The Jennings daily record., 1902-10-15


comr. Let Reason Tceesher. &
:. hemembers Of Local Union
~. ..sS74, G. ed Of A., arc. sur
|Prised to learn that nc feast tive
nf the em..rchan}s 81 Jennings are
laying onnnr shoulders the,blama
|Of the anthracite coal strike. the
carmen's strike at New Orleans
and -, the action Of certain
transient. brick layers in demand
ing six dollars for. eight hours )
RArk. saftsrs they lad agreed to
work lire honrs fer that stm.,
Men who have l,ointerestin Jen
EntIxs ssolher than the money they
caa gyt, and who are claiming
such exOrbitant prices for the:
very same reason that you mer-
chants chlrged .w,,s dollars q
bnshei for potatoes 4 year ago
The demaud exceeds the supply.
Itis not my intention to enter
into q diso1ssionof the principals
that underly'labor organizations.
I wish to state however, that the
chief fOne is elf,defense.
Do away withythe organization
Of capital, and the need sof labor
unions will cease to exist; but SO
long rs Mo gan lot ms.by the side
1fsfhis free (?lgoxernm6nt.likeap an
lephant by the side Of u jackrab-
bit-just 80 long vii labor bb com !
PEELED to orgAnizein self defense.
1t certainly sounds a little in !.
consietant for members sof. the
Retail Merchants Protective as
sociation to threaten to send out.
OF. town and get men to come
here to. take the places of the.
home carpenters. men who are
citizens of the town, some of
whom own their homes, and
others struggling to do SO and
find it difficult to accomplish
while pay ing theprofts that have
enabled you gentlemen 10 be-
come, if not rich, yet in comfort
able cirtum Stances. in less than
ten. years.
The unwritten history of Jen-
nings ha+ it that some of. you
came to the town not SO many
years since with neither meney
nor property, and with hardly
clothes enough to flag a bread
wagon; othe,s worked by the
day. -
.But Jerushan waxed fat and
i: cked.
l defy you to point to any ur-
just der lands on the part of
either the carpenters or paint
ers' unions here in Jennings.
True, We get little better wages
than we did one year ago, but
when you takh into consideration
the increase in rent, groceries,
meat, clothing, and, in tact, every
thing we have to buy, our wages
will not go as far as they would
one year ago. !
Would you bring the honest,
Industrious, intelligent members
of the carpenters union dv,wn to
a level with the knights of the
peaked hat? Not if the court
knows itself. Jennings lis not
the only town. in the world.
! can get 20 cents "a day more
in Lake Charles for eight hours
than l can get in Jennings for
nine. Even little Welsh last |
spring paid from 5 to 10. cents
an hour more tlsan Jennings.
Most of the merchants in Jen-
nings claim to be Christians.
Let me give you pointer: Take
down your old Bible, brush the
dust off the lids, and see if in the
Old Testa ment you can not find
something like this:
"Thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thy SELF
e And then in, the New, that
grandest sentence thatever came
from lips Divine:
"Whatsoever ye. would that
others should do unto you, do ye
even so to them"
. Such aething has been done as
Lhe forming of club to- send
away for everything its mem bers
use, and if necessary it can be
acne here, but that is not the
way to build up a town.
No, gentlemen, both the mer-
chants and the lab' unions must
obey the golden rule if our town
S to be builded on sure found
alton.