PORTLAND LABOR PRESS
5
Portland Labor Press
P u b lish e d e v e ry T h u r s d a y by th e P o r t
lan d L a b o r P re s s P u b lis h in g A sso c ia tio n .
(In c o rp o ra te d A u g u st 18, 1900.)
O F F IC E .
Room 53, M cK ay B u ild in g , 248% S ta r k
s tre e t, P o rtla n d , O regon.
S U B S C R IP T IO N R A T E S .
U n io n s b elo n g in g to th is A sso c ia tio n
an d d e sirin g to su b sc rib e fo r th e ir e n tire
m e m b e rsh ip , th e s u b s c rip tio n p ric e is 11.00
a y e a r p e r copy.
U n io n s w h ich do n o t b e lo n g to th is A s
so ciatio n , b u t d e sire to s u b sc rib e fo r th e ir
e n tire m e m b e rsh ip , th e s u b s c rip tio n price
is $1.25 a y e a r p e r copy.
Single su b sc rip tio n s $1.50 p e r y e a r.
S ingle copies 5 c e n ts each .
A lw a y s in a d v a n c e .
A D V E R T IS IN G R A T E S .
R a te s w ill be m a d e k n o w n u p o n a p p li
catio n .
P le a se a d d re ss a ll c o m m u n ic a tio n s to
th e P o r tla n d L a b o r P re s s P u b lis h in g A s
so ciatio n , ro o m 53 M cK ay B u ild in g , P o r t
land, O regon.
M anager
C has. E . Y ork
H. B. M e tc a lf
...E d ito r
B O A R D O F D IR E C T O R S .
C has. E . Y o rk ........ M u sic ia n s' A sso c ia tio n
P r e s id e n t a n d G e n e ra l M a n a g e r.
F re d W . M o rris.........T y p o g ra p h ic a l U nion
V ic e -P re sid e n t.
J. A. B u s h m a n ..L u m b e rm lll W k r s ’ U nion
S e c re ta ry -T re a s u re r.
E. E d w a rd s ................. C ig a rm a k e rs ’ U nion
Jo h n B eigl .............................B re w e rs ’ U nion
Geo. M. O rto n ...................P re s s m e n s U nion
C. H . W e b e r ..............R e ta il C le rk s’ U nion
W. H. R o b e rts o n __ L e tte r - C a r r ie r s ' A ss’n
Geo. L e c h m e ie r........ B eer D r iv e r s ’ U n io n
J. F . J o h n s o n .........L e a th e r w o r k e r s ’ U nion
A r th u r B o o th ........... T e a m D riv e rs ’ U nion
J. A. G o ld ra in e r...................B a r b e r s ’ U n io n
E n te re d a t th e P o s t Office a s second-
c la ss m a tte r , S e p te m b e r 29th, 1900.
A F O O L ISH CU STO M .
W e d o n ’t believe in th e legal farces
th a t are som etim es played in th e co u rts
of th is country, w hen C hinese a re p a rt
n e rs to a law suit. W e read th e re p o rt
of a tria l betw een tw o C hinese in a
V ancouver, B. C., co u rt recen tly , and
the perfo rm an ce th e re was a iiisgrace
to civilization. T he foolish custom of
allow ing C hinam en to ta k e an o ath by
c u ttin g off the 'head of a ch icken is
sneer nonsense. If th e h e a th e n does
not end c an n o t be m ade to u n d e rsta n d
th e n a tu re of an o a th in a civilized
country, th e n he should n o t be allow ed
to te stify . I t is sim ply e n c o u rag in g
them in th e ir h e a th e n ish practices to
allow any such nonsense as c u ttin g
off the head of a chicken to solem nize
an oath. A b e tte r way w ould be to
cut th e C h in am an 's head off if he lies
in court. T h e sa y in g th a t, w hen you
a re in R cm e you m u st do a s R o m an s
do, does not seem to apply to C hinese;
b ut w hen you a re in A m erica you m ust
do as t'he C hinese do. T each the
sh aven-headed h e a th e n th a t if he
sw ears to a lie in c o u rt he w ill be sen t
to s ta te ’s prison, an d it w ill do m ore
tow ard m ak in g him tell th e tr u th th a n
d e c a p ita tin g a w hole p o u ltry yard.
