The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1907-11-14
One Thousand People Attend the
Mass Meeting Given Under
Auspices of Unions
OFFICIALS WERE SPEAKERS
Declare Badger Brass Company Has
Locked Out Workmen and That
WOrkmen Are Ready to Meet
Employers Half Way

More than a thousand people at
tended the meeting given under the
auspices of the Trades and Labor
Council at the Rhode opera house on
Wednesday evening, when prominent
leaders among the union men of the
state spoke of the position of the
union men in connection, with the So
called lockout at the plant of the
tude which union labor would take
toward the newly organized Manufac-
turers' Association. The speeches
were, for the most part, of a con ella
tory nature, and nearly all of the
speakers declared that the union men
were ready to meet theft employers
half way in an effort to reach an
agreement which would bring bet
ter industrial feeling in Kenosha and
secure the continuance of good times
for both the manufacturers and the
1aboring men.
! Former Alderman William Kauff-
mann, a member of the Executive
Board of the State Federation of
Labor, presided at the meeting and
stated that the purpose of the meet.
ing was to explain the position of or
gained labor in regard to the situa-
ton at the Badger, and to show the
people the real purposes of the Manu-
facturers' Associa ton.
! The principal speakers at the meet
ing were A. D. Grout, the president
of the Metal Publishers International
Union, and w. A. Jacobs, the deputy
organizer of the Wisconsin State
Federation of Labor. Neither of the
men showed any tendency to become
an agitator, and they confined their
remarks largely to discussion of the
conditions existing in Kenosha, and
to pleading with the people for aid in
uphold1ng the union principle.
Mr.. Grout stated that the Metal
Polishers International Union was a
conservative body, and that many
times the international had sacrificed
demands of its members in order to
avert trouble. He claimed that the
members of the union had been locked
out of the Badger Brass Company's
plant, and that the company had vio-
lated an agreement with the metal
polishers in locking them out. He
went into the history Of the troubles
between the Badger Brass and the
international Union, and declared
that all that the union men asked
in their last proposition was to be
permitted to return to work under
conditions which had existed for
years and which had seemed to be
entirely satisfactory to employers and
employed. He declared that the men
were asking for no new scale of
/ wages nor new scale of hours, but
they had simply asked that the condi-
tons which had prevailed in some
cases for six years, continue. He de-
c1ared that the officials of the Badger
Brass company had asked for writ
ten agreement, and that for this rea-
son one had been submitted. He
spoke of the benefits of union labor
and urged the necessity of organiza-
tion among laboring men. Mr.. Grout
said that the men were ready and
! willing to return to work under the
old conditions, and that this was all
| that they were asking.
In concluding Mr.. Grout said that
he did not question the right of the
manufacturers of the city to organize
, but that labor should have the same
right. "Time alone" said Mr.. Grout,
twill show the Badger Brass company
whether the managers of the plant
are running the factory or the men in
the shops. Our only request is that
| the men be allowed to return to work
under the old conditions and I do not
believe that they will return under
any other conditions
Treasurer Fred Brockhausen of the
| Wisconsin State Federation of La Dor
was the next speaker and he spoke of
the interest of the small business man
IN maintaining the union principle.
| He declared that much was to be
gained by the business man by the
continuance of the union princip pie in
kenosha and told of the results that
followed the routing of union labor in
other cities. He said that the ques-
ton was one of great interest to every
resident of the city and that it should
/ be given careful consideration.
| w. A. Jacobs, of Racine, the State
[ Org anizer of the Federation, spoke at
length. He said that the fight in Ke.
| nosha was the same old fight that had
been on since the beginning OF civil
| cation, that organization was the law
of nature, and that the laboring men
must organize II they would survive.
He declared that civilization was max
ing its last struggle IL Kenosha and
| the struggle was between the tyrant
| and the human. He granted capital
the right to form an org anization and
insisted that the organization of la
Dor was just as much of a necessity.
He declared that the organized labor
of Kenosha was not asking for any
thing unreasonable, but simply de-
/ sired conditions to continue as they
1 To 81 a. 1