The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1908-09-08
After Public Address James
Wilson States Bryan Is a
Friend of Laboring Man and
Taft Is Opponent.
JAS. E. WATSON WAS
SCORED BY SPEAKER.
UnioniSm Pointed to As Prop.
er Solution of Labor Ques-
tons and Depicted in Alto
gether favorable Light.

In an interview upon the conclusion
of his strong address to the local labor
unions at Glen Miller park yesterday
James Wilson. international president
of the Pattern Makers Union of North
America, delved into politics and came
out fiat footedly In support of William
Jennings Bryan the democratic candi-
date for president.
Mr.. Wilson said: Bryan has the in
terest of the laboring man at heart
while Taft does not even consider the
laboring classes in the republican plat
form. Mr.. Taft was one of the first
men to issue an injunction against the
laboring men when he was federal
Judge at Cincinnati, Wilson claims.
Bryan has the platform plank that is
for the benefit of the laboring classes
and l think that IL is up to the labor
ing man to investigate and think over
the situation before he casts his vote
in November. The result of the elec-
tion in November will show to a mark
ed degree the respect that the labor
ing man has for Samuel Gompers,
president of the American Federation
of Labor.
While talking Of promoting the In
terests of the labor unions in his ad-
dress Wilson scored James E. Watson.
the republican candidate for governor
of Indiana. Mr.. Wilson in his speech
proper said. Watson on every occa-
sion has shown that he IS against the
laboring man. When tho sixteen hour
railroad bill was before congress he
voted to defeat it He favored the
ship subsidy bill, and endeavored to
defeat the anti compulsory pilotage
bill, and voted to nullify the eight hour
law in the construction of the Panama
canal and refused in many other ways
to recognize the demands of labor
while representative from the sixth
district and the whip of tie house OF
representatives"
A crowd of representative persons
listened to tho address and applauded
the remarks frequently. Tho principle
speaker was introduced by Fred Heit-
brink, former president of the central
labor council.
Mr.. Wilson said in part:
"One Of the greatest Things that tho
labor unions have accomplished is the
abolishing of the sweating industries.
The shops have been put in a sanitary
condition and many improvements
have been made for the benefit of the
wage Garner to raise him to a higher
plane of life. The unions have done
this. Richmond has never been famil-
lar with the sweat shop. Take Rich
mond for example Of how trade unions
may be of benefit to the community.
The people of this city are almost en-
tirely wage earners. Very few receive
more than S1.5O or $500 day, and
therefore 1t is recognized fact that
the merchants Of the city will only re-
eeive that much business.
Men oppose the union because they
have strikes. The men of the labor
unions do not approve of strikes. The
leaders try to prevent strikes. but
when the employer imposes conditions
on tho laboring man and will not dis
continue them the labor unions take
the strike as the last resort. The -ea-
son that the unions are bad light many
times is because the strikes are the
only things that are made public by
the newspapers, and they then greatly
exaggcrate the real condition.
The undesirable foreigners who come
to America are brought by cor
porations who try to break the unions.
q yEh iG m 10
Dor, is good enough to be associated
with the laborers. We don't want them
to be slaves and live In huts. but We
want them to have the necessities OF
life This i5 all the unions ask. II Is
| the spirit of the country. 1t is the spf-
rit Of the times, and the spirit of the
people to advance the American stand
ard of living. The organization of the
unions is due to the capitalists like
Morgan and others who are called cap
tains Of indugtry by imposing condi-
tions on the wage Garner that are un-
bearable.
''Scabs, the term applied to the nom
union men are class of men who
work against their own Interest and
this is because they don't understand
the work of the unions to secure bet
ter conditions When the union men
strike and leave factory the scabs
viii eventually strike. This has al
ways been the case and always viii.
The open shop. as the manufactur-
ers association calls IT is nothing but
non-union shop. II II here they wish
the union and the non-union to work
side by side in conditions that are not
fit for the southern slave People do