R R R
IT B E G IN S TO H U R T .
S u p e rin te n d en t M cGu.re. of the A s
to ria & C olum bia R a ilro a d , a tte m p ts
to defend his Ja p a n a s e fav o ritism by
saying t h a t he can n o t get w h ite m en
to do th e w ork, a n d is com pelled to
em ploy Jap an ese. A co m m u n icatio n
in la s t S a tu rd a y ’s O regonian, show ing
th a t he had left no o rd e r w ith any e m
ploym ent agency in th is city, explodes
t h a t a rg u m e n t. T he real excuse of the
ra ilro a d , fo r Mr. M cGuire is only a
hired m an. is th a t th e Jap3 can be had
for less pay and w ill w ork all so rts of
hours. S undays and n ig h ts, if th e boss
w an ts them to. and th is w h ite men
will n o t do. J u s t as long as these
A siatics are allow ed to come here, ju st
eo long w ill th ey be a m enace to w hite
labor. Stop them from com ing, and
discourage th o se t h a t are here, till they
will be glad to go back, or any w here
else, a n d th e problem will be solved.
W e called a tte n tio n a few w eeks ago
to th e fa c t th a t cheap J a p re s ta u ra n ts
are flo u rish in g in o u r very m idst, and.
w h at is w orse, th ey are patro n ized a l
m ost exclusively by w o rk in g men
D on’t p a tro n iz e an y place th a t is ru n
by a J a p o r a C h in am an , and in th is
way a t le a s t ex e rt y o u r influence in th e
rig h t d irection. A g re a t m any w o rk
ing people, some of th em m em bers of
la b o r unions, h ire C hinese laundrym en
to th e exclusion of w h ite lau n d ries,
sim ply because they c a n get th e A sia t
ics to w ork for a little less m oney.
W e c a n ta lk a b o u t J a p and C hinese
cheap lab o r all we please, but u n til we
act, th e ta lk w ill do no good. W h a t
is every b o d y ’s business is nobody’s
business.
rrr
L A B O R L E G IS L A T IO N .
T h e re will be m ore o r less “ labor
le g isla tio n ” a t th e c a p ita ls of th e v a ri
ous s ta te s th is year, as usual, and even
C ongress m ay be expected to “jo lly ”
th e w o rk in g m an by e n a c tin g a few
m easu res in beh alf of th e to ilers. Most
of these law s will h a v e th e ir loopholes.
And, in th e m eantim e, the co u rts will
go on discovering flaw s in such a cts
an d w ritin g th e w ord “ u n c o n s titu tio n
a l,” ju s t as th e Illin o is Suprem e C ourt
rec e n tly did in th e case of th e law en
title d “An act to p ro te c t em ployes and
g u a ra n te e th e ir rig h t to belong to la
bor o rg an iz atio n s.’ B u t every y e a r’s
re p e titio n of th is farce w ill se rv e to
rem ove a few scales from th e w age-
e a rn e r ’s eyes, and finally he w ill elect
a few m en from h is own ra n k s to
m ake, in te rp re t and enfo rce ju st m eas
u res of th e k ind desired, says a n e x
change. A lth o u g h Illin o is has a law
p ro h ib itin g th e em ploym ent of child
labor in facto ries th e a n n u a l re p o rt of
th e sta te fa c to ry in sp e c to r show s th a t
n e a rly 11,000 ch ild ren u n d e r th e age of
16 y ears a re w o rk in g in th e facto ries
of Chicago alone. T he in sp ecto r says,
fu rth e r, t h a t g irls and boys of te n d e r
y e a rs a re crow ding o u t grow n m en and
w om en as factory em ployes. C lauses of
th e law w hich aim to p ro tect th e h e a lth
and lim bs of th e c h ild ren have to ta lly
collapsed. It is to th e sham e of any
s ta te to allow such a s itu a tio n to de
velop; yet th e c o n d itio n s in Illin o is are
ju s t exactly as sta te d above. If th e
m em bers would devote m ore tim e to
m ak in g good law s, people in gen eral
w ould h a v e a m uch h ig h er opinion of
them .
