THE LABOR MOVEMENT; 
 
 THE PROBLEM OF TO-DAY.' 
 
 THE HISTORY, PURPOSE AND 
 POSSIBILITIES OF LABOR ORGANIZATIONS 
 IN EUROPE AND AMERICA; GUILDS, TRADES- 
 UNIONS, AND KNIGHTS OF LABOR; WAGES AND PROFITS; 
 HOURS OF LABOR; FUNCTIONS OF CAPITAL; CHINESE LABOR: 
 COMPETITION; ARBITRATION; PROFIT-SHARING AND 
 CO-OPERATION; PRINCIPLES OF THE KNIGHTS OF 
 LABOR; MORAL AND EDUCATIONAL AS- 
 PECTS OF THE LABOR QUESTION. 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 GEORGE E. McNEILL, 
 
 First Deputy of Mass. Bureau of Statistics of Labor ; Scc.-Treas. of 
 D. A. jo, Knights of Labor. 
 
 ASSOCIATE AUTHORS: 
 
 TERENCE V. POWDERLY, 
 
 G. M. W., K. of L. ; DR. EDMUXD J. 
 
 JAMES, University of Pennsylvania; HON. JOHN 
 
 J. O'NEILL, of Missouri; HON. J. M. FARQUHAR, of New 
 
 York; HON. ROBERT HO WARD, of Massachusetts; HENRV GEORGE, 
 
 of New York ; ADOLPH STRASSER, Pres. Cigar Makers' Union ; JOHN JARRETT, 
 
 of Pennsylvania; REV. R. HEBER NEWTON, of New York; F K. FOSTER, of 
 
 Massachusetts; P. M. ARTHUR, Chief Engineer Locomotive Brotherhood; 
 
 W. W. STONE and W. W. MORROW, of California; FRANKLIN H. 
 
 GIDDINGS, "Sprinyfield Union"; JOHN McBRIDE, Secretary 
 
 Coal Miners' Union; D.J.O'DONOGHUE, of Toronto, 
 
 Canada; P. J. McGUIRE, Secretary 
 
 Carpenters' Brotherhood, Ohio. 
 
 NEW YORK : 
 THE M. W. HAZEN CO. 
 
 1887.
 
 Copyright 1886, by 
 A M. RRIDGMAN & CO. 
 
 [This book in sold only by subscription through our authorized agents. It can never be 
 obtained in any other way, excepting fraudulently. All person?, are earned not to buy this 
 book from torn, as all who sell it unauthorized by us will be held responsible 
 
 OP WM. M. H AI.STKP, 8 SPRUCE STREBT, NKW YORK. 
 
 COMPOSITION AND ELKCTRorvrtNo 
 
 BY THE 
 
 Co-or*XATiv PRINTINO AND PVIU.ISMINO Co, 
 aj, 27 and 39 HEATH STREET, BOSTON.
 
 PREFACE 
 
 THE worker, the thinker, the student, the statesman and 
 the capitalist are all forced, by the pressure of events, to 
 consider the Labor Movement and the Labor Problem. All 
 are witnesses of the power of combination for good or evil. 
 All may know that systems of industry change by slow, evolv- 
 ing processes, and that these processes of growth culminate 
 in crises of mighty import. The capitalist, seeking profit or 
 gain, and the worker, seeking better and easier condition, 
 mav work as partners, with common interests, or wage unre- 
 lenting war for the mastery. That the victory will come to 
 the side of justice and equity, is the certain prophecy of 
 history. 
 
 This book is an attempt to contribute something to the 
 peaceful solution of the Labor problem. The history of the 
 Labor Movement is the history of civilization. It has mani- 
 fested itself in all times and under all conditions of life. The 
 eternal query of life is, How to obtain comfort? The prayer, 
 " Give us this day our daily bread," is uttered by Pagan and 
 Christian alike ; and this demand for sustenance is supple- 
 mented by the hope for equity. So long as outward evidences 
 of aggregate prosperity are present, we are apt to forget or 
 neglect to know the conditions of some of those who con- 
 tribute to the results. In Europe, the frequent and almost 
 continuous periods of distress have compelled attention ; 
 and philanthropist, statesman and student have done much, 
 especially in England and France, to provide a literature 
 covering almost every phase of the movement. Dr. Edmund 
 J. James, of the University of Pennsylvania, has so admir- 
 ably condensed that history in his three chapters of this book, 
 as to need no editorial comment. In this countrv, the extent 

 
 IV PREFACE. 
 
 of our territory, the variety of our pursuits, and the form of 
 government have tended to lead us to overlook and under- 
 estimate the importance of the Labor movement. It is only 
 when .some great strike has checked the wheels of material 
 progress that our business-crazed community has stopped to 
 think. We claim for our work an earnestness of purpose to 
 find the causes, to trace the movement, and to point out some 
 of the measures that will culminate in a Republic of Labor. 
 The history that we present is the compilation of such facts as 
 could be gathered from records of labor organizations, news- 
 papers and pamphlets, and from the varied experiences of a 
 large number of thinking men in all parts of the country. 
 
 The growth of the national and international labor-unions, 
 trades-assemblies, central-trades and labor-unions and trades- 
 congresses, have furnished much of the more recent history. 
 These efforts to unite the men of all trades under one central 
 body have been supplemented by the most wonderful organi- 
 zation of modern times, the Knights of Labor. Its history 
 is largely secret, and we are permitted to present only that 
 part of its work which is open to public view. Its declara- 
 tion of principles is a bill of grievances and a platform of 
 measures, as broad as human hopes and desires, and it is 
 built in symmetry of proportion, like the pyramid, to remain 
 an enduring monument of human intelligence and human 
 effort. 
 
 In this volume, we have stated the laborers' side of the ques- 
 tion ; and, while making no claim for a scientific presentation 
 of the whole question, we have presented what will be provo- 
 cative, we trust, of a deeper investigation, and a more thorough 
 appreciation of the relation of man to man, regardless of con- 
 ditions, or opportunities of immediate gain, believing that 
 the security of all that is good is achieved when all are 
 participators in the full enjoyment of the opportunities of 
 civilization. 
 
 The chapters devoted to the history of the various organi- 
 zations of labor were compiled from information received 
 from their accredited officers. The history of the Knights of 
 Labor was mainly furnished by the six surviving founders of
 
 PREFACE. v 
 
 the Order. To all who have in any way assisted us in this 
 work, we tender our grateful acknowledgments, and espe- 
 cially to the North American Review, for granting us the 
 privilege of republishing Mr. Powderly's article, " The Army 
 of the Unemployed." 
 
 In addition to those who contributed, and whose names 
 appear on the title-page, it is the pleasurable duty of the 
 Editor to here express his thanks for valuable contributions, 
 to Thomas B. Barry, member of General Executive Board 
 K. of L. ; Josiah B. Dyer, Secretary Granite Cutters' Na- 
 tional Union ; George C. Block, Secretary Journeymen 
 Bakers' National Union ; Joseph Wilkinson, Secretary Jour- 
 neymen Tailors' Association; Thomas O'Dea, Secretary 
 Bricklayers' and Masons' International Union; H. Emrich, 
 Secretary International Furniture Workers' Union ; J. T. 
 Elliott, Secretary Brotherhood of Painters; W. S. Higbie< 
 Secretary National Silk and Fur Hat Finishers' Associa- 
 tion ; T. J. Curran, President Boiler Makers' and Helpers' 
 Protective and Benevolent Union ; H. H. Lane, Secretary 
 National Wood Carvers' Union ; Archibald M. Taylor, Na- 
 tional Secretary of United States Wool Hat Finishers' Asso- 
 ciation ; Joseph Dean, Corresponding Secretary of New 
 York Stereotypers' Union ; Louis Arrington, Manager of 
 Improved Druggists' Ware Glass Blowers' League ; E. F. 
 O'Shea, Secretary and Treasurer of Brotherhood of Railroad 
 Brakemen ; E. V. Debs, Secretary and Treasurer of Brother- 
 hood of Locomotive Firemen ; James B. Graham, of New 
 York ; Joseph R. Buchanan, Denver, Col. ; Henry J. Skef- 
 fington, Philadelphia. Pa.; Dr. S. S. Robie and E. H. 
 Rogers, of Boston. THE EDITOR.
 
 LIST OF PORTRAITS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 CKI \ir S. STEPHENS, Founder of the Knights of Labor (frontispiece). 
 TKRKNVI: V. I 'ONVOERLY, General Master Workman .... 20 
 GEORGE E. MCNEILL, the Editor 70 
 
 GENERAL EXECUTIVE BOARD, KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 FREDERICK TCRM-.K, 1 
 
 TIIOM \s B. BARRY, 
 JOHN \\". 1 1 \vi v. 
 \VII.I.IAM II. HAII.I.V. 
 RICHARD GRIFFITHS, 
 
 LEADERS OF THE KNIGHTS. 
 RKII\RD F. TREVELLICK, ] 
 ALBERT A. CARLTON. 
 
 CHARLES II. LITCH.MAN, 495 
 
 J. R. Brrii\\A\. 
 ISAAC CLINT. 
 
 NEW YORK LABOR LEADERS. 
 1 II.NRY GEORGT. 
 JOHN SWINTON, 
 
 ^ \MIKI. (JoMI'KRS, . 370 
 
 JOHN M. FARqi'HAR, 
 I \MI;S B. GRAHAM, 
 
 NEW ENGLAND LEADERS. 
 ROHKKT HOWARD, 
 FK \NK K. FOSTER, 
 
 FKANK 
 
 WILLIAM L. DoroLAS, 
 
 J. J. O'KEEFE, 
 
 TRADES-UNION LEADERS. 
 PETER M. ARTHUR, 
 JOHN JARRETT, 
 ADOLPH STRASSER, 
 JOSIAH DYER, 
 JOSEPH WILKINSON, 
 
 216 
 
 320
 
 GENERAL, ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 TRADES-UNION LEADERS. 
 
 P. J. McGuiRE, 
 
 JoiI.V J. McBRIDE, 
 
 EDWARD L. DAILEY, 
 WILLIAM WEIHE, 
 D. J. O'DoxoGiu i -., 
 
 P.U.K. 
 
 2SS 
 
 NATIONAL LEGISLATORS. 
 
 JOHN J. O'NEILL, 
 MARTIN B. FORAN, 
 JAMES B. WEAVER, 
 WILLIAM H. GRAIN, 
 FRANK LAWLER, 
 T. E. TARSNEY, 
 HENRY B. LOVERING, 
 
 180 
 
 DENNIS GUNN, 
 II. EMRICH, 
 W. S. HIGBIE, 
 GEORGE G. BLOCK, 
 THOMAS O'DEA, 
 
 TRADES-UNION LEADERS. 
 
 1 
 
 477 
 
 W. W. STONE, 
 CALVIN EWING, 
 JAMES H. BARRY, 
 JAMES G. McGuiRE, 
 PATRICK REDDY, 
 
 CALIFORNIA LEADERS. 
 
 1 
 
 437 
 
 GENERAL ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 THE MECHANICS' BELL . . . 
 HOMES OF THE COAL-MINERS 
 THE VETERAN CORPS, KNIGHTS OF LABOR . 
 FOUNDERS OF THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR 
 JOSIAH WARREN'S SCHEME OF MONEY . 
 
 134 
 245 
 
 535-SSO 
 400 
 
 73
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 PR K FACE "' 
 
 LIST 01 PORTRAITS vl 
 
 (HMKM. ILLUSTRATIONS vii 
 
 CHAPTER I. THE RISE OK THE MODERX LABORER Page I 
 
 BY DR. EDMUND J. JAMES. 
 
 CHAPTER II. HISTORY OF MECHANICAL LABOR Page 21 
 
 BY DK. EDMUND J. JAMES. 
 
 C I I. \PTER III. RECENT LABOR LEGISLATION Page 45 
 
 BY DR. EDMUND J. JAMES. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. THE LABOR MOVEMENT IN AMERICA TO l86l . Page 67 
 
 BY THE EDITOR. 
 
 CHAPTER V. PROGRESS OF THE MOVEMENT FROM 1861 TO 1886. Page 124 
 
 BY THE EDITOR. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. LABOR LEGISLATION Page 172 
 
 BY THE EDITOR. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. PRINTERS AND THEIR UNIONS Page 183 
 
 BY JOHN M. FARQJJHAK. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. SHOEMAKERS IN THE MOVEMENT Page lyi 
 
 BY FRANK K. FOSTER. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. PROGRESS IN THE TEXTILE TRADES .... Page 2 I 4 
 
 BY ROBERT HOWARD. 
 
 CHAPTER X. COAL MINERS ' . Page 241 
 
 BY JOHN McBRiot, ASSISTED BY T. T. O'MALLEY. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. THE STORY OF THE IRON WORKERS .... Page 268 
 
 BY JOHN JAKKI i i . 
 
 CHAPTER XII. THE RISE OF RAILROAD ORGANIZATIONS . . Page 312 
 
 Ki vi-n> BY 1'. M. ARTIII-R, for Locomotive Engineers; DATA FUKNISHEI/BY E. V. DEBS, 
 
 for Locomotive Firemen, and by E. F. O'SiiEA, for Locomotive Brakemen. 
 
 (viii)
 
 CONTENTS. IX 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. THE BUILDING TRADES . . f . . . . . Page 33! 
 
 BY THE EDITOR, ASSISTED BY E. H. ROGEKS AND P. J. McGriKK. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. MISCELLANEOUS TRADES Page 361 
 
 BY THE EDITOR. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. HISTORY OF THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR .... Page 397 
 BY THE EDITOR, ASSISTED BY THE FOUNDERS. 
 
 CHAPTERi XVI. THE CHINESE AND THE LABOR QUESTION . . Page 429 
 
 BY THE EDITOR, W. W. STONE AND CONGRESSMAN MORROW. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. THE PROBLEM OF TO-DAY Page 454 
 
 BY THE EDITOR. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. THE HOURS OF LABOR Page 470 
 
 BY THE EDITOR. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES OF THE K. OF L. Page 483 
 
 BY THE EDITOR. 
 
 CHAPTER XX- ARBITRATION Page 497 
 
 BY JOHN J. O'NEILL. 
 
 CHAPTER XXL CO-OPERATION Page 508 
 
 BY FRANKLIN II. GIDDINGS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION Page 532 
 
 BY REV. R. HEBER NEWTON. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. THE LAND QUESTION Page 561 
 
 BY HENRY GEORGE. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. THE ARMY OF UNEMPLOYED Page 575 
 
 BY T. V. POWDERLY. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. THE LABOR MOVEMENT IN CANADA .... Page 585 
 
 BY D. J. O'DONOGHUE. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 CIGAR MAKERS' INTERNATIONAL UNION . Page 597 
 
 BY ADOLPH STRASSER. 
 
 THE LABOR MOVEMENT IN CALIFORNIA Page 608 
 
 BY E. BURDETTE HASKELL. 
 
 THE LABOR MOVEMENT IN COLORADO .... Page 611 
 
 BY J. R. BUCHANAN.
 
 X CONTKNTS. 
 
 Till \\IION\I. (iK\\(,l^\M) P \TKO\s OF HrSKANDRY . . . Page 613 
 
 II v THK KDITOK. 
 
 SOCIALISM IN AMKKICA ............... Page 614 
 
 BY THE EDITOR. 
 
 ................... Page 617 
 
 DIAI.KAMS ....... ........ Page 6j8 
 
 'I' \I-.I.K.S ..................... Pugo 6
 
 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE RISE OF THE MODERN LABORER. 
 
 THE STUDY OF ECONOMIC HISTORY NECESSARY TO AN* UNDERSTANDING OF 
 THE LABOR MOVEMENT THB LABORER IN GREECE IN ROME AMONG 
 THE ANCIENT GERMANS AMONG THE ANGLO-SAXONS IN THE MID- 
 DLE AGES IN ENGLAND AFTER THE NORMAN CONQJJEST SOCIAL 
 CLASSES ON MEDIAEVAL ESTATE THE LORDS, SERFS, COTTAGERS, 
 FREE TENANT THE GROWING FREEDOM OF THE SERF THE BLACK 
 DEATH THE RISE IN WAGES AND EMANCIPATION OF THE SERF 
 THE COMBINATION OF LORDS TO REDUCE WAGES AND COUNTER-COM- 
 BINATIONS OF THE LABORERS THE ATTEMPT TO REDUCE THE LABORERS 
 TO SERFDOM THEIR INSURRECTION GROWING DEBASEMENT OF THE 
 LABORER DURING THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY STATUTE OF APPRENTICE- 
 SHIP FIXING OF WAGES BY PUBLIC AUTHORITY IN THE INTEREST OF 
 EMPLOYERS THE POOR LAW OF ELIZABETH ADDITIONAL STEPS IN 
 THE DEGRADATION OF THE LABORER THE LAW OF PAROCHIAL SET- 
 TLEMENT AND ALLOWANCE AND SYSTEM OF SUPPLEMENTARY ALLOW- 
 ANCES PRESENT CONDITION AND FUTURE PROSPECTS OF THE AGRICUL- 
 TURAL LABORER. 
 
 IF we would comprehend our present labor problems we 
 must study carefully the conditions out of which they have 
 grown. The modern laborer is a historical product. He has 
 been evolved out of a former condition by a set of influences 
 and forces of which he himself has been a prominent part. 
 If we would understand fully either his present condition or 
 his future prospects we must investigate carefully the course 
 of development by which he has become what he is, and the
 
 2 TlIM I.Aliuli MOYKMKNT. 
 
 means which are open to him to become what he should be. 
 II<i\v groat the difference between the condition of manual 
 labor to-clav and two or U-n centuries ago can be fully com- 
 prehended only by a careful study of the vastly different 
 social and economic conditions now and then. 
 
 The materials for such a study are being gathered slowly 
 and with much difficulty by a large number of enthusiastic 
 
 o % 
 
 and patient economists of the new school in Germany, En- 
 gland, France and America. Until very recently, indeed, 
 historians have given almost no attention to the social and 
 economic conditions of respective periods. The things which 
 have attracted their attention have been chiefly the striking 
 phenomena of national life, the course of wars, the outcome 
 of battles, political changes, the rise and fall of dynasties, 
 and other similar movements. The quiet and often vastly 
 more important changes in the economic spirit and system of 
 the age and country have escaped even the merest notice. 
 We are dependent for our knowledge of such things almost 
 entirely on the accidental mention of facts which may justify 
 us in inferring what conditions must have existed with such 
 facts, or on the accidental preservation of accounts, rent-rolls, 
 bills of sale and similar items. It is scanty, at best, and for 
 some periods is lacking almost altogether. 
 
 There is a special difficulty in the way of getting at all the 
 facts in .regard to the history of the laborer in past times," 
 owing to the circumstance that history has nearly always been 
 written by authors representative of, and in the interest of, the 
 ruling classes. We may consequently be tolerably sure that 
 e\ rrything will be presented from the standpoint of the aris- 
 tocrat and gentleman', or master and despot. We owe, there- 
 fore, a special debt of gratitude to such men as Brentano, 
 Schoenberg, Rogers, and many others who have worked in 
 their spirit, all of whom have made an earnest effort to find 
 out the exact facts about labor conditions and labor move- 
 ments in the past and have presented them without fear or favor, 
 though the simple presentation of the facts constitute in many 
 cases a terrible indictment of the policy and honesty of the 
 ruling classes in one country as well as in another.
 
 THE STUDY OF ECONOMIC HISTORY. 3 
 
 The materials for a history of agricultural labor are more 
 ample in the case of England than in that of any other coun- 
 try, while the rise of mechanical labor can be traced more 
 satisfactorily in the history of Germany than elsewhere. In 
 the following sketch,- accordingly, we shall pursue the history 
 of agricultural labor chiefly in England, and that of mechani- 
 cal labor on the Continent, and particularly in Germany. 
 This plan will not interfere seriously with the continuity of 
 the account since much the same conditions prevailed in all 
 the countries of Western Europe down to recent date. The 
 authorities for the statements of fact are chiefly the students 
 of economic history, mentioned above, upon whose writings 
 liberal drafts have been made wherever they would serve our 
 purpose. 
 
 Until very recent times the great majority of men were in 
 a condition of personal dependence, which, although vary- 
 ing much in different countries and at different times, may be 
 fairly termed personal slavery. The many have been com- 
 pelled to labor for the few, who, in the light of law and cus- 
 tom, were alone entitled to the fruits of the labor, and could 
 give little or much to the persons \vho actually did the work. 
 This condition is so different from those which prevail now- 
 adays, that it would at first seem as if it called for little atten- 
 tion. But a careful study of the history of legislation and 
 economic progress shows that it is simply impossible to 
 understand many of our existing laws unless we go back 
 to a time when the great mass of laborers were practically 
 the slaves of the few. 
 
 In Greece and Rome slavery was recognized as a funda- 
 mental institution of the state the absolute condition of any 
 progress in the arts and sciences. The slaves consisted of 
 captives in war, or of those who had been purchased from 
 those who had captured them, or those who had fallen into 
 debt and had no other way of payment than that of selling 
 themselves and children into slavery to the creditor, and of 
 those who in times of disturbance had no way of protecting 
 themselves except by giving themselves up body and soul 
 into the protection, /. <?., -the slavery of a superior. It was
 
 4 THE LABOR MOVKMKNT. 
 
 the hands of slaves "that tilled the soil, dug the mine, wove 
 the cloth, and built the walls of ancient Greece and Rome." 
 Labor with the hands, except that on a farm, was considered 
 beneath the dignity of a free Greek or Roman. It had to 
 be perlonm-d by the slaves or by free hired labor from the 
 lower class of citizens who aspired to no position of honor in 
 the state. It is estimated that in the early ages of Rome 
 there were more slaves than free servants, and it is certain 
 that in the times of the latter republic the large landowners 
 found it more profitable to cultivate their fields by slaves than 
 by free labor. It has been, claimed that the free citizens in 
 the provinces of the Roman Empire supported themselves in 
 agriculture by their own labor without the assistance of slaves, 
 but this is notlikely to be true. The great mass of the craftsmen, 
 smiths, carpenters, metal workers, shoemakers, tailors, dyers 
 and others were all slaves, either of those who wore or used 
 the products of their labor or of those who sold the results of 
 their exertions. The condition of these slaves was hopeless 
 in the extreme. They were regarded as mere animals with 
 no rights which their masters were bound to respect. They 
 could be tortured to death, struck dead, or flogged at the mere 
 order of the master, and no one, not even the magistrate, had 
 any right to interfere. 
 
 The Germans who conquered the Roman Empire and 
 established their dominion over every part of modern Europe 
 were also familiar with the institution of slavery. Tacitus, the 
 great Roman historian, describes the condition of the slaves 
 among the Germans in a few short but telling sentences. 
 The slave, he says, may be sold, punished or killed by his 
 master. lie, is not recognized as being a member of society 
 and is not allowed to dress himself as a citizen. It is true 
 that the actual treatment of the slave was not as cruel and 
 M'vere as one might suppose from the utter lack of rights. It 
 was much milder than among the Romans. The children of 
 slaves grew up side by side in the same house with the chil- 
 dren of the masters. This, of itself, would of course tend to do 
 away with some of the most common forms of cruelty. Mar- 
 riage between a free person and a slave, however, was forbid-
 
 THE LABORER AMONG THE ANGLO-SAXONS. 5 
 
 den under severe penalty. In some tribes the free person so 
 marrying was subjected to slavery and in other cases was pun- 
 ished by death. The greater independence of the German 
 slave from his master is also partly explained by the fact that 
 he often lived on a small piece of land which his master as- 
 signed him and from which he made his living undisturbed by 
 the latter, except when called upon for service or for a yearly 
 contribution consisting in a part of the crops which he had 
 raised. The development of this condition of things from this 
 state of absolute slavery up through the intermediate stages, 
 until slavery gave way to personal freedom in the present cen- 
 tury, was a very slow one and one which progressed very un- 
 equally in different countries. All the modern European coun- 
 tries commenced with this condition of affairs and have finally 
 ended with the legal independence of the present century. 
 
 The Anglo-Saxons who conquered England in the fifth and 
 sixth centuries after Christ, took with them the institution of 
 slavery. Two-thirds of the people were either absolute slaves 
 or in an intermediate state of bondage to the remaining third. 
 They might be put in bonds and whipped, they might be 
 branded, and on one occasion are spoken of as if actually 
 yoked: "Let every man know his team of men, of horses 
 and oxen." Cattle and slaves formed, in truth, the live 
 money of the Anglo-Saxons and were the medium of ex- 
 change by which the value of commodities was measured. 
 
 For centuries the Anglo-Saxon subdivisions of society were 
 maintained and the inhabitants of England were divided 
 into two great classes of freemen and slaves. Except the bar- 
 onial proprietors of land and their vassals, the free tenants 
 and seamen, the rest of the nation was depressed in servitude, 
 which, though qualified as to its effects, was uniform in its prin- 
 ciple that none who had been born in or had fallen into bond- 
 age could acquire an absolute right to any species of property. 
 
 The condition, however, of the people who were thus de- 
 barred from the first of social rights was not in other respects 
 equally abject and miserable. One class of villains or villag- 
 ers, though bound to the most servile offices of rural industry, 
 were permitted to occupy small portions of land to sustain
 
 6 THK LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 thrmsrlvi-s and families. Other ranks of men equally servile 
 are noticed in the ancient records, particularly the bordars 
 and cottars, the former in consideration of being allowed a 
 small cottage were required to provide poultry, eggs and 
 other articles of diet for the lord's table ; and the latter were 
 rmplovrd in the trades of smith, carpenter and other handi- 
 craft arts in which they had been instructed at the charge of 
 their masters. Inferior to these were the thralls or servi, prin- 
 cipally employed in menial services about the mansion. 
 Their lives were professedly protected by law and with the 
 consent of their owners they were allowed in some cases to 
 purchase their manumission. In other respects they were in 
 the lowest degradation, so much so as to be considered 
 mere chattels and regular articles of commerce. Giral- 
 dus relates that the number of them exported to Ireland for 
 sale, in the reign of Henry the II., was so great that the mar- 
 ket was absolutely overstocked, and from William I. to the 
 reign of John scarcely a cottage in Scotland but possessed an 
 English slave. In the details of the border wars mention is 
 frequently made of the number of slaves taken prisoners as 
 forming a principal part of the booty. 
 
 It is not easy to ascertain from writers the precise immuni- 
 ties of the several classes of bondmen mentioned ; the chief 
 differences in their condition arose probably from the relative 
 utility of their occupations, the servi or serfs as least valuable 
 being a more ordinary article of traffic and transfer than the 
 bordars and cottars who had been trained to useful arts or 
 obtained a fixed habitation. 
 
 All, however, alike appear to have been denuded of the 
 substantial attributes of freedom ; the law recognized in none 
 the uncontrolled right to property or change of place without 
 the consent of their superiors ; the lord had the absolute 
 disposal of their persons ; they might be attached to the 
 soil or transferred by deed, sale, or conveyance from one 
 owner to another; in short they were slaves in the strictest 
 sense of the word, men under an obligation of perpetual 
 servitude, which the consent of the master could alone dis- 
 solve, and in all probability enjoyed less legal protection from
 
 THE LABORER AFTER THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 7 
 
 the ill-usage of their oppressors than the humanity of modern 
 legislation has extended to the brute creation. 
 
 Attempts have been made to class the population existing 
 at the close of the Anglo-Saxon period into its several propor- 
 tions of nobles, freemen, and those of servile condition, but 
 with no great pretence to accuracy. In thirty-four counties 
 the burgesses and citizens are made to amount to 17,105, the 
 villains to 102,704, the bordars to 74,823, the cottars to 5,947, 
 the serfs or thralls to 26,552. The remaining population con- 
 sisted of freemen, ecclesiastics, knights, thanes, and land- 
 owners. In the opinion of Sir James Mclntosh, the per- 
 sons strictly slaves were not above one out of every seven 
 of the higher laborious classes of villains, bordars and 
 cottars. 
 
 In 1060 Anglo-Saxon England was conquered by the 
 Normans, under the leadership of William the Conqueror. 
 This conquest appears to have completely supplanted the 
 Anglo-Saxon aristocracy, and to have put the soldiers who 
 accompanied William into the places of those nobles who had 
 ruled the peasantry. There is no proof, however, that the 
 great mass of the people were any worse off after the con- 
 quest than before, nor is it at all likely that they were any 
 better off. The thane, as the Saxon lord was called, had his 
 villains and slaves, and there is no reason to believe that the 
 Norman baron was a worse master than the Saxon thane, 
 whom he superseded. 
 
 In order to get a fairly satisfactory picture of the economic 
 and social condition of the English people in the period fol- 
 lowing the conquest, \ve must glance at the life of the people 
 in town and country. Under the feudal system of society, 
 which had been developing under the late Anglo-Saxons, and 
 which was fully developed under the Normans, society was 
 sharply divided into different classes, with a peculiar and 
 complicated system of mutual rights and duties which has 
 never been satisfactorily explained in all its details. It seems 
 th'at in rural districts, i. e., outside of the chartered cities, the 
 whole country was divided into a series of landed estates, 
 some in the hands of powerful barons, and some in the hands
 
 8 THK LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 of the church. The great mass of the people lived on these 
 estates in various degrees of dependence on the lord of the 
 manor, as the superior was called, whether a baron or the 
 church or other corporation. 
 
 On each of these great estates there was one or more vil- 
 lages where the freer part of the dependents lived. The 
 settlement contained several orders of social life. First there 
 was the lord who usually had a manor-house or mansion in 
 which he lived. He had about this his special farm, which 
 he cultivated by means of his slaves and the labor which the 
 other dependents owed him as rent for their farms. The next 
 class was that of free tenants, i. e., tenants who were freemen. 
 Thev were independent of the personal power of the lord, 
 and had the right to take part in the village court, etc. The 
 other tenants were cottagers and bordars, who did not have the 
 same liberty as the free tenants, and finally the serfs who at 
 one period were regarded as the slaves of the lord, but. who 
 were gradually acquiring certain rights. The lord of the 
 manor was recognized as the owner of the serfs and the 
 superior of the villagers and cottars. But there were many 
 customs which limited very materially the power of the lord 
 over the land and his estate. It became usual for the lord 
 to assign to his serfs lots of land which they might cultivate 
 for themselves in return for giving a certain portion of their 
 products, and rendering labor at certain periods. It soon 
 became a custom, with all the force of law, that as long as the 
 serf or cottager performed his services, the lord might not 
 disturb him in possession. The lord could do what he 
 pleased with the lot which belonged to himself, but he was 
 entitled only to certain services from the holders of the rest of 
 the manor. There was also always a large portion of the 
 estate which was held in common by the lord of the manor 
 and his tenants, viz., the woodlands and pasture land. It 
 was recognized to be a right of the tenant to take as much 
 wood from the forest, and pasture as many cattle on the pas- 
 tures as he chose. It is evident that this was a most valuable 
 right, and one intimately connected with the welfare of every 
 tenant. As the serfs became tenants, these same rights
 
 CLASSES ON MEDIEVAL ESTATES. 9 
 
 passed over to them. The villagers and cottars, after they 
 had performed the services due the lord of the manor, had 
 their time for their own work. They had ample time after 
 they had tilled their own fields, to go out as day-laborers 
 either for their lord for such wages as he might pay, or for 
 other lords or fellow-tenants. The serfs acquired the same 
 rights in course of time. 
 
 As civilization progressed, it became usual for the tenants 
 to offer their lord money instead of labor for the services due 
 him. It w r as for the interest of both parties that this commu- 
 tation of payments in kind for money payments should be 
 made. In the first place it was very burdensome to the ten- 
 ant to have to leave his own work and go and help his lord 
 harvest just at the time when his own field needed his atten- 
 tion most. On the other hand it was very difficult for the 
 lord's overseer to get any amount of work out of the unwill- 
 ing tenant. The interest of both parties thus combined to favor 
 the new custom of commutation. As the services of the ten- 
 ants were not very valuable, since labor was cheap, the lords 
 were willing to let them off with easy payments. The serf 
 shared in all these advantages, and was rapidly becoming 
 almost as independent, so far as his earnings were concerned, 
 as the cottager or free tenant, the lord becoming, in the mean- 
 time, more and more dependent on hired labor. Everything was 
 thus rapidly progressing toward a time when the serf should 
 be free and independent, and the free tenant his own man in 
 every respect except the payment of a small cash rent, when 
 a sudden event happened which proved to be a disturbing 
 cause of the most powerful and far-reaching kind. The 
 Black Death appeared in England on the ist of August, 1348, 
 and within a short time one-third of the population of En- 
 gland had perished. The economic and social effects of this 
 terrible plague were far-reaching and long-working. One 
 of the immediate consequences was, of course, a great dearth 
 of labor, a very great enhancement of wages, and a serious 
 difficulty in collecting the harvests of those landlords who 
 depended on a supply of hired labor for the purpose of get- 
 ting in their crops. We are told that crops rotted in the fields
 
 IO THK LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 for want of hands ; that cattle and sheep roamed at large 
 over the country for want of herdsmen ; and that great estates 
 went out of cultivation. 
 
 Two important results showed themselves immediately. 
 The process of commutation for money payments became 
 more rapid, each landlord being willing to give his tenants 
 the host terms he could to prevent them from leaving, and 
 being willing to favor the serf to prevent him from running 
 away to some other lord who would defend him against his 
 old master, in order to utilize his labor. The second result 
 was the final emancipation of the serfs over a great part of 
 England. 
 
 It soon became evident to the lords that, what with rising 
 wages and falling prices of farm products, they would soon 
 be in a bad way. The remedy to which they resorted was 
 characteristic. They secured the passage of the celebrated 
 statute of laborers, in 1350, which remained on the statute 
 books of England for more than two hundred years, until, in 
 the reign of Elizabeth, 1562, it was replaced by another. 
 The statute contained eight clauses : i. No person under sixty 
 years of age, whether serf or free, shall decline to undertake 
 farm labor at the wages which had been customary in 1327, 
 except they lived by merchandize, were regularly engaged 
 in some mechanical craft, were possessed of private means or 
 were occupiers of land. The lord was to have the first claim 
 on the labor of his serf, and those who declined to work for 
 him or for others were to be sent to the common jail. 2. Im- 
 prisonment is decreed for all persons who may quit service 
 before the time which is fixed in their agreements. 3. No 
 other than the old wages are to be given, and the remedy 
 against those who seek more is to be sought in the lord's 
 court. 4. Lords of manors paying more than the custom- 
 ary rates are liable to treble damages. 5. Artificers are to 
 be liable to the same conditions, the artificers enumerated 
 being : saddlers, tanners, farriers, shoemakers, tailors, smiths, 
 carpenters, masons, tillers, plasterers, carters and others. 
 6. Food must be sold at reasonable prices. 7. Alms are 
 strictly forbidden to able-bodied laborers. 8. Any excess of
 
 LORDS, SERFS, COTTAGERS, FREE TENANTS. II 
 
 wages taken or given can be seized for the king's use. The 
 statute provides for the difference between summer and winter 
 wages, and guards against the emigration of the town popu- 
 lation to country places in summer. In answer to complaints 
 from employers this statute was re-enacted again and again 
 from year to year with accumulated penalties and precautions 
 penalties sometimes laid on the employers, sometimes on 
 the laborers, and sometimes on both. An attempt was made 
 in the beginning of the fourteenth century to enforce appren- 
 ticeship in the handicrafts with the view of making it difficult 
 to get into them and thus make the number of those who had 
 to take their recourse to agriculture larger, and thus secure 
 cheap labor for the landlord and tenant-farmer. It was in 
 other words a gigantic attempt on the part of employers to 
 keep down the wages of labor. 
 
 The rise in agricultural wages in all kinds of men's work 
 taken together, some years after the plague, when the rates 
 had become pretty steady, was fifty per cent., and of women's 
 work fully one hundred per cent. When taken together the 
 rise in the wages of artisans' labor was almost exactly the 
 same as that effected in the case of the husbandmen. The 
 result is marked, universal, permanent and conclusive, even 
 if we did not have on record the complaints pf the landown- 
 ers in Parliament that the statute of laborers was entirely in- 
 operative. 
 
 The combination of employers to depress wages to the old 
 rates shown by this statute, might, however, have been suc- 
 cessful if it had not been met by counter-organizations on the 
 part of the laborers. They formed societies; subscribed, as we 
 are expressly told, considerable sums of money for the de- 
 fense and protection particularly of the serfs and for the pay- 
 ment of fines. In plain English, the serfs entered into what 
 are now called trades-unions and supported each other in re- 
 sistance to the law and demands for higher wages. This is 
 especially noticeable among the peasantry, the upland folk as 
 they were called, to distinguish them from artisans and towns- 
 people generally. These facts are proved by the averages of 
 agricultural wages, which at first were only occasionally
 
 12 THi: l.AP.OR MOVEMENT. 
 
 \vrv high in comparison with what they had been before the 
 plague. At last, twenty years after the first incidence of the 
 plague, the combination seemed to have been completely suc- 
 cessful, and the prices of harvest-labor were more than double 
 those before the plague. Thus the results of this great eco- 
 nomic revolution in favor of the laborer were only saved by 
 the combinations of the laborers themselves to protect and 
 guard their own interests. 
 
 But the lords were by no means ready to let the case go by 
 default. They had not yet tried all experiments. They next 
 atu-mpted to do away with the bargains which they had made 
 with their serfs to accept money payments in place of labor 
 rents, and tried to compel the serfs to render again the old 
 labor rents which had been usual before the beginning of the 
 century, /. e., to reduce them again to villainage in the old 
 si-use. But the time for this had gone by. The serfs had 
 learned their own power and how to use it. They organized 
 anew and waited for their opportunity The secret was well 
 kept. The storm which no politician of the time antici- 
 pated burst on June 10, 1381. The uprising of peasant and 
 serf was simultaneous. For a time it looked as if the govern- 
 ment of England was destined to pass into other hands. Fi- 
 nally, by the use of treachery, the ruling party killed the 
 leader of the insurrection, Wat Tyler; and, persuaded by the 
 promises of the king, the peasants and the serfs returned 
 home. No sooner had the king seated himself securely again 
 than he proceeded to take summary vengeance on the rioters. 
 A commission was sent into the disturbed districts and some 
 i ,500 persons were taken and hanged. 
 
 The peasants were dispersed and defeated ; their leaders 
 were tried, sentenced and hanged ; but the solid fruits of vic- 
 tory remained with the insurgents of 1381. The peril had 
 been so great and the success of the insurrection so near, that 
 wise men saw it was better silently to concede that which the 
 Parliament had so stoutly refused to grant. It is absolutely 
 certain the claims of the serfs were conceded and that the 
 claims of the landlords were dropped. The custom of com- 
 muting old labor rents for money became universal ; the serfs
 
 THE ENGLISH LABORER IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 13 
 
 became free tenants and the insurrection of Tyler became 
 characteristically enough in the accounts of the historians of 
 the time a mere outbreak of a mob which had been stirred 
 to indignation by a brutal tax-gatherer. It is improbable 
 that the serfs would have held all the advantages which they 
 had at one time gained even if Tyler had not been assassi- 
 nated. But they caused such terror by what they did do that 
 they gained all they claimed, and that right speedily. The 
 English laborer for a century or more became virtually free 
 and constantly prosperous; and this again by his own efforts 
 in combination with his fellow la-borers. 
 
 According to the investigations of Professor Rogers, and 
 most other investigators agree with him, the fifteenth century 
 and the first quarter of the sixteenth were the golden age of 
 the English laborer, if we are to interpret the wages he earned 
 by the cost of the necessaries of life. At no time were wages 
 so high or the cost of food so low, and seldom were the hours 
 of labor so few. Within a century he sunk, from perfectly 
 intelligible causes, to so low a level as to become practically 
 hopeless. He then improved again, until in the first half of 
 the eighteenth century he reached a condition of comparative 
 plenty though not so prosperous a condition as in the fifteenth. 
 He then began to sink again, and the workman experienced 
 the direst misery during the great Napoleonic wars. Lat- 
 terly, almost within our own memory, the state of the laborer 
 has experienced a slow and partial improvement, the causes of 
 which are to be found in the liberation of industry, in the 
 adoption of certain principles which restrained employment in 
 certain directions, and most of all in the concession to laborers 
 of the right so long denied of forming labor unions. 
 
 Several causes conspired during the sixteenth century to 
 make the condition of the laborer worse than it had been 
 before. There was, in the first place, a great debasement of 
 the currency followed by an enormous rise in prices which 
 was not followed by a proportional rise in wages. It is possi- 
 ble that in the course of time wages might have risen to the 
 full extent of the rise in prices if the laborers had combined to 
 defend their own interests effectually. But not only did they
 
 14 Till-. J.AIIOR MOVKMKXT. 
 
 ni>t combine, but tin- ruling classes combined to keep wages 
 from rising, and they succeeded in this attempt. To make 
 the matter worse the king of England, Henry VIII., destroyed 
 the guilds, which were the mediaeval trades-unions, as will be 
 fully described in the next chapter, and confiscated their prop- 
 erty. This prevented them from extending their aid to pov- 
 ertv-stricken members and threw the latter on the community 
 for support. The artisan was thus attacked simultaneously 
 from two sides. His cost of living was increased while wages 
 remained the same, and the assistance which his benefit 
 society gave him in times of trouble, which allowed him 
 loans without interest, apprenticed his sons and pensioned his 
 widow, was confiscated. The agricultural laborer was driven 
 to the wall by the increasing habit of enclosures of the com- 
 mon lands by the landlords, thus depriving him of the rights 
 of pasturage for his cattle and hogs, and making the keeping 
 of these impossible. They deprived him also of the right to 
 take wood and timber from the common wood-lot. All these 
 things contributed to increase the number of the hopelessly 
 poor who had no prospect of rising above the lowest level of 
 society. So rapidly did this class increase that a law was 
 passed in 1547 to restrain pauperism and vagabondage by re- 
 ducing the landless poor, who were made poor by this policy 
 of enclosures on the part of the lord, to slavery by branding 
 them and making them work in chains. This act endured, 
 however, only two years. It was followed by a law providing 
 for the support of the poor. A few years after, in 1562, the 
 statute of apprenticeship was passed, prescribing a period of 
 seven years before practising any handicraft and empowering 
 the justices of the peace to fix the rate of wages in husbandry 
 and handicrafts. In 1601 the famous poor law was enacted 
 which, with the supplementary acts, completed a system of 
 legislation which did as much to degrade the laboring man 
 and prevent him from rising out of a condition of hopeless 
 dependence and poverty as the most bitter enemies of labor 
 or most warm-hearted partisans of privilege could desire. 
 
 The law provided for the regular appointment of assessors, 
 for the levy of rates, for supplying work to the ablebodied, for
 
 THE POOR LAW OF ELIZABETH. 15 
 
 giving relief to the infirm and old, and for binding apprentices. 
 It is evident that had the act of Elizabeth been carried out 
 in all its details the whole revenue of land might have ulti- 
 mately been swallowed up in the relief of the poor. Now, 
 it was plain that if the magistrates were to fix the rates at 
 which labor should be paid, as they regularly did in the six- 
 teenth and seventeenth centuries, they would have every in- 
 ducement to put the rate at the lowest sum which could main- 
 tain life, knowing well that if the laborer should become desti- 
 tute all occupiers would have to assist in his maintenance 
 while the benefit of cheap labor would remain to those who 
 employed labor, to which class the magistrates themselves 
 always belonged. 
 
 Only one more step remained to be taken to consummate 
 the degradation of the laborer, and that was taken in 1662, 
 in the law of parochial settlement, by which the laborer was 
 prevented from going from one parish to another in search 
 of labor. It made him, and has left him up to the present 
 time, a serf without land. It applied equally to the artisan, 
 but he was able to extricate himself from the toils of this 
 hateful law at a much earlier period. The law prescribed 
 that any person on removing into a parish and occupying a 
 tenement of less than ten pounds' annual value might be imme- 
 diately removed to the parish from which he came. An act 
 passed thirty-five years later recognized that the law of settle- 
 ment practically imprisoned the laborer in his place of set- 
 tlement where he could not get work, though workmen were 
 badly wanted elsewhere. It therefore empowered church- 
 wardens to allow laborers to migrate from their parishes if 
 the parish authorities would give security that they should 
 not be allowed to come for their support on the parish whither 
 they went. It is superfluous to say that such certificates 
 would be looked on with suspicion as expedients to relieve 
 a parish of its quota of poor. Hence it became customary 
 for those who employed labor from without the parish to give 
 certificates of indemnity to the parish that they would bear 
 the risk of the newcomer's charge. The effect of this law 
 was to annex the laborer to the parish of his residence, and
 
 It) THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 to make him the serf of the community. Those persons, 
 however, who owned the whole of a parish took care, when- 
 ever they could, to tear down cottages on their estate and 
 rely on labor from a distance. By this system, they hired 
 labor at the justice's rate, t. e., a factitiously low rate, while 
 the parish of the man's residence had to supplement his wages 
 and to bear all those contingencies which were enhanced by 
 the laborer's being constrained to travel a considerable dis- 
 tance to his work in all weathers. The law of settlement, 
 therefore, not only fixed the tenant to the soil but enabled 
 opulent landowners to rob their neighbors and to wear out 
 prematurely the laborer's health and strength. All this was 
 done, too, when the patriots and placemen chattered about 
 liberty and arbitrary administration, and fine ladies and gen- 
 tlemen talked about the rights of man and Rousseau and the 
 French Revolution ; and Burke and Sheridan were denounc- 
 ing the despotism of Warren Hastings ! Why, at his o\vn 
 doors at Beaconsfield, Burke must have daily seen serfs ^ ho 
 had less liberty than those Indians whose wrongs he de- 
 scribed so dramatically and pathetically. 
 
