The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1870-02-05
CHICAGO AND PHILADELPHIA,
SATURDAY. FEB s. 1870.
THE SHOE AED LEATHER RE
PORTER" AND THE CRIsPINS.

so it is with journals, and among this
latter class may be placed The Shoe
and Leather Reporter Of Boston, Mass.
This journal, devoted (professedly) to
interests of the manufacturing classes,
has set itself up as the enemy and ira
Queer Of the organization known as
the Knights OF St. CriSpin"-the
iourneymen boot and shoemakers of
the United States, and on all occasions
assails the order, regardless of the
falsity Of its statements. We had
hoped that journal Of the character
and standing Of the Reporter would not
have belittled itself by interfering in
family quarrels, and ere this would
have ceased its senseless TRADES against
honest wOrkingmen but in this We
have been disappointed, for in the
issue Of the 9th ult we find two arti-
cles-one in relation to the "Worces-
ter STRIKE" and the other in reference
to the difficulty existing in Brooklyn,
n. ", both Of which are based on in
formation obtained from employers
interested in falsying the existing state
Of affairs, and from reporters who hap
pen to have little more wine than
brains in their craniums.
After a recapitulation Of what Pur
ports to be the facts C?) in the case,
we are very gravely informed that
The money question is not the main
one in dispute between the manufac-
turers and their employees" " It is
not here" says the Reporter, 4" that the
shoe pinches most severely" Where,
then, does it pinch? Here we have the
fact admitted that /" it is not money!"
or in other words, it is not the wages
that is the point at issue. Then what
il the issue in this case? The Re
saarter says:
Thew arc c1gPry,yv~ ure woe Orts-
pins, ID there are some Crispins at work not
outstanding the strike. The Lodge demand
that ali Of these meu shall be discharged ard
in future only those shall be employed whom ii
recommends, the principal idea being that the
men shall control the shops Of the employers.
II is Just here that the Reporter ex
hibits it's ignorance of the situation
The whole statement from beginning
to end, is an unmitigated tslsehoodi
and will not bear scrutiny. In the first
place, the Lodge does not demand that
the men shall be discharged forthwith,
for very prudential reasons. Secondly,
the Lodge does not recommend men to
employers unless solicited TO do so
and thirdly, the workmen do not, in the
most remote manner, even desire 4" to
control the shops of their employers. "
Now, let US put the proposition in plain
language: The Crispins of Worcester
demanded a certain amount Of wages
for a certain amount of work To this
the employers demurred; but finding
they could do no better, agreed to pay
the wages, but said to the men, You
must abandon the CrisPin organization;
you have no right to organize for your
own protection; you must accept such
conditions as we see proper to impose
upon you; We have always done so,
and this movement Of yours is an in
fringement upon our rights" But TO
this proposition the Crispins of
Worcester had the temerity to demur,
and it is exactly here that the shoe
pinches. Now, it is an uncontroverta-
bic fact that every free man has the
right to say where and under what
conditions he will work, and this right
gains strength by association, for what
many men say is stronger than what
one man will say. This privilege is
claimed for the black laborer Of the
South, and surely it will not be denied,
even by the Shoe and Leather Reporter,
To the white mechanics Of the North.
This is the head and front of the
offence Of the Crispins of Worcester,
and in so offending they have nobly
asse ted and maintained their man.
hood.
We pass by the threats and insinua-
lions Of the Reporter as so much bun
comb to tickle the fancies and cupidity
Of its patrons, and to compensate, in a
measure, for the lack Of articles with
more common sense
In reference to the difficulty of
Lodge lO4, Brooklyn, ~ ", we would
say that the statement, as it appears in
the Reporter, simply indicates absence
n accurate information on the part of
ITS informant. We would suggest that
il has entered on very mean and
paltry business when it Undertakes to
play old woman" for the shoe mann
facturers. Let it attend to its own
business, and let the manufacturers and
their employees settle their own affairs,
and if, as it says, "the manufacturers
are satisfied to fight it out on that line
If it takes all SUMNER" the Crispins |
are prepared to fight it out on the same
line if ii takes all sumn1sr and Winter too.