The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-01-03
LABOR AND LABORERs.
Matters Of Interest to Employers and En-
ployed.

| Philadelphia Record.
During the past year forty papers devoted to
1 the welfare of the workingman passed i'll their
checks About sixty were started, and the
| other twenty are bowling for subscriptions and
money to prolone their career Unfortunately,
| as class of papers, they show but very little
ability. and frequently less honesty. Many of
| them act as pipe between one political party
or the other to do this that for so much
much money, if they get a chance The fault
| lies not so much with the supporters of these
papers as with their managers, though the man
agement of a labor paper is by no means an
easy task The daily press of late years shows
| so broad and liberal q spirit that labor paper
has excuse for existence in most cities. Be
sides, they do not reach the public ear. which
! they must reach in order to have any weight.
! What young men may accomplish is shown in
the case of Fisher, the oil king, He was a shoe
makers so1, served three years in the army,
went to the oil region laborer, saved,
watched, invested and conquered a fortune; lost
it, caught on again; lost once more, and again
caught on, and now has a s. 900 barrel well, one
half of which is going into flame and the other
half into iron tanks This has not been all luck,
but required hard work, close observation, and
| good business qualifications besides. Nineteen
in twenty of the oil men of Pennsylvania not
excepting the Standard men, were obscure, illit-
crate day laborers twenty-five years ago. There
| are thousands OF opportunities opeE,/ but they
are not observed by the rank and file of labor
| ers, who scorn to save five cents day. Were
| they to do so, aristocracy of wealth would be
| impossible. The true basis of progress and de-
| velopment is in individual exertion and accom-
| pllshment in any direction department of
| activity. Those who wait on legislation and
organization and outside agencies of any charac-
| ter will be left.
The oldest printer in the United States is
| William F. Clark publisher of the Huron
| County Mich News who began setting type
| when seventeen years DID, in 1926, making con-
| tinuous service of over fifty-eight years. The
next in seniority is Elijah Ransom who began
| work in in 1888 Many Of our oldtime states
| men, like Simon Cameron, printers. Lat
terly lawyers have monopolized public places,
but now there is heavy sprinkling Of manu-
facturers in the Legislative halls, like Warner
Miller and Whiting, the paper men.
AS pointed out months ago in this column, CO.
operative enterprises are springing up all
over the country. Many of them will not sur
vive the first fit of enthusiasm. Full work at
l0 per cent. advance in wages will topple the
most Of them over, even should the stores ad-
vance the price of goods 10 per cent The de-
preston nurtures three enterprises. The K of
L. people are taking unusual interest In pro-
ductive cooperation. Miners are figuring on
mining, on-workers on iron, machlnlstS and
stove-molders on machine shops and stove
foundries. All this is good.
The Associated Labor Press Of the United
States, composed of representatives of twenty
| three newspapers, will hold convention on
Jan. 10. These papers exchange labor reports
and thus secure abundant news. The scheme
originated with the Labor Herald, paper
started in Pittsburg to honestly represent the
labor interests.
More labor legislation than ever has been
formulated for presentation to Legislatures in
the Western States. Political and labor branches
will unite. In the Eastern and Middle States
comparatively little legislation is asked for or
wanted and when Western men have tried
few laws they will want them less.
Panics and impressions are the natural pun
ishments of unjust and inequitable distribution
of the products of labor. The only remedy for
OyrnrDrOd uetiOn ic n inp0nitabla distribution
not an equal distribution. Permanent pros
perity is possible only when wealth producers
receive approximately what they produce, what
ever be their services. The errors of our present
systems are coming into bolder relief, and the
truths of the higher political economy are find
ing gradual recognition
| Pennsylvania rail-mill manager has in
vented an iron table by which the labor of forty
men at the rolls can be dispensed with. blast
furnace manager has invented hoist which
dispenses with the labor of six men. lie this
keeps on, furnace and mill labor will become a
drug. Already the appliances for saving labor
at mills and furnaces are surprising and there
seems to be as much field as ever for the play Of
inventive talent against manual labor
The great problem of the future is not the di-
vision of the Congo country or the establish
ment of dozen treaties, but the proper dis
tribution of the earnings of tollerS in field shop
mill and mine American and English farmers
are bewailing their hard lot. Wage workers in
every land are seeking relief in agitation and or
ganization. The greatest possessors of the Or
ganized systems of production and exchange are
moaning over small profits. little business in
sufficient demands, and unsettled economic and
commercial conditions Nobody seems con-
tented. Each class or interest blameS some
other interest or class and thinks that if it had
the Legislative reins things would go differently.
There is a room in every manufacturing es-
tablishment which could be spared, and at small
expense fitted UP as a reading and game room
Where this literary departure has been taken it
has answered expectations. Employers owe
other duties to their wage-workers than paying |
wages for work done. AS this is the season for
good resolves, the suggestion is made that man
ufacturers start reading rooms for their en- |
pIoyes. a few books, and papers, and month
old magazines will do to start with There is an
abundance of raw literary ability among our
wage-werkers. Philanthropically inclined per-
sons can be found ready to come to these rooms
and give lectures on all sorts of subjects-if girl
employees, to show them how to sew and cook to
better advantages; if boys and young men, how
to acquire wider knowledge of elementary
things.
Late English journals speak of the growth of
more friendly feelings between employers and
employees in Great Britain a result of a two-fold
cause.-the increasing organization of workers
and q recognition by employers that In proper
ton as labor is compactly organized does 1t be-
come conservative, reasonable and fair. Before
the iron workers gained control OF the mill, la
Dor strikes, lock outs and the like were of such
frequent occurrence that no manufacturer felt
sure of days work. Before the English min
ers were compactly organized, prolonged strikes
took place all over the kingdom. The workmen
were fretful when they were helpless Their
manly instincts rebelled against apparent slav
cry, and futile strikes were their only protests
Now intelligent employers and workmen meet
around the same table and settle differences am
icably. The same is true in this country
AS labor becomes compact and feels a
consciousness of independence and power it
becomes conservative and dignifed, and scorns
to do what it did in disorganized shape. The
abest come to the front and they have a
pride in securing the approval of their asso-
ciates and the public. Our on-workers, cigar
makers machinists and all well-organized men
think striking beneath their dignity. So will
the shoe makers hereafter, and the weavers will
fnllnru in thair fnntStars in case thaY ramain