The Northwest worker., October 28, 1915, Image 1

About The Northwest worker. (Everett, Wash.) 1915-1917

Image provided by: Washington State Library; Olympia, WA

                
DEVOTED TO THE INDUSTRIAL, POLITICAL, AND EDUCATIONAL ADVANCEMENT OF THE WORKING-CLASS
5c per ropy. $1.00 per year.
Practical Achievements of
A Socialist Commissioner
Article 11.
J. M. SALTER
Socialist Candidate for Commissioner
of Public Works
No combination of words is being
so overworked these days as that of
"economy and efficiency," or. by way
of variation, "economy without sacri
ficing efficiency." Most of the candi
dates who hope to land the position
BOW hold by Commissioner Salter nev-1
er tire of using these magic words.
Every sentence, in private conver
sation, in written communication, or
in spoken public utterance begins and
ends with the above-named words.
When pinned down and asked if!
they are inferring that Salter has not)
been efficient and economical, they!
are obliged to admit that he has
shown more efficiency and economy i
than has ever been practiced in that I
office but that they have an individ
ual system that will be more "efficient
and economical."
The article in last week's issue,:
dealing with the public works depart
ment, should be sufficient to convince j
any one that J. M. Salter is the pro
per man to continue in office. In our
next issue we will deal with Salter's
record as a councilman. One of the
most important departments under
Commissioner Salter is that of the
inspection department.
This includes the inspection of all
buildings during construction, and all
electric wiring and plumbing work I
done in the city. It is the business
of each inspector to see that work
under his line is done in accordance
with the ordinances of the city.
The city charter provides that the
city electrician Is to be appointed by
the commissioner of public works.
Salter found a competent man in
that place and as his time was fully
occupied with the care of fire and
police alarms, he turned that position
over to Commissioner Kelley under
whose department come the police and
fire departments. The deputy elec
trician whose work it was to inspect
electrical construction work was in
the habit of reporting to the city hall
once each month, namely, pay day.
The electric ordinances of the city
were completely Ignored. Unscrupu
lous contractors had an advantage In
bidding on all electric wiring work
and much of the work done was Inim
ical to life and property. Salter com
municated with the Electrical Work
ers' union, asking for a recommenda
tion of a competent man for deputy
electrician. Their choice, Mr. Vingen,
was appointed to that place. And to
the utmost satisfaction of reliable con
tractors, home owners and competent
workmen, Mr. Vingen enforced the or
dinance of the city in regard to elec
trical wiring.
Repair work on sewers showed that
Everett, in common with other cities,
was paying dearly for poor inspection
made on sewer work in the past. Com-
Everybody be there! FREE! Everett Theater, Nov. 1, BP. M.
The world-renowned orator Walter Thomas Mills, M. A., will
be principal speaker. J. M. Salter, Katherine H. Hodgins and G.
W. Carr, the socialist candidates for the three commissionerships
will be there, in fad:, everybody that can crowd in will be there
Don't Forget
That r\eiy Socialist MUST OaSthlS
or her ballot at the primaries on No
vember the L'ml.
Thai one vole has oleeted a man to
office many a lime.
That it is principles you are voting
for and not men when you vote for
Candidates endorsed by tho Socialist
party,
That It is up to YOU to boo that
your friend votes. If he or she has
intimated thai iliey will vote RIGHT.
That the polling booth closes at 8
o'clock sharp.
That the man that makes charges
against other candidates after the
sources for combating those charges
has been closed is a man to be ignored.
That your ballot is secret and that
your boss is not able to find out how
you voted.
That the minimum wage proposition
will hurt nobody but contractors.
That you MUST NOT spoil your bal
lot. Take tilings cool and do it right.
That you must only vote for one
candidate for each office, otherwise
you spoil your ballot.
That you must fold your ballot with
the number outside before handing It
to the official in charge of the ballot
box.
missioner Salter selected Mr. Van j
Dyke, who is admitted to be one of
, the best plumbers in the city, as
I plumbing inspector,
Except a few irresponsible and in
competent workmen who follow
plumbing work, every one having any
i thing to do with plumbing work is
! pleased with the impartial manner in
which the plumbing ordinance of the
city is enforced.
Under previous commissioners, the'
j building inspection was also most un
] satisfactory, or incompetent. Invest!-;
j gation showed that scores of buildings
had been erected for which no permits
had been taken out. Thousands of
dollars worth of extensions had been
made by mill owners for which per
mits had never been taken and conse
quently the city lost in fees and tax
able property.
More old unsightly and unsanitary
structures have been condemned and
torn down than ever before in a like
period.
On such questions the building In
spector, fire chief and health officer,
have acted in harmony. Something
over 80 stovepipe chimneys have been!
removed, many of which were ex
ceedingly hazardous In regard to fire.
