Arkansas weekly mansion., 1883-09-22
EPIT0ME OF THE week,
Interesting News Compilation.
Strike and Labor Investigation

Strike and Labor Investigation.
tSession in New York City of the United States
Senate Subcommittee on Labor and Edu-
catiOn.l
On the 18th John c. Calhoun, grandson of
the former statesman of the same name and
who Is now president of Arkansas gave testi-
mony IN regard to the prospects and condition
OF labor in the South. He stated that since 1859
he bad been engaged in cotton-raising in Ar
Kansas and had abundant opportunities
Ior observing the condition of labor at the
south The laborers i'll the Mississippi Val
ley were entirely agricultural. Few white
men were employed as they soon became
either landowners or tenants. The condition
~. thc negroes was GOOD Us corlp;tI,-I with a
lew years ago. There were three met hOds of
emp Dying iabOTcrS-fOr wages. working on
shares. and as tenants The large farmer. be-
sides furnishing the lahorers with shelter fuel
and other advantages divides the gross pro-
cceds of The crops alnong his employees. Tn
der this SyStcm. thrifty and industrious labor
rrS ought TO soon become landowners but
the negroes are So indolent that they fail to
take advantage of the opportunities offered
them, and Will only devote much OF their
time TO work as will enable them to procure
the neccssarcs Of life. Under the renting
system he best land in the country can be OBJ
f'lic'i Iur from eight dollars to ten dollars
per acre. and with the rental are secured
employed all these methods of employing la
i"r lilt preferred the tenant system. 1t was
his ohJccr to raise the standard of coiOrcd la
b + TO that of the small white farmcr: this
could only he done gradually on account of
1h;- extreme poverty of the negroes y large
portion of the cotton crop is now raised by
sra fnI m"rs. an the number of these is in
cr''a-in% every year The relations between
the planters aud the employees are friendly
and harmonious, and there is little
thew had interests in the soil and that ' srk tne
would he aS injurious to them as to their en-
rJ"ycrS- witness thought the South offered
the greatest Inducements to immigrant ion.
The race feeling dying out and capital
oond find secure Investments.
f. Winter. M: auditor empIOycd by the Del
awar" n Hudson Coal Company. after telling
the committee that too many people left the
required. >lil that New York raises nothing
hut piu-mill statesmen. dudes and dangerous
criminals.
\ co!ored man named j. \. Emerson of
Ncf: York City. formerly resident of Arkan-
siS testified the lith that he had been
educated in England, and had given consid-
crahic attention to the workings of the
Postal Savings banks of London. He thought
iris system could he adopted in this coun-
t"y with very beneficial results. 1t would
he ,,isi esiecI''ily boon to tho the eoI9red
Il means for laying up their small saw
inss- Since the fan lure of the Frecdman's
risk their savings. The greatest evil which
threat .nS the colOrei lahorer i'll the South
with the truck" system OF the North. The
most Of the negroes were in the power of the
shop Keepers. who charged cXorbitant rates
of interest, sometimes as high as twcnty-fCur
per cent q year.
The next witness was Mr.. Hinton. who de-
clared that what the country needed was Il
revolution in the law or equity ill regard to
corporations and the distribution of wealth
This to he accomplished by gradual re-
laNatIon as the present system WAS built up
10y this means.
Florence Elizabeth Cole. principal of the
School of Industrial Art for Women. spoke of
the employment she taught as being admira-
bly, adapted to women, and very remunera-
tive. Designing was required in the manu-
facture of carpets wallpaper, gas fixtures.
