Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1900-10-12

peOpIe Jul VI WOFk, more people OUT OF
work means more people destitute
From an address to the women Of Min"
neapolis by Mr.. Bryan, October II,
1896.
The following is an excerpt from a
signed article published in New York,
January l, 1888, by Samuel Gompers,
president of the American Federation
Of Labor, and a democrat.
That terrible period for the wage
earners of this country which began in
1893 and which has left behind it such
a record of horror, hunger, and misery,
practically ended with the dawn of the
year 1897. Wages had been steadily
forced down from 1893 till toward the
end of 1895, and it was variously esti-
mated that between two million and
two and a half million wage earners
were unemployed"
The following is a quotation from
the report of President Gompers at the
convention of the American Federation
of Labor held in Detroit on December
II, 1880:
1.-The revival of industry which we
have witnessed within the past year is
one for general congratulation, and it
should be II purpose to endeavor to
prolong this era of more general en-
ployment and industrial activity. In
this effort no power is so potent as or
gained labor, if we but follow a right
and practical course.
ut is beyond question that the
wages of the organized workers have
been increased, and in many instances
the hours of labor either have been re-
duced or at least maintained.
THE report which your officers are
enabled to submit to this convention,
so far as the growth and progress of
our movement during the past year
are concerned, is of a most gratifying
character"
Mr.. Gomper's statements comprise
the most positive contradiction Of M.
Bryan's prophesies regarding the mis-
cry and restitution which labor would
suffer in the event Of the election of
Mckinley in 1896, but a few figures
will emphasize still more how false a
prophet the democratic nominee for
president is.
Since Mr.. Mckinley became presi-
dent artisans and journeymen every
Where have received increases in
wages ranging from 5 to 40 per cent.
Reports made by national and inter-
national unions in April, 1900, show,
among others, these specific advances
in wages in 1899:
Brlcklayers, stonemasons, boiler
makers, iron shipbuilders, bookbinders,
core makers, electrical workers, meat
cutters, % per cent; bicycle workers,
20 per cent; locomotive engineers, pat
tern makers and printers, 30 per cent;
mine workers and machinists, 10 per
cent; coil hosting engineers, 80 per
cent; seamen, 33 per cent; brewery
workmen, bakers, boot and shoe work.
ers. lace curtain operatives, carpen-
tiers, stationary firemen, '%longshore-
men, leather workers, tin plate work.
ers, trunk makers and wood workers,
10 per cent; cotton spinners, p per
cent; broom makers, brickmakers,
blacksmiths, coopers, cigarmakers, To-
connective fremen, horseshoers, iron
molders, metal workers, papermakers,
t~ailors, the LAYERS, railroad laborers,
waiters and cooks, 10 per cent; glass
bottle blowers, 8 per cent; iron, steel
and tin workers, II per cent; street
railway employees, II per cent: textile
workers, 12M per cent; stage employees.
800 per cent.
But substantial increases in wages
were obtained also in the years 1897
n 1S9S by many Of the classes of
labor mentioned in the foregoing. In
1897 bricklayers and stonemasons,
hcrseshoers, 'longshoremen and ma
cnlnists received advances of 10 Der
cent; mine workers and potters, Il
per cent; and many others from 3 to s
Per cent. In 1898 some of the in
creases were as follows: Bicycle
workers, boilermakers, iron s%hipbuild-
ers, brewery workmen, bookbinders,
coal hosting engineers, horseshoers,
printers, street railway employees,
trunk makers and upholsterers, 10 per
cent; bricklayers, stonemasons, loco
motive engineers and coremakers, II
per cent; electrical workers and mine
workers, % per cent; stationary en-
gineers, 20 per cent: leather workers.
machinists and pattern makers, Is per
cent; tobacco workers, wood workers
and carpenters, 8 per cent.
INCREASE OF VALUE OF FARM
D~~r~-