The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1900-12-01
=
cept Saturday, when work stops atS

and Europeans is found. One sees the
usual proportion Of dirty faces, and the
thought that he shares in the profits
OF his employers seldom prevents a
man whose hammer is raised when the
noon whistle; blows from dropping it
instead Of hitting the nail. This mat
ter of profit sharing affects different
people and different classes Of work
ingmen in different ways. It has GER
tainly worked good here; 1t has revo-
lutionized 1vorydale for the better; it
has brought content into dozens of
places.
! The attitude of the workers in Le-
claire is not only Of loyalty, but of
equanimity. Not all of them are So
cialists by any means. Probably only
small minority indorse the Socialistic
| Labor platform in it's entirety. The
holding of their places has no more to
do with their political doctrines than
has their religious creed. Profit shar-
ing, when it is justified by earnings, oc-
| ours in the form of an added percent
age on wages. If the dividend is per
cent, & $1,000 man receives $50 and a
| 5000 office boy has 81. Certain ex-
gross earnings, allowance is made for
! wear and tear of machinery, insurance
and the like, and the net profit is di-
vided. Piece workers have their shares
| no less than the men on wage, and in
their case the yearly sum of the earn
ings is the basis of the percentage of
extra profit. Everybody from high to
low, is included unless it might I've the
! man who came in yesterday, aid it
! would hardly be right to the others to
give the same share to him as to the
| men who had been in the shop for a.
year, yet full dividends have been paid
to men who have worked for only two
| months. Some Of the men own stock,
and possibly if all could be persuaded
| to do the same the alacrity and inter-
| est would increase.
/ The spirits of the men are pleasantly
exhilarated after these divisions of
money. They whistle at their tasks
and wear cheerfulness in their faces.
Doubtless they work a little better for
| awhile. And it is a part of Mr.. Nell
sons plan to keep them content in
| their homes, as it is to add to the pleas
ure of humanity at large. He has sew
eral times taken trainloads of children
from the St. Louis slums and filled
their lungs with the air and their
! eyes with the green Of the Illinois
| fields, and it is said that he is arrang-
ing to have some Of the children Of the
city poor cared for in country homes in
hot weather. And he has likewise TAX
len.tb caildr ren xhia.. AyQrlkl,aR 1apple
to st. Louis that they Nigh { zee iita
wonderful smoke and rs pet 1 bridge
| and the steambo oats and its river that
! looks like chocolate but ism t, and Its
queer substitutes for street cars and
| soldiers in strike times. -
Then there is an annual picnic, with
cake, ice cream, cigars, music, dancing
and good time for all the people in
| the shops and offices, and the JOY of
the occasion is not diminished by rea-
son of the eloquence which is imported.
A photograph that is admired shows
| the crowd, as we'll dressed as any
church or literary society would be
| listening to the optimism Of Golden
! Rule Jones and, it is hoped, indorsing
| it.
During the winter free lectures are
given at the school house. Professor
| Heron, the disturber from Chicago
was one of the stars last season, though
! the speakers are not socialists of ne
| cessity, for some of them talked about
science and some of travel, and some
had magic lantern pictures to illus
| trate their remarks. No charge is made
| for any lectures or entertainments
| that are given in Leclaire. Mr.. Nelson
will not allow it. Either the speakers
are so we'll pleased With the sound of
their own voices that they get their pay
from the privilege of speaking or they
| the performance. A debating club is
maintained by the members, and the
virtues and vices of hard and soft
| money, sumptuary laws, handmade
goods and territorial expansion are du-
ly considered by this body.
Some Of the men have accounts in
the EdWardsville banks, however, and
the Nelson company acts as banker for
it's people when so requested. A COM
moner form of thrift than the saving
of money is the buying of house, and
in this the workman is always en-
| couraged: Nearly all of the building
/ has been done by the company, and
| one of it's neat cottages, with water
| and light gratis, can be bought by an
employe on almost any terms he wants
to make, the deed being transferred to
him when he has paid about $500. He
has "a plank or concrete walk and
maple trees before his doors, and SO
long as he lives there his road will be
watered daily. Sunday included, and
his lawn and borders trimmed without
| charge. Occasionally; as the village
grows, there is an auction of house
lots, and they are sold absolutely with
out reserve. If the bidders happen to
feel poor and the rivalry is not sharp,
the land is sold very cheap.
Among the oddities of Leclaire are
its free farms. Any worker for the
Nelson company may help himself to
all the land he wishes and work it for
his own profit. The object of this is
less to afford means of wealth than
to give wholesome out-of-doors occu-
patton Of men who are much indoors.
| some of them breathing fumes in, the
brass foundry, and to enable them to
have variety of fresh and healthful
| vegetables and fruit on their tables:
The. worker keeps his garden as long
as he wants it and the company plows
and harrows the ground: for him with
out charge. He is to take no more