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LABOR ANI) INDUSTRY
SOME ITEMS OF INTEREST TO
UNION WORKMEN.
Oetrolt to Buy Street Hallway* — Co s"
operation at Practiced by a Large
Manufacturing Concern —Some Keen
Crltlcltm from Olaliu. VFb.
A Springtime.
One knows the spring Is coming;
There are birds: the fields are green;
There is balm In the sunlight and moon
light,
A dew In the twilights between.
But ever there Is a silence.
A rapture great and dumb.
That day when the doubt is ended,
And at last the spring is coma.
Behold the wonder, O slleneet
Strange as If wrought In a night—
The wafted and lingering glory.
The world-old, fresh delight!
O blossoms that hang like winter.
Drifted upon the trees,
O birds that sing in the blossoms,
O blossom-haunting bees—
O green, green leaves on the branches,
O shadowy dark below,
C) cool of the aisles of orchards.
Woods that the wild flowers know—
G air of gold and perfume,
Wind, breathing sweet and sun,
O sky of perfect azure—
Day, Heaven und Earth In one!
Bet me draw near thy secret.
And in thy deep heart see
Dow fared, In doubt and dreaming.
The spring that Is come In me.
t
For my soul Is held In silence,
A rapture great and dumb —
Tor the mystery that lingered.
The glory that la come!
—William Dean Howells.
Municipal OwnciKhtp.
Labor believes In municipal owner
rshlp. it is fighting that battle to
victory, Just as the shorter day move
ment is succeeding. After a long
and bitter strife, the Michigan legisla
ture passed a bill authdrlzing De
troit “to construct, acquire, maintain
and operate street railways, and to
construct extensions thereof.” Qov.
IPlngree approved the measure March
24, and Saturday, April 1, the council
of the city of Detroit passed a resolu
tion appointing Gov. Pingree and
Messrs. G. Stevenson and Carl E.
Schmidt us the Detroit street railway
commission, for terms of six, four and
two years respectively. Under the
law this commission has the right to
seize the street railways, turn them
over to the city for operation, and ob
ligate the city for payment of the
price fixed by the commission or by
operation of law. The commission,
however, proposes to consult the coun
cil before closing the deal. Detroit’s
street railways are worth millions,and
there Is no reason why the municipal
ity cannot run them. Michigan Is a
progressive Btate, largely because It
has one man—Hazeu S. Pingree—ln
tensely Interested in progress along
popular lines. Mr. Pingree believes
that the ipeople come first. He com
pelled Michigan railroads to reduce
fares. They said they would ‘‘be
ruined and be damned” if they did.
He stuck to it; fares went down; the
roads were not ruined, hut Pingree
was damned right heartily by them.
The time to advance argument in fa
vor of municipal ownership has, in
my opinion passed. There is no ne
cessity for more argument. It re
mains simply to take back for the peo
ple things they should never have
parted with, and to fix the bill for
damages. Detroit’s success in secur
ing street railways cannot fail to be
come an object lesson of greatest value
for all communities paying heavy trib
ute to water, light, and traffic corpor
ations.
The Co-operative Brotherhood.
At Olalla, Wash., Is published the
Co-operator, a neat weekly newspaper
devoted to advancing the Interests of
the Brotherhood colony there estab
lished. The colony Is prospering. A
short editorial in a late Issue of that
paper makes a strong point In favor
of the substitution of governmental
or co-operative—conduct of some af
fairs, in place of the prevailing pri
vate ownership principle. Here It is:
“Four hundred and fifty-nine orders
in a single day, amounting to nearly
$32,000, shows an activity unprece
dented In postal matter in Seattle.--
Seattle Times. When It Is considered
that this postoffice does a business ev
ry day greater than any bank iu the
city at a cost of only $3,000 (the low
est salary of the bank president in
Seattle being $6,000), the advantage
and economy of government over pri
vate hanking Is clearly apparent.”
The Co-operator’s comment on a
proposed educational measure is also
keen:
“Standard Oil Harper, president of
Chicago university, has prepared for
Mayor Harrison of that city a bill to
be Introduced Into the legislature pro
viding that during the first five years
of a child's school life It shall not be
bothered with arithmetic. This is
the most insidious and cunning blow
against popular education yet devised,
and it will be seen in Its entirety whou
It is considered that the children of
the masses do not have over five years
of schooling on an average, before
they are obliged to go to wors. The
future American voter is not to know
anything about arithmetic, else he
might figure out how much Rockefel-
I ler is robbing him. For Mephistophe
! lian subtlety this is something sur
passing reward.”
