The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1899-09-09

rightly carried ON aid nightly devel-
oped.
"But," says some one, "haven't these
institutions sometimes been failure?"
Yes. Every great movement has been
failure at some time. Application of
the steam power 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 surplus?" / reply: Put into
my hand the money spent by the la
boring classes of America for rum and
tobacco, and l 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 $10O,0OO,0O5
every year for tobacco. We spend over
81, 5OO,0O0,0OO directly or indirectly for
rum. The laboring classes spend their
share of this money. Now, suppose the
laboring man who has been expanding
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 a CO
| operative association. And then take
all that money expended for overdress
and overstyle and everything on the part
of toiling people in order that they may
appear as well as persons who have
more incomes 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 few men, unless
the laboring men of this country and all
countries band together they will go
under. There is lawful use of a 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 a city where clergy
men do not come together, many OF
them once 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, then
they are nihilistic, then they are com
munistic, then they are barbaric, then
they are curse. If a man wants tc
stop work, let him stop work, but he
cannot stop me from work.
But now suppose that all the laboring
classes banded together for benefcien1
purposes in cooperative association un
der whatever name they put theil
means together. Suppose they take the
money that they waste in rum and to-
bacco and use it for the elevation O.
their families, for the education of theil
children, for their moral, intellectual
and religious improvement, what diff
ferent state of things we would hav,
in this country and they would hav'
in Great Britain!
Do you not realize the fact that ncl
work better without stimulant? Yo,
say. "Will you deny the laboring mel
this help which they get from stron,
drink, borne down as they are will
many anxeties and exhausting work {?
l would deny them nothing that is goot
for them. I would deny them stron.
drink, if I had the power, because it i
damaging to them. My father said: I"
became temperance man in early lif
because / found that in the harves
field, while was naturally weaker thai
the other men, could hold out longe
than any of them. They took stimu
liant and took none"
l know gentleman very well VIII
has over 1000 hands in his employ.
said to him some years ago when ther
was great trouble in the labor market
How are you getting on with you
men?" "Oh," he said, Il have n
trouble" Why" said, shave not yo
had any strikes?" "Oh, no." he sai6
Il never had any trouble" "What plal
do you pursue?" He said: II will tel
you. All my men know every year jus
how matters stand. Every little Will
| call them together and say: Nov
boys, last year / made so much; thi
!. year l made less; so you see l canno
pay as much as did last year. Now
want to know what you think ough
| to have aS n DercentaUo ort Of fb;S as