 No trifling percentage of the funds collected for the mai i- 
 tenance of the poor was expended in litigation on the cases 
 which sprang out of this law, since each parish tried to shift 
 the burden of the support of the poor, if possible, on the 
 neighboring parish. It was an evil inheritance of the English 
 people, perhaps the worst act of the worst Parliament which 
 ever sat, but it was an El Dorado to the lawyers. Many a 
 barrister owed his place in Parliament and on the bench to 
 his skill in arguing settlement cases, to the ingenuity with 
 which he was able to tighten the bonds on the peasant. The 
 wealthy landowners clung to it with desperate tenacitv ; for 
 it increased their rents at the expense of the tenants and the 
 laborers. What mattered it to them that the English peas- 
 ant's life was aged soon after his prime, if they could get 
 cheap labor and increasing rents? The whole force of law 
 was directed for nearly two centuries toward the solution of 
 this problem ; How much oppression ca,n the English people 
 endure, how much privation, misery and starvation without
 
 THE LAW OF PAROCHIAL SETTLEMENT, ETC. I/ 
 
 absolutely destroying the labor on which the growing rents 
 depend^* The present generation, though a portion of the 
 evil has been prevented for the future, inherit the outcome of 
 these two centuries and with it problems of the gravest kind 
 daily pressing for solution, and to which it is idle to offer the 
 nostrums of over-population, emigration, competition, and 
 other formularies of an ideal society. 
 
 Towards the close of the last century the Berkshire magis- 
 trates, struck with the appalling discrepancy between wages 
 and the price of food for the labor of the peasant could pro- 
 cure him, for several years, only one-eighth of the amount of 
 wheat which the same person could have earned before 1540 
 met and proposed, not that the mischievous law of Eliza- 
 beth, which established legal wages, should be repealed or that 
 the infamous law of parochial settlement should be done away 
 with, but that able-bodied laborers should have their wages 
 supplemented by allowances from the overseer of the poor,, 
 proportionate to the number of their children or the general 
 charges of the family. By this means they were enabled to 
 prevent a general increase of wages, to fix the wages of the 
 single and childless at a low amount, and compel all tenants 
 to contribute to the expense of agricultural operations. 
 
 It is no wonder that the condition of the agricultural laborer 
 is to-day a very unhappy one. Men do not come out of sucli 
 a state of debasement as that into which such a policy as this, 
 pursued for two centuries, has thrown them, in a few days or 
 years, or even decades. The very name Hodge, which is 
 applied to the British agricultural laborer, has come to be 
 used as a synonym of stupidity. In 1865 Prof. Fawcett 
 wrote in his work, on the economic condition of the British, 
 laborers, that theirs is a life of incessant toil for wages too- 
 scanty to give them a supply even of the first necessaries of 
 life. No hope cheers their monotonous careers : a life of con- 
 stant labor brings them no other prospect than that when their 
 strength is exhausted they must crave as suppliant mendi- 
 cants a pittance from parish relief. 
 
 The most hopeless feature in the case is the almost insur- 
 mountable obstacles in the way of any improvement on the 
 
 (2)
 
 l8 TIIK LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 part of the laborers themselves. The condition of the agri- 
 cultural laborer is very different from that of the atfisan in 
 this respect. Scattered and incapable of combined action 
 with his fellows, bowed down by centuries of oppression, hard 
 usa^e and hard words, with, as he believes, every social force 
 against him, the landlord in league with the farmer, the cler- 
 gyman in league with both ; the latter preaching resignation, 
 and the former enforcing it, he has lived through evil times. 
 Several attempts have been made of late years to bring about 
 an organization of agricultural laborers, but they have been 
 onlv verv partially successful. It is difficult to organize 
 laborers who live so widely scattered. The present laborer 
 can give absolutely nothing from his scanty wages toward 
 defraying the costs of organization, and it costs something to 
 conduct a successful organization. Those who attempt to 
 form such unions have to contend with the apathy of despair, 
 with the sluggishness of ignorance, with the habitual men- 
 dacity of distrust, and with the low cunning with which the 
 oppressed shirk duty. In other words, the long policy of 
 oppression has ended in sinking the laborer so low that he 
 has neither intelligence enough nor virtue enough to combine 
 with his fellow-laborers in order to raise their condition. 
 
 We have thus traced the process by which the condition of 
 the English laborer has been continuously deteriorated by the 
 acts of government. It was first impoverished by the issue 
 of base money. Next it was robbed of its guild money by 
 the land thieves of Edward's regency. It was next brought 
 into contact with a new and more needy set of employers, 
 the sheep-masters who succeeded the monks. It was then by 
 a pretence subjected to the justices' assessment of wages, mer- 
 cilessly used in the first half of the seventeenth century, the 
 agricultural laborer being still further impoverished by being 
 made the residuum of all labor. The agricultural laborer was 
 then further mulcted by enclosures of common lands and the 
 extinction of those immemorial rights of fuel and pasture 
 which he had enjoyed so long. The poor law professed to 
 find him work, but was so administered that the reduction of 
 his wages to a bare subsistence became an easy process and
 
 PRESENT CONDITION AND FUTURE PROSPECTS, ETC. ip 
 
 an economical expedient. When the monarchy was restored, 
 his employers, who fixed his wages by their own authority, 
 relieved their own estates of their ancient dues at the expense 
 of his poor luxuries, by the excise ; tied him to the soil by the 
 law of settlement, and starved him by a prohibitive corn law. 
 The freedom of the few was bought by the servitude of the 
 many. Fletcher, of Saltoun, an ardent republican for a nar- 
 row class, suggested hopeless slavery as the proper doom of 
 the laborers, argued that the people existed only to work, and 
 that philosophical politicians have the power to limit their 
 existence by labor. Throughout the eighteenth century the 
 most enlightened men gave the poor their pity; occasionally 
 their patronage, and would sometimes assist them at the cost 
 of other workers ; but beyond a bare existence never imag- 
 ined that they had rights or remembered that they had suffered 
 wrongs. The weight of taxation fell on them in every direc- 
 tion and with searching severity. It was necessary to find 
 funds at all risks and from every source ; and it is obvious 
 that the most fruitful source of taxation is that of necessary 
 consumption and cheap luxuries. It was, of course, impos- 
 sible to tax the absolute necessaries of the individual work- 
 man, else he would starve and perish. But the process left 
 him nothing but a bare subsistence. To crown the whole, 
 the penalties of felony and conspiracy were denounced against 
 all laborers who associated together to better their lot by 
 endeavoring to sell their labor in concert, while the despera- 
 tion which poverty and misery induce, and the crime they 
 suggest, were met by a code more sanguinary and brutal 
 than any which a civilized nation had ever heretofore devised 
 or a high-spirited one submitted to. 
 
 Such was the education which the English workmen re- 
 ceived from those days when the government employed and 
 developed those means for oppressing and degrading him. 
 It is no marvel that he identifies the policy of landowner, 
 farmer and capitalist employer with the machinery by which 
 his lot has been shaped and his fortunes in the distribution of 
 national wealth have been controlled. He may have no 
 knowledge, or a very vague knowledge, as to the process by
 
 2O THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 \vhich so strange, so woeful an alteration has been made in 
 his condition. But there exists, and always has existed, a tra- 
 dition, obscure and uncertain, but deep seated, that there was 
 a time when his lot was happier, his means more ample, his 
 prospects more cheerful than they have been in more modern 
 experience. From one point of view the annalist of the good 
 old times may be able to show that life was shorter, disease 
 more rife, the market of food more unsteady, the conveniences 
 of life fewer and more precarious than they are now. From 
 another point of view, and that by far the most accurate and 
 exact, the relative position of the workman was one of far 
 more hope and far more plenty in the days of the Plantag- 
 enets than it has been in those of Hanover. Wages were, 
 relative to their purchasing power, far higher, and the mar- 
 gin of enjoyable income over necessary expenditure was, in 
 consequence, far wider.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 HISTORY OF MECHANICAL LABOR. 
 
 THE MECHANIC IN GREECE IN ROME AMONG THE ANCIENT GERMAN-S- 
 ON THE MEDIAEVAL ESTATES DIFFERENTIATION OF EMPLOYMENTS 
 AND RISE OF CITIES OFFICIAL ORGANIZATION OF THE MECHANICS 
 RISE OF THE GUILDS CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GUILD SYSTEM DIVI- 
 SION INTO MASTERS, APPRENTICES AND JOURNEYMEN PRIVILEGES OF 
 THE GUILDS DUTIES OF THE GUJLDS (a) TO THEIR OWN MEMBERS; 
 (b) TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC POLICE AND JUDICIAL FUNCTIONS OF 
 THE GUILDS GRADUAL RISE OF DISTINCT SOCIAL CLASSES WITHIN 
 THE GUILD THE DIFFERENTIATION OF A LABORING CLASS AND THE 
 CONSEQUENT APPEARANCE OF THE "LABOR QJJESTION" DEGENERA- 
 TION OF THE GUILDS SELFISH POLICY OF THE MASTERS (a) TOWARD 
 THEIR WORKMEN; (b) TOWARD THE PUBLIC DEMAND FOR THE ABOLI- 
 TION OF THE GUILDS IN THE INTEREST (a) OF GENERAL LIBERTY ; (b) OF 
 
 THE LABORER HIMSELF; (c) OF THE LARGE CAPITALIST FALL OF THE 
 GUILDS AND RISE OF THE MODERN SYSTEM OF INDUSTRY. 
 
 THE preceding chapter was chiefly devoted to a history 
 ofj agricultural labor in England. It may serve also as 
 a general description of the course of development of agri- 
 cultural labor in modern times in all the countries of Western 
 Europe. The same general forces have been at work in these 
 nations for more than one thousand years, bringing about 
 the same general result in all, each case being, however, 
 somewhat varied owing to local circumstances and influences. 
 Many of the laws mentioned in the preceding chapter ap- 
 plied equally to laborers in the mechanical callings and, of 
 course, the forces and influences which determined the con- 
 dition of the agricultural laborer could not but affect in the 
 most intimate way the condition and welfare of the mechanic. 
 It is impossible to discuss one of these topics without touching 
 upon the other at various points. But there are certain 
 features in the history of mechanical labor which make it 
 desirable to discuss the subject somewhat more in detail. 
 Indeed, in order to understand at all the labor legislation and 
 
 (21)
 
 22 THE LAISOK MOVKMKNT. 
 
 labor movements of the last and present century, it is neces- 
 sary to comprehend the condition of things which preceded 
 them ; and we cannot do this without a glance, at least, at the 
 previous development of mechanical labor up to that time. 
 
 As the history of agricultural labor can be traced most 
 satisfactorily in the case of England, owing to the greater 
 wealth of annals, accounts and other materials ; so that of the 
 rise- and development of mechanical labor can be followed 
 most completely in the history of the Continent, and particu- 
 larly of Germany, where the followers of these trades became 
 at one time the freest and most powerful classes of society. 
 The free cities of the German Empire, which played such an 
 important part in the history of mediaeval Europe, owed in 
 many cases their freedom and their prosperity to the handi- 
 craftsmen who constituted the bulk of their population. 
 
 We know but little of the condition of mechanical labor 
 among the Greeks and Romans. That it was highly de- 
 veloped in many ways we may be sure from the most incon- 
 testable of all evidence, viz., the products of their industry 
 and art, which have remained in many respects the models for 
 all subsequent time. We know from the writings of their 
 philosophers that mechanical labor was regarded as degrading 
 and was performed chiefly by slaves and the lower classes of 
 free citizens. We have very good evidence that the artisans 
 at Rome, /. ., the free artisans, were organized into unions 
 called " collegia," but we do not know the purposes of these 
 associations or what particular rights or duties they had. The 
 condition of mechanical labor in the ancient world, however, 
 has only a historical interest for us, since our modern system 
 is built up on an entirely different basis which has been but 
 slightly modified by the system or habits of the ancients. 
 Kvcn if the mediaeval trade guilds sprung from the old Roman 
 "collegia" and the modern trades-unions from the guild, as 
 many claim, yet the connection between the first two is so 
 slight and the influence of the former so untraceable that the 
 question has for us only an antiquarian interest. 
 
 The history of mechanical trades among the Germans may 
 be traced back to a time before the rise of modern nations.
 
 AMONG THE ANCIENT GERMANS. 23 
 
 In the earliest period of German history of which we know 
 anything, viz., that which preceded the attack by the Germans 
 on the Roman Empire, mechanical labor, with the single 
 exception, perhaps, of casting and forging, had not become a 
 separate calling which men followed for the sake of a liveli- 
 hood. Social conditions were very primitive. The houses 
 were mere rude hovels which it did not require much skill to 
 construct, and the furniture was, if possible, still ruder. The 
 head of the family with the aid of his slaves and the members 
 of the family built his own house, made his own furniture and 
 wove his own cloth. The household work, such as spinning 
 and weaving, fell to the lot 01 the women. In only one 
 department does it seem probable that separate classes of 
 artisans existed, and that was in the department of metal work- 
 ing. We know from Roman accounts that the Germans used 
 weapons of iron in battle, and iron utensils in the worship of 
 the gods. To produce these required skilled workmen, and 
 it can hardly be supposed that every German possessed this 
 skill. 
 
 This state of things continued to exist for the great mass of 
 the people for a thousand years, at least, after we first learn 
 something of the Germans from the accounts of Caesar and 
 Tacitus. When the Germans issued from their ancient home 
 beyond the Rhine, and in one campaign after another con- 
 quered the Romans and broke tlie power of the ancient empire 
 in pieces and settled themselves down in the fair fields of what 
 is now France, Spain, Italy and Greece as masters, they made 
 large numbers of the Romans their slaves, and from them 
 learned the customs and habits of civilized life. When the 
 disintegrating influences of this period of conquest had done 
 their perfect work and the old territory of the Empire was 
 divided into almost as many different countries as there were 
 estates, we find that, although the great mass of the people 
 still remained in the same low state of civilization as before, 
 the lords themselves had acquired a taste for the comforts and 
 conveniences of life which attend a developed system of handi- 
 crafts. The great feudal lords collected on their own estates 
 artisans acquainted with all the known arts. It was on these
 
 24 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 estates that mechanical labor among the Germans was first 
 divided into separate callings. But in this early period there 
 were few, if any, free laborers who followed these callings as 
 a means of earning a living. The mechanics were dependent 
 persons, bondmen of the feudal lords ; and they worked for 
 their masters, just as other serfs and bondmen, according to 
 the service and law of the manor. The rise of this new class 
 of laborers among the Germans was a natural consequence 
 of the growth of the feudal system and the gradual spread of 
 civilization among the conquerors. A large number of 
 families were collected on these great estates for whose wants 
 (food, clothing, housing, etc.) the lords were naturally ex- 
 pected to provide. The latter needed, moreover, for the 
 proper defence and cultivation of such an estate, a large 
 quantity of utensils, instruments and arms. The wants of 
 the lord and his family kept increasing in number, and they 
 kept desiring finer quality as they came more and more in 
 contact with Roman civilization or with those whom Roman 
 civilization had affected. These wants could only be satisfied 
 by increasing skill on the part of the mechanics. Many of 
 the lords took great trouble to purchase skilled mechanics 
 from distant centers and import them for work on their own 
 estates. The Emperor Charlemagne, who at one time ruled 
 over the most of what is now modern Europe, made a special 
 effort to spread abroad through his realms a knowledge of the 
 mechanic arts and passed a law that on all royal estates there 
 should be collected a sufficient number of skilled artisans. 
 
 These mechanics usually lived about the household of their 
 master, and received from them what they needed for their 
 living and performed their services in return. One portion of 
 the mechanical labor about the court of the lord, viz., the 
 making of cloth, was done by female laborers who were 
 brought together for this purpose into special houses. It was 
 at the courts of the lords that the first official organization of 
 the mechanics took place. In order to supervise them and 
 their labor more easily they were organized into small so- 
 cieties and placed under control of a court officer whose busi- 
 ness it was to supervise their work and look out for the proper
 
 ON THE MEDIAEVAL, ESTATES. 25 
 
 training of the children for their future calling as mechanics. 
 There was no trace of independence in these bodies. The 
 individuals had no right to choose their calling. The lord 
 could take them from one business and set them at another at 
 his own pleasure. Discipline and jurisdiction, as well as the 
 regulation of the labor and service, pertained to the officer 
 appointed by the lord. There is no evidence that they had 
 any special court of self-government of any kind. Occasion- 
 ally some unusually able mechanic would acquire a position 
 of influence about the estate and would acquire a certain 
 degree of practical freedom, but the class as a whole was 
 strictly dependent, subordinate and without legal rights of any 
 kind, /. e., slaves. 
 
 Some of the mechanics, probably those who performed 
 service for the various villages on the estate, lived in a some- 
 what freer position. In many cases they were allowed to 
 cultivate a lot of land on their own account and were bound 
 only to perform certain services to the lord at stated times. 
 That which was at first a mere grant of the lord came in 
 course of time to be considered a right of the servant, and the 
 holding of the lot of land and the following of the trade 
 became a hereditary right, and thus certain trades became the 
 privilege of certain families. In the course of time, owing to 
 a multitude of causes, the absolute right of the lord over his 
 tenants became very much modified, and those who had been 
 slaves became assimilated more and more to the class of free 
 tenants which was described in the preceding chapter. 
 
 It seems likely that there were also free mechanics in the 
 few free communities which still existed, who combined the 
 following of a trade with the pursuit of farming. Out of 
 these three classes of mechanics, viz., the free mechanics in 
 the free communities, the serf mechanics in the household of 
 the lord and the tenant mechanics on the estates of the lords, 
 sprang the modern class of mechanics. 
 
 The process by which this took place is too long and intri- 
 cate to be adequately described in this connection, but two or 
 three of the more important causes may be mentioned. The 
 chief circumstance in this new development, which began
 
 26 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 about the eleventh century, was the rise of cities. The origin 
 of the leading cities which played the most important part in 
 this period was very various. Owing to the circumstances of 
 the time it was easy for any band of men who would combine 
 and entrench themselves in some stronghold to develop an 
 independent city, if they could hold their own against the 
 strong barons and knights who were always quarreling among 
 themselves. In some cases the lords encouraged the growth 
 of the villages on their estates by offering special encourage- 
 ments to foreign laborers to immigrate and to the artisans on 
 other estates to run away from their masters, offering them in 
 many cases a large degree of liberty. In course of time these 
 villages, enlarged and fortified, felt themselves strong to de- 
 mand a greater share of liberty from their masters, and in 
 case these refused they often declared their independence and 
 maintained it through long and stubborn contests. It was in 
 these cities that the artisans organized themselves into the 
 famous unions of the middle ages which are known by the 
 name/'guilds/' The origin of these guilds is not known. It 
 would be idle to seek any one source for them perhaps. The 
 circumstances of the time were favorable to the development 
 of such bodies ; and as with one accord we find them springing 
 up in nearly every European country, Jthough their career in 
 Germany was the most successful and brilliant. 
 
 We cannot follow the rise and development of the system 
 of guilds in detail. Their rise dates from the twelfth century, 
 in a few cities and a few callings. In the thirteenth and four- 
 teenth centuries they became more numerous, and in the 
 fifteenth century the system becomes almost universal in all 
 Continental and English cities and embraces all callings. 
 The history of the guilds was very different in different cities 
 and in different branches of trade, conditioned largely by the 
 political development of the city. But in spite of all the differ- 
 ences in detail the guilds in the German cities toward the close 
 of the middle ages formed an organization of industrial labor 
 with a homogeneous natare, with similar ultimate aims and 
 purposes and with a similar social and economic significance. 
 
 There were many different classes of guilds, but those
 
 THE SYSTEM OF CRAFT-GUILDS. 2/ 
 
 which chiefly interest us in this connection are the craft-guilds. 
 These craft-guilds were, according to Professor Schoenberg, 
 who has made special investigations into their history, fraternal 
 unions of the mechanical laborers (in the rule, belonging to 
 one branch of industry), for the promotion of their common 
 interests. The most prominent was their social and economic 
 interest, though they did not by any means neglect their 
 political or other interests. They were, however, not merely 
 unions of laborers for their private purposes, but they were 
 recognized organs of the city government. With the approval 
 and under the supervision of the city authorities they could 
 issue regulations for the conduct of their particular branches 
 of trade which were binding on all mechanics of that branch 
 in the city. They were entrusted by the city with the execu- 
 tion of city ordinances in regard to trade, and were held 
 responsible for their enforcement. 
 
 The following features were characteristic of the guild 
 system when it was in its flourishing period. It was based, in 
 the first place, on a legal division of its members into three 
 classes of masters, journeymen and apprentices. The masters 
 were the members in full standing, the journeymen and ap- 
 prentices were the minor members who were under the pro- 
 tection of the guild-masters as a corporation. They were 
 subject to the jurisdiction of the guilds not only in matters 
 pertaining to the trade, but also in their disputes with one 
 another or with the masters and in all violations of the custom 
 or honor of the guild. The journeymen and apprentices 
 were usually members of the master's household. They were 
 personally free. The access. to each class was regulated by a 
 detailed body of rules and was dependent on certain con- 
 ditions. The apprenticeship and journeymanship formed a 
 preparatory stage, a school for the mastership. The journey- 
 men did not, in the earlier period, at least, form a separate 
 class by themselves whose members could only follow their 
 calling as dependent laborers ; but were merely those who 
 had not yet finished their preparatory training or did not 
 desire to become masters, or who had not been able to fulfill 
 the conditions of the mastership.
 
 28 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 The right to follow a trade as a master was, as a rule, de- 
 pendent on membership in the guild to which the trade 
 belonged. This was called the guild-right, and was nothing 
 more than the right granted to the guild of forcing every one 
 who wished to practice the trade to join the guild. In later 
 times, when the guild decided upon the admission of new 
 members, this privilege was extended in some places so as to 
 include the right to refuse membership to any one whom they 
 did not wish and thus prevent him from pursuing the trade in 
 the city. In most places, however, the city authorities re- 
 served the right to grant license to non-members of the guilds 
 to follow their handicraft in the city. 
 
 Mastership in the guild was dependent on the proof of 
 certain qualifications on the part of the applicant, both as 
 respecting his moral character and his technical skill. They 
 demanded a spotless reputation and a thorough knowledge of 
 the business. The method of acquiring the skill was not at 
 first regulated by guild rule, but in course of time it was pre- 
 scribed that every one who wished to become master must 
 serve a period as apprentice and afterwards as journeyman. 
 The qualifications were gradually raised so that it was diffi- 
 cult, if not impossible, for the average man to comply with 
 them. Legally, however, every one who could become an 
 apprentice could also become master by fulfilling the con- 
 ditions. 
 
 The .right to employment, the protection of guild-labor, and 
 an assured market were secured by certain privileges con- 
 ferred on the guild. Every guild had the monopoly of certain 
 kinds of mechanical labor as its specified field of production, 
 and only its members had, as such, the right to make or sell 
 those products within the jurisdiction of the city. This was a 
 privilege which the individual guild had not only against 
 foreign laborers but also against the merchants and dealers 
 and other craft-guilds. But it was not intended that the wel- 
 fare of the city should suffer by this monopoly. The right 
 carried with it the corresponding duty to see that the consumer 
 received good wares or services at a reasonable price. If the 
 guild did not do this the city authorities might at any time
 
 STRICT GOVERNMENT OF THE GUILDS. 29 
 
 introduce foreign laborers or give to its merchants the right to 
 sell foreign goods in the city. In order that consumers might 
 not suffer, market days and times were established when out- 
 side mechanics might offer their wares for sale, provided that 
 they complied with the same conditions as those imposed on 
 local mechanics. 
 
 With the design of securing for the individual laborer an 
 independent existence and a sufficient income and creating an 
 honorable and worthy class of mechanics, and on the other 
 hand of guarding the interests of consumers by a proper 
 organization of labor a whole system of regulations gov- 
 erning the action of the guild members was adopted, which 
 was characteristic of the guilds. They may be divided into 
 two classes, those in the interest of producers and those in the 
 interest of consumers. The measures in the interest of con- 
 sumers aim at securing a good quality and a fair price for 
 commodities and services. The care for this was entrusted to 
 the guild. The first condition of good service is good train- 
 ing ; and this was required, as we have seen, before entering 
 the guild. In addition to this, regulations were adopted in 
 regard to the method and manner of production, prescribing 
 the material to be employed, and the method of its use, form, 
 size and quality of the product. Fines and bodily punish- 
 ments were threatened for violation of these provisions. Very 
 severe punishments were inflicted for the manufacture or sale 
 of bad wares or for cheating. Poor commodities were confis- 
 cated and destroyed. Regular visitation of the shops, in- 
 spection of the individual masters while at work, examination 
 of the manufactured commodity by the guild inspectors, com- 
 pulsory marking of manufactured commodities with the name 
 of the manufacturer, and many similar regulations made the 
 way of the slovenly or dishonest workmen a hard one. 
 Undue delay with the work was also punishable and the guild 
 police watched over the conduct of its members toward the 
 public. A fair price was secured by fixing the price of the 
 manufactured or partially manufactured article or service. 
 
 This regulation of industry aimed also at securing to the 
 guild members an income suitable to their social position and
 
 3O THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 an independent business. The idea of fraternity, moreover, 
 was to be realized among the members and the difference be- 
 tween the rich and the poor was to be kept as slight as possi- 
 ble, and the poor were to be properly cared for. The 
 necessary consequence of all this was the exclusion of com- 
 petition among the members and a far reaching restriction of 
 the individual in production and of the market in the interests 
 of the guild as a whole, They took care to hinder the growth 
 of large capital as far as possible by a complicated series of 
 regulations which aimed at making large business compara- 
 tively unprofitable. They aimed at restricting capital as a 
 factor of production and a source of income within very nar- 
 row limits, and tried to make the income of mechanics chiefly 
 the income of labor. 
 
 In order to carry out these rules and regulations the guilds 
 were entrusted with very extensive police and judicial func- 
 tions, though they were much greater in some places than in 
 others. All disputes between guild members, no matter on 
 what subject, had to be taken before the guild court before 
 they could be taken before the ordinary courts. 
 
 There is but little doubt that the guild system was of great 
 advantage, not only to the laborers but also to the whole sys- 
 tem of mediaeval industry. It quickened the best elements of 
 the time and was a most judicious and happy form of the or- 
 ganization of industry, with the great merit of being fully in 
 harmony with the other institutions of the time. But it was 
 by no means a system which did away with all conflict of in- 
 terest between the various classes within the system itself, to 
 say nothing of the large masses of labor outside of the organ- 
 ization. It can be easily seen that the tendency of the system 
 was toward monopoly ; not only monopoly of trade and busi- 
 ness by the guild, as distinguished from outsiders, but also 
 monopoly of the masterships within the guilds by a few indi- 
 viduals and families, to the exclusion of the great mass of 
 members. 
 
 From the rise of mechanical industry in the cities until the 
 time when the guilds succeeded in obtaining independence in 
 the management of industrial affairs, /. e. in general, until the
 
 A TRANSITION PERIOD. 3! 
 
 middle of the fourteenth century, there was, according to Pro- 
 fessor Brentano, no special class of laborers as distinguished 
 from the masters. The journeymanship, so far as it existed 
 at that time, was only one stage in the life of an artisan, not a 
 special calling followed by particular persons. It was a 
 transition period on the way to a mastership. But it did not 
 exist at all in most places before the middle of the fourteenth 
 century. This was owing to the character of the mechanical 
 industry of the time. The trades were chiefly local industries 
 and were carried on for the most part, if not entirely, by na- 
 tive born inhabitants of the cities. An inflow of laborers and 
 an overcrowding of the trades was thus made impossible. 
 The guilds of that time were not "close,'' /. ., neither the 
 number of masters was limited nor was it difficult to become 
 a master by reason of any undue restrictions. The masters 
 themselves were, moreover, chiefly laborers themselves, for, 
 although it was necessary to have some capital in order to start 
 in as a master, yet the amount demanded was very small and 
 was within the reach of almost everyone. In consequence of 
 this, the apprentices, as soon as they had learned their busi- 
 ness, commenced immediately as masters and very few of them 
 served as journeymen. What few journeymen there were 
 soon became masters themselves, so that in spite of the author- 
 ity vested by the law in the master over the journeyman where 
 he existed, there was no social difference between the two 
 classes, no conflict of interests and consequently no distinct 
 social class. 
 
 The only exception to this state of things was in such 
 branches of industry, few in number, as were prosecuted 
 from an early period on a large scale or those in which from 
 other causes as, for instance, cost of material, a large capital 
 was necessary. Among such branches was the manufacture 
 of cloth ; and we learn that at an 'early period, in certain cities 
 of Flanders and Brabant, there were enormous numbers of 
 weavers crowded together in an incredible conditition. It was 
 in this branch, too, that there first came into existence a large 
 class who had no hopes of ever becoming independent work- 
 men, /'. c., that a class of laborers arose. But this class does
 
 32 TIIK LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 not seem to have been completely within the power of the 
 masters. They had large labor unions as far back as the 
 thirteenth century. Two of the four directors of the guild 
 were always journeymen. Journeymen were members of the 
 body which issued regulations in regard to guild matters. 
 The wages of the journeymen were regulated in proportion to 
 the reward of the masters, and in some instances in such a 
 way as must have given the journeymen a regular participa- 
 tion in profits. Even in those cases where the inspecting body 
 consisted entirely of nobles, no regulation was issued without 
 first hearing the ideas of the journeymen unions on the 
 subject. 
 
 The harmony of these relations became disturbed more and 
 more as the guilds became richer and more independent, as 
 they got the power more and more completely of determining 
 the rules of their respective trades and as larger and larger 
 quantities of capital became necessary to prosecute the trade. 
 The rapid growth of the industries, particularly that of cloth 
 manufacture, and the great amount of capital expended, at- 
 tracted great masses of serfs from the rural districts tp the 
 cities. In this way the increased number of laborers, which 
 the continued growth of industry made necessary, was ob- 
 tained, and, on the other hand, every new laborer became a 
 possible competitor. The profit of the capital already ex- 
 pended was thus made uncertain. The anxiety of the masters 
 was thus excited, and as the regulation of industrial affairs 
 gradually passed into the hands of the guilds, the masters of 
 the latter kept introducing new restrictions in order to keep 
 down the rising families who threatened their position. High 
 apprentice fees, a long period of apprenticeship, a long period 
 as journeyman, wandering of the journeymen from place to 
 place ; during this time costly masterpieces and expensive 
 master banquets were demanded. In consequence of these 
 regulations it soon became impossible for any one to become 
 master and carry on the trade independently who was not al- 
 ready in the possession of property, or was the son of a master, 
 or did not marry the daughter or widow of a master. Instead 
 of the original requirement for a mastership, viz., personal
 
 FORMATION OF SPECIAL. UNIONS. 33 
 
 worth And skill of the individual, they now demanded capital 
 or family connection. The various trades became more and 
 more the vested property of a number of families, and this 
 tendency, once started, grew in the next century with ever in- 
 creasing rapidity. 
 
 This degeneration of the guild could not fail to have a very 
 decided effect on the condition of the laborer. As already 
 stated the number of these laborers increased very rapidly, 
 just about the time that the guilds began their policy of re- 
 striction, by a large and growing immigration from the 
 country. This flight to the cities was about the only means 
 open to a serf upon a great estate to get rid of the bondage in 
 which he lived, without the consent of his master, as it was a 
 law that a serf who remained in a city for a year and a day 
 without being claimed by the lord was a freeman. The re- 
 strictions adopted prevented, of course, the most of these 
 laborers from becoming masters ; and the course which the 
 masters took of following out exclusively their own interests, 
 could not fail to call into existence a similar spirit on the part 
 of the journeymen. Toward the end of the fourteenth century 
 we find plain signs that such a separation of interests had, at 
 least, begun in the formation by the journeymen of special 
 journeymen's unions. 
 
 The earliest references which we can find in regard to these 
 unions do not say that they occupied themselves from the first 
 with the regulation of the industrial interests of the members. 
 If we may conclude from this that they did not do this, we 
 may also conclude that it was because the organization of the 
 guilds was, at first, sufficient to protect these interests without 
 any special action of the journeymen within their own organi- 
 zations. At any rate it is evident that the guild had ceased 
 to satisfy the demands of the journeymen in other respects. 
 Whereas the guilds had originally united all members, masters 
 and journeymen, together for common religious and social ser- 
 vices, banquets, etc., and had taken care equally of all poor 
 and sick, whether masters or journeymen, it may be taken as a 
 pretty good proof of the aristocratic separation of the classes 
 that now these journeymen unions are formed for these pur- 
 
 (3)
 
 34 THE LABOR MOVKMENT. 
 
 poses. And where, as it often happened, the masters, now 
 grown fat and ease-loving, shifted the military burdens upon 
 the shoulders of the journeymen, the organization of the latter 
 for military purposes must have encouraged the growth of 
 these unions. But after the custom became universal, in the 
 fifteenth century, that the journeymen should wander from city 
 to city for a term of years, it became necessary that there 
 should be some organization to take care of poor journeymen 
 and afford the wanderers food, shelter and protection. Thus 
 the journeymen unions seem to have been at first, as a rule, a 
 sort of supplement of the guild ; and while the industrial inter- 
 ests of this class seem to have been sufficiently cared for by 
 the guild, the religious, social and eleemosynary wants of the 
 journeymen were provided for by their own unions. 
 
 But this separation of master and journeyman could not 
 long remain without some influence on the labor relations of 
 the latter. The authority of the master over the journeyman, 
 even where it was abused, would seem bearable as long as 
 every journeyman had prospect of soon becoming master him- 
 self. But so soon as the journeymanship became a life-calling 
 it became intolerable that the master should strive to keep 
 wages down; should -cheat him out of the wages he had 
 agreed to give, by paying in truck instead of in money ; 
 should keep him in dependence, by encouraging him to run 
 in debt to him, and thus prevent him from ever rising to the 
 level of a worthy workman. As early as the second half of 
 the fourteenth century we find traces of attempts on the part 
 of the masters to debase the condition of the journeymen by 
 the occupation of excessive numbers of apprentices. As time 
 passed on the guilds became more and more, associations of 
 masters which used their journeymen as mere instruments by 
 which to increase their own wealth and power. 
 
 In opposition to this the brotherhoods for religious, social 
 and eleemosynary purposes became the cloak under which 
 the journeymen concealed a union for the protection of their 
 own economic and other class interests. Toward the close of 
 the fourteenth century we find repeated complaints on the 
 part of the masters that journeymen under pretense of religious
 
 UNIONS AMONG JOURNEYMEN. 35 
 
 and social organizations united themselves together to force up 
 the rate of wages, and that attempts by the masters to repress 
 these unions, even though made by several guilds of different 
 cities together, had not been at all successful. The efforts 
 of these journeymen's unions did not aim at the equality of 
 master and journeyman and the acknowledgment of equal 
 honor for both classes ; such an effort was not suited to that 
 time. Corresponding to the general line of development of 
 the middle ages, what they aimed at was a special journeyman 
 law and a particular journeyman honor and spirit as a security 
 against contempt and arbitrary acts of power. The particu- 
 lar things which they demanded varied with different con- 
 ditions ; but in general they attempted to gain an influence in 
 determining the relation of labor and service, particularly to 
 keep up wages and control the matter of apprentices and to 
 regulate the movement of labor. In order to get these ends 
 they tried to secure a representation of the journeymen in the 
 directorate of the guilds. In order to obtain this they resorted 
 to strikes ; and even where they were represented in the guilds 
 they often resorted to the same means to carry through their 
 measures. In those branches in which the conditions of the 
 time favored the application of large capital and numerous 
 laborers who had no prospect of ever becoming masters, like 
 the woolen industry in England, France and Germany, there 
 were great strikes in the second half of the fourteenth century 
 which differ from those of the nineteenth century only in the 
 time of their occurence, and in the following centuries we find 
 such strikes in all branches of industry. 
 
 It thus appears that, contrary to a widely received opinion, 
 the guilds not only did not solve the labor question, but that 
 the labor question arose in just the same proportion as the 
 guilds flourished. In all places and in all industries in the 
 same proportion as the industries improved in technics and 
 wealth and the guilds became more independent in the regu- 
 lation of industrial relations, a separation took place among 
 the members of the guild. The masters used the autonomy 
 which they had acquired in the regulation of the industry to 
 limit with one hand competition, by making it difficult to
 
 36 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 become master, and to regulate the conditions of the laborers 
 with the other exclusively in the interests of the masters- 
 This policy aroused in the laborers, who had now no chance 
 of becoming masters and of carrying on the business inde- 
 pendently, the consciousness of peculiar clas r s interests and 
 wants. There arose the class of masters and the class of 
 laborers, and with them the labor question. The question 
 then arose how shall the wants of this laboring class be best 
 satisfied. The journeymen formed their unions for the pro- 
 tection of their interests within and by the side of the guilds ; 
 and the demands which they made for the furtherance of their 
 interests led, at an early period, to quarrels which bear a close 
 resemblance to the labor difficulties of to-day. This was so 
 generally true that wherever in the fourteenth century we 
 find no traces of such troubles or such special unions, we may 
 take it for granted that in that place and in that industry the 
 relations were so little developed that as yet the separation 
 between the masters and journeymen had not taken 'place, and 
 that there was consequently no great difference of interests. 
 
 The system of regulating the relations of labor for the solu- 
 tion of the labor question, and particularly the system of meas- 
 ures in favor of unemployed and indigent journeymen, did not 
 rest upon the legal equality of master and journeyman and the 
 responsibility of the latter for his own welfare. The relation 
 of master to journeyman was one of authority. The masters 
 in a guild, as a whole, were the rulers of the journeymen. 
 The journeyman was a' member of the guild, it is true, but he 
 was a subject member. The guild regulated the wages of the 
 journeyman and the other conditions of labor. But this posi- 
 tive authority was limited by the power of these journeymen 
 unions, and, out of the struggles of the latter for their objects 
 there was developed in the course of time a peculiar body of 
 laws and privileges which secured the laborer against despot- 
 ism and contempt. And just as the individual laborer was 
 not dependent on the individual master for the amount of his 
 wages, so the union secured for him employment by regulat- 
 ing the number of apprentices in proportion to journeymen, by 
 acknowledging the right of the unemployed to employment, by
 
 PROTECTION FOR THE LABORERS. . 37 
 
 securing labor for the stranger or granting assistance to the 
 journeyman who wished to go further and by assisting the 
 laborer who could not find employment. The journeymen 
 were required to pay a part of their wages into the treasury of 
 their unions for the purpose of defraying their expenses. The 
 guild was required to assist the unions where they could not 
 pay all these expenses themselves. This was recognized to be 
 the proper thing, since the masters had limited to their own 
 advantage the opportunity of the laborer to rise to the position 
 of master. If all these means of assistance failed, and an indi- 
 vidual could not get help from them, there still remained the 
 church, which possessed, at this time, a large part of the pro- 
 perty of the community, and which was bound to help the 
 poor. 
 
 This system of industrial organization existed in Germany 
 from the end of the fourteenth century to the beginning of the 
 seventeenth, and, indeed, in the free cities, where the author- 
 ity in industrial matters remained in the hands of the guilds 
 much longer than elsewhere, to a much later date. A simi- 
 lar system existed in prance for the same period, but in En- 
 gland the journeymen's unions never got the strong hold which 
 they obtained on the continent. The system took a somewhat 
 different form wherever the government became strong 
 enough to take the regulation of industrial matters into its own 
 hands. This took place in several European countries toward 
 the close of the sixteenth century. 
 
 As a rule the government approved the general system de- 
 veloped by the guild and extended it to all forms of new in- 
 dustry as well. But there was a great difference between the 
 management of the two systems. The regulation of the 
 labor relations was no longer entrusted to the guilds, which 
 kept following more and more closely the exclusive interests 
 of the masters, whose number had now been limited, but to in- 
 specting authorities who belonged to neither party, or were 
 entrusted to the guilds under the supervision of the authori- 
 ties. Thus the rate of wages was fixed by the government 
 officers. The length of the working day was fixed by the 
 same authority. In the same way the length of the period of
 
 38 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 apprenticeship of journeymen, the conditions of the labor 
 contract, etc., were fixed by law or by officers representing 
 the government. Only apprentices who had finished their ap- 
 prenticeship could be employed as laborers. Journeymen 
 had a right to employment if there was any, and the right to 
 support, for a certain time, if there was no work, and assist- 
 ance to go elsewhere. On the other hand, as correlatives of 
 these rights, the government insisted that the laborers should 
 not strike, that they should take work under the legal condi- 
 tions, wherever there was work, and should pay contributions 
 for the support of their poor brethren. 
 
 When the church became too poor to support the indigent, 
 owing to the secularization of its estates, and the Christian 
 and Germanic idea of property as a trust connected with du- 
 ties gave place to the Roman idea of it as a subjective right, 
 the state undertook to look after the poor who had no claims 
 on the assistance of any union or society. By means of the 
 poor tax it collected from those who were benefited by the 
 guild restrictions (such as the difficulties in the way of settle- 
 ment, the regulation of wages and prohibitions of labor coali- 
 tions) the means of supporting those who, although unable 
 to work, had no opportunity of looking out for themselves 
 owing to the restrictions on labor. 
 
 If we disregard those who by these restrictions on entering 
 the trade were prevented from earning their living as laborers 
 in these callings, it is pretty evident that those who once got 
 into the trade had an assured existence so long as the above 
 provisions were carried out. The provisions in regard to the 
 number of apprentices, the limitation of labor to those who 
 had actually served the apprenticeship period, the right of the 
 journeymen to work if it was to be had, made it pretty certain 
 that those journeymen who had passed through the period of 
 training would secure employment. The long period of the 
 engagements secured to them regular employment, no matter 
 what the condition of the trade. The officials were directed 
 to fix the rate of wages so that the laborer should have suf- 
 ficient, as well in times of scarcity as in times of plenty. All 
 this secured to the laborer a regularity in his income which
 
 A CENTURY OF REBELLIONS. 39 
 
 enabled him to pay his contributions for the support of the 
 unemployed or sick laborer. With all this the working hours 
 were not excessively long, especially as the work itself was 
 not so exacting as that of to-day. If we consider, finally, 
 that the paternal treatment which the laborer received at the 
 hands of the government was in accordance with the ideas of 
 the time and was extended to the employer as well, and that 
 this similar treatment of the two classes corresponded to the 
 growing demand for equality, we may well believe that this 
 system of the organization of labor answered the demands of 
 the laborers of that time very fairly. It is true that in spite of 
 all prohibitions to the contrary there were numerous strikes 
 during the eighteenth century, so that it has been called the 
 century of journeymen rebellions. Yet it is highly probable 
 that, although some may have grown out of the fact that the 
 laborers did not secure new concessions which they were 
 working for, the most of them grew out of the fact that the 
 customary or legal organization of industry was being broken 
 through in all directions by those who were powerful enough 
 to do so with impunity. 
 
 In this way the wants and interests of those who were ad- 
 mitted to the ranks of the mechanical laborers were fairly pro- 
 vided for. But the exclusion of so many from any opportunity 
 to enter the trades, which was effected by this system, and the 
 difficulty in the way of starting an independent business, 
 became in more and more striking contrast to the wants and 
 feelings of the time. The constant persecutions of the out- 
 siders by the guilds in Germany ; occurrences such as that in 
 France, where, in consequence of a denunciation on the part of 
 the guild, a married journeyman who had made a pair of 
 shoes w r hile hidden in a barn was sent to the galleys ; the 
 hinderance which the English guilds placed in the way of the 
 growth of large industries; and the cheating of the public, 
 which finally became characteristic of the guilds, made it im- 
 possible for the old organization of labor to continue. On 
 the other hand, the system of caring for the poor had also 
 become unbearable. For the obligation to work for alms 
 received was not insisted upon, and in this way one of the
 
 40 THi: LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 most efficient motives to work was taken away altogether frorp 
 the poorer class of laborers, and the poor rates were increas- 
 ing from year to year at an enormous rate. 
 
 The complaints about the heartless policy of the guilds 
 began as early as the fifteenth century and did not die out 
 until the guilds themselves died. During the fifteenth century 
 the abolition of the guilds was demanded on this ground. 
 When Henry III. of France, in 1581, extended the provisions 
 of the guilds to all branches of mechanical industry in France, 
 the Parliament refused at first to register the edict. In 1614, 
 the third estate in France moved the abolition of the guilds ; 
 in 1624, a party in the city council of Bremen ; in 1669, the 
 Elector of Brandenburg, in the German Parliament, made the 
 same motion. In Prussia, beginning with 1688, a series of 
 laws was adopted looking toward the reformation of the guilds 
 in the direction of greater freedom and in the interest of a 
 growing industry. But the chief attack upon the old guild 
 system came on its theoretical side from Adam Smith and the 
 French Physiocrats. 
 
