Omaha daily bee., 1896-01-01
OMAHA'S TEMPLE OF LABOR
Dedicated Last Night with Addresses ant
t ". Social Games.
MAYOR BEMlS MASTER OF CEREMONIES
Organized workinGmen of the cit,
Concentrated ON Their Success in
Securing Pleasant Headquarters
for Those who Toll.

| Vi lHe ldDOI lttuelS WIN seven Stdis dbS
predicted that the time would come when all
of the labor organizations Of the city would
be sheltered beneath one roof has been
fulfilled
The Labor Temple was dedicated to the
| public last night, and from early evening
until after the year 1896 had been born, the
| conmodious rooms in the Barker block at
Fifteenth and Farnam streets were filled to
| overfUwing There were hundreds who
spent the entire evening at the rooms, while
| there were as many more who called to pay
their respects and wish the boys good luck
in carrying the undertaking to successful
| end.
| AS has been frequently stated in The Bee,
the temple consists of the fourth and fifth
floors Of the Barker block. The fifth floor is
used exclusively for lodge rooms, while the
| fourth floor is divided into reading rooms,
committee rooms and private rooms for the
| use of the executive committees. There is
| barber shop. an employment agency where
| help is furnished, both employe and en-
| poyer being exempted from paying the fee
| charged by employment bureaus about the
| city. On this floor there are also waiting
| rooms for women and smoking rooms for the
| men, all neatly furnished, and in all of
| them men and women who do not belong to
labor unions are just as welcome as those
who are associated with organizations.
SYMPATHETIC ADDRESSES.
The promoters of the temple felt that
| last night was proper time to dedicate
| the rooms and consequently they arranged
their plans accordingly. For an hour or
| more during the early evening the crowds
in and out of the rooms on the fourth
floor admired the neat decorations and pic
| lures which had been donated by friends
| of the movement. Promptly at o'clock
char pf tha tra1 ahnr mi M
| announced that the exercises of the even
ing would be held in the large lodge room
up stairs. Directing the audience to this
part of the temple, he introduced Mayor
Bemis as the presiding officer of the evening.
In assuming the duties of the position, the
mayor stated that he appreciated the honor
that had been conferred upon him. adding
that 1t afforded him great pleasure to greet
the laboring men Of the city. He saw no
| reason why labor unions should not put on
airs as we'll other organizations The
Labor Temple was a grand thing and he
was glad that laborng men had at last
found a place where they could meet and
enjoy themselves.
Mayor Bemis said that he did not propose
to talk politics, adding that he could not
understand how 1t was that with II, 900 votes
in the city of Omaha laboring men would
| allow themselves to be misrepresented at the
polls and in the city and county government.
The last legislature HE denounced as a
shreds, but the governor had thrown him
self into the breach and had vetoed the
abortion that the members Of the body con-
ceived. The mayor stated that he was
staunch believer in the municipal owner
ship of all franchises and the employment
of day labor upon all public works.
Mayor Bemis introduced Edward Rosewater
of The Bee, who said that he had been so
busy that he had not realized just what the
Labor Temple meant. Mr.. Rosewater said
at ba Labor Tpmnlp departure
and promised much good for the male ana
female toilerJ of the city. In discussing the
labor proposition, he stated that he had been
toiler from the days of his early boyhood
and had been kept busy from twelve to six
teen hours each day as telegraph operator.
In speaking of the telegraph, Mr.. Rosewater
spoke of the changes that had been wrought.
In the early days, the operator in addition
to handling the message, was obliged to act
as a repairer and an assistant frequently in
putting up wires. Today it was different.
The operator, after serving for number of
hours finished his days labor, and if he put
in extra time he was given extra pay.
ONE OF THEM.
Having been associated with laborng peo-
pie all of his life, Mr. Rosewater said that
he had the kndliest feeling for all men and
women who were compelled to work. In
speaking of the employment bureau which
was located in the Labor Temple, he related
the fact of his once having been connected
with such an institution. 1t was the hrst
business in which he engaged. He was out
Of employment and he started out to get en-
ployment. When he got 1t, he went out OF
that line Of business. Since then, however
he had been constantly employing labor, and
it was seldom that he had had any trouble
with the men who were working for him. He
had always stood up for organized labor, and
believed that the laborer was the American
nobleman. In closing, Mr.. Rosewater wished
the men and women connected with the
labor unions a Happy New Year, adding,
with malice toward none"
Attorney General Churchill, in responding
to call said that never before had he
been afforded the opportunity of addressing
a body of organized laborers. He reviewed
his early career, adding that he had always
been a laborer, having commenced by sp Z
ting rails He urged that most OF the great
men of the country had begun life as humble
laborers, referring particularly to Lincoln and
Garfield examples.
] II. Pierce was introduced as the president
of a Minneapolis railway union. People, he
said wondered how it was that he held
such a position. Mr.. Pierce told of his early
experience and added that twenty-five years
ago he was swinging switchmans lantern
in the yards, putting tbs right tram on the
right track. The hardest work that he had
performed, however, was pushing pencil
as a reporter on a newspaper. Mr. Pierce
objected to keeping a bachelors hall in
politics. H. did not believe that 1t was good
for man to be alone, not even In politics.
that old, man, Mr.. Pierce observed, did not
know anything about enjoying himself until
he found a wife and induced her to help him
organize a labor union. One woman at the
polls on election day was worth dozen
policemen, especially such policem'n n as were
found in the cities now.
GOOD PLACE TO HAVE.
The Labor Temple, Mr.. Pierce ventured,
was a move in the right direction; the la
borers of Omaha had started right, and II
they continued right they would win In the
end. He referred to the strike at Pullman
and the American Railway union troubles In
Chicago, declaring that the position taken by
organized labor at that time was stand
for the right.
Paul Vandervoort in addressing the meet
Ing advanced that the building up of labor
temples was something that would soon spread
from one end OF the country to the other and
In the end would accomplish much good
John G.. Kuhn, in speaking OF the welfare
of Omaha and Nebraska, made strong plea
for the home industry movement, stating
that /. meant the adding of many members
to the labor unions and the employment of
much skilled labor.
Fl. C. Waller. one Of the prime movers In
creating the labor temple, presented bust
of Eugene " Debs. The presentation was