WOWMEN'8
ADVOCATE,
If
gcw Jlaucn, Connecticut, utuvd;ui, .ittavch 10, 1887
Wvltt 3 Cents
Hi
G. M. WS "RETORT.
IMPUDENT CRITICS SHOULD
BE EXPELLED.
Fault-finders Anarchists No Money
Squandered -The Result of
Confiding Too Much in
the Capitalist Press.
Timely Hint.
As usual the labor press has to
rely upon the capitalistic press for
information as to the doings of a
"secret" labor organization, not
withstanding frequent suggestions to
the interested parties to furnish re
liable and correct news to the labor
papers first. The following pur
ports to be the refutation of alleged
strictures made by labor papers on
the doings of the General Executive
Board of the Noble Order of Knights
of Labor, in the matter of the pur
chase of the new headquarters for
the Board in Philadelphia, a beauti
ful house which was bought after due
consideration for 145,01)0, and is
said by the Board to be worth $80,
000. Mr. Powderly according to a
New York capitalistic sheet, says:
"The charge made that 'the Gen
eral Executive Board has squandered
the funds of the order in a reckless
purchase of a palace among capitalists
and nabobs, etc.',' is silly when it
appears in a paper published in the
interest of capital; but when a labor
plays parrot and picks up such a cry
and repeats it before ascertaining
whether it is true or false it becomes
criminal.
"Those who find the most fault
with us are men of Anarchistic ten
dencies. They are constantly assert
ing that the palaces of the rich
belong to the poor, and when the
poor step in where 'capital goes out
they still keep up their whine and
attempt to stir up discord. Nothing
crates so much distrust in a work
ingman's society as to charge that
the funds have be misappropriated
or squandered ; and it was with the
intention of creating dissension that
the howl went up against the pur
chase of the headquarters. We were
ordered to do it, and it was well
done it was honestly done. I ask
where an editor of a paper who has
published an attack on the General
Executive Board for the purchase of
the,headquarters, belong to the order
he be allowed to appoint an investi
gating committee to examine the
Philadelphia property.and if he linds
that I have made a misstatement he
need not retract what he has pub
lished; if he finds that he was wrong
he must retract or be expelled from
the order. The assemblies to which
these men belong should act prompt
ly in the matter. .
If the publication of these criti
cisms and refutations will open the
eyes of the Executive Board and sug
gest to them the propriety of making
the labor press acquainted with the
real facta instead of trusting to the
capitalist press, it will have accom
plished a good purpose.
FOOLKILLER AHOY!
What Workiiiffnien One to Their
Bosses Respect J Hats Off!
A giant of fossilized intellect in
habits Montreal. He edits a "labor
paper" called the Canadian Work
man. We do not often run afoul of
a copy of this paper, but when the
wind blows one of them in onr di
rection we feel like giving it the at
tention which it deserves. Below
are a few q notations from a recent
editions:
"You owe to your employer your lest
abilities, your whole time (during work
ing hours)."
Yes, indeed S You owe to your
employer everything even your
Tery existence. If you! employer
wills that you cease to exist, he dis
charges you and that wettles it. If
you happen to be unable to get an
other job, you cease to exist; vulgar
ly speaking starve. You cannot
be too considerate in the matter of
your employer's interests. Study
them; recall how much you owe to
him. Your food, your clothing,
the privilege to get married and ac
cumulate a family. And while you
are about it, don't forget the land
lord and what you owe to him for
for the permission to remain on the
surface of the earth. The rent is
not all; you must figure to retain
his good will. If all the landlords
should combine and refuse you a
resting place, you would be com
pelled to go to the end of the earth
and jump off. Yes, you are in debt
hotly and soul to your employer.
"You want to improve your position,
to earn more wages; therefore you must
render yourself more valuable to your
employer by devoting all your time and
talents to his interests. Then, if lie will
not pay you better, someone else will.
Make yourself valuable to your employer
ami it will pav him to retain your ser
viced, if he has to increase your wages
to do so."