 God, said the physiocratic school of economists, made the 
 right to labor the property of every person by giving to every 
 one wants and referring him to labor as a means of satisfying 
 them. This property is the first in order of time, the most 
 holy and the most inalienable. Owing to the restrictions 
 on labor maintained by the guilds, the poor are condemned to 
 protract a precarious existence under the control of the 
 masters, to linger in poverty or to betake themselves and their 
 industry to foreign lands. Just as the whole existing system 
 of law had proceeded from the selfish efforts of privileged 
 classes, who resisted every reform, so in making the regula- 
 tions in regard to organization of the system of apprentices 
 and journeymen the councilors of the government had always 
 been the employers. They served merely to secure to the 
 masters the labor of the apprentice for a long time at a very 
 low rate of wages or for no wages at all ; to keep down the 
 wages of the journeyman and to diminish competition by lim- 
 iting the number of masters. It is one of the first duties of 
 justice to free those whose only property consists in the skill
 
 FREEDOM OF THE TRADES. 4! 
 
 and strength of their hands from the limitations placed upon 
 them by the guilds. 
 
 The pretended care of the state for the welfare of the labor- 
 ers was, according to this view, not merely a piece of hypo- 
 crisy but a shameless presumption. Self-interest will show 
 everyone what is best for his own welfare. And as all men 
 are by nature equal and' actuated by the same self-interest, 
 the greatest happiness of each one and, therefore, of all 
 will be secured as soon as the state will leave each one un- 
 disturbed to the guidance of his own self-interest and thus let 
 him utilize all his powers and capacities in the best way. 
 
 Thus natural justice and economic expediency united in 
 demanding the freedom of labor and the freedom of the laborer. 
 Above everything, therefore, no legal limitation on' the free- 
 dom of the trades ; then, the conversion of the laborer into 
 a free merchant of the commodity, labor. In the place of the 
 previous relation of laborer and master should be put a purely 
 contractual relation, and in place of the subordination of the 
 laborer, he should be placed on a perfect equality with the 
 master as the seller of a commodity which the latter wishes. 
 With equal rights of both parties to make such contracts as 
 they please, there should be no interference by any govern- 
 ment officer between them. 
 
 The same demand for freedom of industry and freedom 
 of contract was made by those interested in the large in- 
 dustry which was now beginning to rise in England. The 
 guild system was in the interest of the small employer, and, 
 so far as he did not desire to become master, in the interest of 
 journeyman also ; but it was opposed to the interest of the 
 large employer. The mere requirement that a man should 
 have passed through an apprenticeship, and, on the continent, 
 a journeymanship also, if one wished to take up a branch of 
 manufacturing, stood greatly in the way of those who wished 
 to utilize their capital rather than their personal powers in the 
 business. But, moreover, those who had passed through the 
 apprenticeship and journeymanship were greatly limited in the 
 expansion of their business by the prohibition of the employ- 
 ment of others than laborers who had learned the business.
 
 42 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 The long period of engagement might be of advantage to the 
 employer as long as he worked for a local market which was 
 subject to few disturbances, but with the system of production 
 for a distant market came the danger of gluts in the market which 
 made it necessary for the employer to be able to dismiss his labor- 
 ers at short notice. Equally inconsistent with the interest of the 
 great manufacturer was the provision fixing the wages for a 
 whole industry, since he wished to be able to attract quickly 
 to him a large number of laborers by the offer of high wages 
 in order to increase his production ; and again, by a reduc- 
 tion of wages, to make it possible to compete with a rival for 
 the possession of a given market. When, finally, the prog- 
 ress in machinery began in earnest, and every new discovery 
 made the old~ machines worthless, the effort of the manufac- 
 turers to make the most of the capital invested in a machine 
 by increasing the length of the working day, and so to make 
 the out-put as large as possible to the machine, came into 
 conflict with the laws about the working day. By all the pro- 
 visions of the old organization of labor this new interest found 
 itself hindered in its development. Its desire was freedom of 
 industry and absence of every governmental interference with 
 the contract between laborer and employer, and it showed it- 
 self very skillful in exploiting for its own uses the arguments 
 of Adam Smith for the same thing in the interest of the labor- 
 er, while it prevented, for a long time to come, any regard 
 being paid to other demands which Smith made at the same 
 time to secure the interests of the laborer in the new state of 
 things. 
 
 Thus theory and pecuniary and class interest united in de- 
 manding the abolition of the old system. In the different 
 countries different considerations and occasions gave the de- 
 cisive impulse, and the course of events was somewhat pecu- 
 liar in each country. In France the old system was abolished 
 in that memorable nightof Augustan, 1789, which saw the old 
 regime, in so many departments, swept into oblivion. In Ger- 
 many, where the various governments had made many changes 
 in the old system in the interest of political and industrial 
 progress, Prussia was the first to adopt the principle of free-
 
 EMANCIPATION OF LABOR. 43 
 
 dom of industry in this sense and to do away with the old sys- 
 tem completely. This was done in 1810. England, under 
 the cpntrol of the large capitalists, abolished the apprentice 
 law of 1562 in 1814 and thus acknowledged the same prin- 
 ciple. 
 
 By these laws, in France, England and Prussia, not only 
 was the freedom of the independent workman established, but 
 the relation of contract pure and simple was substituted for 
 the one prevailing under the guilds. The prohibitions of 
 coalitions of laborers were, however, left on the statute books. 
 The impression which the policy of the guilds in their de- 
 cadence had made on the public mind was so strong that 
 people had come to see the only guarantee of liberty 
 in the complete isolation of each individual, and saw in every 
 agreement of any kind an infringement of this freedom. The 
 French Parliament, in 1791, forbade anew all agreements 
 among laborers or employers or merchants and every union 
 of the members of the same trade. The first state in which 
 the ideas of Adam Smith about labor unions were carried 
 through was England. The prohibitions were abolished by 
 the law of 1824. In France they were not abolished until 
 1864. In Germany the liberal policy mentioned above was 
 afterwards given up for a generation, and the laws forbidding 
 laborers' coalitions were not passed for all of Germany until 
 after 1871, while Austria had abolished them in the previous 
 year. 
 
 If we look back at the course of the development of the 
 class of mechanical laborers, from their origin until the present 
 time, we see that there has been through the centuries a 
 steadily progressing emancipation. At the time when we 
 first hear of mechanics' trades among the Germanic races 
 they are carried on almost exclusively by serfs on the estates 
 of feudal lords. Then there appears a class of free mechan- 
 ics in which, however, there is no distinction between master 
 and journeyman. But the trade itself is at this time in a very 
 primitive state and all who ply it are in one uniform condi- 
 tion of poverty; and, although the period of serving a me- 
 chanic as assistant is a mere transition period toward the
 
 44 THK LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 mastership, and there is, therefore, no permanent difference in 
 class between the master and the servant, yet the power of 
 the former over the latter during this period of serving is. ab- 
 solute, the one being practically the slave of the other. With 
 the progress in the trade itself and the general advance in 
 prosperity differentiation gradually takes place into a master 
 class and a journeyman class. At the same time a counter- 
 movement begins, having for its object the improvement and 
 the protection of the journeymen class. And if with the pro- 
 gress of time it becomes more and more impossible for the 
 great mass of journeymen to have any prospect of becoming 
 masters, the old relation of master over slave gives place to 
 the different power of master over journeyman, limited as it 
 was by custom and the success of the journeymen unions to a 
 mere fraction of the former power. The power of the master 
 over the journeyman is then still further limited by general 
 laws passed by the chief legislative authority of the state, and, 
 finally, in the nineteenth century, the old relation is abolished 
 entirely and the status is converted into a contract. This 
 mode of treatment converts the laborer into an independent 
 human being on the same footing exactly as the master, and 
 secures to him, nominally at least, perfect freedom in the dis- 
 position of his time and labor, which form the commodities 
 which he has for sale. It was reserved for the nineteenth 
 century, therefore, to emancipate the working man fully from 
 the bondage of the guild masters.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 RECENT LABOR LEGISLATION. 
 
 THE HOPES OF THE FRIENDS OF LIBERTY NOT REALIZED UNDER THE NEW 
 SYSTEM THE GREAT ADVANTAGE OF CAPITAL OVER LABOR THE 
 GROWING DEBASEMENT OF THE FACTORY LABORER ATTEMPTS OF 
 THE LABORERS TO PROTECT THEMSELVES RISE OF LABOR UNIONS 
 
 FACTORY LEGISLATION IN ENGLAND IN FRANCE IN GERMANY 
 
 IN SWITZERLAND IN OTHER EUROPEAN COUNTRIES OTHER 
 LEGISLATION IN THE INTEREST OF LABOR EMPLOYERS' LIABILITIES 
 ACTS INSURANCE AGAINST SICKNESS AND ACCIDENTS IN GERMANY 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF THE TRADES-UNIONS IN ENGLAND IN FRANCE 
 
 IN GERMANY IN ITALY FEDERATION OF LABOR PROGRESS OF 
 WORKING CLASSES THE USE MADK BY THEM OF THEIR GROWING 
 POWER. 
 
 AS we have seen in the preceding chapter, the industrial 
 system which had come down to modern times from the 
 Middle Ages finally succumbed to the combined attacks of 
 the friends of free labor and the owners of large capital. The 
 former saw in the guild system the chief barrier in the way 
 of the laborer's making the most of the only commodity 
 which he had to sell, viz., labor. The latter were prevented 
 by the same system from utilizing the immense advantages 
 for gain which the recent enormous development of machin- 
 ery had put within their grasp. The barriers, however, were 
 first thrown down which stood in the way of the capitalists, 
 and in the race for supremacy under the new conditions, capi- 
 tal was thus enabled to get a long start of labor. Some of 
 the barriers in the way of the latter, it is true, were also 
 thrown down ; but now the greatest obstacles, among others, 
 that prevented labor from resorting to the only effective 
 means of holding its own in the race, viz., combinations, were 
 left in full force. 
 
 The immediate result of the new freedom of inditstry, 
 therefore, was, as might have been expected, a decided de- 
 
 (45)
 
 46 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 terioration in the condition of the laborer. His old safe- 
 guards were all gone, and he was prevented by law and 
 circumstances from erecting any others in their place. The 
 evils of the new system made themselves felt first and most 
 deeply in England, which was the first country to use on any 
 great scale the new means of an increased production in the 
 shape of machinery, which the progress of invention was 
 increasing every day. The capitalist had no obligations 
 toward the laborer ; all these had been swept away, and he 
 proceeded to use his newly acquired power in a most heart- 
 less way. The mill and factory lords who arose to take the 
 place of the old master mechanic, exploited in the most mer- 
 ciless manner the great mass of laborers who were now 
 delivered bound hand and foot into their hands. The con- 
 dition of factory operatives in the factory districts and mining 
 regions of England in the latter part of the last century, and 
 away on into the second quarter of the present, was horrible 
 beyond belief. The mere description of the lives they led 
 is enough to make one's blood boil with indignation that such 
 things should be allowed to exist in a so-called Christian 
 land. It seemed, indeed, as if the great mass of the laborers 
 were destined to sink into a condition far worse than that in 
 which even the most miserable of their ancestors had lived, 
 and one little short of slavery in its worst form, viz., that in 
 which the master has no duties, only rights and privileges. 
 
 There is no telling how far this process of degradation 
 might have proceeded if the laborers themselves, who were 
 thus being gradually forced down into a state little short of 
 barbarism, had not begun to resist with such means as were 
 in their power. They could not organize openly, as any 
 attempt to defend their rights was met by the strong arm of 
 repression. They had absolutely no representation in any 
 legislative body. The political economists of the time, fully 
 under the capitalistic influences of society, proved that nothing 
 could be done by the government which would not injure the 
 laborer more than it would benefit him, showed how neces- 
 sary* to national prosperity was the accumulation of capital, 
 how surely men would not save unless they could get good
 
 HORRIBLE CONDITION OF OPERATIVES. 47 
 
 returns on their money, and how any interference with the 
 power of the capitalist would so diminish his profits th^t he 
 would no longer save, and then the country would be com- 
 pletely ruined. The progress of invention made it possible 
 for the employers to get along with women if men would not 
 consent to a lowering of their wages, and soon to resort to 
 the labor of children when they could get neither men nor 
 women. And thus the condition of all classes, men, women 
 and children, was becoming worse and worse. 
 
 The natural outcome of this state of affairs was a long 
 series of outrages on persons and property committed by 
 these starving and half-crazed people, which no severity of 
 police power seemed able to prevent, and which increased 
 with every passing year. These people, with no legal way 
 of making their grievances known, resorted in many instances 
 to the foulest and most dastardly crimes ; and wise men soon 
 saw that such a condition of things was becoming absolutely 
 untenable, and that something must be done to remedy it. 
 No appeal to his justice or duty could move the unjust judge ; 
 nothing but the fear of revolution and loss of life and property 
 could stir the attention of the Parliament of England to a 
 consideration of this question ; and when it did begin to do 
 something it was with slow and halting steps, which did not 
 at all keep pace with the growing debasement and enslave- 
 ment of the laboring class. 
 
 The crying evils of the factory system, and the growing 
 demoralization of the laboring class, as a whole, finally forced 
 the English government to inaugurate a system of legislation 
 which has been growing down to the present time, and 
 which has for its object the protection and improvement of 
 the laborers in the various departments of industrial life. 
 Some of the laws have had for their object the protection 
 of the helpless classes of laborers, such as women and chil- 
 dren, and the securing of healthful and safe conditions of 
 labor. These are known collectively as factory acts, and 
 have been imitated in the leading countries of Europe. 
 Others have aimed at protecting the laborer against the 
 greed and avarice of the employer, such as those forbidding
 
 4.8 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 the payment of wages in anything but money, and insisting on 
 the regular periodical payment and making it unlawful for 
 the employer to insist on any conditions in regard to the mode 
 or place of spending wages when hiring laborers. Still others 
 have given to the laborers the means of protecting themselves 
 by allowing them to form trade-unions for the furtherance of 
 their common interests. Efforts have been made by the gov- 
 ernment to afford to laborers a safe place to invest their surplus 
 earnings by the establishment of the postal savings banks, and 
 giving them opportunities to buy into the funds at the same 
 rate as the wealthier. Opportunities have been furnished them 
 further to establish investment companies of their own by grant- 
 ing articles of incorporation to various forms of friendly so- 
 cieties and the equally varied forms of the building societies. 
 Some of the Continental governments, notably that of Ger- 
 many and Switzerland, have even gone further than England 
 in the direction of protecting the laborer against the great 
 calamities of his life, by inaugurating under government 
 auspices companies to insure the laborer against sickness and 
 accident happening in the prosecution of his work. 
 
 This century has also seen, for the first time, such an ex- 
 tension of the suffrage as now insures to the laboring man, if 
 he will use his opportunities, adequate representation of his 
 interests in the great legislative bodies of Western Europe. 
 The English laborer has now, under the recent extension of 
 the suffrage, the same relative vote for members of Parlia- 
 ment as any other class in the community ; and if he is not 
 represented it can only be his own fault. The new German 
 Empire, established in 1871, was built up on the broad basis 
 of universal manhood suffrage ; and Austria, Italy and 
 France extend practically the same privileges. The large 
 mass of legislation, moreover, which has been placed on the 
 statute books of this century in the interest of health and 
 comfort has redounded in a large measure to the benefit of 
 the laboring man, though much was placed there from no 
 particular intention of helping him. We have not space to 
 notice all these various laws ; indeed, that would require a 
 pretty complete resume of the legislation of Europe for the last
 
 SUFFRAGE FOR THK WORKINGMEN. 49 
 
 eighty-five years ; but some of them are important enough to 
 deserve a fuller notice. 
 
 Among the most important acts having for their object. the 
 protection of the laborer, in his freedom of expending his 
 wages, against the greed of the employer, is the series of acts 
 relating to the truck system of paying wages. The first En- 
 glish act of this kind was passed in 1831, and has been 
 followed up by a series of acts which forbid employers from 
 paying their laborers in other than money of the realm or to 
 give them credit for wares purchased of them or persons de- 
 pendent on, or connected with, them, or to sell them wares at 
 prices exceeding the current prices, or to compel them to pur- 
 chase at stores controlled by or worked in the interests of the 
 employers. These laws aim not at limiting the freedom of 
 the laborer in the expenditure of his wages, but at making it 
 impossible for the employer to limit it by imposing injurious 
 conditions. They are intended to prevent that destruction of 
 the family life of the laborer, and to free him from the eco- 
 nomic and moral slavery which is sure to be brought about by 
 payment in kind or in wares, by giving credit and by making 
 it a condition of receiving employment that he shall make his 
 purchases in stores conducted by the employers, or, as was 
 once widely the custom, in a grog-shop run by the masters,, 
 where he could be persuaded to leave the bulk of his wages 
 before he left the place. As these conditions existed at a time 
 when organization among the laborers was unlawful and 
 they could not act in common to do away with such abuses, 
 it was the duty of the state to interfere and forbid such re- 
 quirements in the contracts. Such laws do not by any means 
 do away with the necessity of action on the part of the 
 laborers themselves, as experience shows that it is almost im- 
 possible to carry out such laws except where the trades-unions 
 are strong enough to enforce it by their action. The custom 
 still prevails where there are no labor 'unions to insist that it 
 shall disappear. The laws on this subject in Germany are 
 very unsatisfactory, and there are none at all in France. 
 
 The first factory law was passed in 1802. It had for its 
 object the preservation of the health and morals of apprentices 
 
 (4)
 
 5O THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 and others employed in cotton and other mills and in cotton 
 and other factories. This bill owed its passage to the ravages 
 of epidemic diseases in the factory districts of Manchester. 
 The ill-fed and overworked children in the factories formed 
 the very best field for the development and spread of epidemic 
 and contagious diseases. Pauper children were sent in crowds 
 from the agricultural districts of the southern counties to the 
 
 O 
 
 manufacturing districts of the northern counties. They were 
 apprenticed to the mill owners and mercilessly overworked 
 and under-fed. The act mentioned subjected all mills em- 
 ploying three or more apprentices or twenty other persons 
 to its provisions. The walls were to be whitewashed, win- 
 dows enough were to be provided, and the apprentices w r ere 
 always to have two suits of clothing, one of which was to be 
 new each year. Twelve hours were declared to be a day's 
 work, and work was altogether prohibited from 9 p. M. until 
 6 A. M. These provisions applied only to apprentices and 
 not to the labor of children residing in the neighborhood of 
 the factories. In 1819 children under nine years of age were 
 excluded from the cotton mills altogether, and those from 
 nine to sixteen were not to be employed more than twelve hours 
 per day. In 1825 a bill was passed providing for a partial 
 holiday on Saturday. In 1831 night work in the cotton fac- 
 tories was prohibited for persons between nine and twenty-one 
 years of age. The working day for persons under eighteen 
 was to be twelve hours, and on Saturday nine. In 1833 
 another act was passed which seemed in some respects to be a 
 retrogression, since it restricted night work in factories to per- 
 sons under eighteen instead of under twenty-one, yet .extended 
 the provisions of its protection to a much larger number of 
 callings. It now includes every cotton, woolen, worsted, 
 hemp, flax, tow, linen, or silk mill, or factory wherein steam 
 or water or any other mechanical power is used to propel or 
 work the machinery. The labor of young persons under 
 eighteen remains fixed at twelve hours per day and sixty-nine 
 per week, with one hour and a half for meal-times, and the age 
 for first admission at nine years. The employment of chil- 
 dren under eleven, twelve and thirteen years of age, is to be
 
 PASSAGE OF FACTORY LAWS. 5 1 
 
 gradually restricted from twelve to nine hours per day and 
 forty-eight a week. Regular holidays for children and young 
 people are secured ; medical certificates are required before 
 children may be employed ; factory inspectors are to be ap- 
 pointed by the crown ; school attendance is made compulsory 
 for all children whose labor is limited to forty-eight hours per 
 week. .This measure stood its ground for eleven years, when 
 another act was passed, including more careful provisions for 
 enforcing inspection ; for protecting children or young persons 
 engaged in the wet spinning of flax, hemp, jute or tow ; for 
 the avoidance of accidents to children ; the guarding of ma- 
 chinery ; the inquiring into and securing compensation for 
 accidents. The age of first employment of children is 
 lowered to eight years ; the hours of their employment are 
 reduced to six and a half or seven hours per day or ten hours 
 on alternate days. The employment of women is brought 
 under the same rules as that of young persons ; the cessation 
 of labor is made absolute for the protected classes on Satur- 
 day at 4.30 p. M. ; the hours for meal-time are to be taken 
 from 7.30 A. M. and 7.30 p. M., with additional regulations as 
 to meal-times and half-holidays and for school attendance for 
 children. In the next year the workers in print works were 
 brought under the same provisions. In 1847 was passed the 
 famous ten-hour law which restricted the hours of labor for 
 young persons under eighteen and for women of all ages after 
 May I, 1848, to ten hours per day and fifty-eight hours per 
 week. It is well known that this act has practically operated 
 (until quite recently when means seemed to have been de- 
 vised by some employers for employing adult males only) as 
 a general reduction of the hours of labor in consequence of 
 the interdependence of the labor of men and that of women 
 and young persons, thus showing how powerful the effect of 
 law may be in fixing the length of the working day. In 1850 
 work was prohibited for the protected classes between the 
 hours of 6 p. M. and 6 A. M., except on Saturdays, when 
 work was to cease at 2 P.'M. ; thus finally establishing the 
 half-holiday. By a series of subsequent acts these same pro- 
 visions were extended to bleaching and dyeing works, lace
 
 52 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 factories and match factories. In 1874 the minimum age of 
 children in the factories was fixed at ten years, and the pro- 
 visions of the act extended to nearly every branch of manu- 
 facturing industry. In 1878 a consolidating act was passed 
 which included in one bill the substance of all previous acts. 
 It is worthy of special notice as containing the present pro- 
 visions on the subject. Part i contains the general law re- 
 lating to workshops and factories under the following heads : 
 i, sanitary provisions; 2, safety; 3, employment and meal- 
 hours; 4, holidays; 5, education; 6, certificates of fitness for 
 employment; 7, accidents. 
 
 i. Under the first head, the buildings must be kept in a 
 clean state and free from any effluvia arising from any drain, 
 privy or other nuisance. 2. The second contains provisions 
 for the fencing of dangerous machinery and restrictions on 
 the employment of children and young persons in cleaning 
 machinery while in motion. 3. No child, young person, or 
 woman shall be employed except during the period of em- 
 ployment fixed as follows : ist. In textile factories. For 
 young persons and women the period shall be from 6 A.M. to- 
 6 P.M., or 7 A.M., to 7 P.M. ; on Saturdays from 6 A.M. to i 
 P.M. for all manufacturing processes, and 1.30 for all other 
 employment, if one hour is allowed for meals, otherwise at 
 12.30 and i P.M. respectively. Or if the work begins at 7 
 A.M. it shall end on Saturdays at 1.30 and 2 P.M. respectively. 
 For meal-times two hours at least on week days, and on Sat- 
 urdays half an hour must be allowed. Continuous employ- 
 ment without a meal-time of at least half an hour must not 
 exceed four and one-half hours. For children, employment 
 must be for half time (only in morning or afternoon sets, or 
 on alternate days, the time to be the same as above). A child 
 must not be employed for two successive periods of seven 
 days each in the same set whether morning or afternoon, nor 
 on two successive Saturdays nor on Saturday in any week if 
 he has already on one day been employed more than five and 
 one-half hours. Nor shall a child be employed the whole 
 time on two successive days nor on the same day in two suc- 
 cessive weeks. 2d. In non-textile factories. For young per-
 
 FAVORABLE LABOR LEGISLATION. 53 
 
 sons and women : period of employment same as in textile 
 factories, ending at 2 P.M. on Saturdays ; meal-times not less 
 than an hour and one-half and on Saturdays half an hour; 
 continuous employment without a meal not to exceed five 
 hours. These provisions also apply to young persons in work- 
 shops. For children half time arrangements as before. 
 Women in workshops are subject to the same regulations as 
 young persons, if young persons and children are employed ; 
 if not, the period of employment may extend from 6 A. M. 
 to 9 P. M., and on Saturdays to 4 P.M. Absent time for meals, 
 etc., must be allowed to the extent of four and one-half hours 
 (on Saturdays for two and one-half hours). The employ- 
 ment of young children at home when the work is the same 
 as in a factory or workshop but no machine power is used is 
 also regulated, the day being from 6 to 9 for young persons ; 
 from 6 to i or from i to 8 for children. Meal-times in factories 
 or workshops must be simultaneous, and employment during 
 such meal-time is forbidden. The occupier of a factory or 
 workshop must issue a notice of the hours of employment, 
 etc. No children under ten may be employed. 4. The fol- 
 lowing holidays shall be allowed to all persons : Christmas 
 day, Good Friday and eight half-holidays, two of which may 
 be commuted for one entire holiday. 5. Occupiers must ob- 
 tain a weekly certificate of the school attendance for every 
 child in their employment. 6. Medical certificates of fitness 
 for employment must be secured in the case of children and 
 young persons under sixteen. When a child becomes a young 
 person afresh certificate is necessary. 7. Notice of accidents 
 causing loss of life or bodily injury must be sent to the in- 
 spector and certifying surgeon of the district. The word 
 child as used in the act means a person under ten years of 
 age, young person means one between fourteen and eighteen ; 
 and woman means a female person over eighteen. It will be 
 seen that the government now undertakes to protect the whole 
 class of women, children and youth employed in manufactur- 
 ing industries. The protection of laborers over eighteen 
 comprises only the general provisions in regard to sanitation, 
 safety, remedies for wages, etc.
 
 54 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 In 1842 the first of a series of mining acts was passed 
 which forbade the working of women and girls absolutely 
 and that of boys under ten years of age, in all mines and 
 collieries. In 1850 and 1855 other acts were passed provid- 
 ing for the more thorough inspection of mines. In 1860 an 
 important act was passed forbidding the employment of boys 
 under twelve, except such boys between ten and twelve as 
 can produce a schoolmaster's certificate that they can read or 
 write, or who attend school for not less than three hours a day 
 two days in the week each lunar month. Eighteen is fixed as 
 the age at which youths may be placed in charge of steam- 
 engines or machinery for hoisting persons. Provisions are 
 made for the removal of dangers by the inspectors which 
 are not provided for by the rules. Wages are to be paid in 
 money and in an office not contiguous to a spirit, or wine or 
 beershop ; and where the payment is made by weight, meas- 
 ure or guage they may at their own cost station one of their 
 own number at the place of weighing to take an account of 
 the weight. 
 
 Several other important acts have been passed relating to 
 different callings with the intention of securing a more satis- 
 factory degree of protection to laborers employed in their 
 daily labor, such as that relating to chimney-sweepers, bake- 
 houses, Merchant Shipping Act, etc., etc., which cannot be 
 further discussed in this connection. It is worthy of notice 
 that nothing appears in this long list looking toward bettering 
 the condition of the agricultural laborers. The Agricultural 
 Gangs Act of 1867 did aim to put a stop to an abuse which 
 was quite equal to anything which ever existed in the cotton 
 or woolen mills, but that afforded little protection to children 
 or laborers except against this one evil. 
 
 The most important act for the protection of laborers which 
 has been passed of late years is that known as the Employers' 
 Liability Act of 1880. This gives to the employees a right to 
 a suit against their employers in case they are injured while 
 performing their duties, unless it can be shown that the acci- 
 dent wa.s caused by the fault of the employee himself. 
 
 The first law in regard to child-labor in France was passed
 
 IN SWITZERLAND. 55 
 
 in 1841, and contained provisions which would have been 
 very satisfactory for that period if they had been enforced 
 thoroughly. One of the immediate consequences of the Rev- 
 olution of 1848 was the passage of the so-called twelve hour 
 law which introduced a normal working day of twelve hours 
 for adult male laborers, but which has always remained a 
 dead letter. A law was passed in 1874 m regard to the labor 
 of children and young girls, the provisions of which will be 
 noticed in another connection. 
 
 Prussia began in 1839, at a time when the evils of the fac- 
 tory system were not very great and had attracted but little 
 attention. The government issued a decree in regard to the 
 working of children in factories, which was superseded by a 
 more general one in 1853. A general factory law passed in 
 1849 provided for the establishment of industrial councils in 
 each factory district, composed partly of employers and partly 
 of laborers and partly of government officials, which was 
 to fix the number of hours in a working day for the various 
 branches of industry. This provision did not meet with much 
 success, and has always remained a dead letter. The same 
 law forbade the truck system of paying wages. The law of 
 I 853 was of considerable importance, as it was the basis of 
 subsequent legislation, not only for Prussia but also for the 
 new German Empire. The law of 1869 of the North German 
 Confederation contained important provisions in regard to 
 this subject and became general imperial law of the German 
 Empire. 
 
 Switzerland has the honor of going further in this direction 
 than any other country. Previous to 1874 tne on ^Y power 
 which could pass factory acts were the various states of the 
 Swiss Union, but since that year the Federal Government has 
 power to make such legislation. The consequence of this 
 new extension of power of the Federal Government, was the 
 passage of a law in 1877, subsequently approved by a popu- 
 lar vote on the subject, which may serve as a model so far as 
 its formal provisions are concerned, which goes much farther 
 than any other law on the subject now in existence. 
 
 Factory laws have been passed in Austria, Hungary,
 
 56 THE I.AIJOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden. The other European 
 countries appear to have nothing on the subject on their 
 statute books, though Russia has been contemplating one for 
 some time, and strong efforts have been made for years in 
 Belgium. All such attempts have failed hitherto, through the 
 opposition of the powerful capitalists and factory lords, who 
 show themselves as lacking in all regard for humanity in 
 their dealings with their laborers as the English lords of fifty 
 years ago. 
 
 The law in the German Empire, at present, forbids abso- 
 lutely the employment of children in factories under twelve 
 years of age. Those between twelve and fourteen may be 
 employed only six hours per day, and those between four- 
 teen and sixteen, ten hours per day. The labor must be 
 performed between 5 .30 in the morning and 8.30 in the even- 
 ing, with certain pauses, and not at all on Sundays or holi- 
 days. In the complete prohibition of labor of children under 
 thirteen Germany goes much further than most countries. 
 The French law forbids labor under thirteen, but allows a 
 great number of exceptions which go far toward making the 
 law of little use. Switzerland goes further than Germany 
 by making the age for admission to the factories fifteen. 
 Comparatively few children, however, are employed in Ger- 
 many who are under the age of fifteen. The compulsory 
 school-law makes it necessary for the children to attend 
 school so many months in the year, until they reach the age 
 of fifteen, that it is hardly worth the while of employers to 
 engage them. The number of children under thirteen em- 
 ployed in the cotton factories alone in England amounted in 
 1878 to over sixty-seven thousand, and was increasing all the 
 time. The French law affords but little protection to the 
 youths, since those between twelve and sixteen may work 
 twelve hours per day, which shows also how far the law 
 limiting the day of the full-grown laborer is carried out, since 
 twelve hours is his day also. The German law provides that 
 young persons between fourteen and sixteen, who, according 
 to the local law, must still attend school, may not work more 
 than six hours. The Swiss law protects all classes of labor-
 
 THE NORMAL WORKING DAY. 57 
 
 ers. Those especially mentioned are children under fifteen, 
 who may not be employed at all ; young persons between fif- 
 teen and sixteen, and those between sixteen and eighteen, 
 and w6men over eighteen. The legal working day is eleven 
 hours, shortened to ten on the days before Sundays and holi- 
 days, with a noon pause of one hour. Work is absolutely 
 forbidden on Sundays and holidays. Night work for all 
 laborers is forbidden, except in those branches of industry 
 where continuous working is necessary to the business. The 
 working day may be shortened by decree in the unhealthy 
 branches of industry. In the case of youths who have to 
 attend school after the age of admission to the factories, they 
 shall not be employed more than six hours. Pregnant 
 women are not to be employed in those branches which are 
 unhealthy, and they are to be excluded in all factories for at 
 least two weeks before, and six weeks after, delivery. Women 
 must not be employed to clean machinery in motion. 
 
 It will be seen from the foregoing that a normal working 
 day has been established in no Continental country except 
 France, where the law is a dead letter, and in Switzerland. 
 A normal working day of ten hours was, as we have seen, 
 practically established in England by the law limiting the 
 working hours of women and youth to ten, which had the 
 effect of making the day for all ten, owing to the intimate 
 connection of the work of the protected classes with that of 
 adult men. 
 
 The legislation in regard to the shops and factories as 
 regards lighting, ventilation, etc., is very different in differ- 
 ent countries. That of England has been mentioned. Ger- 
 many goes further in its laws on such subjects than even 
 Switzerland, since it requires every master, no matter how 
 small the number of his laborers, to comply with certain 
 police regulations of the most far-reaching kind in regard 
 to all the details of building and operating his machin- 
 ary so far as they affect the health and morals of the 
 operatives. 
 
 According to the German law the employer must pay the 
 wages in cash. Payment in any other form is invalid, and
 
 58 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 the employer so paying may be fined or imprisoned. The 
 employer is not permitted to give the laborer credit for goods 
 or to loan him money. Nor are any members of his family, 
 assistants or agents permitted to do what is forbidden to the 
 employer. Employers are not permitted to make any con- 
 tracts with their laborers, by which the latter bind themselves 
 to purchase wares in his or any other stores. 
 
 The German Federal law on the liability of employers 
 was passed in 1871. It provides for the payment of damages 
 in case of the death of any employee by accident in railroads, 
 mining, quarrying and factories. It presumes that the acci- 
 dent occurs through the fault of the employer, and thus puts 
 the burden of proof on him to show that it occurred through 
 the fault of the injured party, in which case he is not liable 
 for damages. The law makes some differences in case of 
 the railroads and other classes of undertakings. The damages 
 include, in the case of bodily injury, the payment of costs of 
 treatment and making good the loss of earnings which is inci- 
 dent to the accident. In the case of death, they include the 
 cost of treatment up to the time of death, the cost of burial, 
 and the loss of property incident to the sickness and death of 
 the person injured, and a sum to be decided by the court to 
 those persons who were dependent on the person so killed. 
 If the employer and the persons whom the deceased was 
 bound to support can not agree as to the gross sum to be paid 
 in damages, the court is to grant an annuity, which it is to fix 
 after examining all the circumstances of the case. 
 
 This law was very materially modified by the passage of 
 the Compulsory Insurance bill, in 1884. Under this act em- 
 ployers are bound to insure their employees against all acci- 
 dents happening to them while engaged at their work, whether 
 owing to their own fault or not, unless it can be shown that 
 the employee himself intentionally caused the injury. It is 
 claimed that this law will afford much more efficient protection 
 than the liability act, which it largely supersedes, owing to the 
 fact that no question is raised as to whose fault the accident 
 was, but payment must be made anyhow. 
 
 A series of friendly societies to insure the laborer against
 
 CO-OPERATION. 59 
 
 
 
 sickness has also been organized under the supervision of the 
 public authorities, to some one of which every laborer must 
 belong. 
 
 We must pass with" the mere mention the laws intended to 
 facilitate the banking operations of the workmen, which ended 
 in the establishment of loan and savings banks ; those which 
 concern the applications of his savings and energies, resulting 
 in the vast net-work of friendly and building societies ; those 
 relating to his physical and intellectual advancement, which 
 have led to the multiplication of libraries, mechanics' insti- 
 tutes, gymnasiums and schools of all kinds ; those aiming' at 
 securing a better housing of the laborer, which conferred 
 upon the public authorities of boroughs and cities the power 
 to take land by the right of eminent domain and erect tene- 
 ment houses upon them for the use of laborers, and which thus 
 incorporated the principle in the English law that the same 
 power that is so continually exercised in order to secure op- 
 portunities for the investment of capital may also be used in 
 the interests of labor. Those which facilitated the establish- 
 ment of co-operative societies of various kinds, such as co- 
 operative stores, co-operative factories and co-operative banks, 
 and many similar acts which testify powerfully to the great 
 advancement of the laborers themselves and the newly 
 awakened interest of every class of society in everything 
 which concerns the condition of the wage-receiving class. 
 
 The efforts to solve the labor question by substituting for 
 the present system of wage-payer and wage-receiver a plan 
 of co-operation cannot be said to have assumed importance 
 enough as yet to enable us to judge as to its ultimate success. 
 Curiously enough the different forms of co-operation succeed 
 very differently in different countries. Consumptive co- 
 operation has succeded best in England ; productive co-oper- 
 ation, in France; and banking or credit co-operation, in Ger- 
 many. The stores of England, the factories of France and 
 the credit unions of Germany prove the possibility of substi- 
 tuting co-operation under very favorable conditions for the 
 wage system in some departments of their respective spheres. 
 But as yet only a mere fraction of the laboring class has been
 
 6O THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 brought within the range of the working of these various 
 establishments. 
 
 A very different means of meeting many of the difficulties 
 of the present situation is to be seen in the trades-union. 
 This institution, organized in the dark days which followed 
 the destruction of the old industrial system and for a long 
 time unlawful and still discriminated against in the legislation 
 of nearly every European nation, has been steadily growing 
 in influence and power for the last fifty years, until to-day it is 
 recognized as the most powerful instrument in the hands of 
 the working class. Trades-unions have grown up within 
 the limits of each trade ; but during the last few years an 
 effort is making to organize them all into a sort of federa- 
 tion of labor unions, which shall stand as a unit in the de- 
 fense of the rights of the laborer and work as a unit for his 
 improvement. 
 
 The trades-union took its rise in England and has there 
 reached its highest development. It is now recognized by 
 employers themselves that the most stable and satisfactory 
 conditions prevail in those branches where the trades-unions 
 are the strongest and best developed, i. e., these associations 
 are now recognized as among the most conservative elements 
 in the industrial system, and as offering to the honest and 
 well meaning employer the best guarantee that he will not be 
 outbid in the market by unscrupulous competitors who rely 
 for their profits on the possibility of lowering wages when- 
 ever they think they see a chance to cut under the prevailing 
 rate. 
 
 The trades-union sprang up also in France about the same 
 time as in England. Some of these unions can be proved to 
 have developed out of the old journeymen's associations, and 
 others grew up under the mask of friendly societies ; but the 
 most of them sprang up spontaneously out of strikes, as in 
 England. Not only in their origin, but also in their nature, 
 as well as in the conception and limitation of their functions, 
 in their tendencies and in the particular measures in regard 
 to wages and industry, as \vell as in the importance which 
 they have finally obtained in the life of the laborer; these
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF TRADES-UNIONS. 6l 
 
 labor syndicates (as the French call them) resemble in the 
 most striking way their English counterparts, a circumstance 
 which, owing to the spontaneity of their rise in both coun- 
 tries, speaks loudly for their timeliness and their fitness to 
 satisfy a great demand. The organization, however, in 
 France is not so complete as in England, and they do not yet 
 embrace all branches of skilled labor. 
 
 In Germany the trades-unions have not run such a career as 
 in England or France. According to Brentano, those which 
 have been organized since 1860 may be divided into two 
 classes, those founded by the laborers themselves from a 
 feeling of their own needs, and those which were started by 
 people interested in the welfare of the laborers, though not 
 belonging to their numbers. The German Printers' Union 
 belongs to the first class, which grew out of a strike in Leip- 
 sic, in 1865 ; also the hat-makers' association, established in 
 1871 ; and the union of tobacco-workers, started in 1865. 
 Some other classes of workers also have unions stretching 
 over the German-speaking countries. To the second class 
 belong the unions started by the Social Democrat party, and 
 by Hirsch and Duncker. 
 
 The Social Democrat unions were all dissolved by the Gov- 
 ernment under the provisions of the Socialist law, and have 
 disappeared, from the surface, at least. The Hirsch and 
 Duncker unions are modelled after the best English trade- 
 unions, but they have never succeeded in getting a firm hold 
 except among the engineers of Berlin. 
 
 The trade-unions in Italy did not take their rise until after 
 1870, but since that time, in spite of prohibitions and severe 
 police regulations, they have continued to grow. The old 
 friendly societies are being rapidly converted into real trade- 
 unions with similar organizations and ends to those of En- 
 gland. They seem destined to grow and multiply, as they 
 fill a great demand wherever there is a class of laborers some- 
 what raised above the lowest level of existence. 
 
 We can take but the merest glance at the development of 
 the trade-unions, and must limit ourselves to a few of those in 
 England. The largest individual trade society in England is
 
 62 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 reckoned to be that of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers, 
 Machinists, Mill-wrights and Pattern-Makers, founded by the 
 amalgamation of a large number of different societies in 1851. 
 This society had, the year before the great lock-out in 1852, 
 11,829 members, and a balance of cash of 21,705. That 
 fierce fight with employers brought down the numbers to 
 9,737, and the reserve fund to 17,812, in 1853. At that time 
 it was thought that trade-unionism had received its death-blow. 
 This calculation was premature. In 1865 this society num- 
 bered 30,984 members, with an income of 75,672, and a 
 clear balance in hand of 115,357. It had 229 branches in 
 England and Wales, 32 in Scotland, n in Ireland, 6 in 
 Australia, 2 in New Zealand, 5 in Canada, i in Malta, 
 8 in the United States, and I in France; a total of 295. 
 The total expended by it had been, during fifteen years, 
 484,717. 
 
 The Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners 
 affords another instance of these vast trade organizations. 
 Although it was not established until 1860, it grew rapidly, 
 having in 1865 more than 8,000 members, in 187 or- 
 ganizations. It expended in the last mentioned year 
 11,808. 
 
 Eighteen of these societies, which were examined by the 
 Trades-Unions Commission of 1869, had more than two hun- 
 dred thousand members; and, besides these, many societies 
 existed which did not come forward by delegates before the 
 Commission. The number of members in all these various 
 trades-unions in 1865 was estimated by the unionists them- 
 selves to be not far from seven hundred thousand. In the 
 face of these figures, and of the evidence given before the 
 Trades-Unions Commission, the accusation of secrecy against 
 these bodies so commonly launched against them must 
 disappear. Such accusations simply show that those who 
 make them know nothing of the facts, and wish to prevaricate 
 the facts for bad purposes. It is difficult for four or five hun- 
 dred men to conspire secretly at any time ; especially so when 
 they meet in conference at public rooms and halls, under the 
 eye of newspaper reporters, and publish their proceedings
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF TRADES-UNIONS. 63 
 
 afterward to the whole world. Nor can anything be franker 
 than the testimony of the officers of these societies before the 
 Commission. The Secretary of the Amalgamated Engineers 
 brought forward the imprinted by-laws, which are read to 
 candidates for admission, and whether these may be consid- 
 ered bad or good political economy they have certainly noth- 
 ing criminal about them. The details given by him and 
 others relating to the constitution of the societies are both 
 most copious and most interesting. It is true that all this 
 power of organization, instead of being accepted as an evi- 
 dence of social development, was treated by some as only a 
 cause of alarm to other classes. " I shall not refer to the sub- 
 ject of strikes," said Mr. Lowe, in his speech of May 3, 1865, 
 on Mr. Baine's motion of reform, "but it is, I contend, impos- 
 sible to believe that the same machinery which is at present 
 brought into play in connection with strikes would not be 
 applied by the working classes to political purposes. Once 
 give the men votes, and this machinery is ready to launch 
 those votes in one compact mass upon the institutions and 
 property of the country." As if the Amalgamated Society of 
 Engineers, with its thirty thousand members which, in 1865, 
 spent over 14,000 in donations, sending members to situa- 
 tions and beds for non-free members, 13,785 for sick 
 benefits, stewards and medical certificates, 5,184 for super- 
 annuation benefit, 4,887 for funerals, i, 860 for accidents, 
 etc., etc., were not an institution ! As if the workman's labor 
 were not as truly property as that capital which it enables to 
 accumulate. As if it were likely that the great trade societies 
 have accumulated their capital of thousands of pounds, tens 
 of thousands, invested them, as many of them have, in post- 
 office savings banks, at two and a half per cent., rendered 
 tens of thousands of widows and of sick men and of the dis- 
 abled and aged dependent on those funds in order to "launch" 
 votes in a compact mass at institutions or property ! The 
 calumny is so preposterous that it surely needed an unre- 
 formed House of Commons to listen to it, and it went far to 
 justify the trade societies in claiming such a measure of politi- 
 cal reform as has rendered the like impossible henceforth to
 
 64 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 be uttered. No man of sound mind would make any such 
 statement nowadays. 
 
