The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1899-1900, 1899-08-16

INSTITUTIONS sometimes Deen IallureG
Yes. Every great movement has been a
failure at some time. Application Of
the steam powera failure, electro-teleg-
raphy failure, railroading failure,
but now the chief successes OF the
world.
But" says some one, why talk of
surplus being put by laborers into CO.
operative associations, when the vast
multitude of toilers in this country are
struggling for their daily bread and
have no surplue?" l reply: Put into
my hand the money spent by the la
boring classes of America for rum and
tobacco, and will establish cooperative
associations in all parts of the land,
some of them mightier than any finan-
cial institutions of the country. We
spend in this country over $1O0,000,OOJ
every year for tobacco. We spend over
$1,5OO,OO0,OOO directly or indirectly for
rum. The laboring classes spend their
share of this money. Now, suppose the
laboring man who has been eXpending
his money in those directions should
just add up how much he has expended
during these past years and then sup
pose that that money was put into CO.
operative association and then suppose
he should have all his friends in toll,
who had made the same kind of eXpend-
iture, do the same thing, and that
should be added up and put into Co
operative association. And then take
all that money expended for overdress
and overstyle and overliving on the part
of toiling people in order that they may
appear as well as persons who have
more income-gather that all up, and
you could have cooperative associations
all over this land.
am not saying anything now about
trades unions. You want to know what
think of trades unions. think they
are most beneficial in some directions,
and they have a specific object and in
this day, when there are vast monopo-
lies-a thousand monopolies concen-
trating the wealth of the people into
the possession of a few men, unless
the laboring men of this country and all
countries band together they will go
under. There is lawful use of trade
union, but then there is an unlawful
use of trade union. If it means sym
pathy in time of sickness, if it means
finding work for people when they are
out of work, if it means the improve
ment of the financial, the moral or the
religious condition of the laboring
classes, that is all right. Do not artists
band together in an art union? Do not
singers band together in Handel and
Haydn societies? Do not newspaper
men band together in press clubs? Do
not ministers of religion band together
} in conferences and associations? There
is not in all the land city where clergy
men do not come together, many OF
them once a week, to talk over affairs
| For these reasons you should not blame
: labor guilds. When they are doing
their legitimate work, they are most
: admirable, but when they come around
! with drum and fife and flag and drive
: people off from their toll, from theh
. scaffoldings from their factories, theH
, they are nihilistic, then they are com
{ munistic, then they are barbaric, ther
they are curse. If man wants to
: stop work, let him stop work, but he
: cannot stop me from work.
But now suppose that all the laborine
: classes banded together for benefcient
= purposes in cooperative association un
der whatever name they put theil
= means together. Suppose they take the
5 money that they waste in rum and to.
, bacco and use it for the elevation oi
their families, for the education of theil
: children, for their moral, intellectual
: and religious improvement, what diff
ferent state of things we would have
: in this country and they would hav,
{ in Great Britain!
= Do you not realize the fact that mer
work better without stimulant? Yor
r say, "Will you deny the laboring mer
$ this help which they get from strong
5 drink, borne down as they are with
. many anXieties and exhausting work o
p l would deny them nothing that is goot
y for them. | would deny them strong
: drink, if | had the power, because it il
, damaging to them. My father said: g,
I. became temperance man in early lft
because / found that in the harves-
. field, while was naturally weaker thar
p the other men, could hold out Longer
4 than any of them. They took stimu
liant and took none"
l know gentleman very well whc
has over 1000 hands in his employ.
:. said to him some years ago when there
was great trouble in the labor market
"How are you getting on with you
y men?" "Oh," he said, ~ have n,
. trouble" why" said, "have not yol
= had any strikes?" "0h, no." he said
II never had any trouble" what plar
." do you pursue?' He said; 81 will tel
= you' All my men know every year jus
bow matters stand. Every little Will,
| call them together and say: Now
boys, last year made so much; thi
:. year | made less; so you see l canno
' pay as much as 1 did last year. Now
;, want to know what you think ough
:. to have as a percentage out of this es
tabHshment and what wages / ought Il
;. give you. You know put all my en-
y ergy in this business, put all my for
tune in it and risked everything. Wha
. do you really think ] ought to have ant
j. you ought to have?' By the time w
come out of that consultation we ar