The Idaho Springs siftings-news., October 10, 1908, Image 8

About The Idaho Springs siftings-news. (Idaho Springs, Colo.) 1905-19??

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Labor Demand
in Colorado
PROSPEROUS TIMES FOR THE
WAGE-EARNER.
“We could use 300 laboring men to
day If we had them." said a represen
tall ve of the Eastern Colorado Power
Company today," in discussing the
present demand for employes on the
part of power companies and railroads
In this section of the country.
"We are now shipping men daily to
our power projects at Shoshone, ten
miles from Glen wood Springs and Sul
phide, in northern Colorado. At pres
ent It is extremely difficult to get the
cumber of men we desire for this work
and the came difficulty is being exper
ienced by other |»ower companies and
railroads.
“I have no doubt.” he continued,
"that 2,000 men could procure work
In this part of the country today if
they were available. Kilpatrick Bros,
ft Collins, whose headquarters are at
Beatrice, Neb , are doing track work
for the Union Pacific railroad in Wyom
ing, Nebraska and Kansas and 1 under
stand their need of men is very great.
The same is true of Maney Bros., con
tractors now working in Nevada, on
the Western Pacific railroad; we have
reports to the effect that they could
use one thousand men on this work.
“If the proposed Semper dam, near
Denver, upon which bids are now being
received, is contracted for soon, this
will furnish work for fully another
thousand men. This demand for labor
has been felt upon the part of power
companies and railroads for some
weeks past and there lias never been a
time in Colorado since the worst per
iod of last winter when men were not
required. Most of these great enter
prises have been able to keep going at
ail times and have supplied work for
eastern laboring men coming this way
for employment."
It can scarcely be said at the pres
ent time that there is an actual labor
shortage, although the demand for
working men is very brisk. The spec
ial class of work for which the power
companies and railroads need men is a
little more difficult to find men for. but
the pay is from $1.73 to $2.00 per day
and there is no necessity for men be-
ing out of employment. At tin* same
time there will perhaps be a shortage
of labor in the near future, as hundreds
of men are now going into the beet
fields to harvest the crop which is just
■it u ring.
The beet crop this year so far as the
Individual grower is concerned is not
quite what it was last year, but in the
aggregate it is fully as large as there
are many more growers in the business
this year, which will bring the yield
fully up to the normal.
There is also a constant demand for
men at the present time to work in the
coal mines and smelters now operating,
and men desiring that class of labor
have little difficulty in obtaining work
In due lime after application is made.
Aside from the great projects of
the eastern Colorado Power Company
and the various railroads, there are
any number of important irrigation
projects constantly demanding men.
Near Canon City a large force of
workmen is being employed in the
construction work at Royal Gorge and
Innumerable irrigation projects in the
Grand valley. llncompaghre valley
and other parts of the western and
central portions of Colorado are in ac
tive operation.
With reference to the demands of
the various railroads seeking men, one
of the staff of the engineering de
partment of the Moffat railroad, who
has been making a special investiga
tion of the labor situation, said today:
“The Union Pacific railroad. Bur
llngton railroad, Colorado & Southern.
Western Pacific. Denver, Northwestern
ft Laramie and Moffat railroads have
all been using all the men they could
find during the last two months and
are now on the lookout with special
employment agents for practically all
the men they can find seeking work.
Ihe railroads are offering $1.75 for
foreigners and $2.00 per day for Ameri
can laboring men.
"Denver has been completely
scoured for available laboring men and
at the present time there are very
few to be had. Colorado & Southern
recently sent between three and four
hundred men to Texas to work on the
Fort Worth & Denver City railroad.
More men are required by this road
for Texas lines and are being sent
there as they apply for employment."
This report has been fully confirmed
by representatives of the various rail
roads, so there can be no ioubt of
their actual needs at the present
time.
Employment agents in Denver arc
having a constantly increasing demand
for laboring men in all lines and have
difficulty in finding them. The propri
etor of the Star Employment Agency-
In Denver, said the other day: "I
could find places for 250 men today
If I could lay my hands on them. The
demand is chiefly from railroads and
power companies, but other industries
are also sending up tho call for more
help and in a short time, particularly
when the beet fields are in i ill opera
tion, there will be the very greatest
difficulty In finding workmen."
