building a? the Jamestown exposition
was erected by the central
bodies of the Newport News, Norfolk
and Portsmouth, Vu., at a
post of $12,000. It contains the
exhibit planned for by the American
Federation of Lal>or. which is
more than twice the size of the
Louisiana Purchase exposition exhibit
.
To Organize State Federation.
The American Federation of
Labor has issued a call to all
national lalmr bodies having local
nrganizutions in the state of Kansas
!o scinl delegates to a convention
[o i>c ne.ia atl'opeka on Aug. 12-11
for i lu" purpose of organizating a
Kansas state federation of labor.
Charleston Typographical Union
liehl a special mooting yesterday
ll'ternoon and transacted a few important
routine matjters.
iTER THAN EVER
t
irned Over to District No. 16?
ng on Steadily and
Being Made.
.lint field and are confident that a
strong organization can be built
ip. They also held good meetings
it Marewood on Monday night and
it Shrewsbury Tuesday.
* * *
It is reported by Secretary
Morris that the Paint Crock Coliory
Company, since the confor nce
between the Executive Comnittee
of the Kanawha Coal Oporitors
and President John Mitchell
uul the district ofliccrs held in
Cincinnati on the 9th of this month
lias had sjuite an increase in their
onnage on Paint Creek. It is
doped that the miners working for
thatComnanv will d.\nii ...
t ?/ ?.?JI 111 unci I I
[lower to carry out th e provisions
.if the Joint Agreement, anil l'eel
Unit they have an interest in the
.access of the company.
:!: *
With the unaninious consent of
lie officials of District No. 17, the
National Kxecutive Hoard of U.
VI. W. of A. at its recent session,
lecided to detach the Fairmont
ield from District 17 and attach
t to district 1 <> of Maryland. This
nove it is anticipated will result
n mutual lienelit to both Districts.
L'lie territory of District No. 17 has
leen too large for the officials to
,-isit all sections as often as they
lesired, hence they were not adverse
to' giving up some of their
misdiction.
* * * '
Ho-.it->! M.....I ??
iravLs :ui(l
tab-District Secret,ary I tastings
lave organized a loctil union at
fort Defiance, opposite Usui ley.
flic organization is doing well and
lie men are devoting much time
md attention to its affairs. They
dso held a meeting at Oaperton on
<cw Hiver which was a great suc:ecs
in every particular. They
uldrcssed the Italian local at
iloonier Monday evening and suc eeded
in arousing new interest
ind placing the local in a position
0 grow anil prosper. The other
ocals at that place should profit
jy the example set by the Italians
md do something to build up harnonious
relations which would remit
in Boomer having two or three
if the largest locals on the river.
Hits the "Open Shoppers." j
State Labor Commissioner McMackin,
of New York, has just
Issued a report that ought to hold
the open shop freaks for a while.
1 le says:
"The attempt to discredit the
principles of trade unionism under
the gpise of an open shop has
M/ynnll? -
. iaiieu. in? purine lias
seen that a union shop may be a
truly open shop so long as the
union itsels is open to all competent
workman; whereas, the nonunion
shop, in which every workman
is compelled to drive a bargain
single-handed with the employer,
becomes more often than
not a sweatshop. With the unions'
power broken, the just und humane
employer is powerless to
keep wages and hours up to the
former standard in the face of the
competition of wagecutting rivals.
THEY MUST
"PRINT 0
| "Distribute. Circulate. V*
I *- '
by Inuendo/*?Sweep
on Labor Paper
'
Tho injunction proceedings wore
| hoard before Judge 1 hivton oT I ho
United States Circuit Court, of llic
Xorthern District of West Virginia
at Philippi, Tuesday of last week.
Tho plaintiff companies were represented
bysA-lf Caldwell and .1oh.de
Coniff, and the defendants l>v It.
it. wovener and A. 11. Kiokoiseii I
"mid two Philadelphia attorneys, j
Manager Wo]IV, of tlie Hell com- ;
pady, ami President McDonald, bfi
the union, were also present.
The direct result of the injunction
upon the Majority lias been a
Hood new subscriptions, and Labor
generally has been given new and
larger sympathy. And it is by
| public.sympathy that they expect
to win their strikes.
When the editor of the Majority
reached his home at midnight
Wednesday a bill form gathered
its shape from the darkness, and
with the introduction that he was
a "United States Marshall," presented
the editor, with the compliments
of the season, an injunction
and a summons. |
The mattei; was typewritten and i
if the idea was to servo it before
that week's edition of the paper
went to press, disappointment resulted,
as the paper came oil' the
press a day earlier that week.
The. other defendants were served
printed copies Saturday. The
copies did not bear the union label.
The idjunetion has boon publish
ed in full in the daily papers and
is practically the same as the previ- <
ous restraining order against tliti
striking lineman. The present one
however, includes II. I'. Corcoran,
president of the Assembly. II. It.
...... r 'e 11...1
I ?? vw^jvi, ocvi*;ia? J ) ?> . 1. . 1 1 L'ChUI'j
chairman of the arbitration committee,
and the editor of llie
Majority.
The new clause reads as follows:
And said defendants anil each of
them, and particularly Harry it.
