Workmen's advocate., December 27, 1890, Image 1

About Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891

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WOBKMEN'S
ADVOCATE
lth eat, IJo. 52
ScUt 3 cttts
ORGANIZED LABOR.
WEEKLY MEETING OF THE
CENTRAL LABOR FEDERA
TION. Tardy but Full Attendance of Mem
bersHelp Wanted for the Ro
chester Shoe Makers The Dele
gale to the Detroit Convention
Makes his Kejiort-The C. L. F.
Pledges its Support to the Miners
in their Coming Struggle for
Eight Hours.
At the regular meeting of the C. L. F.
taut Sunday the delegates were again
tardy in appearing and it was not until
3.30 that the session was well attended.
The following unions were not repre
sented at the call of trades: Brot herhood
of Carpenters and Joiners No. 513, Bak
ers Union's No. 1, 93, 31 and 93, Beer
drivers, Buttonhole-makers, Cigar-makers
No. 90 and 141, Firemans No. 1,
Architectural Iron Workers Silk Kibhon
Weavers, Tailors Progressive Union No.
11, Pie-bakers, Newspaper printers No.
1, Malsters Union and Custom Dress
makers. But most of the delegates came
later on.
Delegate Wassermiiti of the Sawyers
and Box Makers presided and delegate
Simon Gompers of the Boot and Slice
Makers was vice-Chairman.
Credentials were received from the
Brass workers Union No. 1. They were
approved. Later in the session the Slipper-makers'
Union applied lor admission
but had to be deferred until next Sun
day. Delegate Geo. II. McVey moved that
the delegates attend the concert for the
benefit of the lockedout shoe-makers at
Clarendon Hall in a body and it was so
decided.
The report of the Building Trades
Council was read and referred to new
business, which was not reached.
Mayor Grant aekr.owledged the re
ceipt of the protest against the East
River Tunnel scheme.
The Sawyers and Box makers reported
moving to 189 Bowery and meeting every
second and fourth Thursday of the
month.
The Ale and Porter Union No. 1 re.
ported initiating 11 new candidates and
that they had successfully counteracted
the attack of the O'Connell Association.
The Ale and Porter brewed by Tracy
and Russell was found to be exception
ally good.
The Journeymen Barbers' Union re
ported that the late mass-meeting was
not a success, and that the speakers ap
pointed by the C. L. F. had apparently
forgotten all about the meeting, as they
had not attended. The Organization
Committee was instructed to assist the
Barbers' Union.
The Carl Sahm Club reported that
everyone of their members who gets
shaved in a non-union barber shop will
be fined two dollars.
The German Waiters' Union reported
that its delegate, Julius Wiener, had
organized a National Union of Waiters
at Detroit, Mich.
The United Upholsterers' Union have
trouble at boss Singer's shop, 119 Delan
cey street. He forces the men to work
until 9 and 10 o'clock at night and on
Sundays. The law will be appealed to
to stop his Sunday work.
Eccentric Engineers No. 3 complained
that the Consumers' Brewing Co. had
violated its promise and had employed a
well known recruiting agent of scabs as
chief engineer. Referred to the Arbi
tration Committee.
The Cloak-makers donated $ 30 to the
Piano-varnishers and Shoemakers.
A delegation from the Rochester
locked-out shoe-makers was present and
stated their trouble. It was decided to
issue credentials to the committee to
visit all affiliated unions and also request
the unions to aid the men as much as
possible. A delegate remarked that
while the representatives of the Inter
national Boot and Shoe-workers at the
Detroit Convention of the A. F.
of L., had voted against the C. L. F. this
lody desirea to demonstrate that no
hard feeling existed and that the locked
out men would receive its full support.
One of the delegation stated that the
men of the union were not responsible
for the action of the two representatives,
as they had simply voiced their own
sentiment, but that a large percentage
of the boot and shoe-workers were with
the C. L. F. (Applause.)
There are at present 3,000 people
locked out among whom are 000 women
and girls; 300 of the latter are in dire
necessity, actually lucking bread and
coal; 400 of the male portion are nearly
in the same condition.
