Arkansas weekly mansion., 1883-08-25
EPIT0ME OF THE week.
Interesting News Compilation.

On the 18th John T. McClelland submitted
evidence in regard the iron-cad oaths
which employers in various industries were in
the habit of administering to their workmen
when they received them into their service.
The Western Union Company adopted the plan
of making operators take an oath that they
would not join a union, and he could produce
sse 60 So1a it mad
they would discharge any men whom they
diSGoxered al to be members Of the Brotherhood h
rania Railroad and Michigan Central Com
Pany PTE had had employed this means. Witness also
furnished statistics regarding the strikes
which had occurred during recent years.
since $50 the number Of strikes which oc-
WHICH the most frequent strikes occurred wers
coal-rlliners and building trades
years ayos7 weeks work. or s., ,lss days had
feen lost by men who engaged in them, rep
the entire number of strikes occurring, sew
cnty-two were known to have been won by
missed. leaving about 1000 unaccounted for,
ana which IN all probability had been lost by
securing a more complete distribution Of
wealth between laborer and capitalist would
all branches of industry as it had of the mail
carrying ca of the county; This system could,
tries as we'll as to the telegraphfc industry.
The committee on the 10th heard the testi-
mony of Mrs. L. T. Twitchell, of Brooklyn.
She was formerly President of the Working
woman's Association in San Francisco; also Of
the Female Shoemakers' Associations; she has
heen a member of various other trade organ
who had been brought up in comfort who
snGorf "a15e neW Tbere eR0neh ere
l.ast FIVE Thousand women in New
glad to obtain work at any price This had
been the case ever since immigration had
be rs long as mmig ration was unrestricted.
TIE trades unions were also means of pre-
as it was the policy OF the unions to restrict
the number OF it's members. Labor i'll New
aud it was the object of the LEADERS of the
unions 10 create corner in labor until
then eGe desert their pfoGl Followers The Govern %
ment, she thought should assist the unem-
employment This surplus only existed in
the large crowded centera Of population in
the East. and the witness mes aS thought if they
would be relieved. Witness advocated the
establishment of schools of domestic econo-
taking Of IFS steps to elevate ate the condition Of
the indolent. lazy paupers that infest the largo
cities
In the examination of Daniel l.. Robeson
telegraph engineer and contractor, on the 18th
he said he mad seen McCleand's estimate of
the cost of the construction of Il telegraph
line of eight wires from New York to Chi
cago. wherein the latter said it could be
completed for operation for the sum of
This ~
Such a line would cost at least thou-
sand dollars per mile ,!s He was s.,I, not pre- re-
the cost of construction and equip
men In regard s ID, to the 6t right of hsI
over 5000 had been paid fer the Privi-
lege of erecting six poles. This item was prob
ably the most important in the cost OF con-
struction. On some routes the cost of rights
OF way WAS much larger than on others The
he thought, be that of Il line between Wash
ington and Boston. and the right OF way he-
Providing he had the right Of way pos pos
son asserted he would Willingly undertake
to reproduce the entire telegraph system
WI Would f"ii hesiiafe an' ay sSooo ooS The most
valuable rights of way possessed by the West,
from the railroad system of the country, and
no estimate could be formed of the cost to the
easements The ordinary expense connected
with this item is incurred in in obtaining rights ,t
placed under the head of legal expenses. for
lawyers were usually employed to obtain the
engaged in the construction of the Mutual
Union, American Rapid and several railroad
lines
On the 18th Samuel Gompers. President of
the AmaIganated Trade and Labor Union of
this city. was before the subcommittee
During his examination he claimed that
the increased industrial product of England
was traceable to n reduction in the hours of
labor. and in this country, where the hours of
labor were restricted, as in the case OF Mas
sachusetts. where there was Ten-Hour
law governing all textile industries, sta
tistics showed the productivity was mnch
greater than i'll other States, where the em-
ployers could work their men for any time.
He sati that the factories of MASSACHUSETTS
produced more yarn to the spindle and more
cloth to the loom than in Rhode Island or Con-
neeticut- The witness said that, although
many of the strikes which have taken place
furiu y the re cent years i'll this and other coun-
tries had resulted in victory for the employ,
ers, because of insufficient organization and
6RfnT pnd m m "a Crny
claimed that although failures, they could not
bc characterized as injurious to the
rule. they had. in the great majority of
cases. been of great benefit to the laborlng
try showed that in a majority of cases the
strikers had been successful During the
nnd sG9 SIXTY strikes. and all were Won or
promised except twenty, which we're we're lost or or
ii tion n' of the funds of each society. every
had Jailed as the first attempt of all
TRACE organizations did; but the experience
movements Gompers denied that the social
isti, element had gained control OF all labor
the case with few of the smaller ones, but
the object of the great unions was only TO
coInbinations and legitimate means. To rem
edy existing evils he recommended the en-,
forcement of National Eight.Hour law ana
An act to legalize the incorporation OF trade
Npions throughout the country.
Mrs. Charlotte Smith, of Washington, Presi-
dent of the woman's Industrial League, was
che first witness on the goth. This organiza-
ton witness stated. was formed in Washing
trn a wear ago. in consequence of the refusal
OF Secretary Teller to employ women in the
department under his control The member
ehip now includes women in every branch or
industry throughout the country. Mrs Smith
said that among female telegraph operators
many are in q condition of want Pecun1ary
distress forced them to surrender IN the
strike. Mrs. Smith promised to furnlsh the
committee with statistics in regard TO woman
workers in the country
A. H. Seymour, telegraph operator OF
thirty years experience, was recalled he
favored the establishment of a Government
telegraph system under the control or the
Civil Service reform rule, or else the ADOPTION
sylvania in 1873. prohibiting the lease or con-
solidation by one telegraph company or any
competing line. The witness cited ngures 70
show progress in the telegraphlc business IN
England since it came under the control or
the Governments; he also claimed that all ad-
ditional facilities obtained from new inven-
tions there directly benefited the pubic:
while in this country they only benefited the
He then gave a list OF the num-
Der of telegraph companies absorbed by the
Western Union Company, and claimed TO
show by figures that the capital stock of that |
company had been greatly inflated
Mr. w Fl. Forster, Secretary OF the Amat
Trade and Labor Unions, testincd
that one effect of trades-unionS was to name |
the hours of labor without q corresponding
reduction of compensation. certincafe OF
MON bership was also looked upon IN most |
unions as certificate of competency as