The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1901-10-19

v 49, al q Tramp.
It would be very difficult for me to
re1ate the Incidents connected with the
most thrilling event which came under
my observation in the labor movement,
for tt was one continued thrill with me
while officially connected with it.
One morning in 1874 I:stood where the
waters Of Lake Erie narrow down and
quicken into the Niagara River at Buff
falo. I had tramped the ties of the
Canada Southern, now Michigan Gen.
trail, railroad from Windsor, Ontario, to
Buffalo, N. Y, distance of two hund-
red and fifty miles, On foot. '4'~" --* L.
The panic of 1873 still held the floor,
and refusing to Yield It, Thought that
perhaps Canada might afford better OPP
portunities for employment than the
United States. I applied at every ma
chine shop, great and small; along the:
line Of that railway, and was thrilled
along the entire tramp by the positive
way in which a negative answer could
be given to a request for employment.
Unsuccessful, footsore, heart-sick and
hungry, I stood looking from the dock
into the water ,~:.'.~-,
The sun was shining bright that
morning, but everything looked dark to
me. was not philosopher enough then
to realize that stars, flowers, and all
things beautiful work their way up to
light through darkness. only knew
that men were cheaper then than
money, for they were plenty and it was
scarce 50 too was bread. *
The American labor movement, which
since then aroused the world to wrestle
with its doubts, was in its infancy. The
workingmen of that day, in great
measure, believed that they were fortu-
nate In not being slaves, as the blacks
Of the south had been but few years
before. They were just beginning to
intelligently question the: holy right Of
kings.
The mandate, "Do as your father did,
carry. a stone in one end of the sack to
balance the grain in the other end"
was pretty generally observed: The
exciting time for labor came when Gag,
stone, horse, and the old mill itself,
were discarded, when new methods and
appliances were substituted for the old.
When the old-fashioned shoe shop,
the blacksmith shop, and tailor shop,
| wherein the solitary mechanic, who
| sang his heart into the product of his
hands as he ,toiled, began to fall be-
meath the shadow of the many stored
| factory and mill, the heart 81 the TOLL
or thrilled asFrever, before. - p :
The step from Independent worker to
I the rule Of foreman or boss was taken
with reluctance, but step by step, up
one ascending grade to another has the
| course Of production travelled; until to-
day producer and consumer actually
stand closer together than ever before:
The 1n6iddleman and all who, With
him, stood between are taking sides.
Theyaare becoming employers of labor,
or are Themselves becoming laborers.
The world Of productive enterprise Is
now stirred by. the spectacle Of two
great ii,dustrfal1 factors facing each
other IN d struggle for the mastery Of
what should be their common property
the right to. produce at. the grea test
benefit to both, and at reasonable cost
to all who consume. ,s,.s :s<,f+,r sx:.z.y::.
The world thrills today at the thought
that labor Il not only better paid than
ever before. =; but is better educated,
more intelligent, more. apersevertnE.
more self-reliant and, I hope, more
charitable than It was in the days when.
as a tramp, I sampled the generosity
Of my nei4nbor, who should have loved
me az himself, but somehow Or other,
failed to do It. ~. @s.~",.s:: -: r"%;:s
Speaking Of charity let US hope that
the men who stand foremost in the la
Dor world. as officers " labor societies.
may retain and enjoy the confidence pt
4 the armies they lead, They are good
and true. and unselfieh, and II 10 no
wonder that theft souls :slcken within
them when some one: whp should be-
lieve in; them and strengthen their
hands listens to the slanderer, and Join
with him, too, In the work Of ciiaract
wrecking. It is awful to sse ones life