The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1909-01-10
Notable Labor Nan at Head
of immigration Bureau.
ORGANIZED LONGSHOREMEN
Hard Men TO Keep in Line, but
heefe Was Equal to the JOb-A
mentS and Living Up TO Them.
Employers His Friends.

The story Of Dan keefe IS the story OF
man who has fought all his life for-the
principle that q man must be true to his
word. says Z. c. Hopwood, in the New
York Evening Post There are few labor
leaders in the country VINO surpass Keefe
in ability or record Of achievement. All
through the Middle West he is compared
TO John Mitchell.
Keefe IS a farmers son His parents
lived on a small place near Chicago. He
was born in 1850 Five years later the
family moved 10 Chicago. With few OPP
portunIties for education. Keefe was
forced 10 go 70 work al an early age, and
as soon as his strength would permit he
became lumber shower" on the docks
i was rough work, but ne grew more
tuo-hsted and braWny than any Of his
fellows and Il was not long before bull
Cog courage, aggressiveness, and sheer
Physical prowess had given him the lead
ershlD of his associates. It was twenti-
eth centuarv Observation-Disclosures TO the
king because he was the best man. the
man who could do things.
After Keefes keen mind and good hstS
lad fixed his status ne began 10 take
stock OF the situation The disorder. lack
Of organization. and poor bargains The
dock workers made in selling their labor
impressed him strongly. and lie became
Instrumental III organizing them In lSz
lie became president OF the Chicago YES
sci I-nlOaderS- Union, q position he held
FOR twenty years
The organization Of the Chicago dock
workers was but a small part OF his task
He saw that 10 get the best results for
the vessel unloaders In Chicago il would
tc necessary 20 control the vessel work
CTS OF other ports around the Great Lakes
in 1872 the FIRST national organization was
formed az Detroit. II has grown 20 in
clude nearly ever -esseI leaders oTgani-
cation in the United States. an army Of
1900 closely organized union men Keefe
was the first president He has held the
position ever since with the exception Of
Two years.
On state Arbitration Board.
When John R Tanner was elected gov
e-nor Of Illinois in 1926 he appointed
Kesfe as a member Of the State board Of
arbitration, and he acted as chairman Of
that board until 1891 For some years he
was sixth vice president of the American
Federation OF Labor.
But al this IS dry history. The story Of
Keefe's organization Of his fellOW-woTk-
ers and his twenty-year battle for their
interests is a different tale. On all the
rolls Of labor no body Of men Is found
more turbulent and hard 10 manage than
the IOngshOremen. Il is 10 work for a
weakIing Only the strongest can bear
its grinding toll Keefe found the men a
drunken. riOtous. disOrderlv lot as d
whole. Ignorant and irresponsible, held
70 g low wage and oppressive conditions.
he found them anything but responsive
10 his ideas
At some OF tie ports they were organ
lied at others they We're not In any
event there was constant strife and dis
cord between them and The employers.
Sometimes the local unions made agree
ments which they kept as long as con-
venient and broke without computation
Some petty strike or wrangle was con-
stantly afo0t. and the losses 10 shippers
from delays and tie-Ups We're consider
able
Keefe went 70 the root Of their trouble
al once He proposed joint trade agree
ments between the employers and the
union men. The employers were Skepti-
cal. and they had good reason. They had
tried agreements before and had found
them a waste Of good paper and ink The
union men laughed at Keefe, some OF
them were kicked out Of meetings where
they became too prominent
Employers Liked Him.
But something about that fellow
Keefe" appealed TO the employers. They
liked his clear. fearless eyes that were
never dishonest or shifty, and they re-
spected his strong jaw. Mark Hanna
was one of his earliest and stanehest
friends. and he stood by the 1ongshore-
mems chief through thick and thin So
the employers signed the agreements
The agreements once signed. they be
came the most sacred things on earth 10
Daniel Keefe. Some Of the local unions,
Teverting TO their former methods, tried
10 break the contracts Keefe swept
down on them in a whiriwind OF rage.
What did they mean? Hadn't they given
their wOrd2 Wasn't that word 10 be
kept sacred2
Get back TO your work. he would
thunder. Get back TO your work or III
FIRE sou out Of the organization II
bring other union men here and put them
in your places. I'll show you whether
you can fool with an agreement that
way
Whipped and beaten. the rebels never
failed 10 return, and Keefe kept his word
inviolate- II was not long before peace
came wherever he had control The en-
plOyers. after years had gone by. began
10 consider him a friend rather than an
enemy.
As time passed the employers began TO
Keefe 10 break his word. When a set
Element was in the making ne fought
with all his might for his men. and he
generally won. but the employers realized
that higher wages with Industrial peace
was better than the old low wages and
The constant warfare they had wagei
with the irresponsible local unions. And
they had much respect for Keefe as q
fighter
Keefe was quite as severe with his own
men as with the employers If he thought
they were wrong At one Of the lake
ports they still tell with great glee how
he suppressed too blatant walking dele
gate. This man was standing out for a
settlement that Keefe knew the men
could never set. He insisted, and the
whole scale was put in peril
I'm for IS centsrT reared the walking
delegate for the twentieth time The
men has il comm and they ought 10
have it
keefe turned on him with fine scorn.
You're nice man 70 tell what any
one ought TO have he said why. you
haven't had the dust Of the docks on
your shoes for two years. We can get
along without you here. Get OUT
WOrkmen We're Appreeiafive.
While Keefe grew in the respect Of the
employers. the men came 10 swear by
hinl-even more. They saw their condition
Improve steadily, saw Shorter hours,
higher wages and better working cnndi-