From this it may be seen that there
are few remaining traces of the re
cent financial depression and the
credit must be given for this to th3
stability of the Republican aJministra
tions in both state and nation in bring
ing about a speedy return of confi
dence. The situation is a marked
contrast with the prolonged depression
of the nineties, which had its incep
tion early in the last Democratic na
tional administration.
APATHY OF DEMOCRATS.
A Sample of 'Bryan Enthusiasm” in
Colorado.
On August 9, 1908, the Rocky Moun
tain News male a front page appeal
to the Democrats of Colorado to send
in contributions, however small, to the
Bryan campaign fund. There has been
a great deal of fuss about this Bryan
fund, the Great Commoner having an
nouneed his intention of keeping it
clean and unsullied. No corporation
dollars for him!
The result Is as painful as it is
amusing. Up to the present time (Oc
tober 2d), the 79,uO0 Democrats of
Colorado who voted two years ago,
have contributed the sum of $11,570.35
to aid the cause of their peerless
leader- - less than 14 cents per Demo
crat.
But this is not all. A closer inspec
tion of the list of contributors, as
printed from day to day in the Rocky
Mountain News, reveals the fact that
the corporations, after all. are determ
ined not to be baffled. Their contri
butions are quite evident to the initi
ated. though they may appear to be hid
den under the names of candidates and
party workers.
The very first contribution published
is $5,000 by Charles J. Hughes, Jr.
Democratic candidate for United
States senator. Yet he is a corpora
tion man, pure and simple, and has
been repeatedly assailed as such in the
Patterson papers. Thus almost half of
the entire amount realized conies from
a corporation candidate and goes iner
rilv into the uncorrupted Bryan fund
This is bad enough, to be sure, but
further inspection of the list brings
other interesting revelations. All of
the larger contributions, in sums rang
ing from $10 up to $1,000. are from can
didates. prominent party men. former
office holders and others equally ex
pectant of future honors or grateful
for past favors. Former Governor
John E. Osborne of Wyoming contri
butes $1,000; T M. Patterson, the mil
lionaire publisher and friend of Mr
Bryan, contributes $500; Charles S.
Thomas, another former governor,
conies in with $500; “HonestJohn'
Shaffroth, present Democratic candi
date for governor, gives $500; W. A.
Hill and M. S. Bailey, candidates for
the Supreme bench, give $250 each and
other nominees and prominent Demo
crats give sums of varying size, down
to sums of $5 and #10 each.
Now for some totals. Adding every
dollar contributed from party work
ers and the present candidates for of
fice, makes the sum of $10,770. The
entire amount collected is only $11.-
570.35, which leaves but $S00.35 con
tributed by the real "Common People,”
approximately one cent apiece from
the Democratic voters of the state.
What is wrong with the Bryan en
thusiasm in Colorado? The appeal of
the Patterson pajiers was addressed to
the masses and not the party leaders
and corporation candidates. The head
lines of the News in its original appeal
read: “Democrats, Send Your Mites
for Bryan Fund to the News. Com
nioner Relies on Masses for Contribu
tions to Pay Expenses of Campaign.
Every Democratic voter was asked
to contribute $1 to the cause of the
Peerless One, yet the sum realized rep
resents only about a cent apiece from
disinterested people, who cannot he
identified in the hurry of the moment.
What is true of the Bryan fund in
Colorado is apparently true in other
parts of the country. The list of con
tributions throughout the country a'
large was printed in the News, and
shows that the Colorado contributions
lead all the rest. Only $84,097.94 has
been realized in the entire United
States, and from the itemized list it is
evident that Democratic candidates,
past recipients, etc., etc., are less gen
erous elsewhere than they are in Col
orado.
It is evident that enthusiasm for the
Democratic War Eagle from I incoln
is sadly waning when the "Common
People" refuse to contribute, with a
chance of having their names printed
on the front page of the Rocky Moun
tain News thrown in.
And the net result is that with two
months effort of the News, with front
page red ink appeals, it has induced
only 235 of the "Common People” to
contribute "mites" from 25 cents to
$lO each, making a total of $800.35, or
an average of one cent per voter, based
on the last election. If it takes two
months to get 235 "Common People"
to contribute $800.35, how long will it
take to arouse the other 78,765 Demo
crats to the point of digging up a quar
ter to the cause of the Peerless One?
HON. A. R. KING.