T H E W A IT R E S S E S ’ U N IO N .
W hen the w a itre sse s’ U nion w as o r
ganized in th is city th e re w ere sm all-
m inded people w ho looked upon it as
so m eth in g of a joke. I t was an unique
in n o v a tio n in unionism , and m any p ro
phecies w ere m ade th a t it w ould not
la s t long, because of th e p o p u lar su p e r
stitio n th a t w om en w ould sooner pull
h a ir th a n pull to g eth er. H ap p ily th ese
prophecies have failed of fulfillm ent.
T here is n o t in S eattle today a m ore
harm o n io u s or sy ste m a tic a lly co n d u c t
ed union th a n th a t of th e w aitresses.
T hey have by good ju d g m e n t’and fidel
ity to each o th e r succeeded in m a
te ria lly b e tte rin g th e co n ditions u n d e r
w hich th e y earn a living. T hey have
show n th a t w om en can m a in ta in a
union as successfully as m en, and th e ir
siste rs in o th e r fields of w ork should
profit by th e ir e x am p le.”—U nion R ec
ord.
T h e above o u g h t to be an exam ple
fo r th e w a itre sse s of P o rtla n d . Tf th ey
could be induced to profit by th e les
son th e ir S eattle s is te rs h av e ta u g h t
them , th e y w ould be th e gainers.
RRR
THE LA BO R M OVEM ENT.
T he lab o r m ovem ent has been m uch
m isu nderstood. It h a s been th e s tru g
g lin g of th e m asses o f m en fo r b e tte r
conditions.
M any a re a t p re se n t in
clined to th in k th a t the s trik e , th e
lock-out, th e boycott and th e b lac k list
a re all th e re is to th e labor union.
T hey h av e never know n a n y th in g
ab o u t it except th ro u g h these.
T he
boycott is to th e la b o r union w h a t th e
b lac k list is to the c a p italist. T hey a re
b u t pim ples on th e skin. T he v ita ls of
the lab o r m ovem ent a re ben eath . T he
lab o r m ovem ent is a m ovem ent of m en
tow ards b e tte r co n d itio n s, m ore books,
la rg e r education and b roader o ppor
tu n ities. Som etim es th ey d o n ’t know
why they are m ak in g th e stru g g le, but
th ey know th a t God has created o p p o r
tu n itie s th a t they o u g h t to enjoy.
RRR
W atch out for th e union label.
U N IO N V S . N O N -U N IO N M EN.
T he em ployers o f lab o r in G eorg.a
a re b eg in n in g to a p p re c ia te th e v a lu e o f
organized as a g a in s t unorganized labor.
The G eorgia T a n n in g & M an u fa c tu rin g
C om pany, of A tla n ta , h as recently d is
covered thait b e tte r and m ore efficient
service can be o b tained from union
m en th a n from those outside th e o r
g an izatio n . T he m an a g e r of th e above
concern has recen tly given evidence of
his convictions in th is respect by m a k
ing a uniop m an, a m em ber of th e
L e a th e r W o rk e rs’ U nion, forem an, and
ad v isin g all th e m en in th e e s ta b lis h
m en t to jo in th e union. H ere is a m an
w ho has tried both k in d s of help, and
he openly en d o rses those w ho belong to
th e o rg an izatio n . B ut th en th a t is th e
re s u lt w hever th e ex p e rim e n t
is
m ade. T he union m en g e t t'he p re fe r
ence, and very n a tu ra lly , for th ey are
a lm o st in v ariab ly b e tte r w orkm en,
m ore reliable, and can be depended on
to keep up n o t o n ly th e ir own re p u ta
tio n . b u t th e re p u ta tio n of th e ir union.
R R R
LAUN DR Y W O RK ERS.
