The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-03-13
Strikes Do Not Pay, Says Powderly
In Talk with Frank Carpenter
Former Head of the Knights of Labor Discusses
Proft-Sharing System and Other Phases of the
Industrial Question..Abra S. Hewitts Exper-
iment.An AneCdote of Mark Hanna. Men
Should Help Their Employers

q
steam engine he would fail and so will the
machinist fail who tries to manage bank
or a factory. There are exceptions l grant
you, but ninety-nine times out of hundred
either will fail. This is more so every year
as business and trade are specialized. In
the big undertakings of to-day the capacity
required is greater than ever before"
What do the laboring men think of their
managers?"
Il don't think their ambition runs that
way. at least not as a mass. individuals
do rise and will always rise as long as God
gives men different capacities and talents
We shall have Carnegies and Schwabs as
IONS as brains married to Drawn bring forth
great fortunes. The peculiar brains will
come TO the top however hard you stir the
business and labor kettle to keep them
down.
But as to the masses of laboring men
owning and controlling factories them
selves. they are afraid of it, Mr.. Pow
derby continued.
81 remember when was general master
workman of the knights of Labor. Abram
;. Hewitt Peter Cooper's son-in-law, who
owned some of the greatest iron works of
the country, offered to let his men in the
iron works at Trenton take that plant and
run 1t. Mr.. Hewitt was noted for his
friendship to the laboring man. He never
had any serious trouble, Notwithstanding
he employed thousands, and in hard times
he carried on his furnaces at a loss rather
than close them and put his men out. Well.
he offered TO let the men take the Trenton
works as they stood and run them on the
condition that they were to pay the eX-
penses, manage them and have all the
profits. At first thought the men were very
enthusiastic and they brought their PROPOSE
ton to me. | advised them to think the
matter over before they accepted.
" Who among you understands the busl-
ness of management? said l. They had not
thought of that.
What do you know of the markets.
how to advertise, when to buy cheapest
and where to sell best? All this they did
not know. Well, to make long story
short, they thanked Mr. Hewitt, but re-
| fused to take the mill"
But in working for wages. Mr. Powder
| ly, does labor get its share Of the prOfits?"
"Who can tell?" was the reply. Some
times it does, sometimes not. l think the
working man should be well paid and that
his life should be made easier in every pos
! sible way. 1t is to the interest OF all that
he have good wages, for good wages means
| more money in circulation, a greater con-
sumption of all kinds OF goods and good
| times. Again, if the wages be too high
| the business, cannot pay, and the reverse
| of all this is the case
WAGES STEADILY RISING.
''But wages are steadily rising the world
over, are they not?"
Eyes, especially in the United States.
Take this carpet" said Mr.. Powderly as he
kicked a Turkish rug at his feet. There
was nothing like carpet in the poor mans
house when 1 was a boy. My father was
L
came to this country from Ireland in 1896
and settled in northern Pennsylvania, open
| ing up the first coal mine in that part of
the State He had twelve children, and we
| had none too much Still, we were well
off as laboring people generally. We lived
| in a cabin with no plaster paper on the
walls and no carpets on the floors 1 slept
| i'm the loft and the snow came through the
4 in drifts he'd. often covering
| the floor. / remember now how cold ii was
| when / stepped out on the snow. Contrast
/ that with the working mans home OF to-
| day He has his carpets, his comfortable
furniture. and often his piano. lie lives
| better, has books, newspapers and maya
| zines, and can educate his children
| How about your education, Mr.. Pow
| derby p
| II went to school until 1 was thirteen"
| replied Mr.. POwderly. and then stopped on
| account of trouble with my eyes. l needed
| glasses, for 1 was born near-sighted, but
| | did not know what was the matter Tor
| years afterward. L could see nothing well
| at distance. Indeed until | was eighteen
| years OF age l never saw the stars. had
| heard of them of course. but looked upon
| them rather as a poetical fiction than as
| a visual reality. One day | took up pair
| of glasses that happened to fit me, and, like
| Columbus. discovered new world. could
see things / had never imagined any one
| saw-the leaves on the trees In the distance,
| faces across the street. Indeed, never
| really saw as you see, until was eighteen
| 81 don't understand how you could work
| with your defective eyesight."
| 81 can see well enough at close range .
| was the reply. Il can take red cent. and
F, by mailing it with brads to bench can hle
| off the nose of the Indian without cutting
/ the edges The Indians nose Is, you know,
| a little higher than the face of the cent.
! II takes good eyesight and good nerves
| to file it off, and this we often tried to do
| i'm the shops | am of the few who
| can do il without cutting the edges OF the
| coin | also used to pick out with my knife
| the splinters of steel that flew into the eyes
| of my fellows. That is also delicate
STORY OF A LABOR LEADER.
''When did you become interested in or
ganized labor?"
81 Joined, the Machinist and Blacksmiths'
Union in 1870, thirty-four years ago. and
was soon elected president. Then L joined
the Knights of Labor, and in 1873 was
elected general master workman. / held
that office until 1888
sam Parks would have done well if he
had had that place"
| There was nothing in it but the salary,
replied Mr.. POwderly, and when l left the
| office L was 5000 in debt. 1 was paid prac-
tically nothing for the first four years, then
$500 a year. then $780, and finally 5000,
| but the 200 was not always paid. The
| position was not financially profitable. AS
| to Sam Parks. IL is not fair TO use him a
| type of the labor leader of that time or
| now He is a villain. The representatives
| of our unions of to-day and of the past are
| and have been men of the highest sense of
honor. Indeed, they are philanthropic and