Republican Candidate for Supreme Court—Eight-Year Term.
Mr. King of Delta is the fourth nomi
nee of the Republican party for the Su
preme bench. He is a strong candid;-.te,
enjoying the love and esteem of the t n
tire Western Slope. He will prove a
worthy successor to the late Justice
Caswell.
STATE INSURANCE DEPARTMENT.
Splendid Record Under Republican,
Administration.
The State Insurance Department is
one of the mos* important at the state
capitol. It represents the first attempt
of the people to regulate corporations.
It has been in existence for twenty
five years, but it has only been for 'ln
past two or three years that any n'
tempt has been made to strictly an !
vigorously supervise the insurance
companies doing business in Colorado j
The importance of the work of t he j
department can be appreciated by the
fact that there are 180,000 policies or
death certificates now outstanding in
the state, not to mention people who
carry fire and other forms of insur
ance. This means that the policy hold
ers and their direct beneficiaries in
this state number easily 500,000 people.
The Insurance department under
takes the gigantic task of seeing that
the legacies which the insurance com
panies promise these people shall be
paid. It also undertakes to prevent
the operation of fake insurance com
panies and schemes, and to eliminate
dishonest agents as fast as they can
be discovert.! by revoking their li
censes
The success of the insurance de
partment under the present Republi
can administration in driving out irre
sponsible and fraudulent insurance
companies and schemes is not only
well-known throughout the state, but
has attracted attention throughout the
United States.
Colorado insurance laws passed at
the last session by the Republican
legislature were drawn up by Commis
sioner E. E. Rittonhouse and have so
successfully stood the analysis of em
inent lawyers and the tests of the
courts that these laws are known
throughout the country as the "Colo
rado Model Code." But these splendid
laws would be of no value if they were
not enforced. To enforce rigid super
visory laws over great corporations Is
not always an easy thing to do because
such violators of the state laws or reg
ulations have immense sums of mon
ey available to fight the commissioner
who undertakes such enforcement, In
•he courts and even in politics.
The State Insurance Department has
not only protected policyholders and
the honest agents from irresponsible
concerns, but it has compelled the re
sponsible and solvent companies to
practice proper methods in Colorado.
Furthermore, the Colorado Insurance
Department has Invited every citizen
of the state who has a grievance, or
thinks he has, against an insurance
company, or an insurance agent, in the
settlement or adjustment of a claim to
bring his grievance to the department
to have it investigated. This has en
tailed an enormous amount of work,
but it has proven a great boon and ser
vice to poor people who have not been
able to employ lawyers to tell them
what their rights were under their con
tracts, which as a rule are very compli
cated.
There is not another insurance de
partment in the country that has the
courage to advertise for trouble and
extra work of this kind.
The insurance department has been
operated, and will continue to be op
Mr. King has long been identified
with the upbuilding of the state, espec
ially of that section of the state, taking
a keen interest in the business and
educational advancement of • stern
Colorado. He is a big scholarly man
and will undoubtedly draw many votes
from all parties.
erated, if the Republicans win iu the
coming election, solely in the interes*
of the policyholders and w ithout doing
w rong or injustice to the insurance
companies.
A vote for McDonald and the Repub
Mean ticket is a vote to continue this
kind of administration in all state af
fairs.
Every voter who has an insurance
I*>licy owes it to himself and his ben
eficiaries to vote the Republican tick
et straight, which guarantees him pro
tection against wrong-doing by insur
ance companies.
MCDONALD'S SEAT STOLEN.
The “Big Mitt" Stole Jesse F. McDon
ald's Seat in the Legislature
In 1902.
It will be well for every Republican
in Colorado to remember that the same
bogus votes that sent John Shafroth
to Congress sent fifteen fraudulently
elected Democratic representatives
and senators to the Colorado state
assembly.
The frauds by which these Demo
crats were elected were well-known.
The Republican members of the house
Investigated them and undertook to un
seat fifteen Democrats who were not
elected.
The fact that they were right in at
tempting to do this was fully demon
strated by the examination of the same
ballots which fraudulently elected
"Honestjohn" Shafroth because Shaf
roth's name and all the other Demo
cratic candidates, including file fifteen
legislators, were on the same ballot.
Six thousand of these ballots were
found to have been written by not to
exceed ten persons.
