The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-01-03

workers. the leather workers and the long
shoremen. The machinists have numerous
unions and so have the metal workers and
There are national unions OF moIders. Of
meat cutters and metal polishers. There
are brOtherhOOds OF oil and gas men, and
also OF painters and. paperhangers, Every
householder knows Of the plumbers union
and every publisher those which deal with
printers and pressmen.
There are all sorts Of railway organiza-
tons, there are saw smiths and spinners,
Sh1pWrights and stage employees and unions
or tailors. timers and tinplate men: IN
deed. / might go through the rest OF the al
phabet and give numerous unions unqeI
every letter and include only those which
are national in character and cover the
whole United States.
MILLIONS LOST IN STRIKES.
These labor unions are better organized
than ever before, and their leaders have
enormous power as to the Inauguration or
The prevention of strikes. Their demands
for higher wages and better conditions are
steadily advancing anG within the past few
years the strikes have materially increased.
According to the figures Of the Labor Blu
reau here at Washington there have been
more thar twenty-five thousand strikes In
the past twerty years, and these have in
volved a loss to the wage earners and their
employers Of about 500 900. 900. The losses
of the wOrkmen have been more than twice
those Of their employers They nave
amounted to over 260.O00.O0, and have
caused more than 100000 idle wOrkmen.
During the same time the lockouts have
affected more than half a million workmen,
resulting In a wage loss of about s5O.OOO.OOO-
OF the above strikes about One-half sue
ceeded; some were partial successes and
more than one-third total failures. The
strikes of the past year have been more
than usually successful. Times have been
good, orders plenty, and the employers could
not afford to stop the factories. They have
given In TO the men and wages have risen.
Times now promise TO be hard. Many es-
adjustments are cutting down their forces
and some are reducing wages. Whether
these changes will cause new strikes re-
mains TO be seen.
At the same time an association of manu-
facturers has been formed 10 oppose what
they claim are the eXactions OF the unions.
This is said to have a membership of 5000
factories, each OF which contributes $50 a
year toward the movement. 1t is rapidly
increasing In size and is extending 1T work
to all parts of the country. 1t has estab-
lished a publication and bureau
at indianapolis and, like the trades unions,
1t is doing missionary work in advOcation Of
it's principles. The head of this association
is David NJ. Parry, of Indiana, who is also
president OF the Citizens Industrial Asso-
citation of America connected with 1t. These
people claim that the labor union is nothing
more than a labor trust, designed for the
benefit of its own members at the expense
of the public. They stand for the non
union man and for the individual and eS-
pecially for the rights OF the employer
against organized labor. They are for the
open shop and against bcycotts, black lists
between employers and employees should be
settled by any amicable method that will
preserve the rights Of both parties.
THE CIVIC FEDERATION.
Perhaps the most powerful sorce now or
ganized for the prevention of labor troubles
is the National Civic Federation. This is
composed of prominent employers of labor,
the heads of the great labor unions and a
number of leading thinkers representing
the public. These men meet together in
conventions at certain fixed periods to dis
cusS the differences Of labor and capital and
how they may be amicably settled. They
have an executive committee, which tries
to bring the employers and employees to-
gether wherever there is trouble, and this
has already settled many strikes and pre-
vented others. In 1902 the Civic Federation
averted a strike of $4,000 workmen in thirty
paper mills, and II had settled eleven coal
strikes before the troubles in the anthracite
fields began. Its members did what they
could in the anthracite strike, but were
unable TO succeed. During the present year
their work has been much greater. embrace
Ing labor difficulties of many kinds, a report
of which, 1 am told, will soon be given to
the public.
The Civic Federation embraces the lead
ing thinkers of the United States. Its ex-
ecutive is divided into three
groups OF Twelve edC0, one group on lle
part Of the employers, another on the part
of the wage earners and a third on the part
Of the public.
The representatives of the public are such
men as ex-President Cleveland, Cornelius
N. Bliss, August Belmont Charles Francis
Adams. Oscar Straus, Archbishop John Ire
Harvard Iar V RisH and John G. nfsfIGgn' of F Buffai Si
The employers are headed by Senator
Mark Hanna; and with him are men like
Schwab of the Steel trust, Underwood of
the Erie Railroad, Nixon Of the United
States Shipbuilding Company, Marcus
Marks, president of the National Associa-
ton of the Clothing Manufacturers Charles
II. Taylor. jr.. president of the Newspaper
Publishers Association; II. H. Vreeland of
the street railway and others.
The labor leaders are equally strong.
They are headed by Samuel Gompers of the
American Federation, and have such men
as John Mitchell of the United Mine Work
~Amalgamated Iron and Steel Association;
James O'Connell, of the American Machin-
lists: Henry White, of the Garment Workers.
and John Tobin, of the Boot and Shoe
Workers Union.
The president of the Civic Federation is
Mark Hanna. The vice presidents are Sam
uel Gompers and Oscar Straus, while Ralph
NJ. Easley Is the secretary.
TRUST AND LABOR AGAINST PUBLIC.
AL these combinations are chiefly for
labor and capital. Their differences are to
be reconcilsd. What the average man
wants to know is where the public is to
come in. How about the consumer who
pays the bills? Everybody's business is no
body's business. and while the representa-
tives of the public in the Civic Federation
are men of great force they have not the
vital pocketbook interest of employer and
employe. The laborers want high wages
the manufacturers can satisfy them with
out personal loss by increasing prices. and
( the public carries the burden
Tn1aaH the ~ m ion 80 oo-..r
prices are now organized as never before
Nearly every trade has its association
which meets together to stife individual
competition There is a wholesale druggist