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fttontmber 30, 1994 T FFY by John Ryan Seawright Labor and Lunacy in Old Atlanta: Jim and Ben Osborne. — Part 1. The Osborne brothers are forgotten today, but a hundred years ago they were as famous — or notorious — as any set of siblings in Georgia. One or the other was rarely out of the public eye from 1893 until 1899, when both disappeared from the state James B. and Benjamin H. Osborne were the first and last of the four children of James M. and Mary E. Osborne of Atlanta Their father, the son of a Union County farm family, left the mountains around the time of the Civil War and came to Atlanta to work as a carpenter and machinist. When he was in his late thirties he marned Mary Sample, a young widow with two children. He bought a house at 156 Chapel St. where the family would live for the next 30 years. Their children, bom at two-year intervals starting in 1868, were James, Edward, Ann and Benjamin. When James B. Osborne graduated from high school he went to work as an appren tice house painter and was ordained a minister in the Congregational Church. Congregationalism was brought south by New England missionaries after the Civil War Most white Southerners saw it as a dangerous influence, and, indeed, its Southern clergy, both black and white, have a long tradition of political activism; Ambassador Andrew Young and radical poet and labor organizer Don West (like Osborne, of Union County heritage) are two 20th-century examples. After his ordination Osborne went out to California, where he worked as a house painter and became an active union member and organizer In May 1892 James Osborne repre sented his local at the statewide labor convention in San Francisco The conven tion chose him as a delegate to the California People’s Party convention Populism was largely a farmers’ movement, but many of its tenets, including public ownership of transportation and utilities, and free coinage of silver to increase the money supply, appealed to the urban working classes Osborne joined the Populist Party and was appointed state lecturer for California, traveling throughout the state as a speaker and organizer. Within a year he had moved to Colorado, where he continued to work in behalf of the Populists and his union, the Brotherhood of Painters and Decora tors. In July 1893 the Colorado labor convention chose him as a delegate to the Chicago silver convention, a national Jamee 3. Osborne meeting to support currency reform After the convention was over Osborne returned home to Atlanta. Atlanta’s factories were laying off thousands of workers and the rapidly growing Populist Party was looking for allies among the unemployed for their battle against the conservative Democrats On the night of Aug. 12, Osborne addressed over 2,000 people at the public artesian well on “The Relation of Silver to Labor." Three days later he gave what the Journal described as “a strong talk” at Atlanta’s Industrial Council Hall Two days later he addressed a mass meeting of business men and laborers at the Fulton County courthouse The meeting was meant to be a pleasant one stressing the essential unity of interest between capital and labor and calling for everyone to fight the eco nomic ensis by buying more locally- made goods The proceedings followed the chummy script until James Osborne took the floor. He addressed his audience as “Fellow citizens, fellow laborers, fellow slaves.” “Talk that way!” and ’Talk bread!’’ came cries from the floor. “Bread! Bread!" bellowed Osborne, “The reason 1 haven’t got much bread is because some sucker would work for 50 cents less a day than I would and because I am willing to pay 50 cents more for protecting labor than some of you scabs ” Two nights later Osborne was again at the artesian well addressing a crowd of unemployed workers. He spoke frequently at the well. Atlanta’s traditional arena for public speaking, and his speeches, often announced in Tom Watson’s People’s Party Paper, drew larger and larger crowds Atlanta’s police force grew alarmed at the sue and frequency of these gathenngs They banned David Marion, aka “Doctor Swamp Angel," an eccentric patent medicine salesman and Populist speaker, from the well. Police Chief Connolly sent Osborne a letter saying “you will not be permitted to address a meeting at the artesian well on Wednesday or any ocher night. If you intend having a meeting you must hold the same in some hall, as the streets of the city is noc the place to have these meetings " Osborne announced that he would not be scared off from addressing a peaceable public gathering and put out word that at 7 p m Sept. 13 he would speak at the artesian well on “Christian .Aspects of the Labor Problem." Continued Next Week. C1994. John Ryan Seawright. Let ue take care of your Holiday neede. Gift Certificates •Catering Private Parties Lunch with Family and Friends A 1700 5. Lumpkin St 543-3122 ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★ * « « * * * * * * * * * l * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Athens’ Guaranteed Lowest Contact Lens Prices Include the Eye Exam! We Will Beat Any Mail Order or Discount Store Contact Lens Prices! 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