Omaha daily bee., 1910-06-26

for the cause Of this worlds workers, it
cannot easily be penetrated 1t is the quietness which
is the srmor of the of tremendous plans and
ideas, the man of accomplishments
This impression of his quietness, and the power
behind his poise given by the first glimpse of the
It at the Commercial club rooms after the
organizing meeting of the Nebraska Council of the Ma
tional Council of the National Civic Federation. Men
grssped his hand eagerly, reinforcing the handclasp
by placing the left hand aectonately his He
had stirred their enthusiasm; they showed that These
men excited; he quiet appreciatve but
quiet. His attitude almost seemed to say: Yes,
yes; l know all that it's very hne but need more
than words"
When he turned to the waiting interviewer, it
with of the aside relaxation which often
s0ilows a public appearance. Still the quiet,
somewhat impenetrable pose.
Yet he will talk; yes, indeed talk about any of the
phases OF the labor question: talk earnestly enlighen
ingly and erudely that the ncautious questioner
realizes that this is question be touched
by any but the serious student In John Mtchell's
mind this is the big question of the day and in talking
with him it becomes the overshadowng question
listener we'll.
AS he talked his eye sometimes frightened
times twinkled; and sometimes he smiled little he
twrled and mended the cigar which he most appar-
emily had been chewing and now twirling; but
rarely did his tone change from that quiet tone of
courteous response to queries, only twice did
he give glimpse of the great interest which is
the real power of all his effort
why He Works for the Worker.
These gimpses, however, were each significant
One was when leading from general to personal topics
the interviewer asked how it was that he first took up
the work for the worker.
The labor leader didn't reply at first Then he said
slowly even musingly: well, l suppose it was be-
l a mine worker myself, when | was II
years old, before that a helper when / was T."
His next sentence of the few with feeling
expressed and suggested. II knew what the
! knew conditions. saw too, that If l myself would
rise out of those conditions, must help the others
do too That's always true what we are trying
to make true, trying to make the good of the
good of all. So you see my motive after ALL a
selfish one" That all
The next glimpse when he replied to the sug-
geston that since that time conditions had been much
bettered. Among my workers? Among the mine
workers? Yes, indeed, They've been revolutionized"
However, since he is a of action, rather than
dreamer he has not highly coored picture of the
Improvements which have wrought in the social
fabric of the country You can't things better
today than they yesterday" he says You can't
compare them that way and find much advance, but
you compare the conditions of today with those
of decade ago and then that there has some
betterment. Workers receive better wages live
under somewhat better conditions. And yet it isn't
safe either to draw any definite picture Of how
things will be in the future.--rve seen too many
visions of that kind disappointed" He paused and
menu0u his cigar Cnen houed WIN another OF his
effective touches of stress But things going to
be better; they've got to be better"
What "Johnna da Mitch" Means.
In the stress of the word got caught
domitable note of the warriors determination caught
glimpse of his vision of those millions of toilers
whose he is champoning. The glimpse made one
understand why the name John MITCHELL" is sesame
to enthusiasm of so many otherwise self-possessed
people Johnna da Mitch, the foreign-born under
ground toers chant it. 'Johnna da Mitch is the one
unfailing friend to these people, why, they pray to
him. exclaims of his favored friends. He's their
god. When they get their money they know that the
mining company has something to do with their get
ting it, but just the it's 'Johnna da Mitch who
gives em the money
Quotations fragmentary things giving but
small part of the impression of the talk from which
they culled These quotations are not the essence
of the talk with the labor leader, but the few per-
sonal gnts extracted from the replies which the labor
authority gave the neophyte.
When he speaks of labor's struggle, he does not
use short picturesque sentences; instead quietly
outlines what 1t is that the worker striving for He
did agree though that the struggle may be possibly
expressed by saying that the worker does not want
to become mere cog in an intricate machine a bit
of machine ITSELF he struggles assert to maintain
his rights to be and live a human being I'm a wav of
course he must be part in the large machinery but
not in the way that is SO often demanded He must
always be the human element in the machine"
Obstacles He Encounters.
Two great obstacles in the work. he said Are the
indifference OF the worker himself the hostility
OF the employer do not mean that all the workers
are stod, that all employees are hostile On the
contrary the workers a splendid lot of earnest
striving fellows, and there many employers who
do what they to better conditions but we find
this indifference and ind hostility and they are
our most serious hndrances"
In this connection Mr.. Mitchell emphasized the
fact that education, enlightenment factors in
the work of oetterng social conditions He called at
tention to what already has been done in this way
And. while he does not speak dsparagngly of the
work women are doing, he finds the work OF women
ana their organization more significant an express
sion of this general awakening through education than