wood-cn~raylng silver work and the Ike but
the DESIGNERS i'll this country were French
men There were large industrial schools IN
Paris, where the most thorough instruction
cO&l1 be obtained free
The testimony of Colonel X. ]. Hinton. of
Washington. was concluded on the 18th. Wit
ness thought the census was wrong in placing
the average wages of mill operatives at $50 d
year; in his opinion it was nearer Si5J. With
r, gard TO education. he stated that from his
observations he noted that greater attention
was paid to grammar and high schools than
to the acc OmmoiHtiOn and education of Schol-
81 the primary departments Witness
thought this WAS wrong. Greater interest in
education should he awakened among h. COM
mon people. as in tie larger cities there was Il
tendency among the Ia boring classes to do with
IS lit lie education as possible. The common
scho Oh system the present, he said. lacked sol
idiry. and was too superficial 1t should be reOr-
ganfZed on IL better iaSis. Witness testified at
coIis.,ls rit.ls length III regard to the disposi-
ron Of public aniS in the West and SOUTH
west One san FrancISc, firm was reputcd to
possess the title of Stsn.trsI acres of land i'll
New Mexico and Arizona. which was obtained
by l'an:ng money to an irrcsps nsjb!e person
to pre- cmpt section of public lands and then
accepting from him surrender of the prop
crty after h" had held it for sufficient time to
grabbing practice WIS carried on on Il larger
scalr, than th'. majority Of pcopi" Imagincd
;iEd thu Interior Department hal already be-
gun AN Investigation with a view OF breaking
j: up
The testimony of Albert Fink. Commission
cI OF the trunk lines, was given on the Eth.
lie said he waS at the head of IL bureau com
posed OF about forty railroad companies,
w.r" had organized Tor the purpose of es-
taI;.i-:,In2c and maintaining a uniform tarih
THE extension OF Tai'i Dad lines in the | nited
:. ifcS and the fierce coInpetlt on between
them ma,ic organized action necessary to
their cA i~tcncc: il would rot do for each to
op.raEf and fix its own rates of transporta-
fin., without re-trj tn the other roads The
!, :, l. represented in the as cation of which
witn..-S was II The head were five trunk lines
New York '"ntrai. Nc-y ork, Lake Erie
i,d III. GIriri Trunk line OF Canada with
;tlI their Western connections The latter
t,. ,oa = running east and west Witness
c.:.t nn> west If the Mississippi River. one of
,,"st tr m 'hicago. as the Chicago & North
western. the Chicago X Alton. the Chicago
E.c, Island. AID the CHICAGO. burlington X
Quincy. The other as Ociation comprised
u ads west al the Missouri Both SCciatluns
we 7. under the control of j. Michclct. The
uniform rates o. tariff Tor the trannSporta.i43n "a, on
I, competitive pian 1t had nothing TO do 90
vci 1t Tor ii certain class of business Ihese
as ~0c:atIous did not az all affect natural ana
ic-ifmaGc competition They merely pre-
,cutei rI'i1ous competition: competition pc
tween railroads Clfterent from lnat ne
tween private individuals, in tho latter case
,o:r.uel ition would cease when 1t reached Il
disastrous point. Tho scheme that the Gov
pr,.m"at should purchase the roads and run
I i;.-I.l i.S..f Mr. link pronounced folly. ana
ofc which no sane. MAN could contemplate 1oS
= r,n.reui. The capitalized value of the E,oVO
mics OF roads i'll the United states was
::c-p:OD opn. The gross receipts last year
,y,.r. .Ol, 600. .GGJ and the net receipts 500,
,tI,mo. Of this sum $lOOoOo.oOo was paid
a. dividends, and n large proportion OF
tine Ha'ancc expended IN interest,"
on londs. About half the running cN-
Irnsc went to the labOrcrS ana train
men The system of pooling was re
sorted to t> u means of maintaining rates ana
OF preventing one road from cheating another
and violating its agreement by cutting rates.
Witness declared that he did not thlnk IL was
ANY evidence t:lat road was charging 700
h oh rates because the road was paying twen-
, y uer cent dividends on its stock Inc Oniy
tniil~ to be regarded was the rates charged.
Thomas Fortune. editor of a paper Tor the
roIorei race testified that the edncationai
facilities of the South were very poor ne ad-
ro.atel a national appropriation for the op-
t,.,., He thought an investigating committee
Should be appointed TO inquire into the con-
yict system of the South.
From Washington:
THE expo. IS of petroleum and petroleum
products during the seven months ended