The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1874-02-07

brought it in his traveiing-ba with his clean
shirts snd other luggage, we pass another
protitless half hour, at the end of which
time some excitement is generated by the
proclamation of the names and addresses
Of all and sundry. At the outset this part
of the programme seems to be productive
Of fit Of ennui, but happily the delegate
entrusted with the task Is MIR. Daniel
Guile, who throws a quaint humor into it,
and furnishes us with unlimited food for
nlirth. Mr.. Guile is venerable Trade
Unionist, with steel-rimmed spectacles,
over which he has habit of glaring with
what in so mild man must be termed un-
accountable ferocity. He is Of small stat
ure, has a grey beard, and wears thick,
rough overcoat with an air Of defiance.
Mr.. Guile reads the credentials ls-which
turn out to be nothing combustible after
all-in asnappish, mlsanthroplcal manner, as
though he wishedt to clip each name of few
Of the vowels and consonants to which it
was honestly and orthographically entitled.
| When he comes to Mr.. Shook, who repre-
sents the 'Philanthropic Society Of Coop
ers, it is clear he means TO be satirical by
the tones of his voice, the infection Of
which are of a most quizzical character.
Every city"-nay more, every hamlet
has ''sent up its tale Of men" to
this Congress, and Mr.. Guile tells us how
many Trade Unonists are represented by
each individual delegate, which he does
with dogged determination Of aspect.
! There are for instance, fifteen thousand
agricultural laborers represented, whose
adhesion to Unionism must, Of course, be
attributed to Mr.. Joseph Arch. The Gre
! Il 4 I..gr
straightforward speech from Mr.. Macdon-
| aid, the substance Of which is that Trade
Cnionism, like 80 many other good, inno-
cent institutions i'll this scandalous world,
is misunderstood, ard that he (NIr. Mac
donald being moved thereto by his feelings
as a man and miner, means to give thirty
pounds for the best Essay on the subject
Veal applaud his magnanlmOus resolution,
after which we are addressed by Mr..
Howell, the Secretary of the Parliamentary
Committee. Mr.. Howell, who is a bust
ness-like, staid man, without MIR. Macdon-
aids eloquence or Mr.. Guiles crustiness,
tells US that invitations to attend the Con-
ference have been accepted by many high
and mighty personages, including the
"Oxford Professor made famous in Lothian
that is Goodwin Smith, who has come
from the country Of his adoption on a visit
to that Of his birth-and Frederic Harri-
son Mr.. Pimsoll is also mentioned, and
Is favored with a cheer, which shows that
the Trade Unionists are at any rate hearty
admirers Of tha honorable gentlemen and
w,l-wishers to his crusade. These little
speeches disposed Of, the deck Is, 50 to
speak, cleared for action, and we cOncen-
trate ourselves on the election Of officers.
First there is the President-who is he to
be Mr.. Memmott thinks that Mr. Rolley,
of Sheffield, ought to I'LL the chair, and 80
10 many others but to the mind of Mr.
Barber Turner-a fellOw-townsman Of Mr.
Rolley 's-the matter presents itself in
another light. Mr.. Turner has scruples
with respect to the appointment Of Mr..
Rolley, who, with all due Difference, he
declares is mot the best man. and he
suggests that Mr. Macdonald shall be elect
ed Mr. Macdonald snilingly declines,
saying that preference should be gwen to
a local man, and 50, after some more talk,
the honorable post falls to Mr. Rolley.
This delegate is the Chairman Of the Shelf
field Trades Council, and though mo ora
tor as Brutls is, he evinces a great deal Of
shrewdness and common sense. After the
other officers have been elected, We are told
by Mr. Howell that the Sheffield auxiliary
of the United Kingdom Alliance desire
our company in the evening at "a sciree in
the Cutters Hall There is distrust IN the
hearts Of the delegates as to the manner in
which this invitation shodld be dealt with
VIII the acceptance commit the Congress
to teetotalism This is what a conscieu-
tious little trade Unionist, with face like
that Of the younger Pitt, wants TO know.
for if it does, then III his humble opinion
the ''soiree" would be a step in the wrong
direction. He and others are set at rest
by Mr. Macdonald, whose explanation is
that, though the delegates mingle with the
teetotalers, this does not identify" the
Congress with the views Of those followers
Of Father Mathew. A Liverpool delegate
interposes vi Ii the remark that if some Of
them did identify" themselves with temp
erance no great harm would be done, but
apparently his speech obtains little
favor. The ''soiree IS in the end agreed
to, though it is easy to see that it Is far
from popular. Mr.. Macdonald again
claims our attention, and volunteers the
astounding statement that he wants two
men with four eyes and four legs each" as
1
found in Jolly Halliday, and critical, queru-
lous Mr.. Ashton, who forthwith enter on
their duties, and begin by disagreeing. 1t
is now getting late in the afternoon, and
we learn with satisfaction that there is
''really nothing to be done" until morning
Mr.. Howell reads dry, formidable report
from the standing committee, which has
the effect of making the delegates remark
ably restless. We are told that the ''year
lust closed" has been unparalleled '-
years Just closed always are-and the dele
gates are congratulated" in the custom
ary form, after which the committee take
plunge into dialectics, out Of which they
do not Use until they come to the balance
sheet. By this time we are all weary, and
even the new President begins to discover
some of the inconveniences of office, for
he saws pathetically that ''he doesn't know
how IRE feel, but he wants his dinner" "
This is an "appeal to the man" which can
not be resisted, and accordingly we ''break
up" with almost as much noise and confusion
as if we were real legislators and the Temper
ence Hall the House of Commons. Mr..
| Odgers aristocratic face, with its supercil-
Ious frown and noble Roman" sternness,
beams for a moment near the door and then
is gone In the wake Of the coming Presi-
dent Of the coming Republic there goes
smart, intelligent Mr.. George Potter and
gigantic Mr.. Bailey, Lancashire tailor,
who has been appointed vice-president be-
cause. as his proposer ingeniously put it,
shis swell appearance" reflected credit on
the Congress. In another quarter Of an
hour the Hall is deserted, aud the delegates
are difusing themselves over the town
prepatory to partaking in the giddy round
Of dissipation at the Temperance Soiree
THE DUTY OF THE PEOPLE AND THE
PREss-The New York Tribune of the
23d, in an article on "Fhe Press and Poll