Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1890-08-02
THE CLOAKMAKERS
Continued from first page.

one indeed. But in so far as the effect
which the final triumph of United Labor
over United Capital must have upon the
labor movement in general and among
the Jewish immigrants in particular, II Is
well that matters took such turn.
Had the second and final agreement been
signed by all the parties at the first con-
ference the victory would have been
ascribed mainly to the support of the
capitalstic press. The astounding hero
ism and self denial which the men
evinced during the thirteen weeks of
the struggle would have been over.
looked in view of the financial aid
which they had received from capital
istic sources and the unconditional sur
render of the Cloak Kings would have
been traced to the pressure of public
opinion. The Importance of the victory
as a lesson to the Jewish victim of the
internal sweating system on the one
hand and to his co-religious leech of
the clothing trade fraternity on the
other would thus have been consider
ably impaired.
AS it is, however, having routed Il
powerful capitalistic organization IN
spite of public opinion, with nearly
everybody and verything against them
and with nothing to support them but
their own tirmness of purpose and faith
fulness to their cause, these immigrants
from lands of 1espotism have set an
example of Courage and valOr in strug-
Cling for their rights which many a
labor organization of American born
workers would do we'll to follow.
The Cloakmakers victory, which As
certainly the greatest event in the his
tory of the labor movement among the
Jewish immigrants of this country, will
cave deep mark upon the destinies of
he Jews in the United States. 1t is, in
TACT a solution of the entire Jewish
question. The feature of the contem-
|poraneous history of the Jews is GER
4 tainly their wholesale immigration to
this continent, just as few centuries
ago the history of these down-trodden,
homeless people was the history of their
exodus from Spain.
There is not a town in Russia, Poland,
Galicia, Hungary or Roumania but its
prosecuted Jewish population is rapidly
thinning out owing to the epidemic
emigrations to America.
In making up his mind to make this
country his home the emigrant embarks
with the hope of settling down to some
independent business. But this ambi-
ton, which in former years was in the
majority of cases realized, is now gener.
ally shattered against the capitalistic
reality that confronts the immigrant on
the very day of his landing And thus the
nation that was once torn from her
agricultural pursuits and driven by cir
cumstances into business as its charac-
teristic occupation is IN America forced
by the pressure Of capitalistic conditions
into the ranks of wage earning labor.
The question, What shall the Jews do
in America?-and this is, in view of the
growing tide of Jewish emigration to
our shores, the all-absorbing question
with every Jewish patriot In Europe
is therefore best solved by the recent
strike of the Jewish Cloak makers. Vic
tins of race prejudice in the countries
from which they seek refuge these
people, on arriving in land like this,
where they are sure of freedom from
persecution. on account of their race or
religion, cannot better justify the cor
dial reception extended to them than by
becoming part of the people, by joining
hands with organized labor and partici.
pating in its struggles. Such, unhappily,
was not the case during the first few
years of the Jewish immigration en-
nlasse, when many labor organization
frequently encountered in its struggles
against capital serious obstacle in the
persons of Jewish scabs. In course of
time, however as these immigrants be-
came sufficiently acquainted with their
new environments, and when, on the
other hand, the socialists among them
grew familiar with the labor question of
this country, an active agitation sprung
away the Jewish population of every
large city and of which the recent vic
tory of the Cloak makers is one of the
best manifestations.
Nor is the Cloak makers Union the
only powerful organization of Jewish
workingmen. The United Hebrew Ira
des of this city, which is the central
body of the Jewisl. speaking unions, is
made up of 80 well disciplined and
strong organizations, many of which
have tasted the sweets of victory over
their employers.
The Federation of Jewish Trades is
the name of similar organizations in
Philadelphia, Boston and Chicago. All
these unions have their origin in the un.
firing efforts of the Jewish socialists,
who by their speeches at the meetings
and through the columns of the Jewish
Arbeiter- Zeitung, the official organ of
the United Hebrew Trades, exhort their
brethren to enroll in the organizations
of their respective trades or organize
new ones where certain line of work is
monopolized by the Jewish population,
as, for instance, the various branches
of the tailoring trade. OF course. all
this agitation would amount to little or
nothing did not the exceptionally miser-