The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1903-11-19
World of Labor.
compiled for The comct by H. Ycrdcn.

Seventy We thousand textile work
ers have been thrown out of employ
ment by the operators of the New
England states.
The messenger boys of Cambridge,
Mass, who have been ON strike for bet
ter conditions have returned to work,
having won their fight through the
good Offices OF President Eliot, of
Harvard College.
Orders were issued Monday by the
Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Com
pany placing the compsny's shops at
Reading on an eight hour schedule, an
average reduction of almost two hours
q day.
The State Federation of Labor of
Tennessee will hold its annual conven-
ton at Knoxville the week commenc-
ing December Z. 1t is expected that
johnson City unions will be repre-
sented.
William Donnelly, president of Fed
eral Labor Union No. 10S37, of John
son City, reports that body to be in a
fourishing condition, with member
ship increasing each meeting night.
But very few of the members are out OF
employment.
The National Cash Register Com.
pany, of Dayton, Ohio, has reduced its
working force 25 per cent. Bulletins
have been posted in the factory to the
effect that hereafter the factory will
operate eight hours each day. 1t is
rumored that the company will soor
manufacture automobiles.
The coal miners of Northern Color
ado who have been on strike for al
eight hour work day, have returned tc
work, the operators having granted
the demands of the men. The miners
in Southern Colorado and New Mexico
are still out, and have a good chance
to win. President John Mitchell viii
go to Trinidad, Col, and take charge
of the strike.
Samuel Gompers, president of the
American Federation of Labor, in his
report to the convention, in session in
Boston last week, said; "In our day
the only consistent, persistent, and
aggressive movement to maintain the
liberties of the people of our land now
and for the future is the villifed, ye'
noble and ennobling movement of or
ganized labor"
Judge Auten, at Sunbury, Pa, las
week rendered an opinion in which b,
decides that in the eyes of the law th,
decision of the anthracite strike com
mission is not binding en- either tn
miners or the operators. This is tn
first legal decision on the subject, an,
if it stands will cause loss of man,
thousands of dollars in back pay to tn
miners Of the anthracite field.
The executive committee of the Ma
tional Association of Agricultural I'm
plement and Vehicle Manufacturers, i
session at Chicago, unanimously de
clared its hostility to organized labo
in the following resolution: "Resolv
cd, That, while we appreciate the right
labor, we realize that the time ha
come when the manufacturer to be sue
, cessful must select his employees i
harmony with his individual judgmer
. and existing conditions, regardless c
whether said employees are or not aflil
ated with any society or organization.
The Government Bureau of IIabo
at Washington, d. c., has issued
bulletin on the cost of living of worl
ingmen's families, showing that
1857 families in 80 states from who
data was obtained, the average ineon
{ per family was $927.19, average e
penditure for all purposes, $iGS.
average expenditure per family f
food, $326.90, and the average size
3 family 53l prisons. The last figure
/ -tenths above the average of pl
u vate families in the whole country
= shown by the census Of 1900. The TO,
IL expense is more than 42! per cent.
J. the expenditure for all purposes.
Il extended investigation covering t
d years of 1890 1902, shows that the &C
\ of food reached its highest in 1902, t
# average being 1919 per cent above t
t. average for the decade 1890 1899, a
Ie an increase of 1871 per cent compar
with 1896, the year of lowest pric,
1t is announced as a conservation &C
cluslon that the increase in the cost
~ living as whole, in 1902, when co
s pared with the year Of lowest pric
p was not over 1871 per cent, the fgJ
OF given as the incr asef cost of food
nc nc shown by this investigation. This
r. sumes, Of course, always the purchI
O. of the same articles and the same gut
'u titles in years of low prices, low waI
"a and more or less irregular employme
O and in years of higher prices, higl
wages and steady employment.