Acknowledgments. We gratefully acknowledge the receipt of an invitation to the forty-sixth annual reception and ball of New York Typographical Union No. 6, to be given at Lexington Opera House, on the evening of March 16, and to express regret for unavoidable absence at festivities which we are sure were enjoyed with unalloyed pleasure by all who were fortunate in being participants thereof. We are also in receipt of an invitation to attend the first grand ball of Springfield (Ohio) Typographical Union No. 117, to be given Tuesday evening, April 7, 1896, and express regret at our inability to join in the pleasantries of what we know will be jolly Buckeye festivities. ONE of the strange anomalies of the present age is found in the fact that the newspapers which display the most enmity to organized labor, and are ever ready and willing to misrepresent its motives and purposes, could not exist without the support of workingmen, while a a paper printed wholly and solely in the interest of labor-of them and for themhas constantly to struggle like one in the throes of consumption for a mere existence. There is something more than natural in this if philosophy could only find it out. It is probably attributable to individual selfishness more than to any other single cause. Most men, even among the organized forces, care little or nothing for the welfare of the general mass of those who labor. They seem to think that the organization to which they are attached is the only one in which they should feel interested, because they feel the immediate benefits of their connection with it. They never reflect that by helping others, even with a pittance, they are adding to their own store of support and are securing better safety for their own welfare. Every local labor paper should receive the support of the entire mass of organized labor in its especial locality. We Don't Patronize. Union workingmen and workingwomen. and sympathizers with labor have refused to purchase articles produced by the following firms: Buxton & Skinner, Stationery Co., St. Louis and Kansas City, Mo. The Los Angeles, Cal., Times. Mekeel Printing Establishment, St. Louis, Mo. Studebaker Bros. Mnfg. Co.'s Carriages and St. Louis Brewers' Association, Lager Beer. Clement, Bane & Co., Clothiers, Chicago. Rochester Clothier's Exchange. Royal Mantel and Furniture Co., Rockford, Ill. Imperial Mill Co., Duluth, Minn. W. L. Kidder & Son Milling Co., Terre Haute, Ind. Jos. Biefield and Siegel & Bros., Clothiers, Chicago, Ill. J. W. Losse Tailoring Co., St. Louis, Mo. East India Matting Co., Piqua, O. S. F. Hees & Co., Cigars, Rochester, N. Y. H. Dietz Cigar Co., Detroit, Mich. Harding & Todd, Shoes, Rochester, N. Y. Kipp Bros., Mattresses and Spring Beds, Milwaukee, Wis. Bergner & Engel and Balz Brewing Co., Philadelphia, Pa. Fisher Co., Buffalo, N. Y.; Deuscher Co., Hamilton, O.; C. Schreier, Sheboygan, Wis., Malsters. Deby Bicycle Co., Jackson, Mich. Arena. A Correction. I was somewhat surprised to read in your Boston correspondence of last issue that I was an applicant for the position. of city printer of that city. No one knows better than my friend Whittem the absurdity of such a rumor, but your general readers do not; hence I feel called upon to deny it. It would ill become me to prostitute one of the highest positions in a grand movement by a request for favors within the gift of anyone, much less the questionable politician. AUG. MCCRAITH, Sec. A. F. of L. Fraternally, Indianapolis, Ind., March 12. The Prime Necessity of Organization. While the question of organizing the country printers in particular and improving the organization of the city printers as an incident thereto is up for discussion, it might be well to suggest that the reason for our comparative failure in this matter in the past has been because the districts were too large and the amount allowed the district organizers for expenses was too small to accomplish as much as many think ought to have been done to place the International Typographical Union where it ought to be in the ranks of organized labor. It seems to me that the plan of making each city of the second class the headquarters of a district, and an organizer appointed and paid by the local union and the International jointly, is feasible and could be worked to advantage. Financial secretaries are underpaid for the work they are expected to do, and if the office of organizer and secretary, or that of business agent of the allied printing trades council, should be combined, and a situation made which would be worth a man's whole time, it would be an improvement on the present plan, in which railroad fare eats up the organizer's allowance in settling the disputes of unions already existing before he has an opportunity to do anything in the way of establishing new ones. At any rate, the experiment might be worth trying in one or two cities as a starter, and then extended according to its success. Each city with a hundred thousand inhabitants has half a dozen or more small cities and large towns within the range of its business influence-in which the city papers circulate. Some of them are organized, and some of them are still on the list of the ought-to-be organized. Such an agent, devoting his whole time. to the work, could get acquainted in those cities, bracing up those which are organized and showing the benefits of organization to those which are not. A man must be real lucky if he accomplishes much in his spare time, and few men have any spare time after earning a living. Money expended in bracing up the country cousins could be well invested; the city union would then call on them for their political support in legislative matters and for their moral support in times of trouble with publishers. And the country printer must soon realize, if he has not already done so, that he must do a little organizing at home if his wages are to be raised above the level of a laborer; that subbing on the newspaper is a thing of the past; that the conditions have so changed he can not, as soon as he has reached the point in workmanship where he can get up a fair string with a fair proof, come to the city, make application for admission to the union and take his chances at subbing. The linotype has the displacement of an Atlantic liner and the city printer is moving to the country; at least, that is the way most of the tourists who have passed through Buffalo in the last year have expressed themselves. By the way, it is a noticeable fact that the tourists have been growing scarcer during the last year. Six months ago and previously, a Buffalo chairman would pass around an average of four cards a week, while for the last three months a man looking for assistance has been a rarity. During the last year nearly every tourist announced himself as heading for some country town where he was acquainted and stood a show for work, either at his trade or at something else. If they have done so, it should make the work of organizing the country printers less difficult. While we all realize the need of a better system of organizing and further additions to our membership, in both city and