Co-operation.
I am in receipt of a copy of a hand
some publication issued by the Na
tional Cash Register company of Day
ton, Ohio, containing an account of
the last semi-annual distribution of
cash awards made by the company to
employes. The prizes ranged from
$5 to SSO, and aggregated $Ol5, mak
ing the annual disbursement on this
score exceed $1,200. The distribution
took place In the opera Ifouse, before
a large audience, in which were repre
sentatives of many great manufac
turing and business concerns desir
ous to gain knowledge of the “N. C.
R. system,” as it is styled. In his
address of welcome President F. J.
Patterson stated the fundamental
point of the system. It is co-opera
tion. Every employe of the several
thousand is invited to make sugges
tions as to how cash registers may he
j improved. Any suggestion found
1 meritorious and applicable places the
suggester on the prize list. The last
six months over 1,200 suggestions were
made, and many accepted. But the
prize feature is simply a part of the
system. Its strength lies in the rec
ognition of the fact that stockholders,
mechanics, traveling men, are all joint
promoters of one common enterprise;
that their just ambition lies in devel
oping It, and themselves with It; that
according to the comparative value of
their respective contributions in capi
tal or labor, or both, they divide
among themselves the proceeds of the
business. In other words, It elimin
ates the Idea of ‘‘master and servant,”
and substitutes for It that of “co
workers.” Just how far the latter
principle is carried out in the every
day conduct of the Dayton factory I do
not know, but that it is recognized in
theory, and at least partially estab
lished in practice, is a great advance.
It is in line with the best modern
thought in matters industrial, and in
accord with the ideas of leading la
bor leaders and 1 other authorities in
economics.
Orfsnhe!
A letter recently written by Mr.
Charles Beadle of Buffalo, N. Y., is so
full of good, sound acßvice that I repro
duce it in full. It needs no comment.
Read it, ponder it, and act acording
to It:
“Much has been written and many
articles published relating to• hard
times and the remedy for the same.
In my opinion none of the writers
have given the correct remedy or laid
out a course for the working men or
laboring class to follow in order that
they may assert their rights and re
sist oppression and Injustice. Some'
say abolish the trusts; others say re
sort to the ballot box. But I say and 1
contend that tho proper way for the
laboring class to do is not to. waste
their years in fighting the trusts or
placing their confidence ia political
thieves. But organize! organize! Let
every trade and calling institute and
organize unions and protective asso
ciations; let each trade have a eertaln
scale of wages, and no member be
allowed to work for less. Shorten the
hours of labor, and thus give more
men employment. Let every man and
woman who Is obliged to work for a
living become members of a consoli
dated body, and there Is no question
but that they can control the situa
tion, assert their rights, resist oppres
sion and injustice and proclaim their
rights. Whose fault Is It If anew
slavery is enthralling the working
class? Why Is it that a stalwart
workman, in full vigor of splendid
manhood, the protector of a fair wife
and the father of happy children, hugs
to his breast the delusion of liberty,
and yet tamely submits to the lash?
Fellow-workmsn, arise! Get out of the
rut? Organize, consolidate, combine,
be ever jealous of your rights; watch
with vigilance any encroachment upon
your liberties. Be ready at all times
to take up arms In defense of your
home, your country and your rights!
Be independent, fearless, and you will
then be a free-born American citizen
and not a slave.”
Dnu't Bea Bog.
There is lots of the strongest kind
of logic in the following note from
the American Federationist: “We
J strongly advise against the practice
which now exists In some industries
! of working overtime beyond the estab-
I lished hours of labor, particularly in
these times, when so many unem
ployed are struggling for an oppor
-1 tunity to work. It is an instigator of
! basest selfishness, a radical violation
of union principles, and whether on
| piece or day work, it tends to set
| back the general movement for the
j eight-hour day.”
Value of rourWtii to Italy.
Italy’s income from foreign visitors
Is estimated at $40,000,000 a year. In
Rome there are three times as many
hotels and boarding houses for tourists
| as there were twenty years ago.
A man has no opposition when he
| begins to make love to himself.
GOVERNMENT BANKS.
A PROPOSED METHOD FOR
ABOLISHING TAXES.
' 4
The Old Farmer'! Alltanc* aad Populist
Demand Again Makes Its Appearance
and In a Significant Ouarter —There
Will He no Trimming In 1900.
