Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1901-08-12
TIE TRADES ASSEMBLY
OPPOSES CARNEGIE LIBRARY.

| ONeil, 6Z.
Ziegenfelder. 2.
Wagner, 27.
Dawson, s.
Secretary Bauers made a motion that
the Assembly grant the executive
, board of the Amalgsmated Association
the use OF any part of the building,
when not occupied, during the strike
as a headquarters for the purpose OF
receiving donations for the help OF
strikers. Unanimously adopted.
The following communication was
read by Michael Mahoney, and was
adopted:
Ia the Officers and Delegates of the
Ohio Valley Trades & Labor Assembly:
Noticing through the daily papers
that the board of education is prepar-
ing to hold an election on the 24th of
August, for the purpose Of getting the
permission OF three-ffths of the voters
of this city to issue 10000 worth OF
bonds for the selection of a site for the
so-called Carnegie library.
In view of Mr.. C~arnegie's attitude to-
wards labor, 1t is the duty of this as
sembly of organized labor to adopt
stringent measures to defeat the erec-
tion of this d~isgraceful monument to
the memory of the murdered heroes of
Homestead. Doubtless, in the minds Of
many. this seems a very beneficent ae-
beneicence that prompts the robber to
restore a part of his %ill-gotten gains
to the man he has victimized? Was it
Mr.. Carnegie's anxiousness for the
spread of education that caused his
heart to become like steel to the cries
of distress that went up at Homestead
in that memorable month OF July, in
1892? Was it his desire to spread edu-
cation that stiffened the finer instincts
of his nature so as the wailing Of wild
W and weeping of fatherless children
was as sweet as music in his ear when
he could have displayed peace, happi-
ness and prosperity in their homes?
Had Mr.. Carnegie guarded the inter
ests of his employees properly at Home
stead in 1892, there is no doubt but that
many of them would be the happy pos
SCISSORS of libraries in their own homes
and when they desired to educate their
children or cultivate their own mind
that no fear would enter their minds
that their fingers would be stained
with the blood of their fellow man?
Whose blood has fortified the lines Of
these books, taken from the shelves OF
the Carnegie libraries. which are moth
ing only discrowned souvenirs of or
ganized labor, unbecoming monuments
to the liberties Of our country.
As free American citizens, as organi-
zed working men, is this the kind Of
education you want to bequeath to your
children and children's children
through all generations, to he the VIC
tins of ar~istrocratic charity.
And yet this is what avaricious mil
~lionaires of to-day would bequeath to
the posterity of labor in this grand re-
public. After his appetite for plumber
ceases, that he might pass through the
eye of a needle, he starts to add fur
Their disgrace to the wage earners by
erecting libraries with the money that
has been robbed from poverty stricken
homes.
Is this any better than the inherit
ance of slaves? During MI. Carnegie's
active business career, why did he
compel his employees to work seven
days a week, twelve hours per day?
Where, under Gods heaven, have they
time to educate themselves? Why did
he, in 1892, if he was so deeply interest
ed in educating the oppressed, reduce
the mems wages, compelling them to
force thousands of children into mines
and factories, not only denying them
the advantages of education, but also
denying them every blessing and privi-
lege of childhood. blighting the very
'buoyancy of youth, compelling women
to sell their very souls to keep their
bodies from starving? Slavery is the
inevitable result of poverty, poverty is
the inevitable result of low wages, con-
sequently, we find the rich amassing
colossal fortunes while the laboring
classes are sinking to lower and lower
depths of degradation and a state of
abject and hopeless servitude.
The name of Carnegie is drenched in
the blood of his fellow man; it is fur
rowed in the hearts of father1ess chill
dren, and when mentioned at Home
stead causes terror to arise in the
hearts of widows who lost their hus-
bands while fighting against shackles
of slavery that Mr.. Carnegie forced on
them. In view OF these facts, it is our
duty to show the money king who robs
the oppressed wage Garner that 1t is
not public or private charity the labor
ing class want, but a just equivalent
for our labor, sufficient to maintain us
in comparative independence and re-
spectability, to procure the means with