Delegate Lueien Smiial then presented
an elaborate report of the proceedings
at the Convention of the American Fe
deration of Labor at Detroit, Mich. His
report wax supplemented by delegates
Waldinger, Bolnn and Delabar and has
been published in these columns. The
report was attentively listened to and at
its close a vote of thanks was tendered
the delegate.
The resolution adopted at the miiss
meeling of the C. L. F, at Detroit and
presented by representative Thomas J.
Morgan, was endorsed and a copy will
lie mailed to every represented union. A
rising vote of thanks was tendered to
T. J. Morgan and ihe representatives
of the coal miners for the noble stand
they had taken in behalf of this b( ly
and the corresponding secretary was in
structed to forward the greeting of the
C L. F. to them.
Delegate Waldinger urged all unions
to immediately establish strike funds, so
as to aid the miners when they demand
the eight hour work day on May 1, '91.
The delegane of the Clothing Cutters
or Brooklyn, John J. Zuber, and the
delegate of the Italian Stone Masons
Prog'essive Union, N. Conforti, were
severely criticized for voting, at the
Convention, against the C. L. F. The
Cor, Sec'y will request these unions to
inform the body whether the opinion
of their delegates is the opinion of the
Unions.
Delegate Simon Gompers stated that
the press of this city had, in its usual
way, given unfair and inadequate re
ports of the proceedings of the Conven
tion and consequently, while our Ger
man brothers were enabled to read full
accounts in the N. Y. rulknzeitung, the
English-speaking were left in the dark.
He thought it was high time for the
progressive labor unions to combine and
publish the Woukmen's Advocate as a
daily. Great applause.
Delegate Waldinger stated that Mr.
Samuel Gompers, Pres. of t lie A. F. of
L., had said that Typographical Union
No. 7 had requested him to organize a
Uma Jhle central body of labor in this
city, and he would like to know if such
was the fact. The delegate of Typo
graphia No. 7 vehemently denied this.
The inquiry made by his union was
whether Mr, Gompers thought it advis
able to form a Printing Trades District,
and nothing more.
Delegates Vogt, Sanial and Waldinger
were elected a committee to arrange a
mass-meeting for the purpose of setting
forth the action of the C. L. F. in the
matter of the A. F. of L.
Delegates Vogt, Boh in and McVey
were elected a committee to issue a
manifesto to Organized Labor through
out the country, explaining the position
of the C. L. F. and its connection with
the Socialist Labor partv.
All unions will take especial notice
that Webster Hall, 11th street, between
3d and 4th avenues sells pool beer.
Ale & Porter Union No. 1 collected
4.20 for the Boot and Shoe Workers
and $1.80 for the PUno Varnishers. The
Boot and Shoe Workers of N. Y. City
donated $75.00 to their brothers in
Rochester.
The meeting adjourned at C.30.
CENTRAL LABOR UNION.
Louis F. Page was chairman of the
Central Labor Union last Sunday. A
committee of spinners from Kearney,
N. J., appealed for aid, which was
promised, and Geo. W, Middleton, Jas.
P. Archibald and E. E, F'ord were ap
pointed as a special committee to wait on
the Clarks to see whether a settlement
could not be effected before, a general
boycott on Clark's O. N. T. thread were
proclaimed.
A delegation of the Rochester shoe
makers were given a list of the affiliated
unions to enable them to solicit aid.
The Theatrical Protective Union gave
notice of their intended withdrawal, de
claring that their organization would be
ruined if the C. L. U. persisted in its in
tention of boycotting all theatres sup
porting Mr. French in his tight against
the union. A long discussion ensued,
which resulted in the Theatrical Protec
tive Union being requested to re-consider
its action. The C. L. U. thus virtu
al'y backs down from its boycott against
the "French" theatres.
The boycott against Meyers Bros., 102
Franklin street, who refuse to employ
Hebrews, was endorsed.
Boss baker Edelstein, the notorious
scab and cockroach employer, sent a
long communication stating that the
Confectioners' Union persecuted him,
and he wanted the matter investigated.
Although Georgp K. Lloyd, J. J. J. men,
W. Henne and J. J. Sullivan advised
the delegates to keep their hands o'f,
as the matter did not concern them, the
bakers not being represented in the
C. L. U.. Charles P. Rogers. B. J.
Hawkes. James Williams, E. B. Murphy
and J. J. Jones were appointed to "investigate.-'
Of course, boss Edelstein's
object is to have the boycott against
himself declared off.
