The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-12-20
FEDERATION OF LABOR
FIGHT FOR AN EIGHT-HOUR WORK
DAY TO BEGIN IN 1900.
Granite Cutters to Open the Battle
Contest Betweeen Machinists'
and Printers Unions.

! KANSAS CITY. No, Dec. 19-It was de-
! cided in the national convention of the
American Federation Of Labor, to-day, to
| bring the struggle for eignt-hour work
! day to a climax in the year 1900 James
Duncan, the delegate to the convention from
| the Granite Workers of America announced
| on the floor of the convention this evening
! their decision to inaugurate the struggle on
| May l. 1900, and asked the support of the
federation. He said the granite workers
| had committed themselves to the introduce
ton of an eight-hour day by inserting a pro-
vision TO that end in their constitution. Fol-
| lowing Delegate Duncan's statement the
convention added unanimously report SUD-
mitted by the committee on eight-hour
work day, pledging to the granite cutters
in their coming struggle the moral and ma
| terial support of all affiliated organizations
of the American Federation Of Labor.
| The contention between the local and ma
tional organiza lions of the walters was set
tied to-day. Acting upon the report Of the
board of arbitration appointed last week
| the convention ordered the holding of
general convention OF walters local unions
in Chicago on March next having pledged
the arbitration board to abide by the legs-
lation Of the Chicago convention The arbi-
| traitors also demanded and were promised
that the conflicting local unions in Chicago
and st. Louis should be amalgamated at
once.
The Socialist delegates were again sat
down upon to-day. They urged the fedora
ton to send delegates to an international
| trades union congress to be held in Paris
in 1900. A delegate asked of Messrs. Thorne
and Inskip, the fraternal delegates here
| from the British Trades Congress, their
| opinion of the proposed Paris congress. The
Engllshmen both expressed the opinion that
| it would be composed chiefly of Socialists
and, advised the federation to have nothing
| to do with it. Their recommendations were
| concurred in bv an overwhelming vote.
a mii giving to the citizens Of the the
of franchise enjoyed by the people of the
ship of a system of telegraph lines and the
adoption of a postal telegraph system were
| ton the same stereotyped resolution in
troduced at each annual convention and pro-
! vides for a system of telegraph lines super
vised by the postal department
John A. Hunter, president of the United
Mine Workers of Illinois, shook up the con-
| vention by reviewing the strike Of the miners
| at Virden. where the miners only obtained a
victory after boodshed "A resolution was
nois for refusing to call out the State
| troops to protect the mine operators when
they brought several trainloads of negroes
! from the South to take the places of the
| strikers
The executive council was instructed 10
|
or Il. w. Clark, who IS serving life sen.
ttence at Thomaston, Me: Clark wss one. Of
the crew Of the ship Jefferson Borden which
pool and murdered the ships mate in 1876.
Three of the crew were arrested. One, an
| Englishman, receiving assistance from the
British government. got off with a ten-year
| sentence. Clark and sailor named Miller
were sent to. jail for life. Miller died and
Clark is an imbecile. A plea will be made
| for his pardon.
The federation struck from its constitu-
ti0n the cents Per capita rita tax to support
cause of difficulty encountered in collecting
| the tax and for the reason that 1t had been
| the means of disappointing many striking
! bodies who expected help that never came.
| The ironclad boycott of the Cigar-mak
| ers' Union against Carl Hoffman, the New
/ York cigar manufacturer, was Endorsed by
the whole Federation of Labor, and, here
| after, trades unionists will refuse to buy
cigars made by the Hoffman Company.
Cigar makers have been in bitter contest
! with Hoffman for some time. Recently the
manufacturer threw down the gauntlet re-
| fusing to employ any union cigar makers
| at all. Committees that investigated the
! boycott reported to the convention that
| Hoffman was employing women and chill
dren and paying them sweatshop wages to
make cigars.
The fight between the Typographical
| Union and the machinists for jurisdiction
! over the men who repair and take care of
| linotype machines of printing offices was
renewed at the afternoon session. on the
second day of the convention James O'Con-
| nell, of Chicago, grand master of the Ma
| chinists' Union, offered a resolution giving
| the machinsts jurisdiction. The resolution
| was referred to a committee and from that
| committee the convention this afternoon
| took 1t up. The reporters were excluded and
| the matter was considered in executive Ses
| sion. Delegate O'Connell the leading
spirit and made strong fight for his as
| ISOLATION.
The convention paid it's respects to Claude
| NJ Johnson director or the National Blu
| reau of Engraving, because he has adopted
| the use of machinery In engraving plates
| money A
| luton was adopted asserting that Johnson
| had repeatedly violated the instructions of
| Congress by using machinery in his depart
ment The resolution closed with the SEN
| tence: I'VE would hail with undisguised sat
| lsfaction the discharge of this official"
Another resolution adopted rendered an
expression of gratitude 10 Perry S. Heath,
first assistant postmaster general, because
he has issued order to allow only union
| labor printing used in his department"
The convention again put itself on record
concerning the woman-worker problem by
adopting this resolution: "In view of the
| awfuI condition under which woman is COM
PEELED to toll this, the eighteenth. annual
| convention of the American Federation Of
| Labor strongly urges the more general
| formation of trades unions of wage-work-
| ing women, to the end that they may sci
| entifically and permanently abolish the ter
rible evils accompanying their weakened,
| because unorganized, state: and we en-
phatically reiterate the trade-union demand
| that women receive equal compensation for
labor performed"
Samuel b. Donnelly, of New York presi-
| dent of the Typographical Union, who led
the fight against the machinists and fought
for the adoption of the committee report
claims the votes to be a victory for his
union. When the committee made its re-
port this afternoon it was strongly OPP
posed by the machnists, led by Delegate
! OConnor, of Chicago, and aided by Dele
gates Warner and Reid. Donnely, of New
York and Frank Morrison, secretary of the
| Federation, and John r. OSullivan, of Bos-
ton. made strong speeches in defense of the
moved that the report of The committee be
| nonconcurred in. This was voted down. 45
| to 49, The vote on the adoption of the com
mittees report, which had been taken up,
was accepted with but three dissenting
| votes