The Lewiston teller. (Lewiston, Idaho) 1900-1905, 1902-09-18
VAN w. HASBROUCk, SeC'y
Labor and Socialism.


Ex.Mayor Chase of Haverhill, Mass,
arrived in the city Monday afternoon and
delivered two-hours speech at the court
house, to mixed crowd OF 400 people.
Mr.. Chase is shoemaker by trade and
was twice elected mayor of Haverhill, a
CITY of $4,000 people, on the socialist
ticket. He is at present the socialist
candidate for governor of Massachusetts,.
His effort here was more to encourage
the working people to organize into labor
unions than to make converts to social
ism. The speaker said in part:
II come from part of the country
where conditions are different from what
thew are in Idaho. The people here know
nothing Of the conditions that exist in
the east You have more freedom here
than we have. l come from city where
they make shoes, and want to give you
an analysis of the shoe trade. If you had
ago and had gone out on the country
roads you would have seen them lined
with little homes, say IoxI2 feet. The
inhabitants of these places were all en-
gagged in making shoes. They owned
their own tools. They owned their own
stock and made the shoes from top to
bottom, and when they had done they
we're their own property, to dispose of as
they saw fit and for the best price they
could get for them.
"Then came the machine for making
shoes. These cost $1,000 each. There
we're few mechanics who could buy
machine. This made necessary the fac.
tory, and it brought the capitalist into
the shoe business. Now there are no
longer these thousands of little homes in
which shoes are made. Instead there are
big factories, filled with the latest i'm
proved machinery and thousands of work.
ers, each of whom is trained to make only
certain part of the shoe and no more.
What is the result? The workers can only
aud employment half the time. This is
development of 40 years
For the time we work some of US are
able 10 earn SIS a week, and some of us
SIS week, but the average wage paid in
the shoe factories Of the United States is
Vas per week. We used to be dudes in
the old days, but we are not any more.
''ln Lawrence and Lowell, where textile
factories are located, machinery was in.
troduced in 1874. These machines dis.
placed male workers and women took
their places. Other inventions came
and women were displaced by children
and today there are thousands of child
rem from E to IL years of age working in
these mills who should be in school fit.
ung themselves for American citizenship.
Wherever these conditions exist there
Is no organic stion of the laboring classes.
THE great mass Of the working peo-
pie IN this country today are not SO we'll
on as they were before the organization
Of these trusts and monopolies. Let me
SHOW you that what say IS true. The
average wage in the United States today
IS $I.I5 day. Here in Idaho you get
more, but while that is the case there
are many more thousands in the east who
are not so fortunate as you are. In the
,ngures III IS include men working for
high salaries.
ol the daily product of the wor king man
~ the United States is little more than
20 day. The wage is $I.I5. Now,
.nen, every man, On an average, is con-
.nouting more than So every day to
'nose who do not toll.
MY unionism is not to keep the scale
oI wages up to what it is, but to get full
value for my labor. No set of i en- have
: right to take away from me what
have earned.
The great labor question is wider to-
uay than ever before, because of our de-
velopment.
a, "A part Of this question will be set
uea politically. That will be when the
working class learn to cast their own bal
,o's In the future we will be forced to
lne up together. and when we do. those
%uo' at the present time, are trying to
u.slupt labor unions, will have to take
OFT their hats to us.
since | have started on this tour
nave found that the people are awake
=, 70 the condition and know they are fact
70 lace with mighty problem. which
I = be solved by the laboripg class; it
Is up to you.
a. r. Elliott has gone 10 the reserva-