T h e re are som e h ard sto ries being
to ld ab o u t th e m a n n e r in w hich a c er
ta in lau n d ry not a th o u sa n d m iles from
F ifth s tre e t tre a ts its em ployes. One
w om an, w ho is in a p o sition to know ,
sa y s th a t th e p ro p rie to r or p ro p rie to rs
of th is la u n d ry hold o u t tw o w eeks’
sa la ry on th e ir em ployes to p rev e n t
th em from leav in g w ith o u t g iving no
tice, and w hen th e em ploye doe? finally
leave, th e k ep t-b ack pay is never given
them . I t is a lso said th a t th e help is
w orked n e a rly to d e a th , that, th e re i=
no lim ita tio n to hours,. Since h e a rin g
th is rep o rt we 'have n o t had tim e to in
v e stig a te it as to p a rtic u la rs, but if it
is as h a s been sta te d , th e re is a gocd
field h ere for organized labor to do a
little w ork. B ut hold! W e forgot th a t
th e lau n d ry people a re n o t organized,
a n d th a t according to re p o rt they d o n ’t
need a union.
R R R
H E SA T ON T H E FE N C E .
W e never had a very high opinion of
a m an w ho did n o t have th e courage
c f hid convictions. T h is is especially
tru e w ith reg a rd to m en h olding r e
sponsible public positions, such as p re s
idents, g overnors, etc. T h is th o u g h t
is suggested by th e fa ilu re of G overnor
G eer to sig n th e b a rb e rs ’ Sunday clos
in g bill; but let it becom e a law w ith
out h is sig n a tu re . He sim ply strad d led
th e fence and sa t th ere. H e w as a fra id
to veto th e law fo r he know s th a t
such an act w ould fo re v e r brand him
as th e enem y of o rg an ized labor, and
h e did n o t d are to sign it, for fear he
w ould in cu r th e d isp leasu re of th e em
p loying classes. So he sp lits th e differ
ence and b rin g s dow n upon his head
th e co n tem p t of both em ployer and
em ploye. As H osea B igelow said of
G ran t. “ I do lik e a m an th a t a in t
afeard ”
R R R
“ W h a t fools th ese m o rta ls b e!”
W hen S h ak esp eare p u t th ese w ords
in to th e m outh of P uck, h e had nev er
h eard of “ S ch latter, th e div in e h e a le r.”
If he had, he w ould have said, “ w hat
idiots these m o rtals be.” It is really
a d isco u rag in g sign w hen so m any peo
ple w ho a re o rd in a rily supposed to
h a v e com m on sense, w ill jo stle and
jam and crow d each o th e r in o rd er to
see and h e a r a fellow such as th is say
th a t he died and w as buried in the
m o u n ta in s of C olorado forty days),
th a t he ascended to heaven, b u t he
c a n ’t tell w h a t he saw" there. If th e
fellow has sense enough to blasphem e,
th is is sh e er blasphem y, and he should
be tre a te d as a blasphem er. It is pass
ing stra n g e th a t any m an or w om an
w ith a g rain of self-resp ect will lend
h im self o r herself to a ssist in such a
p e rfo rm an ce as was w itnessed in the
M arquam th e a tre Sunday night. Ba -
num was rig h t w hen he said th e A m er
ican people liked to be hum bugged.
R R R
T h e bu ild in g tra d e s of th is city bad
ly need co nsolidation o r fed eratio n u n
der one head. It would give them ten
tim es the p restig e th ey now have,
m ake them a body th a t c o n tra c to rs
would be bound to respect, and place
th em in a position w here th ey could
dem and th a t no scab lab o r should be
em ployed on jo b s w here a n y of th e
tra d e s work.
R RR
T he C hinese are exceedingly anxious
th a t the foreign troops sh a ll leave P e
kin. It m ight be a fair offer, so far as
th e A m eileans are concerned, to recall
th e U nited S ta te s so ld ieis on condition
th a t they recall all C hinese in th is
country. C hina would be th e gainer,
and so w ould the U nited S tates.
T H E L A B O R O R G A N IZ E R .