 There remains but one more point. The progress of de- 
 mocracy in Europe is continuous and irrresistible. Surely, 
 though in some places slowly, the power is slipping from the 
 hands of the privileged few into the hands of the burdened 
 many. What use will the latter make of it? Will they be 
 as shorted-sighted and selfish as the few have been? If so, 
 the latter can not complain and some good at least will be 
 done since more will be benefited by such selfishness than at 
 present. But we have good reason to believe that their rule 
 will be characterized by more good sense, probity and wisdom 
 than that of their predecessors. Surely it is cause for pride 
 on the part of the friends of the workingman to hear such 
 testimony as that of J. M. Ludlow, who says, at the end of an 
 extended history of labor legislation in England since 1832, 
 that in looking back over the intervening time and calling to 
 mind the great contests, social, moral and political, which 
 have occurred, it will be found that the workingmen of En- 
 gland, in all the great centers of industry, gave what strength 
 and influence they possessed to that side, which experience has 
 since demonstrated to have been in the right. Their course, 
 wherever they have been fairly treated, has been marked by 
 as much thought and unselfishness as that of any other large 
 class in the community. They have wisely used every ad- 
 vantage which has come to them. They have disappointed 
 the Cassandrian prophecies of their enemies, who claimed that 
 it was unsafe to shorten their hours of labor, because they 
 would but use their leisure for the purpose of dissipation. 
 They have fulfilled the most hopeful anticipations of their 
 friends. They have given ample evidence that they will use 
 their rapidly increasing preponderance in politics in the inter- 
 est of freedom and justice. No better illustration of this can 
 be found than in their course in regard to Catholic emancipa- 
 tion and the abolition of wage-slavery. 
 
 It is certain that at a time when the workingmen of En- 
 gland had, as God knows, grievances enough to complain of, 
 they never turned a deaf ear to pleadings for the rights of the
 
 PROGRESS OF EUROPEAN DEMOCRACY. 6$ 
 
 African slave ; that anti-slavery meetings were always largely 
 attended by workingmen. But there is one crowning instance 
 which Americans above all people in the world should never 
 forget, in which the working classes may be said to have de- 
 cided the policy of England, when the voice of the people 
 proved truly to be the voice of God. At a time when every 
 evil influence under heaven seemed combined to force En- 
 gland into abetting the slaveholders' secession, when the cot- 
 ton famines and blackade-runners' profits, the French despot 
 and the Times, the country-party and the ship-owners, Mr. 
 Carlyle and half the piety of England, were urging the coun- 
 try on to a course which all now feel would have been one of 
 headlong and ruinous folly, the workingmen of Lancashire 
 stood firm and fast to the holy principle of human freedom. 
 Sublimely patient, far-seeing beyond speculators and states- 
 men, they could meet in the midst of their own deep distress 
 caused by the continuance of the war, to congratulate Abra- 
 ham Lincoln on his proclamation of emancipation ; and at the 
 time when any expression of sympathy with the cause of the 
 " Union " was sure to meet with fierce scorn and self-compla- 
 cent derision in the House of Commons as well as on every 
 'change throughout the country, they never wavered in their 
 firm faith of its ultimate triumph. Abraham Lincoln recog- 
 nized the meaning of this expression of sympathy, and re- 
 plied in a letter of the ipth of January, 1863 : " Under the 
 circumstance I can not but regard your decisive utterances 
 upon the question as an instance of sublime Christian heroism, 
 which has not been surpassed in any age or country." May 
 this prove to be a forecast of the way in which the laboring 
 man will use his growing power in every country for all time 
 to come. 
 
 The history of the laborer and his condition in every Euro- 
 pean country, whether in agriculture or the mechanic arts, 
 \vhether in the fifteenth or the nineteenth century, proves in- 
 disputably the result of two facts : first, that the laboring class 
 owe nearly the whole improvement of their condition to their 
 own efforts ; second, that they have ordinarily been able to 
 protect their own interest only by combination. Whenever 
 
 (5)
 
 66 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 the laborers have been too poor, too indolent, too selfish, too 
 short-sighted to combine, there they have fallen an easy prey 
 to their enemies ; wherever they have had the requisite public 
 spirit and wisdom, they have never failed to better their own 
 condition and with that the condition of the great majority of 
 their fellow-countrymen.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE LABOR MOVEMENT IN AMERICA TO l86l. 
 
 PLYMOUTH THE STARTING-POINT OF THE FREE LABOR MOVEMENT FREE 
 AND SLAVE LABOR EARLY ASSOCIATIONS OF LABOR CLASS DIS- 
 TINCTIONS WAGES REGULATED BY LAW AN EARLY BOYCOTT 
 EARLY STRIKES AND ORGANIZATIONS FIRST EPOCH OF THE PRES- 
 ENT MOVEMENT FIRST EXPERIMENT IN COMMUNITY LIFE TIME 
 MONEY, 1829 LABOR MEN PIONEERS IN THE ANTI-SLAVERY MOVE- 
 MENT YANKEE GIRLS AGITATION FOR THE TEN-HOUR WORK-DAY 
 WORKINGMEN'S PARTY PROTEST AGAINST LAND TRAFFIC NEW 
 ENGLAND CONVENTION OF FARMERS AND MECHANICS SHIP-CARPEN- 
 TERS AND CALKERS AND MERCHANTS OF BOSTON CONNECTICUT 
 CARPET-WORKERS' CONSPIRACY CASE FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION, 
 BOSTON, 1834 STRIKES OF CARPENTERS, STONE CUTTERS, HORSE- 
 SHOERS, LONGSHOREMEN AND RIGGERS MILITARY UNDER ARMS IN 
 NEW YORK CITY- FACTORY-GIRLS' STRIKE OF 1838 TEN-HOUR 
 PROCLAMATION OF PRESIDENT VAN BUREN JOURNEYMEN BOOTMAK- 
 ERS' CONSPIRACY CASE JUDGE SHAW'S DECISION LABOR LITER- 
 ATURE, 1838 TO 1851 NEW ENGLAND PROTECTIVE UNION NEW 
 ENGLAND WORKINGMEN'S ASSOCIATION TEN-HOUR MOVEMENT IN 
 PITTSBURGH FIRST INDUSTRIAL CONGRESS, 1845 CONVENTION OF 
 CARPET WEAVERS PUBLIC MEETING OF MACHINISTS SYMPATHY 
 WITH THE CHARTISTS AND REPEALERS OF ENGLAND AND IRELAND 
 PROTEST AGAINST CHEAP LABOR WENDELL PHILLIPS ON THE LABOR 
 QUESTION, 1847 ATTEMPT TO BOYCOTT A LABOR MAN IN MAINE 
 TYPOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY TO THE PRINTERS OF PARIS INDUSTRIAL 
 CONVENTIONS AND CONGRESSES CO-OPERATIVE IRON MOULDERS 
 HORACE GREELEY BEFORE THE PRINTERS FACTORY OPERATIVES' 
 STRIKE OF 1851 SHIP-WORKERS ON OLD WORK GAIN THE EIGHT- 
 HOUR DAY FIRST EPOCH OF THE SOCIAL REVOLUTION ENDS IN THE 
 WAR AGAINST CHATTEL SLAVERY. 
 
 PLYMOUTH and Jamestown are the two starting points 
 of the labor movement in this country ; Plymouth -repre- 
 senting free, and Jamestown chattel labor. For nearly two 
 hundred and fifty years these systems contended with each 
 other for the mastery. Out of the first grew the free school, 
 the public library, the forum of free debate, the wonderful 
 control and mastery over an unyielding soil and untold 
 
 (67)
 
 68 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 natural difficulties, the wonderful inventions of the human 
 brain to produce things with rapidity and cheapness, giving 
 to labor the highest prosperity and highest attainments ever 
 reached. Under this free labor system the laborer became 
 the sovereign citizen, holding an equal right under the law to 
 make laws and enforce them, each increasing responsibility 
 leading to greater development, opening avenues of advance- 
 ment in the political, social and industrial world. The labor 
 movement of to-day came over in the "May flower, "the found- 
 ers of the colony, building 'more wisely than they knew, 
 engrafting into their contract the spirit of co-operation. The 
 first industry established by them, the fisheries, partook of 
 this spirit, and each man who handled a line handled also his 
 share of the profit of the venture. In addition to the profit- 
 sharing system thus introduced, the colony still further pro- 
 tected the fisherman by setting aside a certain part of their 
 corn for the use of the fishers in case the cruise should be 
 unprofitable. 
 
 The planting of the chattel system of labor at Jamestown 
 constituted the establishment of an oligarchy. The virgin 
 soil of the South was outraged by mammon. To labor in the 
 field was degradation. Education was for the master; igno- 
 rance, for the laborer. The employer was mounted in the 
 saddle, the laborer was on foot ; the one holding the whip, the 
 other the hoe. From the leisure of the master, in the days 
 of the Revolution, great men were grown. The white 
 laborer became the "trash" of the South. Civilization was 
 stagnant. The Plymouth colony built up the free West, 
 ringed the continent with homes, newspapers and churches. 
 The Jamestown colony became dangerous, and was restricted 
 within a self-destroying area. 
 
 The history of the struggle of free labor on this continent 
 is not complete without an analysis of the spirit of commerce, 
 as manifested in the settlement of New York. The compro- 
 mise between these three factors sentiment in affairs, com- 
 merce, and slavery has resulted in the destruction of the 
 latter, the subversion of the former, and the enthronement of 
 the spirit of commerce. The struggle now pending is for the
 
 PLYMOUTH THE STARTING POINT. 69 
 
 restoration of sentiment, or the restoration of the moral rela- 
 tion of man to man. 
 
 Ship-building, being the most important of the early in- 
 dustries, and the skilled craftsmen being emigrants from 
 England, where trades organizations then existed, it is very 
 evident that some form of organization existed among them. 
 Their acts show an agreement or mutual understanding in 
 reference to rules governing their craft, rules that finally 
 had the strength of custom, and were maintained after many 
 struggles. 
 
 The first historical mention we have of a craftsman is found 
 in the History of Plymouth, in which it is stated that in 1621 
 a carpenter and saltmaker were sent to the colony by the 
 adventurers. " The carpenter," says Governor Bradford, " is 
 an honest and very industrious man, who very quickly built 
 us two very good and strong shallops, with a great and strong 
 lighter ; " but it seems that this carpenter died during the 
 summer, as Governor Bradford says, "to our great grief, loss, 
 and sorrow." This industry grew to such large proportions 
 as to necessitate the bringing over of a comparatively large 
 number of ship-workers. They came mostly from the county 
 of Kent, where organizations of labor existed. The extent 
 of the industry at that time is but very little known or appre- 
 ciated at the present day. The workmen were necessarily 
 strong, vigorous men, physically and mentally. Their hours 
 of labor were from sun to sun. That they were the pioneers 
 of the labor movement in this country will be clearly seen by a 
 perusal of the chapter on the "Building Trades," to an inves- 
 tigation of which Mr. Edward H. Rogers, himself a ship- 
 builder, has given much time. 
 
 It is probable that in the early days no attempt was made 
 to form special labor organizations, the condition of the colo- 
 nies being such that what was the interest of one was the 
 interest of all ; but it was not long before class distinction 
 became clearly marked, and an aristocracy as strict as that 
 existing in England had become established. A man of 
 wealth and position was termed "gentleman," and a man 
 of humble means, a craftsman, etc., " goodman." The social
 
 7O THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 nature of man necessitated association, and this desire for 
 association necessarily led to organization, and the mingling 
 together of men at their several crafts naturally led to organi- 
 zations of fellow-craftsmen ; but these associations were at 
 first wholly of a social character, with benevolent features. 
 
 That shortly after the close of the first century and a half 
 of the history of the colonies, they commenced to discuss the 
 question of wages, is evident from the legislation enacted in 
 the several towns establishing the maximum wages to be 
 paid. 
 
 In the town of Newburyport (1777) the following vote was 
 passed : 
 
 Pursuant to "an Act of the General Court to Prevent Monopoly and 
 Oppression," it was voted by the Selectmen to establish the following as the 
 Maximum Wages to be paid : 
 
 Carpenters 5 shillings 4 pence per day. 
 
 Calkers 6 
 
 Day Laborers, not found .... 4 
 
 Day Laborers, found 3 
 
 Joiners 4 
 
 Masons 6 
 
 8 pence 
 
 It will be noticed that by this vote the employers were pro- 
 hibited from paying more than a certain sum per day, but 
 they were not prohibited from paying the lowest possible price 
 for labor. 
 
 Of strikes we have no record up to the present century, 
 unless the refusal to work on Christmas, as referred to by a 
 recent historian, can be considered as- such. 
 
 The question of the relation of the colonies to Great Britain 
 commanded the special attention of the workingmen. Their 
 places of meeting were the centers of the discussions that 
 precipitated the Revolutionary War, and the ship-carpenters 
 and calkers, and others of the building trades were among 
 the most earnest followers of Samuel Adams. They doubt- 
 less belonged to the several secret organizations like the Sons 
 of Liberty, who, like the order of Tammany, wore the para- 
 phernalia of the native Indian. Events proved that Tories 
 were not found among the workingmen, but in the ranks of
 
 THE FIRST STRIKE IN AMERICA. 71 
 
 the aristocratic. The class distinctions, if not also the oppres- 
 sion of the poor, which existed at this time, are evidenced by 
 the following quotation from a paper published in 1775 : 
 
 Do not the threats of the rich to distress the poor in any shape, if the 
 last should not in an approaching election give their votes to such men as the 
 former direct, show an enslaving disposition ? Can we expect representatives 
 chosen in this manner will be faithful to preserve our liberties? Have not the 
 tradesmen and laborers a glorious opportunity now offered them of asserting 
 their freedom by voting, one and all, according to their own minds and 
 consciences, without paying the least regard to the lordly dictates of their 
 employers ? 
 
 It is a matter of tradition that the idea of overturning the 
 tea in Boston Harbor was first promulgated at a meeting of 
 the ship carpenters and calkers, and that these men before 
 that sometimes acted together in political matters. 
 
 The Revolutionary War naturally tended to the elimination 
 of the class distinctions which had prevailed, and a spirit of 
 individual independence permeated the laboring masses a 
 spirit that has not yet been wholly obliterated. 
 
 It is said that the first strike in the country occurred in 
 New York City, in 1803, when a number of sailors struck for 
 an advance of wages. It seems to have been settled by the 
 arrest of the leader and his lodgment in jail. That strikes of 
 craftsmen had occurred prior to this time it is but natural to 
 suppose, but as they were matters of minor, importance it is 
 difficult to'find any record of them. 
 
 Beginning with this century, the tailors appear to be the 
 first to establish the present form of trades-unions, their 
 organization claiming to date back to 1806. Prior to that 
 date members of that craft coming from England continued 
 their membership in the Journeyman Tailors' Unions of the 
 old country. The same is true of the hatters, who organized 
 a union of their craft as early as 1819. The Columbia 
 Charitable Association, of Shipwrights and Calkers, was or- 
 ganized between 1825 and 1830. Local unions of the print- 
 ers are traced back to 1831. 
 
 The especial point of interest as the formative period of the 
 labor movement is from 1825 to 1851. This development
 
 72 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 was in the direction of a demand for less hours of labor and 
 higher wages, and in co-operative experiments. The labor 
 men of that day were reformers in every sense of the word. 
 They were among the first to denounce chattel slavery and 
 capital punishment, and the first to call attention to the dis- 
 placement of laborers by the introduction of labor-saving 
 machinery. The building trades were in the advance line, as 
 will be seen by reference to the chapter on that subject. They 
 were sustained, doubtess, by the factory operatives, the boot- 
 makers, tailors, printers, and other craftsmen. 
 
 New Harmony, Ind., was the scene of the first experiment 
 at community life under the idea of common property. This 
 experiment (1825) had the advantage of Mr. Owen's ability 
 and money. With $1,000,000 at command, 28,000 acres 
 of very good land, two libraries, which cost $30,000 each, 
 sets of scientific instruments, and 800 persons to try the 
 experiment, it failed after about two years' trial. Mr. 
 Josiah Warren, who was a member of this community, 
 and whose writings upon questions of labor, money, com- 
 merce, etc., commanded the attention of the labor reformers 
 of early days, was on the point of abandoning all such enter- 
 prises, when, as he says, " a new train of thought seemed to 
 throw a sudden flash of light on past errors, and to show 
 plainly the path to be pursued. This led directly in the 
 opposite direction to that which had just been travelled." 
 Mr. Warren gave as the problem to be solved : first, the 
 proper, legitimate and just reward of labor ; second, security 
 of person and property ; third, the greatest practical amount 
 of freedom to each individual ; fourth, economy in the pro- 
 duction and uses of wealth ; fifth, to open a way to each indi- 
 vidual to the possession of land and all other natural wealth ; 
 sixth, to make it the interest of all to co-operate with and 
 assist each other, instead of clashing with and counteracting 
 each other ; seventh, to withdraw the elements of discord, of 
 war, of distrust and repulsion, and to establish a prevailing 
 spirit of peace, order and social sympathy. The means of 
 solution he stated as being, first, individuality ; second, sov- 
 ereignty of every individual ; third, cost the limit of price ;
 
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 NEW HARMONY FOUNDED. 73 
 
 fourth, a circulating medium founded on the cost of labor; 
 fifth, adaptation of the supply to the demand. George Jacob 
 Holyoake speaks of Mr. Warren's system as the developing 
 of the principle of disintegration which has always been well 
 provided for both in savage and civilized societies. In 1842 
 Mr. Warren again returned to New Harmony and opened a 
 labor exchange on the principle of cost being the limit of 
 price. Of this method Mr. Holyoake writes : 
 
 Mr. Warren's mode of paying commission was by charging the exchanger 
 for the amount of time expended in effecting his business. The manager had 
 a clock before him ; he noted the time of the customer's arrival, and, when 
 the transaction was completed, charged him for the time consumed in con- 
 ducting it. It was not the value of the business done, but the time taken in 
 doing it, upon which the charge was made. It might cost more on this plan 
 to buy a bunch of needles than a sack of flour. 
 
 Mr. Warren, speaking of his system, says that cost being 
 made the limit of price would give to a washerwoman a 
 greater income than the importer of foreign goods ; that this 
 would entirely upset the present system of national trade, stop 
 all wars arising out of the scramble for the profits of trade, 
 and demolish all tariffs, duties, and all systems of policy that 
 give rise to them ; would abolish all distinctions of rich and 
 poor ; would enable everyone to consume as much as he pro- 
 duced, and consequently prevent anyone from living at the 
 cost of another without his or her consent. The circulating 
 medium to be used in equitable commerce consisted of a cer- 
 tain number of hours of labor of a definite kind. We give a 
 copy of this form of note with the verbal explanation, as 
 printed by him in " Periodical Letters on Principles of Pro- 
 gress." Mr. Warren afterwards moved to Thompson Station, 
 L. I., where with others he made an attempt to carry out 
 his principles. His attempts may be considered failures, 
 although there is no doubt that his theories left a lasting 
 impression upon many minds. Of the other experiments, 
 notably of that of the Brook Farm Community, at communal 
 life no mention need be made in this volume, as they are 
 already covered by historians of their own. 
 
 As early as 1825 the agitation of social and economic ques- 
 tions was commanding the attention of thinkers and philan-
 
 74 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 thropists, representatives of labor organizations bringing to 
 public notice the dangers of overwork, low wages, and 
 poverty. A paper published in Boston in 1826-9 reports that 
 in 1826 five hundred and thirty-one persons were dependent 
 upon charity for support in Portsmouth, N.H., and the Hon. 
 Thomas Hertell, in an article on intemperance, speaks of the 
 poverty of the working classes as one of the causes of intem- 
 perance. In the same paper the attention of manufacturers is 
 called to the dangers of factory operatives, and demands are 
 made that suitable rooms, lodgings, etc., be provided for 
 them ; means for " preventing the rich from swallowing up 
 the inheritance of the poor of the land" are commended ; and 
 " the injurious consequences to the community of individuals 
 amassing large landed property," are commented upon. 
 Social unions of different crafts w r ere springing up in the 
 principal cities and manufacturing centres. The cotton mill 
 operatives, being amongst the most oppressed, were agitating 
 among themselves methods of relief and remedy, the women 
 weavers Yankee girls leading in the agitation and per- 
 fecting organization. 
 
 In New York City the ship carpenters and calkers were 
 commencing the agitation for the ten-hour work day, and all 
 along the Atlantic coast, where ships were being built, and 
 on the rivers, these sturdy men were preparing for the first 
 great movement in the emancipation of labor. In spite of 
 their long hours of toil they found time to discuss their griev- 
 ances. Strikes of small magnitude occurred, sometimes 
 resulting in success, and sometimes in failure. They were 
 not considered of sufficient importance to command the atten- 
 tion of the public press of that day. It seemed to be the 
 opinion of some of the cultured people, that the workingmen 
 had no legal right to strike, and when the imported laborers 
 on the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal struck, in 1829, they were 
 arrested; but upon being brought before a judge, on a writ 
 of habeas corpus, were discharged, the judge deciding that 
 the case did not come under the statute of 1815. We are 
 unable to learn whether these laborers had been imported to 
 take the places of other workmen, or whether they had been
 
 THE WORKWOMEN'S TICKET, 1838. 75 
 
 imported originally because they could be obtained at lower 
 rates of wages. 
 
 The agitation of the preceding years had culminated in 
 demands for legislation, a mechanics' lien law being one of 
 the first measures demanded. In New York a favorable 
 report was presented in 1828, but was not acted upon by the 
 House. In the following year meetings of workingmen were 
 held and protest made against the action of the legislature, 
 and candidates pledged to support that measure. Prominent 
 members of the several local labor organizations finding the 
 importance of public agitation, and the need of legislation, 
 organized a workingmen's party, the operations of that party, 
 being in each instance local, and having at one time its 
 largest membership in Boston, and at others in New York 
 and Philadelphia. At the time of the State election in New 
 York in 1829, a workingmen's ticket was put into the field. 
 Several other tickets were nominated, of which the regular 
 Republican ticket was supposed to be the most popular ; but 
 at the close of the first day of the election the workingmen's 
 ticket was found to be ahead of all others, and the New York 
 papers expressed great alarm, and urged the people "bank 
 gentlemen, and all who opposed regular nominations" to 
 arouse themselves and oppose the ticket, which they did with 
 such success that only one of the candidates of the working- 
 men's party was elected one Ebenezer Ford, who was a 
 candidate for the State Assembly. The possibility of un- 
 seating Mr. Ford was suggested, which it was claimed could 
 be done by the Assembly. This movement was unsuc- 
 cessful. One of the opposition papers said of the successful 
 candidate : " Mr. Ford, who has succeeded on the working- 
 men's ticket, is said to be an honest and sensible man, and 
 by no means attached to the doctrines of the Free Enquirers 
 or the visionary project of the Agrarians." 
 
 At the first meeting of those who got up the workingmen's 
 ticket the following resolutions were passed : 
 
 Resolved. In the opinion of this meeting, that the first appropriation of 
 the soil of the state to private and exclusive possession was eminently and 
 barbarously unjust.
 
 76 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 2. That it was substantially feudal in its character, inasmuch as those who 
 received enormous and unequal possessions were lords, and those who 
 received little or nothing were vassals. 
 
 3. That hereditary transmission of wealth, on the one hand, and poverty 
 on the other, has brought down to the present generation all the evils of the 
 feudal system and that this, in our opinion, is the prime source of all our 
 calamities. 
 
 4. In this view of the matter, that the greatest knaves, impostors and 
 paupers of the age are our bankers who swear they have promised to pay 
 to their debtors thirty or thirty-five millions of dollars on demand, at the same 
 time that they have, as they also swear, only three or four millions to do it 
 with. 
 
 5. That more than one hundred broken banks within a few years past 
 admonish the community to destroy banks altogether. 
 
 6. That more than a thousand kinds of counterfeit banknotes, from five 
 hundred dollars down to a single dollar, give double force to the admonition. 
 
 7. That exemption is privilege; and as such, the exemption from taxation 
 of churches and church property, and the property of priests, to an amount 
 not exceeding fifteen hundred dollars, is a direct and positive robbery of the 
 people. 
 
 No statement of the measures by which the evils com- 
 plained of were to be remedied can be found in this instance ; 
 but the discussions were not only upon the land question, but 
 also upon the question of lien laws, hours of labor, and, in 
 some places, an oppressive militia system. The resolution 
 regarding the taxation of church property is incident to the 
 fact that the free religious movement which was then in the 
 warmth, of its inception permeated these reform organizations. 
 The fact that the eloquent and impressive men and women 
 who are termed here "free enquirers " sympathized heartily 
 with all the efforts of the poor and oppressed, made them 
 welcome to the meetings of the workingmen, at the same time 
 frightening away many of the church-going conservative 
 wage-laborers. The papers opposed to the movement made 
 the most of this fact, and stigmatized every effort in the direc- 
 tion of relief of labor as an infidel movement. The appear- 
 ance of woman upon the platform was also enlarged upon as 
 evidence that the whole movement was visionary and fraught 
 with danger to society. Frances Wright and Robert Dale 
 Owen were especially condemned, in terms not always polite, 
 by the press. 
 
 The system of long payments that then prevailed proved
 
 FIRST LABOR NEWSPAPERS. 77 
 
 disastrous to the workingmen in many instances, not only 
 because of the truck system, which obtained, but by reason 
 of the failure of some of the manufacturers and the consequent 
 loss of wages to the employees. This led the reformatory 
 papers to demand legislative interference for the protection 
 of the operatives. The Workingmen's Party still con- 
 tinued, and newspapers were established in Rhode Island, 
 Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York. We have been 
 unable to procure copies of these papers, but from extracts 
 in the leading papers of the day, we have reason to believe 
 that they were not supported by the workingmen, although 
 exhibiting considerable editorial ability. 
 
 The question had attracted sufficient public attention to 
 warrant the delivery of a lecture by Hon. Edward Everett 
 before the Charlestown Lyceum, in which he commended the 
 organization of the Workingmen's Party. 
 
 A meeting of farmers, mechanics, and other workingmen 
 was held at Boston on the i6th of February, 1831. This 
 meeting took steps to organize a delegate convention, which 
 was assembled on the 6th of September, 1832, in the Repre- 
 sentative chamber of the State House in Boston. The con- 
 vention was a dignified and able body, and its proceedings 
 foreshadowed the present stage of the social problem. 
 Charles Douglass, of New London, Conn., presided; and G. 
 W. Light, of Boston, and Thomas Dodd, of Providence, acted 
 as secretaries. All of the New England states excepting Ver- 
 mont were represented, and delegates from New York were 
 also present. The city of Boston was represented by thirty 
 delegates, among whom were Billings Briggs, Timothy Clax- 
 ton, George W. Light, W. R. Stacy, afterwards well known 
 as a temperance advocate and the proprietor of Stacy Hall 
 which was for a long time the headquarters of the trades 
 assembly, Ruggles Slack, the father of Charles W. Slack, 
 the well-known editor and proprietor of the Boston Com- 
 monwealth and Collector of Internal Revenue, Samuel 
 Bassett, of Chelsea, William D. Swan, Colonel J. P. Clapp, 
 of Dorchester, and Ebenezer Seavey, of Roxbury. The 
 meeting was opened by prayer by Rev. Mr. Taylor, who
 
 78 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 was afterwards invited to take a seat in the convention. 
 The ten points submitted to the convention for consideration 
 were the organization of a central committee for each state, 
 the institution of lyceums or institutes, reform in the militia 
 system, the expediency of calling a national convention of 
 workingmen, the ten-hour system, the effect of banking 
 institutions and other monopolies upon the condition of the 
 laboring classes, the improvement of the system of educa- 
 tion, (including the recommendation of such legislative enact- 
 ments in relation to the internal economies of factories as 
 should insure to the operatives therein a competent degree 
 of instruction), the abolition of imprisonment for debt, the 
 adoption of a national bankrupt law, the extension of the 
 right of suffrage in states where the people were then denied 
 its privileges, and the lien law in favor of journeymen and 
 mechanics. Among the other matters discussed were the 
 landed interests, taxation, and co-operative trading. 
 
 The committee on official organ recognized a paper called 
 the JVciv England Artisan, and asked for its removal to 
 Boston. The committee on address to the workingmen 
 adopted the addresses of the president and of Mr. Eldredge, 
 as expressing the views of the convention. The remedies 
 which these addresses call for were the organization of the 
 whole laboring population of the republic, the removal of 
 political questions, morality, and economy from the mere per- 
 sonal and party contests of that day, the presentation of facts 
 to the consideration of all citizens, the selection from among 
 the politicians of the respective parties whose moral charac- 
 ter, personal habits, relations and employments, as well as 
 professions afforded the best guarantee of their disposition 
 to revise our social and political system and introduce the 
 reforms demanded, to which was added the fixed determina- 
 tion to persevere until all wrongs were redressed, and to 
 imbue the minds of their offspring with a detestation of the 
 habits of the aristocracy. The president of the convention 
 read a letter from the workingmen of the City of New York. 
 
 It is a singular coincidence of history that at the time the 
 New England mechanics and farmers were in convention
 
 THE TEN-HOUR MOVEMENT. 7p 
 
 discussing these questions of great social and economic im- 
 portance, another convention was being held in South Caro- 
 lina, under the lead of John C. Calhoun, for the purpose of 
 nullifying an act of Congress, and laying the foundation for 
 the Rebellion of 1861. The convention of workingmen had 
 been preceded by the formation of an association auxiliary to 
 the New England Association of Farmers, Mechanics, and 
 Workingmen. The first meeting of this association was held 
 at the old Common Council Room, Court Square, on Wednes- 
 day evening, March 14, 1832. The resolutions adopted at 
 the meeting speak of various institutions in the country 
 organized for the same object. On March 2ist an adjourned 
 meeting was held for the adoption of the constitution, and the 
 officers and directors of the association were chosen, from 
 which it appears that, in addition to the names already given, 
 S. Loud, W. M. Kendall, W. B. Lowner, Henry Seaver, 
 William Sparrell, S. Batchelder, R. Smith, A. Richardson, 
 S. M. Russell, E. H. Chamberlain, and D. Hinckley appeared. 
 This meeting voted to recommend that the mechanics of all 
 branches have meetings by themselves, for the purpose of 
 consulting together, and if possible come to a mutual agree- 
 ment upon the system of working hours. 
 
 On March 3Oth the Shipwrights' and Calkers' Association 
 called a meeting for April 4th, inviting master workmen to 
 attend. On May 3d the auxiliary association discussed the 
 question, " Is the ten-hour system a benefit ? " On May 23d 
 a meeting of master-carpenters was held, at which it was 
 voted to call a meeting of the master-carpenters, masons, 
 painters and slaters, to take into consideration the expediency 
 of altering the number of hours which then constituted a 
 day's work. 
 
 On May 2pth an advertisement was published, calling the 
 shipwrights and calkers of Boston and Charlestown to meet 
 at four o'clock of the same day on business of importance. 
 On the same day an advertisement appeared in the papers 
 that one hundred and twenty shipwrights and calkers, first- 
 rate workmen, wanted employment in Boston or elsewhere, 
 to which is appended an additional notice, to the effect that
 
 8O THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 a calker had been employed by one of the committee of the 
 master-builders under misrepresentations, and that he had 
 gone home to his family ; ending with the warning that those 
 persons who should come to the city thereafter must govern 
 themselves accordingly. From this advertisement it would 
 appear that the shipwrights and calkers had entered upon a 
 strike, in which the master-workmen were interested in favor 
 of the men. 
 
 The ten-hour movement had spread to other cities ; strikes 
 had been inaugurated in many places. A strike occurred in 
 New Bedford, in which some five or six hundred mechanics 
 and laborers were engaged, to regulate wages and hours of 
 labor. They held daily meetings and engaged the town crier 
 to announce them. 
 
 While this movement of the men for shorter hours was 
 being agitated, the merchants and shipowners of Boston were 
 not idle They held a meeting at the Exchange Coffee 
 Rooms on the I5th of May, at which there was but one senti- 
 ment as to the course which ought to be pursued, as the 
 report says, " to discountenance and check the unlawful com- 
 bination formed to control the freedom o/ individuals as to the 
 hours of labor, and to thwart and embarass those by whom 
 they are employed and liberally paid." The report con- 
 tinues, " setting forth the pernicious and demoralizing ten- 
 dency of these combinations, and the unreasonableness of the 
 attempt, in particular where mechanics are held in so high 
 estimation, and their skill in labor so liberally rewarded." A 
 long preamble and resolution was adopted, in which it was 
 claimed that labor ought always to be left free to regulate 
 itself, and that neither the employed nor the employer should 
 have the power to control the other ; that all combinations to 
 regulate the price and hours of labor, or to restrain individual 
 freedom and enterprise were at all times attended with per- 
 nicious consequences ; that they looked with deep regret upon 
 the course pursued by their fellow citizens, the journeymen, 
 in the adoption and maintenance of a system of measures 
 designed to coerce individuals of their craft, and to prescribe 
 the time and manner of that labor for which they were liber-
 
 OPPOSING ORGANIZED LABOR. 8l 
 
 ally paid. They claimed that such organization and action 
 would drive the trade from the city, and concluded that they 
 would discountenance all associations and combinations, 
 saying : " We will neither employ any journeyman who at 
 the time belongs to such combinations, nor will we give work 
 to any master mechanic who shall employ them while they 
 continue thus pledged to each other and refuse to work the 
 hours which it has been and is now customary for mechanics 
 to work." These resolutions were signed by the representa- 
 tives of one hundred and six firms. 
 
 The merchants at this time were the employers of the mas- 
 ter mechanics, and evinced by their action the same spirit 
 that has been manifested in later years ; namely, the denial 
 of the right of the workingmen to organize for protection, 
 while claiming that right for themselves. They say that 
 neither the employed nor the employer should have the power 
 to control the other, and then add that they will not employ 
 any journeyman who belongs to an organization, or give 
 work to any master mechanic who employs such a journey- 
 man, thus effectively introducing the boycott in its most per- 
 nicious form. On May ipth a general meeting of house and 
 ship-joiners was held, in which Mr. John Hunt acted as 
 chairman, and Mr. Thomas Gould, Jr., as secretary. It was- 
 voted that so far as laid in their power they would use every 
 exertion to persuade their employers to allow their hands 
 three hours instead of two for their meals during the hot 
 months of summer, and also allow them to quit work on 
 Saturdays at six o'clock, P.M., commencing June 1st. The 
 history of the movement for ten hours at this time is a part of 
 the history of the building trades, and will be found in the 
 chapter under that head. 
 
 It is evident that the movement was a failure, as far as 
 immediate success was concerned. But it resulted in the 
 increase of organization, and in an increased member- 
 ship. 
 
 In July, 1833, the workingmen in the Thompsonville (Ct.) 
 Carpet Factory struck for an advance of wages, and the Car- 
 pet Company sued some of the strikers for conspiracy ; the 
 
 (6)
 
 82 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 question at issue being whether the workmen had a right to 
 refuse to work, or to conspire, or agree together not to work 
 for less than a certain sum. The court charged the jury in 
 the negative, but the verdict was given for the defendants. 
 
 The workingmen of Baltimore celebrated the I2th of Sep- 
 tember, 1833, as a holiday, and nominated two candidates for 
 the State Legislature. 
 
 In 1833 the journeymen shoemakers of Geneva, New York, 
 succeeded in forcing their employer to dismiss one of the em- 
 ployees, the reason not being given, but the employer 
 retaliated upon his men by having some of them indicted and 
 punished for conspiracy. 
 
 A mechanics' convention met at Utica, N. Y., August 20, 
 1834, to protest against convict labor. 
 
 The leaders of the movement saw the necessity of a more 
 complete organization of the trades. Efforts to bring them 
 together culminated in a meeting January 8, 1834, when a 
 general trades-union of the mechanics of Boston and vicinity 
 was formed. A circular was issued proposing a plan of 
 organization, which was responded to by sixteen local unions, 
 who held a meeting on the first Tuesday in March and 
 adopted a constitution which was subsequently ratified by the 
 different trades. This was the first organization of this kind, 
 and may be considered the parent trade assembly or central 
 trade and labor union. Under the auspices of this organiza- 
 tion arrangements were made for the celebration of the 4th 
 of July, consisting of a procession, oration, and dinner. This 
 first effort proved successful. About two thousand men par- 
 ticipated. They marched through the principal streets, pre- 
 ceded by bands of music and carrying banners. The oration 
 was delivered by Frederick Robinson of Marblehead in the 
 open air on Fort Hill ; and the dinner, at which a thousand 
 plates were laid, was served in Faneuil Hall. A special 
 feature of the procession was the new ship " Mechanic," fully 
 rigged, and manned with four pieces of cannon, drawn by 
 twenty-four white horses. The ship was twenty-four and a 
 half feet long, and thirty-seven and a half feet high to the 
 top of the mast, and was built expressly for the occasion.
 
 THF PARENT TRADE ASSEMBLY. 83 
 
 On July 8th the committee published a card in the papers, 
 thanking the military company for their escort, the proprie- 
 tors of the Federal Street Theatre for the use of furniture, 
 the commandant of the Navy Yard for the use of decorations, 
 the North End Artillery for the grand salute, those citizens 
 who decorated their houses, the reader of the Declaration of 
 Independence, the toast-master, and the editors who gave 
 favorable notices. From the oration we quote a few para- 
 graphs : 
 
 We are jet but a half-educated and a half-civilized people. But few are 
 educated in one-half of their faculties, and the people in the other half. The 
 many have been obliged to devote their whole time to bodily labor, while the 
 powers of the mind have been almost wholly neglected. The millions have 
 been lulled into a fatal security, while the thousands have been active in 
 promoting their own interests. The speaker alluded forcibly to the usurpa- 
 tions of the judiciary, and called for legislative interference with the hours of 
 labor in the factories. 
 
 The following statement, which is self-explanatory, was 
 made by the committee at the dinner : 
 
 The committee of arrangements have an apology to make to their fellow 
 citizens. We regret to say that no one of our respected clergy are present. 
 Application having been made to twenty-two different societies for the use of a 
 meeting-house on this day for trades-unions, the doors of all were shut against 
 us, and under the circumstances your committee felt a delicacy to apply to 
 any clergyman to officiate at the table, lest he might consider it an affront. 
 
 One of the toasts was " Our brethren at New York. They 
 have struck the first blow at oppression ; may success attend 
 and prosperity crown all their lawful undertakings. " From 
 this toast it appears that the movement for ten hours in New 
 York City had culminated in a strike. Very little is known of 
 the connected history of the movement in the building or other 
 trades. In the chapter devoted to that subject, interesting 
 matter will be found from the pen of Captain Richard 
 Trevellick, an apprentice in the shipyards in New York 
 during the early days of the movement, and-. now general 
 lecturer of the Order of Knights of Labor. It is known that 
 the movement took the same form as in the New England 
 States, public meetings being held, newspapers published,
 
 84 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 pamphlets issued, trades organized, a central union formed, 
 and the workingmen's party organized as before described. 
 
 One peculiar feature of the movement of the shipbuilders 
 the pioneers in the movement was the inauguration of a 
 " Mechanics' Bell," the story of which is told in the chapter 
 on the building trades. The first strike of the ship carpen- 
 ters of New York proved unsuccessful, as also did strikes of 
 other craftsmen in New York and Pennsylvania. 
 
 In Bath, Me., the ten-hour question was discussed in every 
 shipyard. It is probable that a strike occurred there which 
 proved unsuccessful. 
 
 The failure of the Boston mechanics in 1832, together with 
 the threats of prosecution for conspiracy which were made by 
 the merchants, impeded the movement, and it was not until 
 18367 that the ten-hour day was gained on ship repairs in 
 that city, while on new ship work it was not granted until 
 1840. 
 
 In 1835 the stone-cutters and horse-shoers of New York 
 city went on strike for an increase of wages. A strike 
 occurred in Paterson, N. J., for a shorter work-day. In 
 many places the employers organized and refused to give 
 work to any person belonging to a trades-union, openly 
 declaring that the workmen should not obtain the means of 
 supporting one another. 
 
 In the year 1836 some French Canadians were engaged to- 
 work on a dam in Maine and struck because they were not 
 permitted to smoke their pipes while at work. 
 
 In the same year twenty-one journeymen tailors in New 
 York were punished for striking for higher wages and pre- 
 venting others by threats and promises and various means 
 from working except for the prices fixed by the Tailors' 
 Union. Judge Edwards in his charge said "This is not a 
 mere struggle between master and workman ; it is one on 
 which the whole harmony of the Union depended," and con- 
 tinuing, he said that there was no necessity for such systems 
 in this country, and that they were of foreign origin. The 
 defendants were fined sums ranging from $100 to $150. 
 
 The ship carpenters of Boston having failed to gain the
 
 RESOLUTIONS OF CARPENTERS, 1835. &5 
 
 ten hour day, attempted to secure two hours for dinner, the 
 dinner hour then being one o'clock. In November, 1835, 
 the master mechanics of Boston held meetings at the Ex- 
 change Coffee House to consider the question of altering the 
 hours of labor. At the last one fifty-two trades were repre- 
 sented, and they resolved to fix the dinner hour at twelve 
 o'clock instead of one, and to petition the city government to 
 have the bells rung at the former hour. 
 
 The journeymen house carpenters held a meeting Decem- 
 ber 29 at which the following resolutions were adopted : 
 
 Resolved, That as the mechanic arts constitute one of the principal con- 
 stituents on which a social and civilized community is based, we as mechanics 
 claim the sole right, so far as our trade is concerned, of regulating our inter- 
 course with its other important constituents, and that the violation of this 
 right destroys the just relations of society, and further a community actuated 
 by judicious motives will preserve at all times its inviolate rights, the infringe- 
 ment of which will injure the prosperity and happiness of any portion of her 
 citizens. 
 
 Resolved, That, believing that ten hours a day is amply sufficient in any 
 well-regulated community to produce all the requisite necessaries and com- 
 forts of life, and as it is all that the well-being of society requires, we hereby 
 notify all employers of labor that we shall do all in our power to reduce the 
 hours of labor to that number the ensuing season, and we caution employers 
 to govern themselves accordingly. 
 
 Resolved, That we recognize in the example set by the government and citi- 
 zens of Philadelphia one well-worthy the attention and imitation of our own 
 citizens, inasmuch as they have made a practical application of the principle 
 that man cannot with impunity resist nature's demands. 
 
 Resolved, That it affords cause of congratulation to witness the spirited 
 response given to the calls for this meeting, as it evinces no want of zeal to 
 effect the object of our desire the coming season. 
 
 The strike of the carpenters in 1836 to secure ten hours was 
 a failure, as were evidently most of the attempts of the work- 
 ingmen in that year. In an address delivered before the 
 Boston Charitable Mechanics Association in the fall of 1836, 
 Mr. T. L. Holmer congratulates the people on the failure of 
 the trades-unions, in these words : "It must be a source of 
 high gratification to us all to know that a sense of returning 
 reason has induced many of those who took the lead in the 
 late strikes to see the error of their ways. Most cordially do 
 I rejoice at this result that the trades unions have been very
 
 86 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 generally abandoned by their members." The same spirit is 
 shown by a hat and cap manufacturer of New Brunswick, 
 N. J., in a card which he issued to the public in April of the 
 same year. In it he states that he "has now at work four-and- 
 twenty good, permanent workmen, and several more engaged 
 to commence the first of May, all of whom are alike unaffected 
 with the brutal leprosy of blue-Monday habits and the moral 
 gangrene of trades-union principles. Hence my binders may 
 rely upon steady employment, and the public upon good 
 work punctually performed ; and they and myself find just 
 cause to felicitate ourselves upon the prompt and effectual 
 disposal, at once and forever, of the inconvenience, injustice, 
 and nuisance of perpetual vexations, regular combinations 
 and periodical strikes from marauding gangs of transient and 
 tramping trades-unionists, who have proved themselves as 
 destitute of every moral principle as they have become notor- 
 ious for their wickedness and folly, their presumption, vio- 
 lence and audacity." 
 
 In spite of the defections from their ranks, the organizations 
 continued their existence with varied success and failure, 
 extending into other cities 'and towns, and notably to Phila- 
 delphia. A general strike for ten hours was inaugurated in 
 Philadelphia in the latter part of May, 1835, an d public meet- 
 ings were held. The result of the strike seems to have been 
 some modification of the working hours and a more complete 
 organization of the several trades. In August of that year, 
 the mechanics employed in the Navy Yard, at Washington, 
 left their work and waited on the Secretary of the Navy for 
 a redress of grievances. Very little satisfaction was received, 
 and the mechanics returned to their work. 
 
 The trades-unions of Boston had at this time leased a hall 
 for a place of meeting, giving it the name of "Trades-Union 
 Hall." A trades-union course of lectures had also been in- 
 augurated, the subjects being phrenology, history, witchcraft, 
 corporations, political economy, political education, Republi- 
 can education, and the effect of machinery on labor. The 
 Journeymen Cordwainers* Society had become so strong in 
 many places that none but members of the Association could
 
 EXCITING MEETINGS IN NUMEROUS STATES. 87 
 
 readily find work, as the members of the union refused to 
 work with non-union men. The meetings of the working- 
 men at this time had become of enough importance to com- 
 mand considerable space in some of the daily papers, the 
 Democratic press more generally favoring the workingmen 
 as far as reports were concerned, and in editorials of a con- 
 ciliatory nature. Meetings seem to have been held nearly 
 every week in the large cities and manufacturing towns of 
 New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and 
 Maine, and in Baltimore, Maryland ; and strikes were of con- 
 stant occurrence, that of the journeymen stone-cutters being 
 of considerable importance, the master mechanics offering to 
 compromise on the basis of two hours at noon. This offer 
 was refused, and the strike continued and was successful ; in 
 New York first, and afterwards in other places. The carpen- 
 ters, also, after quite a number of strikes, succeeded in some 
 of the larger towns and cities in securing the ten-hour system. 
 A petition was presented to the mayor and aldermen of Bos- 
 ton to call a public citizens' meeting in Faneuil Hall in the 
 interest of ten hours. This they refused to do, when a news- 
 paper correspondence ensued, the reply of the mayor being 
 considered very weak. The action which the mechanics desired 
 was to instruct the city authorities to contract with the me- 
 chanics or laborers employed by the city government on the pub- 
 lic works on the ten-hour system, from the 2oth of March to the 
 2Oth of September, inclusive. The trades-union of Baltimore 
 had been actively engaged in perfecting their organization, 
 and were the first to memorialize Congress to enact a law 
 to limit the hours of labor by those employed on the public 
 works to ten hours a day. This memorial was brought up in 
 Congress, March 21, 1836, and after a short debate was laid 
 on the table. 
 
