Omaha daily bee., January 10, 1904, Image 32

About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922

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Senator Mark Haniia on Signs of the Times
j
I
(Copyright, 19M. by Frank O. Ca-jenr.)
WASHINGTON, Jar. t. (Fpeilal Cor
respondence of The Bje.) "Is the
country going to the dogs in the
l"15Sm I""-'n struggle between capital
" and labor?"
I atked this ques Ion of Penalor Marie
Hanni an we chatei tjgether In his room
at the Arlington hot 1.
"N." was the tcp'y. "There is only ft
halt In our march of uii' ounded prosperity.
We ihall have a llmlte 1 prilol In which
but Ire mut run ut a sliwer pice. Mmy
factories will cut down their force, and In
some wages will be necessarily reduced.
As to the ctuntr, It Is In a healthy condi
tion. The it ps are go'if. the pe pi are
wll oft enl the out ook is t ot rerious."
"What is the cius of the hail, a n .Vor?
IX es It not c me fron tie IncreiseJ Wiges
demanded by and the other exactions of ur
gai Ize 1 lub r? '
"I do lot think so," rptd Senator
Hanna. "In New York nnl dlcago and
One or two other ptaccs a depression has
leen created by the t:0Jbles In the build
ing trad:?. Thi e have been nearly settled
and I loo'i for b. tier times there."
Then I s-pposo it comes fro-n organized
op tal?"
"No; It does not. The ch'ef reosin are
the natural ones of oversupply and under
dtmunl. You remember the business situ
ation of from lk93 to 1 9. We had been
overproducing and the market was glutted.
Business came a'mo. t tf a standstill and
tin jeip'.e lost confluence In everything.
Kveiy one bought as llttla as he could, and
the facto; l-s Old Ut lu more than manu
fac ure to order, wlillo a.l enterprises, In-
cluclng the r.llroadp, cut their purchases '
to the minimum.
"At tho same time capital becamo timid ;
and the savings were stored away In the
safe deposits and In low Interest-bearing
securities. Then, In 1W)8, wo woke up to
the fact that we had excellent crops, vast .
material resources and at the same time a
market which was out of everything. The ;
financial sky brightened. The demands
came In like a deluge. Money crept out cf
the banks, the factories and mills went to
work and prosperity, like a snowball run
ning down hill, gathered at every turn, un
til it seemed that the powers of adversity
would be crushed by it. The great de
mand brought about combinations of capi
tal to supply It. New Inventions created
to save labor in the hard times increased
the capacity of the factories and the new
forces of modern Industry produced in
quantities unknown In the past. ' At the
same time the confidence of. the people
ran neck and neck with the times. The
home market sprang into such enormous
proportions that raw materials and manu
factures were brought in from abroad In
vast quantities. This was especially bo
of iron and steel, the supplies of which,
then ordered, are still being delivered.
"Then all at once it was found that the
home demand whs satisfied. The more
conservative business men, Including small
merchants all over the country, saw there
must be a turning of the tide, confidence
wavered, and the result Is the condition of
today."
"How about the future?"
"I have no fear of that," replied Senator
Hanna. "Our normal condition is one of
good times, and tho present depression will
soon pass nwoy. We always move more
slowly during the year of the presidential
elections. As to the country, we have
the same musclo and brains that have suc
ceeded In the past, and we are as good as
ever In times like these, however, the
enslhlo man trims his sills and keeps
close to the shore. I began to do so more
than three months ago."
"Hut, senator, do you think great com
binations of organised capital are good fur
the country?"
"Yes. Tho great Industries of the world
can be carried on In no other way. This
Is an age of organisation. Such combina
tions are among the evolutions of our in
dustrial development and they aro to the
Interest of both laboring man and capital
ist. They havo increased trade and In
creased wages.
"A few years ago tho balance of trade
was against us and especially so In the
Industrial lines. It Is largely owing to or
ganised capital that we are now not only
able to manufacture for ourselves, but to
export to all parts of the world. This ex
port trade will Increase and we shall ho'd
our own as tho greatest Industrial nation
on earth by our combination of capital
and labor.
"I am not afraid of such combinations,"
the senator went on. "If they abuse their
privileges competition will regulate them.
Every field of Industry in this country Is
open to all and extraordinary profits will
lead to new organisations. Our only monop
olies are those protected by the patent
laws."
"You occupy a peculiar position on the
labor question, senator," said I. "You are
looked upon as the representative of Voth
capital and labor. What do you know about
worklngmen?"