Yery good advice ! Make yourself
invaluable to your employer. Seek
out new devices to improve his bus
iness. ' Make his interests your
own. After you have introduced a
new system and gotten it into work
ing order, he will discharge you and
hire a boy who lives with his parents
to take your place at three dollars
per week. But don't let little things
like that, discourage you. Yirtue
is its own reward. The happy con
sciousness of having done your duty,
and the prospects of a homo in
Heaven will compensate for any
meals which you may inadvertently
miss on this mundane sphere.
"Be respectful to you employer, both
in his presence and in his absence; then
you will win his respect and that of your
fellow-workmen."
Good again ! Here is a pleasing
addition in the shape of poetry, to
which we would respectfully direct
the attention of the workingmen.
TO MY KMI'LOVKIl:
Tis for thee that 1 work, and for thee
that 1 pray;
Dream of thee ly night, and serve tlee
by day.
We think this will be about the
size of the "giant of Canadan intel
lect." Respect your employer.
BetrosjH'Ct him, aspect him, inspect
him, and above all, suspect him, in
addition yon can't bring too many
"specs'' to bear upon him. Up aloft
there sits a foolkiller who, tradition
says, descends periodically and takes
off the more monumental imbeciles
who mar the triumphal forward
march of humanity. Do you wish
to make his acquaintance? When
you imbibe the idea that your em
ployer respects you he will certainly
give you a call. Respect is a good
thing in its place, but it won't buy
you food or clothing. It won't buy
anything in fact; and the employer
who pays you in respect will deduct
the equivalent from your wages.
Don't forget the fact that you can't
wear respect, or eat respect. You
can't pass a respect ticket on the
railroads; nor get anything advanced
on respect, at the "three balls."
Give your employer anything which
he is willing to pay for. Don't cater
for his respect. What you want is
the full and undivided product of
your labor. This is Socialism.
As for the "giant of Canadian in
tellect" well, the foolkiller has evi
dently been neglecting his business.
NATI YH ARISTOCRACY.
The carriage of an aristocrat oltstructed
the cross-walk at the corner of Church
and Chapel streets the other day for sev
eral minutes. A crowd of pedestrians
were compelled to wait while the whole
family alighted, and a guardian of the
law looked complacently on, raising his
hat in servile submission t his patrons.
The gutter is not good enough for the
carriages of the rlitv of our good city.
We would suggest that they drive up on
the side-walk, or stretch a plush uphol
stered bridge from th door of tin? car
riage to the step of the shop, and leave
it there until tney complete their pur
chases. (Jar citizens would then learn
how to climb.
SAIIM'SWAltNlWr.
TERRIBLE EXPERIENCES OF
"LANDSMEN" AT SEA.
Another Form of Exploitation Not
I'siialiy Noticed -An I'norirun.
Ized Industry-Cruelty to
SailorsThe Law to
he Appealed to.
Due day last week a sailor lad
caiieu at mis onice and requested us
to publish a warning to men who
are contemplating a seaman's life
rather than starve on shore for want
of work. As our informant intends
to have the offending parties ar
rested, the story must be told with
out exposing the names of the
oflicers, for these people have a way
of escaping the law by turning their ;
vessel over to the keeping of another
set of oflicers, and thus evade the po
lice who may be ready to give them a
becoming reception on their return, s
Our sailor was a landsman when .
he ship-ied aboard a New Bedford ;!
whaler through the influence brought !
to bear on him by a New York agent, i
Out of work, and compelled to do
something to keep from starving, he
succumbed to the wiles of the vil
lainous agent, who made him greati
promises, among which were that '
he could return from a two years' j
voyage with IS00 clear, and that i
aboard ship he would bo found in !
good meals and clothing. But he ;
had to say he was twenty-one years I
of age in order to get the position ,j
before the mast. This the young
man eagerly did, for ho could not !
see ins way ciear to reiuso woi k oy
giving his true age nineteen. Ho
could not speak a word of English,
and when he arrived at New Bed
ford with a contingent of men as
green as himself, he was easily in
duced to sign "articles," which con
signed him to a terrible experience.
