The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1873-04-19

mechanical trades. For DsArs they INA
fought the unequal contest in locaTaad.
isolated Upisns, until thar means b anna
exhausted, and thsy rstnrled to thsir
work, provided they could gstit, a lbft to
seek employment elaswhere. An man5
unsuccessful efforts, il became evident that
there was something lacking in the sys--
tenn There could be no fault with the
members Of the Union ; they were trpsJ
to their principles, and many are the neble
heroes and martyrs to trades Unionism
whose names have passsd into the
worlds history. Finally the brains Of
labor gave birth to the grand idea Of
the uniieatiop 0f labor. Tho I. Ma,
tional Onion beeh1hs ops IL ne In
stitutions Of the age, end whsrsvsr i1a|
principles were carried oet the working-
man bore OF the palm II victory. Whses-s
ever trade has orssnizsd National
Union, they have been elevated in the
social scale, their morals have been inn
proved, and wages advanced. An exam
ples, we would refer our readers to the
typographical Union, Engineers, Moldsrz,
Crispins, Coopers, and many others who
have adopted and worked upon this sys-
tenn.
The coal miners Of this continent must
not be blind to their own interest. or heed
less Of the signs Of the times. They must
not lose sight Of the fact that they have
and will have, powerful and inhsman cor
porations to contend with. That these
corporations do mot, and viii not, hesitate
to adopt any and every means, mo matter
how unprincipled or inhuman, TO carry out
these plans. That the Negros and Chr
nese win be as acceptable to them as
the Caucasian white citizen of the Ameri-
can Republic Already has the negro been
placed in the mine and the white miner
turned out on the road side to starva and
de, because he dared to ask for just
compensation for his labor. And 30 it win
be again. The negro and the Chinaman
will take the place Of the white miner
whenever he undertakes to stand up In
defence Of his rights.
SO we say to the miners, to be fore
warned is to be fcreArmed. Let them
utilize their strength, and concentrates
their power by organizing. National
Union. When 50 organized they will be-
come power in the Land the coal corpor-
aters will understand they have power to
contend against The Spectators in our
MoDERNIzED sLAvERY-the Coolie importa-
tion-will stand aghast, and the miners Of
America viii be ON an equal footing with
their felIow-workmen in the mechanical
trades.
Another feature in the National or In
ternational Union, worthy the considera-
ton of the miner, rs the g Beneficial De-
partment" And there il no trade or
calling which stands more in need Of
bLTOHk DcuhuCcub Aunu Ihah biAo AnAnoA
for, Of all others, does he not take his life
in his hands when he enters the mime. He
is ever subject to the risk Of life and limb.
Let US suppose there is a Miners National
Union, and that it numbers loo, 600 MEM
bers. Now let u suppose that they pay
a. dues, twenty-five cents per month, as
regular dues, and ten cents per month N
benefit fund. This would just amount
TO thirty-five cents per month, or frac
ton over seven cents per week, or one
cent per day, yet would give a revenue of
the enormous sum Of S420, O0 per year,
Sl2O, 90 of which would be benefit fund.
Let us allow, out of the $500, 900 left, that
800, 900 would be eaten upin expenses; We
would then have 500, 900 as q sinking
fund, which, in i've years, would amount
to half million Of dollars. We opine that
few coal mines could he bought and
worked with the interest sccruing from a
cash capital of that amount. What flu
ture there is before the miners if they
will only utilize their strength and means.
We repent, by all means, let Us hare a
Miners National UalO1t.