The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1873-07-12
The Stone CT tiers Strike and the
Gall OF the Times"

In taking up the Chicago Times on Friday
morning our eye rested upon one Of the
most wanton dastarlly, contemplate, bitter
and cowarily attacks upon body of mechan-
les that it is possible for journalist to be
guilty Of. The article we refer to is under
the caption of 1.-The Stone Cutters Strike, .
setting forth that the journeymen stone cut
tiers of this city, to the number Of five humid
red, are ON strike for So 50 per day. After
having disgorged itself Of all the billingsgate
slang belonging to its vocabulary, and stigma
tizing honest, hard working men-men who
are merely seeking to obtain an amount for q
living not equivalent, perhaps, to that which
it costs the scribblsr of the Times for his gro
ceries, cigars, and useless Injuries, as a par
eel of ignorant, brutal, whisky drinking bum
mers, it proceeds to eulOgize the bosses IN its
usual, fulsom and servile style Having read
the article in question, we paid visit to the
headquarters Of the so-called striker" and
obtained the following statement from the
Chairman of the striking committee The
article referred to above was taken up and
read item by item, and the several charges
made therein rsfuted The first, in reference
TO the cause Of the strike, it is alleged that in
the winter, when work was dull and bosses
could MOI nnAke favorable contracts, the mem
beers OF the Union reduced their wages from
s. 20 per day to "a 90 per day; and again in
the spring, when contracts were limited, and
money scarce, they SUSPENDED their rules
and left 1t optional with their members to work
for what they could get Was this an act Of
tyrrany, Did it not rather show that the
men were disposed to accommodate their EN-
ployers, and, as far as it laid ia their pow er
thev DIP 80. But the cream OF the Joke and
the bad logic Of the whole thing hes in the
following which is taken from the article be.
fore us
THE question does not at all turn upon
the fact a. to whether or not this is too
much. The real issue is a. to whether OF not
the Union has the right to say that every man
must recei We not less than q certain sum
That Is logic with a vengeance The SIN
lies NOT in striking for So. so per day, but in
the fact that the Stone Cutters Union dared
to assert their manhood and independence by
putting a price on their own labor The
'impudenee of the thing does not equal the
audacity Of the Times in assailing class Of
men who have been chiefly instrumental in
identifying the rebuilt Chicago.
But to pass to the next charge The con.
tractors, tired Of and disgusted with this ty.
ranny, have resolved to throw the union over.
board That is if eight contractors constr
tute the stone cutting and building commu
nifty of this city To refute this falsehood il
is only necessary to state that there arr siS
hundred members in the Union, which EN-
braces nearly all the practical stone cutters in
the city. Out Of this 600 men about $50 arr
out Of work, and $50 are at work to-day
And further to show where the real tyranny
exists, those eight contractors have agreed
please, and the Times proposes to sustain them
in doing %. Comment Is needless Imme
diately after ChicAgO's great calamity, and al
through the building season that succeeded it,
if stone cutters had demanded $40 per day
they could have obtained H. The supply was
not eqnal - the dsnls. Il These men were
satisfied then D. 7ort the same rates paid
in New York Aad other large cities. Thi.
year, when the supply Is fully equal TO the
demand, but not at all exceeding it, they
merely ask for the market value Of their Ia.
Dor As to causing strikes last year" OF
placing obstacles" in the way Of the city,
progress they repudiate every such intention
When any difficulty did occur, it arose from
the fact that they could not get their pay
from their employers for several weeks after
it was due, and then necessity compelled
them to cease work until they were paid
Another charge is that " They never made
any provision for sick or otherwise incapaci
tated Members Of their order" This only
goes to display the ignorance Of the scAnda
lous sheet that has polluted its virgin pag,
with its libellous scrawls.
If the editor would take the trouble to in
form himself on the workings Of the order
and consult Article XVII Of the Constitution
he would be more guarded in making such IS
sertions. 1t need only be added that the ar
ticle abounds 30 much in falsehoOd, vindictiv,
spleen, and scandal, that 10 give it any furths
notice might add an importance to it that i
ia entirely devoid Of. The source of its ami