The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1904-07-16
BY JUDSoN GRENELL.
Copyrighted 1904 by Judson Creme

OF industrial England to realize the full
significance of the term. Manchester,
in Lancashire, is thought and spoken Of
as a city of 100000 inha bitants or there
abouts. It is much more than this.
Within a space not much, if any, larg
err than the area of Chicago are a dozen
good sized cities, the total population
running we'll towards the 100000 mark;
while Sheffield and Leeds and Brad
ford and other municipalities are hard
ly an hour away in Yorkshire. Here
are concentrated the cotton, wooden and
iron industries of a great empire; here
flourish trades unions as nowhere else
in the United Kingdom, and here are
to be found side by side, great wealth
and great pQverty-a few families liv-
ing in idle luxury 2 goodly number of
energetic and enterprising manufacture
ers with their fingers on the COM
mercial pulse Of the world, supplying
necessities and Injuries to all nations,
and a great multitude of skilled and
unskilled men and women living from
hand to mouth and yet satisfied if al
lowed to work for what to an American
seems totally inadequate wages.
Manchester is not the cotton cloth
manufacturing emporium it once was.
It's mills have been turned over to other
industries and now in Oldham and
Stockport and Hyde and a score of
other cities most of them electrically
connected by street cars with what has
become great warehouse for raw ma
terial, is carried on the particular in
dustry that has made Manchester fam
Gus. One must go to these other cities
to hear the hum Of the spindles and to
see. great Mills employing thousands
of men and women. Still, just now, to
view the operatives at work, one must
luckily pitch on the right day, for
since the enormous rise in the price of
cotton the mills have shut down part
of the time, paralyzing the subordinate
industries as we'll as bringing want and
hunger to thousands of homes. Yet
the mills and the machinery are there
and tn willing workers are there also;
and when, under the spur of the big
profits the cotton growers again raise
crops that will glut the market, de-
pressing prices, then these mills, with
the worlds: stock Of eotton cloth much
reduced, will sing a merry tune day and
night for an indefinite period in the
effort to catch UP:
3.::zss.: a. British Trade Improving. ~ s.
q ions report mont 1.-THE
Ssta teH Sc az Is
years the secretary o. the Manhattan
Trades Council, and one of the next
parliamentary candidates Of the liberals
and trade unionists.
There are $4,000 organized wage
workers in Manchester and Stafford,
proper" Mr.. Kelley said, land all the
other cities hereabouts also have their
central labor organizations Stafford is
contiguous to Manchester, being separ-
ated only by the Manchester ship canal
Mr.. Kelley rapidly ran over, for me
some of the more recent reports re-
ceived, and the result showed gradual
Improvement in business. as compared
with last year. This is an important
center for the trades needing machin-
lists and several thousand are steadily
employed. In fact I find that where
factories abound, the trades of machin-
lists and boilermakers flourish.
Hebrew Labor Steadily Employed.
In reading over these reports only one
trade recorded all members employed.
1t was union of Hebrew clothing
workers. The Britishers may be idle
but the Hebrews had no lost time on
their hands. Mr.. Kelley smiled signi-
ncantly when noting this fact but de-
clined to give his opinion of the reason
for such prosperity: Most British work
me nhelieNe it is because the Hebrews
are willing to work at such low wage.
In Manchester, said Mr.. Kelley,
the unions believe in and practice the
closed SHOP Strong unions insist on
this and think they sometimes blunder
IN insisting. But whether the rule is
good or bad one it is closely followed
and that without any formal agree
ment with employers. The trade union
movement is now part of the civic
n1e or this community. TO be outside
the pale of it's protection is generally
Wark In hard times with it's out-of
work benefits and a protection Of IN
oustrlaAy stormy times with it's strike
relief funds.
Our municipal legislators know this
and trim their political sails aceor]ing-
w. Some time ago the Westinghouse
people. who as you know. have great
works here. hid on a munjciral con-
tract: The figures were satisfactory.
but this firm has imposed restrictions
or its employees as to houses, ETC., that
the average British workman does NOT
consider is right; SO the tender was ac-
eepted by: the British municipality with
me proyiso- that the workers, con-
dltlons must be changed to conform to
british usage. The company hesitated
and finally accepted and this is the
beginning of quiet contest that is
oestihed to make the Westinghouse at
hrst an open shop and eventually a
unfonlzed and closed one.'' :;
F. Mr.. Ke11axy hoc ],eo~
States and knows about industrial con-
dltlans there as well as at home. I
shall have occasion to hereafter refer
to his opinion concerning wages, home
comforts, hours Of labor, machinery,
etc, Suffice to say that 1t makes a
strong argument for his own country,
while agreeing that in some directions
the American worker has the advan-
/ tage: g.. :. - :.
Saturday Afternoon in Manchester.
In Manchester as. in ether industrial
)eentEeFs OF ENGLAND the factories. and
lnaeed pretty. much all the other ae-
r I a .t,r>fSr L .fxaJ ~.