The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1908-01-11
CHICAGO THE GREAT LABOR
CENTER OF The UNITED STATES
Cutting Down of Payrolls Throughout the Middle
West Has Greatly Increased the "F!oatipg Po-
pulatiou"--Effort Being Made to Drive Out
of Chicago the Black Hand Society.

lE-@~@%>S>s>
Chicago, Ills. Jan. 10. The whole
lsale cutting down of payrolls through
out the middle west has now swelled
the normal $4,000 floating popula-
Ition" which throngs the cheap lodg-
ing houses OF Chicago each winter,
even IL the most prosperous times,
this year TO nearly 100000. One un-
fortunate from Denver, man of G7
who had just one nickel left, was
starting life anew after losing $780,
900 in mining venture. He had no.
had q full meal for several days and
the throngs he found in Chicago dis
couraged him and he finally found
employment in a suburb. Each night
several hungry men have been given
hot coffee and sandwisches from a
wagon stationed on the west side.
all of the cheap lodging houses are ov-
er-crowded; the Bridewell Is filed to
ovefflowing by mehr who have broken
into Il rather than go hungry and the
County Aims House Is full to its
limit. Not in ten years has Hogan's
Flop" the winter resort of hoboes.
been so overtaxed. The Salvation
Army and Volunteers OF America, the
missions and charity headquarters are
swamped with the demands put upon
them. At this season usually the rail-
roads keep employed tens of thous-
ands of men who this year are laid
off," Some of these will find work
on tna u,h a,,tt
and some of them will so to lumber
camps, but the crews in the lumber
camps are not being worked full time
and men have not been taken on for
the winter work as usual. Chicago
Is the great labor center of the United
States where the ice. lumber, man
ufacturing and railroad interests re-
'cruit for special undertakings and it
is expected that the money stringency
will soon be modified so that the
normal amount of employment will
be offered and the army of the unem-
ployed be reduced somewhat. How
ever, the winter of 1907 and 1908 Is
likely to be one Of the hardest ex-
perienced by men of the unskilled
class Tor many years.
Government of corporations by re-
ceivership, which was tried out here
last week on the Chicago & Milwau-
kee Electric Railway was brought to
an end so summarily that such ex-
periments are not likely to be re-
peated. The recelvership was had on
the eve of the interest payments
without notice to the company and
on the complaint of an unknown per-
son who claimed $25OO of stock in
the company but who was not
stociohoader of recordl 1t was a
complete surprise to President A. C.
Frost, for the heavy construction
work OF building its road into Mil
waukee was carried on without letup
during the intense money stringency
OF the past four months and the road
is practically completed. The court
(which ordered the receivership DIS
missed 1t two days later. President
Frost afterwards made this comment
| "The charges made were that the
company's securities had been used
for developing other enterprises. The
facts are that This company has not
isued a single dollars worth of stock
or bonds for nearly three years, dur
ing which time nearly 100000 has
been extended for permanent i'm
provements and betterments out OF
surplus earnings. The company has
ample funds to complete the road and
meet all obligations. II such re-
lceivership should become a precedent
| In the United States. II would open
wide the door to the most dangerous
assaults upon the security of cor
porate enterprise. Banks and mer-
camille houses would not be safe from
similar thundenboits.
There now Is prospect that an ap-
propriation bill for the Lakes-to-the-
Gulf deep waterway project will not
be postponed by the present Congress
as any big general river and harbor
bill will be, because of prevailing
financial conditions. Advocates of the
deep channel down the Mississippi
valley expect to urge, against any
eastern opposition. that the tax pay
ers of Illinois and of the states from
Chicago to the Gulf Of Mexico already