Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1906-05-18

! Wv. NN''So sAO sAAO wa - - ~s A<Od
don. when the first lodge of this order
was instituted; that it is legitimate
successor OF one of the medieval craft
guilds. If it be true that the origin
of Freemasonry dates from remotesl
antiquity, it presents good argumen,
that organizations and societies fol
mutual aid have existed among men
from the dawn of history, when they
, first became conscious of the benefits
to be derived by cooperating among
themselves to accomplish desirable
ends, as shown by inscriptions chiseled
in the rocks and upon slabs discovered
in the ruins and caves found by recent
investigations in countries bordering
on the MEDITERRANEAN Sea, its tributar.
les, and in certain portions of Asia sit
uated hundreds OF miles inland. Writ.
ings on parchment were easily mutt.
lated, or destroyed; but the inscrip.
tions upon rocks and slabs revealing
incidents identified with the every day
life OF the proletariat could not have
been disposed of so readily. Many OBJ.
scure passages found in the ancient
histories, with the aid of these testi.
monies become more ineligible to the
latter day investigators. The earth is
giving up its secrets in this respect.
Granier claims members Of organized
trades assisted in the construction Of
King Solomon's Temple. See also,
Antiquities of the Jews by Josephus,
Chap. 2, Book VIII.
Good king Numa who reigned at
Rome about 700 BIC. was instrumental
in procuring the passage of laws, re-.
quiriug the organization of the work.
ing and mercantile classes into unions.
Numa lived long enough to under
stand that through the efforts of the
unions of the workers he had laid the
foundation for the upbuilding OF a
great city; destined to stand as time
afterwards developed in the foremost
ranks of the great nations of tho earth
Soon after the death OF this good king
the gates OF the Temple of Janus were
thrown open to 80 remain for centur.
les thereafter. For more than five
hundred years those unions were po.
tent forces in the development of the
military strength and prestige of Rome,
as we'll as in the matter of her com.
mercial pursuits.
True, at times they came in con.
fict with the government and aristo.
cratic class, and were greatly crippled
by the conspiracy laws formulated at
the instance of Cicero and Caesar, So
B. C..
At about the year SO, B. c., Sulla, a
Roman general, an aristocrat of cruel
propensities, slaughtered more than
fifty thousand workingmen at Rome
and vicinity.
The old unions of metal workers,
carpenters, stone.masons, plasterers
etc, we're not wiped out in consequence
of this great slaughter. but were driven
under cover as shown by the inscrip-
tions in the catacombs and upon rocks
revealed by investigations occurring in
the latter eighties, where they had
their regular places of meeting, en-.
joyed the solace and advantages of
fraternalism including eating at the
common table. Following the death
of Numa, the metal workers having
been efficiently organized under gov.
ernmental authority, we're largely EN-.
ployed in manufacturing arms for the
use OF the Roman soldiery. Having
been thus we'll organized these unions
developed great skill in their particu.
lar callings, which doubtless contrib
uted greatly to the marvellous success
of the Roman arms. Wards Ancient
Lowly. Vol. l, PIP. 373-377.
The common laborers in ancien
Rome were considered too ignoble to
perform military duty. Her armies
for the most part were composed OF
members of the aristocratic classes
and the free citizens. The common
laborers we're considered good enough,
however, to produce food and luxuries
for the ruling class; provided they
kept quiet, and worked diligently. If
they became restless, and attempted
to assert their rights, their masters
chastised them.
All manual labor had been formerly
performed by slaves. which inherited
. taint in the opinion of the ruling
class, when it afterwards came to be
performed by freedmen, who we're
emancipated slaves. At one period in
Roman history no convict of aristo.
cratic birth could be compelled to per-
form hard labor. Not thst he might
suffer disgrace therefrom, but that
such service would cast shadow upon
the family to which be belonged.
The inscriptions found in the caves
Of Italy, and also upon slabs show,
that the arrowsmiths, battering.ram.
| makers, butchers, cobblers, oil-grind-
ers, cattle.fodderers and haymakere
were organized into unions. The laws
Of the Twelve Tables at Rome, adopted
about $50 years after the time OF
Numa, recognized and provided fol
euch organizations.
The Code Of Solon, the great Athen
ian law-giver, 592 B. G. authorized
such labor unions. G. Osborne Ward
translator and librarian of the U. s