The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1899-05-31
GHOST AT THE FEAST.
Labor Mass Meeting to Be Held at
Columbus Troubling Ohio
Republicans.

Columbus, O., May 31.-Republican
politicians who are gathering in this
city to nominate a state ticket Thurs
day and Friday are lin a state of
mind" over the labor mass meeting
which is to be held in the city hall on
the evening of the day the Republican
state convention is to meet.
This meeting is to be addressed by
Golden Rule Jones, the mayor of To-
ledo. 1t will be attended by represent
atives sent by labor unions all over the
state. The reports received by the
Trade and Labor assembly of this city
indicate that the mass meeting will be
or such a character that any reSolu-
lions adopted by the wOrk1ngmen and
presented to the Republican state con-
Vention cannot be sighted by the Re
publicans.
and their campaign managers are afraid
the labor men will make demands of
such a radical nature that the conven-
ton cannot embody them in the party
platform They also fear that the OUT
come will be a third party in the field
with Mayor Samuel NJ. Jones of Toledo
as its candidate for governor and At
torney General Frank S. Monet of
Ohio, who has gained renown by fight
ing the Standard Oil trust, as its candi-
date for attorney general.
But the committee which has the la
Dor mass meeting in charge said today
there was no intention of putting up an
independent ticket. They intend to ask
the Republican and Democratic parties
to insert planl1s in their platforms based
upon a series of resolutions which it is
expected will be adopted by the mass
meeting of Thursday night.
The labor men will ask the Republican
convention to pledge the party nomi-
neeS on the state ticket to execute the
strong antitrust laws which now are
on the statute books of Ohio. They
will ask for the repeal of the laws which
and for the enactment of law which
will cause the revocation of charters of
corporations so offending.
They will demand that the public
work Of the state, counties and cities,
so far as possible, be done by executive
officials and not farmed out to con-
tractors. They will demand the en-
forcement of the eight-hour law; they
want the New York convict labor law
placed on the Ohio statute books; they
will demand the enlargement of the
principles involved in the Nichols law
as now applied to express and telegraph
companies so as to tax the franchise
values of street and steam railways,
Waterworks, gasworks and other quasi
public corporations. They want local
option for counties and municipalities
in the purchase of public utilities with
a view to public ownership; where long
term franchises have been granted and
excessive prices are demanded for such
public utilities, they advocate that the
:
so that by competition it will squeeze
out the imitation of such overstocked
and overburdened companies to quote
one of the labor leaders.
They will ask for the revocation of
the charters ''of all corporations that
have abused their power by expressing
the people, whether such corporations
are foreign or domestic The labor
men say they will not demand any in
itiative and referendum plank, and
they are suggestively silent on the
money question.
Some of the Republican leaders were
shown the list of demands which the
labor mass meeting intended making
on the convention, and they shook their
heads and said they didn't like the
prospect. There seems to be no doubt
that powerful influences are at work for
the purpose of getting the Workingmen
to modify their demands. It is openly
charged that one of these influences -
if put into print would have a dollar
mark in front of it.