The Democrats had control of the
state senate and they served notice
upon the Republicans in the house in
the usual Democratic way that for ev
ery members of this fraudulently
elected Denver delegation unseated in
the house, two Republican senators
would be unseated by the senate.
They carried out their threat and
threw out Senator Jesse F. McDonald
of Leadville and Senator Dick of Huer
fano with absolutely no excuse except
“political expediency.” They even had
the nerve to advise Senator McDonald
not to spend any money In contesting
because he would get thrown out any
way. John Shafroth stood for this
theft of Senator McDonald’s seat; he
stood for all the crooked work of the
“Big Mitt” and we have the right to
think that he would do so again if he
could again gain anything political
thereby.
BRYAN STANDS BY OLD ISSUES
Conservative Democrats are being
told that Colonel Bryan has dropped
all the old radical issues upon which
he has been defeated in the past; but
this is what he said after the last cam
paign:
“I have made no attempt to conceal
my views on the money question. I
would be unworthy of your confidence
If I changed my mind over to suit
every occasion and in order to win
votes. If I should surrender my Ideas
on silver to necome President, I might
as well surrender my Ideas on trusts,
imperialism and militarism.”
THE PROPER REMEDIES.
It is human nature to seek new rem
edies instead of doing necessary work
thoroughly. Where banking is con
ducted most conservatively, no new
patent medicine finance is demanded.
In states which know the fewest fail
ures there is no demand for the Okla
homa plan. No demand from them
for a loose system of encouragement
to weak and wild banking! If Mr.
Bryan wishes to invent a device by
which he should weaken himself with
every clear-headed man, he has dis
covered a worthy successor to free sil
ver. Mr. Root spoke with fairness
when he said:
“This is another patent financial
nostrum, advertised to catch the fancy
of the multitude; and it should be sup
pressed under the pure food law until
it is correctly labeled ‘a measure to
compel legitimate business to bear the
risks of speculation.’ ”
Our currency needs improvement,
and we now have a national currency
commission, which, if the politicians
and political exigencies permit, may
be expected to meet those needs. A
still more important remedy lies ready
to our hand. Let us have sound laws,
but let us especially appoint inspectors
not for political insideness, but for
honesty and knowledge, and we shall
discover that financial health is better
than Mr. Bryan's guaranteed dope.
Taking Peruna is easier than keeping
in condition, but in the long run it is
less effective. —Collier's Weekly.
Making a Virtue of Necessity.
But the fact remains that “Honest
John” was the beneficiary of the dis
honor of others. His seat in Congress
was acquired by the operations of the
notorious Big Mitt gang, which flour
ished in Denver a few years ago, and
which was permanently retired from
business by the State Supreme Court.
It is perfectly safe to say that no
worse election frauds than those of the
Big Witters have been committed any
where in this country, and Mr. Shaf
roth knew, just as everybody else
knew, that they were committed, and
furthermore that they were committed
in his behalf.
Yet, he refused to give up his seat
and yielded only after his opponent,
Mr. Bonynge. had filed a contest be
fore the House Committee on Elections
and conducted a series of exhaustive
investigations which proved beyond
the possibility of a doubt that Mr.
Shafroth’s title as congressman was
based on fraud. When it became clear
that the committee intended to oust
him and seat Mr. Bonynge, Mr. Shaf
roth made a virtue of necessity and
in a dramatic speech in the House de
dared that he could not and would
not profit by fraud —then he made a
quick get-away. Hence, the title,
"Honest John," a title which would be
more appropriate if its wearer had not
hung on to his seat as long as he
could.
Mr. Shafroth is without executive
experience, and his record in Congress
does not commend him as a man of
extraordinary ability. Mr. McDonald
is vastly better fitted in every way to
discharge the exacting duties of the
governorship, a fact which is so well
known to the people that hist election
by a big majority is hardly a matter
of doubt. —Colorado Springs Gazette
Hnd.)
Those familiar with the Increasing
needs of the school children of Colo
rado are well acquainted with the
methods of Miss Katherine L. Craig,
who has efficiently presided as state
superintendent of public instruction
for the past four years.
She is the daughter of pioneer Colo
rado parents and has always claimed
*Jefferson county as her home. She
was connected with the schools of Salt
KATHERINE L. CRAIG,
Republican Candidate for Btate Super*
intendent of Public Instruction.
