The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-07-16
URGES THEM TO ORGANIZE
JAMES O'C0NNELL TALKS TO
MECHANICAL TRADESMEN

the Negro or Siberia-The Fling
ne divided, So That Capitalists
VIII Mean the Stars and Laborer.
the Stripes.
James " council, grand master of the
international Association of Macbin-
io'S' oeilFered a short address to the
members or the local lodge of machin-
ISIS at sherman hall last evening.
=, An invitation had been extended to
tAe ifachinists. boiler makers. black
sinilnS ana carpenters to be present ar
the meeting, but the attendance was
less than 100, owing, possibly. to tho
warm weather
Mr.; OConnen is an interesting tall<er
anu ms talk was directed principally to
the need OF organization among IN,
wage workers and especially among the
machlnists, blacksmiths and boiler
makers. He said in part:
"A condition exists in Our country
tCday, that could scarcely be believed
10 exist in civilized country. VIC
talk about the continental countries
ana the condition of the workingmen
there, but there are spots in this coun-
try that discount any other country on
the face. of the globe.
Durlng the mining strikes in West
eIh virginia | witnessed sights that
could not be equalled in Siberia. Won-
en- with hardly clothes enough to cover
themselves, from twenty to twenty-five
years OF age, living in caves and I'M
aoIe 10 elther read or write The
were forced to live like animals be-
cause thelr husbands and fathers by
"olhlns DAY and night, could scarcely
cai II Iooo, much less enough to clotha
their families. ~ N''"0
me miners! were organized and
struck Tor higher wages. eight hours.
~ company stores, and the abolish
months the strike lasted. and then the
mime operators gave in and agreed 10
the demands of the miners. 1t was a
o!tter nght while it lasted. The miners
were not even allowed to bury their
chlldren that died, in land owned by
the companies, and burials took place
peslue roadWays. A miner who was
e o.ond3, was not allowed to say last
Soodpye to his brother, because the
oylhg man was on the company prop
efty and the brother was a striker.
Ihey tell US we are living under a
Tree nag and there is no slavery. We
are living under the Stars and Stripes.
out II the wage workers do not wake
up soon one class will wear the stars
There are no more patriotic cjtj-
zens than the members of the trades
unions. Two of the seven men who
were with Hobson on the Merrimac
earned cards of the machinists' union.
Elsht OF the members of the same
union were killed when the Maine was
blown up and the majority of the SOL
union men.
One of the mine operators. named
De Armitt. said during the miners
strlke that men were cheaper than
nuies II he lost a mule he said he
had to buy another one but If he lost
a miner, all he had to do was to hang
out a sign and plenty would answer
the call.
labor organizations prevented
s.llhes. IN the A. R. u. strike more
men went out that were not members
1nan those who belonged to the order
Inc stronger an organization grows
the fewer strikes 1t has.
employers have made their business
successful by uniting. EMPLOYERS did
not ask each other as to their natior-
ai1ty and religious belief The workers
40 and refuse to join labor organiza-
tons because some of the ,nemb ers
are of different nationality and oil
90 not attend the same church.
II the wage workers did not organ
ize Tor themselves they should for tho
interests of their children. Recently In
wisconsin the woodworkers struck on
account of low wages and investiea-
ton showed that men and children
were working in factories at Kenosha
at an average of sixty-five cents Der
day. pei
Get Into the trade organizations and
state declarations and watch IegisIa ton
MOI into politics except to protect
yourselves. You are to blame for low
wages. There is not a man who would
not hire the best man he could get
Tor the lowest wages. The law in Min
nesota does not make ten hours dsvs
work. You make the laws and the cor
uitlons. Ii you don't change them dent
blame the employers
There is need of a waking I'm in
ST. Paul and Minneapolis. In all the
stores goods without the union labsI
are SOLD and laboring men buy them.
Euy no goods without the union label.
they cost no more than goods made by
'scabs. Take no chances; if there Is
them.
BE patriotic and join labor organtza-
lions. II there was no organized labor
wages would go down. 1t has been tba
work of-organized labor that has main
tanned wages and benefited all trades
NO matter what trade you are in ioip
an organization as we need your as
sistance.
There is the piece work scheme in
the air in st. Paul machine shops. If
1s a bad system and in the end the
wages go down. In the c. b g. O
shops at Aurora, ILL.,. when the piece
work system was put in, men were
paid rs cents per hour, and fifty-four
men were employed. In one month
there were but twenty-seven men at
work in the same shop and the wages
were 241a cents per hour. The machin-
lists association last year prevented
the adoption of the piece work system
in thirty-eight cities. This affected "a
GOO machinists, and had 1t not been
prevented one+third of the men wauld
have been out of work and the other
two-thir6s had their salaries reduced
Piece work is rotten system, and In
all places where it has been adopte1
ii has resulted in lower wages and
less men working"
George c. Collins, state president a,
the Federation of Labor, also spoke on
the subject Of union label and orga niza-
ton Of trade unions