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campaign that is preparing.

Because of them it will do all that in its power lies to defeat the conspiracy special privilege and private interest are now concocting to seize on the government of Los Angeles, for the purpose of filling their pockets and satisfying their ambitions, at the cost of the public welfare.

Los Angeles has probably suffered more from the browbeating methods of “big business" than any other community on the face of the globe. "Big business" in Los Angeles, as in other communities, is synonymous with the sophistical terms "open shop," "industrial freedom," etc. The unionhating element of that city will some day be made to see the errors of its past reprehensible course, and the Express is to be congratulated on sounding its tocsin of warning at this time. Organized labor in general has been persecuted by the employers of Los Angeles, and persecuted by the courts, and yet it has not been destroyed. It is folly to imagine that the unions can be destroyed where the union spirit is in the men, as is demonstrated by the loyal band that is defending itself from the brutalities of the Otises and the Zeehandelaars in southern California. The situation in Los Angeles is a story of malice and greed on the side of the employing class and of patience and sublime loyalty and holding fast to a principle on the part of the trade union forces.

Child Labor and the Unemployed.

An audience composed largely of members of New York Typographical Union No. 6, on the evening of January 8, at the Hanson Place M. E. Church, Brooklyn, heard the tragedies arising from the employment of child labor and also the tragedies of the unemployed discussed by John Williams, commissioner of labor for the state of New York, and by Rev. Theodore S. Henderson, pastor of the church, also a chaplain of the union. THE JOURNAL is indebted to C. A. Hartman for the following account of the meeting, written by him for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle:

Dr. Henderson called particular attention to the flowers at the pulpit and stated that they had been placed there in memory of the late Hugh Armstrong by his widow and son. Mr. Armstrong, who died about one year ago, was a member of Hanson

Place M. E. Church, and for many years had been clerk of the relief board of the union. Dr. Henderson paid a touching tribute to Mr. Armstrong's life as a Christian and to his work for others while relief clerk of the union.

Commissioner John Williams spoke on "The Tragedy of the Unemployed," and gave Typographical Union No. 6 credit for the accomplishment of many sanitary reforms in the printing offices of New York. He said that a committee from this union had rendered valuable aid to the department of labor in its efforts to stamp out the evils of child labor in New York factories. "Ninety per cent of the cases reported by this union's committee had been sustained," said Mr. Williams.

Referring to the marked improvement in the conditions governing child labor in factories during the past nineteen years, the commissioner stated that in 1891 the number of hands employed in factories in this state was 425,000, and that children were employed at the ratio of one child to every twenty-four employes; inspections during the past year of 1910 showed more than 1,000,000 employes, the ratio of children being 1 to 100.

"Where do these children come from?" asked Mr. Williams. "They are not the products of our American homes. Most of them are from the homes of our foreign immigrants; hence we have a great problem before us in the assimilation of the immigrant.

"The employers themselves are wholly responsible for child labor in Brooklyn. They can not evade the responsibility. Even some of the city magistrates are guilty of reprehensible conduct in this respect; they are far too lenient with offenders. One magistrate stated that the inspectors 'should have some sense and go around with their eyes closed around Christmas time,' and then refused to convict an employer who had been violating the child labor law."

Mr. Williams said that the people of Brooklyn could change this condition over night if they would all take a firm stand together and let the city magistrates feel the weight of public opinion.

"The church is far too indifferent toward this question; if the church members would refuse to patronize merchants who employ child labor illegally, it would not be long before such employment would cease altogether."

Dr. Henderson made a short and forceful address. He said that to labor is a privilege, and to labor is to live; that there is no place in the world for a lazy man-he is better off dead. "It is a deplorable thing that today in organized society," said Dr. Henderson, "many a man who is willing and anxious to work is unable to obtain employment. I can not put my hand on just what is wrong, but such a condition should not exist. There are men in New York today who are idle from four to six months every year, and they should not be. This is a tragedy, but a greater tragedy is that of a man who, while making a good living, allows the opportunities of improving his life to pass him by. Man's one great object should be, not the making of a good living, but the making of a good life."

Horace Greeley's Stand for Unionism.

