The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-03-23

ing the hours of labor. No do not want to
strike but reserve the right 10 strike and con-
vince the employers that It is dangerous to pro-
woke us to it. have never heard Of conven-
ton OF corporations adopting resolutions not to
reduce wages or lock out their employees. Or
ganize aud prepare for strikes with wcil-fllcd
treasury and you won't have to indulge in that
luxury very often.
Mr.. Gompers declared in favor of ar
bitration. but only where the parties were
on equal terms. and said if they wished to
secure arbitration they must be able to
convince the other party that they wcIe
able to enforce their demands. They must
be able to hurt corporation in its tender
est point--its pocketbook--a then it
would say Lets arbitrate." He summed
up by saying:
II you want arbitration, organize; If you want
to prevent strikes, organize; ii You want to i'm
prove your condition, organise.
Mr.. Gompers continued:
want to refer to some things which happened
lately In your state, and to the gentleman who
now occupies the position Of governor in this
state. refer to Acting Governor Laughton.
IA hiss.l Save that till a little latcr--or don't
forget it in the fall The governor has mistaken
his position. He does not argue as the governor
OF proud state. but as the paid attorney of
corporation would He has vetoed the anti
Pinkerton bill, or the bill restoring the original
rights OF the people, and providing that the
sheriff, mayor, governor or president is alone
endowed with the duty of protecting
life and property But the corporation steps
in without regard to any higher authority, but
above the law, has standing army Of mercena-
rics, of paid birelings without any lew to regu-
late their conduct. The bill declares this body
Illegal in fact provides that the sheriff or mayor
is good enough for the people. But the gov
ernor says that it interferes with
the right of man to protect his wife
and children, our right to gather around
our cabins and protect our lives. Does any man
mean to say that the governor was serious when
he wrote that? II he was he was either . paid
agent of that corporation-you know which cor
poration mean-or he is an ass. At least ii he
was not paid he ought to have been, and the
corporations are by no means stingy in such
matters. This standing army is composed of
Pinkerton thugs, and the governor says they
must not be interfered with.
The governor has within the last two weeks
developed a faculty of either writing veto
messages or having them written for him. He
has vetoed the time-check bill, and says the
people can hold their time checks for
years and then present them and draw
10 per cent. interest. The people who
get time checks. as l am acquainted
with them for years and years. They want the
money as soon as possible. The governor says
that then the corporations would not issue
them. That is what we want. We want coin.
do not think the governor would care to be paid
in time checks.
am not politician. and do not care whether
this man is Republican or q Democrat de-
nounce him because he vetoed the bill on which
the people of this state were moro unit than
any other. If you do not resist this wrong you
deserve that he should do something worse to
you.
Mr.. Gompers then argued in favor Of
popular election of United States senators,
saying the positions should not be bartered
out by the corporations without consulta-
ton with the people. He referred to a law
recently passed by the California
legislature to make boycotting IL
legal and defended the right to
boycott. He urged boycott on the
products of Chinese labor, saying: Don't
you think the Caucasian race is worth pre-
serving?" declaring the Chinese and
Caucasian races not congenial and that he
would sooner endure the horrors of Dante's
"Inferno' than live in Chinatown. He
then urged boycott on coal from the
Wellington collieries and on thread from
powerful argument for the eight-hour
saying:
I call on you and call on the wage-workers of
the United States to rise up in mass and de-
mand the enforcement of the eight-hour work
ing day. We hear men say that their hours
must be increased in order that they may get
along. As matter Of fact, in the countries
where the hours of labor are long the industries
are not developed as they are in the countries
xA<-- Al L e IL. zru>k-
men Of the countries where the hours of labor
are long are paupers compared with the rich
men of the countries where the hours of labor
are less. The merchants send the products of
the short hour countries iuto the
long hour countries. When times
are dull and people have not
money to buy things with, the employer of la
Dor says: "Boys, times are dull; contemplate
closing up, but want to give you employment,
and will keep running if you will accept 10
per cent. reduction. Don't be fools, boys, and
kick. Or you can work an hour longer to make
1t up. Mind you, the markets are glutted, the
shelves are bearing down with the stock, the
people have not money to buy things, SO you
must accept a reduction so that you can
buy more; so also you must work an
hour longer to make it up. 1t is
only necessary to state the remedy TO
show how ridiculous it is. ! say there is no
market as prosperous as the home market, and
no way to prevent gut in the market better
than to give the workmen moro wages, and
there is no means better than to give employ
meut to the hundreds OF thousands of men and
women who are walking the streets hunting
employment We say that to reduce the hours
means higher wages and better conditions for
the employer also. show me a country where
the hours are long and will show you where
wages are low. Show me a country
where the hours are short aud ] will
show you where the wages are high In
any factory, those who enter first and leave last
are those who receive the lowest wages and
those who enter last and leave first receive the
highest wages, because those who work eight
hours cannot afford TO work as cheap as those
who work thirteen or fourteen hours; their time
is more valuable. The men who work twelve,
thirteen or fourteen hours very seldom have a
dinner hour, while those who work eight hours
surely have a dinner hour. The long hour men
go home, throw themselves on q miserable
apology for a bed and dream of work.
They eat to work, sleep to work and
dream to work, instead OF working
to live. The man who goes home early has time
to see his children, to eat his SUPPER to read the
newspaper That reading the newspaper Gre
ates a desire to be alone for half an hour. and
that starts desire for an extra room. Just lit
tie extra room. That extra room is a milestone
in the record of social progress. 1t means car
pet on the floor, chair, an easy chair, picture
on the wall, piano or an organ. What does the
man who works three or four hours longer
want with an extra roomr The gas
is generally turned low so that he can
sleep in order that he can work.
You win find that people get wages Just
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