Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1903-04-14
TO CONVENE In MAY
Delegates Will Be Elected By Local
Unions Soon.
WILL Be AN IMPORTANT MEETING
Iowa State Federation of Labor Has
Increased in Size and Strength Dur.
ing the Past Few Years and its
Eleventh Convention Will Be Big.

Eleventh convention VIII BE BIG.
From Mondays Daily.
Between twenty and twenty-five men
will represent the labor unions of OF
tumwa at the biggest convention in
the history of the Iowa State Fedora
tion of Labor, which will be held in
Davenport May IL, Is, IA and Is, and
within the next two weeks the various
bodies of trades unionists throughout
the city will elect their delegates. Yes
terday the Trades and Labor assembly
elected the first representative, j. f,
Byrne, who, as one of the three repre-
senting the central body, will head the
delegation from Ottumwa. Mr.. Byrne
is general organizer in Iowa for the
American Federation of Labor and as
such is an eX-otficio member of the
various committees in the state body.
In addition to the 8 delegates from
the local central body there will be
delegates from the local unions repre-
senting the following crafts: Print
ers. teamsters, (two delegatesJ, brick
makers, carpenters, machinists, engi-
neers, miners, (two delegates), butch
street railway employees, electrical
workers, journeymen tailors, and per-
haps others.
The state convention of the Iowa
Federation of Labor next month in
Davenport will be the eleventh affair
II the kind and will undoubtedly be
the most largely attended and probably
the most important gathering in the
,etD of
questions of legislation in the inter-
ssts of the laboring people of Iowa will
be discussed and the legislative COM
mittee of the state body will be given
much work for the next session of the
Iowa general assembly. Many of the
delegates to the Davenport convention
will take with them from their unions
resolutions and proposed bills which
will be presented to the convention
for adoption and submission to the
state legislature at its next session.
Marvellous Growth.
The state organization has good
cause for self-congratulation this year
on account OF it's strength and it's ex-
cellent growth During the past few
years Iowa has risen from the twen-
tieth state to the fifth in point of num-
ber of union men. The books of Sec
retary ]. H. Strict now show a total
of 720 local unions and membership
of from $4,000 to $4,000 men. The
monthly increase for almost the past
year averages 1000.
State Councils.
At the convention this year the dele
gates from different cities, represent
ing the various trades will endeavor
to effect the organization of state coun-
ellis of their respective crafts, in order
that they may bring about a better
uniformity OF conditions and wages,
and work together for the general i'm
provement of their separate organiza-
tions, thus Strengthening the influence
of the state federation. The printing
trades, some years ago, organized
throughout the state, but during the
panic, the central body fell along with
SO many other institutions and has
never been re-organized An effort will
be made to revive 1T this year and to
organize the other crafts in similar
manner. The miners now have a
strong state organization and the bene.
fits OF such plan are very apparent
Permanent State Organizer.
The same question that last year
was one of the most important be-
fore the state convention will this
year take precedence over all others.
SThis is the matter of appointing per-
manent state organizer. Last year T.
4 P. Mention of Boone was elected and
J worked for some months but has re-
signed his position and another man,
some man who has the interests of the
Organization at heart and possesses
the ability to succeed in the capacity
OF an organizer will, if possible, be
chosen for the place. 1t is an arduous
task that the state organizer has to
face, but the leaders in the state think
that at the state convention they will
succeed in finding just such man as
the organization needs,an in that case
the strength of the state body will no
doubt be increased during the coming
year to such an extent that Iowa will
rise even higher among the union
states"
The Matter of Salaries.
1t is very probable that the conven.
tion will decide to put the state presi
dent upon salary this year, move
that has been advocated by the promi
nent men of the organization for some
time. Arthur b. Holder of Des Moines
gho is at present the chief executive
I the state body, deyotes much time
20 his work, and no doubt suffers con
siderably by reason Of the fact, and
now that the organization is growing