The centennial anniversary of the birth of Horace Greeley, one of America's greatest editors, fell on the third of the present month. The memory of Greeley is especially revered by union printers, the great editor and founder of the New York Tribune being the first president of Typographical Union No. 6. When convinced of the righteousness of a cause, no man could advocate it with so much power as he. He was mightier with his pen than is an army with banners. He had an intellect so masterful and a power of expression so forceful that he swayed the wills and beliefs of thousands. As an adherent to the principles of trade unionism none were more adamantine. This fact is affirmed by the following editorial taken from the Tribune of February 8, 1851, sixty years ago almost to a day when this article appears in print, under the caption, "The Journeymen Printers and the Journal of Commerce:"

An earnest effort is now being made by the great mass of journeymen printers of this city to place their calling on a basis of justice and security. They do not ask nor expect high wages; on the contrary, their average recompense per hour at the rate prescribed in their scale is less than that of the hatters, shipwrights, blacksmiths, or almost any other trade requiring intelligence and capacity commensurate with theirs. They do not claim the right of themselves to establish and regulate the prices even of their own labor, for they began by inviting the employers as a class to confer and unite with them in a free and friendly council, wherein the rates of compensation for all descriptions of journey work at printing should be established by mutual and general consent. Such a scale, once adopted, would have been binding on both parties until changed by mutual consent. A good portion of the employers responded to the invitation by holding one or two meetings, but concluded by simply rejecting (19 to 14) the scale proposed by the journeymen and adjourning without delay. They suggested no modification, proposed no substitute; they gave the journeymen no ultimatum, no chance to understand what portions or provisions of their scale were deemed inadmissible, and what modification would render it acceptable. The only alternative practically offered to the journeymen was this: "Submit to work at as many different rates and under as many different sets of regulations as the several hundred different employers in the city may see fit to establish and to change at their own good will and pleasure, or help yourselves."

Thus, repelled, the journeymen have waited, deliberated, reasoned, expostulated, and finally, giv

ing ample notice of their resolve, fixed the 1st inst. as the day on and after which their scale should be the common measure of their duties, their rights and their recompense, while working as journeymen printers within this city. Most of the employers have acceded to their scale and the great mass of the work in our city is now executed and paid for in accordance therewith. The daily journals have nearly all acceded to it promptly and cheerfully. The Journal of Commerce is a conspicuous and natural exception. The Journal is not content with rejecting the scale and refusing to employ any journeymen who respect itthat paper engages in a bitter and disingenuous warfare on those who framed and support it. It stigmatizes the printers' union as a "self-constituted tribunal," when in fact that union was expressly authorized and instructed to frame a scale of prices by a regularly called and fully attended meeting of the whole body of journeymen printers, seven or eight months ago. It speaks of the scale as an "edict" of said "self-constituted tribunal," utterly concealing the facts that the printers' union embraces employers as well as journeymen, and that the employers as a class have been invited, entreated and patiently waited for, to unite in forming a scale which should be satisfactory to and binding upon all. It drags in certain regulations of the printers' scale of a distant city in order to excite prejudice against those of this city which contain no such provisions. It talks loudly of "liberty" and "dictation," but seems to have no idea of any right on the part of the journeymen mechanics to frame general regulations as to the hours of their own labor and the rates of its compensation, carefully avoiding any clear statement of the principles involved in this contest. The Journal virtually maintains a creed which would make of every printing office a despotism, every employer an autocrat, every journeyman a slave, with the single exception that he might run away without dread of arrest and return under the fugitive slave law.

So long as he remains in an office he must work for such prices, during such hours and under such regulations in every respect as the employer may see fit to dictate, subject to any change which that employer's caprice or cupidity may dictate.

Now, without presuming that the journeymen's scale is in all respects perfect, and deeply regretting that the employers as a class have not seen fit to participate in forming a scale, which should be theirs also, we yet repel the principles on which the Journal proceeds and the course to which they have impelled its conductor. There should be a regular scale of prices and code of regulations in each trade, binding alike on employers and journeymen and conclusive in all cases of difference likely to arise between them as to their reciprocal duties and rights.

There ought not to be one rate of wages in the Tribune office and another in the Journal's for doing precisely equivalent work. There should be no chaffering and higgling between employer and journeymen as to the rate of payment on a definite amount and kind of work; there should be

no power in employers nor journeymen to change the rate of compensation, once established, to suit their interest or pleasure. In short, the relations of employers and journeymen should, whenever it is possible, be placed on a basis of order, harmony, system, instead of anarchy, antagonism and chaos. And herein is exhibited what the journeymen are striving to effect and the Journal to defeat. The triumph of the Journal in its present course would be a degradation and enslavement of labor, not in our trade only, but in all. How any printer, with a man's soul in his body, and not over nineteen children crying to him for bread, can hold a situation on the Journal under existing circumstances passes our comprehension.

Be it remembered that the above was written sixty years ago-more than the average span of a human life-yet how applicable are the sentiments expressed to the present day and generation.

Detroit's Franklin Day.

One of the many successful Franklin day celebrations last month was that of Detroit Typographical Union. Governor Osborne, Michigan's new executive, formerly a journeyman printer and now a newspaper publisher, was one of the speakers, and during his remarks declared:

I am for union labor and union organization, and shall always hope that union labor will be honestly, intelligently and effectively organized; that it will then take in all the labor of the country, be led and guided by its ablest and best representatives, and rule the nation.

