The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1902-01-07
President Shaffer Ad-
dressed Iron Workers.
CANTON DELEGATION
Attended the Session and
Heard the Address OF the
Chief Of the Anal
ga ated.
(Staff Specially

! of the Amalgamated association enter
tanned its guests from all parts of the
. district Saturday evening. There were
present, in addition to President Shat
fer. Vice President John +. Ward, of
Youngstown; Lawrence Kelly, of Ca
nal Dover, and many other prominent
: men in the association from all the
surrounding mills. Canton lodges sent
delegation fifty strong.
President Louis Adrian presided and
introduced Vice President Ward. Mr..
: Ward has been high in the councils Of
the Amalgamated for many years. He
. made brief address, after which Pres
ident Shaffer was introduced. Shaffer
looks older and more careworn than
in the days before the strike was inau
gurated, and his hair is grayer and
about his shoulders is slight stoop
which was not there previous to the
strike. He said:
II am somewhat at loss to know
what to say to you tonight. There are
things which might be called trade
secrets or rather association secrets
which | should say were there none
present but the members of our own
organization. | shall therefore ad- |
dress you along general lines instead
Of in relation to those things which are !
uppermost in the minds of my own |
: people. The importance, dignity and
utility of the trades unionism today |
Z Is one of the cogent agencies In the
settlement OF the questions which agi-
tate our social and national life
Never in the worlds history were
unions so powerful and so universally
looked up to and respected as at the
present time, and the reasons for this
strength are two-first, the existence of
trusts and second the common sense
and honor of the people who see their
necessity.
ORGANIZING IN THE OPEN.
Influences which were a few months
ago against use are now for us, the
powers which prevented our growth
and fought us at every turn are now
viewing our existence with a friendly
gaze, and even in some cases are dis
ppScu W dlu u0' loutty we otc lnc
unusual spectacle of the politician and
the churchman putting the labor lead
er on an equality with themselves,
and asking his advice in the settle
ment of the great question with which
they are wrestling and endeavoring to
solve.
There was a time when these con- ,
ditions did not exist, when we were
compelled to organize in secret places !
and conceal the fact that We were Or
ganiZed from our employers and often
even from our fellow workmen. The
employer then held it to be a truism
that labor had no right to band itself '
better conditions of work, but that he
alone had the right to say what should
be the wage rate and the hours of
work. To many of the younger men in
this audience such statement sounds {
strange, but to the older heads it
sounds like statement of the old time I
employer, who contended that to Or
ganize was unlawful and improper, and I
In fact some still have the affrontery I
to still so maintain.
THE RIGHT TO ORGANIZE.
"The right to organize Is an inher-
ent right. Everything In the natural s
world is organized and it is nothing
organization is necessity as we'll as
r right without which there could be /,
no perfect organization; the family is
an organization intended to carry out '
the will of God. The church, the state,
the nation are but organizations, and
they are evidences, IL you please, of the
divine origin of the right of organiza-
tion. Doctors, lawyers and ministers
are organized. Manufacturers are or
ganized and we today are permitted to I
see the greatest organizations of in
dustrial forces the world has ever wit
messed. with all its parts working in
harmony to add to the accumulation ..
of wealth. We are permitted to see
the marvellous, stupendous example of !
one company controlling the entire ,
iron and steel market with its hand on {
the railroad and grasping for the
steamship, denying the right of Or
ganization to a part of the employees.
MUST PAY UP DUES.
ORGANIZATIONS are essential to our ]
success and the payment of dues ne [
cessity to obtain anything like an equal
distribution Of the products of our toll.
People say that the iron worker gets
high wages That is true. He does
when be works. but you must take into
consideration that take 1t year in and
year out. he earns very little more
than any other tradesman, as his labor ,
10 Of the hardest kind. N
"The recent meeting Of the civic fed-
GRAFTON. in New York. was a long step|
in the direction of the solution of tho