The Mississippi Valley Democrat
and Journal of Agriculture justly lays
claim to being the Democratic organ
of the central west. It is edited by
W. S. Bryan, said to be closely re
lated to William J. Bryan, and its
business manager is George W. Jones,
brother of Col. Charles H. Jones, the
author of the Chicago platform. And
the Democrat and Journal presents its
readers every week a choice selection
of pure Populist arguments, a recent
issue containing the following edi
torial;
“One qf the prominent issues of the
near future will be government postal
savings banks. Only those who are
in close touch with the people can form
any idea of the almost universal de
mand that exists for institutions of
this character. They are bound to
come. When the people need and de
mand a thing they generally take the
necessary steps to get it.
“Postal savings banks can be man
aged and utilized very closely along
the line of our ‘no tax’ proposition.
That is to say, the banks will lend
money to the people direct, on good
security and at a low rate of interest;
and thi interest, instead of concen
trating in the hands of a few million
aires and being used for the further
oppressment of the people, as under
our existing system, will be disbursed
as soon as collected In the payment of
government expenses. This will not
only lessen the burden of taxation, but
it will keep the people’s money in ac
tive circulation, and stimulate com
merce and industry beyond anything
ever experienced in onsr previous his
tory. Then when a citizen pays his
interest for She use of the money he
has borrowed' from the- public, he will
have the satisfaction, of knowing that
he is reducing hia own taxes as well
a those of bis neigkbcffl*, and at the
same time carrying forward enter
prises that wiil furnish employment
and comforts for his fellasw men.
“Why should, not the government is
sue treasury certificate*, or greenback
demand notes, a It did ift 1561-’62, pay
oil the Interest bearing national debt,
and lend the notes to the- people? Why
should the people pay interest to the
national banka for the t*s© of a cur
rency by no- means a& good as gov
ernment money woud be; when the lat
ter can be had! without east to the pub
lic? Both systems rest on the same
foundation. National bank notes are
secured by government bonds, which
in turn are secured fey the public faith.
This is adding a fifth wheel to the
wagon merely to accommodate the
banks. Government hills stand direct
ly on the public faith, without the in
tervention of the hanks or their Shy
lock interest. Greenbacks are as good
as government bonds; the security in
either ease being precisely the same,
and greenbacks cost the public noth
ing—bence the anxiety of the “sound
money” party to “impound” and de
stroy the people’s money and replace
It with shin-plaster bank bills that will
cost more than 10 per cent. Some day
that portion of the people that you
can’t fo6l all the time will take this
matter in their own hands, establish
postal savings banks, and pay off the
bonds with greenbacks. And why not?
It would only give us about $l6 per
capita in paper money, and we would
certainly sustain the par value of tht#s
as easily as w r e can maintain an equal
amount of interest bearing bonds. Tbits
question is too plain and too vigorous
with practical common sense for the
people who think, to allow it to re
main much longer in its present anom
alous condition. Distribute the debt
among the people and stop the Inter
est.”
The bugles are calling the Populist
voters into line for next year's great
battle against special privilege, and
Populist music is also sounding loud
and clear in the ranks of the Bryan
Democracy. It seems that the irre
sistible current of events will draw the
line sharply between plutocracy and
popular government, and there should
be no question as to which will win.
AMERICAN CIVILIZATION.
A correspondent of the New York
Times thus calls attention to the beam
in America’s own eye:
“In your congratulatory editorial on
the tone of the address of the Philip
pine commission this morning, you
seem to tak it for granted that our
civilization is so important a thing
that it ought to be given to the na
tives of the Philippines in the interest
of their progress? Are you quite sure
that you are right? Is our civiliza
tion worth so much that we should
even strain in the slightest the prin
ciples of justice to secure its adoption
by peoples to whom it is as yet an un
known quantity in their intellectual
and national advancement?
What do you think of a civilization
like that in New York, where there
has to be an investigation every so
many years to make living at alt tol
erable? Is human life less safe in the
Philippines than In American cities?
Take the police out of New York city,
or any other large city of any so-called
Christian nation, and how much se
curity would there be for life and
property? In other words, is our so
called civilization based upon Chris
tian character or upon the clifbs and
revolver* of our police? What can be
said of a national character as the
product of Christian teaching when in
the largest and most representative of
American cities we have a standing ar
my every day numbering thousands,
armed with clubs and firearms, whom
we call police, but who are simply sol
diers under another name, employed
for the protection of life and property,
and without' wham life would be as in
secure as it would be among the lions
and wolves of a wilderness?