THE SOCIALIST VOTE.
The 1'rens AtonllnMl A Total of 13,704
mill Kvery Count v Except Cortland
ltetiirim Voteit-Comments of Maw
York Taper.
We clip the following from the New
York Sun:
"One small county (Cortland) in the
far interior of the State, with no large
cities or railroad centres, stands con
spicuous in the recent election as having
cast no Socialist vote. The remaining
tifty-nine counties cast all the way from
4 to 5,000 votes for Francis Gerau, the
Socialist Labor candidate forjudge of
the Court of Appeals. In view of the
fact that it was not expected that Gerau
would poll any votes outside of a few of
the larger cities, the result shown in
the returns filed here with the Secretary
of State is surprising and an object of
interest to the student of the Socialist
movement in this country. When Ge
rau's nomination papers were first tiled
here the State ollicials endeavored to
find some technical defect therein that
they might throw them out and avoid
the expense and trouble of printing
separate ballots with Gerau's name on
them for every election district in the
State. The papers were, however, cor
rectly drawn, and the ballots were
printed and distributed. This is what
the returns from the several counties
show as the Gerau Socialist vote:
Albany
Allegany
Broome
Cattaraugus
Cayuga
Chautauqua
Chemung
Chenango
Clinton
Columbia
Coit land
1 )elavare
Dutchess
Erie
Essex
Franklin
Fulton
Genesee
Greene
Hamilton
Herkimer
Jefferson
Kings
Livingston
Lewis
Madison
Monroe
Montgomery
New York
Niagara
Oneida
3T1
112
131
142
108
103
91
4
74
80
Onondaga
Ontario
Orange
Orleans
Oswego
Otsego
Putnam
Queens
Rensselaer
Richmond
Rockland
St. Lawrence
Saratoga
Shenectady
Schoharie
Schuyler
Seneca
Steuben
Sullivan
Suffoik
Tioga
Tompkins
Ulster
Warren
Washington
Wayne
Westchester
Wyoming
Yates
551
07
187
51
79
4
54
299
210
lit
102
199
4N8
70
54
94
44
82
Hi
12
5
1,009
81
55
190
294
137
5,029
100
320
153
HO
70
58
81
OH
140
(i
118
40
7(1
109
72
79
84
202
43
38
Total, 13,337
"Cast by mistake for Geraw, 3(17,
making a total of 13,704.
"This 13,704 is not a stupendous sum
total when contrasted with the 927,243
votes given Judge Earl, but when we
consider that the Prohibition party,
after all its efforts and its long promi
nence in State and national elections,
cast for Silas W. Mason, their candidate
against Earl and Gerau, some 33.000
votes only, the 13,704 Socialists make a
very good showing in this their maiden
attempt in a State contest."
The New York Evening World com
ments editorially as follows:
"As an echo to the other surprises of
the November elections comes the show
ing by the official figures that the Social
ists cast 13,704 votes in this State. Of
this number 5,029 were cast in New
York County and the rest in the outside
counties, where It had been supposed
the Socialist vote would hardly be worth
counting."
Nationalist Vote In California.
Official returns of the vote cast for II.
G. Wilshire, the Nationalist candidate
in the Oth Congressional District of Ca
lifornia by counties is as follows:
Los Angeles 725
Orange 40
San Bernardino 40
Tulare 20
San Diego 24
Ventura 23
F resno 23
Total 900
There are still eight counties to be
heard from. The Nationalist vote in this
district will be very near to, if not in
excess of, 1.000.
Socialist Victories in France.
The French Socialists are recording
new victories at every election. A sign
of the times is their progress in agricul
tural districts. In the Pas-de-Calai,
where Alfred Delcluze was lately elected
Councilor General, large meetings were
held in ru...l communes, and after lis
tening to his addresses the peasants and
agricultural laborers gave repeated
cheers for the Socialist Labor party and
the eight-hour day. At Commentry,
whpre the trootis had made murderous
i attacks upon the strikers, the middle
i class did not dare to place a candidate m
i the field, and Raoul Frejac. who had
i been imprisoned, was elected without
1 opposition.