"I have been associated with them all
my life. I have been a large employer of
labor for more than thirty years and I am
MARCUS A. HANNA. FROM
now Interested In enterprises which give
work to ' many."
"What kind of enterprises?" I aMud.
"Various kinds," was tho roj ly. "Cnl
mines In Ohio, Iron mines in Michigan, ves
sels and shipbuilding works on the lakes,
street railroads and various factories ar.d
foundries."
"How about strikes, senator, have you
had many?"
"None of Importance, and none which
were not amicably settled, " was tho reply.
"The first strike of which I had any ex
perience was that of the coal miners of
the Tuscarawas valley. It occurred In 1874,
about thirty years ago. At that time I
went to Masslllon, near where the mines
were, and lived with the people. The strike
wis a hard one, and It caused great suf
fering. In trying to settle it, It seemed to
mo the situation was all wrong, and I
there got the Idea about such matters upon
which I have acted ever since. It Is that
upon which the Civic Federation is based,
and is that all such things should be set
tled by conference and mutual conciliation
between the workmen and their employ
ers." "Was that strike- settled in that way,
senator?" I esked.
"No; it was fought out to the end. Not
long after It was settled the representatives
of the bituminous coal mining organiza
tions came to Clevolund and asked me to
organize the operators In order that we
might co-operate together and avoid such
troubles In the future. I old form an or
ganisation, and as long as it continued,
which was for several years, all our dif
ficulties were settled by arbitration. Since
then the same principle has been adopted
in connection with the national organiza
tion of the Unit;d M n Wjrke.s. They
combine with the operators, both meeting
t gether once a ye.tr to fix a settle, wich
is in the nature of an annual agreement,
and foms the scale of wages for that year.
Thlt po Icy has proved rros. si'l fa tory to
cmp'oyers and employe."
"But do the men keep such contracts?"
"Yej," repll-d Ee.-ator Hmni, "eipec'ally
In the old anl well-orga lzed unlms. Take
the cose of the Unlt;d Mine Workers dur
ing the great anthracite strike of last
yeir. You wl'l rememter the situation.
One hundred and fifty thousand men were
out of work, thi famtl'es of many of them
were on the edge of statva'lon, the mlnei
were closed down, and the whole country
was In the throes of a coal famine. Now,
It Is a law of the United Mine Workers that
if five of the different organizations com
posing It demand a national convention it
has to be called. Five did call for it, in
cluding some organizations already In
volved in the strike.
"As a result a thousand delegates rep
resenting the vast army of bituminous coal
miners met at Indianapolis with John
Mitchell as their president. They had a
contract for the year with the operators
as to prices and wages and the question
was whether they should break this and
Join lu the sympathetic strike to help their
A RECENT rilOTOGRAPH.
brothers, the anthracite miners of Penn
eylvanla.
"At that convention the awful condition
In tho anthracite mines was explained, the
terrible want and suffering set forth and
a general strike demanded. Had they
granted the demand and broken their con
tract with the operators they wou'.d have
inflicted incalculable loss to the United
States. MoHt of our Industries would have
come to a standstill. Within a short time
the coal on hand would have been used and
every factory would have had to shut
down. Every car upon the railroad, except
perhaps the mnils, would have had to stop,
and cold and want would havo dropped
upon a majority of the homes of the United
States.
"The public did not fully realize It, but
the situation was a terrible one. John
Mitchell saw It and in connection with the
other leaders of the United Mine Workers
brought forth the sentiment which pre
vented the strike. The question was re
ferred to a committee of twenty-nine, who
strove one whole night us to Its settle
ment. In the morning they brought forth
a resolution which was adopted by the con
vention. It was that the United Mine
Workers would stick to their contract, but
also that they would give 10 per cent of
their wages to help their brothers In their
strike in the anthracite mines of Pennsyl
vania." "How about organized labor, senator?
Has it come to stay?"
"There Is no doubt of it," was the reply.
"It Is a condition and should be treated
accordingly. The trades union Is not an
original creation of the United States. It
was Imported from England. It is now
being Americanized and it is better in every
way than the English union. It does not
believe In the restriction of output and in
the limitation of Individual effort."
"Yes, said I, "but it does believe In a
continuous shortening of hours and a con
tinual Increase of wages. Can this go on
and our Industries continue?"
"Such things regulate themselves," re
plied Senator Hanna. The movements are
perfectly natural ones. The capitalist
tries to get all ho can nut of his share of
the business end so does the workman.