Many changes in all the inspection or
dinances have been suggested by the
inspectors, which have been passed
by the council.
It is difficult to estimate the saving
that has been made by maintaining
an efficient and impartial inspection
service such as the city now has.
The city runs an employment office
that supplies help of all kinds. Em-;
ployers from all over the county seek!
help from the city employment office, j
This department is run in an efficient,
business-like and up-to-date manner.
With the ability Commissioner Salter
has shown as an organizer, and the ex
perience he has gained in office, It is
going to take a lot of talking to con-|
vince the voters that any one can de
liver any more efficiency or economy
than he has.
A sociologist says that "by judi
cious buying a family of five will be
able to live on $15 per week." But
with judicious voting a family of five
will be able to live on about $75 per
week.
Where ignorance brings porerty, 'tis
better to get wise.
EVERETT, WASHINGTON, Till 'I,'SDA V. OCTOBER 28, 1915
Parasites
The drones of the community— they
feed
On the lmichnnlc's labor; the starred
hind
For them compels the stubborn glebe
to yield
Its unshared harvests; and you squalid
form
Leaner than fleshlcss misery, that
wastes
a sunless life In the unwholesome
mine,
Drags out In labor a protracted
death,
To glut their granduro; many, faint
and toll
Thai few may know tho cares and
woes of wealth.
Whence, thlnk'st thou, kings and
parasites arose?
Whence that unnatural lino of drones
■who heap
Toll and unvanqulshed penury '
i On these who build their palaces and
[ tiring
Their daily'bread?
Commerce has set tho mark of sel
fishness
The signet of Its all enslaving power
Upon a shining ore, and calling It
gold;
Before Its Image bow the vulgar great,
The vainly rich, the miserable proud.
• Even as slaves by force or famine
driven
Beneath a vulgar master, to perform
A task of cold and brutal drudgery—
! Hardened to hope, Insensible to fear.
Mere wheels of work and articles of
trade,
That grace the proud and noisy pomp
of wealth.
—From Shelley's "Queen Mab."
The Changed Woman
Knows Her Need
By Bertha H. Mailly
When, by the change in industrial
methods in the eighteenth and nine
-1 teenth centuries, the door of the home
opened and woman crossed its thres
hold, not of her own accord, but pull
j ed by the profit-making power of the
new machines, she entered upon a
path which she was never more to re
trace. Not only the interests of the
I masters of the machines beckoned her
on, but her own changing thought
built barriers behind. The road was
! full of painful obstacles, but it was
out In the open air and stretched to
| ward the broad plains of democracy,
of thought and activity. Now, she is
once for all out, and, however you
may wish it, you cannot send her
back.
Unconscious forces have developed
aggressive qualities of intelligence in
the woman worker. By having to com
pete with other workers to get a job
, she learns self-reliance; by earning
j wages to support herself she acquires
a desire for economic independence;
by competition to hold her job her
wits are sharpened; by having to fight
for the least measure of decent treat
ment and a living wage she becomes
courageous, and by working In groups
there shortly springs up in her a
. strong social sense.
Inevitably, in the cource of her in
dustrial career, there comes a crisis,
j a strike, and from the midst of strik-
I ing groups of girls there arises one
j or more of pre-eminent executive abil
ity. In the old days such a one would
have been a good housekeeper. Then
all were housekeepers, better or
worse, but all housekeepers. Today,
she leads a group of, perhaps, five
thousand girls to victory. The strike
has developed initiative, executive,
ability, class consciousness, discipline
and self-control. Then, logically and
inevitably, the girl workers become
aware that what is to the advantage
of their fellow men workers Is to their
T HE
0. W. CARR
For Commissioner of Public Health
and Safety
(i. W. Carr is a candidate for an
office thai i» of vital Importance to
the workers of Everett. Working con
ditions in America are getting worse.
Strikes, lockouts and boycotts will be
more mirnerouß in the future than In
the past. The workers everywhere
are demanding more of what they pro
duce. Big business will stubbornly
fight every inch of the way. They
will use the power of the state to bum
■it and beat the workers. They are
doing it in dozens of cities today.
Worker! by the hundreds, aye, and by
the thousands, have been driven back
into the factories, mills and mines, on
the masters' terms, to sweat and toil
under conditions that even the negro
slave owner would not tolerate. Wher
ever the Socialists were not in pow
er, the police force has been used to
intimidate and club fie workers into
I subjection.
G. W. Carr is the workers' candi
date. He haa levoilka these many
years at a system that (rings riches to
the few and poverty i.and misery to
the many. His whop being rebels
against the cruelties aid injustices per
petrated upon his class —the working
class. He has suffered what his class
has suffered. He has groaned when
his class has groaned under the lash
of poverty and unemployment. And
when given the opportunity to do for
his fellow workers what the masters
and their henchmen would not do, he
has responded nobly, and will re
spond again.
