Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-06-07

good. and has nodded them into mass
which Is more and more guiding Itself by
the golden rule. AS one of the men who
has done much to bring about this eondi-
ton Mr.. Gompers is deserving of the high
est praise.
Born In England fifty-flve years ago,
emigrated to America. employed as a cigar
maker. imperfectly educated, always pressed
by the problem of existence, Mr.. Gompers
Is one Of those men who have achieved
leadership in this country of opportunity
by his own exertions. Now in middle life,
at the head of an organization which is
power. we believe Samuel Gompers has the
disposition and the ability to make 1t ana
keep II power for good. The record of the
American Federation under his quarter CEN
fury of domination is good. 1t has made
few serious Mistakes and we take 1t that
Its leader Is not disposed to spoil record
which has made him trusted man among
labor men and an honored man among
employers
According to the reports of the bureau
of commerce and labor ~ per cent or the
gross receipts of American railways went
directly to labor in wages last year. and
less than % per cent to capital, as paid in
interest on mortgage bonds and in divt-
dends. 1t is also shown that 40 per cent of
the gross receipts of British railroads went
to capital and only oS per cent TO labor. II
is said that in no. other country In the world
does labor absorb so much and capital so
little of the gross earnings of railways as
In the United States.
The English statistician Mr.. Priestly,
says: The present prosperity OF the
United States of America is in no small ex-
tent due to the low rates charged for trans
portation. American railway men nave
managed to DO what those IN no otiet
country in the world have done. ana that
is to carry their goods traffic prohtably eo
extraordinarily low rates, MISUNDERSTANDING
the fact that they pay more for their LABOR
than any other country.
To I'd Tfnac'' labor
unions were still in their swaddlins clothes
and the public had hardly begun to think
that a workingman was more than mere
tool, to be utilized and cast aside when
dulled by long hours and hard usage. That
the workman factor to be considered
potentiality in the worlds social prog
ress was not realized even by dreamer
so close to nature as was Dickens. While
the Stephen Blackpool he painted as a type
of the class of workers of half century
ago in England seems overdrawn In this
day, still he made him say of the men,
They're true to one another, faithful unto
one another, even unto death"
And in the face of an adverse age this
weaver of visionary fancles made the CROP
ing worker see that Il know the heavens Is
over me ahint the smoke" The smoke now
is drifting away, and the ''mudde" is being
made clear, for If the theory of our govern
ment is right most certainly is the doctrine
wealth as to the beneficiaries of that wealth
when created.
During the month Of March the Brother.
hood of Railway Trainnen paid in death
and disability claims the sum of Sis. $40. AZ
The total paid by the organization since
adopting the beneficial system is s10Si3,-
652. 10. The seventh biennial convention of
the brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen will
open tomorrow in Buffalo, n. Y. The head
quarters will be in the Hotel Broezel, where
the committee on benefit claims has been
in session since May 3
Agreements have been signed between the
street paving contractors and the unions
under the jurisdiction of the American Fed
Grafton of Labor, which provide for a re-
duction in the hours of labor from ten to
nine and one-half this year and nine hours
next year.
OF about eighty barber shops in Memphis
only two small ones are reported as antag-
on1stic to the recent move of the BARRIERS
Union for increased prices of hair cuts
which signifies only an increase in wages
to the journeymen.
Chicago has just as many union printers
as there are union men of all callines in
the Kingdom of Servia-3,5C0.
Since John Mitchell was elected president
OF the United Mine Workers in 1898 that
BODY has increased six-fold in memher-
ship now numbering $50, 600 men.
The two organizations of railway car
n
Sondation, and both have called convan
tons to meet in Buffalo N Y, in Sep
TENDER.
An agreement has been closed between
the Maine Central railroad and its teleg-
raphers, under which the employees will re-
celVe an increase in wages and pay for
overtime.
Employers in New York have asked the
union horseshoers to appoint conference
committee comm and 1t begins to look as If there
would soon be settlement of the strike
which began December 8, 1902
Gov. Mcdonald of Colorado has signed
the anu-boycott bill passed by the last
legislature of that state. This measure was
strenuously opposed by organized labor Vio-
lations of its provisions are punishable by
both line and Imprisonment.
The law and legislative committee of the
San Francisco (Cal.) Labor Council his pre-
sented resolutions protesting against the
employment of orientals in digging the
Panama canal. The council unanimously
Endorsed them
The bonus above the 10 per cent advance
in wages awarded by the strike commss-
sion netted the anthracite miners So 800 600
in 1904. The 10 per cent was based upon a
scale of nearly % per cent above that of
lS99. The average earnings of 50, Geo adult
mine workers in 1904 $299 more than
in 1901.
While - per cent of the gross receipts of
all American railways went directly to
labor in wages last year and less than %
per cent to capital paid in interest on
mortgage bonds and in dividends nearly
40 per cent of the gross receipts of British
railroads went to capital and only IS per
cent to labor.
A plan to amalgamate the United Car
mert Workers of America and the Journey
men Taifors Union of America was com
pleted at a conference held in New York
a few days ago. The iourneymen tailors
were represented at the conference by John
B. Lennon. Charles DahIman and Charles
Johnson, and the garment workers by
Thomas A. Rickert. Charles F. Reichers
and Henry Waxman. The agreement pro-
vides that the two organizations amalga-
mate under the name of the International
Clothing Workers Union Of America and
that only one label be used in the clothing
trade: After the articles of amalgamatton
are published in the official journals of both
organizations and discussed the entire mat
ter will be submitted to a referendum vote
Of the entire membership in August The
amalgamation will do away with the use
Of so many different labels in clothing.
which served to confuse the purchaser and |
is step for industrial organization on sem
sible lines instead of conglomeration, such
as that proposed by the advocates of the |