 In 1836 the longshoremen, riggers and other employees 
 connected with shipping in New York struck for an increase of 
 wages and less hours, and upon finding that their places were 
 being taken by others not members of their organizations, 
 they went from wharf to wharf, first requesting the workmen 
 to leave their work, and then, it is claimed, threatened them.
 
 88 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 The mayor ordered the military under arms, and, as the 
 papers of that day say, threatened them with ball cartridges. 
 The same scenes were enacted in Philadelphia, and a riot 
 was feared. The men were finally obliged to return to work 
 under much the same conditions as when they struck. 
 
 In the early summer of 1837 an attempt was made by some 
 of the employers to induce the organizations of the ship-work- 
 ers on repairs to consent to a reduction of wages. The form of 
 the appeal shows that the trades-union organizations had gained 
 great strength, for heretofore they had been ignored or con- 
 demned, and now they were recognized. The organizations 
 declined to accept such a reduction, and the journeymen 
 calkers and carpenters presented a method by which the ship- 
 building of the merchants could be economically performed 
 without a reduction of wages. They say : "We are now pre- 
 pared and ready to contract for the repairs of vessels of any 
 tonnage, either by the day or job, in a workman-like manner, 
 at prices much less than they have been accustomed to pay, 
 giving the merchant the opportunity of furnishing his own 
 stock if he prefers to do it, and save paying a man (the mas- 
 ter mechanic) one day's work in every five for doing nothing 
 or worse than nothing." At this time these craftsmen were 
 receiving three dollars per day, but they could not average 
 much more than three days in the week. 
 
 The factory girls of this time were school-taught Americans, 
 some working at one season in the mill and teaching school 
 during short school terms. It had been the custom in manu- 
 facturing establishments to appoint the superintendent from 
 the ranks of those who had advanced from the lower rounds 
 of the ladder, but, as the manufacturing industries grew, 
 some of the wealthy families found positions for themselves 
 or their sons, as agents of mills. A gentleman of distin- 
 guished family had accepted the superintendency of a cotton 
 mill in Dover, N. H., and, having some of the aristocratic 
 habits of the city, was made the subject of ridicule by the 
 townspeople. It is related that one day he stopped at the 
 hotel, and after he had partaken of his^ dinner in his private 
 room, he ordered a toothpick. As this was a luxury but little
 
 YANKEE GIRLS AND THE MILL-AGENT. 89 
 
 "known in that locality, the porter brought up an armful of 
 wood, requesting the gentleman to whittle out his own tooth- 
 picks. It is also authentically stated that after moving his 
 family to Dover he was annoyed by the croaking of frogs in 
 the mill-pond, and accordingly had the pond drained off, and 
 employed some of the mill hands to destroy the frogs. They 
 were gathered, and, having been first subjected to a bath of 
 boiling water, they were buried. A proposed reduction of 
 wages caused a strike of the employees. The authority 
 from whom we receive this story, now himself a manufac- 
 turer, was then a boy of about nine years, at work in the 
 mill. The girls, by a preconcerted arrangement, gathered in 
 the mill-yard and sent word to the agent, who appeared before 
 them, taking his stand at the pump in the centre of the yard, 
 and addressed the girls. After he had made his speech to the 
 girls, which was received with laughter, the girls proceeded 
 with handfuls of cotton waste to cover his broadcloth gar- 
 ments with a feathery coating of the material. The strike 
 lasted but a few days, but it is believed that the agent never 
 forgave the indignity perpetrated upon him on that occasion. 
 During the strike the girls placarded the fence of the mill- 
 yard and the door of the office with rhymes composed for the 
 occasion. One of them bore an illuminated heading, con- 
 sisting of a large frog painted green, the only stanza of the 
 rhyme underneath which our informant could remember 
 being : 
 
 The agent to the frog-pond went, 
 
 To kill the frogs he was intent; 
 
 lie gave them a dose of red-hot water, 
 
 For he thought to croak they hadn't oughter. 
 
 This is but an instance of a peculiar method which some 
 of the early strikers had of revenging themseves by making 
 verses. 
 
 The panic of 1837 naturally drove some of these organiza- 
 tions out of existence, to revive when more prosperous times 
 returned, the general economic movement being continually 
 in the direction of less hours and higher wages. The trades 
 that organized prior to 1840 were the ship carpenters, and
 
 9 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 joiners, calkers, house carpenters, painters, roofers, brick- 
 layers, printers, tailors, hatters, saddlers, cordwainers or 
 shoemakers, factory operatives, marble and freestone-cutters, 
 coopers, and masons, while other craftsmen were enrolled in 
 the Labor Reform Associations or Workingmen's Party of that 
 day. Literary institutes were formed by the workingmen, 
 and some of them were of a conservative nature, notably that 
 of Bath, Me., 1839, * n which the "members were pledged to 
 avoid exciting topics," but the people were not long satisfied 
 with the discussion of remote questions, and even the Bath 
 Literary Institute was soon succeeded by a workingmen's 
 union. 
 
 Organization and agitation on this subject finally attained 
 such magnitude as to warrant the President of the United 
 States, Martin Van Buren, in issuing a proclamation estab- 
 lishing the ten-hour system for all employees of the United 
 States government in the Navy Yards. 
 
 The following is the text of the proclamation, it being an 
 extract from General Orders for the regulation of the Navy 
 Yard, Washington, D. C. : 
 
 NAVY YARD, WASHINGTON, April 10, 1840. 
 
 By direction of the President of the United States, "all public establish- 
 ments will hereafter be regulated, as to working hours, by the ten-hour sys- 
 tem." The hours for labor in this yard will therefore be as follows, viz. : 
 From the first day of April to the 3Oth day of September, inclusive, from 6 
 o'clock A.M., to 6 o'clock, P.M. During this period, the workmen will 
 breakfast before going to work, for which purpose the bell will be rung, and 
 the first muster held at 7 o'clock, A. M. At 12 o'clock, noon, the bell will 
 be rung, and the hour from 12 to i o'clock allowed for dinner, from which 
 hour to 6 o'clock, P. M., will constitute the last half of the day. 
 
 From the last day of October, to the 3ist day of March, the working hours 
 will be from the rising to the setting of the sun. The bell will then be rung 
 at one hour after sunrise, that hour being allowed for breakfast. At 12 o'clock, 
 noon, the bell will again be rung, and one hour allowed for dinner, from 
 which hour, say i o'clock, till sundown, will constitute the last half of the 
 day. No quarters of days will be allowed. 
 
 Although this proclamation affected only the employees of 
 the government, it was received with gladness by all branches 
 of organized labor, and stimulated them to renewed efforts in 
 the same direction. By the force of public sentiment created
 
 BIRTH OF AMERICAN SOCIALISM. pi 
 
 by the public meetings, and the establishment of numerous 
 labor and other reformatory papers, the hours of labor upon 
 Saturday were somewhat reduced without resort to strikes, 
 but in many instances the workingmen were forced to resort 
 to this method to secure their ends. The movement, which 
 had been confined to the larger cities, had now found footing 
 in many of the manufacturing towns, New York and New 
 England leading. The number of organized trades had in- 
 creased, and the movement had spread as far West as Ohio, 
 while the discussion of the question on the platform and in 
 the press was still more widely diffused. 
 
 Governor Fort, of New Jersey, seems to have been the 
 first State executive to recommend legislation. In 1841 
 he said : "Constant and unremitting toil prevents intellec- 
 tual improvement, and leads to physical and moral debase- 
 ment." 
 
 It was a period when the intelligence of the country was 
 challenged by men of remarkable ability and power, as well 
 as high social position. The communities that had been 
 formed by Robert Owen, Josiah Warren and others, were the 
 centres to which gathered the radical reformatory spirits of 
 the age. The Brook Farm Community furnished many of 
 the most eloquent speakers for the platform of the working- 
 men, and, though often disagreeing in methods, these men of 
 culture were united with the men and women of toil in 
 a serious and earnest effort to overturn existing systems by a 
 peaceful revolution, and the establishment of equity and 
 justice among men. In fact, the movement was so broad in 
 its character and universality of demand as to deprive it of 
 the advantage of a definite and distinct aim. 
 
 This, indeed, was the period of the birth or awakening of 
 American socialism. If the audiences that gathered to listen 
 to Owen, Brisbane, Ryckman, Charles A. Dana, Horace 
 Greeley, Frederick Robertson, John A. Collins and William 
 H. Channing were not large in numbers, they were remark- 
 able 'in intelligence. These workingmen and women who 
 met in convention were *American by birth as well as by in- 
 stinct. They were the Americans of Americans, believing
 
 92 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 not only in the American idea of the largest individual inde- 
 pendence, but also in the methods of educational and political 
 revolution. 
 
 In some of the crafts, unions practically controlled thje 
 industry, many of the employers willingly complying with 
 their conditions, one of which was that none but union men 
 should be employed. Other employers sought to break up 
 the organizations, and a suit was brought against the journey- 
 men bootmakers of Boston for a combination to compel, by 
 force of numbers and discipline, and by imposition of fines 
 and penalties, other journeymen to join their societies and 
 masters to employ none but members. This was called an 
 unlawful conspiracy at common law. The trial took place in 
 the October term, 1840, Robert Rantoul having charge of 
 the journeymen's case. The court ruled against the defen- 
 dants, and the jury found them guilty. The case was carried 
 up to the Supreme Court on exceptions, and was tried in the 
 March term of 1842. The exceptions were sustained and 
 judgment arrested. Recent events make this case of special 
 interest, and a full account can be found in "Metcalf's Su- 
 preme Court Reports," vol. IV., page in. ; Commonwealth 
 vs. Hunt and others. 
 
 This was an indictment against the defendants (seven in 
 number) for a conspiracy. The first count alleged that the 
 defendants, together with divers other persons unknown to the 
 grand-jurors, being workmen and journeymen in the art and 
 manual occupation of bootmakers, unlawfully, perniciously 
 and deceitfully designing and intending to keep up, form and 
 unite themselves into an unlawful club, society and combina- 
 tion, and make unlawful by-laws, rules and orders among them- 
 selves, and thereby govern themselves and other workmen in 
 said art, and unlawfully and unjustly to extort great sums of 
 money, did unlawfully assemble and meet together and agree 
 that none of them should thereafter work for any master or 
 person whatsoever, in the said art, mystery or occupation, who 
 should employ any workman or journeyman or other person, 
 who was not a member of said club, society or combination, 
 after notice' given him to discharge such workman.
 
 CORDWAINERS INDICTED FOR CONSPIRACY. 93 
 
 The second count charged that the defendants did unlaw- 
 fully assemble, conspire, etc., and agree not to work for any 
 master or person who should employ a workman not being a 
 member of the Boston Journeymen Bootmaker's Society, or 
 who should break any of their by-laws ; and that this society 
 did compel a master cordwainer in Boston to turn out of his 
 employ one Jeremiah Home, a journeyman bootmaker, be- 
 cause Home would not pay the penalty fixed in the by-laws. 
 
 The third count averred that the defendants wickedly and 
 unjustly, intending unlawfully, and by indirect means, to 
 impoverish one Jeremiah Home, and hinder him from follow- 
 ing his trade, and from getting his livelihood and support 
 thereby, in pursuance of such conspiracy did wrongfully, 
 unlawfully, and indirectly prevent him from following his art 
 and occupation. 
 
 In the fourth count it was alleged that the defendants, un- 
 justly intending to injure and impoverish one Jeremiah Home, 
 and to prevent his earning his livelihood, did unlawfully con- 
 spire to prejudice the said Home, and prevent him from, 
 exercising his trade. 
 
 The fifth count set forth that the defendants unlawfully con- 
 spired to impoverish one Isaac B. Wait, one Elias Blanchard, 
 and one David Howard, all being master cordwainers and 
 bootmakers, and prevent and hinder them from employing 
 any journeymen bootmakers who would not become members 
 of the society, or who should refuse or neglect to pay any 
 sums of money demanded from them by such society, as a 
 penalty for the breach of by-laws. 
 
 A printed copy of the constitution of the society was put in 
 evidence against the defendants at the trial, and it was agreed 
 that it might be referred to by the counsel in the argument, 
 and by the court in considering the exceptions. 
 
 Robert Rantoul for the defendants, claimed: 
 
 As we have no statute concerning conspiracy, the facts alleged in the indict- 
 ment state an offence, if any, at common law, but the English common law of 
 conspiracy is not in force in this State. We have not adopted the whole mass 
 of the common Jaw of England indiscriminately, nor of the English statute law 
 which passed either before or after the settlement of our country. So much 
 only of the common law has been adopted as is applicable to our situation.
 
 94 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 Mr. Rantoul cited numerous authorities, among others, the 
 case of The King vs. Journeymen Tailors (8 Mod., 10.) 
 "In that case, "said Mr. Rantoul, "it was held that a con- 
 spiracy among workmen to refuse to work under certain 
 wages was an indictable offence. The doctrine of that law 
 was not the common law when our ancestors came hither, 
 and is not suited to our condition." He also claimed that 
 the report of that case is not to be depended upon, being 
 of no authority and entitled to no respect. Mr. Rantoul 
 claimed that the English statutes of laborers were the blind 
 struggles of the feudal nobles to avert from themselves the 
 effects of great national calamities. He said, " a conspiracy 
 to raise wages would not be indictable in England, if it were 
 not unlawful for an individual to attempt to raise his wages. 
 And the indictment, in the case at bar is bad, because each 
 of the defendants had a right to do that which is charged 
 against them jointly." 
 
 Attorney-General Austen appeared for the Commonwealth, 
 and said that the charge, in effect, was an attempt to monopo- 
 lize by them certain labor on their own terms, and to prevent 
 others from obtaining or giving employment. 
 
 Chief Justice Shaw, in his decision, said : 
 
 The general rule of the common law is, that it is a criminal and indictable 
 offence, for two or more to confederate and to combine together, by concerted 
 means, to do that which is unlawful or criminal, to the injury of the public, 
 or portions or classes of the community, or even to the rights of an individual. 
 This rule of law may be equally in force as a rule of the common law, in En- 
 gland and in this Commonwealth ; and yet it must depend upon the local 
 law of each country to determine, whether the purpose to be accomplished by 
 the combination, or the concerted means of accomplishing it, be unlawful or 
 criminal in the respective countries. 
 
 And again, he says : 
 
 Without attempting to review and reconcile all the cases, we are of opinion, 
 that as a general description, though perhaps not a precise and accurate defi- 
 nition, a conspiracy must be a combination of two or more persons, by some 
 concerted action, to accomplish some criminal or unlawful purpose, or to 
 accomplish some purpose not in itself criminal or unlawful, by criminal or 
 unlawful means. 
 
 After reviewing the indictment, the court stated the case as 
 follows :
 
 WORKMEN'S ASSOCIATIONS NOT CRIMINAL. 95 
 
 The manifest intention of the association is, to induce all those engaged in 
 the same occupation to become members of it. Such a purpose is not unlaw- 
 ful. It would give them a power which might be exerted for useful and 
 honorable purposes, or for dangerous and pernicious ones. If the latter were 
 the real and actual object, and susceptible of proof, it should have been 
 specially charged. Such an association might be used to afford each other 
 assistance in times of poverty, sickness and distress ; or to raise their intel- 
 lectual, moral and social condition; or to make improvement in their art; or 
 for other proper purposes. Or the association might be designed for purposes 
 of oppression and injustice. But in order to charge all those who become 
 members of an association with the guilt of a criminal conspiracy, it must be 
 averred and proved that the actual, if not the avowed object of the association, 
 was criminal. Supposing the object of the association to be laudable and 
 lawful, or at least not unlawful, are these means criminal? The case supposes 
 that these persons are not bound by contract, but free to work for whom they 
 please, or not to work, if they so prefer. In this state of things, we cannot 
 perceive that it is criminal for men to agree together to exercise their own 
 acknowledged rights in such a manner as best to subserve their own interests, 
 Suppose a class of workmen, impressed with the manifold evils of intem- 
 perance, should agree with each other not to work in a shop in which ardent 
 spirits was furnished, or not to work in a shop with anyone who used it, 
 or not to work for an employer who should, after notice, employ a journey- 
 man who habitually used it. The consequences might be the same. A 
 workman who should still persist in the use of ardent spirit would find it 
 more difficult to get employment; a master employing such a one might, at 
 times, experience inconvenience in his work, in losing the service of a skilful 
 but intemperate workman. Still it seems to us, that as the object would be 
 lavrful, and the means not unlawful, such an agreement could not be pro- 
 nounced a criminal conspiracy. 
 
 On the charge of depriving Jeremiah Home of the profits 
 of his business, the court gave, as an illustration, the case of a 
 baker, in a small village, who had the exclusive custom of 
 his neighborhood, and who was making large profits, and 
 the neighbors, believing the price of his bread too high, after 
 proposing to him to reduce the price, and, failing, introduce 
 another baker, who set up a rival establishment and sold his 
 bread at lower prices. " It might be said and proved," said 
 
 the court, 
 
 
 
 That the purpose of the associates was to diminish his profits, and thus im- 
 poverish him, though the ultimate and laudable object of the combination was 
 to reduce the cost of bread to themselves and their neighbors, We think, 
 therefore, that associations may be entered into, the object of which is to 
 adopt measures that may have a tendency to impoverish another, that is, to 
 diminish his gains, and profits, and yet, so far from being criminal or unlaw- 
 ful, the object may be highly meritorious and public spirited.
 
 96 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 The case referred to, in 8 Mod., 10, was the case of the 
 King against the Journeymen Tailors, of Cambridge, Eng., 
 in 1721, and was based on the statute, 7 Geo. i, c. 13 (1720). 
 As this case shows the operation of the conspiracy law under 
 the acts which held the workingmen practically in a state of 
 bondage, we have given space in the appendix for a brief 
 summary of the case and of the statute under which the 
 defendants were prosecuted. 
 
 In 1841 a firm of boat builders, in Bath, Me., consisting of 
 four partners, mutually agreed to adopt the ten-hour system, 
 and in 1844, one of the firm, then having charge of a marine 
 railway, adopted the system on the repair of vessels. The 
 feeling was so strong in favor of a reduction of the hours of 
 labor that a combination was formed of many trades, some 
 of them not directly connected with either house or ship- 
 building. Public meetings were held, and public sentiment 
 was aroused. The failure of the strikes in the preceding 
 years had made the men extremely cautious. So strong was 
 .the feeling that the employers organized to offset the manage- 
 ment, but public sentiment was too strongly in favor of the 
 men. In a speech made by a judge of one of the courts, the 
 attention of the Masonic fraternity was called to the proper 
 division of time into three equal parts, " eight hours for work, 
 eight hours for sleep, and eight hours for God and the breth- 
 ren." All but two of the ship-yards in Bath finally yielded, 
 and ten hours became the rule in that city. 
 
 The labor literature of 1838 to 1851 was marked by ear- 
 nestness of purpose, fidelity to principle, and more than ordi- 
 nary ability. A paper was published in New London, Ct., 
 by Charles Douglass, a prominent member of the working- 
 men's party, the paper having but a short existence. The 
 Aivl, another paper advocating the claims of the working- 
 men, was much copied from. It is believed to have been 
 published in Lynn. No copies of these papers can now be 
 found, and the oldest labor paper before us is entitled the 
 Voice of Industry, with the motto, " Hearken to me ; I also 
 will show mine opinion." As the oldest labor paper accessible, 
 it deserves extended notice. It was published in Fitchburg, ..
 
 THE VOICE OF INDUSTRY. 
 
 97 
 
 Mass., by an association of workingmen, W. F. Young, now 
 of Wakefield, Mass., being the editor. The first number 
 was issued Thursday, May 29, 1845, and contained poetry, 
 stories, lectures, editorials, news, and a very few advertise- 
 ments. Some of the poems were original, and one of those 
 appearing in the first number was M Moral Warfare," by John 
 G. Whittier. The same paper contains an address by the 
 editor before the workingmen's association, at Fitchburg, 
 upon the existing evils of society, in* which he says : "In the 
 present state of society, labor becomes disreputable, friend- 
 ship becomes insincere, and religion becomes hypocritical." 
 .Speaking of the Association before which he lectured, he 
 said : 
 
 It has no fellowship with the custom which makes one portion of our fel- 
 lows workingmen and women, and obliges them to do all the labor, thereby 
 making it irksome, tedious and undesirable, while the other is revelling in 
 affluence and luxury. We believe all should labor, either physically, men- 
 tally or morally, and that all should enjoy perfect freedom in selecting those 
 kinds of labor by which it would become a pleasure rather than a task, and 
 lastly, that all should receive such a share of the fruits of their labor, as will 
 conduce in the highest possible degree to their happiness. Thus it will be 
 seen that none are excluded, that our area extends wherever man is known ^ 
 from the civilized European down to the cannibals of the South Sea Islands- 
 
 In the editorial columns is found the statement of the im- 
 prisonment of Mike Walsh, incarcerated in a New York 
 prison for an " alleged libel against a mercenary villain who- 
 had long glutted his coffers by plundering the poor of that 
 city." On visiting Walsh in his cell, it is said some verses 
 were found penciled on the walls as an apostrophe to a poor,, 
 dejected looking creature, which he had skilfully sketched 
 beside them, representing a laborer in search of employment, 
 We quote one verse of the three : 
 
 The wealth which ingrate tyrants wield 
 
 To crush and starve us WE create ; 
 The blood we shed on flood and field, 
 
 Give greatness to the MISNAMED great: 
 But short would reign this favored few, 
 
 Were we but to each other true. 
 
 C7>
 
 9 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 A touching incident regarding the factory system existing 
 at that time is quoted in an early number of this paper, the 
 gist of which is contained in the statement of a young and 
 delicate girl of not more than eight or nine years, who said : 
 " I go to work before daylight in the morning and never leave 
 it until it is dark, and don't make enough to support mother 
 and baby." In the same paper statistics of several factories in 
 Lowell are given which show the following facts : that in those 
 factories the capital was increased $500,000 in 1844 ; that the 
 number of spindles was increased 11,624; tnat tne number 
 of females employed was decreased 430 ; that the wages in 
 1844 were two dollars per week, and in 1845 were one dollar 
 and seventy-five cents per week ; that the number of yards 
 produced per week was increased 64,550; and that the divi- 
 dends were increased from four and a half to twelve and a 
 quarter per cent. The decrease in the number of operatives 
 was said to have been effected by improvements in machinery. 
 Referring to the increase of two hundred per cent, in the 
 dividends and the decrease of twelve and a half per cent, in 
 the wages of the females, it is stated that " this is the natural 
 result of the state of things in New England the more 
 wealth becomes concentrated in a few hands, the poorer the 
 great mass becomes." It also says : 
 
 In this state of things the bounty offered to manufacturers by the tariff in- 
 duced many of the wealthy men of New England to invest their capital in 
 manufactures, which, when the tariff has been high, proved exceedingly 
 profitable, concentrating immense wealth in the hands of a few, whilst the 
 laboring part of the community has increased rapidly, until the demand for 
 employment exceeds the want of the employers, which has enabled them to 
 reduce the wages of the operatives whilst their own profits were very largely 
 increased, and this reduction of wages must continue to go on with the in- 
 crease of that class of society who depend upon employment for subsistence, 
 until thev arrive at a point which will barely afford such necessities as will 
 enable the human system to undergo its daily toil. 
 
 Among the papers of this time in sympathy with the labor 
 
 movement were the New York Tribune, Daily Commercial, 
 
 Weekly Bee, Harbinger, Ohio Eagle, Spirit of the Age, 
 
 Workingmen's Advocate, factory Girl's Friend, Toting
 
 ORIGIN OF CO-OPERATIVE EFFORT. 99 
 
 American, Spirit of Liberty, People's Press, Cabotsvillc 
 Chronicle, Mechanics' Mirror, Chronotypc, People's "Jour- 
 nal (monthly) , and Equal Rights Advocate. 
 
 The effort at co-operation most closely connected with the 
 labor movement originated in Boston in 1844-5, and was or- 
 ganized and conducted by members of trades-unions and 
 labor reform societies, although its first practical experiment 
 was said to be an outcome of a temperance organization known 
 as the Sons of Temperance. It may be noted that this co- 
 operative enterprise of American workingmen originated at 
 about the same time with that of the Rochdale Pioneers in En- 
 gland. In the same year these men, without knowledge of 
 each other's effort, were attempting to solve the labor question 
 by the formation of a combination, first to eliminate profit in 
 traffic, and finally in production. The New England Wo rk- 
 ingmen's Association, in September of 1845, had resolved 
 that concert of action in the purchase of the necessaries of life 
 was the only means of securing the amelioration of the con- 
 dition of the working people. The preamble to the constitu- 
 tion of the New England Protective Union shows that the 
 leaders realized the necessity -of something more than the 
 mere saving of the profit upon goods, as will be seen by the 
 following extract. 
 
 We most firmly believe it is the imperative duty we owe one another and 
 ourselves to give all the information in our power to the procurance of sure, 
 steady and profitable employment, that we may have deeds of genuine sym- 
 pathy which not only manifest themselves in relieving the destitute and admin- 
 istering to the sick, but those which strike at the root of poverty, such as will 
 secure good pay and fewer hours of labor, and thereby in no ordinary degree 
 remove the cause of poverty and sickness. 
 
 They commenced business with a box of soap and a half 
 chest of tea. The organization grew slowly, the leaders still 
 maintaining the grand idea of the elevation of the working 
 classes. In the report of the committee on the organization 
 of industry we find these words : "The dollar was to us of 
 minor importance ; humanitary and not mercenary were our 
 motives." They believed that by the organization of co-op- 
 erative industry, labor-saving machinery would labor for in-
 
 IOO THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 stead of against the interest of the poor. They say : "Man's 
 muscles are now made to compete with iron machines that need 
 no rest, that have no affections, eat no bread. Why is he who 
 produces everything not only destitute of the luxuries but of 
 the common comforts of life, to say nothing of a shelter he 
 can call his own?" They saw the need of improving the con- 
 dition of the working women, for they say : "Lamentable as 
 is the condition of the laboring men, that of women is worse 
 and increasingly so." Speaking of the newly-invented sew- 
 ing machine, they say: "Let us take this and kindred ma- 
 chines and christen them for the good of the race by shortening 
 the hours of labor, while at the same time we increase the 
 product of labor." 
 
 These men had felt the tyranny of the employing class. 
 They had witnessed the discharge of their fellows because of 
 prominence in labor matters or because they dared to vote 
 according to the dictates of their own consciences, and they 
 desired to place men in such independent positions "that 
 tyranny cannot say, 'Vote my ticket or leave my employ,' 
 which, with w r ife and starving little ones before him, obliges 
 him to succumb." Their bright dreams of the future pictured 
 the displacement of the disease-breeding work-shops and the 
 erection of grand palaces devoted to Labor and Love. They 
 were also thoroughly imbued with the free soil sentiment of 
 their time. They say: "We must proceed from combined 
 stores to combined shops, from combined shops to combined 
 houses, to joint ownership in God's earth, the foundation that 
 our edifice must stand upon." They condemned the fugitive 
 slave law as an infamous act, fitted to be trampled under the 
 foot of every lover of justice and liberty, and pledged their 
 lives and fortunes to its overthrow and final repeal. At this 
 time (1850) they had formed 106 divisions, 83 of which re- 
 turned a membership of over 5,000, with a capital of $71,- 
 890.36. In October, 1852, the purchases through the general 
 agency amounted to over $1,000,000, and 167 of the sub- 
 divisions reported a capital of $241,712.66. A branch of the 
 organization was formed in New York, under the name of the 
 American Protective Union. These organizations practically
 
 NEW ENGLAND WORKINGMEN's ASSOCIATION. IOI 
 
 ended in 1853 as efforts for the amelioration of the condition 
 of the working classes, but trade was continued through their 
 stores up to about the time of the war. Co-operative efforts 
 were attempted in many parts of the country by members of 
 trades-unions and other labor associations. As a general rule 
 they failed as much from an ability to co-operate among the 
 co-operators as from limited patronage. 
 
 The New England Workingmen's Association was organ- 
 ized in March, 1845, and held its first annual convention in 
 Boston, May 28th of that year. Among those who partici- 
 pated we find the names of Charles A. Dana and George 
 Ripley, of Brook Farm ; A. Brisbane, of New York ; Sarah 
 G. Bagley, of Lowell ; and Albert J. Wright, of Boston. A 
 Lowell delegate reported 500 members of the Female Labor 
 Reform Association. Robert Owen of Scotland, was also 
 present and addressed the meeting ; Mr. Dana and Mr. Bris- 
 bane addressing the convention in the evening. The follow- 
 ing delegates were elected to attend the convention of the New 
 York National Reform Association, having special reference 
 to a call for a convention for forming a reformatory Constitu- 
 tion of the United States : From Boston, Albert J. Wright, 
 Wendell Phillips, William Lloyd Garrison, Marcus Morton ; 
 Charlestown, Frederick Robertson ; Brook Farm, L.W. Ryck- 
 man, Charles A. Dana; Lowell, Abijah Watson, A. Smith, 
 Sarah G. Bagley, H. J. Stone, S. Hathaway; Lynn, N. W. 
 Brown, Henry Clapp, William Phillips; Woburn, William 
 Totman, Henry Wendell ; Fall River, Thomas D. Chalmer, 
 John Hull; West Roxbury, Theodore Parker; Stonington, 
 A. T. Cowles, Thomas M. Brown; Fitchburg, P. C. Petti- 
 bone, John Seism. 
 
 A resolution was adopted recommending associations in 
 various election districts to question all candidates for office 
 in respect to their willingness to support and advocate 
 measures of labor reform, general or specific, in which said 
 association may from time to time be interested. Resolutions 
 of regret at the discontinuance of the JVezv England Mechanic 
 shows that another labor paper had failed. On the Fourth of 
 July of the same year a convention of the workingmen and
 
 IO2 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 women of New England was held at Woburn, at which about 
 two thousand persons were present. Charles A. Dana, in his 
 speech on that occasion, opposed the prevailing system of 
 hard labor, which, as he said, generated hostility, and recom- 
 mended unity of interest in an organized form as the panacea 
 to cure the affection of oppressed labor and capital. Mr. 
 Albert J. Wright said: "If we can judge future effects by 
 present causes, the signs of the times are indicative of the 
 long-looked-for millennium, and to those who charge us with 
 being disorganizers we put the lie. Our object is to build 
 up, to promote human happiness, without regard to party, 
 sect, creed or color." 
 
 The constitution of the New England Workingmen's Asso- 
 ciation, as published at that time, contained the following 
 preamble : 
 
 WHEREAS, we, the mechanics and workingmen of New England, are con- 
 vinced by the sad experience of years that under the present arrangements 
 of society labor is and must be the slave of wealth ; and, whereas, the pro- 
 ducers of all wealth are deprived, not merely of its enjoyment, but also of the 
 social and civil rights which belong to humanity and the race; and, whereas, 
 we are convinced that reform of th'ese abuses must depend upon ourselves, 
 and ourselves only; and, whereas, we believe that in intelligent union alone 
 is strength, we hereby declare our object to be union for power, power to bless 
 humanity, and to further this object resolve ourselves into an association. 
 
 The terrible increase of want and pauperism in New York 
 led to the issuing of a call for a workingmen's meeting at 
 Croton Hall, on July i6th, 1845. This call states that there 
 were 65,000 paupers in New York City alone ; that one-sixth 
 of the entire population of the state was in a condition of 
 pauperism ; that the compensation for labor was steadily sink- 
 ing, until thousands were reduced to starvation ; that the 
 white labor of the North was in a worse state than the slave of 
 the South. The call was issued for a general meeting of the 
 trades and useful classes. It was signed with the names and 
 occupations of twenty-four persons, all save one being me- 
 chanics, that exception being Dr. Newbury, a physician of 
 Brooklyn. 
 
 The specially marked features of the movement during
 
 LABORERS UNION ASSOCIATION. 103 
 
 1845, were the organization of women, and the appointment 
 of women delegates to state and national conventions, and 
 the organization of unskilled laborers, under the name of the 
 " Laborers' Union Association." The organizations of women 
 were very effective, and decidedly more radical in expressions 
 than the organizations of unskilled laborers. Strikes occur- 
 red in the latter part of the summer and fall of this year. 
 Welsh puddlersin the \vorks at Pittsburgh and Alleghany City 
 struck for higher wages, and evidently succeeded, as they are 
 said to have had a perfect combination. The second conven- 
 tion of the New England Workingmen's Association was held 
 in Fall River, September n, 1845, Judge Lapham of Fall 
 River being present and addressing the convention, together 
 with other well-known reformers of that period. It continued 
 in session two days, and adjourned to the 2pth of October, at 
 Lowell. 
 
 On the 1 6th of June a mass meeting of the working people 
 of Pittsburgh and Alleghany City was held at Pittsburgh in 
 favor of a ten-hour system, Pittsburgh papers reporting an 
 attendance of at least five thousand persons, a large number 
 of whom were females. During the convention a communication 
 was received from five of the cotton manufacturing firms, in 
 which the manfacturers say : 
 
 The undersigned manufacturers having received your communication on 
 the subject of adopting the ten-hour system in our city, beg leave to say that 
 although they do not admit the right of persons interfering between them and 
 their operatives, and as they recognize the names of none of their operatives, 
 either on this committee or in the proceedings of your meeting, yet they have 
 no hesitation in saying that they believe it entirely impracticable to adopt 
 that system here whilst in places the twelve-hour system is continued. They 
 would inform you further that at present our mills run about sixty-eight hours 
 per week, whilst the eastern factories of our own country make seventy-two 
 hours per week. Believing, therefore, that the enforcement of such a system 
 here would drive all cotton machinery from our borders, we cannot favor it. 
 
 This public meeting in favor of ten hours was followed by 
 a strike in which it is said 4,000 persons were engaged. 
 After remaining out five weeks the operatives returned under 
 the old conditions. The Pittsburgh Spirit of the Times in 
 reviewing the strike, said, "The manufacturers will not risk
 
 104 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 another five weeks' suspension for a slight consideration. 
 They have lost 340 hours (by each person engaged) by the 
 strike more than half a year's loss at two hours per day." 
 
 The first Industrial Congress of the United States convened 
 in New York, October 12, 1845, and was the result of the 
 action of the New England Workingmen's League and the 
 National Reform Association of New York. The Congress 
 was organized by the election of W. S. Wait, of Illinois, as 
 president ; Charles Douglass, of Connecticut, E. N. Kellog, 
 of New Jersey, and John Ferral, of Pennsylvania, as vice- 
 presidents ; and George H. Evans, Charles Sears and Moses 
 Johnson as secretaries. Sarah G. Bagley represented the 
 Female Labor Reform Association of Lowell and presented 
 a written address. The Congress adopted a constitution. 
 They also proposed a plan for the formation of a secret Indus- 
 trial Brotherhood. The preamble, after giving its source of 
 authority, states : 
 
 It is a well-known fact that rich men, capitalists and non-producers asso- 
 ciate to devise means for securing to themselves the fruits of other men's 
 labor, and that schemes for this purpose are invented and accomplished by 
 combinations. Believing that no effectual resistance to these combinations 
 can ever take place without united action of the same character on the part of 
 those who labor and produce all, it is deemed expedient to recommend a plan 
 of organization for the adoption of farmers, mechanics and workingmen 
 throughout the United States. 
 
 The main feature of the preamble seems to be to secure the 
 right of the soil to all, by limiting the possessions of farmers 
 and corporations or communities ; to prevent all further traffic 
 in land by the government, and to make the public lands free 
 to actual settlers, that every man, woman, and child in the 
 nation may have a home. They denounced the then existing 
 system of factory labor which was withering life's energies, 
 even in childhood, producing by excessive toil physical 
 deformity, and through lack of opportunity and means to 
 acquire cultivation, deterioration of both mind and body. 
 
 Under Article 3 , Section i , it appears that no employer, over- 
 seer or superintendent could be admitted to the Brotherhood. 
 
 On the 29th of October the New England Workingmen's
 
 VICTIMIZING LABOR ADVOCATES. IC>5 
 
 Association convened in the City Hall at Lowell, pursuant to 
 adjournment. Resolutions were introduced to the effect that 
 resort to the polls was the only practical and effectual method 
 that the workingmen could then adopt for the protection of 
 their rights. The apathy of the workingmen and women 
 themselves called for a resolution urging organization and 
 agitation. Resolutions of sympathy and encouragement were 
 passed in favor of the operatives on strike for ten hours in 
 Pittsburgh. 
 
 In the latter part of 1845 and the spring of 1846, immense 
 mass meetings were held in Massachusetts, New York, and 
 Pennsylvania. In Lowell, Mass., and Manchester, N. H., 
 the town halls were crowded to their utmost capacity. The 
 people seemed to be aroused from their apathy, and public 
 speakers were in great demand. The labor papers made an 
 active canvass of the towns for subscribers, publishing letters, 
 in which the condition of labor was described. 
 
 The ten-hour question was still in the ascendant, and Cas- 
 sius M. Clay had entered the field as an advocate of that meas- 
 ure, and had taken an advanced position on the land question. 
 In the City of Philadelphia a hundred dollars was raised 
 l)y the workingmen in one factory, to aid in the universal 
 establishment of the ten-hour system throughout the country. 
 Petitions for ten hours, containing thousands of names, were 
 presented to the Legislature of Massachusetts in 1846. Peti- 
 tions of previous years had been ignored, and members of 
 the Legislature were charged with attempting to intimidate 
 and brow-beat the representatives of labor who appeared 
 before the committees in advocacy of the measure. The 
 manufacturers, in many places, discharged and victimized 
 persons in their employ who took a prominent part in the 
 movement. Efforts were made to break down the character 
 of leading labor advocates. Especially was this true in the 
 case of John C. Cluer, an eloquent Scotchman, who for a 
 quarter of a century past has been known to the citizens of 
 Boston, as he was then well known throughout all the cotton 
 factory districts of the United States. 
 
 The persistent agitation of the Yankee factory girls for
 
 IO6 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 better conditions in the manufacturing centres led at first to a 
 system of obtaining help peculiar to that time. In Cabotville 
 now known as Chicopee, a long, low, black wagon was em- 
 ployed in making. regular trips to the northern part of Massa- 
 chusetts, and around in Vermont and New Hampshire. The 
 man having this team in charge was paid a dollar a head for 
 all the girls he could secure, a larger amount being given, 
 according as the distance travelled was greater. It is 
 charged that he misrepresented facts to the girls -thus en- 
 gaged, telling them that the work was very neat, wages high, 
 and that they could dress in silks, and spend half the time in 
 reading. 
 
 The workingmen's associations of that time established 
 libraries and reading rooms. In the Laborers' Union men 
 were obliged to subscribe two dollars'a year, and women one 
 dollar for the library. They also established a fund for the 
 relief of destitute members. A memorial was forwarded to 
 Congress protesting against the system of land traffic, as 
 wrong in principle. The memorialists say, " This system is 
 imported to this country from Europe, and is fast debasing us 
 to the condition of dependent tenants, of which condition a 
 rapid increase of inequality, misery, pauperism, vice and 
 crime are the necessary consequences, and therefore now, in 
 the infancy of the republic, we should take effectual measures 
 to eradicate the evil, and to establish a principle more in ac- 
 cordance with our republican theory as laid down in the 
 Declaration of Independence." They proposed as a remedy 
 that the general government should no longer traffic or permit 
 traffic in the public lands, but that they should be laid out in 
 farms and lots for the free use of such citizens, not possessed 
 of other land, as would occupy them, allowing the settler to 
 dispose of his possession to any one not possessed of other 
 land ; and that the jurisdiction of public lands be transferred 
 to States only on condition that such a disposition should be 
 made of them. 
 
 On January 16, 1846, the New England Workingmen's 
 Convention met at Lynn, Mass., continuing in session two 
 days. The following resolutions adopted by that convention
 
 WORKINGMEN ON SOUTHERN SLAVERY. lO/ 
 
 will show the position taken by organized labor on the ques- 
 tion of slavery : 
 
 WHEREAS, there are at the present time three millions of our brethren and 
 sisters groaning in chains on the Southern plantation ; and, whereas, we wish 
 not only to be consistent, but to secure to all others those rights and privi- 
 leges for which we are contending ourselves ; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That while we honor and respect our forefathers for the noble 
 manner in which they resisted British oppression, we, their descendants, will 
 never be guilty of the glaring inconsistency of taking up arms to shoot and to 
 stab those who use the same means to accomplish the same objects. 
 
 Resolved, That while we are willing to pledge ourselves to use all the means 
 in our power, consistent with our principles, to put down wars, insurrections 
 and mobs, and to protect all men from the evils of the same, we will not take 
 up arms to sustain the Southern slave holder in robbing one-fifth of our 
 countrymen of their labor. 
 
 Resolved, That we recommend our brethren to speak out in thunder tones, 
 both as associations and as individuals, and to let it no longer be said that 
 Northern laborers, while they are contending for their rights, are a standing 
 army to keep three millions of their brethren and sisters in bondage at the 
 point of the bayonet. 
 
 The custom of lighting up the factories in the morning and 
 working an hour or more before. daylight was thus treated by 
 a resolution adopted at Peterboro, N. H. : 
 
 Resolved, That although the evening and the morning is spoken of in the 
 Scripture, yet in that book no mention is made of an evening in the morning. 
 We therefore conclude that the practice of lighting up our factories in the 
 morning, and thereby making two evenings in every twenty-four hours, is 
 not only oppressive but unscriptural. 
 
 The joint standing committee on manufactures of the 
 Massachusetts Legislature of 1846, to which were referred 
 the petitions for ten hours, unanimously recommended that 
 the petitioners have leave to withdraw. The objections of 
 the committee to a ten-hour law were that it was unnecessary 
 to legislate ; that the evils complained of did not exist to an 
 extent sufficient to require legislative interference. The com- 
 mittee thought if a man had the strength and constitution to 
 labor fourteen hours per day, that the Legislature should not 
 interfere. They expressed themselves as being jealous of the 
 right of freedom of contract. They agreed that the Legisla- 
 ture had a right to interfere in the direction of the reduction
 
 IO8 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 of hours of labor for all persons employed by corporations, 
 but thought that the less interference with business relations 
 the better. During the fall of this year the labor associations 
 issued circulars to the nominees for Congress and the State 
 Legislatures, asking them to give their views on the land ques- 
 tion, homestead exemption, the ten-hour system on all public 
 works and in all establishments chartered by law, and the ad- 
 justing of salaries to an equal average compensation for useful 
 and productive labor. 
 
 Agreeable to previous arrangements, delegates from several 
 carpet factories throughout the United States met at Tam- 
 many Hall in the fall of 1846. Thirty-four delegates, repre- 
 senting thirty-one factories, and 1099 operatives, were present. 
 The principal action of the convention was a protest against 
 a reduction of wages. The statement was made that the 
 manufacturers could make a profit of thirty to forty per 
 cent, under the new tariff which was goon to go into effect, 
 the reduction being on the plea that the new tariff operated 
 against the manufacturers, while it was shown that when the 
 tariff was increased in 1842 the manufacturers declined to 
 raise the wages, saying it was home and not foreign compe- 
 tition they had to contend with, although they had previously 
 cried out that it was foreign competition. A conference with 
 the employers was called for Thursday of that week. Only 
 two of the employers appeared. 
 
 About this time Horace Greeley gave his famous defini- 
 tion of slavery, in a private letter a definition which ap- 
 plied to the white labor of the North with nearly as much 
 force as to the black labor of the South. Corporations in 
 Lowell and other cities were charged with stealing time by 
 altering the clocks, and considerable evidence was submitted 
 showing that it was true. 
 
 In January, 1847, resolutions were introduced into the As- 
 sembly, of New York, by Representative Walsh, declaring 
 that the hours of labor which may be expected from appren- 
 tices and other minors ought to be limited and declared by 
 law ; that the number of hours of labor per day, which shall 
 legally satisfy and fulfil a contract to work for any specified
 
 THE SECOND INDUSTRIAL CONGRESS. 109 
 
 term, in the absence of any further agreement between the 
 parties, ought also to be determined and declared by law ; and 
 that a select committee be appointed to consider generally 
 the subject of the rights of the State, with regard to the hours 
 of labor, to take testimony if they may deem it expedient, and 
 to report thereon by bill or otherwise. This appears to be the* 
 first movement in the direction, of state investigation of the 
 relations of labor and capital. 
 