BROOKLYN.
Klrst Meeting of the King County Com
mittee fieparHtloiiH fnj Active Work
1'roKri'Kn of Organisation.
The lirst meeting of the Couny Com
mittee S. L. P., Kings Co., was held
Sunday. Dec. 14, at the Labor Lyceum,
It was called to order by delegate West
phal of German Section No. 1. Com
rade Chas. W. Schavellier, delegate
from American Section No. 2, was elect
ed Chairman. The question of organi
zation was first taken up and was speedi.
ly disposed of by the election of the
following officers:
C. H. Matchett, delegate of Ameri
can Section No. 2, County organizer.
Francis Mohr, delegate from Ameri
can Section No. 1, to German Secretary.
James J. Withers, delegate of Ameri
can Section No. 3, English Secretary.
James J. Withers, delegate of Ameri
ca n Section No. 3, Financial Secre
tary. Francis II. Kienig, delegate of Ger
man Section No. 5, Treasurer.
A motion was then adopted that the
delegates give their names and addresses
so that they may be notified when
reeded. Here is the list made accord
ingly German Section No. 1 Kulkmann
1225 Myrtle Ave., Brooklyn; West
phal, 1233 Dekalb Ave., Brooklyn;
Flechsig, 1420 Dekalb Ave.
German Section No. 3 Griesbeck,
115 Johnson Ave., Wagner, 200
Floyd ft ; Chan. Arnold, 40 Metropolitan
Ave.
German Section No 4 Straghten,
704 Flushing Ave.
German Section No. 5 Francis II.
Kumig, Warwick st., near Arlington
Ave,; Engler, Elton st., near Atlan
tic Ave.; Win. Schad, Elton st., near
Atlantic Ave.
American Section No. 1 Francis Mohr
216 Myrtle st , Brooklyn; Ltuven,
115 Withers st., Brooklyn.
American Section No. 2 C. II. Match
ett, 10 Smith st., Brooklyn; Chafl.
K. Schavellier, 19 Hicks st., Brooklyn;
Day, 259 Washington street, Brooklyn.
American Section No. 3 James J.
Withers. (WO 5th Ave., Brooklyn; Albert
Klein, 284 17th St., Brooklyn; E. II.
Holt, 419 Carroll st., Brooklyn.
The third Sunday of each month, 3
p. in., was appointed for the regular
meetings of the committee and delegates
were especially requested to he prompt
ly on hand at that hour. The place of
meeting will be 177 and 179 Montague
street, near City Hall. Delegate West
phal referred to two singing societies
who favored our principles, hut who
were not organized as a Section. County
organizer Matchett was instructed to
visit them.
It was decided: (1) to hold weekly agi
tation mass-meetings in different parts
of the city; (2) that delegates report to
their respective sections and have them
atternl each of those meetings in a body;
(3) to have 10,000 tickets printed for
those meetings.
Comrade Matchett w'tis directed to co
operate with the Sections in arranging
these meetings, and to announce them
in the Workmen's Advocate and Vulks
zeitvug. After some remarks by Comrade
Matchett urging each Section to have a
full attendance at those public gather
ings the committee adjourned.
The tirst mass-meeting w ill be held at
the Labor Lyceum on the lirst Monday
of January.
James J. Withers, Sec'y.
090 5th Ave. Brooklyn.
Brooklyn Section No. 2.
To Ilevj. J. Gretm-h, !-'rc'y. , etc.
Section No. 2 of Brooklyn is getting
into shape and will do some good work
this winter. Please give notice that our
business meeting is held at 177 Montague
street, corner Clinton, every third Mon
day of the month, and our agitation
meeting every Wednesdaj vveuing at
the same place. We have a line hall
and intend to hold mass meetings as
often as possible. We also intend to
run a side show on Sunday afternoons
under the name of "Social Science
Club." We want sp ak'.rs able to ex
pound our principles P.ndtto defend them
at the debates which will follow lectures
and addresses. We expect to do such
work here that we will have a large fol
lowing at the next election. All inter
ested in this matter and willing to aid
us are requested to corresond with me,
as Orgauizer. Fraternally,
C. 11. Matchett,
18 Smith St., Brooklyn. N. Y.
South Brooklyn American Section.