country, no one seems to have gone so far, in print, as to give an idea of what the cost would be. One man, who has had experience in organizing printers and who is not given to making rash statements, said that with the label and $30,000 he could unionize the entire country. Another man announced in a meeting of a subordinate union not long ago that he would increase the membership 300 at an expense of $300, and he would not ask for a cent if he did not get the 300. But, though it would have made $600 in initiation fees by the transaction, the offer was not taken up. It might be a good idea to have some of our organizers give their opinions as to the probable cost and the probable gain in membership by another system. The wide circulation of the JOURNAL makes it a good medium, The Spirit of Revival in Rochester. Rochester typographical union for some years has not been as active nor as energetic in the cause of organized labor as might be expected from a city of nearly 200,000. In fact, so far as regarded the craft, the holding of a card has been, until lately, the exception rather than the rule. But even Irving's Rip Van Winkle was awakened at last, and we, too, have been aroused. During the latter months of 1895 much interest began to be manifested by the members of No. 15 toward placing the union on a stronger basis numerically. Correspondence was opened with President Prescott, who gave the assurance that the International Union would render all possible assistance to the effort to regain the town. Deputy Organizer Lynch of Syracuse was deputized to look after the work as the representative of the International, while Rochester union appointed an organization committee, composed of ten members, to work in conjunction with him. This committee immediately set out to do all possible to advance the work to such a stage that Mr. Lynch on his arrival would find something definite accomplished. Circulars were sent to every member of the craft for an open meeting to discuss the question. This meeting was held on December 15, 1895, and may be said to have been the first shot fired in the campaign. The response to the invitation was gratifying, No. 15's headquarters being filled. Early in January chapels were formed in two of our newspaper offices-the Herald and the Post-Express. The men on the Herald were the first to set the ball rolling. On the afternoon of January 9 they assembled in the union's head mous opinion was for immediate action, and officers were elected. W. G. Martin of the organization committee was elected chairman, while the duties of clerk devolved upon W. H. Ford. Friday evening, at the committee's quarters, a similar step was taken by the PostExpress men, both officers in this chapel being drawn from the organization committee, C. E. Battey as chairman, and John T. Deprose as secretary. Then came Sunday's mass-meeting. The committee had taken the precaution kept busy answering questions, and then the results of the meeting began to be felt. A number of applications for membership were presented. An attack made on the arrearage list, which resulted in the transferring of many to the O K side of the ledger and increased the financial secretary's usual smile till it became a happy grin. Since this meeting a weekly paper has been added to the list-the Star-which is now flying the label and boasts that it is a solid union office. The Union and Advertiser, and the Democrat and Chronicle, are yet to be taken care of. How best to accomplish this is the thought now uppermost with us. To secure those offices we must first get the men, and with this object in view much of our work lately has been devoted to individual missions. We have also enlisted our friends outside the craft, and the various fraternal societies are kept well acquainted with the union label and its significance. The grocer, the butcher, the milkman and other business men with whom we have dealings are also kept fully alive as to the merits of the label. By these means we hope to compel its adoption in the book and job offices. Our success so far encourages us to go on with the good work, and we are cheered by the knowledge that by persisting in our efforts the close of 1896 will see Rochester typographical union in its proper place-among the leading locals of the International. Rochester, N. Y. The Statement is not True. UNION. In justice to local union printers I am called upon to answer the following which appeared in the last issue of the JOURNAL: "Knoxville is a good town for work at three dollars per diem, but a tourist is expected to pile up 40,000 ems per night or seek new pastures." This is simply false, and the gentleman who wrote it knew it was. Of course, as in all other cities, the fast operators have the best showing, but when it comes to saying a man must pile up 40,000 ems or seek new pastures, it is simply out of the question. The person who wrote the article on Knoxville did try to hold down a Knoxville machine, but could not for the want of what is called "up-to-date hustle." Our local law says a man must set 25,000 and all are setting over 30,000, but so far as is known no man yet has had to pile up. 40,000 or seek new pastures in Knoxville. J. FURNISS BUHLER. Knoxville, Tenn. C. S. O. Boudreault. On the opposite page is presented the portrait of a well-known Canadian unionist, C. S. O. Boudreault. Born in Quebec some thirty-eight years ago, he made Ottawa, the capital, his home in the seventies, and entered the establishment of the Citizen Publishing Company as an apprentice. From the time-honored post of printers' devil he graduated to that of foreman of the news room, and in 1880 accepted the dual office of night editor and foreman, positions he filled until a few months ago, when a change of proprietorship took place. During his career he never swerved from a constant advocacy of labor principles, and during his connection with journalism was always found a friend of unionism. He is a fairly well posted writer, and his articles upon labor topics have always been well received. He has filled different offices in his union. Was a delegate to the International convention of '94, held at Chicago, and is now enjoying a second term as president of 102. The labor men of Ottawa, in convention, have bestowed another mark of esteem and confidence by selecting him as one of the labor candidates to contest the constituency in the forthcoming federal elections. French Canadian, is a fluent speaker in The subject of the sketch, although a English, and the fact that he held the position of night editor of the Citizen for so long is one of the evidences of the achievements of the members of the craft as exemplified by the many trustworthy positions held by them today through-. out the continent. Mr. Boudreault, at the last provincial convention of Catholic Foresters, was elected provincial vice-chief, and is also. chief ranger of one of the local councils. New York Happenings. At the last meeting of the book and job branch Secretary Ferguson gave an interesting account of the finances of the union, showing at the same time the benefits received from the International Typ |