 The machinists of Boston held a meeting at Faneuil Hall, 
 in May, 1847, at which it was resolved to hold a meeting on 
 the Common, on May 24th, and that if the employers did not 
 agree to reduce the hours of labor, they would start a co- 
 operative establishment. The New York machinists weie 
 working ten hours at this time. The Boston machinists had 
 no union, and one of the speakers said that if a union had 
 been started three years before, the ten-hour system would 
 then be in operation in Massachusetts. 
 
 The Second Industrial Congress convened at New York, 
 June 10, 1847 . Among the States represented were New York, 
 New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Illinois 
 and Kentucky. At this Congress it was resolved that a com- 
 mittee of seven be appointed to inquire into the extent, objects 
 and means of trades-unions in the United States, and to report 
 to the next Congress or to the executive committee. Several 
 members spoke of the utility of the trades-unions that existed 
 in the United States,-and one inquired of Mr. Evans, of Boston, 
 whether he belonged to the general trades-union, and could 
 give any information in regard to it. Mr. Evans replied that 
 his position as an employer at the time prevented his being a. 
 member, but that he had published the Workingmen's Advo- 
 cate, which was the organ of the union ; that at the largest 
 convention of the union ever held in the City Hall, in 1834, 
 resolutions had been passed in favor of the freedom of the 
 public lands. The congress received a communication from 
 the Fraternal Democrats in London to the Reformers of the 
 United States, which led to considerable discussion as to the 
 object of the Fraternal Democrats. The address was signed 
 by George Julian Harney, a gentleman for a long time a con-
 
 IIO THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 tributor to the Northern Star, a Chartist paper, and other 
 papers in England, and for twenty years afterwards connected 
 with the office of the Secretary of State of Massachusetts. At 
 this convention John C. Noble, from the Louisville, Ky., 
 Typographical Union, was admitted as a delegate, and a 
 communication was received from a farmer of Carter County, 
 that state. The Mexican War was condemned in a resolu- 
 tion which stated " That this Congress do hereby recommend 
 to national and all other labor reformers throughout the nation 
 to nominate no candidate for congressional or legislative office 
 who is not pledged to use the influence of his station, if 
 elected, to withhold supplies from the United States Army 
 now in Mexico, and to cause said army to be withdrawn as 
 soon as possible." Miss Fannie Townsend, of Providence, 
 R. I., was admitted as an honorary member of the congress. 
 The apathy and animosity of the clergymen on the labor 
 question called forth the following resolution : 
 
 Resolved, That while we fully appreciate the labors of all in behalf of suf- 
 fering humanity, we are constrained to declare, more in sorrow than in anger, 
 that the great body of the so-called Christian Church and Clergy of the 
 present day are fearfully recreant to the high and responsible duties upon 
 them. That they sustain the blood-stained banner of capital and fraud in 
 their crusade against labor, and have themselves become the fiercest of the 
 vampire brood that gorge upon the veins of honest industry and justice ; 
 therefore we would warn them that if they would have those principles which 
 they preach, arid by which they profess to be governed, influence the people 
 of this country, they must infuse into their teachings and practice more of 
 truth, justice, and regard for the rights of humanity? 
 
 A long discussion ensued, the resolution being finally re- 
 jected. 
 
 That there were ministers at that time who joined their 
 protest in favor of the workingmen is well known ; and the 
 protest of Rev. E. M. P. Wells in an appeal he made in 
 behalf of the poor contained this strong language : " Why 
 must I, the official servant of Him who went about doing 
 good, only go about talking good?" 
 
 The congress voted to cause candidates to pledge them- 
 selves to limit the quantity of lands any individual might 
 acquire, to exempt the homestead from alienation on account
 
 DANGERS OF ACCUMULATED WEALTH. Ill 
 
 of any future debt, mortgage or other liability, to prevent all 
 further traffic in the public lands, and to cause them to be laid 
 out in farms and lots for the free and exclusive use of actual 
 settlers, and to limit the hours of labor to ten on all pub- 
 lic works and establishments chartered by law. To carry 
 out the work of the congress, members were requested to pay 
 five cents per month, two cents of which was to be at the dis- 
 posal of the national executive committee, and the rest to be 
 retained for defraying the expenses of their representatives, 
 etc. The Industrial Congress took an advanced and decided 
 ground on the cmestion of temperance. 
 
 The three prominent features of the movement at this time 
 were : first, a reduction of the hours of labor ; second, a radi- 
 cal reform of the land traffic; third, co-operative or associate 
 effort. Meanwhile the labor reformers of that time were 
 among the most earnest of the anti-slavery men, favoring the 
 abolition of capital punishment and the enfranchisement of 
 woman. They were in full accord with the struggles of the 
 men in England and Ireland, the name of Fergus O'Connor 
 appearing frequently in the columns of the labor press at that 
 time. The labor and reformatory press of that day spoke in 
 no uncertain terms of the dangers that threatened our institu- 
 tions through the power of accumulated wealth. In a paper 
 published in 1847, the editor says : 
 
 The few whose labor supports the mass will revolt. They will demand all 
 the fruits of their labor. They will revolt against the principle that inanimate 
 matter and ideal creatures are better entitled to legal care and legislative pro- 
 tection than the contracted muscles and mental and physical energies. Social 
 revolutions of this character are inevitable. They will come. Every political 
 organization has witnessed them, and until human nature is perfect and every 
 man becomes so thoroughly civilized and christianized as to make laws and 
 restraints unnecessary, until all men .shall seek to do good and to do unto 
 others as we wish them to do unto us, we shall have these discords and 
 troubles. 
 
 During the year 1847 many strikes prevailed, some for 
 shorter hours and some for higher wages ; some of which 
 were successful. There were strikes among cordwainers, 
 bootmakers, tobacconists, tailors, journeymen-cabinetmakers, 
 painters, and pump and block makers. Wages were low, and
 
 112 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 provisions and rents were high. A large foreign emigration 
 had already set in, competing with American labor, thus 
 antagonizing race against race, and finally resulting in the 
 establishing of a strong native American sentiment, and in 
 the organization of a native American party. This move- 
 ment received a severe protest from the workingmen's organi- 
 zations. But finally the foreigner was looked upon as an 
 enemy, because his presence gave the manufacturer power to 
 reduce wages more and more to the European level. 
 
 On receipt of the news of the passage of the ten-hour law 
 by the British Parliament, in the early summer of 1847, mass 
 meetings were held in the principal cities congratulating the 
 people of England on their triumph. At a meeting of the 
 mechanics and laborers at Albany, N. Y., July 2, 1847, it called 
 forth a resolution hailing it as a step in progress not only 
 invaluable in itself considered, but as the harbinger of a great 
 industrial reform which was to sweep over the Old World 
 and the New. They voted to continue the agitation for ten 
 hours, the restoration of the rights of all to the soil, motive 
 power and machinery, the freedom of the public lands to 
 actual settlers, the exemption of the homestead from liability 
 for debts or mortgages, the limitation of the amount of land 
 which might be acquired by individuals, and the organization 
 of industries. The JVew York Tribune of that date in speak- 
 ing of the passage of the ten-hour bill, says: "The friends 
 of humanity may rejoice at even this one step toward relieving 
 the misery of the poverty-stricken and oppressed operatives. 
 If no other measures had occupied the attention of Parliament 
 during the session, this one would alone redeem all its sins 
 of omission and commission." 
 
 On the third day of July, 1847, a law was passed in New 
 Hampshire making ten hours a legal day's work, and although 
 the working people knew this law to be a cheat and a sham, 
 still they hailed it as an event worthy of notice. Newspapers 
 reported tremendous excitement in Manchester and Nashua, 
 N. H., and other factory towns. The largest halls were 
 crowded with enthusiastic working people. 
 
 Some of the abolitionists were impatient at the labor
 
 WENDELL PHILLIPS IN 1847. 113 
 
 reformers because xthey used the term "white slaves "when 
 speaking of factory operatives and other classes of low-paid 
 labor. Wendell Phillips in a speech before the Anti-slavery 
 Society during anniversary week, 1847, said, while asking 
 the anti-slavery people to abstain from the use of the products 
 of slave labor, in other words calling for a boycott, " in my 
 opinion the great question of labor, when it shall come up, 
 will be found paramount to all others, and the operatives of 
 New England, peasants of Ireland, and laborers of South 
 America, will not be lost sight of in the sympathy for the 
 Southern slave." A labor paper, in calling attention to these 
 remarks, says : " Mr. Phillips is on the high road to the 
 principles of social reform. May he and like philanthropists 
 be brought to see that slavery, war, poverty, and oppression 
 are inseparable from the system of civilization, the system of 
 antagonism of interests ; that the only effectual remedy is 
 the introduction of a higher system of union of interest and 
 union of industry." 
 
 An effort was made in 1847 to break down the ten-hour 
 system. The ship-builders of Bath, Me., bound themselves 
 together under heavy penalties to insist on the old hours. 
 When the short days of the winter season had passed, the 
 employers demanded the old system of working from sun to 
 sun, and for some weeks not a stroke of work was done in. 
 any of the yards. Public opinion continued on the side of 
 the men, and finally the employers were forced to yield. 
 The success of the movement was hastened by the action of 
 one of the employers, a man who was in sympathy with the 
 men and their cause. As soon as he saw the employers were 
 weakening he visited the men at their houses, and engaged 
 the best skilled labor in the town, setting them to work on 
 the ten-hour system. The prominent position taken by Mr. 
 H. T. Delano in the movement led one of the richest ship- 
 builders to attempt a boycott. Efforts were made to deprive 
 Mr. Delano of his position as superintendent of a marine rail- 
 way. A man was engaged to take his place, but upon learn- 
 ing the circumstances he refused to be made the tool of 
 injustice, and Mr. Delano retained his place. The panic of 
 
 (8)
 
 114 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 1847 tended to demoralize the trades-union movement, al- 
 though the agitation by the labor and land reformers, etc., 
 was continued. 
 
 In contrast to the employers who were opposing the labor 
 organizations, it is worthy of note that in 1848 the employees 
 of the firm of Knapp & Totten, of Pittsburgh, Penn., three 
 hundred in number, gave a complimentary supper to the 
 members of that firm. Mr. Totten, in his speech on that 
 occasion said that he believed that he was the first employer 
 to adopt the ten-hour system, but that this was not enough, 
 he would like to see the time of labor shortened to eight hours ; 
 that the tendency of things was that way, and that society 
 would be vastly the gainer, and no one the loser, if all would 
 agree to it. 
 
 The uprising in Europe in 1848 renewed the agitation of 
 American socialism and labor reform generally. Meetings 
 were called by various craftsmen, and resolutions were passed 
 congratulating the French people. The Franklin Typo- 
 graphical Society of Boston met April i, 1848, and voted to 
 transmit an address to the printers of Paris " in response to 
 the glorious events of the recent revolution in France, in 
 which they bore so noble, patriotic, and conspicuous a part." 
 In their address the printers say : 
 
 We rejoice to learn that the tendency of events in France is to social reform, 
 and that the French people are demanding that reorganization of society 
 which shall secure to the laboring man the fruits of his skill and industry. 
 To us this is the noblest feature of your revolution, for we are convinced that 
 mere political reforms do not effect much for the mass of mankind. The 
 people have done enough for the self-styled higher classes ; it is time now to 
 work for themselves. They should proceed as if they knew and recognized 
 the truth contained in the noble words of one who, at different periods of his 
 life, was a citizen of France and of the United States, namely, " That gold in 
 its last analysis is the sweat of the poor and the blood of the brave." As 
 Americans engaged in a vocation which you have honored and illustrated by 
 heroic deeds, as citizens of that community which France was first to wel- 
 come to the list of nations, and to sustain whose nationality and freedom she 
 poured out her blood and treasure, as bearing in our united capacity the name 
 of that man who formed the first treaty between France and the United States, 
 and was at once a philosopher, a statesman, a friend of the human race, and 
 a printer, we venture to address the printers of Paris as men. 
 
 At a mass meeting of workingmen in Faneuil Hall, May
 
 CHARTISTS AND RKPEALERS. 1 15 
 
 pth, who met to congratulate each other on the auspicious 
 events in Europe, and to express their views in relation to 
 reform, at which Albert J. Wright presided, the first three 
 resolutions passed were congratulatory to the working people 
 of France and the provisional government, and expressed 
 their grateful sympathy for the Chartists in England and the 
 Repealers in Ireland. The fourth and fifth resolutions were 
 as follows : 
 
 While we rejoice in the organization of free institutions in the old world, we 
 are not indifferent to their support at home, and we regret the despotic atti- 
 tude of the Slave Power at the South, and the domineering ascendancy of the 
 Monied Oligarchy in the North as equally hostile to the interests of labor, and 
 incompatible with the preservation of popular rights. Resolved, that if we 
 would procure the passage of just and efficient laws to protect labor, and raise 
 it from its present degrading dependence on wealth, we must purge the halls 
 of legislation of the hirelings who basely pander to the interests of capital, 
 and to accomplish this result we recommend for the laboring classes to try for 
 once the experiment of trusting the management of their political affairs to 
 men of their own class, who know their interests and have a fellow-feeling in 
 supporting them. 
 
 They also formulated the following measures : first, reduc- 
 tion of the hours of labor ; second, an efficient lien law ; 
 third, the freedom of the public lands; fourth, the inalien- 
 ability of the homestead; fifth, the abolition of the poll-tax as 
 a condition of the elective franchise ; sixth, an industrial de- 
 partment in the government ; seventh, destruction of all white 
 and black slavery ; eighth, reduction of officers and salaries, 
 especially those of eight dollars a day and upwards, to the 
 standard of all useful and necessary labor. The meeting was 
 addressed by Horace Seaver, John Turner, Elizur Wright 
 and John C. Cluer. 
 
 On May nth the ten-hour order was introduced into the 
 Massachusetts House of Representatives, but was rejected in 
 the Senate. 
 
 In Philadelphia, in the same month, the male and female 
 loom-weavers adopted resolutions, and were anxious to see 
 some form devised to completely revolutionize the present 
 iniquitous system by which those who toil most receive least, 
 and those who toil least receive most, and see labor organized 
 on the basis preached by St. Paul, so that "if anyone would
 
 Il6 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 network, neither should he eat." An industrial convention 
 was held at Philadelphia, nominating Gerritt Smith, a national 
 land reformer, as a candidate for the presidency. 
 
 The discovery of gold in California again stimulated labor, 
 increasing the cost of living, and thus necessarily forcing the 
 demand for increased wages. 
 
 Up to this time the agitation and public discussion of the 
 land and labor questions had been conducted largely by open 
 general organizations. The social, economic, and religious 
 ostracism or boycotting of the leaders forced the organization 
 of secret societies. The trades-unions, who were extremely 
 conservative, were rather impatient of socialism, and the 
 several community movements. They wanted less hours 
 of labor and higher wages, and saw the necessity of com- 
 bining themselves in their several trades to accomplish these 
 objects. 
 
 In this year (1848) petitions were sent to Washington, 
 praying for a ten-hour law, and a law restraining persons- 
 from employing children in factories over eight hours a day, 
 and obliging those employing them to give them an opportu- 
 nity to obtain a common-school education. 
 
 The trades began to organize as never before. Organization 
 extended so far westward as to warrant the calling of the In- 
 dustrial Congress, at Chicago, 111., on the second Wednesday 
 of June, 1850. The platform adopted at that convention was 
 modeled after that of the New England Association. In the 
 same year a city congress of labor was formed in New York, 
 consisting of delegates from the several organizations, and 
 through its instrumentality and the public agitation, the or- 
 ganization of other crafts received a new impetus. The sad- 
 dlers, silversmiths, iron and metal workers, steam-boiler 
 makers, lady milliners, bookbinders, tanners, lady shoemak- 
 ers, riggers, sailmakers, watch-case makers, coach painters, 
 sash and blind makers, window-shade painters, carvers, gild- 
 ers, upholsterers, bakers, laborers, and dry-goods clerks joined 
 their forces with the trades already organized. There were 
 many strikes at about this time among the carpenters, the 
 most notable one being that of the carpenters of New York.
 
 HORACE GREELEY AND THE PRINTERS. 1 17 
 
 who struck for one dollar and seventy-five cents per day, and 
 marched through the streets in a procession a quarter of a 
 mile long and four deep. A co-operative association of iron 
 moulders was formed in Cincinnati, O., and strikes of iron 
 workers occurred in Pittsburgh, St. Louis and other places. 
 
 In Philadelphia the movement had become equally im- 
 portant with a strong tendency towards co-operative effort. 
 Workingmen's conventions were held to discuss the labor 
 question, a demand for homestead exemption and free public 
 lands being included in nearly all of their platforms. The 
 Printers' Union organized a trades bureau of statistics for 
 gathering statistics of labor. Horace Greeley delivered a 
 lecture at a mass meeting of printers in New York, in which 
 he strongly urged the necessity of more thorough organiza" 
 tion, and the special necessity of the trades-unions regulating 
 wages and hours of labor, and in which he complained of the 
 indifference and inattention of the laboring classes, especially 
 the printers, to the discussion of truths so great and so impor- 
 tant as the rights of labor. He said: "The laboring class, 
 as a class, is just where it was when I came here eighteen 
 years ago, 01, if anything, in a worse condition." 
 
 The workingmen in Baltimore, Md., succeeded in carrying 
 a bill through the House of Delegates making ten hours a 
 day's work, but they were unwise enough to have an exemp- 
 tion made in the case of a special contract. The sewing 
 women of Philadelphia made a strong effort to form a co- 
 operative establishment. Efforts were made in the principal 
 cities to obtain short hours for persons employed in mercantile 
 establishments, one of the meetings in New York being 
 presided over by the mayor, and addressed by John Van 
 Buren and others. 
 
 The ten-hour system had been adopted in some places in 
 some of the mechanical trades, and the movement in its favor 
 had become so strong as to gradually ameliorate the condi- 
 tion of the factory operatives. Strikes occurred in many of 
 the industries, each success giving renewed hope, and each 
 failure awakening renewed efforts for organization. The 
 increased immigration of the cheaper labor of Europe to
 
 Il8 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 this country rendered many of the attempts at improvement 
 abortive. When a strike occurred, especially in the factories, 
 foreigners were imported to take the places of the operatives 
 on strike. As an illustration of this, we give an account of a 
 strike occurring in Massachusetts in 1851. 
 
 The factory operatives of Amesbury and Salisbury were at 
 the time of this strike very largely American citizens, a great 
 portion of them being the owners of their homes. For years 
 this corporation had been under the management of a Mr. 
 Horton and had declared dividends as high as thirty per cent. 
 The hours of labor were extremely long, being from five in 
 the morning until seven at night, with half an hour for break- 
 fast and three-quarters of an hour for dinner. A custom pre- 
 vailed for the men to go out at ten o'clock in the forenoon, 
 under what was called the " luncheon privilege," remaining 
 fifteen or twenty minutes, and then returning to their work. 
 With many it was the habit to purchase supplies in the open 
 market, or "Market Square," as it was called. Upon the 
 retirement of Mr. Horton from the position of agent, the 
 employees presented him with a silver service, and great 
 regret was felt by them at losing so good an agent, he 
 having helped many of them to the ownership of their 
 homes. 
 
 After assuming control, the new agent had a notice posted 
 in the mills practically abolishing the "luncheon privilege." 
 No attention being paid to it, another notice was posted, stat- 
 ing that any person leaving his work between the hours of 
 starting the wheel and shutting down would be discharged 
 On the day when the notice was to go into effect, the spinners 
 of the large mill left their work in a body, and marched down 
 the yard to the square, the block printers, mechanics, and 
 other employees following. Upon the return of the men they 
 were discharged by the overseers, and, taking their aprons 
 and tools, retired from the yard. A meeting was called and 
 addresses made ; great enthusiasm prevailed. On the follow- 
 ing day a temperance banner, containing the words " Come 
 with us and we will do you good," was procured, and the 
 men taking this banner at luncheon time, marched to the gate
 
 FACTORY STRIKE, 1851. 
 
 of the mill-yard, when the weavers (women) left their looms, 
 and joined the men, thus practically closing the mill. 
 
 A band of music was procured, and the procession marched 
 to the house of the former agent, and giving him three cheers, 
 passed down to the residence of the new agent, and saluted 
 him with hisses. No threats of violence were offered, and 
 the utmost good nature existed until one of the prominent 
 members, A. G. Carey, afterwards elected to the Governor's 
 Council, was arrested, tried and acquitted at Newburyport. 
 Many men and boys walked from Amesbury to Newbury- 
 port a distance of six miles, to witness the trial. 
 
 Two Boston policemen were engaged to assist in guarding 
 the property, and parties were sent out to procure new help- 
 These agents of the company secured some fifty or more per- 
 sons, mostly recent immigrants from Ireland, but no private 
 boarding place could be found for them. The proprietor of 
 the hotel fitted up his dance-hall with mattresses and blankets 
 for their accommodation. Boys gathered in the vicinity, and 
 stones were thrown at the building, breaking some glass. 
 
 During the strike the overseers, some twenty in number, 
 met at the house of an overseer, who was a deacon of the 
 Orthodox Church, on Saturday night, remaining in session 
 until past the midnight hour, thus infringing upon the Sab- 
 bath, to the great scandal of the members of the Church. 
 The result of this meeting was the publication of a manifesto 
 supporting the corporation, as against the employees. 
 
 On Sunday morning those ignorant of the fact were sur- 
 prised to find posted upon the pillars, of the Orthodox Con- 
 gregational Church, written notices to the effect that at the 
 close of divine service the overseers of the Salisbury Manu- 
 facturing Company would hold a meeting for the transaction of 
 important business. At the church meeting one of the over- 
 seers, a deacon, acknowledged his error in transacting secu- 
 lar business on the holy day. The Amesbury Villager con- 
 tained not only articles in prose but also verse dedicated to 
 the factory bell. It was the custom of the men to gather 
 about the gates in the morning, forming a double line, and 
 every man who entered the gate to go to work was soundly
 
 120 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 hissed. The strike lasted nearly six months, and during the 
 strike, on the morning of July 5th (the 4th of July coming on 
 Sunday), one of the corporation buildings, a mile from the 
 village, was discovered to be on fire, and was burned to the 
 ground. A reward was offered for the apprehension of the 
 incendiary, but the origin of the fire was never learned. It is 
 said that the hose of the fire engine was cut and the fire 
 buckets rendered useless. The strike resulted in a failure, 
 though many of the men engaged in it never returned to work 
 for the corporation, and the foreign population of the town 
 was considerably increased by the operatives who took their 
 places. The only organization existing there at that time was 
 a branch of the Block-Printers' Union. The block-printers* 
 were English, and worked but ten hours a day. They were 
 not discharged upon returning from their luncheon. We re- 
 member reading in the village paper the story of " The Old 
 White Horse on a Strike." The corporation was the owner of 
 a powerful white horse which was very vicious. His driver, 
 a tall, raw-boned Yankee, finding that his fellows were dis- 
 charged for taking the luncheon privilege, refused to return 
 to work, although permitted to do so by the superintendent, 
 and he left the horse in the market square. No one else 
 could induce him to go to the stable, and he remained there, 
 the pet of the men, until his old driver returned him to his stall, 
 where he was obliged to care for him day after day. 
 
 It was on the occasion of this strike that the editor of this 
 book, then a boy at work in the mill, received his baptism 
 into the labor cause. 
 
 The demand for legislation on the hours of labor was re- 
 newed, and many of the men who afterwards became promi- 
 nent in the history of the country were elected upon that issue, 
 especially in Massachusetts. Among the men elected in that 
 State favorable to ten-hour legislation, as early as 1851 and 
 1852, were Benjamin F. Butler, Nathaniel P. Banks, Henry 
 Wilson, William Claflin, William S. Robinson, and James 
 M. Stone. Some of the strong Whig towns of the state for 
 the first time sent Democratic representatives, the town of 
 Amesbury, Mass., having the honor to elect the gentleman
 
 ELEVEN HOURS ADOPTED. 121 
 
 who introduced the ten-hour bill of that year, which passed 
 the House and was defeated in the Senate. 
 
 In 1853 eleven hours was adopted in many parts of the 
 country as the work-day, apparently for the purpose of head- 
 ing off the ten-hour movement. In some places the factories 
 continued to be run on the old hours until about 1865, when 
 the eleven-hour system was adopted, as the result of strikes ; 
 one manufacturer, who owned a small mill, saying, that as 
 they were making a thousand dollars a week, the cheapest 
 way was to grant the request of the strikers and set them to 
 work. 
 
 From 1851 to 1857 the isolated trades-unions and labor 
 organizations saw more and more the necessity of national 
 and international organizations. In many of the cities and 
 large towns delegates of the several trades held irregular 
 meetings to discuss any special case then pending, and con- 
 ventions of different craftsmen were called for the purpose of 
 better organization. National and international trades-unions 
 were organized, granting charters to the local bodies and 
 organizing new branches from Maine to California. Strikes 
 continued to occur, both in organized and unorganized trades, 
 the demands at this time being principally for increased 
 wages. The ship carpenters and joiners and calkers were 
 still the pioneers in the movement for the reduction of hours, 
 and having been the first to gain ten hours, they were the first 
 to gain eight hours. In fact, within a period of sixteen years, 
 they changed their system of working from sun to sun to 
 eight hours per day. The success in supplying the great 
 demand for shipping during the early California days showed 
 the practicability of the ten-hour system under a most severe 
 strain. Local organizations continued to increase, often, as 
 heretofore, the result of strikes. 
 
 The organized men began to discover the importance of 
 funds to carry on their work, and adopted a system of allow- 
 ances from the funds of the associations to such members as 
 needed assistance during strikes. The men who had been 
 compelled to live near their work during the long hour system 
 commenced to move farther and farther back from their places
 
 122 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 of work, many of them living three and five miles from the 
 shipyards. The panic of 1857, like the preceding panics of 
 1837 and 1847, tended to break up the organizations, reduc- 
 ing their membership, but leaving a remnant to carry the 
 standard. In 1859 the Machinists' and Blacksmiths' Union 
 held a convention in Philadelphia, at which they strongly 
 advocated the eight-hour movement. 
 
 The increased agitation of the question of slavery absorbed 
 the attention of the public, many of the wisest of the labor 
 men being of the opinion that no great progress could be 
 made until after the destruction of the chattel slave system. 
 
 The introduction of means for rapid production brought 
 with it extraordinary dangers to life and limb. Under the 
 stimulating influence of profit-gaining, individual employers 
 and corporations took but little heed of the necessity of secur- 
 ing the employees from the dangers incident to belts and 
 machinery and crowded mills and work-shops. In this brief 
 synopsis of the labor movement we could give no space to the 
 accidents in mines, mills, and work-shops and on railroads, 
 but we cannot end this chapter without mentioning the Pem- 
 berton Mill catastrophe, which occurred in Lawrence, Mass., 
 January 10, 1860. 
 
 While the machinery of the mill was in motion, the main 
 building fell without warning, and a conflagration broke out. 
 Out of the 700 persons in the building at the time, 77 were 
 killed and 134 injured, of whom 14 afterwards died. Cause 
 of the disaster, faulty construction of the pillars and the lack 
 of adhesive power in the mortar. The following is a descrip- 
 tion by Miss Elizabeth Stuart Phelps : 
 
 Who shall say what it was to the 750 souls who were buried in the ruins? 
 What to the eighty-eight who died that death of exquisite agony? What to 
 the wrecks of men and women who endure even to this day a life that is worse 
 than death? What to the architect and engineer who, when the fatal pillars 
 were first delivered to them for inspection, had found one broken under their 
 eyes, yet accepted the contract, and built with them a mill, whose thin walls 
 and wide, unsupported stretches never could keep their place unaided? 
 
 One that we love may go the battle ground, and we are ready for the worst; 
 we have said our good-bye; our hearts wait and pray; it is his life, not his 
 death, which is the surprise; but that he should go out to his safe, daily com- 
 monplace occupation, unnoticed and uncaressed, scolded a little, perhaps,
 
 END OF FIRST EPOCH. 123 
 
 because HP leaves the door open and tells us how cross -we are this morning, 
 and they bring him up the steps, by-and-by, a mangled mass of death and 
 horror, that is hard. 
 
 The little band of men who commenced the agitation of the 
 labor movement in 1825 to 1832 had witnessed the growth of 
 that movement until it had commanded the attention of the 
 student and the philanthropist as well as many of the most 
 intelligent wage-workers. Their isolated unions had grown 
 into great national and international organizations of crafts- 
 men, numbering their members by tens of thousands. Mem- 
 bers of legislative bodies had been forced to discuss the labor 
 question. The arrogant assumption of power by the con- 
 trolling classes had been met fearlessly and often overcome, 
 in argument and otherwise, by the organizations of which they 
 were founders. They had witnessed the demand for ten 
 hours, at first ridiculed, now acknowledged by all to be a 
 benefit. The semi-annual and quarterly payments had in 
 many places given way to the weekly and monthly systems. 
 The militia laws had been revolutionized, and in some places 
 lien laws had been enacted. But above all as the very pio- 
 neers of the anti-slavery question, they had seen the public 
 sentiment of the community turn from apathy or approval 
 into earnest condemnation. They had clasped hands across 
 the ocean with their brothers of England and Ireland, and 
 France and Germany, and with all peoples who were attempt- 
 ing to secure a better condition in life. No body of men 
 could claim as much as they for statesmanship. They 
 had begun a social revolution which was soon to reach a 
 climax by the abolition of the chattel system through blood, 
 and bright hopes were entertained that with its fall the wage- 
 system would peacefully be evolved out of existence, and the 
 co-operative system come to bless mankind.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 PROGRESS OF THE MOVEMENT FROM l86l to l886. 
 
 AGITATION AND ORGANIZATION DURING THE WAR FIRST ORGANIZATION 
 OF HORSE-CAR DRIVERS SUPREME MECHANICAL ORDER OF THE SUN 
 GRAND EIGHT-HOUR LEAGUE EARLY CLOSING MOVEMENT MASS 
 MEETINGS OF WORKING WOMEN CONSPIRACY LAWS RETURN OF 
 THE ARMY TO INDUSTRIAL PURSUITS LABOR NEWSPAPERS PUBLIC 
 MEETINGS PROCESSIONS AND STRIKES THE GRAND REVIVAL OF 
 1866 REVIVAL OF THE EIGHT-HOUR MOVEMENT DISCUSSION IN 
 CONGRESS PASSAGE OF THE LAW IN 1868 NON-ENFORCEMENT OF 
 THE LAW NATIONAL LABOR CONGRESS IN BALTIMORE TRADES 
 REPRESENTED' KNIGHTS OF LABOR ORGANIZE, 1869 PATRONS OF 
 HUSBANDRY FIRST BUREAU OF STATISTICS OF LABOR GREAT 
 STRIKE OF THE COAL MINERS BOSTON EIGHT-HOUR LEAGUE 
 INTERNATIONAL WORKINGMEN'S ASSOCIATION GREAT EIGHT-HOUR 
 STRIKE, 1872 NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL CONGRESS, ROCHESTER, N. Y., 
 1874 RAILROAD STRIKES OF 1877; MILITARY CALLED OUT; LIVES 
 LOST; PROPERTY DESTROYED; INTERNATIONAL LABOR UNION OF 
 AMERICA GREAT LIBEL CASE, PATERSON, N. J. COLORED EXODUS 
 FEDERATION OF ORGANIZED TRADES AND LABOR UNIONS THE 
 GREAT UPRISING OF LABOR IN 1886. 
 
 THE war of the chattel labor masters upon the Republic 
 concentrated the whole force of the patriotic labor 
 masses of the North, East, and West. They left their tools 
 of industry and took .up the implements of war. Never was 
 there such a patriotic uprising of the common people. They 
 proved themselves worthy of their inheritance. Their hearts 
 made the breast-work of defence, not only of the Union, but 
 of the possessors of wealth. At first the industries trembled, 
 but the demand for arms and equipments, and the distribution 
 of money by bounties, soon compelled more rapid production. 
 Strikes occurred in some places to compel the advance of 
 wages, and the demand for less hours of labor was voiced 
 by factory operatives and trades-unions. 
 
 It may be said that the eight-hour movement obtained its 
 great impetus during the war. An intelligent agitation was 
 
 (124)
 
 SUPREME MECHANICAL ORDER OF THE SUN. 125 
 
 commenced, and demands were made for labor legislation. 
 Many old unions were re-organized, national and interna- 
 tional trades-unions created, and local unions and labor asso- 
 ciations sprung up everywhere. In 1861 the horse-car drivers 
 of New York formed a benevolent association, John Walker, 
 who has been a driver on the Third-avenue line for twenty 
 years, being the founder. This organization discountenanced 
 strikes, but as reduction after reduction took place they were 
 compelled to unite upon the question of wages. The coal 
 miners organized a National Association in 1861. The 
 Boston United Laborers' Society was organized in 1862, the 
 hack-drivers in 1863, and the locomotive engineers in the 
 latter year. The Garment Cutters' Association, from whose 
 members sprung the Order of the Knights of Labor, was or- 
 ganized at this eventful period. In California the scattered 
 trades-unions of the cities, and especially of San Francisco, 
 formed an amalgamation. 
 
 This nearly completed the circle of organization of the 
 wage-laborers. Secret associations, with signs and pass- 
 words, were established, the largest in point of numbers being 
 the Supreme Mechanical Order of the Sun, an organization 
 with an extensive ritual, having numerous degrees. The 
 Grand Eight-hour League, and other associations whose 
 names were never given to the public, were organized. 
 Through the power of these orders workingmen were elected 
 to legislative bodies in several of the States. At the councils, 
 conventions and congresses of the labor organizations during 
 the -war resolutions of a patriotic nature were passed. The 
 cost of living had more than kept pace with the wages of the 
 workers, and discontent was general. The building trades 
 were especially active in the movement. 
 
 In the early part of 1863 strikes were prevalent in many of 
 the industries. Ship carpenters demanded three dollars per 
 day, and mechanics and laborers in the Navy Yard were also 
 moving for an increase of wages. It was during this trying 
 time of the Republic that the organized workingmen of En- 
 gland manifested in unmistakable terms their love for our 
 institutions, as referred to by Professor James in Chapter III.,
 
 126 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 and as acknowledged by President Lincoln in the early part 
 of February of that year. The clerks in different departments 
 pressed their claim for the early-closing movement, and mass- 
 meetings of women were held, at which the terrible condition 
 of the working women of the large cities was exposed and a 
 strong public sentiment created in their favor. The ship- 
 wrights of New York City formed an association for intellec- 
 tual and social improvement, established a reading room and 
 library and listened to a course of lectures. 
 
 The draft of 1863, which practically exempted the wealthy 
 by the payment of the small sum of three hundred dollars, 
 was felt to be unjust to the laboring men, and advantage was 
 taken e>f this feeling to create disloyalty to the Union and bit- 
 terness against the negro. A meeting of mechanics was held 
 in Tammany Hall, and Horace Greeley was present. Mr. 
 Greeley was called upon and very unwillingly addressed 
 the assembly. After he had retired, he was shamefully 
 abused by some of the speakers. This was followed by 
 monster meetings in which all disloyal sentiments uttered in 
 the name of labor were strongly condemned. Strikes con- 
 tinued to multiply, generally for an advance of wages. 
 
 Among the longshoremen and railroad employees assaults 
 were made upon the non-unionists who took the places of the 
 men on strike. In New York negroes were engaged to take 
 the places of longshoremen. The negroes were assaulted, 
 but the police succeeded in restoring order. It was not many 
 years after this that the white and colored men joined in a 
 trades-union procession for eight hours, some of the colored 
 leaders riding in carriages, and the colored organizations being 
 received into the procession with a salute. 
 
 In the spring of 1864 efforts were made in some of the State 
 Legislatures for the enactment of laws, termed laws against 
 intimidation, but really so drawn as to practically destroy all 
 trades-union organizations. Section i of the bill presented 
 in the New York Assembly read as follows : "Be it enacted, 
 that if any person shall, by violence to the person or property 
 of, or by threats or intimidation, or by molesting, or in any 
 way obstructing another, force or endeavor to force any work-
 
 THE GRAND ARMY OF LABOR. 127 
 
 man or other person hired in any manufacture, trade or busi- 
 ness, to depart from his work before the same shall be finished," 
 etc., giving then the penalty. 
 
 Mr. Greeley, in commenting upon this in the Tribune, said : 
 "There is force in the objection that the acts it reprobates are 
 already misdemeanors punishable under existing laws. We 
 are inclined to the opinion that Mr. Folger's bill, if enacted, 
 would do more harm than good." 
 
 The organizations continued to increase in membership. 
 In 1864 the Cigar-Makers' International Union was formed. 
 The stone-cutters, blacksmiths, carpenters and laborers in the 
 forts in New York struck for twenty-five per cent, advance, 
 the longshoremen asked for $2.50 per day of nine hours, the 
 mechanics in the Brooklyn Navy Yard asked for an advance 
 of wages, pianoforte-makers organized to secure higher 
 wages, the sewing women of New York and Philadelphia 
 held mass-meetings, and the mates of merchant ships held 
 a meeting for an increase of pay. The journeymen tailors 
 formed a national trades-union in Philadelphia in September, 
 1865. 
 
 It was not until the breaking up of the rebellion and the 
 return of the Grand Army of the Republic to the grand army 
 of labor, from the processes of destruction to the processes of 
 production, that the full force of this movement was developed. 
 Labor newspapers began to multiply, perhaps the most impor- 
 tant move in this direction being the establishment of the Daily 
 Evening Voice by the Boston Typographical Union, which 
 had a continued existence of two or three years. Great pub- 
 lic meetings were held, strikes occurred, and labor processions 
 marched through the streets. State conventions of working- 
 men were held in Indiana, Illinois and New York ; at those 
 in Indiana and New York nearly all the trades being repre- 
 sented. 
 
 In Massachusetts an order was introduced into the Legisla- 
 ture by a Union soldier, instructing the Judiciary Committee 
 to consider the expediency of regulating and limiting the 
 hours of labor to constitute a day's work. As a result an 
 unpaid commission was appointed by Governor Andrew to
 
 128 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 investigate the subject of the hours of labor. The report or 
 this committee was unsatisfactory to the labor men, and the 
 next year Governor Bullock appointed three commissioners : 
 the Honorable Amasa Walker, William Hyde and Edward H. 
 Rogers. 
 
 The workingmen of some of the large cities celebrated the 
 Fourth of July by processions and orations. The position 
 given the returned soldiers by the labor men contrasted with 
 that given them by the city of Boston, where the Aldermen 
 rode in barouches and the veterans in express wagons. The 
 Daily Evening Voice, then published in Boston, in a pungent 
 editorial, commented on this, and said : "When labor is paid 
 as it deserves, and not overworked, it will be impossible to 
 keep the honors of the world from the workingmen, and such 
 an exhibition as that of the Boston procession cannot occur." 
 
 The year 1866 witnessed a grand revival of the labor 
 movement. Isolated unions and associations came more and 
 more to see the necessity of amalgamation. An active propo- 
 ganda was aroused, and new organizations were continually 
 multiplying. From thirty to forty national and international 
 trades-unions and amalgamated societies were in existence, 
 some of them numbering tens of thousands of men. The 
 people of to-day have little conception of the extent of 'the 
 labor movement of twenty years ago. 
 
 In the professional and personal occupations we find among 
 those organized barbers and hairdressers, hostlers, clerks ; in 
 trade and transportation, commercial travellers, railroad 
 employees, telegraphers, packers, sailors on the lakes; in 
 manufacturing, mechanical and mining industries, packers, 
 blacksmiths, blind, door, and sash makers, bookbinders, 
 boot and shoemakers, brass founders, brush-makers, cabinet- 
 makers, carpenters and joiners, carpet workers, cigarmak- 
 ers, clock and watchmakers, coopers, cotton-mill operatives, 
 flax-dressers, gilders, glass-work operatives, gold and silver- 
 smiths and jewellers, harness and saddle makers, hat and cap 
 makers, hosiery and kitting-mill operatives, iron and steel 
 workers, leather curriers, dressers, finishers and tanners, 
 machinists, marble and stone-cutters, masons (brick and
 
 EIGHT HOURS IN AUSTRALIA. 129 
 
 stone), miners, nail-makers, organ-makers, painters, paper- 
 hangers, pianoforte-makers, plasterers, plumbers, printers, 
 pump and block makers, quarrymen, roofers and slaters, 
 sail-makers, ship-carpenters, calkers and riggers, silk-mill 
 operatives, steam-boiler makers, tailors, trunk-makers, uphol- 
 sterers, and woolen-mill operatives. These associations 
 had, in many cases, organizations for different parts of their 
 industries. 
 
 In the principal cities, and in some of the larger towns, the 
 trades assemblies or central trades and labor councils were 
 continued in various forms, and where none had existed, the 
 meetings of the officers of the different associations convened, 
 and sometimes by correspondence, sometimes through the 
 experience of members of the several unions, they formed 
 their central bodies, many of them at that time being termed 
 trades assemblies. Some of the men who were then promi- 
 nent in the movement have become employers, some are 
 prominent in public positions, and some finished their work 
 before the present great uprising of labor. To the credit of the 
 cause, it can be said of almost all, living and dead, that they 
 maintained their principles, and if retiring from active partici- 
 pation in the work, still gave their sympathy to it. The few 
 demagogues, failing to make money or fame, have since found 
 both in the service of wealth. 
 
 Labor legislation was enacted in many of the States of the 
 Union, especially in the direction of education and of limiting 
 the hours of labor for children. Massachusetts' greatest ora- 
 tor, Wendell Phillips, had taken a prominent position upon 
 the question, and General H. K. Oliver, of Salem, one of the 
 first educators of the State, had spoken in no uncertain words, 
 through his report on factory children. 
 
 The eight-hour system had been introduced in the colony of 
 Victoria, Australia by operative stone masons. The stone 
 masons commenced the movement and were joined by the brick- 
 layers, carpenters, joiners, plasterers and slaters, who formed 
 themselves into an association for the purpose of securing it 
 and called the other trades to their assistance. The first meet- 
 ing was called together by the stone masons on March 27, 
 
 (9)
 
 I3O THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 1856, the builders and contractors thinking the movement 
 ought to be accepted by the whole of the building trades be- 
 fore it should go into operation. The meeting was the result 
 of this suggestion offered by the contractors. Some of the 
 contractors were present. It was voted to enforce the rule on 
 the 2ist of April. The second meeting was held on the 2ist 
 of April, at which the mayor, John Thomas Smith, presided, 
 the masons paying all the expenses of the meeting. The 
 mayor offered a cup, valued at 10, as a prize for the best 
 essay showing the advantages to be derived from the eight- 
 hour system to the workingmen in particular and to society 
 in general, the essays to be judged and the prizes awarded 
 by the professors of the university. The first prize was 
 awarded to Mr. Best, a chemist. This movement awakened 
 the ship-carpenters of California to make an attempt in the 
 same direction. 
 
 In the early part of the year 1866, eight-hour bills were 
 introduced in the United States Congress by Mr. Rogers, of 
 New Jersey ; Mr. Niblack, of Indiana ; Mr. Brown, of Mis- 
 souri, and Mr. Julian, of Indiana ; and Mr. Ingersol, of 
 Illinois, introduced a resolution to -adopt the eight-hour sys- 
 tem for the District of Columbia. After some discussion on 
 Mr. Ingersol's resolution, a vote was taken, no quorum being 
 present. There were but in members present at this time. 
 Mr. Ingersol demanded the yeas and nays, but they were not 
 ordered. On the motion to lay on the table the yeas and nays 
 were ordered, the result being yeas, 156; nays, 92; not 
 voting, 76. As the morning hour had arrived, the resolution 
 went over till the next Monday. March 28, 1867, Mr. Banks, 
 of Massachusetts, introduced an eight-hour bill. The ques- 
 tion was taken upon suspending the rules so it could be intro- 
 duced yeas, 78 ; nays, 23 ; not voting, 63. As two-thirds 
 voted in favor of the motion, the bill was introduced. Mr. 
 Banks moved the previous question, which was ordered, and 
 the bill passed. Senator Conness, of California, and Senator 
 Wilson, of Massachusetts, advocated the bill. It was referred 
 to the Committee on Finance. 
 
 On November 29, 1867, Mr. Niblack again introduced
 
 PRESIDENT GRANTS PROCLAMATION. 
 
 an eight-hour bill. It was referred to the Committee on Edu- 
 cation and Labor, and in the Senate, Mr. Sherman of Ohio, 
 reported for the Finance Committee that it asked to be dis- 
 charged from the further consideration of the Banks bill, 
 which was agreed to. An eight-hour bill was finally passed 
 in 1868, and was signed by President Johnson. 
 