He was taken to a clothing store
and a number of garments were
thrown into a chest in his possession
to the value of about forty dollars.
Then he was taken aboard the ves
sel and ordered to change his clothes.
At the same time he was given a
slip of paper. Taking his chest and
descending into the sailors' quarters
forward, lie looked at the slip of
paper. The fact that it was a bill
for the clothing dawned npon him,
and the amount was a round hun
dred dollars. His first impulse was
to rush out on deck and s"ek an ex
planation from the captain; but he
did as the rest did. and changed his
clothes, donning the sailor buit
"bought" a short time before.
No sooner was he dressed than all
hands were ordered on deck, when
to their astonishment they found
themse!'' js far out at sea. The crew
consisted of Portuguese, German,
Swedes, Irish and English sailors
and landsmen.
What made the situation more om
inous was the display of lire arms by
the captain and mate. The men
were entirely unarmed.
After much suffering from bad
food rotten, maggoty pork and
beef and bad treatment, eight of
the crew deserted upon reaching
Fayal. One of them was recaptured,
placed in irons, and subjected to the
grossest indignities while he was be
ing starved into submission. And
so it went till finally our informant
suffered the following cruel treat
ment: The mate gave an order which
was not heard by the watch, and our
friend was "over the bow" at the
time, so that he could not have
obeyed even if he had heard the order.
He explained to the mate, but that
individual was determined to "ratify
his cruel disposition, and struck the
young man, knocking out his front
teeth. Not content with this he
grasped an iron belaying pin and
prepared to strike a death blow,
when the captain interfered, and
with more refined cruelty ordered
the young man hung up to the yard
arm by the wrists. With every
lurch of the vessel he was dangled
against the railing and objects on
deck. For two hours was this tor
ture endured, when he was lowered
sufficient)' to barely touch the deck
with his toes. Soon after he fainted,
and when he came to, found himself
in irons below. The next morning
he was called up, and for an entire
week was kept on deck at hard and
useless labor, with four hours rest
iiit of each twenty-four. On reach
ing the next harbor he had a chance
to escape, and was not slow to im
prove the opportunity. After vari
ous vicissitudes he reached New
York, where he watches with eager
eyes the shipping news for tidings
of the vessel with its brutal com
mander and mate,
He requests the Wiujkmkn's Ai
vocatk to warn those who are out
of work against shipping on whalers,
for he declares that the testimony of
most sailors is that as a rule 'the
treatment of the men before the
mast is such as should be rewarded
with the most rigorous punishment
at the hands of the State.
I. A. HCS NTKAXUK l'KOCKKIMNU.
Tit king Sili't With it lEuilroail Corpora -I
ion II. el.-1 i .in A 1 1 rent.
The Hotisaloiiic Kailroad company
seems lo have considerable influence
willi the Knights of Labor of this city,
or to speak more correctly, with the
I isti id Assembly. We say m'rmx be
cause it is hardly probable that the in
telligent rank and Iile of the Knights are
interested in a contest between two cap.
italistic monopolies. The District As
senmly, No. 144, then, advoeutes the sale
of the people's interest in the Derby rail
road to a corporation, notwithstanding
the fact that Section XVI II of the plat
form of the order says:
"That tin: government hIiiiII obtain poeHKhu,
liy purchase, under the riht of .eminent, thi
amin, of all telegraphs, telephones uiul mil
roiiiln; uiul that hereMfter no clmitcr or llcciixe
lie Issued to miy eorpornti n for construction
or operation of any means of irannport.hu; In
lellljrence, pasHenirers or freitrht."
Not only is it, rumored that the Dis
trict Assembly is itself opposing the above
plank in the K. of L. platform, but it
actually goes to the trouble of publish
ing its ridiculous and scandalous advice
under the special supervision of a com
mittee of the District. Now, if the cen
tral body of the Knights in New Haven
persists in this course, it, is no doubt, sub
ject to suspension by the (iencral As
sembly or its agents in accordance with
law, unless these in their t urn are cor
rupt and sail tinder false colors.