The 3d (American) Section. S. L. P.
of South Brooklyn held its sixth regular
meeting Thursday Dec. 18. It was well
attended. Comrade .St udt presided and
the delegates to the County Committee
presented their report, which was ac
cept, d. The Agitation Committee is
making arrangements for a mass meet
ing to take place at an early date. Dur
ing the two holiday weeks this Section
will meet on Friday evenings.
Art. 2 of Social demands was selected
as the subject of debate for the next
meeting, which promises to be highly
interesting
Al.HKRT Kl.KIN, SiT'j).
Our Los Angeles Comrades.
The Los Angeles Section organized
permanently last night and elected the
following otlicers:
Organizer E. Schnabel.
Cor., Rec. and Fin. Secretary N. J.
Judah.
T reas 1 1 re r J . Ne u ha u e r.
Librarian E. Heller.
Grievance Committee Otto Silber
larg, Charles Atkins, L. Diddle.
Eight new members were admitted.
The Section will meet every Tuesday
evening. After the organization is more
complete and numerically stronger,
propaganda meetings will Ik held in
some public hall. The Section has
rented two nice rooms and w ill at once
start a library. Prospects good. Re
ceived tickets for Fair; sold 32 last night.
A subscriber, whose name and address
are enclosed, paid me $1 for Workmen's
Advocate. Please put me down also
for one year's subscription.
F'rsternally yours,
E. Scii.NAi'.Eh, Orantizvr,
Los Anqei.es, Cal., Dec. 11, '90.
Nationalist (Tub No, 3.
At last Sunday's meeting Mr. Winston
delivered a lecture upon "Paruell and
England." The speaker and most of
those who followed him in the debate
seemed to realize that, after all, the Par
liamentary Party was not a party hav
ing the interests of the proletariat at
heart; that it was in fact a bourgeois
movement affected w ith all the ills that
are incident to such. Nevertheless, they
seemed to give so much time in their
arguments to the individuals figuring in
that movement, that it gave occasion
for othes t,o call, Mttentic to tbjit fee
ture of the proletariat of allowing itself
to be drawn into the contentions of its
enemies, to shout and to light for them,
and allow themselves to be drawn by
pure boargeois questions of democracy
and the like away from the only ques
tion that should interest the proletariat
How to firing about the economic con
ditions under which democracy and such
other matters of form could be facts in
stead of shams.
At the next meeting Miss Ida van Et
ten will deliver an address entitled, The
Working Women in Politics.
Child Labor In New Jersey.
The Twelfth Annual Report of the
Bureau of Statistics of Labor of New
Jersey for the year ending October 31,
1890, shows the following iiercentages
of child-labor.between the ages of 12 and
15, in the various industries that are
enumerated. Glass-blowers, green bottle
and vial, 3 0; flint 3.6; window glass
cutters, 1.3; hat finishers, 6.0; hat mak.
ers, 15.7; hat pouncers, 5.5; potters,
mould makers, 54.6; jiggernien, 28.3;
turners, 29.2; handlers, 32 2; pressers,
38.4; throwers, 00.7; sagger makers,
20.9; kilnmeh, 11.1; dippers, 10.7;
decorators, 41 1; and lastly, packers and
warehousemen, 22,0.
Furthermore it appears that 112 chil
dren under the age of 12 are employed
in the above trades. The largest number
is to be found in the hat making and
finishing trades; and 3 are employed in
packing and warehousing.
The subdivision adopted by the bureau
may give a distant idea of the actual
facts, but not one as accurate as it is
desirable. More satisfactory would it be
were the period between the ages of 12
and 15 divided into not less than two
periods, say, from 12 to 13, and then
from 13 to 15. It were also interesting
to know the exact ages of the 112 little
tots lumped "under twelve years of
age."
A Socialist Victory in Switzerland.
The recent election iu Zurich, Zwit.
zerland, was an oxerw helming victory
for the Socialists. Their candidate for
the National Council, Volgelsanger, re.
ceived 11,821 votes, as against 9,808
given to Frey, the middle class candi
date. The Fassett Committee has resumed
its investigation of city affairs. It has
not yet, of course, touched the Police
Department and would not touch it with
a "twenty foot pole" if it sat until
judgment day.
