The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1868-06-13

general interest. The following are the
salient points:
Under the head of GLOW can the Non.
Union Printers be Organized ?" be said -
From data a. reliable as any can command,
! am led TO the belief thai MOI BALI the jour
neyren printers 10 the United States and the
Caaa1as are members Of the Union. This
evil Is becoming less formidable as time goes
by, and am confident that some plan NAV
be devised By which tho great majority OF
pon-union printers within our jurisdiction
will give in faithful adherence TO tne Union.
| am the more confident 10 this belief, since
| have learned the important fact that dur
ing the two years Of my presidency. In which
the affairs of the office of secretary and
treasurer were superintendent with what / feel
compelled TO call remarkable energy and dis
erection, by Mr.. Troup, the number on the
roll ofour membership has been doubled, and
we can now show last Of over seven thou
sand names This work has, however, been
done more lmperfectly than Il should have
been, the officers Of this Union not having
the benefit Of the advice OF the national body
on the subject. Without suggesting a plan
~ organization, | therefore call this subject
to your attention. While il is our duty to
endeavcr in every possible way to secure to
our organization the membership of men
who have never belonged to it, but have
never worked Under it, believe we should
also, ut all times, endeavor b reclaim those
printers who have in a moment Of impulse
or an hour when want compelled the sur
render OF their honor, bee5 unfaithful to
their union obligations; and to his end re-
commend thS proclamation by this body Of a
general amnestT, to be granted upon such
condItloG as the Union may deem necessary.
lie proposed an amendment OF section /,
Genera Laws, which prohibits Union from
admitting to membership an expelled mem
Der, without first obtaining the consent Of
me nlon FROM which he was expelled. Oc-
eaSionally this provision is very embarrass-
ing to Unions eng0ged in conflict with what
our vernacular cal. rats" Sometimes un-
faithful printers would willingly return to
the Union and leave the employers, whose
tools they are and very frequently subordi-
nate Unions would sccept them il it were
not for this section Of the General Laws. |
know that ordinarily it is not unjust to re-
qulre repentant expelled man to await the
action Of the Union that expelled him out
there are times when the very existence Of
subordinate may depend upon prompt action
10 a matter Of this kind. During the past
year Memphis Union, in self defence, in the
lace OF section / II the General Law, was
compelled to whiteNash eleven rats and
New York Union du'ing the conflict with the
World newspaper was compelled to do IS
Memphis did, and receive into fellowship an
expelled member Of the Philadelphia Union.
While, therefore, do rot advise the repeal
OF tins provision Of section !, | recommend
that it be qualified so that subordinate
Unions, In certain exigences, may admit to
membership the expelled members of other
Uniors without first obtaining consent.
In reference to strikes he said During
the past year printers strikes have occurred
in Detroit, Nashville. Galveston, Omaha
Selma, and Brooklyn, and 'sdifficulties'' in
New York, Memphis, Pitlsburg, aud other
places. All the slriEes were disasters and
the difficulties" except the one in Mem
phis, we're, to the Unions engaged in them,
expensive luxuries. The failure Of tho strikes
can be traced to lack of funds to Sustain
hem. BROOKLYN Union, for instance, while
New York could give it money, sus-
tanned itself until it obtained funds from
Albany and Montreal. Its appeal for aid to
Philadelphia, its neighbor, resulted IN re-
Tusal, law Of that Union requiring a unan-
mous vote to appropriate money, hlch the
friends OF fellowship In the craft could not |
obtain. Eight weeks after the do-nfall Of /
he Brooklyn Union, Cincinnati and New
Orleans answer I'd the call foe aid by sending |
money which was refunded. This ''plain, |
tale" proves to my mind con-
clusiyely, that the establishment Of nation
i fund il an absolute necessity and the feet l
LIT the Memphis Union secured success |
against a formidable combination without |
money does not weaken the conviction. /
Memphis Union made c1ascle answer all pur
poses of money F; but muscle is not as po- |
,ent as legal tender outside Of the Bluff |
City.
With reference to the introduction of |
printing into State Prisons" he said an at |
empt to introduce the cart preservati.e OF \
III arts" into the prison Of New York State, /
Tas brought to the notice of the subordl- |
rate unions by circular issued by the Al
1any TypograP hica Union, March Is, 1868, \
Shfch stated shat they had learned that
contract for the labor OF seveniv-ive con-
Ticts, to be applied to the purposes Of print
ng and stereotypIng, was then pending, I
md that it had already been awarded by the \
prison inspectors, but was rot finally con-
'ummated, and unless prevented by an act 1
If the Legislature, would 90 into effect on the /
irst Of April" On receipt Of this circular /
md reno strauee, Mr.. Troupe, the secretary /
md treasurer, addressed a communication 4
70 the subordinate unions Of New York, re- /
luestlng them to leave nothing undone to |
lave the contrscs set aside, and suggesting
hat the senators and assembly men bean |
yoked to put stop to the matter by legisla- /
tive enactment. This remonstrance was also |
forwarded to the $50 labor organizations Of
The state, and $4,000 signatures we're obtain |
I'd and presented to the leg stature. After
Just delay ana considerable work a bill vas
prepared and presented to the assembly call
ING for the abrogation Of the contract, which
passed that body by a vote Of si1iy-6ye 70
twenty one, and also, in an amended form,
passed the senate when upon going back
TO the assembly, the amendment was con-
Cured in, and the bill received the signature
Of the governor.
Statements having been made throughout
the press that seventy printers were confined
IN the prisons, Mr.. Troup visited Sing Sing
prison to ascertain the facts in the case. AZ
bCi uOtiiS 81 hC u ACttct III tuC al"
bany Argus, stating that at that time May
81 there were twenty-eight men assigned on
the contract, OILY three Of whom were print
ers, and there were not half dozen practi-
cal printers in the whole prison. Of the %
employed 10 the prison printing Office, cnder
the name Of printers, are included newsboys,
folders, sweepers-out, and, in fact, some
who have never seen printing Office. One
man could not read, and another, working
on English work, could not speak the first
word OF tie language. About half the men
in the Office as printers we're learning to
read and write when Mr.. Troup visited the
prison. AT the next meeting Of the prison
an order will be issued for the re-
moval Of the printing material in the pri-
son.
Local Notices.
TNarRR IN THE RFprRTIr Trcrpamrr