With our enormous immigration and re
stricted supply of work there have been
plenty of laborers until within the past
three years and the capitalists have had
the whip hand. They could fix the wages,
and I don't remember that they voluntarily
raised them. Within the past three years,
however, there have been two Jobs for
every man. The laborer has taken advan
tage of the situation and Increased his pay,
and I don't blame him."
"Hut will he not have to come down now
that the times have changed?"
"Yes. In many places."
"Will he not strike?"
"I don't think so without there Is some
other reason than the reduction owing to
the- hard times."
"If you were a working man, senator,
would you belong to a union?"
"Yes, I would; but I would do all that I
could to bring about a closer relation be
tween my union and my employer. The;
sooner the laboring; man and the employer
corao together the better for both laborer
and employer."
"That Is what the Clvlo Federation Is
trying to do, Is It not?"
"That Is what the Clvlo Federation lfl
doing," replied Senator Hanna. "We hava
settled a great many labor disputes and
prevented many strikes by bringing tha
loaders of the union and the representa
tives of employers together. Both are
beginning to understand the other. The
laboring men are becoming more conserva
tive and the employers more ready to
recognize labor organizations. Strikes In
most cases come from misunderstandings,
and some of the most serious ones from
trifling disagreements. The employer and
the worklngman stand face to face, each
with a chip on his shoulder. The employer
feels determined not to make an advance
toward a settlement, and the worklngman
Is too proud to do It."
"Has the Civic Federation any special
rules of action In such matters?"
"None except the golden rule," replied
Senator Hanna. "We do not believe In
sympathetic strikes, nor In the boycott,
nor in the restriction of production to en
hance values."
"How about the man outside the union,
Benator? What ore his rights?"
"He has the right to work and to exer
cise his individual rights granted by the
constitution of the United Btates, and he
Should be protected in those rights."
"But, senator," said I, "if labor and capi
tal are, to combine, will not the public be
ground between the upper and nether mill
stones of high wages and high prices?"
"Tho public!" trald Senator Hanna.
"What Is theoublic? In our country it Is
made up of capitalists and laborers. With
the exception of a very few every man In
th'j United States Is an employer or an em
ploye. .We are all worklngmen. Some of
us work wUh our brains and the others
with our hands, and . the employers, as a
rule, work the hardest." .
At this point I turned the conversation
to personal matters and In answer to my
Questions Senator llama gave me much
Interesting information about himself both
as a laboring man and a capitalist. He re
ferred to certain rules of his buslners life
which have undoubtedly contributed to his
great success and gave me other matter
which would be of value to the young men
of the United States. This, however, on
account of the innate modesty of the sena
tor extraordinary, in a public man I am
forbidden to use.
In closing I would call attentlQn to Sena
tor Hanna's peculiar position. He Is the
earnest friend of both capital and labor
and Is doing what he can to bring the two
together. Indeed, he might be called our
great national peacemaker and he U Buch
from the standpoint of his honest convic
tions. He recently said that he wou'd
rather have the credit of ending such trou
bles than be president of the United States,
and that If he could moke successful the
plans of the federation by resigning h's
seat In the senate he would be glad to do
so.
Nevertheless Senator Hanna has more
than 10,000 men nt work In the various in
stitutions In which he Is interested, and
their pay roll Is Bald to be about $3,0U),0:0
a year, or in round numbers $10,000 a day.
You will see from this that he has a pocket
book Interest In the questions which he
here discusses and that his words should
have weight.
- FRANK O. CARPENTER.
Pointed Paragraphs
A woman without Jealousy Is like a kite
without a string.
Happiness seldom comes to those who
seek it on the run.
There Is too much charity In this world
for worthless people.
When a woman reads a historical novel
she skips the history part.
Ignorance of the law should excuse a lot
more lawyers from practicing It.
If a man Is bent on committing suicide ha
can afford to be familiar with a mule.
A man doesn't need a pass in order to
enable him to pass by an opportunity.
Many a man who Is offered the chance of
a lifetime for a mero song can't sing.
Why Is It that babies are always conspic
uous by their absence at a "mothers' meet
ing?" Few physicians are equal to the task
of curing patients who have nothing the
matter with them.
Though the average man laughs at his
wife when she goes shopping and doesn't
buy anything, he kicks Is she does. Chi
cago News.
Presence of Mind
Turkish baths were a luxury entirely
beyond their limited means.
"Do you know," she said to htm sud
denly, as he was shaving and she was
dressing her hair, "I weigh only 100 pounds
without any clothes on."
"Where were you weighed?"
She was a young woman of great pres
ence of mind.
"Oh, at the meat market," she sal4
airily. Town Topics,