SOUTH DAKOTA.
In the iraNi of CapitalUm All Prop
erty Mort(K-l Hint "A Man Can
Hot Kill a Hon Without Violating the
Law" Dmtltution Among the Farm
er. Chicago, Dec. 18. "A man cannot
kill a hen in Spink County, South Da
kota, for his sick wife, without violating
the law," is the way William Broakans,
a lawyer of Redtield, S. D., who is stop
ping at the Leland, expressed himself
concerning the deplorable condition of
the farmers iu the county he mentioned.
"I mean by that," he continued, "that
90 per cent, of the real estate in Spink
County is mortgaged for all it is worth,
and nearly all the chattels are also
mortgaged, and in this case if a farmer
kdls one of his ch'ekens, a calf in his
barnyard, or anything else he may have
on his farm, he violates the law. The
situation is serious. Many families have
left the country and others are leaving
now. Some of those who remain would
like to go, hut they have staid so long
that now they can't.
"I have seen an entire family drive
out of the country, taking everything it
possessed on earth in a small 'wagon,
the chattel mortgage shark having
claimed everything else.
"Hundreds of families in Spink Coun
ty have not provisions enough to last
them a week; no money to buy any.
thing; nothing remains in the houses to
sell, and they cannot secure credit. Last
year the state of affairs among the
farmers was bad, but this year it is
worse. Worse, because the people of
South Dakota who wrote to their friends
for aid and secured it are denounced as
detainers of South Dakota.
"There is lit' le fuel on hand in the
towns, and not much in the entire coun
try. There is scarcely any hay or straw
to bum. as the drought left no crops.
Thousands of acres were not cut this
year. But such reports as this were not
sent out to the newspapers. Prosperity
and immense crops are what the men
who were elected to olllce tried to make
the outside world believe.
"Should a severe winter set in, and it
is not at all unlikely, the result would
be awful. The roads would be block
aded for months and, with the scarcity
of &, implies, the towns would contain
nothing, but 'starving, freezing people.
And how would the few fare who have
seemed their supplies? Starvation
makes an angry mob of a crowd, ami
nothing like rule would prevail. And if
the blockade continued long, there might
not lie any one in the spring to tell of
the sufferings.
"The farmers fear that this is the con
dition that confronts them, but no such
report gets outside of the Stale, because
real estate boomers send out denials of
the true state of affairs. I will go so far
as to say that the official statistics are
falsified, and Judge Howe, who was re
cently elected from Redtield, is my au
thority for saying this. People in other
States believe there is prosperity in
South Dakota, and for that reason are
unwilling to help those who are really in
need.
"While at the Farmers' Alliance con
vention at Mitchell, S. D., Mr. Ashley
of Iowa told the farmers that the people
of his State were willing to help those in
need, but as soon as they heard from
some family that was probably starving
reports would appear in the local Iowa
papers denying the state of affairs, and
claiming the starving people of South
Dakota were imposing upon the genero
sity of those who desired to help them.
'If you want to secure assistance,' said
Mr. Ashley, 'you must close the mouths
of the real-estate boomer and the Immi
gration Bureau.'
"This is not the condition in every
part of the State. In the eastern and
southeastern parts there is more piospe
rity, but there is not a county east of
the Missouri River, where many people
in need of help cannot be found. The
extortions of railroads and money loan
ers lie back of the suffering. What
little wheat was raised had to be sold to
pay inteiest and debts."
Socialist Victories in Italy.
An important Socialist Congress was
held at Ravtnna, Italy, last month.
Resolutions were passed, embodying the
Socialist doctrine as stated in the plat
forms of the party throughout the
world. Great encouragement was de
rived from the election of three socialist
deputies to the Italian Parliament, in
spite of the fact that a number of groups
(or sections) had decided to take no part
in the campaign. Andrea Costa, who
ran away to France in order to escape
imprisonment, was elected in two dis
tricts. He has been amnestied and will
take bis seat The party is very ac
tive and gaining ground rapidly among
the Italian masses.
The lumber cut in the Chippewa val
ley. Wis., during the sawing season of
1890, reached the enormou-i figure of
350 million feet. Half of its value or
more is the work of nature, poured by
a generous government into the pockets
of a few land monopolists.