Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-06-13


union as it's own members.
Upon the other side we see the pro-
fessional man and the business man
closing their places of business and
mingling with the miner, the laborer and
the mechinic to make the festivities Of
the day success.
The sidewalks and street corners are
filled with handsomely dressed women;
from the infant in the mothers arms to
the feeble grandmother led cautiously by
her offspring to a secure spot, all inter-
ested in catching Il glimpse of the passing
procession.
The day is one of general rejoicing: the
hearts of the people appear to be over
flowing with joy; upon all sides we see
smiling faces and hear the sound of merry
laughter mingling with the sweet musi-
cal strains of national airs.
This is encouraging for it shows to the
world and the enemies of labor that be-
tween the people of Butte and organized
labor there is no discord. 1t is a rebuke
to those enemies of organized labor who
circulate false reports that the business
interests of Butte stand in mortal fear
of organized labor and will concede
anything rather than incur it's dis
pleasure.
While riding on a train between Salt
Lake and Ogden two years ago l was
amused at the ridiculous statements of
travelling man who had returned from
Butte and claimed to know all about the
terrible tyranny practiced by the Miners
Union on the business men of your city.
He said that while doing business with
a merchant a committee from the Miners
Union walked into the store and placed
ten ball tickets on the counter which the
merchant was compelled to buy or be boy
cotted. l ventured to answer the pre-
posterous statement by saying that per-
chance the merchant was a Mormon and
required that number of tickets.
Notwithstanding such foolish state
ments by men whose sense of justice is
so warped by the spirit of commercialism
and hate for the laboring man who tries
to protect himself by the only means at
his command organized labor is on the
increase in Butte and in every other city
and hamlet in the west where there are
enough men employed to organize
union.
For years the Butte Miners Union has
stood guard on the summit of the Rocky
Mountains beckoning to the miners and
laboring men in other localities to follow
her example and marshal their forces un-
der the banner of unionism before the
cohorts Of organized greed descend upon
them and reduce their wages and make
organization crime. Her treasury has
ever been found open to the poor and
needy. no just appeal from sister unions
was ever ignored, their geographical
location was never taken into considera-
ton: the justice of the cause was the
only bond required to accompany an ap-
peal for aid.
When death in it's cruel trail left sor-
rowing widows and helpless orphans de-
pending upon the charity Of a cold, heart
less world; where poverty and want is a
crime and the unfortunate victims
Stunned by society with a dread almost
as appalling as though they were suffer-
ing from some contagious disease from
which there is no escape, the union has
been a provider; it mas been the husband
of the widow and the father of the or
phans.
For such charitable purposes it has
paid the enormous sum of O00 Who
can say that it's objects are not laudabe
and praiseworthy? What orator can add
more honor and glory to the memory Of
its founders than this magnificent record?
BY their wise cooperation in it's simplest
form they proved to the world to what
heights the laboring man can ascend if
they will train their minds in the true
system of social evolution and along the
lines of true progressive thought.
While the union has done more than it's
share in providing for the helpless and
unemployed and giving encouragement
to other unions, nature has done more for
organized labor in Butte than organized
la Dor has done for its members. Had
nature in her distribution of wealth sup
planted the brown metal with white
metal the aspect might be entirely differ
ent. Had the mineral deposits been COM
posed of silver in place of copper the
hum of industry would be silent; in place
OF a procession over a mile in length,
your streets would be deserted and your
buildings crumblng to the ground. This
proves beyond the shadow of a doubt
that labor depends entirely upon the de-
mand for the consumption of its product.
Destroy the demand for the product of
labor and all the unions that ever We're
cannot maintain wages. This |
fact should prove to the laboring people |
that pure and simple trades unions will |
not solve the social question and restore
harmony between employer and en- |
ploye There can be no harmony be-
tween organized capitalists and organ
zed labor The laboring man who says |
that both are identical is either a dema-
gogue or blind partisan politician, who |
would have the laboring men believe that |
without master to dictate to them, when /!
and where they Shall work, they would |
actually starve in the midst of plenty. |
There Is nothing in common between the |
and the laboring man,-one
ives off the product of the others toll. !
There can be no harmony between en-
ployer and emplOye; the former wants
ong hours and low wages; the latter
wants short hours and high wages. A
proper adjustment Of these two points has
never been reached. An adjustment
'eached in the usual way, by injunction
md a liberal use of bristling bayOnets
md cold lead will not solve it. 1t may
'heckmate for a time the evolution Of
'ocial reform, but it will not bridge the
leep and ever widening chasm between
he wealth producers and the monied
'ligarchy. Nothing short of the COM
,lete abolition of the present wage sys-
en- will ever adjust il Our nreSent