The New Haven Knights as a body
art: not corrupt, and should see to it thai
the men they elect to represent them in
the Jlistrict do not use t'leir influence in
the interest of any railroad corporation.
The whole proceeding savors much of
"democratic7 heelerhm, and should not
be tolerated by honest Knights of Labor.
THE iDIFFERENCE.
The Hartford Tinas prints the
following to show how unfortunate
the working people in England are:
"To give a little idea of the cruel
disparity of material conditions be
tween the idle and working classes
of England this condensation of a
paragraph, from a speech made in
London, will be sufficient:
"The ceiling of one room in the
mansion of the I hike of Westmins
ter cost i'lo, 000; some of the chairs
cost !'0 guineas. The duke's income
is .t'ir,ooo a week. Shoemakers
work fourteen hours a day, making
shoes: their own shoes let water in at
one end and out at the other.
Through all the ages the poor have
built palaces for dukes, hovels for
themselves. The duke's dogs and
horses are better fed than any man
who built the palace. The queen 's
income is .1,40 a day.
"There can be but one opinion as
to the justice of this state of affairs.
The differences between the pittances
of the laboring poor and the i".",
001) a week of a idle duke, and
r,iHo a day for a mere figure-head
to the stab', is too enormously un
just to admit of its future perma
nency. The very nature of so great
a wrong sounds its own death-kncll."
The Time need not go to England
for examples of this kind. "Free'
America furnishes sufficient proof
of the robbery of the workinir classes
by the idle, with the connivance of
the "State."
CHEAP NOTORIETY.
COMMERCIAL UTILIZATION OF
LABOR'S FORCES.
Very (Jiu'stionubh Ib'sinteicstediicss.
YVati'hhij; Apparent Trh ialities.
Individualistic Leaders.
"Your Mim"-Nol
"UN Men."
Much has been said, and in many
instances with well-based grounds
for criticism, concerning the ques
tionable disinterestedness of many
of the so-called "labor leaders" of
the day. It is a favorite argument
among the capitalist editors, that
every man who has obtained more or
less of prominence or notoriety in
labor circles, has entered the move
ment for the sole purpose of "making
what he can out of it;" . ., of util
izing the workers, by some method
or other, to his own personal or pe
cuniary advantage.
While it is but natural that such
arguments should be put forward by
our opponents, and while we may
confidently expect for Hie future
that, all men prominent in the labor
movement will be denounced as
schemers, it will nevertheless be
well for the working people to have
an eye to the many apparently triv
ial circumstances which indicate the
real bent or turn of a man's mind.
Upon the appearance of a new can
didate for proletarian honors, the
first question which we should ask
ourselves, is: Has he anything to
lose by his connection with a des
pised and persecuted cause; or has
ho on the contrary everything to
gain by the newly acquired connec
tion? Having mentally answered
these questions to our own satisfac
tion wo may safely rest for a moment
upon our arms. Hut only for a mo
ment. Future developments should
be carefully watched and considered.
However, the position of ''labor
champion" does not furnish the op
portunities for pecuniary profit to
Hindi an extent as is popularly sup
posed. It is only those who have
sprung at a bound to sudden noto
riety who are enabled to any extent
to profit by the position acquired:
from the more humble agitators a
constant succession of sacrifices is
required, by which, in many cases,
the more notorious individuals bene
fit. The fact that there are cases in
which the traditional gullibility of
the wage-workers is manipulated lo
subserve personal ends is deplorable,
but it must nevertheless be admitted
as a fact. And there are many
ways in which popularity may be
utilized. Among those methods of
denying something from nothing,
or for nothing, may be mentioned
the drawing of enormous salaries
without an equivalent in services
being rendered; political preferment,
commercial utilization of labor's
forces, and in some instances, fortu
nately rare, a combination of politi
cal preferment and commercial util
ization. I low long these conditions
will continue to exist in labor circles
depends entirely upon the length of
time which must elapse before the
laborer will begin to think for him
self. When the 'horny handed
son of toil" arrives at the point
where he will cease to shout, for an
alleged champion because his next
door neighbor shouts for him, we
may hope for some actual progress
in the labor movement. Not be
fore. When the laborer Inn so far
advanced as to be abb- to determine
a person or thing right or wrong,
independently of surrounding cir
cumstances or position, and oblivi
ous of populor clamor, we may an
ticipate beneficial results. I Wore
that time- iiothinr.