Lake City for four years and taught in
the Denver schools several years be
fore her election to office.
Those familiar with her work as su
perintendent of public instruction,rec
ognize her as a progressive, broad
minded woman, in touch with the best
thought and latest methods in peda
gogy.
Taft on
Colorado Issues
SPEAKS FREELY ON SUBJECTS oft
IMPORTANCE.
On his recent visit to Colorado Judge
Taft took occasion to puzzle his crit
ics and enlighten all concerned by
some pointed remarks regarding mat
ters of particular interest to Colorado
people. He was frank and convincing
and left no doubt as to the commen
dable attitude of the Republican party
on questions of moment here.
This is the concise manner in which
Judge Taft stated his views on the
sugar question at Greeley:
“I understand you are interested
here a good deal in beet sugar, and I
also understand that some people ha\.j
intimated that I was against beet su
gar. 1 deny it.
“I would not do anything that would
injure the beet industry in any way,
and the Republican platform pledges
the Republican party to take no action
which will not leave adequate protec
tion for the beet sugar interests.
"But I call your attention to the fact
that sugar is a trust made product, and
that if Mr. Bryan becomes President
and has control of the legislation, ho
proposes to put sugar on the free lisdfe
because it is a trust made product*
Now mat is the character of remedy
that he proposes to give to the trusts.
“We say to regulate the trusts, to
stamp out their evil, but not to pun
ish the innocent with the guilty—not,
in order to bring the sugar trust within
the law, to destroy the farmers who
raise beet sugar, the men who work
in the beet sugar factories and the in
nocent beet sugar producers.”
Judge Taft paid some attention to
Mr. Gompers and the labor question.
The following is what he said:
“I am coming now to a question
which perhaps I ought to treat from a
somewhat personal standpoint, to-wit.
that of whether labor ought to vote
against me. I am told that they have
been told that I was an enemy of labor.
They have been fed that doctrine
through Mr. Samuel Gompers, who has
delivered over all the labor vote in the
United States, taking it wit of his pock
et and putting it into Mr. Bryan's
pocket.
“What I am anxious to do is to get
a little of the labor left over that
won't go into the pocket of either gen
tleman. My impression is that the
laboring men of this country, like other
citizens of this country—and I hate
to distinguish between the two, for
really we haven’t classes—the laboring -
man of this generation is the million- *
aI re of the next, and the millionaires
son of the next may be a laboring man
of the next, and so it ought to be. They
propose to vote, or Mr. Gompers pro
poses to have them vote for Mr. Bryan
on the theory that Mr. Bryan and the
Democratic party are the real friends
of labor.
“When you are making a selection of
an agent, when yon are deciding to
favor one side or the other, ordinarily
you look to see what has been done by
them in the past. That is a very good
proposition. I believe the judgment
by record as good as any Judgment
that we can have. If any friend of Mr.
Bryan or Mr. Gompers would point me
to a single line of legislation on the fed
eral statute books passed by the Demo
cratic party when in power, in the in
terest of labor, I shall be glad to hare
him do so. Mr. Bryan was twice a Con
gressman, served two terms, and if
any measure was proposed by him in
the interest of labor 1 should be glad to
have it.”
Speaking on the tariff question in
Denver, Judge Taft made a few re
marks. The following paragraph is
typical of his views on the subject:
“Mr. Bryan says he is going to revise
the tariff in a form. The Republican
party can be trusted to carry out its
platform declaration and bold a special
session for the purpose after March
4 th. The Democrats promise you a
gradual reduction to tariff for revenue
only. You tried that sixteen years
ago. Do you remember the nightmare
the farmers look back at? Ah, hut It
is to be gradual this time. They are
not going to cut the limbs all at once.
They are going to cut a leg or an arm
off every two years. How much do
you think such a practice would contri
bute to the commercial peace of the
nation? We need more than anything
else confidence and if we have a restor
ation of confidence we can depend on a
return of the prosperity which the
country enjoyed uninterruptedly for
twelve years.
An example of Mr. Bryan’s wisdom
and statesmanship is found in an ut
terance of his on the floor of the House
July 9,1892, when be arose in his place
and said:
“Mr. Speaker, I believe in a suffi
cient navy; we have this now either in
existence or in construction; we do
not need more.” The American peo
ple took his Advice—in the usual way
—and promptly doubled the aise of the
navy.