Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-08-21
POWDERLY on THE HUNGARlANS.
The Master Workman Has Poor Opinion
of Tham-Mortnn,a Dairy Maids.

The Master Workman Has a Poor Opinion
of Them-Mortons Dairy Maids.
New YORK, Aug 2l-The most interest
ing witness before the immigration investi-
eating committee yesterday was General
Master Workman Powderly, Of the K Of
l.. He devoted his time to denunciation of
the Hun as he appears in the Pennsylvania
mining regions He said the Hun was very
undesirable citizen-dirty. ignorant and i'm
moral Hungarians live, he said, on the
cheapest kind Of food, SO that American
miners can not compete with them Their
sleeping quarters are simply disgusting
Their immortality, the witness said, was
startling He told of conversation he had
with an abandoned woman who acted as
housekeeper for eight Hungarians. Those
Hungarians, he said, never learned the Eng
fish language, and herd together until
they die or return to there native
country. They never become Americanized.
They bear no names, and their checks are
frequently changed to cheat them out of
their wages. Germans, he found took pride
in learning the English language He
thought no person should be admitted to cit
izenship until he was able to read and under
constitution of the United States. Consuls
should be required to look after the emf
grants coming to this country and see that
they were proper persons to be admitted to
our shores
Referring to other matters Powderly said
that the knights of Labor, as an order, was
in fourishing condition, and numbers
about 600, 600 members in the United States
He said it excludes from its ranks bankers,
lawyers. rum-sellerS, ioafers, and profes-
sional politicians A professional politician,
he said was man who is to be seen on cleo
ton day with his hand out for Doodle
Albert F. Curtis, a reporter for The Star,
the man who was the author of the charge
that Hon l.. P Morton imported labor on
contract, was called. He said that he based
the charge on what was told him by Scotch
man named McCrae, who said be himself
was sent from his old country home to Mr..
Morton's country place, and that his two
sisters had come over under contract to work
at the same place as dairy maids.
Reporter Curtis continued: "McCrae told
me his sisters came here to work for Mr.
Morton only after receiving number Of let
tiers and kilograms from Mr. Morton Learned
Of man named Forbes, that lS worked
as a gardener for Mr., Morton, having come
to this country under contract The contract
he said, was for $50 or 81 a month. A few
months ago Forbes learned that he was
receiving only half the amount paid
| by other gentlemen. Mr.. Morton told
| Forbes he could not leave to gel
more salary, as lie was under contract ant
| could be punished if he violated it. Forbes
left, however, and applied to a man named
| Common, seed merchant in Chambers street,
for empl oyment This man told him that a:
| he came under contract he would have L
pay the balance of what he owed Mr. Nor
ton. Forbes then gave the seedman a not
for s45, payable to MIR. Morton in twelv,
months, and he got employment shortly aft
erwards on W X Vsnderbilt's place a
Islip, L. l., at $50 month This was tbs
substance of what Reporter Curtis has
heard from those people, who claimed they
had come under contract to ar Morton
The witness said McCrae had been heat
gardener at Mr. Morton's place, hut had eel
! lowered in position and therefore resigned
The committee discussed the reporters test
mony and all agreed that it was hearsay. |
was retained in the record, however.
1t is not improbable that Mr.. Morton vii
be summoned before the committee in III
near future
Vincent Waytisek, Bohemian, was ais
sworn during the afternoon He runs a Be
hemian daily paper in this city, and he evi
IDENTIFY intended to show by his testimnn
that Bohemians as a rule make very desirs
BILE citizens He said among other thing
| ~ An RI ,,, RI ,is