 After its passage by Congress, the officers having it in 
 charge failed to report it, and President Grant issued a proc- 
 lamation on the i pth of May, 1869, directing that no reduc- 
 tion should be made in the wages of laborers, workmen, and 
 mechanics in the employ of the United States, by reason of 
 the reduction of the hours of labor. Still the provisions 
 of this law continued to be evaded, or utterly disregarded 
 on the part of many officers and agents, when the Presi- 
 dent, on the nth of May, 1872, issued another procla- 
 mation calling attention to the provisions of the act and direct- 
 ing all officers of the executive department having charge of 
 the employment or payment of laborers, workmen and 
 mechanics to make no reduction in the wages on 'account of 
 the reduction in the hours of labor. The government officials 
 still failed to enforce the law, when pressure was brought to 
 bear upon Congress to pass an additional resolution. On the 
 1 8th of May, 1872, Congress passed an act securing to all 
 laborers, workmen and mechanics employed by the govern- 
 ment between June 25, 1868, and May 19, 1869, pay or com- 
 pensation on the basis of a full, regular day's pay for eight 
 hours' labor. Two months afterwards the Navy Yard author- 
 ities reduced the wages one-fifth, and a committee appointed 
 by the Columbia Typographical Society of Washington, pre- 
 sented a bill to the President of the United States, who 
 referred the whole matter to Attorney-General Evarts, who 
 made the following decision : 
 
 The act of June 25, 1868, constituting eight hours a day's work for all govern- 
 ment laborers, workmen and mechanics does not absolutely require that the 
 employees of the government must receive as high wages for their eight hours' 
 labor as similar industry in private employment receives for a day's labor of 
 ten hours ; but it simply requires that the same worth of labor shall be com- 
 pensated in the public employment at the same rate of wages that it receives 
 in private employment.
 
 132 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 This decision led Senator Dawes of Massachusetts to offer 
 a resolution to enquire whether any legislation was necessary 
 to secure uniformity of compensation under the eight-hour 
 law, according to its true intent. 
 
 On April 5, 1869, Mr. Stevens of New Hampshire by 
 unanimous consent, introduced a declaratory resolution which 
 provided that the act of June 25, 1868, should not be con- 
 sidered as authorizing a corresponding reduction of wages. 
 This resolution was passed. On April 2ist Attorney-Gen- 
 eral E. R. Hoar gave an opinion that the act of 1868 had 
 nothing to do with the compensation to be paid, and said the 
 rate of compensation was still left by law to be determined 
 under the rule to be prescribed by the statute of July 16, 
 1862, so as to conform, as nearly as was consistent with the 
 public interests, with those of private establishments in the 
 immediate vicinity. He says : 
 
 I find nothing in the statute which requires you [Secretary of the Navy, 
 BorieJ to pay the same price for eight hours' labor -which private establish- 
 ments pay for ten or twelve hours, unless the kind of service rendered or the 
 quality of the work made the fewer hours in the Navy Yard equivalent in 
 value to the longer time required in private establishments, or for some other 
 reasons, make it consistent with the public interest. 
 
 The Secretary then issued the following to the command- 
 ants of the Navy Yards and stations : 
 
 NAVY DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, April 22, 1869. 
 
 DEAR SIR : The act of Congress approved June 25, 1868, constituting eight 
 hours a day's work for all workmen, laborers and mechanics employed on be- 
 half of the United States, while establishing the length of a day's work, Con- 
 gress omitted to repeal the act of July 16, 1862, requiring the wages of the 
 employees in the Navy Yards to conform, as nearly as is consistent with the 
 public interest, to those of private establishments in the immediate vicinity 
 of the Navy Yards. Until these laws are repealed, the Department abides by 
 them. The Department has no authority to extend the hours of labor by 
 making more than eight hours a day's work, but it has the right to employ 
 mechanics, workmen and laborers and pay them pro rata for such extra labor. 
 When, therefore, necessity exists for extra labor, you are at liberty to exercise 
 your discretion in the matter so as to assist the working classes and at the 
 same time assist the Government. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 A. E. BORIE, Secretary Navy. 
 
 This called forth a letter from Hon. Henry Wilson addressed
 
 NATIONAL LABOR CONGRESS, 1 866. 133 
 
 to Major-General John A. Rollins, in which he says that the 
 construction put by the officers of the Government upon the 
 eight-hour law is a palpable violation of the spirit and letter 
 of the act, of the intention of Congress and of the desires of 
 the men who petitioned for its passage, and continued : 
 
 During the past third of a century the hours of labor for manual labor have 
 been largely diminished. Thirty years ago the hours of labor in manufactur- 
 ing establishments, in machine and in various mechanical industries were 
 from twelve to thirteen hours a day. Laboring men and persons who realized 
 the fact that capital has its duties as well as rights sought to reduce the hours 
 of labor to ten hours a day, and they have been generally successful. I think 
 there cannot be a doubt that the hours of labor for persons employed in me- 
 chanical and manufacturing industries have been diminished within a third of 
 a century two hours per day. That this reduction of the hours of labor has 
 been conducive to the physical, mental, moral, and social improvement of the 
 \vorkingmen there can be no question whatever. 
 
 The trades assemblies of New York City and Baltimore, in 
 the Spring of 1866, issued a call' for a national congress. In 
 answer to their appeal over a hundred delegates met at Bal- 
 timore, August 2oth. The following named organizations 
 being represented : 
 
 Ship-carpenters and Calkers, of St. Louis, Mo. ; Grand Eight-hour League, 
 of Detroit, Mich, (this was one of the branches of the Order), Railroad Men's 
 Protective Union; Painters' Union and Moulders' Union, of St. Louis; Min- 
 ers' Lodge, Illinois; Workingmen's Union, St. Louis; Window-glass Blow- 
 ers' Union, Birmingham, Penn. ; Mechanics' Association, Norfolk, Va. ; 
 House Painters' Union, Washington, D. C. ; Masons' Union, Newburg, N. Y. ; 
 Trades' Union and Eight-hour Association, New Haven, Ct. ; Coach Makers' 
 International Unions, of Brooklyn and Philadelphia ; Marble Cutters' Asso- 
 ciation, Boston, Mass. ; Trades' Assembly, New Albany, Ind. ; Iron Moulders' 
 Union, of Augusta and Savannah, Ga. ; Trades' Assembly and Grand Eight- 
 hour League, of Chicago, 111. ; Trades' Assembly, Wilmington, Del. ; Work- 
 ingmen's Convention, Washington, D. C. ; Bricklayers' Union, Brooklyn, 
 N. Y. ; House-carpenters' Union and Granite Cutters' Association, of Wash- 
 ington, D. C. ; Workingmen's Union, New York City; Stone-cutters' Asso- 
 ciation, Washington, D. C. ; Bookbinders' Union, New York; Ship-joiners' 
 Union, New York ; Carpenters', Joiners' and Machinists' Union, Lowell, Mass. ; 
 Workingmen's Assembly, Boston, Mass. ; Ship-joiners' Union, Baltimore, Md. ; 
 Bookbinders' Union, Boston, Mass.; Blacksmiths' Union, Baltimore, Md. ; 
 Ship-carpenters' Union, Boston, Mass. ; Iron Moulders' Union, Boston, Mass. ; 
 Journeymen Coopers' Union, Baltimore, Md. ; Journeymen Shipwrights' 
 Unions, Baltimore, Md. ; Journeymen House Painters' Baltimore, Md. ; Wood 
 Turners' Union, Baltimore, Md. ; Trades' Assembly, Baltimore, Md. ; Har- 
 ness-makers' Union, Baltimore, Md. ; Pattern-makers' Union, Baltimore, Md. ; 
 House-carpenters' Union, Baltimore, Md. ; Can-makers' Union, Baltimore,
 
 134 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 Md. ; Bricklayers' Union, Baltimore, Md. ; Iron Moulders' Union, Baltimore, 
 Md. ; Operative Masons' Union, Baltimore, Md. ; Journeymen Curriers' 
 Union and International Union of Curriers, of Baltimore, Md. ; Eight-hour 
 League, No. i, of Iowa ; Trades' Assembly, Philadelphia, Penn. ; Trades 
 Assembly, Pittsburgh, Penn. ; Steam-boilers' Union, Baltimore, Md. ; Iron 
 Moulders' Union, Scranton, Penn. ; Workingmen's Associations, Rochester, 
 N. Y. ; The Trades-Unions of Buffalo, N. Y., and the Grand Eight-hour 
 League, of Buffalo, N. Y. 
 
 Committees were appointed on the following subjects : 
 
 On Eight-hours and Political Action ; on Permanent National Organization ; 
 to wait on President Johnson; on Public Domain and National Debt; on 
 Trades-Unions and Strikes; on Co-operative Associate and Convict Labor; 
 on National Organs (newspapers) ; to prepare an Address to the Mechanics 
 and Working People of the United States. 
 
 The place of meeting of the next Congress was fixed upon 
 as Chicago, 111. Resolutions were adopted on the following 
 subjects : 
 
 In favor of the Eight-hour System ; of Supporting Labor Journals; Favor- 
 ing the Organization of Co-operative Stores and Work-shops ; Opposing 
 Prison Labor unless Paid for at the same Rate as to outside Mechanics ; 
 Pledging Support to Sewing Women ; Favoring Speedy Restoration of 
 Agriculture in the South; Asking Capitalists to Erect Improved Dwellings; 
 Asserting that the Public Domain should go to Actual Settlers ; Deprecating 
 Strikes ; Urging the Promotion of Mechanics' Institutes ; Advising Unem- 
 ployed Workingmen to go on Public Land. 
 
 The New York Tribune warmly commended the conven- 
 tion, concluding with these words : "Altogether the conven- 
 tion has thoroughly represented the intelligence, education 
 and enterprise of the workingmen of the Union, and its influ- 
 ence should be general and permanent." 
 
 The following resolution, adopted by the convention, ex- 
 presses the dissatisfaction which was felt against existing 
 political parties and the determination of the working people 
 to secure eight-hour legislation : 
 
 WHEREAS, the history and legislation of the past has demonstrated that no 
 dependence whatever can be placed upon the pledges and professions of rep- 
 resentatives of existing political parties, so far as the interests of the indus- 
 trial classes are concerned; therefore, be it 
 
 Resolved, That the time has come when the workingmen of the United 
 States should cut themselves loose from all party ties and organize themselves 
 into the National Labor Party, the object of which shall be to secure the enact- 
 ment of a law making eight hours a day's work.
 
 THE MECHANICS' BELL.
 
 KNIGHTS OF ST. CRISPIN. 135 
 
 This same convention exposed the condition of the dwellings 
 of the poor, and cabled upon capitalists to take steps for the 
 building of improved dwellings. 
 
 The shoemakers' union, known as the Knights of St. Cris- 
 pin, was organized in 1866 in the city of Milwaukee, Wis., 
 by Newell Daniels. The name was given by F. W. Wallace. 
 The first lodge of the order was formed the ist of March, 1867. 
 The International Grand Lodge held its first meeting on the 
 the 23d day of April, 1869, at Worcester, Mass., and adopted 
 a constitution. One of its articles forbade the members to 
 teach, or aid in teaching, any part of the trade to any one with- 
 out permission of three-fourths of the members of the lodge 
 present and voting thereon, provision being made that a father 
 could teach his son. Their methods of settling grievances, 
 etc., together with their further history, will be found in the 
 chapter on Shoemakers. 
 
 From this time forward much of the history of the move- 
 ment is contained in the history of the several organizations. 
 Depression in business resulted in the lessening of member- 
 ship and depletion of the treasuries of existing organizations, 
 many cf the isolated trades-unions passing out of existence or 
 held together by small bands of the faithful members and 
 reviving again with the revival of prosperity, the tendency 
 being always to a better form of organization. Much the 
 same method of agitation was pursued and the same meas- 
 ures of reform were continually demanded. 
 
 The movement began again to assume a political charac- 
 ter, although the trades-unions, as such, took no part in it. 
 Numerously signed petitions were forwarded to the state 
 legislatures and to Congress. 
 
 August 19, 1867, the National Labor Congress convened 
 at Chicago, upwards of two hundred delegates being present, 
 representing labor associations in all the Northern States, and 
 Kentucky, Maryland and Missouri. The president, Z. C. 
 Whalley, in his report, urged the eight-hour movement, and 
 recommended that each State have a vice-president, for the 
 purpose of a more hearty co-operation in the objects of the 
 organization. He suggested the establishment of a national
 
 136 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 organ, the editorial columns of which should be devoted to 
 the rights of labor. He said : 
 
 The emancipation of the slaves has placed us in a new position, and the 
 question now arises, what labor position shall they now occupy? They will 
 begin to learn and to think for themselves, and they will soon resort to me- 
 chanical pursuits, and thus come in contact with white labor. It is necessary 
 that they should not undermine it, therefore the best thing that they can do 
 is to form trades-unions, and thus work in harmony with the whites. 
 
 He strongly urged co-operative effort as well as changes in 
 the methods of the organization, so that a central head should 
 be established, all subordinate unions to be auxiliary to it, 
 paying quarterly dues, and thus establishing a fund to secure 
 the end they sought. 
 
 The preamble contains this clause : 
 
 Heretofore the highest form labor associations have taken, is the national 
 union of some of the trades. Between these organizations, however, there 
 was no sympathy or systematic connection, no co-operative effort, no work- 
 ing for the attainment of a common end, the want of which has been expe- 
 rienced for years by every craft and calling. 
 
 The name adopted by the congress was the National Labor 
 Union. This convention appointed Richard F. Trevellick as 
 a delegate to Europe, but on account of a lack of funds, he 
 was unable to attend. It adjourned to meet at Pittsburgh, 
 Penn., on the first Monday in May, 1868. 
 
 The Chicago Tribune of that date, in an editorial, called 
 attention to the fact that the farmers, who were both capi- 
 talists and laborers, were not represented at the convention, 
 and that "this mighty mass of producers" had no sympathy 
 with the labor congress, or with strikes, or eight hours, or 
 movements. This was measurably true of that day, but after 
 the organization of the Patrons of Husbandry a different 
 spirit pervaded the farming community, as was shown by the 
 action of the National Grange at their nineteenth session, 
 assembled in Boston in November, 1885, at which convention 
 the following preamble and resolution was adopted and for- 
 warded to the Secretary-Treasurer of District 30, Knights of 
 Labor, Massachusetts.
 
 FIRST BUREAU OF STATISTICS OF LABOR. 137 
 
 WHEREAS, the morning papers inform us that at Brockton, a number of 
 workingmen, amounting to five thousand, have been turned out of employ- 
 ment because they belong to an organization called the " Knights of Labor" 
 this being their offence, and nothing more by an organization called 
 the Manufacturers' Association, therefore be it 
 
 Resolved, That we, the Patrons of Husbandry, in the National Grange 
 assembled, do hereby send greeting and sympathy to our laboring brethren, 
 and assure them that we will ever maintain the right and privilege of any 
 person or class of our fellow citizens to organize themselves for protection. 
 
 Resolved, That the Secretary, under seal of the National Grange, send a 
 copy of the above to the Secretary of the Knights of Labor. 
 
 JOHN TRIMBLE, 
 Secretary National Grange P. of H. 
 
 November 18, 1885. 
 
 The eight-hour men, who had been the unpaid repre- 
 sentatives of labor before committees of the Massachusetts 
 Legislature, succeeded in securing the passage of a resolve 
 establishing the Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics of Labor 
 in 1869, the first of the kind ever established. General H. K. 
 Oliver, of Salem, a man with varied experiences as an edu- 
 cator and as the agent of a large cotton mill for ten years, 
 afterwards being specially deputized to enforce the laws in 
 reference to the employment and schooling of children, was 
 appointed chief, and the editor of this work, on August 4th 
 of the same year, was appointed deputy. The chief and 
 deputy constituted the Bureau. In the fall of that year the 
 Labor Reform Party of Massachusetts was formed, and 
 nominated candidates for the State offices, who received about 
 fifteen thousand votes. 
 
 Massachusetts was at this time again the centre of the 
 political and public movement, while the trades-unions move- 
 ment was centering in New York and Chicago, and spread- 
 ing into California, where the telegraphers organized a 
 benevolent association which spread into the larger cities of 
 the east, and was immediately followed by a strike, which, 
 for a fime, paralyzed business, the newspapers suffering 
 severely ; but in twenty-four hours after the strike the offices 
 in the cities were manned by operatives from the country, and 
 the strike was a failure. 
 
 September 21, 1868, the National Labor Congress con- 
 vened in New York City. The address of the president was
 
 138 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 largely occupied with the question of women's labor. He 
 warned the members not to lose their identity in political 
 organizations. Mrs. E. C. Stanton was admitted as a mem- 
 ber after a long discussion. The convention seemed to be 
 divided on the question of political action and on the question 
 of currency. W. H. Sylvis, of the Iron Moulders" Union, 
 was chosen chairman. It was voted that the next National 
 Congress should be held at Pittsburgh, Penn. 
 
 In 1868 the. Workingmen's Benevolent Association, a 
 miners' organization of St. Clair county, asked for a char- 
 ter from the State of Pennsylvania, which was granted, 
 and an extensive eight-hour strike began on the first of 
 July of that year, during which considerable violence 
 occurred. A grand mass-meeting of all the miners and 
 laborers in Schuylkill county was called in Mahoning 
 city. It is estimated that from twelve thousand to twenty 
 thousand persons were present. They were addressed by 
 many of their fellow-workmen, and all counseled modera- 
 tion and good order. The miners in Schulykill county had 
 not at that time organized a union, and a charter was granted 
 on the application of John Siney and others, for the Working- 
 men's Benevolent Association of Schuylkill county, giving 
 them authority to organize sub-districts in that county, and 
 giving the trustees of such sub-districts power to sue in the 
 corporate name. The movement for the eight-hour system 
 was abandoned, and work was resumed in September. 
 
 A very strong effort was then made by operators to break 
 up the unions, and a long strike ensued. Men who had used 
 every means in their power to prevent violence and preserve 
 the public peace were stigmatized by the coal operators as 
 demagogues. The difficulties resulted in great suffering 
 among the men, and the failure of some of the wealthy coal 
 operators, which finally gave President Gowen control of 
 Schuylkill county. 
 
 In November, 1870, the Delaware & Hudson Canal Co., 
 located in New York City, gave notice to their employees 
 that on and after the first of December miners should be paid 
 eighty-six cents per diamond car, instead of one dollar and
 
 BOSTON EIGHT-HOUR LEAGUE. 139 
 
 thirty-one cents. This proposed reduction of thirty-three per 
 cent. , coming as it did so soon after the abandonment of the 
 eight -hour movement, and the attempt to break up the 
 unions, created great excitement. Orders of like character 
 were issued by the Delaware & Lackawanna, and Western 
 Railroad Companies and the Pennsylvania Coal Company. 
 The men struck, and the utmost demoralization prevailed. 
 
 In the spring of 1869 the Boston Eight-hour League was 
 formed, the Grand Eight-hour League having gone out of 
 existence in that State some time before. The preamble to 
 the constitution of this organization was a terse statement of 
 the argument for, and the results of, the reduction of the 
 hours of labor to eight. It argued that a reduction of hours 
 is an increase of wages ; that this increase is without a cor- 
 responding increase in the cost of production ; that the in- 
 crease of wages without increased cost is a better distribution 
 of wealth ; that a better distribution of wealth in the process 
 of production lessens profits upon labor, and thus makes 
 co-operative labor practicable ; that leisure is the greatest 
 motive power to create wants and desires ; that the wage sys- 
 tem must gradually become extinct through natural causes. 
 
 This society discussed the question as one of political econ- 
 omy solely. It treated the theory that demand and supply 
 governed wages as the false theory as long as capitalists were 
 the masters, and the laborers the slaves of that law. They 
 claimed that wages were governed by the cost at which any 
 class of laborers were compelled to live ; that with increased 
 wages, that is, increased purchasing, power of a day's labor, 
 the condition of the laborers must be improved, all effort being 
 toward making them better consumers ; they claimed that it 
 was Sabbaths, free schools, the elective franchise, frequent 
 elections, etc., that made the New Englander higher priced 
 than the Chinaman, and that leisure must be given as an 
 incentive in the same direction. The society had weekly 
 meetings for the discussion of purely labor questions and held 
 annual conventions. The proceedings of these conventions 
 were given great publicity, and the resolutions adopted by 
 them were widely quoted and translated into many languages.
 
 140 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 They were pronounced in their opposition to the discussion 
 of finance reform and other subjects, in the name of labor 
 reform, as will be seen by the following resolutions adopted 
 at one of the annual conventions : 
 
 Resolved, That the Boston Eight-hour League records its most emphatic 
 protest against the discussion or the consideration of financial theories, in the 
 name of Labor Reform. 
 
 That financial reform, so called, is interesting and important, chiefly to that 
 small per cent, of our fellow citizens who belong to the capitalist classes ; who 
 regard themselves as a permanent class in society, and believe that upon their 
 financial successes must depend all who work with their hands. Who read 
 Labor's advantages in the light of their own, but none of their own interests 
 with the eyes of Labor : who make no distinction between capitalists and 
 capital, between the curse of a class, known only for its wealth and the bless- 
 ings of wealth itself; and are able through their wealth to fix public attention 
 upon questions of taxation, railroad and banking management, currency and 
 interest, protection and free-trade, franking, mileage, salary, civil service, and 
 economical humbugs, the settlement of which the best way, still leaves the 
 laborer a laborer, and the capitalist a capitalist, between whom there is an 
 irrepressible conflict which must continue until all are laborers and all are 
 capitalists. 
 
 Resolved, That it always was, and always will be, too late to secure to the 
 wage-worker any appreciable amount, or any considerable advantage in the 
 management of wealth that has once been distributed! 
 
 That his attention must be turned to the earnings or productions of the 
 future, and not to those of the past; to wealth in the process of its creation : 
 
 That as long as the wage system prevails, the production and the distribu- 
 tion of wealth must proceed together; and any re-distribution of wealth, 
 through a supplementary financial system, can never occur. 
 
 That a better labor system, or the present one improved, must precede a 
 better distribution of wealth. 
 
 That labor produces everything, and must learn to keep everything, if it 
 would have everything. That all that labor ever had since the world began 
 to divide its work, and all it can ever have until it reaches the higher level of 
 co-operation, is through the wage system: and through higher wages only 
 can the masses ever secure a more equal distribution of wealth, by which the 
 claim of the League is reached, that it assembles in the name of labor, to 
 consider questions of labor, and not financial theories under the banner of 
 labor reform. 
 
 And the so-called " Labor Reform " conventions that assemble and discuss 
 almost everything else but labor, and confuse and disgust those who stop to 
 listen, by the impracticable nature of their claim; that furnish a theatre or 
 a platform for a crowd of adventurers who are without a purpose, and without 
 a constituency among those who labor or those who think; that minister to 
 the most superficial and sensational thought or feeling of the movement; that 
 flippantly denounce as narrow and unimportant, or worse, the uprising of 
 labor everywhere for less hours ; that present no theory even of the labor
 
 INTERNATIONAL WORKINGMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 
 
 and poverty problem, and no measures that could be enacted or repealed with 
 profit to labor, may be regarded as not important to the laborers' movement; 
 and our interest in them begins and ends with the wish, that as often as they 
 call the public to discuss financial theories, they will call in the name of capi- 
 tal and not in the precious name of labor. 
 
 Resolved, That with unfaltering confidence we shall be triumphantly sus- 
 tained in our great claim that less hours for labor is the first step in labor 
 reform. 
 
 That less hours mean higher wages, less poverty, a more equal distribution 
 of wealth, more wealth-producing machinery, and wealth far more rapidly 
 produced. 
 
 That the vices and crimes and follies of mankind are largely the result of 
 their poverty and of their ignorance, which their poverty increases. 
 
 That a monopoly of education, a monopoly of political rights, and a monop- 
 oly of wealth in the hands of a few, are the great dangers that now most 
 threaten our Republic. 
 
 We therefore call once again, as we have and shall continue to call, for the 
 concentration of the whole power and forces of the labor movement upon the 
 single and simple issue of the legislation necessary to secure the eight-hour 
 system first, for all labor employed at the public expense, whether by contract 
 or by the day. 
 
 Resolved, That the congratulations of labor men everywhere may be ex- 
 changed upon the fact that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has at last 
 decided to legislate on the hours of labor. 
 
 In the winter of 1869 the Knights of Labor was organized 
 in Philadelphia as described in the chapter devoted to that 
 order. 
 
 In 1870 and 1871 the International Workingmen's Associa- 
 tion, which was formed in 1863, and which had held inter- 
 national congresses at Geneva, Bruxelles, Basle and London, 
 commenced to form branches in the United States. This 
 was an attempt to combine the disconnected movements 
 of the several countries for the emancipation of the work- 
 ing classes. It declared that all previous efforts had failed 
 from the want of solidarity between the manifold divisions 
 of labor in each country, and from the absence of a fra- 
 ternal bond of union between the working classes of each 
 country ; that the emancipation of labor was a social prob- 
 lem embracing all countries and depending for its solution 
 on the concurrence, practical and theoretical, of the most 
 advanced countries. It declared that all societies and 
 individuals adhering to it would acknowledge truth, jus- 
 tice and morality as the basis of our conduct toward each
 
 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 other and towards all men, without regard to creed, color or 
 nationality ; that it acknowledged no rights without duties, 
 no duties without rights. It provided for annual congresses 
 and for a general council. In addition to the general council 
 there were federal councils or committees, local societies, 
 branches and groups. No branch or group was allowed to 
 designate themselves by sectarian names, such as Posi- 
 tivists, Mutualists, Collectivists, Communists, etc. They 
 established a system of general statistics of labor. This 
 organization had but a short existence in this country. 
 Some of its members were among the ablest and most earn- 
 est of the labor advocates. 
 
 The year 1872 was one in which the agitation of labor 
 question was most active. The "Report of the Massachu- 
 setts Labor Bureau of Statistics of 1873," in speaking of that 
 period, says : 
 
 Hardly a week has passed in which some trade has not either struck or been 
 struck against, and yet definite knowledge of details cannot be obtained. No 
 strike on a large scale occurred in Massachusetts, though in the spring and 
 summer the building trades reorganized their unions, held meetings, and 
 seemed on the verge of striking for the eight-hour system. The agitation 
 of this subject gave new life to the unions, and woke the enthusiasm of the 
 men ; the common expression of the meetings being to persevere until they 
 gained the boon of added leisure and better opportunity. The speeches are 
 singularly free from extravagant statements, many of the speakers defending 
 their claims by able arguments. A spirit of universal brotherhood was 
 evinced and men of all nationalities participated in the discussions. Every 
 night in the week societies of workingmen 'held meetings and discussed their 
 grievances, some with open, and some with closed, doors. Organizations for 
 mutual benefit and for the building and ownership of houses and homesteads 
 had been formed. Unions exist where least expected, some of them having 
 well-furnished and alluring halls under their own control, never seeking pub- 
 licity, and some even concealing their membership. In many trades there are 
 union men who keep up a form of organization, meeting monthly or at the 
 call of the officers, often without a quorum, the remaining members seldom 
 paying dues or fines. They are simply rallying points around which the 
 workmen gather in times of danger, such as the contemplated reduction of 
 wages, or in periods of prosperity, to create a scarcity in the labor market and 
 thereby increase wages. 
 
 It was in the summer of 1872 that the great strike occurred 
 in the city of New York, in which nearly one hundred thou- 
 sand men were engaged, as the result of which the following
 
 STRIKE OF THE BUILDING TRADES. 143 
 
 trades secured the eight-hour day : bricklayers, carpenters, 
 plasterers, painters, plumbers, brown and bluestone-cutters, 
 stone masons, masons' laborers, paper-hangers (when work- 
 ing by the day), and plate printers. 
 
 In March, 1872, a vast body of workingmen of New York 
 City, mostly of the building trades, struck for the eight-hour 
 system. The strike was conducted with the utmost order, 
 and on June loth a procession paraded the streets, with 
 bands of music, flags and banners of many descriptions. 
 
 On June ipth the employers, four hundred in number, held 
 a conference to secure concerted action for the maintenance 
 of the ten-hour system. Mr. Andrew J. Campbell was elected 
 president, and in his address, said : 
 
 The present convulsion in the industrial interests of the city demands deci- 
 sive action. About seven thousand men are walking the streets of New York 
 in behalf of a principle, destructive to the business interests of the entire com- 
 munity. The country is not in such a state of business prosperity as will 
 warrant a concession to the demand for eight hours. It may be in the course 
 of a few years that it will be expedient to grant those terms, but at present it 
 would be ruinous. 
 
 The New York Tribune of June 24th thus refers to the 
 strike editorially : 
 
 The great strike still pending in New York City has been, in its various 
 aspects, the most remarkable we have ever had in America. The length of 
 time over which it has extended (nearly three months), the numbers of men 
 and varieties of trades engaged in it, and its disastrous effects on the welfare 
 of the workingmen and the trades, have been unparalleled. Not one trade, 
 but scores, have engaged in it. All the trades have been convulsed, and alto- 
 gether three-fourths of all the journeymen in the city have been on strike 
 for more time. Of the three-fourths who have struck, more than one-half 
 have gained their point; but over eleven thousand are still unsuccessful and 
 without present clear prospect of success. 
 
 On the 22d of May, 1872, Horace Greeley wrote as fol- 
 lows : " The dissatisfaction has extended into all the leading 
 mechanical trades, and in almost every instance the employ- 
 ers have acceded to the demands of their men." 
 
 At the Convention of the Boston Eight-hour League, in 
 1872, Mr. Ira Steward, Chairman of the Committee on Reso- 
 lutions, presented the following resolutions, which we give
 
 144 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 space to here, because they form one of the most condensed 
 statements of the question ever presented to the public : 
 
 Resolved, That poverty is the great fact with which the labor movement 
 deals ; 
 
 That co-operation in labor is the final result to be obtained ; 
 
 That a reduction in the hours of labor is the first step in labor reform ; and 
 that the emancipation of labor from the slavery and ignorance of poverty 
 solves all of the problems that now most disturb and perplex mankind. 
 
 Resolved, That we demand legislation on the hours of labor as follows : 
 
 1. An amendment to the Patent Laws of the United States, by which an 
 exclusive right to make or sell shall be forfeited when persons are employed 
 in manufacturing an article patented, more than eight hours a day. 
 
 2. An amendment to the Acts of Incorporation of cities and towns, requir- 
 ing them to adopt the eight-hour rule in the employment of all mechanics 
 and day laborers, and the same hours to apply to the same class at work for 
 the State, whether directly or indirectly, through persons, firms or corpora- 
 tions contracting with the State. 
 
 v 3. Manufacturing corporations to adopt the eight-hour system or surrender 
 their charters. 
 
 4. All persons under twenty-one years of age to be employed not more than 
 eight hours a day. . 
 
 5. Eight hours to be made a legal day's work in the absence of a written 
 agreement. 
 
 Resolved, That this legislation, though affecting directly but a small per 
 cent, of the people, will establish the facts most important for the working 
 classes to learn : 
 
 That eight hours do not mean less wages; 
 
 That men are never paid as a rule according to what they earn, but accord- 
 ing to the average cost of living; 
 
 That in the long run within certain limits less hours means more pay, 
 whether they work by the day or work by the piece ; 
 
 That reducing the hours increases the purchasing power of wages as well as 
 the amount of wealth produced; 
 
 That dear men mean cheap productions, and cheap men mean dear pro- 
 ductions ; 
 
 That six cents a day in China is dearest, and three dollars a day in America 
 is cheapest; 
 
 That the moral causes that have made three dollars a day cheaper than 
 six cents a day, will make higher wages still cheaper; 
 
 That less hours mean reducing the profits and fortunes that are made on 
 labor or its results ; 
 
 More knowledge and more capital for the laborer : The wage system gradu- 
 ally disappearing through higher wages ; 
 
 Less poor people to borrow money, and less wealthy ones to lend it, and a 
 natural decline in the rates of interest on money ; 
 
 More idlers working, and more workers thinking; the motives to fraud 
 reduced, and fewer calls for special legislation ;
 
 LORDS OF THE LOOM AND LASH. 145 
 
 Woman's wages increased, her household labor reduced, better opportuni- 
 ties for thought and action, and the creation of motives strong enough to 
 demand and secure the ballot; 
 
 Reaching the great causes of intemperance extreme wealth and extreme 
 poverty ; 
 
 And the salvation of republican institutions. 
 
 Resolved, That whether National Banks are abolished or bonds are taxed, 
 or whether taxes or tariffs are high or low, or whether greenbacks or gold, or 
 any system of finance proposed is adopted, or civil service, or one term for 
 President shall prevail, are not laborers' questions, because they have no appre- 
 ciable relation to the -wage system through which the wage classes secure all 
 that they can ever obtain of the world's wealth, until they become sufficiently 
 wealthy and intelligent to co-operate in its production ; and whether the 
 masses have anything to choose between President Grant and Horace Greeley, 
 turns entirely on the question which one of the two will be most likely to 
 secure the legislation we demand, as well as the enforcement, upon all gov- 
 ernment works, of the law already enacted. 
 
 Resolved, That the factory system of Massachusetts that employs tens of 
 thousands of women and children eleven and twelve hours a day; that owns 
 or controls in its own selfish interest the pulpit and the press ; that prevents 
 the operative classes from making themselves felt in behalf of less hours, 
 through a remorseless exercise of the power of discharge ; that is rearing a 
 population of children and youth whose sickly appearance and scanty or 
 utterly neglected schooling, means a class dangerous to the peace and good 
 order of the State, is proving, year by year, that " the lords of the loom and 
 the lords of the lash" were natural allies in the conflict between Freedom and 
 Slavery; and that those who voted against ten hours legislation in the Mas- 
 sachusetts Legislature would have voted for slavery at the behest of their 
 masters, the cotton lords, as they have voted that this barbarism shall con- 
 tinue to the scandal and shame of the Commonwealth. 
 
 Resolved, That the recent onslaught made in the Massachusetts Legisla- 
 ture upon the Bureau of Statistics of Labor, at the command of the banking 
 capital of the State, under the generalship of the Boston Advertiser, means 
 stifling investigation concerning the poverty of the working-classes, and 
 argues the efficiency and fidelity with which the Bureau has conducted its 
 investigations. 
 
 Resolved, That our greetings and plaudits go out to the Nine-hour Engi- 
 neers of England, as well as to the workingmen on the Continent, whose 
 strikes for less hours have helped on to victory this simultaneous uprising of 
 labor everywhere ; and to the Trades-Unionists of New York, who represent 
 the manhood and conscience, the brains and hope of their class, whose repre- 
 sentatives we have summoned, and now welcome to our platform, we return 
 our most profound and hearty congratulations for their triumphant success, 
 and if they faithfully preserve the precious hours they have wrung from toil, 
 by remorsely branding as traitors to the cause all who accept " overwork " for 
 any consideration whatever, they will find themselves sustained in the com- 
 ing years, and will prove how much this movement has contributed to the 
 grander civilization of the future, while the whole world of Avorkers will be 
 filled with the sound of their praises and the inspiration of their example. 
 
 (10)
 
 iq.6 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 At this time the great strike for the eight-hour system was 
 going on in New York, some recent strikes in that city hav- 
 ing been successful, and delegates from the New York Work- 
 ingmen's Unions were present at this convention, addressing 
 the audience in the evening. One of the speakers said that 
 at that time there were fifty trades-unions in New York City 
 holding weekly meetings. 
 
 During this year, in some places, the manufacturers com- 
 bined, binding themselves in one place in the sum of one 
 thousand dollars each to break up the organizations of the 
 workmen. 
 
 Strikes of the coopers occurred in 1872 and 1873 against 
 the sugar refineries using barrels made in other localities. 
 The men admitted that the sugar refiners had a right to pur- 
 chase barrels where and of whom they chose, but claimed that 
 they had a right to work for whom they chose, and would not 
 work for the refineries that purchased barrels elsewhere. 
 
 It was also during the agitation of 1872 that a new form of 
 labor organization came into existence, called the Christian 
 Labor Union of Boston. The best known members of this 
 organization were Hon. T. Wharton Collens, of New Or- 
 leans, La., a lawyer and ex-judge, and a member of the 
 Catholic Church ; Rev. Jesse H. Jones, of North Abington, 
 Mass., a Congregational clergyman; Henry T. Delano, 
 senior deacon of the First Congregational Church, of 
 Charlestown, Mass., and Edward H. Rogers, of the Warner 
 Street M. E. Church, of Chelsea, Mass. This union was 
 active for several years, and commanded the respect of the 
 labor organizations. It held two conventions and conducted 
 two periodicals, one succeeding the other. It raised and 
 expended about two thousand dollars during its existence in 
 the promulgation of its principles. It was brought to a close 
 by the death of its principal patron, Judge Collens, in 1878. 
 Its preamble set forth its object to be to obey Christ's com- 
 mand, "follow me," and to secure obedience to it in the con- 
 duct of every form of human labor. It adopted the Bible 
 principle of the Hebrew Church, in its relation to land, labor 
 and capital. Its objects were to lift men out of their poverty
 
 EXTREME SUFFERING OF 1873-4. X 47 
 
 by moral and religious influences, and reform measures. It 
 presented the following questions for prayerful considera- 
 tion : 
 
 1st. Do not the teachings, example and spirit of Jesus require of his 
 churches to day, that there should be mutual care in sickness, and such sys- 
 tematic provision for the help of those who have need, that the degrading 
 sense of pauperism which now too often embitters their hard lot may be 
 removed ? 
 
 ad. Do they not now require the church to establish labor partnerships 
 and other industrial co-operative organizations, as a part of its Christian 
 duty to its members ? 
 
 3d. Do they not also now require that the principle of labor service of each 
 other as exemplified by the Master, in washing the feet of his disciples, should 
 constitute the Law of Industry and Exchange, and inasmuch as this requires 
 concert of action, is it not the duty of the church to sustain those who aban- 
 don the present maxims of trade, and endeavor to act upon the principle 
 which is inspired by Philosophy and Religion, that Cost is the just limit of 
 Price? 
 
 The winter of 1873-4 was one of extreme suffering, espe- 
 cially in the large cities. Midwinter found tens of thou- 
 sands of people on the verge of starvation, suffering for food, 
 for the need of proper clothing, and for medical attendance. 
 Meetings of the unemployed were held in many places, and 
 public attention called to the needs of the poor. Many of 
 the charitable societies, as well as private individuals, did all 
 it was possible for them to do to relieve the distress. The 
 men asked for work and found it not, and children cried for 
 bread. 
 
 On the announcement of public meetings of the unemployed, 
 the conscience-pricked communities took alarm and feared 
 that the bringing together of so many heretofore patient suf- 
 ferers might imperil their lives and property. From the ear- 
 liest days of the agitation of the question of the relations of 
 labor and capital, free speech had been often restrained, and 
 sometimes forbidden. This had been especially true in those 
 smaller towns and manufacturing centres where the owner of 
 the principal industry was practically the owner of the com- 
 munity of the halls, churches, school-rooms and the press, 
 but up to this time no great outrage upon the freedom of 
 speech had attracted public attention.
 
 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 The unemployed and suffering poor of New York City 
 determined to hold a meeting and appeal to the public by 
 bringing to their attention the spectacle of their poverty. 
 They gained permission from the Board of Police to parade 
 the streets and hold a meeting in Tompkins Square, on the 
 I3th of January, 1874, but on the I2th of January the Board 
 of Police and Board of Parks revoked the order and pro- 
 hibited the meeting. It was impossible to notify the scattered 
 army of this order, and at the time of the meeting the people 
 marched through the gates of Tompkins Square. No officer 
 of the government and no method excepting the public press 
 had been utilized to inform the people of the determination of 
 the city authorities. When the square was completely filled 
 with men, women and children, without a moment's warning, 
 the police closed in upon them on all sides. 
 
 One of the daily papers of the city confessed that the scene 
 could not be described. People rushed from the gates and 
 through the streets, followed by the mounted officers at full 
 speed, charging upon them without provocation. Screams 
 of women and children rent the air, and the blood of many 
 stained the streets, and to the further shame of this outrage 
 it is to be added that when the General Assembly of New 
 York State was called to this matter, they took testimony, but 
 made no sign. 
 
 John Swinton, a man whose unswerving fealty to the cause 
 of the poor has challenged the admiration of even his enemies, 
 in his appeal to the Legislature, addressed to the Committee 
 on Grievances, well said : 
 
 Never has the Committee on Grievances been asked to investigate any 
 grievance more cruel, flagrant or lamentable, more repugnant to human 
 nature, more insulting to human misery, more deeply taken to heart by those 
 who suffered from it or who sympathise with the sufferers, more subversive 
 of the living principles of our political system, more pervasive and porten- 
 tous in its influence, or bearing upon a larger number of your fellow-citizens, 
 than the grievance about which you have consented to give us a hearing. We 
 have come to ask you to investigate the facts to make inquiry, take evidence 
 and receive affidavits to adjudge whether the municipal authorities of New 
 York, who exist through your legislation and permission, perpetrated an ap- 
 palling wrong, grossly violated popular rights, shamefully outraged helpless 
 Suffering, disregarded the ordinary amenities of civilized society, disturbed
 
 THE TOMPKINS SQUARE OUTRAGE. 149 
 
 public order and assassinated constitutional liberty. These are formidable 
 words, jet they but feebly represent the things for which they stand, and 
 which have now brought us here. 
 
 He then described the suffering of the terrible winter which 
 led to the convening of the meeting, and described in detail 
 the scenes there, and ended as follows : 
 
 We ask, in brief, then, gentlemen of the Committee on Grievances, that 
 you make such report to the Legislature as will immediately secure a thor- 
 ough investigation of this whole matter, to be made in the city of New York, 
 where the witnesses are at hand. 
 
 We further ask that the Police Board which perpetrated these cruel, flagrant 
 and horrible outrages against the unemployed and suffering workingmen of 
 New York, be abolished, and that instead thereof a new Board be created, to 
 be elected by popular suffrage, according to the orthodox political system of 
 our Government. 
 
 These are my two propositions, dealing not with party politics, but with 
 popular rights, which cannot be subverted without the subversion of the fun- 
 damental basis of American liberty. I pray you so to deal with the matter 
 and I stand here, not as a hired agent or attorney of anybody or any cause, 
 but merely as one whose heart has been touched by the wrongs of those who 
 have had but few to speak for them, and who, on that account, has been asked 
 to become one of their spokesmen I pray you so to deal with it that you 
 may vindicate for all time those great constitutional principles which lie at 
 the foundation of our Republic, and by which alone the public welfare can be 
 maintained. 
 
 I close with the prophetic warnfng of Longfellow, which, let us hope, may 
 never hereafter be applicable to any wronged or victimized class in our coun- 
 try:- 
 
 " There is a poor blind Samson in our land, 
 Shorn of his strength and bound with bonds of steel, 
 Who may in some grim revel raise his hand, 
 And shake the pillars of the commonweal." 
 
 Gentlemen, we have done. 
 
 One of the most important of the many industrial congresses 
 was held at Rochester, N. Y., commencing April 14, 1874, 
 Robert Schilling, of the Coopers' Union, acting as president. 
 Among the trades' organizations represented were machin- 
 ists and blacksmiths, binders, coopers, shoemakers, tailors, 
 cigarmakers, miners, quarrymen, iron moulders, printers, 
 tobacco laborers, iron and steel roll makers ; and of other 
 organizations there were present the Industrial Council, 
 Labor Council, the Workingmen's Central Council of New 
 York, Trades Assemblies, Industrial Brotherhood, the Grand
 
 150 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 Division of the Conductors' Brotherhood, Sovereigns of In- 
 dustry, and Daughters of St. Crispin-. 
 
 President Schilling, in his address, called upon the Con- 
 gress to devise means by which the public could be informed 
 as to the real objects and purposes of its assembling. He 
 said: "It is a well-known fact that many oppose us in our 
 efforts, merely because they do not understand or comprehend 
 the principles which we advocate." The public press at that 
 time practically ignored the movement. Mr. Schilling sent 
 circulars to over three hundred daily and weekly papers in 
 every State and Territory, and only one newspaper outside of 
 the labor press took any notice of it, while at the same time 
 great publicity was given to a letter written by a deposed 
 officer of one of the most powerful labor organizations, with 
 a view of disrupting that order. He especially commended 
 the Workingmen 's Advocate, of Chicago ; the Independent 
 Workingman, of Nashville; the Iron Workers' Journal, 
 the Machinists' and Blacksmiths' Journal, and the Coopers' 
 New Monthly. He strongly favored political action ; he 
 said : "To this end it is not necessary that we should form 
 ourselves into a new party or attach ourselves to any party 
 now existing, or that may hereafter be formed, but merely 
 that we vote for men of honesty and ability, and against cor- 
 ruptionists and monopolists." He desired to see some form 
 of organization similar in its objects and purposes to the 
 Patrons of Husbandry, so that they would be able to co-oper- 
 ate with farmers and all other classes of producers. Letters 
 were received from the president of the Mechanics' State 
 Council of California, and from the Executive Board of the 
 Connecticut Labor Union. 
 
 Among the resolutions adopted was one which says : " We 
 are opposed to strikes on principle, and advocate the settle- 
 ment of all grievances by arbitration. This would be the means 
 of creating a better feeling beween employers and employees, 
 and would be a guarantee against advantage being taken on 
 either side during business prosperity or adversity." A very 
 large part of the time of the convention was taken up in con- 
 sidering the question of organization and constitution, some
 
 THE ROCHESTER CONGRESS. 
 
 of the delegates desiring to create an order similar to the 
 Industrial Brotherhood, while others favored the Sovereigns 
 of Industry plan. The leaders of these two great organiza- 
 tions were present, and the Committee on Constitution was 
 made up of the author of this history as chairman ; John Fer- 
 renbatch, of Ohio, then president of the Machinists' and 
 Blacksmiths' Union ; George Blair, of New York ; M. H. 
 Smith, of Vermont; T. Dwyer, of Michigan; W. H. Earle, 
 of Massachusetts, the representative of the Sovereigns of 
 Industry ; and E. Warner, of Missouri, who represented the 
 Industrial Brotherhood. 
 
