The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-09-09

n mass meeting of organized labor
was held last evening in Carpenters
nan Addresses were made by John N
arSohs' grand master workman of
'ne hnlghts of Labor and presiden,
Vi the Letter Carriers association an1
several other speakers. The arfai,
was IN the nature of pos.ponement
oi the meeting which was tn bavo
oeeh held at Laurel Hill park on. but
was not held then.
george j. kleffner, of Omaha. Neb..
d delegate to the carriers convention.
was the first speaker, and he made
an interesting address, tracing the his
tory or trades unionism from the mid
uIe ages to the present time,
Benjamin James, organic .r of tie
United Mine Workers, was the next
speaker. He spoke upon the success
being met with in organizing the min
ers in this valley. He stated that
where in 1897 there were only 7, 600 or
ganized miners in the country there
were onw over 100 600
He stated that not until botb IN,
plIuHlihous and anthracite miners CO.
operate with each other could thav hone
LOT auy benefit to be derived from
organizing. In concluding, he said:
In the time to come we will probably
need your support and we hope that
we may have it,"
James G. Keller, a carrier erom
Cleveland, o., was next introduced
ana made brief address in which he
showed the drift of organized labor
toward political action.
MR.. PARSONS ADDRESS.
John N. Parsons was the noxt sna,L
er and as he stepped upon the plat.
form he was loudly cheerel He said
in part:
desire to state in begl ,niug that
any man with union card is Il friend
Vi iiiine' no ma ter whose seal Is at
tached. VI is now twenty yalrs sirne
l joined the Knights of Labor. In
tnat time | have been paincd tJ Ect7
disputes arising in that body, but it is
my Judgment that these disputes have
peen more largely among the leaders
than among the rank and file of labor.
III l once accomplish my purpose in
lie j shall be glad to retire into the
most obscure position inthe rank of
iapor. | am one who believes that the
mission of labor is not fulfilled. am
one who believes that in organized
labor there is standard of citizenship
above the average.
Worklngmen in this country have
100 long been made the tools of mon
VINO make their living more by their
Wits than by any ability and at the ex-
pense of generous, good hearted. bur
poorly informed labor.
In the city of New York at the pres
ent time the Central Labor body is
going through a process of house clean
ing. We are wedding out the repre-
sentatiVes of the party machines who
nave been sitting in our councils.
A NEW PARTY.
we have organized a new party in
New York. The committee appointed
to draw uD the platform represented
every phase of labor. There were $50
organized crafts represented at that
meeting. We knew and know now that
If the rank and file of labor can he
aroused that we can put the political
Jobber out of an occupation.
we have called our party the Inde-
pendent Labor Party. and l predict
that when the polls close next Novem.
Der in New York that we will have a
good report to make We expect to
plant men on the floor of the legisla =
ture who will not be afraid to talk for
labor, and we expect to put men on
the Supreme bench who will give the
laboring man a chance.
Were not going to monkey much,
however with aldermen or assembly
men. we're out cunning for two Su-
preme court judges. The issue that
caused all the trouble was a railroad
strike. There were laws secured grant
ing trolley men a ten-hour day. The
railroad companies, backed by a judc-
ial decision, worked the men fourteen
and fifteen hours a day. We called
public meetings to call the attention OF
the authorities to the abuses existing
We secured evidence enough to bring
in sixteen indictments. but they're
lying dusty and forgotten in the pigeon
holes Of the desk of the district at
torney.
THEY QUIT WORK.
But We got tired of holding public
meetings and we at last adopted the
only resource left, we stopped work
On July l6, 10000 men quit work. The
police took possession of the car barns
They We're instructed in starting out
that night sticks We're cheap Night
sticks may be cheap, but we're going
to prove that ballots are dearer.
In conclusion, let me say that I
hope to see the day when organized