The wageworker. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1904-????, 1908-08-15
THE PRINTERS GREET HUMPHREY OSUILIVAN
w. E.

| ber, it is an organization of printers
fcr, If l am not a printer myself, l
have given printers more work to do
than any other man, I think, in the
United States. applause ana laugh
| teri.
II am glad to be associated with you
in the bonds of this organization for
two reasons: In the first place. be.
cause you are the representatives of
tne great labor organizations of the
country, and you represent one of the
most intelligent branches of the labor
of the country; you represent one OF
the best organized branches of the
labor OF the country. And believe in
the organizations of the iaboring men.
believe in the organization for wnat
it does for those who belong to it,
| and I believe in it for what it does
! for those who do not belong to it, for,
| according to my understanding of the
work of labor organizations, its bene-
fits are not confined to it's
members. God has so linked us
together that, no matter what
we may desire, we cannot live
alone. God has so linked us TO-
gether that, no matter how we may
desire to confine our efforts to the
II ings that benefit ourselves, we can
not do it. No person who under.
takes good thing can monopolize the
benefits of that good thing, and the
members of the labor organizations
are engaged in a great work and a
work whose benefits they cannot
monopolize, even if they wanted to.
] believe that the labor organizations
OF this country are more responsible
than any other one factor in the inn
provement of labor conditions in the
United States during the last twenty
five years. (Great Applause). And the
Improvements that they have wrought
in the conditions that surround the
laboring men, these improvements are
shared by those who do not belong
tc the organization and who have
not, as members, contributed to the
expense of the organization. This
was brought to my attention few
years ago by a man in Chicago who
! was an employer. He had been ap-
pointed as one of committee to ar
citrate a strike, and when the men
had secured a ten per cent advance.
the question was raised whether men
not belonging to the union should be
employed with them; and the labor
iEg men proposed that those outside
of the union receive the pay they were
formerly willing to receive, and the
members of the union receive the ten
! per cent increase upon which they
! had agreed. The employer said, Why,
that is impossible, for those outside of
the union would not work for the
lower price If we paid you the in
| crease Thus, those outside of the
union were to receive and did receive
the increase in wages that was Sc
cured by the organization of the labor
ing men. Not only do they secure
the benefit of the higher wages that
have been brought about by organiza-
ton, but they receive the benefits, the
large benefits that come from the ad-
vancement of the various social re-
labor stands. In the fight to protect
the children from too early work, the
children of those who are not menr
hers of the organization share the
those who are members of the organi-
zation. In everything that goes to
provide for better examination of
mines, better health conditions for
those inside, reap the benefit
81 repeat that this world is so con-
structed that no good thing can be
monopolized, and it is well that it is
so. The farmer who introduces a new
kind of grain or furnishes information
in regard to the improvement of the
crops, one who improves a breed of
animals, he may do it for a selfish
purpose, but ne cannot keep the bene-
fits to himself. And these labor or
ganizations have been teaching the
idea of brotherhood, that is larger
than any separate organization of
men, and this idea of brotherhdoh
tnat lies back of any is the founda-
ton of the organizations of various
kinds in this country, is the growing
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