Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1903-10-02

I flied as follows: National and inter.
national unions, Ill, composed of TO-.
100 subordinate or local unions; 20
state branches. 500 city central bod.
les, and LIPS local trade and federal
labor unions.
| The advisory board of the Philadel.
phia master builders exchange fixed
Jan. l, 1904, as the date on which
systematic warfare by means Of lock.
outs against sympathetic strikes will
begin. The builders exchange repre-
sents practically all the builders and
subcontractors in the city. No work.
man will be employed unless he Is
willing to agree not to engage In any
sympathetic strike and to arbitrate
any difference that may arise, work to
continue meanwhile.
When the labor unions became a
factor in this country they accom-.
plished many reforms in this respect
that were beyond reach of the law, as
the right of freedom of contract is
sacred In the eyes of the law. The
right of man to work sixteen hours
day must not be interfered with by
legal process. But since the labor
unions have established ten. nine, or
eight hours as the limit that man
should work in day, the effects have
been most beneficial, as every stu
dent of the problem knows. .
H. M. DIETRICH. conducting the strike
Of the Candy Makers union at Chica
go, in a lengthy statement issued by
him in reply to that issued by the
Candy Manufacturers association that
the demands of the union could not be
granted owing to the small margin OF
profits-S per- cent-quoted from the
census reports of 1900, that according
to the reports made by the manufac
turers themselves, their profits aver
age "A per cent year. To this Mr.
Dietrich adds that he does not believe
the profits of the manufacture Of can
| dy have fallen off since.
A movement Is under consideration
| by national officers of unions to in
crease the number of members on the
| executive council of the A. F. of l.
from nine to eleven. The subject will.
be brought up at the coming conven
ton in Boston. At the present time
the building trades industry, which is
one of the. most important as we'll as
the best organized, has no representa-
ton on the executive council. James
Duncan, first vice president, is gran
| lite cutter and closest to the building
trades but his trade is looked upon
as a material rather than building
trade.
The auditors of the United Minis
Workers of America finished their
quarterly inspection of the books and
funds of Secretary-Treasurer w. B
Wilson of that organization the other
day, and found that with member
ship of $4,000, scattered throughout
the states, from coast to coast, less
than 1000 men are on strike. Incl
dentally the report showed that the
organization has 1899, 61O.94 in cash in
their treasury, and an income approx
imating 100000 a month. The situa.
ton so far as the mine workers are
concerned has never been more graft
flying in the history of their union.
The efforts of the organizers of the
American Federation of Labor to fern
the farm hands of Indiana into unions,
with the avowed purpose OF increasing
farm wages and systematizing the
work done by their members, has
been attended with success. In many
localities unions have been formed
and practically all the farm laborers
in these localities are now organized.
The counties in which the efforts have
been most successful are Knox, Da
viess, Martin, Pike, Dubois. Lawrence,
Orange Crawford, Perry, Gibson, Po
sey, Vanderburg and Warrick, form
ing a corner in southwestern Indiana
and comprising to some extent the ter
ritory in which farm wages have al
ways been exceedingly low.
The National Civic Federation has
made arrangements to hold a conven.
ton in Chicago Oct. 1916, at which
representative employers and national
labor leaders will meet and discuss
the labor problem. While all the ar
rangements have not been completed,
the following labor leaders have prom.
ised to attend: Samuel Gompers,
president American Federation of La.
Dor; John Mitchell, president United
Mine Workers of America; e. E.
Clark, chief of Order of Railway Con-
ductors; P. H. Morrissey. grand mas.
ter Brotherhood of Railroad Train
men, D. j Keefe, president Long,
shoremen and Transport Workers as
sociation d. A. Hayes. vice president
American Federation of Labor.
In the United States District court
at Bridgeport, Conn, ID. E. Lowe &
Co. of Danbury, hat manufacturers,
instituted suit against the national Of |
ficers of the American Federation of
Labor, the. national officers of the
United Hatters of North America and |
against 250 members of these organ
izations, residents of Danbury who
were formerly in the employ of the |
plaintiffs The plaintiffs allege that
because hey refused to employ only |
union labor in their factory upon de-