Working-men and women, if you
want a fair deal in the struggles that
must take place, then see to it that
a member of your dabs, who will un
flinchingly stand by your class,
through thick and thin, is in the posi
tion where ho will do the most good;
namely, Commissioner of Public
Health and Safety.
CONGRESS IGNORES
CHILDREN'S PLIGHT
No fledgling feeds the father bird!
No chicken feeds the hen!
No kitten mouses for the cat —
This glory is for men.
We are the wisest; Strongest Race —
Loud may our praise be sung!
The only animal alive
That lives upon Its young.
—Charlotte Perkins Gilman.
Vote for those who will ACT for
you. If you are a millionaire, don't
vote the Socialist ticket, if you are
a worker—vote for yourself, through
the Socialist ballot!
Back of the claim for the ballot by
women lies the ciaira to do the serv
ice of humanity—Baltimore American.
advantage; that industrial organiza
tion protects them to a certain extent,
but that permanent advantage can
be secured only by legislative power.
Socialist Victories
Following fire the victories gained
by the Socialists during the last year.
Besides those mentioned are thou
sands of small offices In country dis
tricts:
One congressman from New York.
Thirty-one state legislators, as fol
lows: California 2, Idaho 1, Illinois 2,
Kansas 2, Massachusetts 1, Minneso
ta 2, Montana 2, New Mexico 1, Ne
vada I, Oklahoma C, Pennsylvania 1,
Utah 1, Wisconsin 9.
Twenty Socialist mayors, as fol
lows: Avery, Iowa; Star City, W. Va.;
IJalodon, N. J.; Eureka, Cal.; Fort
Cobb, Okla,; Riverton, 111.; Torino,
111.; Kreks, Okla.; Cleveland, Okla.;
Conneaut, O.; Eau Clalr, Wis.; Bern
idji, Minn.; Hamilton, 0.; Hltetnan,
Iowa; Ridgoway, W. Va,; Coshocton,
Ohio.
Socialist Congressmen in Foreign
Countries:
Argentina 9, Australia 41, Austria
82, Belgium 40, Bulgaria 20, Denmark
86, Finland 90, Franco 102, Germany
111, Great Britain 7, Holland 19, Italy
79, Luxemburg 7, New Zealand 4, Nor
way 23, Portugal 1, Russia 16, Servia
2, South Africa 7, Spain 1, Sweden
87, Switzerland 15, Turkey 6, United
States 1, Uruguay 1.
THE GROWTH OF SOCIALISM:
In Washington, for President
1904 . 7,420
1908 . 14,177
,1912 (woman suffrage) 40,134
In U. S., for President—
1900 96,931
1904 . 408,230
1908 424,488
1912 901,062
In the whole world —
1887 845,500
1892 2,747,723
1903 5,952,494
1911 8,034,221
TWELVE GIRLS PERISH
Twelve girls and one man were
killed and eight girls seriously in
jured in a Pittsburgh paper box fac
tory fire. Another repetition of the
Triangle fire, and of hundreds of the
same character since, and still fac
tories that are fire traps will be used
by profit-hungry capitalists in order
to grind profits out of their slaves.
How long, Mr. and Mrs. Voter, will
you stand for a system that kills,
burns, cripples and shatters by dis
ease thousands of lives every week?
How long will you stand for a sys
tem that makes a girl choose between
low wage sweat shop work or the
red light district? How long will
you stand for a system that forces
such girls as Viola Udall to such des
perate deeds in order to provide a
miserable existence? The power is
in your hands. You and your class
may make life a paradise or a hell.
YOU'LL HEAR MEN SAY
"There is a lot about Socialism I
like, but there are so many other
things that are objectionable that I
am against it as a whole." Pin one
of these fellows down to a statement
of just one of the features to which
he objects and nine cases out of ten
it turns out to be something not in
cluded in the Socialist program at all.
He has simply absorbed some of the
misinformation that the capitalist edi
tors and writers sit up nights to
think out and then- circulate. In con
sequence he Is opposing something
he thinks is Socialism but is not and
never was. It is this that makes it
so important that we should have
more trained workers and teachers in
the field. Thousands of them are
needed.
When man compares himself with
woman, he usually identifies himself
more or less unconsciously, with the
highest male intellects, with the men
of genius in art and science, and com
plaisantly ignores the crowd of idiots
of his own sex.—Dr. A. Porel.
