Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1885-12-07


beneath the workmsn's feet a vast sewer
through which there annually poured hun
dreds of thousands of foreign workmen'
ready to work for q pittance and drive
Americans to want.
The speaker said that the tendency Of
legislation was 10 restrict the liberties Of
individuals. Following in the wake Of
the Standard Oil Company, it would mol
be long, at the present rate, until We
should have but one oil company. nj nal
company, one glass company, one iron
company, one telephone company, u tel
eVrsph company, and so on. There would
thsn remain but
A SINGLE T E
to bring on the Age of Monopoly. That
was TO combine all these in n vast cor
poration, wheH there would be one gigantic
Board of Directors debating TO q hundred
million of people. Where would our boast
ed liberties be then2 1t vas possible we
would still possess our form Of government
Il would not hurt the great m~onopolistlc
President to allow his hirelings to elect q
President ofthe United States, for in that
day the ~monopolist would be 80 big that
the Presidents overcoat would not make q
match for his pa~ntaloons. That age was
coming, Small manufacturers were going
TO the wall one By n ALI along our
streets, tradesmen and small shop keepers
were in Strengthened circumstances, and
slowly but surely the people were marching
along, led by Death and Despair, and fol
lowed by Woe and Want.
The speaker then turned his attention to
the press and the pulpit, and warned his
hearers that they could not be relied upon
in the great struggle in which they were
engaged. he concluded his remarks amid
great applause.
SECRETARY JoHS EHMAN
was then called for, and he came forward
in response to the invitation. He began
BY saving he had not expected to be called
upon, and had therefore made no prepare
tons for q speech. He at once turned his
attention to the local status of the
miners and ~nailers. he said whenever a
manufacturer or mine owner found ne was
unable TO compete" with some one else,
he sought to better himself by cutting
down @ The speaker wanted to
the system and wanted to level up.
When the CRY Of inability to compete was
raised he would increase wages, instead OF
decreasing them. The nail strike was next
taken up and handled in a very earnest
manner, evoking applause at frequent in;
The nail feeders, he said, had
stood out nobly with the Isilers in the great
fight, and in the future their needs and de-
mands must be met and recognized. He
must be looked upon as one OF the In
d~ispensible factorsi in the mailing trade, and
the man who would refuse to recognize
them would regret it, The mailer and
feeder must henceforth 60 hand IN
hand, one and inseparable. He
spoke words of encouragement to the nail
ers, calling attention to the fact that IN six
months, with all the vast influences OF cap
itsl and the press behind them, but six
hundred machines had been set IN motion.
He explained the late increase in the num-
Der of machines in operation, as shown in
rHE MANUFACTURERS WEEKLY STATEMENTS,
was caused by giving feeder-nailers FIVE and
six machines each, instead OF the tour
which constituted q regular job, 1t was
BY this subterfuge that the public was
gulled. he made an earnest appeal othe
working feeders to come out of the works
and Join hands, of the eleventh hour, with
he strikers. Should this be done, the
mills would at once be compelled to shut
DOWN, and the scale would have to be
signed, to the manifest advantage of all.
The strike was in the face Of a market
which would Justify the wages claimed, and
having stood out for the 2l-cent scale ak
months, ~nsilers were willing to stand out SIX
months more, if necessary. Cheers.
The speaker closed by making one more
appeal for thes feeder to stand up for high
asking them TO come out OF the
mills and end the strike.
President Burt then camel forward, and
said he Rad been instructed BY the Execu'
tive Committee to announce to the audi
that if there were present any class
of men not belonging to the Trades Assem-
bly, who desired wrongs done them right
ed, they had only to address a communica:
ton to the committee, and the men would
be called together and their grievances
considered. Mr.. Burt was on the point OF
retiring, when he was londly called for to
continue, and in response addressed some
especially to the miners, after
which the meeting adjourned.