Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-01-22

.rassed "Honest John. ]" Not, but what
 he has had ovations before but never
 In such august company. Short, swar-
 thy, intense and intrepid, John Burns
 has dared to go to jail for his opinions,
 has led innumerable strikes, has spurn-
 ed all offers of money, has lived on al-
 most nothing and has won his way
 from the lowest ranks of the proleta-
 riat to the distinction of being the first
 labor member of an English cabinet.
 It must not be imagined that the oD-
 stacles in the path of Mir. Burns have
 all disappeared or that everybody is
 singing in the chorus of his praise. On
 the contrary, he is being most vindic-
 lively attacked. Even Mir. Balfour
 went out of his way recently to make
 bitter reference to the labor leader,
 though he admitted that Burns pos
 sesses great abilities" Perhaps the
 most scathing criticisms of Honest
 John," however, have come from tho
 FtIy IdUOI LdAh6 l1ot AC 10 CuRPOoSN W lead. The Socialists cannot forgive him
 for accepting office in bourgeois
 cabinet, refer to him as an apostate and say that his days as labor man are over. Notwithstanding this fro from behind and in spite of the further fact that his reelection to parliament
 was probably the most bitterly con tested of any Liberal candidate, wealthy Liberals and Socialists striv. ing with the Conservatives to defeat him, he was triumphantly reelected from his old Battersea district and that by a majority of 1,5OO larger than that which was given him in his last pre- vious canvas.
 Candle Molder's Apprentice.
 John Burns was born in Battersea in 1858. His parents were from Ayrshire, Scotland, and 1t is said that he is dis tantly related to Robert Burns, the poet. John, as he is familiarly called by everybody, was taken out of school at the age of ten and. like Ben Frank lin, was apprenticed to candle molder. He next went into boiler factory and finally became stationary engineer. His father having died ear ly, the boy was compelled to help keep his mother While still youth he ran an engine in the Niger river country. in Africa. While here he dug copy of Adam Smiths Wealth of Nations" out of the sand The reading of this book started him to studying social questions. Returning to England, he began reading all the advanced and Socialist literature that he could pro- cure and soon made himself power in workingmen's organizations. He spoke on the streets and in the parks and brought the denunciations of conserva- tives on his head for being a ''dema- gogue" and "disturber." At one time he was arrested, but secured liberty for himself and his companions by an eloquent plea. At later time he at- tempted to hold meeting in Trafal- gar square, for which he was arrested and served short jail sentence. He organized numerous strikes and led them, the most famous of the list being the great dock laborers' strike in Lon don. Then for almost week John Burns scarcely ate or slept, and his straw hat became the ''orifamme of war" These things made him not only the most conspicuous labor leader of the world, but brought down on his head the hatred of the nobility and moneyed classes of nearly all England.
 For all that Burns was elected member of the first London county council, position that he has held ever since. As such he has labored in- cessantly for the proper housing of London's poor and has made his na- tive Battersea a model for all cities. Notwithstanding his hard life and rough surroundings, John Burns has artistic tastes, which are in evidence in his municipal reform work.
 A Most Effective Orator.
 Perhaps it was his success in being elected to the county council that sug- gested his running for parliament At any rate, he made the race and was successful. and he has been returned to every parliament since. He is rec ognized as one of the most effective orators in England, and his speeches are always packed with facts. While he has educated himself, he has done the job thoroughly. He never speaks in parliament to empty benches. for 1t is realized that when he is up be has something to say and that he will fur nish new information on the subject at issue. His presidency of the local gov ernment board gives him control of all the municipalities of Great Britain. A for which his service n the London county councl has pecul- arly fitted him.
 Until made member of the cabinet John Burns never received a penny of salary from any of his offices, but was given a meager $7J0 a year from labor organization. On this he lived fery modestly in few small rooms in Battersea. nor has he changed his node of life since be became a minis ter He married girl he had known IS a playmate. and they have one son. Burns has had innumerable offers of money. but has spurned them all. One nan wrote to him offering bribe. and Burns answered with the statement hat it was well the offender was not n reach of his boots. Money. hate f = ha hoe s.sd 1fro,. ,ra h.- -,