The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-04-28

ton to vote of all the local unions
throughout the jurisdiction of the In
ternational union. After careful con,
sideration of the application, the local
unions vote upon it, and if a majority
deem it just, they are granted support;
if not, the same is rejected and sup
port denied them. This law has pre-
vented several ill-advised strikes, and
has put an effectual check upon those
members who would resort to strike
upon the slightest provocation.
In 1856 the International union
inaugurated the eight-hour work day
among its members, being the first
large organization in the country to
successfully establish the same. Since
( the introduction of the short hour day,
not only have wages increased and
! the mental and physical condition of
! the members improved, but a very
! perceptible advancement morally has
taken place as well. These results
! have been extremely gratifying to the
! promoters of the short hour movement
and sore disappointment to it's enc
mics, who invariab bly, deride and regard
with suspicion all advancement under
/ taken by labor unions. The Interna-
] tiOnal is in possession of statistics
which would forever quiet the enemies
of labor unions and the eight-hour
work day, who howl that a decrease of
hours of labor means an increase of
time spent in bar-rooms. The man
who is shut up in a factory ten twelve
or more hours per day, and upon whom
the sun shines but once a week-on
Sunday-has no time for self-improve-
ment; his leisure time must be spent
in regaining strength to perform his
labors on the morrow. Such a man
soon learns the utter helplessness of
his position, becomes discouraged and
is very apt to seek relief in drink.
On the question of female labor en-
gagged in the cigar industry the Inter
national union deserves credit for the
stand it has taken in their behalf 1t
IS a well-knOWn fact that employers in
all branches of industries are 10th to
pay women the same wages as men
for equal labor performed. The only
reason that can be assigned for such
action is that women, being weaker
and less organized than men, can be
more easily imposed upon. The Inter
national union, seeing the injustice
done women under such circumstances
and realizing that it must rebound to
the injury of its members, took them
into full fellowship and secured for
them the same remuneration that men
receive, a position they could not have
secured without its assistance.
The revenue of the International
union is derived by weekly dues of %
cents, and two annual assessments of
SO cents each, imposed upon all mem
bers. The assessments, however, can
be increased should a difficulty arise
requiring large sums of money which
would reduce the sinking fund below
the required amount, SO per member.
The funds are held in common, each
local union having possession of an
amount according to the number of
members it has. This amount is as
certained at the annual equalization
of all the funds. The wisdom of such
a policy, the wide distribution of the
funds, can readily be seen. 1t places
beyond the power of one man, or a
dozen, should they prove dishonest, to
appropriate unto themselves sufficient
of the funds that would threaten the
existence of the organization. The
cash in the International treasury on
January 1, 1894, was close to half a
siderably reduced during the last year
owing to the heavy drafts made upon
the treasury to meet the payment of
the ''out-of-worll' benefit The
amount of available funds January l.
1895, was $3.50, 1856.
The international executive board
consists of a president. seven vice
elected by popular vote for a term of
three years. The president is required
to reside at the seat of the organiza-
ton, which at present is located at
Chicago. The rest of the members of
the executive board are located at diff
ferent places. The president has the
right to decide all questions of law, or
regulate any controversy or difficulty
that may arise. His decisions. though.
i
member upon appealing a case to the
president feel dissatisfied with the de-
cision, he can then appeal to the ex-
ecutive board, and upon being further
dissatisfied can appeal to a popular
vote of the members, thereby guaran-
teeing to even the humblest member
an impartial hearing and justice. In
the enactment of laws for the govern
ment of the International union a very
practical illustration of the initiative
and referendum is given. No law or
resolution passed at the convention
can become operative until adopted by
a popular vote of the members. The
initiative is allowed during the inter-
walls between conventions, and the
proposition, upon receiving a majority
vote of the members, becomes law.
The International union in 1880 adop
ted the trade mark known as the blue
smokers to distinguish union made CT
CARS from those made by prison labor,
and in those abominable rest holes,
known as tenement house c,Sar fac
tories. No man who values bis health
and is familiar with the circumstances
the manufacture of cigars
in a New York tenement house cigar
factory would voluntarily consume
one Cases have been discovered
where families numbering as high as
eight live and work in single room,
midst such surroundings of squalor
and filth as to battle description. 1t
was to protect the public principally
from such cigars that the "blue laheI'
trade mark was adopted. The Inter-
national union lalbored necessarily for
years to have a law passed in the state
Of New York prohibiting the tenement |
house cigar factory, and with the as
sistance of trades Unions in general, |
in having such a measure
adopted. The INSCRIPTIONS manufac- !
turers whose incomes were reduced by
the passage of this law appealed to !
the supreme court and. unfortunately /
for the miserable wretches engaged in |
the tenement house cigar factories /
and the public, the law was declared |
The success attending the introduce !
ton Of the 'blue LABEL and the bene- |
fit thereby accruing to the Interna-
tionaI union, far exceeded the most |
hopeful, and to further bring it before |
the public vast sums of money were |
spent in advertising. The exact |
thus spent is not attainable, |
though a million dollars would be a
fair estimate.
A great many manufacturers of ci-