Is there anything in th* administra
tion of Philippine cities under insur
gent rule more corrupt than the ad
ministration of: Chicago, Philadelphia
and New York? 1 Has the Filipino
government national legislators who
are under indietmtmt for robbery and
accused by their own state of bribery?
Considering that'the murders in this
country exceed the 1 homicides of the
whole of Europe, don't you think that
we had better attend to our purifica
tion first? Are there any more little
children toiling at hard labor in the
Philippines than are* working here, un
der the beautiful banner of the free?
Are there more women toilers in the
Philippines than there are here, ruin
ing their constitutions by working in
factory, sweatshop and mill, and un
fitting themselves for the hardens, ob
ligations, and, aye, the glories of moth
erhood?
Is life so awful in the Philippines
that there are suicidfes thxers' by the
hundreds of men wihlo are glad to es
cape the struggle forrexisten.te, as hap
pens here, till we have ceassd to won
der? Isn’t it a general rulle of a na
tion, as of an individual, that when it
goes about calling attention' to> its su
perior virtues it is usually this biggest
kind of a hypocrite?' Bid! not Christ
have in mind just such assumption of
virtue as is manifested! mow by the
United States when Hfe oond'emned the
Pharisees for theirr self-announced
righteousness? Will somß' of our min
isters kindly give us a'sermon on the
difference between the Phariseeism ot
Christ’s day and that-of 13899)?
THE PEOPLE SHOULD WRITE.
The accumulated wealth of the Unit
ed States by the close of the century
will, in spite of our severe attack oi
hard times* in all probability reach
the enormous sum of ninety-seven to
one hundred billions jf dollars.
Since there is enough for all, why is
it we Lave a standing army oi
from two to five million idle men
longing for a chan-re to work and tc
add to the nation?!* wealth, while pro
viding, for their destitute families?
Why iis it that tftje land is filled with
tramps and lafeae- is everywhere dis
contented?
The answer ifs plain. The wealth is
unequally and' unjustly distributed
’Fie larger part; of it is under the con
trol of a comparatively small part cij
cbe nation. ?he nation’s business ig
run in the interest of a few lndlvidi
uals —not fop- the greatest good of. thd
greatest number. These individuals
unite their wealth and turn themselves,
into corporations which throttle com
merce and nearly choke the liife out of
industry. They treacherously destroy
the business of less wealthy competi
tors, and limit production ito increase
prices. This causes widespread dis
tress i* the ranks of labor, which can
not fi’ed employment, besides depriving
the great masses of the nation of com
forts and luxuries to which they are
entitled. In these days we pay trib
ute to the money kings who are no less
despotic and cruel in their rule than
the old-fashioned monarch.
If the people would save themselves
from industrial slavery they must act
at once. There is no time to lose, for
there is a long battle to be fought.
They must provide themselves with
weapons—not swords or bullets —but
the weapons of peace, the initiative
and the referendum. Once safely
placed in the hands of the people these
weapons are powerful enough to pro
tect their rights. They may be ob
tained by proper use of the weapons
of which the people are already In pos
t session—the ballot! Use the ballot to
obtain the initiative and referendum;
then use the Initiative and referendum
to obtain laws really are for the
greatest good of the greatest number;
laws which will protect the rights of
the weak, and which will limit the
privileges of concentrated wealth.
HARRIET E, cmCUTT,
The Largest Trees ia ths
The largest Iree- la the world is ? ■
■een at Mascalf, bear the foot of u
Etna, and is called “The Chestnut
of a Hundred i ts namp , re?
from the report tfeat Queen Jan/*!
Aragon, with her principal nobiiit!
took refuge from a violent storm ,
der Its branches. T&e trunk u /
hundred and four fee? in circun/°
ence. The largest tree- in the Unltwi
States, it is said, stands near Be
Creek, on the north fork of the t/
River, in California. It Measures on
hundred and fcrty feet iff cireumf '
enee. The glanl redwood tree in /
vada is one hunched and nineteen fl
in circumference.-“Ladies’ Home j ou .
aaL _ ; *
Antipathies ot Celebrated msh
Antipathy, like fear, is something nn .
reasonable; it is an instinct, and tlier*.
fore absolutely unconquerable. Great
men isave suffered from strange- anti
patliies. King Henry HI. could m re.
main, alone in a room a cat. jv
Duko- 9( Epernon fainted at the sight
of a leveret. Tycho Brahe was all j 0
a tremor at the sight of< a leveret or i
fox. Thie Marshal of A!%et was mad
111 if a young wild boar' or a sucking
pig waff served at the table where a?
sat. Tite- famous scholar, Sealiger,
shook aIS over at the sight of water
cress.
