The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1898-03-17


| was going TO be a general move for
shorter hours then and they wanted 10 30
] ready for us fellows,
i Mr.. Mshon then complained that the
newspapers had not given The In.n's side
OF the story. Only the corporations side
statements OF the men, however were
| backed up by affidavits. This great mass
OF The public krew the mems cause was
! Just and would sustain them. They had
simply made demands for living conditions.
! No demand they made was unjust Tho
| company denounced the men'e claims as
| unreasonable.
| LET rs see how unreasonable they are"
| said Mr.. Mahon. I'm 1885, we laboring
men we're told that there was going to be
a great wave of prosperity and We were
| going TO be benefited. We've been waiting
Tor that wave. but eomehow 1t doesn't
wave. We've sort Of thought IL was about
time to shell out some OF that prosperity
/ In The way of shorter hours and more Fay.
The worker on the streets of Houston gets
sl.75 day for nine hours work. He
doesn't have TO buy a uniform, and he
doesn't have to give bond of s25 or put
mp So cash, or furnish So change. and he
doesn't have TO wear q white shirt, Yet
when the street car men want Sl.so ior
rire hours work they are unreasonable. or
course they are. You know they are. What
H. the name of God do they want with SO
much money! what in the name OF God
do they want with $3.50 a day? They want
more provisions for their families more
clothes for their families; they want car
pets on their floors-a few, just few o,
the meagre comforts of life. And let RE
tell you something clse, my friends; If
they get the 50 a Gay they viii spend
every penny Of it with your merchants
end our business men Mr. Parlin livns
in Boston am told Mr.. Parlln doesn't
| think the men ought to have sl.Sa Il da5
What would he and the men on his side
OF the house In This trouble DO with the
difference between the amount the men
claim and the amount they now receive
Why. they'd send it to Boston to buy bonds
or beans.
They say We are unreasonable. Do
they ever say anything about the unreasoh-
ableness of charging second rare II you
20 from one side of town to the other! oh,
no Transfer tickets are unknown here.
They say 20 cents an hour is unrtdson-
able. And yet the reports show that in
Bceton the street car men get 22i2 cents
an hour in Worcester they get 20; in Den
yer they get 20 in Mount Clements 20, ANA
in Detroit. where the fare is only cents,
they get 2l-and on that 3-cent fare the
DAD makes money
Mr.. Mahon then read the report OF Major
Eaer, receiver of the Galveston City Rail
road company. showing that since the Hue
has been IN his hands (about six month"j
It's net earnings have baen approximate!
SGD 800 over and above all expenses.
Mr Mabon declared that the igures given !
bv the Houston company to show that IL |
could not afford to raisa wages were takcn |
from the yellow fever scare time and were !
not worthy of consideration. The owners |
ol the road, be said. had paid SlO0 9oJ for /
the property. This included valuable real I
estate The company uld make mont. I
The men We're not unreasonable, If the !
officers would show them that they were
their demands would b. made reasonable,
Was It unreasonable to ask 81 90 a Gay
for uackinen? He thought not.
Was it unreasonable TO ask that a bond
instead of S25 cash, he accepted? He
thought not.
II casA was insisted upon. should not
the men receive legal interest? lie be-
lieNeu So
The employees had not only to give $50
cash. but work two weeks before getting
his wages. This simply meant that the
men furnished the capital to operate The
plant.
Was it unreasonable to organize for
mutual protection, for mutual benefit, for
better conditions, for living wages? No
onphat.cally no,
The men had organized TO protect them
selves not only but TO protect their chi.
ployers and TO maintain lair conditions,
Organized labor furnished honest sober,
!
vented WRONGS, one 10 the other alike. The
enlpiuler Salnea IN the better class OF men
employed.
And ii it were wrong to organize why
was it, he asked, that capital organized,
that great bodies OF influential men con
irollcd the various big affairs Of the conn-
try? II It were wrong 10 organize, was
Il not the duty OF the capitalists. as coed
citizens, to abandon their organizations
and set an example for employees to fol-
low?
No one looked out for the laborers in
terests until the lahorer looked after it
himself, AS result of the lahorer taking {
care u! himself his condition was now get |
ting somewhere near reasonable one.
The men on the street railway in Houston I
worked lrcr twelfe. and half to thirteen J
and half hours day. Men who worked !
that long ear not do Justice TO themselves +
~ their employers. They work every day
u the week, every week in the month. c
every month In the year. II piece of the /
spueaked the bosses were prompt E
IN putting oil uron IT, but. alas! when a
he men squeak there is no oil 10 case ,
he friction OF their lives.
Mr. Mahon closed as follows:
we'll be just as firm tomorrow as we
are today, Wen be in this fight to a {
finish We're in II TO win and wen fight
it ont on this line II it takes all summer
telegram was read announcing a con
trihutlon of $50 from local No of Gal ,
weston. The retail clerks of Galveston
sent assurances of moral and financial
support
II was also announced that at a special
meeting Of the Labor Council 1t was de-
rided not TO operate the cars nj all until
lhe difficulty was satisfactorily adjusted \
That referred to the 81. Patrck's day Il
business The meeting then adjourned ana
me men marched 10 their hall. on Frank
lin street behind their banner. which was y
carried by one of their number. q
a
EX-RECEIVER KTRRY a