Milton A. McRae, of the Scripps-McRae League, drew out rounds of applause by the tributes he paid to the typographical union. . He said that he had never employed a printer who was not a union man, that publicity and transportation are the great prime causes of the nation's wonderful growth, and that he knows of no organization that has developed so greatly in character and intelligence as the International Typographical Union of America. Evidently referring, without saying so, to the recent blowing up of the Los Angeles Times, he said he is interested in a paper published in a distant city that is being boycotted by many merchants because it said editorially that the typographical union does not tolerate anarchists in its membership or stand for men who would destroy life and property by bombs.

Elimination of the Hand Compositor.

In the January number of the esteemed Inland Printer there is a discussion of the future of the compositor by a writer who signs himself "Big Six." The effects of the linotype in eliminating hand composition on the newspapers is elaborated upon, and it is shown that a mistaken view prevailed among the craft not a decade ago that the adroom and the book and job offices were considered fields that no composing machine could invade. How mistaken this view was, declares "Big Six," is shown by the introduction of the monotype. To maintain his position in the trade, the writer urges the hand compositor to perfect himself in other departments, for he pertinently reminds the latter that the only part of the hand compositor's trade that is not threatened by composing machines is makeup, imposition and display; and it is along these lines that the compositor must try to perfect himself if he wishes to attain success. He should be as skilful with the brush and T-square as the commercial artist, declares "Big Six," and with his knowledge of type, papers, inks, etc., there is a brighter future before him than is possessed by the composing machine operator. The most likely avenue for the pursuit of this knowledge, according to the Inland Printer scribe, is to be found in the I. T. U. Course in Printing, for he says:

That the International Typographical Union has foreseen that here lies the development of the compositor is proven by the establishment of the correspondence course of instruction in printing, and the success it has met with proves that the compositors realize that the best-paid occupation in the future will be that where the highest degree of taste and judgment is required, rather than mere mechanical dexterity.

The truth of the foregoing will be vouched for by any composing-room foreman. He will tell you that machine operators are becoming more plentiful every day, but the good job compositor, as well as the able newspaper adman, are becoming exceedingly scarce and their wages are continually rising. Go into the composing room of any large concern and you will find that he is indeed a poor job compositor who does not command more than the union scale. If these same job compositors were equipped with that knowledge, that taste and judgment which a course in the International Typographical Union School of Instruction would give them, is there the slightest doubt that they would be able to procure much larger salaries than are paid to

machine operators? The reason for this is not difficult to understand. Under modern industrial conditions, mechanical skill, no matter how highly developed, can only, command a certain wage. Judgment and taste, however, are "pearls of great price" that are not to be measured by the cost per hour or per thousand ems. Therefore, let the compositor without imagination, who is satisfied with daily routine, master the operation of composing machines. The ambitious compositor, however, the one who has hitched his wagon to a star, will direct his way along the lines of least resistance and endeavor to familiarize himself with those broad principles which underlie the printing industry and which the International Typographical Union Course of Instruction has placed at his hand. It is not given to all of us to reach places of preferment-we can not all be foremen, superintendents, employers, etc.-but the compositor who has thoroughly mastered this course has taken a long step toward placing himself in an executive position of some kind.

More than 1,800 printers who have taken the course are enthusiastic in its praise, and will heartily endorse the remarks quoted above.

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site the names of the employes, and the latter are said to be delighted with the scheme an advanced sanitary measure. The management informs us that the plan has been in operation for several months and has proved very satisfactory in every way. The campaign being waged by the typographical union for sanitary conditions is meeting with favor from many employers, and the Reporter Press is to be congratulated on its hearty co-operation. This concern publishes the Dry Goods Reporter, the Milliner and the Modern Grocer, all leading trade publications in their particular field. It also does high-grade commercial printing.

State Printing Plant for Missouri.

The following bill has been introduced in the state legislature of Missouri by Representative Charles W. Fear, of Joplin:

Be it enacted by the general assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:

Section 1. The department of printing of Missouri is hereby created and the governor is authorized to appoint within twenty days from and after the adjournment of the forty-sixth general assembly, three commissioners, to-wit: One a practical printer with at least eight years' practical experience at the printers' trade, and who shall show that he has been a member of a craft organization which dominates the typesetting portion of the printing craft; one member a practical pressman who shall have been engaged at least eight years as a practical pressman, and who shall show that he has been a member of the organization which dominates the printing press portion of the printing craft; and a third member who shall be a practical bookbinder with at least eight years' practical experience, and who shall show that he has been an active journeyman bookbinder for at least eight years, and shall have had active membership in the craft organization which dominates the bookbinding department of the printing craft.