The man who wrote "honesty is
the be it policy" was probably the
most far-seeing moral philosopher
that the world has ever known.
Moreover, he was an expert judge of
human nature. He who cannot be
honest from principle, should be
honest from motives politic. It can
be depended upon to pay the; largest
dividend in the long run. Knaves
and tricksters may obtain the open
maiiw to the labor circle, but, like
water, they will eventually find their
level and be doomed to eternal os
tracism from either side.
It will be well, then, for working
men to ho constantly prepared for
disappointments, for disappoint
ments will certainly come, and
many of them. Do not shout too
loudly for a new hero. Yon may be
compelled to swallow that shout.
Above all be on your guard against
men who refuse to be controlled by
the organization which endorses
them. Hewn re of individualist la
bor reformers, for they bode no good
to your real interests'. Jlomombcr
in political movements that your
candidate is iinir vain, and that you
are not his men, and see to it that
vou control him.
SOCIAL POLITICAL NOTES.
The Labor Tarty of Chicago is in
the field with a full municipal ticket.
Mayor Harrison ("democratic") says
that the Labor Ticket means the
election of a "republican" mayor
this Sprintr. The Chicago KniijliHof
Lulxir replies that that will fill de
pend upon the "democrats." and
probably as much upon Mr, Harri
son as any one. The Labor I 'arty
is going to run a straight ticket on
principles, and as the "democrats"
have no principles to fight for it lies
with them whether they will assist
the "republican" party or make
sure the election of the Labor can- ,
didato by indorsing him.
It is reported that the Nihililists
attempted to kill the C.ar on Sun
day, it being the seventh anniver
sary of the killing of his father by
a bomb. They fai'ed only on a mis
calculation of the time at which the
bomb should be exploded. The
Czar no doubt considers himself a
martyr in the cause of Cxardom.
He has a hard row to hoe.
Thirty-six persons were killed in
the breaking of the bridge on the
lloston and Providence railroad, last
Monday morning many of them
ladies and about a hundred others
were injured. The exigencies of
private corporation railroading de
mand large dividends, and as these
are incompatible with good wages
and careful management, the people
run the risk of being sacrificed on
the altar of dividends.
Mayor Hewitt, of New York,
"democrat" and "savior of society,"
appointed a certain "democratic"
reformer named Hayles as president
of the Health Board, lie didn't
know tnat Hayles had at one time
belonged to the Knights of Labor;
so when he read the papers a day or
two after he had a cat-tit, if the
funny man of a New York paper
may lie believed. Hayles says he is
not a member of the Knights, and
only joined to find out what the
thing was like, in order to write a
book about it. This explanation no
doubt will prevent Hewitt's frail
rorjais from protracted horizontal i
zation. MERIDEN.
Next -Monday evening there will lie a
festival in memory of the Paris ('om
nium, at Turn Hall, under the auspices
oft lie local Section of the Socialistic
Lalxir Party. Thirty prizes will he
drawn for during the evening. Many
tickets have been sold, and the affair is
sure to le a success with the energetic
help of the Meriden Comrades. A num
ber of New Haven Socialists expect to
Im present also.
At tiie()H'ia: ' I can't explain the suc
cess of the singer." Neither can I."
'She siugx through her nose most atro
ciously."' "Perhaps that is the reason
why every one in waving a handkerchief
at lier." ' f fyum , "
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