Birmingham state herald., 1896-03-03
show, but the man who works not at all seems to get it all.
 The Pullman Strike.

The speaker then reIefre0 to the great Pullman strike. He spoke of the town of Pullman and the serfdom which existed there. Some people say that if these peo- pie are dissatisfied why do they stay at Pullman. They cannot get away. They are bound hand and foot. There were three cuts in the wage scale there in one year. The wages were cut from time to time until the laborers were reduced to abject poverty. The house rent however, was never cut went to Pullman to see for myself. Men, women and children were on the verge of starvation. A prom inent minister of the gospel, residing at Pullman, wrote a book, in which he states that he saw a check representing two weeks wages less house rent and the sum written thereon was cents. Some of the habitations there are not fit to shelter beasts. I saw children without A child born at Pullman was rocked in a Pullman cradle, fed on Pullman bread, worked to death in the Pullman shops, wrapped in Pullman shroud, placed In a Pullman coffin and buried in Pullman grave.
 When the Pullman company wanted labor they went to the labor market and bought it.
 When a committee of Pullman strikers wentsto Pullman and asked him to arbi- trate he turned to them and said: Haven't been a father to your" If lie is such father I prefer being an or phan. He told the committee to go to work and he would look into the matter. The next day the committee was dis charged from employment. Then fl was that all the employees went out in body.
 At Pullman women sew carpets for 32 cents day of ten hours. Think Of this.
 The Pullman strike was last resort. We went to the common council of Chi cago and asked them to appoint com mittee to go to the Pullman officers. Let 4l. txxrn o-1Ai iff-tltn Pullman people two, and these four se- lect the fifth man. If these five could find nothing to arbitrate, then the strik- CTS would go back to work. The commit tee went, and the Pullman people said they had nothing to arbitrate
 The people were in a condition or ab- ject slavery The Pullman people knew an investigation would not do.
 Suppose the proposition to arbitrate had come from the Pullman company and the employees had refused. The yer dict would have been oVerWhelmlngly against the employees
 The American Railway union sought 10 effect a settlement through delegation, but without effect. The delegation then said that if they refcSed to give the poor starving people just settlement, then we will not pollute our fingers by hand ling Pullman cars. The American Rail- way union did not refuse to handle pas senger trains, but refused to handle trains with Pullman cars attached. Ihe railroads thought they could snu1f out the American Railway union Ike they would a candle, but they ndue d hloiiu- mental failure.
 No Aristocracy Among Laborers.
 In labor we want no aristocracy. Let our motto be Each for all and all Tor each" This is in accordance with our principles. Our government knows no titled people, but they are being built up Il n yxrhn or $5 a day cannot afford to look down upon the man who only gets $1 day Put him beside a Rockefeller or van derbilt and you cannot find him with Lick telescope.
 When the time comes that all men are equal the world will at last be in it's proper shape. I believe that time is com ing We ask nowadays what Is man worth, not his worth for integrity or his standing in the community but monetari- lv. Tell me that, and I can measure him with the thermometer of manhood.
 Opposed to Child Labor.
 Go to some of the large cities and visit the sweat shops. l was In kalamazoo' Mich, and there saw men working for the insignificant sum of cents per hour, Just think of a man trying to support a family upon 50 cents day. l saw there, too, children 12 years old hard at work, a0d when I asked some of them to hold up their hands I noticed two and three ank four fingers missing from some of theN. If there is a crime in this coun- try iA is child labor. Go to the cities and see them at work. They have on their faces the marks of premature age, brought on by hard and excessive labor. Every child is entitled to an education, but these multiplied thousands of them are denied this inherent right.
 You need not go to Boston, New York or Chicago to see these things, but you can see them in the coal regions of the south. The tendency of wages is downward. Frances Willard, that great and noble woman has said that both in America and Great Britain the masses are being ground into dust.
 Machines have displaced men. I am informed that there has been invented in Europe a type-setting machine which will do the work of twenty men. What is to become of the printers? Some people say let them get other work. But I say the machine is transplanting the man in other trades and professions. The own CTS of machines will eventually own the earth, but I want the people to own the machines.
 The Army of Unemployed.
 Dun's report for 1895 shows 13,000 col lapses, representing millions of dollars. These failures represent the small dealers with ordinary capital, who were driven to the wall by trusts. Trusts are tri- umphs of the strongest. One mans suc- cess is at the price of another's failure. Department stores have driven the small dealer to the wall. What has become of them? They have joined the vast army of the unemployed. In Chicago vast areas formerly occupied by small dealers are now vacant. The department stores are responsible for this
 The Weary Willies.
 I can remember the time when a tramp was a novelty. When one came to town the children turned out to view him, but only at a distance Now they are as plentiful as leaves. Some people say that many who are now out of work are in that condition because of their own vol- ton. It Is not every mans fault that he is idle. Take a man in Birmingham for instance. He loses his job. He goes up and down the streets of the city looking for employment, but without avail. He goes to another town with the same re- suit. On and on he goes. everywhere failing to secure the needed work, and finally his money gives out. He Is broke and then looked upon with suspicion. He Is told to move on. He must beg or steal Both are crimes. I don't know but that if I were to come to this point I would