The Glasgow courier. [volume] (Glasgow, Mont.) 1913-current, 1919-11-14

(By Capt. Linden O. johnson, il
Burning the second and third week
OF October the writer was given an
opportunity to visit the steel mills at
Cary, Hammond and South Chicago. !
IAe visits were inspired by curiosity
to see how these gigantic strikes are
conducted, and the purpose of this ar
ticle will be to set forth the aims
that are governing these striking
workmen.
At the Gary steel mills approx
mately 10000 men were employed be-
fore the strike. The minimum wage
paid for unskilled labor was $3.50 per
day, the maximum for skilled labor,
other than that Of clerical or manag-
erial capacities, was $50 per day.
From this $50 per day, however, the
workmen agreed to employ a helper.
An extreme allowance for this help
would be $40 per day, leaving the
maximum for skilled labor about $50
per day.
The workmen were housed in mod.
ern cottages and apartments. Heat
was supplied from exhaust steam from
the factories and was available sum-
mer and winter. Electricity and gas
were furnished for lighting and cook
ing purposes. The water and sewer
age systems were the best that could
be installed. Rentals we're graduated
from $12 per month up and based on
the number Of room used.
lGymnasiums, recreation rooms, rest
rooms, free libraries, shower baths,
medical attention, cafeterias operated
at cost and social organizations were
provided for the men.
OF the men employed in these es-
Establishments, it was estimated that
80 per cent were of foreign extraction.
After a number Of interviews with
these men it Vas apparent that the
estimate was not generous, and it
was fully as obvious that this proper
ton evinced little desire to avail them
selves of the benefits of American cit
izenship. However, the outstanding
feature Of the interviews with these
men is that without exception they
acknowledged conditions of the ex-
tre.lest poverty in their native lands,
they admitted a yearning to come to
America where good homes and de-
cent wages were the rule, where a
workingman's earning capacity was
limited only by his own limitations.
On the whole they were satisfied with
their lot, and when the question of
why the had gone on strike was put
to them the answer was invariably be-
cause they had been ordered to do so.
One Of the biggest surprises vas
the number of high grade cars own
ed by the workingmen and, as the liz
ard said of his caudal %appendage,
thereby hangs a tale. When the pick
cts were established at the Gary steel
mills the a owners were employed
at So a day to take the pickets to
and from the mills. The pickets were
taken to the mills in the morning and
returned in the evening, and the night
shifts were handled the same way, and
calculated on a mileage basis, the pay
was extremely high. Nevertheless, the
car owners, probably to show their I'M
stinted fealty, their undying devotion
to their union, inaugurated a strike
within a strike, asking for an increase
of so per cent, or a daily wage of $12.
1t is immaterial whether or not their
demands were met. The point is too
obvious to require comment.
In an interview with one workman,
the writer was told that he had been
dragging out an existence of unhap-
piness at the rate of $22.50 per day,
and he had gone on strike to better
his lot. Can you, Mr.. Farmer, under
stand the mental f~unctionings of this
man? Are you prepared to give this
man your sympathy and moral support
and in contemplation foresee the eff
feet his action will have on the price
of a binder, a mower, pillow or rake =?
Are you prepared to accept as the un-
biased truth the proposition that the
laborer and the farmer are now meet
ing on common ground to work for mu-
tual benefit?
There is an old threadbare, worn
cut saying that figures won't lie, but
liars will figure. The Minnesota
Leader, exponent of Nonpartisanship,
declares in its current issue that the
farmer and laborer are shaking
hands," That statement has the same
relation to the truth that carbolic acid
has to a prune sundae. Dozens of those
workmen in Gary, Hammond and in
South Chicago were asked why prices
had increased, and the reply invar-
iably was lack of production. Supply
has fallen off, the demand for the
manufactured article has increased,
and the world-old result inevitably fol-
lows-prices go up. The man power
- ALo -o+;oo hoe hooo ~oox.-:.Jl-. 80