The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-10-05

and land monopoly ana placing the
burden according to the ability to
nav" A resolution supporting the
seight-hour day was mingled in the de-
hate with one recognizing that I'M
employment is now permanent IN
character, in busy as in slack seasons
in summer and in winter, and IS COM
mon to all trades and industries, con-
sequent upon industry being carried
on for private profit etc.
Flashlight glimpses Of the condition
of labor in 1903 may be caught in
reading statements made by delegates
at the Congress, usually in the course
of speeches on measures aHectlnS
their own occupations. Richard Bell,
M. P, General Secretary Of the Anal
gamate Society of Railway Servants,
said that when his union a
the Great Eastern Railway directors
for an e~ight-hOur day and an increase
Of two shillingS per week IN wages, pc
titions were sent to the company by a
large number of men,
earning II shi1ings a week ($4.25), re-
pudiating the demands Of the union.
The President Of the Congress, referr-
ing in his annual address to the Gov
ernment's land-tax item in the budget
wrote: 1.-The cry Of the landlords-that
in order to live their lives OF pleasure
and luxury it will be necessary for
them to curtail their expenditure on
charitable objects-is one which needs
only to be stated to be resented by the
people of this country G. w. Bower
man, M. P, of the printing trades,
said: "a return issued by the Board of
Trade not long ago gave statistics re-
garding the benefits paid by one hun
dred of the large trade unions for the
past ten years, and showed that the
accumulated expenditure for unem-
ployed, approximation, death, emigra-
ton benefits and so on, came to a little
under ten million pounds ($5 O.OOO,-
OOO). A. J.. Walkden, Of the Railway
Clerks Association, represented rail-
way clerks as working in unhealthy
holes" THE worst places were in the
goods departments, where night clerks
had to work in places which had been
occupied by a staff Of day clerks. Most
of the SO-called offices were badly ven
tilated, even in the daytime.' Station
masters and clerks worked Sundays
without payment or equivalent time
off. George Lansbury. of the London
Cnem ployed Committee, st a public
meeting, stated: There is work for
$4,000 men at the port of London, but
there are no less than %, 000 Compel
ing for the positions" II. r. Elvin, of
the Clerks National Union, gave de-
tails of a public office IS feet square
in which there were IS clerks, male
and female. constantly employed, a
Gdy anu ii niSill stan, SO Lndt the OITfcc
was never empty, that it might be
sWeetened by fresh air. The ventila-
ton was bad, and the only windows
looked into a passage" r. Smillie, M.
T., Miners Federation, speaking on
evictions, told of seeing Stseven hun
dred families of miners turned out on
the Wayside in the depth Of winter"
At HensWorth, an employer owning
100 houses, bought of another owner
a hundred or more, and then obtaining
an eviction order. turned all the peo-
pie out j. Hallsworth, Cooperative
Employers, asking that cooperative
societies should always pay the union
scale, said: There are societies With
trade ~unionists on the board employ
ing girls of IS or 10 years of age at
IS. Cd. (62 cents) and As. Sd. S1.1o) a
week of IS hours w. J. Davies, sup
porting a resolution calling for electo-
raj registry reform, remarked: Last
December, [ left London to take up
permanent residence in Nottingham,
and [ shall have to wait until July Of
next year before [ shall be qualified"
as a voter. T. Richards, NJ. P, spoke
of the Labor Party as "the only party
in the House Of Commons the majority
of which are total abstainers." w. T.
DaWtry, General Secretary of the
Steam Engine Makers Society, $4,000
members with a bank balance of s425,-
600. at a dinner, spoke of preferring
that a trade union congress should
deal more with direct trade union
questions. To his mind there was a ten-
dency for a sort Of rivalry between
trade unionism and politicians" One
like himself hardly knew which side
to k II. Smith, Barns1ey miners.
supporting better mine regulations,
said: I'm 1908, fatal in mines Gin Great
Brittany caused 1908 deaths. while
nOn-fatal accidents kept 141, S5f men
incapacitated more than seven days.
w. Ross, Paper Mill Works., stated
that for a quarter Of a million facto-
ries and workshops there were only
eco government inspectors. Council
Tor Webster, Bleachers, said that some
dye-works had not received visits from
inspectors for twenty years. S.
March. London Garments Union. advo-