Sec. 2. The printing commission as appointed by the governor shall hold office for a period of four years, and each commissioner shall receive for the services rendered the sum of $2,400 per year, payable monthly, as other state officers are reimbursed for their services; shall immediately arrange for carrying on the furnishing of printing supplies for the different state departments, and state officials, and subdivision thereof, as fast as present contracts expire and material and supplies are needed.

Sec. 3. The state printing commission is hereby authorized to secure by purchase a printing plant equipped for the purpose of handling the state's work, if such plant be available, and if not, to negotiate the purchase of necessary materials, printing equipment, land, material for the proper erection

of an up-to-date printing plant, and all necessary supplies for carrying on the work of the state of Missouri; to employ practical and competent workmen in all crafts needed, paying therefor the highest prevailing rate of wages in any city in the state of Missouri.

Sec. 4. The said members of the commission in charge of the printing department shall give bond in the sum of $10,000 each for the proper accounting of all moneys used by them, for the faithful performance of their work, and shall render semiannual reports to the governor and a biennial report to the general assembly.

Sec. 5. For the purpose of carrying out the provisions and intent of this act there is hereby appropriated from the general fund of the state, not otherwise appropriated, $300,000, to be placed to the credit of the printing department.

Sec. 6. All acts in conflict herewith are hereby repealed.

Look Out for Him!

Secretary Curl, of Cincinnati Union No. 3, sends the following to Secretary-Treasurer Hays, which is self-explanatory:

CHARLESTON, W. VA., January 19, 1911. R. H. Curl, Secretary-Treasurer No. 3:

He also

DEAR SIR-On the 14th inst., William E. Coleman, linotype operator and member of your union, made application for a position with our firm, and was to report here immediately for work. requested that transportation be forwarded, and we immediately did so. He has not yet turned up, although he got the ticket from Cincinnati to Charleston on Monday or Tuesday last. We desire that you look him up and require him to return to us the amount of the ticket, $5.05; and, as we are employing none but union men, I think it is the union's duty to protect us from the dishonesty of its members. Hoping this will meet with your ap proval, and awaiting your prompt attention and early reply, we are, very truly yours,

THE TRIBUNE PRINTING COMPANY.

By S. C. BUTLER, Superintendent. Whoever this man Coleman is, he is not a member of No. 3. We have not had a member of the name of Coleman for more than a year. He has evidently played a disreputable trick on the Charleston firm, and should be severely dealt with. Hoping you will give this space in the next JOURNAL, I am, Yours fraternally,

R. H. CURL, Secretary-Treasurer No. 3.

UNION labor scored recently at Battle Creek, Mich., when the Kellogg Toasted Corn Flake Company contracted with the Michigan Carton Company to supply hereafter the necessary cartons with the imprint of the union label. Henceforth the food products of the Kellogg company will carry the insignia of union printers, the concern furnishing the cartons claiming to be the only exclusive carton company in the United States entitled to the label.

Progress of Savings Bank Life Insurance Plan.

Those in charge of the Massachusetts plan of savings bank life insurance and oldage pensions for wage earners assert that remarkable progress has been made during the past year, and credit is given especially to representatives of organized labor for the part they have played in the success of this plan of wage earners' insurance at actual cost. The principle was approved at the Denver convention of the American Federation of Labor, and the sponsors for the Massachusetts plan are hopeful that other states will follow the example set by the Old Bay state. Field Secretary Kimbal has prepared an article which will inform THE JOURNAL readers of the rapid progress savings bank life insurance is making, together with mention of the part that organized labor is taking in its development:

For the average man, the life insurance which protects his family against the misfortunes which will follow his death is one of the great necessities of life. The wonderful developments of the life insurance business in this country show that the people recognize this fact. All unionists are agreed that the great necessities of life should be furnished to the people at a minimum of cost, and that all profits and undue expense be eliminated. Therefore, from the beginning, the trade unionists of Massachusetts have been interested in the plan for savings bank life insurance, because the essential idea of this movement is to furnish life insurance and old-age pensions at actual cost. Under the law, all profits go to the policy holders; there is no expense for soliciting business, as the banks are prohibited using money for this purpose, and, inasmuch as the commonwealth of Massachusetts makes a large appropriation to pay the general administration expenses, the actual cost of operation is very low.

The law which established this movement was secured with the active co-operation of the trade unionists, and the plan has been endorsed by the American Federation of Labor and by the Massachusetts state branch. A year ago there appeared a detailed account of the successes of savings bank life insurance, but the public will be glad to know of the progress that has been made since then. One unique provision of the law is that agencies may be established in mills and factories, so that policy. holders can easily pay their premiums at the office of the company for which they work. Under this plan more than eighty agencies have been arranged for in the leading manufacturing plants of the state. In this work the local unions have been of great assistance. In some instances where employers have been reluctant to establish an agency, the union of that locality has requested that an agency

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