Arkansas weekly mansion., 1883-09-01
EPIT0ME OF the week,
Interesting News Compilation.
Strike and Labor Investigation.

Strike and Labor Investigation.
lScssion in New York City of the United States
Senate Subcommittee on Labor and Edu-
cation.
90 the 2Sd Charles Frederick Adams n
brooklyn lawyer. appeared before the COM
mlit"e. He said he was OF the school of econ
oniists led by Profs. Fawcctt and Cairns
He proposed to prevent absolute depend
franchises. such franchi-cs should be given
Tor nNcd terms, at the eni of which they
witness favored the establishment of postal
say lnt-S titnk~ an the sale toy them of small
Edward King, OF the Central Labor Union.
Siiii that. aS Il rule. tn" law always on the
Sioc oi capital He thought it would only be
lHir to- ailT" labor and capital 10 fight their
own hIittrS. like pugilis's i'll the ring, and
without interference.
The testimony of =. II. McIogan repre-
sentative of Chicago in the Trade and Labor
ln."n then in session in New YORK was given
IN th, 2ith. Mr.. Mel ogan said twenty-four
trades were represented i'll the Trades ASSEM-
by. embracing seventeen thousand work
by tr;t'ic>-unionS. and was now receiving one
dollar more per cay than before the forma-
c"mpoSIfor were lower than they Were ten
or twelve years ago. Witness opposed the
cunvict-labnr - ys:c;u- In Chicago number
of children ut work, he said, who should
he at school Higher wages tend to produce
tcf:cr:ind more Intelligent class of citizens.
'iEcrc was IL general feeling among iaboring
men THAT capitalists were trying grind
ator Blair. witness said til 1t the tiiSbclevcrs
IN evangelical faith largely outnumhercd the
VI. ID. Connolly, printer, President of the
TIa'i"S-A -ScInb!y in Cincinnati. spoke against
tn" employment of children of tender years.
Tr;idrS-unions benefited not only their MEM
hcre hut al engaged in work, and witness did
not th,nk II an infringement upon the right
of any one for trad, s-unions TO prevent him
from learning" n tra' e. If all were permitted
10 learn certain trades, the result would he
highly injurious TO every one working at
them.
William c. Palmer. of Clevc land a cigar
maker, testified: In IsSO the cigar-nakcrs of
Cleveland were getting from six dollars to
seven dollars Il week. The union organized
and wages We're raised to an average of nine
dollars a wcci- Palmer did not think it for
the interest of morality that men and women
shputi work tn"cIher III Inc sam" shop. ana
tho tradrS-IIniOnS are now end"avoring to
hrins aho,'t "a reform IN that respect The
hours "f labor should lie reduced. ana the
workman should receive the whole of the in
creased value OF the product of his labor de
duciin from it only the cost of the raw ma
tCriul ami fair interest on the capital invested.
y. H. Brock. OF Washington, printer. and
President of The Confederation of Trades
nI'snS in that city. testified at length aS to
- =. us. ~ -. u, ~, i, oil
the Gus ON "f Watering stocks by the railrGad
and other corporations. The pool system. as
in operation in tine case OF the trunk lines, he
regarded robbery Of the people on gil
gantic scale He advocated strongly the
Tcin"lyin~ of this evil 10y legislation, and the
imposition OF Il pro@r',SSiVe income tax which
should maxi" il impossible for Il man to have a
lar=cr income than 5000 a year The Eight
enforced aud protective tariff abolished
ON the 18th Robert Howard, of Fall River,
Mass, II cottnn-spnner. testified that he
served one term in the National Legislature
in isSI, and was rcnominatcd, but declined
There were eight hundred and forty mule
spnncrS i'll FAN River, and three-tifths OF all
the calico pro tuce i'll the United States came
from that city There had been many strikes
since the organization of the operatives. but
their condition had been greatly improved.
Many recent difficulties had been adjusted by
discussion ant arbitratinn. The wages
OF srinn"rs averaged $40 40 per week
The operators in the Lowell mills were the
worst paid of any i'll the United states; the
witness hal never heard of but instance
in which employers had raised wages when
there rise i'll the market without the
u rcsU. " non unc operatives had been working
reduction of thirty per cent. since le.i-
Th" witness WAS a firm believer i'll high wages
and hlTh prices In answer to an inquiry
from senator Blair. witness stated that if the
1hou2 ht that there might occur Il slight rcduc-
tion at first i'll the WAGES of operatives but the
Ultimate result won be TO raise them
The committee was addressed ut some lcn-th
ON the 9Th by Frank X. Foster, Sec:"tary
O. the Trades Union Federation. lie held that
Ih,. wnrIlju%Ircn had Just much right to
ganizc and fix Tin" value of the price of thcir
labor the standard Oil Company, grain
other commodities. He thought the eight
hour system would work great benefit for
Lyman Phillips Cincinnati. delegate to the
Trades Union Federation. said the cigar
makers strongly denounced the custom of
employing children in the n3aHui acTIrc of
cigars. lie said that i'll Cincinnati ten per
cent. of Chil.ircn. ranging in age from eight
10 twelve yeas ami inward, were" engaged in
Ihis h,isiu!.Ss rThis he said. was a bad state
OF things. as children so continuously en-
plovcd. whcn they grew to mitnhnod or w"n-
anhOOd were not good members of society
If Congress coI:ln pass Il law to prevent this
If wouid II" doing Il great benefit 10 the co,In-
at large. The witness SAID. further, that
III" hours of lab i should be generally cstab
lishcI at eight hours.