Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-11-06

Federation OF LabOr.l
At the next -epular meeting of the
Trades and Labor Assembly, the mat
ter of providing for entertaining the
state miners convention to be held
in Ottumwa in February will be taken
up. Previous to the convention of the
miners day will be set aside for a
grand demonstration by the United
Mine Workers of America. District
No. 13, in which it is expected that
from 1000 to $4,000 miners will partic-
ipate. Excursions will be run from
all the mining camps in the state, and
the day will be made the occasion of
one OF the largest demonstrations ever
held in the state. The cooperation of
business men of the city will be asked
to assist the assembly in carrying out
the plans to entertain this large num-
Der of visitors. John Mitchell, presi-
dent of the United Mine Workers of
America, and Samuel Gompers, presi-
dent of the American Federation of
Labor, will be invited to make ad-
dresses on this day. These gentlemen
have already promised to be present
and speak if possible.
The convention of the miners is an
annual affair held for the purpose of
readjusting the constitution and by
laws and settling local differences, and
electing officers. After the miners
convention there will be a Joint meet
ing of the miners and operators of the
state for the purpose of adjusting the
scale for the year of 1901. The oper-
ators and miners are on good terms
and it is thought that there will be
little difficulty in arranging a scale
satisfactory to all.
Local Labor Notes.
F. B. Baer, of this city, national pres
ident of the Retail Clerks National
Protective association, reports a Won
derful growth Of that organization in
the past year, it having more than
doubled its membership in the United
States.
At the last regular meeting of the
Trades and Labor Assembly, L. S.
stark was endorsed as one of the dis.
trict organizers of the A. F. of L.
The Iowa Unionist, published at Des
Moines, is trying to mislead a great
many unionists in reference to who
are the general organizers of the A.
F. of L. in Iowa. Al can
be stated to those who are
unfamiliar with the affair that J. F.
Byrne, of this city, has been the gen
eral organizer for that organization
for the past six years. At the last
convention of the State Federation w.
E. O'Bleness was endorsed, and he
also holds commission as state or
ganizer.
The Trade Unions.
Trade unions mark the orderly rise
and development of the wealth pro-
ducing classes thru the evolutionary
educational process.
Their methods and results stand out
in bold relief, when contrasted with
the revolutionary eccentric methods
applied by the reactionary enthusiast.
Trade unions point out the pathway
and hold out the hope whereby labor
will finally bridge and obliterate the
hitherto almost impossible chasm that
separates the exploited and the ex-
plotting classes, who. by stolen privi-
leses and backed by corporate monied
interests and in some instances by the
the judicial and military strong arm
OF the government. are enabled to rob
labor of its just reward.
Revolutions may and undoubtedly
have checked the degeneracy of ma
lions, but invariably leave the great
mass of the people in the same econo-
mic or subject conditions.
Indication of Labor's Claims.
Attentive study is bespoken for the
most radical, far-reaching and enlight-
ened decisions ever rendered in the
United States by high court in la
Dor case. 1t furnishes a complete va
dication of the position of organized la
Dor. 1t sweeps aside all Anticipated
notions, so dear to the judicial fossils
and the plutocratic enemies of the
trade union movement. and invokes
modern, rational progressive princi.
pies.
Briefly, what does organized labor
claim? This:
l.. The right to organize local, cen
trail and national unions, and federate
all.
g. The right to strike, as a means
the principle Of collective bargain.
ing"
8. The right to refuse to work with
| ulcll.
A. The right to picket establish.
ments involved in strike, and to en-
pioy moral suasion to prevent men
from taking strikers places.
| 5. The right to boycott, individual
ly and collectively, obnoxious employ
ers and other adversaries of labor, and
to induce all friends of unionism tc
join in such boycott
| The decision referred to emphatical
ly upholds each of these claims. II
was rendered recently by the appel
late division of the New York supreme
court, a body of five judges, and it was
unanimous. There is therefore strong
reason for hoping that the court of ap
peals, the highest tribunal in the state
will affirm and endorse the remark.
able judgment. The labor question, on
it's legal side, would then be settled
in New York, and settled right. That
other states would gradually adopt the
same reasonable and just policy, there
car be no doubt. The logic of the New
York decision is irresistible.
Taken to Louisville.
Frankfort, KY, Nov. 3.-Jomes How.