Asheville daily citizen. [volume] (Asheville, N.C.) 1890-1900, 1891-11-16

General Secretary L. McGuire, OF the
United Brotherhood Of Carpenters and
oiners of America, had good Saturday
night audience out to hear him at the
court house. on the subject of "The bur-
dens of labor and how to prevent them. :"
MIR. Mcclure arrived in Asheville on
the 2 O'Clock train Saturday, and Was
met at the depot by the committee from
the Asheville Carpenters and Joiners
brotherhood, Alderman Leonard chair
man. and escorted to his rooms at the
Battery Park hotel.
About 500 p. m. Mr.. Mcclure entered
the court house, and was escorted to
the judges chair by Robert M. Fur
man.
In few minutes Mr.. Furman arose
and in the name OF the carpenters and
joiners OF Asheville and the laboring
classes Of the city welcomed Mr.. Mcclure
to "Ashevlle, the best place in the south,
where the laboring men, although they
haven't got all they want, are reasona-
bly, happy" He then introduced the
speaker to the audience amid the great
est applause -
II am glad" the speaker began, that
the question which am to discuss to.
night is one that cannot arouse sectional
preiudices. 1t is a bread and butter
question. In taking it up we must uil-
dcrstand what labor is. There are two
kinds of labor-the useful and the useless.
The useful labor increases wealth sub
stantialy, while the other kind is specu-
lative and therefore useless. The labor OF
the artisan is what is making Ashevile
what she sand what she will be. Capital
is an auxiliary force. Labor has made
capital in all its forms; it has been the
primary force in building cities and es-
tablishing civilization where once there
was nothing but IA bowling wilderness.
"Yet labor is servile, it is semI-Slavery!
1t bends, and cringes and crawls to beg
for days work. There are rights be-
longing to labor as well as to capital
Laboring people in Asheville are more
respccte,. than they are in many places
Happy Ashevile! And it is your duty to
see that you are always respected. You
have had influence enough to elect one oI
your number to the high Office oi mayor,
and you should be proud OF ii.
III has ever been he desire OF a few to
rule the many by knavish tricks. They
want to shirk their part OF the burden.
There is no class which has the divine
right to rule-that right is gwen to the
people. The old chattel slave system
was tried, but it had to go. We have
come down through ages from bondage III
Egypt to the present wage system. And
it is the best system ever devised. But
today under this system labor is regarded
not as a social duty but as a curse-as a
commodity. am here to dispute with
political economists when they say that
labor is commodity. The man who
would cOnsign labor to the category
with cotton, tobacco, pork, ETC., is inhu-
man.
"lf, though, labor is looked upon as
a commodity, why not do as others who
have anything to sell-hx price on it.
Many laborers do not even ask what
they are to get when they secure job.
They 90 to work without even knowing
when they will have a payday-and in
some places they never have any payday.
Workmen ought not dictate to the bosses
about their own business, but they
should dictate as to their own labor.
You have good square contractors
ana business men III hsheViiie' VINO iook
on you as something more thah eatt'e,
knt ehn L,aI
nat was SHOWN when YOU asNeo lor
hours. II came as sure as tne next day
sun. we doh want strikes u 'he' can
he avoided Yet some newspaper men
not as smart as your newspaper men III
Asheville, write long editorials crying
that strikes shou'u not occur-that cap
ital ana LABOR are partners mat may
be, but labor IS generally the Silent part
ner, i can te" You
There is new power threatening u'
no~-h'hg MONEY lie Is not king OF
the throne, with ,roMnoh ms mead, bu'
KING win money IN ms pocket ana nj
, heart IN ms body' his only religion II
money ana ms politics Doodle we ar
the men VINO have to deal with nm. I'M
mghwaymen OF old had courage to hol'
up their victim, but the modern high
waymen get the'r money ny iegis'atio'
=. because theV haVethe power. ihen the.
thinki' they go to church and give ,oO'
to missions their soul is saved lhey x
to church and praise the same God tina
created us ALL and all the time are study
ing now to squeeze down the price OF ID
Dor.
But should we complain OF TINS stat
OF things when we nave the power to RI
- lleve ourselves! We must Organic
, There IS organization all around u.s. In
" farmers are organized, and every otht
R. trade ana procession we nave thr'
great forces, the puollc schools, the Da
lot and the press, ana with tliese pow
erful factors and our organization "
should not be dictatedto.
J The carpenters receive lower wag'
than any class OF labor on earth. III
bricklayer gets more money Is his wor
more important tnan that OF the carpe'
ter! Again, the carpenters are too ge
erous. Ihey learn their trade to ever
r Tom, Dick and Harry. As soon as bu
r mess becomes good you see coming
= from the 6uckwheat districts men wit
hammer and saw IN hand, who go rigl
n .lrR hsan q