The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1872-06-01

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~ the union under whose jurisdic ion John
GAnthern Is working viii please notify him
that have very important news for him from
England H MAETENs, Cor Sec 81
CLINTON, Iowa. May %, 1872 Notice is
hereby given that Clinton Union, No lis, has
closed its books for three months from this
date. Should any of the travelling cigar max
ers come this way they must do 80 ON their
own responsibility As We can do nothing for
them. There are no Jobs under this jurisdic-
ton at present, and there is no money in the
treasury By order Of Union No. ll3.
ANnRET KAPP, President.
r. STELLNER: Cor. Sec.
PITTsBUFGH, May 20, 1872 Martin
Curly, Of Newark, ~ J., and late of Nor
wick, Connecticut, has made application
for membership. Unions having charges
against the same will please prefer them
within thirty days. Unions having loaned
Theodore Bailey money will please notify
Union 81. rs he claims to have lost his
card G. b. LINDSAY,
Box 4Sl
ADDRESS q M cigar Mixers Union, No.
50, Of The CITY VI Nsr York, 70 the officers
and mea,Jers q ne Local MONS, ~ Ter The
JsTisitcton 81, III, International I Mon
FELLOW WoRKMEN A cry Of privation
and extraordinary dullness Of our trade is
heard all over the country where in former
times cigarmakers were accustomed 10 see
their labor rewarded with fair remunera-
ton, they, at the present day, have to go
about in idleness.
Every true follower " our organization,
every member OF our trade, and every ad-
herer to the principles II true humanity,
has surely put the question, What is the
cause and where Is the remedy to remove
this depressed state of our trade r. This
Union, which has to bear more than&ts fair
share Of the common distress, has also at
tempted To solve these questions, and in the
following gives the result Of its labor. We
wish not only to give you a true under
standing Of our situation, but also to bene-
tit those Of our craft who directly are not
embarrassed by these causes but neverthe-
less feel the operations thereof.
To remove the effects Of an evil, the
cause must be known bat to gain such
knowledge, 1t is necessary TO have expert
ence and ample occasion for fair investi-
CATION, 50 as to arrive at a correct conclusion,
whereby the evil may be successfully re-
moved.
At the time Of the organization Of our
National Union, we found the trade in the
highest state of pr 'sperity, this state of
things, as we all know, roofing in the then
newly enacted tariff and revenue laws. In
consequence Of the limited number of ci-
makers and the high profits gained by the
manufacturers, the former found it very
easy to receive a fair remuneration for their
labor.
Enticed by the high wages, but ignorant
of the also high prices for the necessities Of
life, there soon appeared in the labor mar
ket Of this city large numbers Of workmen,
from all parts of the world, with the firm
determination to reap for themselves a
share of this presumptive harvest. At this
state of the trade this union was organl Eed,
and with vigor and good will, commenced
operation BY organizing these heterogene-
Gus elements into one body, with every pros
pect of success but complete success was
frustrated on account of one class of those
new corners being accustomed to a system Of
work whereby they had to be excluded from
our body
The manufacturers, Unsuitable for still
greater profits, preferred this kind IF labor
and fairly raced with each other to secure
their services. In consequence of the great
demand for this class of men, the price
paid for their labor nearly reached the
standard paid for Union hands, (thOngh, it
must be noted, they in most cases reaped
the earnings Of two persons), thus enabling
them to send for their friends and relatives
at home. In some instances the bosses
gave material aid for this purpose Also
induced by the high earnings, number of
unprincipled men, who formerly did work
on the old system, went to work under the
new.
After these circumstances had existed for
about two years it became evident that a
large majority Of the cigarmakers of this
city had adopted the new system. The in
PRODUCTION of the 6ller-breakers was an &C
complished fact
Taking matters as they we're, we found .
consolation in the fact, that none but com
mon cigars, with some show Of success,
could be worked in this way, and therefore
we kept control of all shops where cigars
were made, at the former prices. Mean
while the filler-breaker shops werefuIy sup
piled with hands, and the bosses thereof
thought it q proper time to again increase
their profits, and for this purpose reduced
the price in their shops from thirty to forty
per cent.
Under these circumstances the manufac-
turers employing Union hands grew full of
envy and covetousness, and began looking
for q remedy whereby to come on an even
footing with the others. In this behalf
they were successful 50 far, in this city,
by introducing the Mould.
In the meantime the cigarmakers employ
ed in this city and suburbs had exceeded
the number Of ten thousand, and the result
Of their activity began to influence the
trade Of the whole country. The cigars
found a willing market, because they were
offered at low figure, and the manufac-
turers Of the country towns, pressed to the
wall, sought relief in adopting the same
system and as it appears, with success in
the larger cities, leaving the cigarmakers in
the small places without employment to
about half their number, compelling the
other half, by want and distress, to come
to this and the other large cities, to lend
their hand to place our international or
ganization in pOwerless situation.
Under the circumstances given, and with
our hands tied by the international Con-
stitution, this Union sees the only remedy
which at least promises an Alleviation, in an
alteration Of the international laws in such
way that we might be enabled to enroll al