Wallace B. Stoodley, of Boston Union No. 13. Michael Powell, of Ottawa (Ont.) Union No.

102.

Robert A. Miles, of San Antonio Union No. 172. James J. Winters, of New York Mailers' Union No. 6.

The delegates or members interested in the mortuary benefit question, and who desire to do so, will have opportunity to appear before the committee on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and also on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of the convention week. It is hoped that the committee will be able to conclude its consideration of the subject referred to it on Wednesday evening and be ready to report to the convention Thursday morning. If this is possible, it will permit of the subject receiving a thorough discussion by the delegates when there will be time for that discussion. The object sought is to avoid the possibility of the committee report coming up the latter part of the week during the rush hours of the convention.

The Significance of Progression.

As indicated by the annual reports of the officers of the International Typographical Union, a resumé of which is contained in this issue of THE JOURNAL, our organization has made wonderful strides during the fiscal year covered by the reports, or rather there is shown a partial culmination of the gradual progress of recent years. To the superficial reader the data submitted will only indicate that we have had a most successful year, but to the analytical mind the reports will at once convey an endorsement of the policies that have been consistently followed out and made effective by the International officers, not the least of these policies being embraced in the arbitration agreement with the American Newspaper Publishers' Association, and which has made for industrial peace in the newspaper branch of the printing industry. During the eight years of its effectiveness the arbitration agreement has guaranteed to our members continuous work in the newspaper composing rooms. As has been frequently pointed out, decisions under the agreement have not always been satisfactory to the unions, and the publishers have

also had about the same amount of objection. It would be difficult for the human mind to conceive any agreement, or any method of arbitration, under which both litigants to a dispute would be satisfied with the decision rendered. The courts, as dispensers of justice, are an ancient institution, but it is not of record, with all of their experience, that their decisions are satisfactory to all people who have their day in court.

The expression, "We intend to have peace, even though we have to fight for it," is a common one, and was made frequent use of during our eight-hour struggle. We could not secure the permanency of the union office and the establishment of the eight-hour day without a fight, so we fought. We have had an era of peace in the book and job field since the termination of the fight, and our members working at that branch of the trade have also experienced a betterment in conditions aside from the lessening of the number of hours of daily toil that they did not deem possible some years ago. Union offices have had a continued and increasing flow of patronage, while the non-union establishments have been afflicted with the general stagnation of trade, superinduced by the artificial panic. It is confidently believed that the book and job prosperity, so apparent to the careful observer and emphasized by the figures contained in the officers' reports, will be reasonably permanent, and that our strength, influence and control in that branch of the industry will gradually increase until we are as universally recognized by proprietors of commercial printing offices as we now are by the great newspaper establishments. The era of advancement in the book and job industry has only begun, and it will continue until the job printer is on a plane with his newspaper brother.

The significance of the progression exemplified in the officers' reports is only briefly touched on here. To the lover of the organization, the student of industrial conditions and the advocate of trade unionism, the facts and figures contained in the reports will be at once an inspiration and an encouragement.

The Courts and the People.

Elsewhere we print a rather lengthy story about the courts. It is interesting reading and is commended to those who are inclined to think that the sum of all wisdom and honesty is found in the judiciary. Members of the legal profession are noted for their trickiness and appear to follow the advice of Judge McEwen, which appeared in these columns last month, and never lose sight of No. 1. Collier's says truly that it takes a long time to right a wrong precedent, even though public opinion be unanimously against the hurtful decision. The real question is, Why should all this power be left in the handful of men belonging to a profession with such low standards of practical ethics? The power of right is vested in the people, and by all the laws of democracy they should exercise it. The great political issue of tomorrow will be the encroachment of the courts on the rights of the people by methods that are as contemptible as they are corrupt. The struggle may be fierce and long, but there is no doubt as to the outcome-the people will win.

Secession's Death Knell.

At the meeting of the Joint Conference Board, held at the headquarters of the International Typographical Union on July 6 and 7, a most important declaration of co-operation and aggression was adopted. Several of the international unions have been troubled with secession, especially during the eight-hour assessments. Hereafter the five international unions propose to stand together as opposed to secession on the part of any union, members or group of members of any one international union, and to the end that secession may be stamped out, will lend all possible moral and financial assistance. This is a most important coalition, as it means that secessionists hereafter will have a most difficult road to travel, and that the road will be unusually short. It means that members dissatisfied with the rule of the majority, or with some feature or policy, and hoisting the black flag and cruising alone until

disaster overtakes them, and then seeking again the protection of the parent organization, will find their cruise at its very outset confronted with reefs and shoals that did not heretofore exist. The declaration follows:

The Joint Conference Board, in considering the situation in Toronto, as affected by the secession from the International Printing Pressmen and Assistants' Union of certain former members, and the organization of "independent" unions by these former members, adopts the following summary and conclusions:

The International Printing Pressmen and Assistants' Union levied, in accordance with its laws, a certain tax. Members of the pressmen's union and the feeders' union in Toronto, in order to escape the payment of this tax, seceded and formed so-called independent, or Canadian, unions. Later, in order to bolster up their nefarious schemes, these seceding pressmen and feeders adopted a socalled label for use on printed matter. Notwithstanding that every possible effort within the law has been made to induce these seceding pressmen and feeders to return to their former allegiance, and to again affiliate with the only recognized organization having jurisdiction over pressmen and feeders, the International Printing Pressmen and Assistants' Union, these seceders and dues-paying shirkers have remained in a state of rebellion, with serious menace to the interests of the printing trade in Toronto, and in that section of the country. Considering the secession and the harm that it does in all instances during its brief life, the Joint Board arrives at the following conclusion:

That when any union or members or group of members subordinate to any one of the five international unions, making up the Joint Conference Board, secedes from the parent organization, the five international unions will join in a general movement against the seceders, and to the end that the supremacy and authority of the international organization affected may be clearly and permanently established, the five international unions pledge their moral and financial support. In other words, and in a more concise form of expression, the five international unions of the printing trade, namely-the International Typographical Union, the International Printing Pressmen and Assistants' Union, the International Brotherhood of Bookbinders, the International Stereotypers' and Electrotypers' Union and the International Photo-Engravers' Union, propose to stand firmly together in the protection of the jurisdiction rights of each one of the international organizations, and to that end pledge their united treasuries to the success and permanency of the principle herein enunciated,

That the foregoing declaration of principles and co-operation will be made effective in the Toronto jurisdiction.

Considerable sentiment existed at the meeting of the board in favor of making

the coalition apply to contract violations, and this matter will have further consideration at the next meeting of the board, which will be held in Toronto in November. In the very rare instances in which contracts are violated by local unions, by reason of dissatisfaction with some phase of the contract, impulsiveness, lack of consideration, antipathy toward an arbitration. award, or for any other reason that might lead to violation of the contract, the five international unions will stand together in the protection of the contracts. In a measure this will mean the guaranteeing of contracts by the five international unions of the printing trade.

The action taken and the action in consideration mark important steps in the Harmony of principle and unity of action of the five international unions under the joint agreement.

"Overtime in a New Light.”

Under the above caption, the New York Times recently printed an editorial on the effects of overwork. As will be seen, it is an endorsement for the position of the unions on the eight-hour day and opposition to overtime. We have maintained that he works best whose labor is confined to a reasonable number of hours, that number of hours scientifically sufficient for the work there is to do. In our own struggle for the shorter workday we contended that an eight-hour period of toil measured up to the requirements of the industry, and this claim has been substantiated by the experience of the union offices during the past year. Our members have done better and more conscientious work, and have brought a higher degree of intelligence to the execution of the tasks assigned to them, and have also benefited morally, physically and mentally. But it was the Times editorial that we intended to make much of, so here it is:

Not long anywhere, and hardly at all in this country, has overwork received other than sentimental consideration, while the efforts of organized labor to secure shorter hours have usually been viewed, even by those making them, as designed to secure more time for recreation rather than for rest. Abroad, however, serious students of the subjects have come to realize that mere

temporary fatigue is one of the least important effects of overwork, and the recent investigation of economic conditions in Pittsburg, revealing, as it did, the excessive strains to which workers there are constantly exposed, has attracted the attention of American sociologists in the same direction, with the result that the problem is taking on a form wholly different from the one the unions gave it.

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An article by Josephine Goldmark, in the current issue of the Survey, illustrates the new method of treating the subject. Overfatigue or haustion-what the French call "surmenage”—affects, the writer says, every department of life, physical and economic, mental and moral. "It predisposes to disease; it destroys intelligence and all the habitual restraints; it cuts down output and impairs its quality; it invites industrial accidents. It affects not only workers in admittedly dangerous occupations, but all workers-every man, woman and child employed for excessive working hours." The inclusion is obviously even wider than that-it extends from the actual and direct sufferers from overwork to all with whom they have any relations, and that is the same as saying, to everybody. The questions, What are excessive working hours? What is the nature of exhaustion? How can it be recognized in time? How may it be best combated? are as yet either unanswerable at all or unanswerable definitely, but with sufficient investigation they can receive replies more or less satisfactory. It is something, at least, that the protest against long hours is no longer dismissed as a mere manifestation of laziness, and that the new sense of social interdependence gives even those whose hours of work are short an interest in the matter which is not contented by the expression of a vague sympathy.