3ULIALI Jlf \ f of PLENTY
[ By KATHERINE H. HODGlNS ******
> Candidate for Commissioner of Finance
KATHERINE H. HOOGINS
Socialist Candidate for Commissioner
of Finance
I was walking down Hewitt avenue
some months ago, when I met a wom
an whom I had not seen for some
time. We taiked for a few minutes,
and the subject of hard times was
brought up. She mentioned sundry
things she wantsd to buy, but which
she could not afford. Of course I
presented the Socialist viewpoint of
present conditions, mentioning the
poverty and want that was apparent
on every hand in a land of plenty,
and she heaved a sigh and said,
"Well, I suppose WE WILL ALL
HAVE TO COME DOWN TO SO
CIALISM BEFORE LONG."
Think of anyone talking about
"coming down" to the most splendid
and inspiring movement that the hu
man race has known!
But this woman, like millions of
others, does not understand.
For Socialism is, above all other
things, a gospel of uplift, of plenty.
Capitalism is, on the other hand, a
gospel of suppression, of saving, of
penuriousness.
And it is taught in our schools,
from the baby grades up. Is it not?
"A penny saved is a penny gained."
"Take care of the pennies and the
dollars will take care of themselves."
"Every little helps."
I remember one lesson In particular
in one of my old school readers, —a
long, tiresome lesson it was, —about
a boy who once saved a piece of
string. And I distinctly recall a num
ber of lessons and mottoes, portray
ing the beauties and blessings of pov
erty.
So do you.
And the ruling-class are having the
same maxims of self-deprivation
taught today.
They must, for capitalism is essen
tially a gospel of poverty FOR THE
MASSES.
Not long ago a pupil in a class in
domestic economy was telling me
about the work that was being done.
And among other things was the
learning how to make a breakfast for
six, on I have forgotten how many
cents, but it was about enough to pro
vide one person of ordinary appetite
with really first-class food if the per
son were not SO VERY hungry.
We all know that the life of the
average wage worker's family is a
life of the most grinding frugality.
Even the reports prepared by the gov
ernment prove that beyond a ques
tion. Their whole lives become cen
tered into one overpowering thought
CIRCULATION
6,987
BOOST FOR 10,000
—how to make the meager wage do
the greatest service. Them is a con
stant and sickening dread of addition
al expense. The children grow up
with neglected teeth, uncorrected eye
defects, with poorly clad bodies and,
on the whole, with a stinted, stunted,
cheap conception of life.
Writers and speakers are constant
ly dwelling upon the sacredness of
motherhood, the beauty of home life,
and all that, But I, for one, cannot
see how a woman can get much of
REAL LIFE when almost every mo
ment of her time, day and night, is
taken up with devising methods of
economy, the making over of old
clothes, darning and mending worn
out garments and planning stingy
meals. In short, making one dollar
do the work of three.
In many homes the final giving out
of a pair of child's shoes is almost a
tragedy. I have known more than
one child who feared to let his father
[know that his shoes were worn out, —
so afraid as to shed bitter tears.
The capitalist press ably supple
ments this philosophy that makes a
virtue of abstinence.
It is one of their reasons for exist
ing.—to keep the masses contented
and happy on next to nothing.
A Chicago paper devotes a depart
ment to the discussion of methods of
economy.
The women's magazines are full of
it.
How to make a cake without eggs.
How to j save the price of a real
lunch by icarrying- a hard-boiled egg
and a sandwich in a lunch box that
looks like a music roll.
How to substitute oleomargarine
and cotton seed oil for butter.
How to mend your table linen so
that it won't be noticed.
How to make over your last year's
hat.
How to turn your curtains top-to
bottom, and your sheets from the
outer edges in.
A duchess, or a countess, or
something, wrote a long magazine ar
ticle a few years ago that caused
much comment. It told how a most
"nourishing" soup could be made from
some kind of grass.
For the writer and her class?
Oh, my, no!
For the great army of wage earn
ers—FOß THE HERD.
Keep a pig to drink the dish-water
and a chicken to pick up the table
crumbs, is the whole philosophy of
capitalist skimpiness in a nut shell—
FOR THE MASSES.
Even in homes somewhat above the
average, the homes of the so-called
better classes, the small exploiters
and professionals, what is the most
noticeable feature?
Extreme frugality, not to say ac
tual poverty,
And many of them continue to vote
for it year after year.
Now come with me, in imagination,
to the homes of the real capitalists—
into the homes of the big exploiters
to whom the capitalist system Means
Something.
There you will find large beautiful
rooms, with polished floors, covered
with handsome Turkish rugs. Beau
tiful pictures, costly, elegant furnish
ings designed for use and genuine
comfort. A full and unstinted larder.
Exquisitely appointed sleeping rooms
having every comfort and convenience
that can be devised. Bath rooms of
marble, pure white, with every ex
pensive equipment. Elegant clothing.
(Continued on page 4)
No. 251