Corcoran, 11. 15. Wessel, T. T.
ileeker ami Walter J?. Hilton, and i
all of their confederates, associates,
aiders, abettors, servants, agents I
and employes, are hereby enjoined <
from printing, distributing, or cir- >
.culatiug, directly or indirectly, any i
matter or any hint, inuendo or in
sinuation intended to bring about
a boycott against the plaintiff or
[ in any manner to aid in making
such a boycott effective.
And the *aiiL defendants and
I eacli of tliem, aim their aiders and j
abettors, hereby restrained from '
posting, circulating, printing or!
! writing anything intended to make)
effective a boycott against tliel
I plaintiff, or to injure its business, j
land from urging, importuning.!
[ threatening, menacing or soliciting |
any of the plaintiff's suliseribers i
I to discontinue the use of the plain- |
[tiffs telephones, or in any other ;
way or milliner aiicmpuilg U) bring |
about a boycott against the plain- j
! tiffs biisines or to injure it in any
| manner whatsoever.
This preliminary injunction is
I not to take effect until the saiil
plaintiff or some responsible per!
sou for it, shall enter into a bond j
| in the peiuil sum of $2,000.00,1
I with secutity thereto satisfactory
to the clerk of this court, conditioned
that the said plaintiff shall
pay all such eosis anil damages as
are sustained by the defendants or
\ any of them by reason of said prei
liminary injunction should it here!
after be dissolved.v Service of a
I copy of this order on the defendants,
their asssoeiates, aiders anil
i abettors or any of them, shall be
j deemed and held sufficient notice
of the said injunction. The hearing
of this suit upon the question
of whether a permanent injunction
j shall be entered herein is, by coni
sent of the parties hereto, appearing
by counsel, set for the term of
i this court at Wheeling in said ilis-!
trict, commencing on the 3rd Tuesday
in September, A. I). 1907.
Enter Julv 2. 1907.
ALSTON G. DAYTON. Judge.
Much Comment.
All of the others were served j
NOT
R PUBLISH"
&
^rite^. Hint, Insinuate or
ting Injunction Served
and Officials,
Saturday andasIwlVnv, tho*trikors
assisted tlio deputy marshalls in
sorviucr thn nniuir, "
r. "" 1 IV1.TI\ I'll
*1 for cadi paper served and this
is a harvest for them, our deputy
inuldng Sdti.'i Saturday. This is .
considerably more, liy the way,
thair a striking lineman asks tor
an entire month.
A great deal of comment was
heard, aliont the new injunction,
considerable surprise bring manifested
that the Trades Assembly
should be included, for inaugurating
merely a peaceful campaign ?
and the Majority, as none remembered
of a newspaper b ing enjoined
befoWI.
What action will be taken by
the Assembly hits not. yet. been decided.
The Hoard met, Monday
evening atul the enjoined four, the
"Injunction Quartette," talked
over matters informally Wednesday,
but whether they will reply
or not has not yet boon determined.
?W heel ing M aj ori t y.
CONTRACTORS BLUFF
'CALLED BY MEN.
Wheeling Carpenters Challenge Employers
to Meet Them in
Public Debate.
W. .1. Kelly, General Organizer
for the United Urol herhood of
Carpenters and Joiners of America,
lias called the blulV of the I'arryPost
carpenter contractors in
Wheeling. They have maintained
through the daily- press, that the
men were unreasonable in their demands,
and appealed to the public
posing as the benefactors of that
public in that they were preventing
lite employes from exacting too
much for the labor.
Mr, Kelly challenged the bosses
Lo meet the men in pub ic debate
in any hull in Wheeling, both
sides to present their ease to an unprejudiced
audience, ami abide by
the verdict. Mr. Kelly olfercd to
secure the Court theatre, or any
suitable place, and pay for it, if
the employers will agree.
That this was an eminently fair
method of laying both slit s before
the public was promptly appreciated
by the public when they read
the announcement, and the failure,
to date, of the employers to accept
me challenge, has hail the expected
effect. It has. convinced the
people that the employers have
been making false claims.
ANNUAL REPORT OF
SECRETARY KIRWAN
Shows the Western Federation of
Miners to be Growing Despite
the Efforts to Kill It.
James Ivirwan, acting secretary
ol" the Western Federation of
Miners, in his annual report says
that lifty-one new locals have been
organized and a total of 15,000 new
members admitted for the year
ended March 31, 1907.
The total membership of the or
ganization on April 1 was approximately
10,000. The total receipts
of the fiscal year were $224,865
and the expenditures $190,096.
Contributions to the M oyer-1 lay
wood defense fund to April 1
amounted to $S7,7s7 and the disbursements
879,510. leaving a balance
on hand of $S,271. The
salaries of President Mover and
Secretary Haywood, $150 a month
each, have been continued while
they have been in prison in Idaho
awaiting trial on the charge of
complicity in the murder of exGovernor
Strunenberg.
"The Pinkerton Lal>or Spy"
will be given free of charge with
each paid up sulrscrption of one
yoat to The Labor Argus. Send in
your subscription at once before
the supply is exhausted.