Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1903-11-27
NEWS OF THE LABOR WORLD.

Items Of Interest Gathered from Many
Sources.
The first American trade union, the
Boston caulkers' union, was organized
on Sunday, Feb. IA. 1741.
The Boxmakers' Union OF Jersey
City has started a cooperative box
factory, employing its own members
and paying the highest union wages.
In the last six months the Water
bury labor unions have spent $13.42b
to maintain fair rate Of wages, and
last Sunday they held an educational
meeting in the largest theater In the
city.
The strike of the Colorado coal
miners is on and every indication
points to the most disastrous labor
struggle the state has ever known.
The men walked out in such numbers
that even the officers of the union
were astonished.
The Alexander Roberts wooden COM
pany at Claremont, N. H., was closed
as the result of strike by the spin
ners, who asked an advance from ~
to SO per week, which they said Is
the lowest wage paid a spinner IN a
New England mill.
Human nature is the same, whether
in the employer or the employee. Each
lis too prone to confine himself to his
own viewpoint. To reach amicable
settlements leaders must look at ques-
lions from each others standpoints,
as we'll as their own.
The Journeymen Stonecutters' AS
ISOLATION of America, which recently
voted against affiliation with the A. F.
OF L., has decided to take another vote
1on the subject. This time recon-
mendation in favor of afflliation will
be sent out by the national executive
board of the association.
! The latest report of the Federation
of Labor shows that trade unions are
4 doing their share to help the unskilled
workers and the unemployed. There
are at the present time 1,161 organic.
ers at work, whose duty it is to edu'
cate and organize the nonunion work.
lug pcOplC VI lnO SOuhSAy'
Organized labor in Chicago is be-
/ ginning to feel the reactionary effect
of the abnormal increase in wages 1t
has gained during the last year. So
heavy has this additional expense
proved to the big firms that they have
been forced to lay off 10000 men and
are preparing to drop 1000 more.
Employers throughout the country
are said to be timid about contribute
ing money to the new National Citi-
zens' Alliance. AS an explanation OF
this it is said that business men are
always wary of placing money into a
secret fund to be spent without any
] questions being asked afterward.
! The latest labor journal to appear
lis the Elevator Constructor, the Off
cial organ of the international Union
of Elevator Constructors. Its first
issue has just been published. and con-
tains thirty-two pages of matter,
(which will be found of interest to
union men whether members Of that
icraft or not.
I, Labor unions founded upon right
principles, under the leadership of
honest, conservative officers, are nee
essary for the protection Of the en-
ployes, and often an aid to the en-
ployer who is willing to pay just
wages and establish fair conditions,
but is hampered by competition with
the employer who is unwilling to do
so.
The striking Chicago sausage-mak-
ers decided that they would remain
out until further concessions were
made. The Packing Trades Council
decided to renew its per cent assess
ment to assist the sausage makers,
and the international officers Of the
Butchers Union said they would make
another effort to-day to settle that
strike.
A loan of $4,000 from the Window
Glass Workers Association to the en-
ployers of the members of that organi-
cation has been consummated. A feat
ure of the loan is that no interest is
demanded by the workers, which indi-
Gates that they are willing to aid the
manufacturers in every possible way
to tide over the present depression in
the market.
A dispatch from New York the other
day stated that lawyers with the
backing of builders and employers
representing $1OO,0OO,OOO or more in
that city are now working on bills to
be introduced in the various state leg
iislatures this winter which seek to
destroy absolutely the power of the
walking delegate and make labor
strikes impossible.
4 The November number of the
American Federationist gives re-
view of trade union progress during
the year. It is of great interest to
'workingmen, to capitalists, to every
one who wants to know how the
world is moving. There are reports
from 1876 towns and cities, covering
almost every organized trade. Every
union reports progress-some more
than others.
During the past three years the