Another general attack on that venerable old principle, freedom of contract, no matter who is hurt by it, is in plain sight, and "conservatives" may as well prepare to shed bitter tears over the new restrictions of it that are coming.

Home Industry.

We are informed by the San Francisco daily press that the allied printing trades council of that city is conducting an active campaign in behalf of home industry. The plan, which might be used with profit by many unions in our jurisdiction, is to address a personal letter to every business firm in the city, asking that local printing establishments be given the preference in the awarding of contracts for printed matter. This letter gives many reasons why the business men of San Francisco should patronize local printing establishments, and cites the fact that $200,000 is a fair estimate of the wages paid union printers in that city each month, or about $50,000

every week, and over $8,000 each working day. This amount, it is claimed, is spent with the merchants of San Francisco, and the council believes that it is but just that the merchants should in turn place their orders for printed matter with local firms, and not, as it is alleged many are doing, send it east.

The allied printing trades council believes that if the merchants and other business men of San Francisco will patronize only local printing establishments, the $200,000 per month now paid to union printers will be increased to $400,000 per month, and the merchants may rest assured that every cent of this money will be spent in San Francisco. The council intends to continue the agitation for home industry until every business firm in San Francisco, has agreed to patronize only local printing establish

ments.

"Reformed" Spelling Relegated.

Simplified spelling has been relegated to the "things we wot not of," so far as the government printing office at Washington is concerned. The Taft administration saw no particular merit in the reformed spelling, and the printery is now completely "thru" with the innovation established by Roosevelt. An official of the big printshop recently paid his respects to the "reformed reform" as follows:

Thousands of dollars will be saved annually by the disuse of the simplified spelling. It was the continual mixup and eternal change that cost so much. For instance, the president would send down a message written in his peculiar, abbreviated, phonetic style. We would have to set it up as we got the copy. In due time the message would have to be printed in the Congressional Record, and as congress had passed a law prohibiting the expenditure of any money for the simplified spelling, when we put it in the Record we had to spell the words according to common usage. So the messages had to be set up all over again, and as President Roosevelt was not at all stingy with his communications, there was plenty of work of that sort to be done. Now, thank goodness, all the spelling that comes to the office is alike.

PRESIDENT LYNCH has accepted an invitation to deliver the Labor day address at Syracuse, N. Y., September 6. The International president had several such requests, but harkened to the behests of his home city.

We Fight the Good Fight.

Our exhibit at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition is located in the state board of health section of the forestry building. This section has been given over entirely to consumption, pneumonia and typhoid fever, and is calculated to impress upon visitors the fact that these diseases may be avoided by careful living on the part of the healthy and proper care of the afflicted. A recent issue of the Seattle Times says:

The one distinctive feature of this exhibit is the display of the Union Printers Home, of Colorado Springs, Colo. In this display is shown a map of the Home, where sick and disabled members of the International Typographical Union may receive attention free of charge; a model of the form of tent for consumptives used at the Home; charts showing the amount of consumption among mem bers of the union; and numerous pictures of the consumption wards of the Home's hospital.

The remainder of the tuberculosis exhibit at the exposition consists of scores of placards, giv ing pertinent advice; charts showing the death rate of consumption; pictorial banners, graphically depicting the mortality record in New York and other large centers; tables, models of sanatoria, tents for consumptives, sanitary beds, and many pictures of interior and exterior views of sanatoria throughout the country.

The placards announce some startling facts relative to consumption, such as the following:

One-third of all the deaths of persons between the ages of 20 and 45 are caused by consumption. Nearly three times as many Indians and twice as many negroes as whites die of consumption.

The number of deaths from tuberculosis in one year is as great as that caused by yellow fever in 115 years.

Nearly three times as many persons in the United States have succumbed to consumption in the last four years as died in battle during the four years of the death-dealing civil war.

The entire exhibit, installed by the state board of health, is calculated to impress upon exposi tion visitors the facts that consumption is curable if taken in time, that it may be avoided by keeping in good health, living in a sanitary manner, and not coming in contact with the sputum of infected persons.

By direction of the executive council, an attractive souvenir postcard has been prepared illustrating our exhibit at the Seattle exposition. This postcard will be distributed free by the attendant in charge of our exhibit, and will undoubtedly have a wide circulation throughout the North American continent, and the world, for the matter of that.

Aside from its ethical value in support