I t ta k e s a p ecu liar m en tal m ake-up
to be a lab o r o rganizer. A m an m ust
be in te llig e n t or he c&n n o t lead his
fellow -m en—even in to b e tte rin g then-
c o n d itio n ; but if he would avoid je a l
ousies 'he m u st ap p ear to be n o th in g
above th e av erag e in th a t respect. He
m u st be even-tem pered o r he c an n o t
u n ite, for th e ir ow n benefit, th e m any
k in d s of hot heads' th a t m ake up h u
m an ity , say s th e U nion R ecord. H e
m u st be “ one of th e boys” in o rd er to
get ac q u ain te d w ith them , b u t he m u st
be te m p e ra te tc hold th e ir respect. H e
m u st be a t th e beck and call of every
Tom , D ick and H a rry a t any h o u r of
th e day o r n ig h t, b u t m u st n o t kick
if anybody fails to keep ap p o in tm en ts.
H e m u st be th e rec ip ie n t of e v e ry
body’s ta le of woe, but m u st nev er
have “ tro u b les of his ow n.” H e m ust
have a th o u sa n d -d o lla r a p p e ara n ce on
a five-dollar-a-day job to live on prom
ises to pay fro m “ h e a d q u a rte rs .” B ut
his rew ard is sure. G lory will be hand
ed out to him in g re a t big hunks.
D aily p ap ers will call him “ lab o r le a d
e r,” and p o litic ia n s refer to him as ‘a
m an of influence” ; envious u n io n ists
w ill label him “f a k ir ,” and co rporation
law yers will re fe r to him as an “ ag ita
to r.” A fter y e a rs of fa ith fu l service
he finds him self “ full cf h o n o rs.” th e
m en he h a s organized e n jo y in g p ro s
perity , and his fam ily w illin g to have
him go to w ork a t his trad e. Yea.
verily, th e life c f an o rg an iz er ie a
happy one.
B R IC K L A Y E R S ’ P R E S ID E N T .
G eorge P. G ubbins, the new p resid en t
of th e B ric k la y e rs’ N a tio n a l U nion, is
a well know n figure in C hicago labor
circles. H e has been an active w orker
for his union for m any y ears and at
th e la st election, in Decem ber, w as
chosen tre a s u re r. F o r tw o y ears p re
viously he served as p resid en t. The
B ric k la y e rs’ In te rn a tio n a l U nion h as
82,000 m em bers in th e U nited S tates,
C an ad a and Mexico, and is the second
larg e st lab o r o rg an iz atio n in m em ber
ship in A m erica. T he C hicago delega
tion secured e v e ry th in g th ey w anted in
th e convention. They w ere given a
re b a te of $2,500 in dues paid th e I n te r
n a tio n a l d u rin g th e building trad es
lock-cut, and prevented the issuance of
a c h a rte r to a n u m b er of th e ir irrem bers
who desired to form a S outh Side
union. T hey also secured th e ab o lish
m ent of th e office of o rganizer, w hich
was held by ex -S ecretary O’Dea.—■
W estern L aborer.
G R E E L E Y ’S L IB E R A L IT Y .
I t ap p ears t h a t Colonel M cClure has
not yet ex h au sted his large fund of a n
ecdotes of H orace G reeley. C oncern
ing Mr. G reeley’s pro d ig ality . Colonel
M cClure te lls how he once ventured to
suggest to th e sage of C happaqua th a t
he was g iving aw ay m ore m oney th a n
his m eans justified. “ W ell,” said Mr.
G reeley, “ I guess th a t's so, but I c a n ’t
stop it. I am like the S o uthern p la n te r
who. a fte r spending the proceeds of his
crop in w in te r reveling closed up the
account by sellin g a nigger. I do it by
sellin g a sh a re of T he T rib u n e .” H e
o rig in a lly ow ned nearly o r q u ite one-
h alf th e paper. W hen he died hp had
b ut one s h a re rem a in in g of th e 100.
E xchange.
Sm oke th e blue label cigars.
a re h e a lth y and clean.
They