Lord B’acon swooned away at' aa
eclipse of the moon. Bayle went into
convulsions, at the sound of water run.
ning out: of a faucet. Lamotfte le Vay.
er had nervous convulsions at hearing
any musical instrument. But the
most extratwdlnary of all was King
Ladislaw o 6 Poland, who fled 'precipe
tately at tile- sight of an apple. Had
he only been fin the place of Adam the
temptation* o$ Eve would have been of
no avail.
Romance oi a Russian Counter
A Russian; Countess, Wyanoff by.
name, and.ooraspicuous at court by rea
son of her woatlth, has run off with her
footman. lift is a touching romance.
The footman; imver told his love except
by daily placing on the Countess*
toilet tableeailovely bouquet. His secret
did not come- ut, however, untll hls
mistress entered her apartment one
day to find him; in the act of kissing her
portrait. Am elopement and wedding
soon followed, and the Countess pat
the finishing, toadies to the romance by
buying a Bulgarian estate with which
goes the title of Count.
AboiliU. Ae Death Penalty.
At Albany.- tbe- law-makers are wraarHs?
over the abolition, of the death penalty Tfc*
man who suucerfxle- in passing such a bill
prove as gre.iii a. benefactor to the breaker of
man’s laws, as- IBostetter’s Stomach Bitter*,
has to the breakotrof nature’s laws. If you'w
neglected your stomach until lndigasson,
biliousness, liver and kidney
troubles are upoat yon there’s but one eure-
Hostetter’s'i Stomach Bitters. Don't fan '*
try it. All druggists sell it.
Fools always- invest first and investigate
later.
Bml Tob*ffS>9t>it tad Smoke Tear Life I***
To quit tobacco easily and forever, be mat
netic, full of; lirsj.nerve and vigor, take No-T*
Bac, the wonder-worker, that makes weal; met
strong. All; druggists, 50c or •!. Curesuars*-
teed. Booklet* and sample free. Artdre
Sterling. Remedy Cos., Chicago or New.Ywk
Learnmg-and! wisdom are not always-oa
good terms,
Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup for ohildrsß.
teet.hiiig,,softens the gums, red uces infiamtnv
tlon.allays pn.ln.cures wind coiic. 25c. a bottie.
F. .Tl.Ghetwv & Cos.. Toledo. Q. Piress. *fj
HaH’s.(?ft>tarr?> Cure, offer SIOO re w-ardforanf
case oLoabarrh that cannot be cured by takitK
IlaH’S-Gatajirh <'ur , Send for.testisaeaiwa
free* Solid fe.y Druggists. 75c.
F:tß-p®.p’Mnent,ly cured. No fits.or nw*o'je
ness-af-De-ir first day’s use of Dr.
Nej-r\\s-B.ewserer. $2 trial bottleand.tre.itis*' I ?*'
D. It. 11. Kune, Ltd.. 031 Arch St,. Phil*;. ™
Tlhe inebriate is unable te get' slats*!
drams-out of an ounce of whiskey.
S#-To-Bac for Fifty Cents,
G. tobacco habit cure, makes
®en strong, blood pure. 60c. sl. All drugf
Nearly every married woman tbia-ts a
Of other women envy her. . |
u To Err is Human"
*But to en a.ll tfts time Is
criminal or idiotic.. Dont
continue the mistake °t
neglecting your blood.
Hood's Sarsaparilla now. j*
•will make pure* live blood’
and put you in good health.
All Cone ” Had njo, appetite or stren ! ff .
could ?aot sleep or **4 rested, was
pletely run down. '.Jvo bottles Hood s '
sapartlla cured tho tired feeling and
my own work.” Mss. A.DicK.Millvin ■_
from
_ Ilcod’i Pill* eu>o fiver His;
only cathartic to take with HnotPs
$3,000 DEPOSIT
TO ItEDEEM Ot’ll
GUARANTEE OF POSITION
It. K. Fare Bald. Actual uf
Tuition to one of each sex in every
your state. WHITE QCICK tt> /jj,
GA.-ALA. BUS. COLLEGE, Hacon,
USE CERTAIN CHILL CUR’
golden~crown -
LAMP CHIMNEYS
Are the best. A-k for them. * * , pr .
than rouunun ulilmnej • ~
l'lnsiiUllh tiI,ASS Ct„ A' ll '
MENTION TH!3"plP£R£*'' 1