St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-01-13
NEWS AND NOTES.

The recommendation by Gov. Nelson,
In his message 10 the Legislature. to
further enlarge the output OF prison
contract labor, will meet with OPPOSE
ton and regret by many, particularly
the labor element. The contention OF
the labor people is that it Is detrimental
to legitimate trade interests to sell the
labor of convicts to cooperate capital.
the product thereof being placed In
competition with articles made by free
labor. Aud what is injurious to the
labor people must Of necessity extend
to other interests of the community. Ii
is further pointed out that while the
leSsees OF prison labor give only nom
inal price-something like so cents per
day per man-they benefit i'll selling the
product by the established market
price based on free labor, the re-
suit being large profits to the invested
capital. Considering the large number
affected and the small amount accrulng
to the state. it is claimed that no ad-
antaga is gained by the leasing OF con-
tract labor, unless il is to the favored
contractor. No particular objection Is
raised against the employment or prison
labor by the state at some occupation
that does not compete with established
trade interests, such, for instance, as
the binding Irvine industry. But strong
objection is made to the present meth
DDS in vogue at Saltwater, whereby
some 200 or more men are employed III
making shoes. The shoemakerS OF the
state. both employers anu employees,
naturally suffer from such unequal conf,
DetitiOn. The recommendation or G0V.
Nelson to extend the contract period
from two to ten years VIII meet with
opposition if SUCH move is attempted
by the house. The tendency Of prison
management throughout the country IS
against contract labor leasing. Inc
state of New York has adopted the FOL
lowing constitutional amendment: =.
The legislature shall, by law, provide
for the occupation and employment OF
prisoners sentenced to the several state
prisons, penitentaries, tails and re-
fOrmaturitS in this state; and on and
after the first day Of Januray,in the year
1897, no person i'll any such prison penl-
Tertiary, Jail or refOrmatory shall be
required or allowed To work, while un~
der sentence thereto, at any trade, IN
dustry or occupation wherein or where
by his work. or ;he product or profit OF
his work, shall be farmed ont, con~
tracted, given or sold, to any person,
nrm, association or corporation. ms
section shall net be construed TO prevent
the legislature from providing that con-
VictS may work for. and That the pro-
ducts of their labor may be disposed 10,
the state or any political division there
,,F to, III ~ n\pnnn
or managed and controlled by the state,
OF any political division thereof.
Z. c. Ives, who during the past two
years has creditably occupied the posi-
ton of abstract clerk OF Ramsey county,
and WHO declined Il denomination, has
returned 10 his first love and is again i'll
harness at the West Publishing COM
pany. The return of Mir. Ives to active
membership III the typographical union
will be welcomed by all its thoughtful
members. i'll the past Mr.. Ives has
been valuable and hardWorKlug menl-
Der, not only in connection with his own
union, but IN all labor matters.
The carpenters union held good
meeting at Labor hall Tuesday even~
ing. The attendance was large, and
mach interest was manifested. Several
new members were added 10 the raps
idly increasing roster. Officers were
elected as follows: President. J. l..
Hughes; vice president, W. ~. Cop
land; recording secretary, f. Il. Hester;
financial secretary. y. j. Metzger;
treasurer, I. Kavanagh; conductor, l..
IUllne; warden, y. Johnson; trustees,
NJ. RinKert, 5. c. Swanund and Q.
Berard. Another meeting will be held
Tuesday evening, at which further ac-
cessiouS 10 the membership are eX-
pected.
The appointment Of George c. Ste~
Veus as state expert printer will meet
with tie approval Of the typographical
Union. Of which organization MI. Ste
VenS is member. While the union
printers have the greatest regard for
MI kamaley, both on account of his
splendid ability as an authority Oh print
lag matters and his high standing as
fair and co!lSiderate employer. they feel
that il the political WLirligig must
bring Il change i'll the Office of state eX-
pert printer that union printer should
receive recognition, and Tor this reason
MI. Stevens appointment will be pop
ular with the printers.
An important meeting of the A. Il. q.
members will be held at Labor hall
Thursday evening, for the purpose OF
taking up the matter of organization.
The meeting is the outcome of the late
visit of President Debs, and promises to
be both well attended and productive
OF material results. ALI invitation is
extended to all railway workers.
The following union meetings will be
held at Labor hall during the coming
week:
Sundays Scandinavian section Social
ist-Lab0r patty.
Monday B0ilcrmakers, BARRIERS and
plaSterers.
Observation-Disclosures Railway Car
men. carpenters.
Wednesday-Tin, sheet ircn and cor
nice workers.
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. A. r. U. No.
PA.
Friday - Journeymen h0rSeshoerS,
boot and shoe workers, A. L. L. No. $50.
aturday-Blacksmith
For some time past the blacksmiths'
union has been in a c0matOsG state, but
q fresh start was taken during the past
week, and the union has been reOrgan-
ICED with the largest membership Ill It's
history. Tie black smiths intend 10 De
in the front row henceforth.
eThe cigarmakers held good meeting
Thursday evening, ut which the new
officers were installed. The question
Df establishing 60 operative Cigar fac