The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1895-01-03
CHAMPION OF LABOR.
John Burns, the Trades Union Leader o.
Britain-His Life and Work.

Brtfain-htS Lie ana hOrh
From the Chicago Times.
OF John Burns, the masterful labor
leader of Great Britain, it is said that he
"carres his better qualities written in his
face" 1t is only strong face that could
mako truthful this statement, for his
"better" qualities cover nearly all the
qualities any individual can possess. John
is in truth man of fine countenance.
Character is bespoken by its square out
lines, its lines of thought and firmness,
and its rugged pleasantness. 1t shows
the man who has toiled and suffered and
yet has not soured. John Burns is close
to his thirty-fifth birthday. The stamina
of the Scotchman Is noticeable in his
physical makeup and bearing. Ayr and
Aberdeen are the shires which have nour-
ished his ancestry. His face is full, dark,
and covered with manly growth of hair.
His broad forehead Is topped by profu-
sion of dark hair, in which the gray is
fighting for place. In his eyes, piercing,
resolute, there is the look of the leader
and the man whose actions are true to his
principles. If his face is the index his
mind is the volume of rare worth and
completeness.
John Burns has the ideal,but he is not
one-idea man. Much early educational
But later in life when the mind was ma
tured and its natural grasp of ideas and
problems was strengthened, he became
| the earnest student; not a mere reader of
books, either, but searcher for that
| deeper and more power-giving knowledge
to be got by the study of man.
In a snug little house in quaint Battersea
John Burns and his loving, helpful vito
| live, in London. The mellowness of long
cultivation is seen in its surroundings.
Trees and shrubs, the grass plots that the
| British love so well, and the creeping TO-
| liage that climbs the walls, suggesting the
clinging to the old place at home. 1t is at
| home that John Burns does much OF the
work that has made him dear to the toll
ers of London. His door is ever open to tho
entry of the needy in mind, body or
estate" Voorhees, and hungry many n
disheartened toller enters its shelter only
TO come out soon again glad and hopeful,
| for consideration and friendship has been
found. Johns word is the security which
the hopeless deserving have tor brighter
days. 1t never fails, for John is what
above all things his countrymen most adj
| mire-a man of his word. Johns advice
| isn't that of the beef-fed benefactor, for
| he has been over the path of trial and
| want himself. When little shapely lad
he was taken from school and put into
Service" 4 wealthy resident of Hamp.
| stead fitted him out in high boots and top
coat and employed him as tiger.
| John had too much spirit even at that age
| 10 sit at the back of dog cart to be adj
mired by his masters acquaintance and
live off roast meats in the servants hall.
lie cast off his high-priced uniform, got
into working clothes and then hired out
| ~ Il
The atmosphere of the big inn even
didn't suit him. He wanted TO lead
purposeful lfe-to be a producer, not n
we'll fed taker of tips. Like SO many of
the youth of his native land, he had a
taste for mechanics, and he got into the
shops of q big firm of engine builders.
then his real course in life began. Gifted
with ideas about the rights of workmen
and with the ability to express them to
his fellows, he was much sought to adj
dress meetings. This cost him his posi-
ton, for English employers are conscrva-
tive and are suspicious of outspoken indie
pendence. Open air meetings followed
the talks to small audiences in halls. At
one of these outside meetings, many
years ago, he got into trouble with
the police, and while protesting against
his forcible arrest he met the girl
who is now his wife. She was going along
the street with her father, John Gale, a
worthy shipwright of Deptford. In late
years John met with the ups and downs
of those who work by the day. Seasons
of trade activity were followed with times
of depression. 1t was when thus out of
work he accepted an engineering position
on the west coast of Africa, In the new
land, surrounded by contrasts, he had
time to think of the ways of the old. 4
discarded copy of Adam Smiths wealth
of Nations" which he picked up in the
sands of an African river, gave new
breadth to his ideas. When he came
home after two years in the tropics he
had thought out n good many plans of re-
form, which in years since he has made
real by practical work.
| Bobbie Burns, some OF whose blood
John carries. is n favorite study OF his.
Adam Smiths economical works are on
his shelves, too, with the books of Carlyle,
the Chelsea philosopher; Berth, tho stu
dent of labor, and Mallack of tho ana
lytical mind. Blue books, trades union
prints, socialistic pamphlets, and Stats
tics are given much space in his little
snug library. These are some of the
things which tell of John in his home. In
Great Britain and the broader world oil
| LABOR Wherever WoTh IS Oone Win organ
lied effort John Burns IS acknowledged a
| leader. Not all even of those who WORK
, with hands for living believe in his
policy as an entirety, for it reaches fal
, beyond the mere settlement Of labor dis
| putes. Yet his power and discretion
uprightness, and devotion to principle
have not been denied nor made the subjec
, | ever of question. Whether on Tou yer hill
| or in the park surrounded by the grea
) masses of toilers, in the respectable wis
, dom of the county council chamber, or IN
the grand house of commons itself, Johr
: Burns is given attention. Ills utterance
are listened TO and in debate are answere,
with the dignity they command. In th'
polite atmosphere of the house, in ~