 The Workingmen 's Advocate in reviewing the work of 
 this Congress, said : 
 
 For nine successive years we have had the honor and pleasure of attending 
 the deliberations of these national assemblages, and it has never been our privi- 
 lege during that time to meet a more intelligent, truth-seeking, persistent and 
 enthusiastic body of men than were present at the Rochester Congress. The 
 all-pervading, all-engrossing idea manifested was the necessity of devising, 
 perfecting and adopting a plan of organization, which will secure the co-oper- 
 ation of the industrial classes under one banner, irrespective of trades and 
 callings, and this idea happily overshadowed all other considerations. Al- 
 though no definite line of policy has as yet been adopted, the committee to 
 whom the duty of drafting a constitution has been entrusted are gentlemen 
 who bring to the discharge of their duties a ripe experience and comprehensive 
 judgment. The platform adopted is certainly an admirable document, setting 
 forth in clear and terse terms the principles upon which the organization is 
 founded. 
 
 Executive officers were appointed for Massachusetts, New 
 York, Indiana, West Virginia, Ohio, Minnesota, Virginia, 
 New Jersey, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Wisconsin, 
 Connecticut, Tennessee and Vermont. 
 
 The platform containing their declaration of principles, 
 adopted in 1874, rea d as follows: 
 
 WHEREAS, The recent alarming development and aggression of aggregated 
 wealth, which, unless checked, will inevitably lead to the pauperization and 
 hopeless degradation of the toiling masses, renders it imperative, if we desire 
 to enjoy the blessings cf the government bequeathed us by the founders of 
 the Republic, that a check should be placed upon its power and unjust accu- 
 mulation, and a system adopted which will secure to the laborer the fruits of 
 his toil ; and 
 
 WHEREAS, This much desired object can only be accomplished by the
 
 152 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 thorough unification of labor, and the united efforts of those who obey the 
 Divine injunction that "In the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat thy bread ;" and 
 
 WHEREAS, The great desideratum of the hour is the organization and direc- 
 tion, by co-operative efforts, of the power of the producing masses for their 
 substantial elevation, yet we recognize in the ballot-box the great agency 
 through which our wrongs can be redressed ; and 
 
 WHEREAS, While we fully recognize the power and efficacy of trade and 
 labor unions, as now organized, in regulating purely trade matters, yet upon 
 all questions appertaining to the welfare of the masses as a whole, the influ- 
 ence of these organizations, without closer union, must prove comparatively 
 futile; therefore 
 
 Resolved, That we submit to the people of the United States the objects 
 sought to be accomplished by the Industrial Congress : 
 
 ist. To bring within the folds of the organization every department of pro* 
 ductive industry, making knowledge a standpoint for action, and industrial, 
 moral, and social worth not wealth the true standard of individual and 
 national greatness. 
 
 2d. To secure to the toilers a just share of the wealth they create; more of 
 the leisure that rightfully belongs to them ; more society advantages ; more 
 of the benefits, privileges, and emoluments of the world; in a word, all 
 those rights and privileges necessary to make them capable of enjoying, ap- 
 preciating, defending, and perpetuating the blessings of our Republican 
 government. 
 
 3d. To arrive at the true condition of the producing masses in their educa- 
 tional, moral and financial condition, we demand from the several States and 
 from the National Government the establishment of Bureaus of Labor Sta- 
 tistics. 
 
 4th. The establishment of co-operative institutions, productive and dis- 
 tributive. 
 
 5th. The reserving of the public lands, the heritage of the people, for the 
 actual settler; not another acre for railroads or speculators. 
 
 6th. The abrogation of all laws that do not bear equally upon capital and 
 labor, the removal of unjust technicalities, delays and discriminations in the 
 administration of justice, and the adoption of measures providing for the 
 health and safety of those engaged in mining, manufacturing and building 
 pursuits. 
 
 7th. The enactment of a law to compel chartered corporations to pay their 
 employees at least once in every month, in full, for labor performed during the 
 preceding month, in the lawful money of the country. 
 
 8th. The enactment of a law giving mechanics and laborers first lien on 
 their work; and also preventing stays of execution in case of labor lien judg- 
 ments. 
 
 9th. The abolishment of the contract system on national, State, and mu- 
 nicipal work. 
 
 zoth. To inaugurate a system of public markets to facilitate the exchange 
 of products of farmers and mechanics, tending to do away with middle-men 
 and speculators. 
 
 nth. To inaugurate a system of cheap transportation, to facilitate the ex- 
 change of commodities.
 
 FOUR YEARS OF LOW WAGES. 153 
 
 i2th. The substitution of arbitration for strikes, whenever and wherever 
 employers and employees are willing to meet on equitable grounds. 
 
 i3th. The prohibition of the importation of all servile races, and the dis- 
 continuance of all subsidies granted to national vessels bringing them to our 
 shores. 
 
 i4th. To advance the standard of American mechanics, by the enactment 
 and enforcement of equitable apprentice-laws. 
 
 I5th. To abolish the system of letting by contract the labor of convicts in 
 our prisons and reformatory institutions. 
 
 i6th. To secure for both sexes equal pay for equal work. 
 
 1 7th. The reduction of the hours of labor to eight per day, so that the 
 laborers may have more time for social enjoyment and intellectual improve- 
 ment, and be enabled to reap the advantages conferred by labor-saving ma- 
 chinery, which their brains have created. 
 
 iSth. The establishing by Government of a just standard of distribution to 
 labor and capital, by providing a purely national circulating medium, based 
 on the faith and resources of the nation, issued directly to the people, without 
 the intervention of any system of banking corporations, which money shall 
 be a legal tender in the payment of all debts, public and private, and interchange- 
 able at the option of the holder for registered Government bonds, bearing a 
 rate of interest not to exceed three and sixty-five one-hundredths per cent., 
 subject to future legislation by Congress. 
 
 From 1873 to 1876 many strikes occurred in the cotton and 
 woollen factories of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Con- 
 necticut. In many of these places the men had no organiza- 
 tions, but after striking they proceeded to form themselves into 
 unions, which at the end of the strikes were generally dissolved 
 until reorganized into Assemblies of the Knights of Labor. 
 
 The industries were becoming somewhat relieved from the 
 industrial depression of 1873. The working people had suf- 
 fered four years of low wages and all its consequent evils ; 
 millions of men had been unable to obtain employment, and 
 tens of thousands of families were suffering for the necessities 
 of life. Great strikes occurred in all parts of the Union, 
 especially in the States of Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, 
 Missouri, Maryland, Ohio, and New York. In one of the 
 strikes of the coal miners at this time thirty thousand persons 
 were involved, men, women, and children. The miners 
 were reduced almost to starvation, and dwelt in communities 
 in camps, subsisting on coarse food provided from the com- 
 mon fund. In Susquehanna, Penn., twelve hundred machin- 
 ists employed on the Erie Railroad paraded, carrying the
 
 154 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 American flag. The militia guarded the railroad property. 
 The men claimed that the superintendent created the strike. 
 They also claimed that they had not been paid for months. 
 Ten thousand cigarmakers were on strike in New York City. 
 
 In the strikes that occurred at this period a great deal of 
 bitterness was evinced against trades-union organizations, and 
 men were blacklisted to an extent hardly ever equaled. In 
 many instances when men struck against a reduction or for 
 an increase, or were locked out, employers in the same trade 
 were notified of difficulties and requested not to employ any 
 workmen from their vicinity. The difficulty in the settlement 
 of the disputes was not so much the objection of the employers 
 to pay the prices asked, as a false sense of dignity and a re- 
 fusal to recognize labor organizations. Labor troubles occured 
 in Washington, and the departments were visited by unem- 
 ployed men seeking work. 
 
 The movement in 1874 na ^ reached colossal proportions. 
 At this time the nations of the earth were at peace with each 
 other, while the Labor question threatened to develop into 
 open war. A Boston paper published in May of that year, 
 said : " Great hostile combinations of capitalists and laborers 
 stand facing each other. In the agricultural sections of En- 
 gland the farmers are determined to starve more than four 
 thousand of their fellows, not into working for a certain 
 amount of pay, but into withdrawing from a union into which 
 they entered for the maintenance of their common interests." 
 
 A Labor Reform Convention was held at Worcester in 1875, 
 at which resolutions were adopted with reference to the hours 
 of labor, and many other matters concerning the Labor ques- 
 tion. 
 
 In 1877 the Workingmen's Party of the United States held 
 a State Convention in Boston, October ist. It proposed, among 
 other things, to adopt measures to protect the people from the 
 extortions of monopolists and speculators, and nominated Wen- 
 dell Phillips for Governor. 
 
 The great railroad strikes of 1877 began on the Baltimore & 
 Ohio Railroad in consequence of a reduction of ten per cent, 
 in the wages of the employees. The reduction was to go
 
 GREAT RAILROAD STRIKES OF 1877. 155 
 
 into effect on Monday, July i6th. A circular containing this 
 announcement created almost a panic among the workmen. 
 Meetings of employees were held at different points along the 
 road, and a plan of action was agreed upon. A committee 
 was appointed to confer with the officers of the company. 
 The vice-president was appealed to, but declined to hear their 
 complaints. Efforts were then made to have the order re- 
 scinded. Many men expressed themselves in favor of strik- 
 ing, but it does not appear that up to the morning of the i6th 
 any movement had been agreed upon. That day found the 
 men all at work as usual. The officers had partly anticipated 
 a strike, but as the day wore and dispatches were received 
 from the different stations on their fourteen hundred miles of 
 railway, they began to be satisfied that the hard times would 
 deter the men from entering upon a strike. At four o'clock 
 on the afternoon of that day about forty-five of the firemen 
 at Camden Junction quit their engines and persuaded twenty 
 or thirty brakemen to join them in deserting the trains. An- 
 other force of firemen and brakemen were engaged to take 
 out the waiting trains. The announcement was then received 
 that the railroad men at Cumberland, Martinsburg and other 
 places were discontented and insubordinate, and that the 
 canal boatmen had quit work and abandoned their boats. 
 At six o'clock of the same day the box-makers, sawyers and 
 can-makers engaged in the shops at Baltimore struck for an 
 advance of ten per cent, in their wages. The strike of these 
 workmen naturally affected the railroad men. Late in the 
 evening the general strike was set on foot in Martinsburg, 
 and all trains were side-tracked while brakemen and firemen 
 who manifested an intention to continue at their posts were 
 forced to leave their engines and trains. At Cumberland the 
 situation was the same. At Geyser and Grafton the train 
 men had obtained complete possession and no freight trains 
 were moved. Vice-president King telegraphed to Governor 
 Matthews of West Virginia to furnish troops to protect the 
 interests of the company, and the Governor telegraphed to 
 Captain Faulkner to afford the officers of the road all the aid 
 and protection necessary.
 
 156 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 At two o'clock on the i7th a freight train was thrown from 
 the track at South Baltimore, and the engineer and firemen 
 were both injured. At an early hour on the morning of the 
 1 7th Captain Faulkner arrived at Martinsburg in command 
 of seventy-five men and deployed them to guard a western- 
 bound freight train, but before the train had reached the 
 switch one of the strikers seized the switch-ball for the pur- 
 pose of side-tracking the train. One of the guards attempted 
 to replace the switch, in order to allow the train to proceed, 
 when the striker drew a pistol and fired two shots at the 
 guard. Upon this a number of shots were fired at the 
 striker, who was shot in the head and arms. The report of 
 firearms attracted a multitude of railroad men and citizens 
 to the spot. The engineer and fireman engaged to run the 
 train fled when the firing commenced. Captain Faulkner 
 then led his men back to the armory. The strikers in pos- 
 session of the road, the cars were uncoupled and link-pins 
 were either hidden or broken. The strikers were greatly 
 assisted by the citizens of the town and the rural population. 
 Railroad men from the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad arrived 
 in considerable numbers. Governor Matthews, with the Mat- 
 thews Guard, left Wheeling for Martinsburg, and had pro- 
 ceeded as far as Cumberland when he received intelligence 
 that the strike had reached the capital, when he hastily re- 
 turned. Two military companies at Martinsburg affiliated with 
 the strikers. Governor Matthews, upon his return to Wheel- 
 ing, appealed to President Hayes for assistance. The Presi- 
 dent issued a proclamation and ordered a body of regulars to 
 Martinsburg. 
 
 On the third day the workmen at Baltimore issued a circu- 
 lar containing a statement of the causes which led to the strike. 
 They declared that they had submitted to three reductions of 
 wages in three years ; that they would have acquiesced in a 
 moderate reduction ; that they were frequently sent out on a 
 trip to Martinsburg and there detained at the discretion of the 
 company, for which detention they were allowed pay for but 
 two days ; that they were compelled to pay their board during 
 the time that they were detained, which was more than the
 
 THE MILITARY AND THE STRIKERS. 157 
 
 wages they received, so that they had nothing left with which 
 to support their families ; that many times out on the road 
 they could not get more than fifteen days' work in a month ; 
 that many sober, steady, economical men became involved in 
 debt ; that honest men had their wages attached because they 
 could not meet their expenses, and that by the rules of the 
 company any man whose wages were attached should be dis- 
 charged ; that this was a tyranny to which no rational being 
 should submit ; and that it was utterly impossible for a man 
 with a family to support himself and family. 
 
 At about ten o'clock on the third day an attempt was made 
 to start a freight train from Martinsburg towards Baltimore. 
 The locomotive was fired up while guarded by United States 
 troops. A large number of strikers had assembled. The 
 Sheriff was present with a posse and an engineer named Brad- 
 ford was found willing to take out the train. He got upon 
 the engine, and just as the train was about to move away, his 
 wife mounted the engine and with agonizing cries besought 
 him to leave the position. The engineer heeded the entreaty 
 and departed from the engine, followed by the fireman. An- 
 other engineer was found, but he was prevailed upon to aban- 
 don the undertaking. 
 
 At Baltimore the excitement had become intense. While 
 the troops were marching through the streets, which were 
 practically blockaded with a crowd of people, the men, with- 
 out orders from their commander, fired into the crowd. Many 
 men were seen to drop ; women screamed and fainted in the 
 streets, and children mingled their piercing cries with the 
 general uproar. The crowd shrank back and the militia 
 marched down, but before they had proceeded two squares 
 the crowd was as large as before. When opposite the office 
 of the American newspaper a halt was called and an- 
 other volley was received by the people with mingled cries of 
 agony, threats, and jeers. Paving stones were gathered and 
 hurled into the ranks of the soldiers. The military again 
 took up their march and another fusillade left more dead and 
 dying in the streets. 
 
 On the morning of July ipth the men of the Pennsylvania
 
 158 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 Central Railroad, apparently without previous agreement, re- 
 fused to take out any freight trains from Pittsburgh. Not a 
 freight train left the station that day. The men explained 
 that their action was in consequence of the determination of 
 the company to introduce what was known as " double-head- 
 ers," a system by which the company could dispense with a 
 number of employees and increase the work of the remaining 
 men. The men on this road had already had their wages re- 
 duced ten per cent., commencing June ist. A conference 
 between the representatives of the road at Pittsburgh and the 
 workmen was held, but the road would make no concessions. 
 
 Colonel Thomas A. Scott, the President of the road, was 
 absent from the city during the trouble, but was in constant 
 communication with his representatives and dictated the policy 
 to be pursued by the officers. There is no doubt but that he 
 could have averted the strike and could have ended the con- 
 flict after it was begun. 
 
 On the morning of the 2istthe infantry forces of Alleghany 
 County, Pennsylvania, which had been called out for duty, 
 were re-enforced by two batteries and two bodies of calvary. 
 To these were added the First Division of the National 
 Guards of Pennsylvania which had been called out at Phila- 
 delphia the preceding night. This force was under com- 
 mand of Major-General Brunton. 
 
 These preparations on the part of the government did 
 not seem to deter the strikers or the mob. On the contrary 
 they expressed the greatest contempt for the military array, 
 and freely mingled with the soldiers. At half-past three in 
 the afternoon, Sheriff Fife, accompanied by a posse of fifteen 
 men, and supported by troops under Major-General Brunton, 
 started for the general rendezvous of the strikers and the 
 mob at the Eighth Street crossing. It had been agreed by 
 the civil and military authorities that the sheriff was to at- 
 tempt the arrest of those for whom warrants had been 
 issued, and resistance was expected. The sheriff and his 
 men, followed by the military, marched along the tracks to 
 the depot, greeted with the yells and jeers of the crowd. 
 
 The military proceeded to clear the track, and the sheriff
 
 SOLDIERS BESIEGED. 
 
 to make the arrests. A vast crowd gathered composed of 
 strikers and of citizens in sympathy with the strikers, many 
 of them property holders. The sheriff arrested one man. 
 Accounts differ as to what immediately followed, but it 
 appears that before any act of resistance was made, the offi- 
 cer in command ordered his men to fire upon the crowd. 
 The fire of the soldiers was very destructive ; sixteen persons 
 were instantly killed. The whole people were aroused and 
 almost the entire populace was in the streets. 
 
 A large body raided the gun-shops and ammunition stores, 
 and it is estimated that they seized over two thousand guns, 
 together with pistols, swords and knives, in all about 
 $100,000 worth of arms and ammunition. The Philadelphia 
 militia were besieged in the round-house, and were w r aited 
 upon by a committee of the citizens and requested to leave 
 the city, as their presence only tended to arouse the angry 
 populace. 
 
 On Sunday morning, July 22d, the mob fired the trains in 
 some of the buildings of the company. An attempt was 
 made to storm the round-house in which the soldiers were 
 besieged ; a breach was made in the walls, but the mob was 
 driven back by the fire of the soldiers. They then retired 
 from that vicinity, the soldiers marching out and proceeding 
 some distance before their departure was discovered. The 
 mob pursued, and severe fighting ensued, until the troops 
 had reached Shaftsburg, beyond Alleghany, from which place 
 they marched twelve miles, to Claremount. 
 
 One hundred and twenty-five locomotives and railroad 
 buildings to the value of about a million dollars were 
 destroyed by fire. No private property of any kind except- 
 ing arms and ammunition was interfered with during the 
 whole course of the riot. In the end the strikers were forced 
 to give up the fight. Great excitement prevailed at Chicago, 
 where conflicts occurred between the rioters and the police, 
 the women being among the most demonstrative. 
 
 Dissatisfaction existed on the Missouri Pacific Railroad, at 
 St. Louis, the wages having been reduced to a point which 
 the men declared was insufficient for the support of them-
 
 l6o THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 selves and families. A meeting was held by the railroad em- 
 ployees, and it was determined to call upon Mr. Talmage to 
 demand a restoration of the wages paid before the reduction. 
 Mr. Oliver Garrison, vice-president and general manager of 
 the road, readily assented to the restoration of wages to a sum 
 satisfactory to them. 
 
 At Kansas City, Mo., meetings of the employees were held 
 on the 24th of July, and all quit work at noon, and no freight 
 trains were allowed to depart. All labor was discontinued 
 throughout the city. On the 2pth a consultation was held 
 between the executive committee of the strikers and an arbi- 
 tration committee on the part of the railroad, and the disa- 
 greement was satisfactorily adjusted. 
 
 The terrible events at Pittsburgh called forth from repre- 
 sentatives of capital, the pulpit and the press such expressions 
 of bitterness, such unreasonable opposition to labor organiza- 
 tions and such demands for the strong arm of the law, as to 
 cause many people to reflect upon the causes which produced 
 these results. It is true that the workingmen all over the 
 country were thoroughly aroused with indignation at the terri- 
 ble poverty and condition of their fellows employed in the 
 mines and on the great railroads. This feeling extended 
 from Maine to California, and had a deeper root in the mind 
 of what is termed the conservative American element of the 
 workingmen than the public had any idea of. Secret meet- 
 ings of working were held, and the question discussed in all 
 its bearings. Men were armed, and ready to be armed, in the 
 belief that it might be necessary for self-protection. Atone 
 of the meetings held in Boston an address of the Massa- 
 chusetts labor men to the public was drafted by George E. 
 McNeill, which was adopted and widely circulated. This 
 address acted as a safety valve for the excited feelings of 
 organized labor. 
 
 The firemen and brakemen of the railroads centering in 
 Cleveland, Ohio, coopers, iron workers and other craftsmen 
 went on strike. 
 
 Organizations heretofore unknown made their existence 
 manifest about this period. Among these were the silver
 
 INTERNATIONAL LABOR UNION OF AMERICA. l6l 
 
 gilders, brush-makers, carvers, confectioners, fresco-painters, 
 pastry-cooks, potters,' stationary engineers, and the Interna- 
 tional Labor Union of America. This last, though never 
 exceedingly large in membership, had branches in seventeen 
 States of the Union. Agitation meetings were held under its 
 auspices in the principal cities, and its declaration of princi- 
 ples and methods of work were extensively quoted. As it has 
 sometimes been confounded with the International Organiza- 
 tion of Europe, we give entire its declaration of principles, 
 measures, and methods : 
 
 The safety of society depends upon the equality of rights and opportunities 
 of all its members ; and whenever, from any cause, the freedom of a part of 
 the community is endangered, either in their political or economic rights, it 
 behooves the people to devise methods by which the usurpations of the pow- 
 erful shall be overthrown, and the fullest freedom of the humblest be main- 
 tained. The political rights of a people are not more sacred than their 
 economic rights, and to prevent a class from possessing all the material 
 advantages of a progressive civilization is as much an act of tyranny as to 
 prevent them from exercising their right of self-government. 
 
 The victory over " divine-right" rulership must be supplemented by a vic- 
 tory over property-right rulers ; for there can be no government of the people, 
 by the people, and for the people, where the many are dependent upon the 
 few for an existence. Men will sacrifice their liberties for their lives, and 
 those who control the industries of a people can and do control their votes. 
 
 The wage-workers of the world are forced by their poverty into deadly com- 
 petition with each other. Race is thrown into antagonism with race, and 
 nations of peoples are driven by their necessities to retard the progress of 
 their fellows. In this remorseless warfare upon human welfare, the holiest 
 ties of life are destroyed. The girl of sixteen is made to compete with the 
 woman of thirty; the boy of nineteen against the man of forty. Children- 
 are driven from their home and the school, and men are forced to live in idle- 
 ness upon the paltry earnings of their wives and little ones. 
 
 The achievements of liberty are the epochs of history. Villainage, serfdom 
 and chattel slavery the past systems of labor have forever disappeared. 
 The laborers of the civilized world have gained the right to starve. It now 
 rests with them to secure the right of possession to the products of their 
 labor. 
 
 The liberty of labor is the hope of the world, and that liberty can only be 
 obtained by the solidarity of laborers upon labor measures. We therefore, in 
 the interests of a common brotherhood, declare: 
 
 i st. That the wage-system is a despotism, under which the wage-worker is 
 forced to sell his labor at such price and such conditions as the employer of 
 labor shall dictate. 
 
 2d. That political liberty cannot long continue under economic bondage; 
 for he who is forced to sell his labor or starve, will sell his franchise when 
 the same alternative is presented.
 
 l62 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 3d. That civilization means the diffusion of knowledge and the distribu- 
 tion of wealth ; and the present system of labor tends to extremes of culture 
 and ignorance, affluence and penury. 
 
 5th. That as the wealth of the world is distributed through the wage system, 
 its better distribution must come through higher wages, and better oppor- 
 tunities, until wages shall represent the earnings and not the necessities of 
 labor; thus melting profit upon labor out of existence, and making co-opera- 
 tion, or self-employed labor, the natural and logical step from wage slavery 
 to free labor. 
 
 6th. That all attempts to anticipate co-operation in advance of societary 
 conditions are exotics or mere hot-house growths that are kept alive for a 
 time through the sheer force of character and self-sacrificing leadership at- 
 tempting them, and are as foreign to an atmosphere of cheap labor and a 
 world of wages as the plants of the tropics in a northern clime. 
 
 7th. That the first step, towards the emancipation of labor is a reduction 
 of the hours of labor, that the added leisure produced by a reduction of the 
 hours of labor will operate upon the natural causes that affect the habits and 
 customs of the people, enlarging wants, stimulating ambition, decreasing 
 idleness, and increasing wages. 
 
 We, therefore, believing that the emancipation of labor can only be 
 achieved by the organization of the laborers into a great protective propa- 
 ganda of the principles enunciated in the foregoing declaration of principles, 
 and in response to a demand made upon us by various labor organizations 
 and wage-workers in all parts of the United States, severally agree to form 
 ourselves into a committee, known as the Provisional Central Committee of 
 the International Labor Union, whose objects shall be to secure the following 
 measures: The reduction of the hours of labor; higher wages; factory, 
 mine, and workshop inspection ; abolition of the contract convict labor and 
 trnck system ; employers to be held responsible for accidents by neglected 
 machinery; prohibition of child labor; the establishment of labor bureaus. 
 
 Labor propaganda by means of a labor press, labor lectures, the employ- 
 ment of a general organizer, and the final abolition of the wage system. 
 
 The methods by which we propose to secure these measures are : 
 
 ist. The formation of an Amalgamated Union of laborers so that mem- 
 bers of any calling can combine under a central head, and form a part of the 
 Amalgamated Trades Unions. 
 
 2nd. The establishment of a general fund for benefit and protective pur- 
 poses. 
 
 3d. The organization of all workingmen in their trade unions, and the 
 creation of such unions where none exist. 
 
 4th. The National and International amalgamation of all labor unions. 
 
 In this hour of the dark distress of labor, we call upon all laborers of what- 
 ever nationality, creed or color, skilled and unskilled, trades unionist, and 
 those now out of union, to join hands with us and each other to the end that 
 poverty and all its attendant evils shall be abolished forever, 
 
 The Central Committee was to be composed of one member 
 from each State, and in any State where ten branches were
 
 KNIGHTS OF LABOR APPEAR. 163 
 
 formed they were to elect a member of the committee. No 
 person could be admitted who had acted contrary to the inter- 
 ests of the labor movement or had been excluded from any 
 other labor organization for misconduct, until such satisfaction 
 be given to the injured parties as might be ordered by the Ex- 
 ecutive Council. Workmen who refused to join the organiza- 
 tions of their trade or calling, provided such organizations ex- 
 isted and were recognized as bona fide societies, could not be 
 admitted into membership. Persons who were not wage- 
 workers, but who were in full accord with the letter and the 
 spirit of the organization, and who would agree to be governed 
 by the code of laws, could be admitted by a unanimous vote 
 of a branch meeting and the consent of the Central Com- 
 mittee. This organization had an employment committee 
 for the purpose of procuring employment for its members, 
 and propaganda contingent, out-of-work, travelling, and 
 sick and burial funds. The special organ was the New 
 York Labor Standard, edited by J. P. McDonnell of Pater- 
 son, New Jersey. The headquarters of the order, and of 
 the paper, were afterwards removed to Paterson. The 
 most effective work was accomplished in 1878. It was 
 during the last-named year that the order of the Knights 
 of Labor became known to the public. 
 
 In 1878 the Forty-fifth United States Congress adopted a 
 resolution appointing a committee of seven members of the 
 House to ascertain the causes of the general depression of 
 business, especially of labor, and to devise and propose meas- 
 ures for relief. Hendrick B. Wright, was chairman of the 
 committee. Testimony was taken in Chicago, San Francisco, 
 Des Moines, New York, and Boston, principally on the con- 
 traction of the currency and land monopoly. The committee 
 reported the testimony in full. 
 
 In 1878 and 1879 ^ e Fourth of July was made an occasion 
 of public demonstrations in the advocacy of the Labor move- 
 ment. In 1878 George E. McNeill, of Boston, was the orator 
 of the occasion at Chicago, and in 1879 Mr. ^ ra Steward, of 
 Boston, was the orator in that city, and in St. Louis Jonathan 
 C. Fincher was the principal speaker.
 
 164 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 In the fall of 1879 a young man, then confined in the hos- 
 pital in Paterson, N. J., being treated for malarial fever, wrote 
 an open letter for publication and addressed it to the Labor 
 Standard, published in that city. The letter was published 
 over the signature of its author, and at the next session ot the 
 grand jury the author of the letter and the editor of the paper 
 were both indicted for libel and brought before Judge Dick- 
 inson, tried, convicted, and sentenced to sixty days imprison- 
 ment in the Passaic county jail. The letter referred to de- 
 scribed the condition of the people working in a brick-yard at 
 Mountain View, N. J. He said the hours of -labor were from 
 four in the morning till six at night ; at seven o'clock the men 
 were called to breakfast, which he said consisted of a pitcher- 
 full of hot water which the cook called coffee, but which the 
 men called "strike water,'* which means the water used for 
 washing the strikes which clean off the bricks ; that the food 
 consisted of salt pork and bread and butter ; complaint was 
 made that the bread was sour and that the butter was more 
 like axle-grease ; that the bread was baked hard on the out- 
 side and was underdone on the inside ; that the dinner and 
 supper were of about the same description ; that men were 
 forced to lodge in shanties through the roofs of which the rain 
 flowed in torrents at times ; that the beds were unwashed and 
 the place filled with vermin. He also referred to the treat- 
 ment he had received while sick there before going to the Sis- 
 ters' hospital. The evidence at the trial strongly sustained the 
 charges made by the writer of the letter, and the conviction 
 and punishment called forth a storm of indignation, not only in 
 Paterson, but throughout the length and breadth of the coun- 
 try. Trades assemblies, labor councils, trades-unions, and 
 all kinds of workingmen's organizations, passed resolutions 
 severely criticising the action of the court and sustaining the 
 editor, J. P. McDonnell, and the writer, Mr. Michael Menton, 
 as martyrs to the cause. On the day of their release a public 
 reception was given to the imprisoned men, the streets, were 
 thronged with a crowd never equalled in that city. This was 
 the second time that Mr. McDonnell had been convicted for 
 rendering service to the cause of Labor.
 
 THE COLORED EXODUS. 165 
 
 In 1879 some excitement was caused by the exodus of the 
 colored people from Mississippi to Kansas. The Commis- 
 sioner of Labor Statistics of the latter State, in treating this 
 question, says : " Dismal forebodings were expressed by the 
 papers and echoed by many citizens of Kansas regarding 
 the future of these sojourners from the sunny South as they 
 camped upon the bleak prairies of Kansas, and doubtless 
 there were ample grounds for this apprehension." It is esti- 
 mated that about two thousand people thus emigrated. An in- 
 vestigation has been made into their condition, which shows 
 that as a rule they were very much better off in their new 
 homes. The commissioner says : 
 
 When these people first landed they were, as a class, utterly destitute. They 
 had exhausted their last cent in reaching the land of promise, and they had 
 no food to save them from starvation and no roof to shelter them. Many 
 were shipped to Topeka. They have managed to erect small shanties in the 
 ravine where they first landed, and have managed to subsist, some of them 
 say, better than they did in their Southern homes. 
 
 The cause of the exodus was poverty and bad treatment. 
 An investigation into the average daily wages showed the 
 average daily earnings to be $262.75 against $333.09 earned 
 by white laborers in a like column, given in the report. 
 
 Numerous strikes occurred in 1880. The drivers of the 
 Third Avenue line of horse-cars in New York City struck on 
 Sunday, June 27th, against the wages and the long hours. 
 The police were called out and held in readiness. The strike 
 was a failure. Strikes also occurred among the ribbon-weavers 
 of Paterson, New York and Philadelphia, against a reduction 
 of twenty per cent. There were strikes among furniture work- 
 ers in different parts of the country, among the cotton-yard 
 men in New Orleans for an advance of wages, among the 
 stable-men of New York for an advance of wages, in San 
 Francisco, New Jersey, New York, and other places, for the 
 abolition of Sunday work. Strikes occurred in Louisiana 
 among the colored men for an advance to one dollar a day, 
 in which instance the military were called out. The ship- 
 butchers' union, of New York, struck for less hours of work. 
 Gingham weavers and cotton and woolen operatives struck
 
 l66 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 in the New England States, where in some cases, notably that 
 of the gingham-weavers, dividends of from twenty to forty 
 per cent, had been paid, and at the time of the strike fifteen 
 to twenty per cent, had been paid, and the stock had gone up 
 to double its par value. In Omaha, Neb., the men in the 
 smelting works struck. At Cohoes, N. Y., cotton operatives 
 struck for a ten per cent, advance. In Barberville, Va., there 
 was a strike of colored laborers. The barbers and journey- 
 men of New York organized against five-cent shops. The 
 stock-yard men in Chicago denounced the interference of the 
 police in their strike. The men employed on the Hoosac 
 Tunnel struck for eight hours a day and were defeated. 
 Wages were increased in some of the cotton and woolen- 
 mills. Among cabinet and desk-makers wages were ad- 
 vanced. Strikes occurred on some of the railroads ; wages 
 were advanced on the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern. A 
 general advance in wages was granted to miners. Fifty cents 
 per day was granted as the result of a strike of some of the 
 stone masons in New York. The strike fever spread among 
 the boys, and at Cohoes, N. Y., two hundred boys employed 
 in the cotton-mills struck, many of them being under twelve 
 years of age. They had banners inscribed " United we stand, 
 divided we fall," "Good news from Fall River," "Ours is a 
 hard fate all work and no time to play in God's sunshine," 
 "Pity us poor children who have to work," etc. The State 
 of Vermont was also invaded by this spirit ; the boys in a 
 carding-room of a woolen-mill struck ; some of them were 
 receiving four dollars a week for doing men's work. A news- 
 paper at the time reported that the superintendent shook one 
 or. two of them and the rest went to work. From the Labor 
 Standard of March 20, 1880, we copy a list of the strikes 
 and meetings reported in that issue. Strikes were reported 
 of potters at Green Point, L. I. ; puddlers of Johnstown and 
 Columbia, Penn. ; -and at Buffalo, N. Y., over seven thousand 
 men involved; journeymen tailors of New York; train and 
 track-men of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, at Piedmont, 
 W. Va., struck for a ten per cent, advance ; boys engaged in 
 a rope-walk in Brooklyn, N. Y., woolen weavers in Glenham,
 
 NEW ORLEANS WORKINGMEN. 167 
 
 N. Y., iron-workers in Pottstown, Penn., and shoemakers at 
 Greensburg, Ind., were on strike. 
 
 The National Labor Congress convened at Pittsburgh, 
 Penn., 125 members being present at the opening, represent- 
 ing a constituency of 222,856. The Congress demanded a 
 repeal of the conspiracy acts, abolition of the contract con- 
 vict labor system, passed resolutions in sympathy with the 
 suffering in Ireland, advocated the establishment of a national 
 bureau of labor statistics, favored the abolition of the truck 
 system, passed resolutions in favor of compulsory education 
 of all children fourteen years of age, the ventilation of mines 
 and work-shops, the providing of fire-escapes, the mechanics' 
 lien law, the incorporation of trades-unions, and the prohibi- 
 tion of Chinese immigration. 
 
 At Paterson, N. J., a movement was made by the working- 
 men to prevent the employment of labor on Sunday, and the 
 announcement of the meeting contained this statement : "An- 
 other mill started on Sunday ; almost as large an attendance 
 as can be found in some of our churches. Business is boom- 
 ing, though religion and good morals suffer. The Almighty 
 Dollar must be worshipped." 
 
 The Central Trades and Labor Assembly of New Orleans 
 is an association of all the labor organizations of the city. 
 This fraternization was brought about by a movement inaug- 
 urated in the summer of 1881 by the Typographical Union, 
 and especially by its president, Mr. William J. Hammond, 
 the first president of the new association. 
 
 This Union appointed a committee to bring about a meet- 
 ing of accredited persons from different labor and trades- 
 unions of the city, in order to amalgamate all men who 
 earned their living by labor into a compact combination, for 
 the purpose of mutual aid and support in all controversies be- 
 tween labor and capital, and issued a circular calling a meet- 
 ing for Sunday evening, August 2, 1881, to appoint an 
 executive committee to supervise the organization of an 
 amalgamated trades and labor union for New Orleans, and 
 for putting it on a working basis. 
 
 At this time there were in existence in that city several
 
 l68 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 organizations, already strong in numbers ; but it was thought 
 that the interests of the working classes could best be sub- 
 served by such a consolidation as was proposed, and, as a 
 result of this, a confederation was formed by the organization 
 of a Central Assembly or Council, composed of three dele- 
 gates from each of the associations admitted to the union, and 
 vested with general legislative and executive powers over 
 matters of the assembly. 
 
 By this alliance the strength, influence, and financial re- 
 sources of the thirty odd labor organizations in the city, 
 embracing almost every branch of mechanical and industrial 
 pursuits, were combined. Any one of the constituted bodies 
 could strike, if it saw fit ; but it could receive the support of 
 the entire body only after the complaints had been considered 
 by the central body and approved as sufficient grounds for 
 a strike. 
 
 The success of the organization was such that in 1883 the 
 total membership was about fifteen thousand. In November 
 of that year there was a parade of the bodies composing the 
 assembly, ten thousand men being in line, representing all 
 countries, colors, and industries. The parade was a brilliant 
 success, and was repeated on November 25, 1884, and on the 
 same date, 1885. John Delaney was Grand Marshal in 
 1883 ; in 1884, R. F. Gray, of the Typographical Union, 
 was President of the Assembly, and acted as Grand Marshal 
 in the parade ; and J. H. Connors was Grand Marshal in the 
 parade of 1885. 
 
 The formation of this association of trades and labor unions 
 is confessed to have done more to break the color line in New 
 Orleans than any other thing that has been done since the 
 emancipation of the slaves ; and to-day the white and colored 
 laborers of that city are as fraternal in their relations as they 
 are in any part of the country, the negroes, especially, tak- 
 ing great pride in their loyalty to their organizations. 
 
 In 1882 strikes again multipled. Extensive strikes occurred 
 in some of the iron districts. A strike occurred in the stock- 
 yards at Chicago, 111. , the principal firms demanding a promise 
 from employees that they would not belong to any union. The
 
 FEDERATION OF TRADES, ETC. 169 
 
 First Regiment was held in readiness to assist the Sheriff in 
 
 o 
 
 maintaining peace. 
 
 Coke employees at Mansfield, Penri., struck, and com- 
 plaint was made by the working people of Pennsylvania 
 against the importation of Hungarians ; circulars were issued 
 by the men stating their claims and that women and child- 
 ren were doing work fit only for the stoutest men. Women 
 were found at work with infants lying promiscuously on the 
 ground, and girls under ten years of age were drawing coke. 
 There was extreme filthiness in their houses and habits, some 
 of them carrying on an illicit whiskey traffic, while there was 
 extreme promiscuity in their marital relations. 
 
 In 1880 a convention of some of the leading national and 
 international trades-unions was held, and an organization was 
 formed under the name of the Federation of Organized Trades 
 and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada. This 
 Organization was to do the work of former labor congresses. 
 The preamble declares that because of the struggle going on 
 between oppressors and oppressed, capitalists and laborers, 
 in all countries, which was growing in intensity and working 
 disastrous results to the toiling millions of all nations if not 
 combined for mutual protection and benefit, and whereas even 
 a minority thoroughly organized might avert much danger 
 and organize relief, this federation should be formed. The 
 platform demands the enforcement of the existing labor laws 
 and the enactment of others, and recommends all trade and 
 labor organizations to secure proper representation in all law- 
 making bodies by means of the ballot. We quote from the 
 report of the secretary, Frank K. Foster, in 1884. 
 
 Under the head of " Organization " he says : " Each trade 
 is groping blindly after results, with more or less defective 
 machinery and imperfect perception of methods and issues. 
 Low dues, partial organization and neglect of business prin- 
 ciples have hitherto proved insuperable obstacles to the full 
 measure of success." 
 
 He speaks of the nominal triumph of Jay Gould over the 
 Telegraph Brotherhood, the defeat of the Fall River opera- 
 tives and the bitter contest raging in the Hocking Valley as
 
 I7O THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 arguments, not against the principle of organization or the 
 spirit of resistance, but for the more perfect unity of wage- 
 workers. He records, as the result of four months' investi- 
 gation ninety-eight strikes, involving fifty-three thousand 
 work-people ; fifty of them against reduction of wages, seven 
 for an increase, three to establish a scale of prices, five 
 against non-union men, three for less hours, four for back 
 wages, two against signing contracts, three against shop 
 exactions, and twenty-two cause not given. The trades in- 
 volved in these strikes were miners, printers, metal workers, 
 leather workers, building trades, railroad employees, textile 
 operatives, laborers and miscellaneous. Thirteen were suc- 
 cessful, fifteen failures, fifteen were compromised, and sixty- 
 five not recorded. 
 
 Under the head of the " Eight Hour Question " he says, 
 " It appears to be the generally expressed desire of the socie- 
 ties represented in this association that it assume the initia- 
 tive in a movement for the reduction of the hours of labor." 
 He reports the opening of fraternal relations between the 
 trades-unions of France and America, and mentions the dele- 
 gation of fourteen French brothers visiting this country, sent 
 by syndical chambers comprising sixty-eight of the- mechani- 
 cal arts in the municipality of Paris. A resolution was adopted 
 asking the co-operation of the Knights of Labor to establish 
 the eight-hour reform. 
 
 This society has continued its organization up to the pres- 
 ent time, doing effective work in the amalgamation of labor 
 societies. Demands for labor legislation and in the National 
 Congress are continually made, and from its formation up to 
 1886 the work of organization has been carried on quietly 
 but effectually. 
 
 The Order of the Knights of Labor began to manifest itself 
 as a potent factor in 1885, and the strikes that occurred under 
 its auspices are matters of recent history, and require no 
 space in this chapter. 
 
 The year 1886 will be known as the year of the great up- 
 rising of labor. The future historian will say : Trades-unions 
 increased their membership and their powers as never before.
 
 THE COLOR LINE BROKEN. 
 
 The Knights of Labor, who had for seventeen years struggled 
 against all adverse influences, added to their membership by 
 tens of thousands weekly. Trades and occupations that had 
 never before been organized joined the mixed assemblies or 
 trade assemblies of the order. Hope seemed to have entered 
 the heart of the most oppressed. It was the very dawning of 
 the day when the term "dignity of labor" meant something. 
 Laboring men who had heretofore considered themselves as 
 scarcely more than serfs, without rights or privileges, fearing 
 to organize, or failing to do so because of the hopelessness of 
 their condition, seemed to be inspired with a new spirit. So 
 great was the increased membership that even the largest 
 cities were unable to provide hall capacity for the meetings of 
 organized labor. The horse-car employees, whose long hours 
 of labor and barbarous conditions had been the shame of our 
 civilization, obtained in all the principal cities, a reduction in 
 their working time and an increase of wages. Strikes pre- 
 vailed everywhere. Thousands of grievances were settled by 
 peaceful arbitration. Every branch of labor was affected. 
 Heretofore there had existed a feeling of caste, even among 
 the laboring men ; the skilled mechanic had looked down 
 upon the unskilled, the well-paid considered the ill-paid as 
 hardly worthy of recognition. The skilled and the unskilled, 
 the high-paid and the low-paid, all joined hands. The color 
 line had been broken, and black and white were found work- 
 ing together in the same cause. During the winter months 
 lectures had been delivered and eight-hour agitation meetings 
 held at frequent intervals. The press was filled with labor news. 
 The clergy opened the doors of their associations to labor men 
 for the discussion of labor measures or methods. The great 
 strike on the Southwestern railroad system called attention 
 anew to the giant monopolies that controlled these great inter- 
 ests. The movement for less hours of labor was partially 
 successful, some gaining the eight-hour and some the nine- 
 hour day, while an advance in wages was gained in many 
 industries.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 LABOR LEGISLATION. 
 
 A GENERAL VIEW STATES LEGISLATE FOR CHIEF INDUSTRIES LEGIS- 
 LATION FOR CHILDREN PROTECTION FOR MECHANICS AND OTHER 
 WORKMEN REGULATING THE HOURS OF LABOR STATES WITH AN 
 EIGHT-HOUR LAW SHORT HOURS FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN CHIL- 
 DREN MUST BE EDUCATED FIRE-ESCAPES ON FACTORIES OTHER 
 AIDS TO THE EMPLOYEES PROTECTION FOR MINERS ARBITRATION 
 OF DISPUTED POINT* PROVIDED IN NEW JERSEY IN 1880 THE LAW 
 OF PENNSYLVANIA SIMILAR LAWS IN OTHER STATES NEW YORK'S 
 LAW THE LAW OF MASSACHUSETTS BUREAUS OF LABOR. 
 
 THE progress of agitation upon labor questions and the 
 advance thereon from year to year is easily traced 
 through the statutes of the various legislatures of the coun- 
 try. And yet there has undoubtedly been much agitation in 
 many States, which show no real progress by enacted laws. 
 In them the leaven is surely even though slowly work- 
 ing. When the}' do appreciate the importance of the subject, 
 they will probably go beyond the point reached by their sis- 
 ter States, profiting wisely by their experience, and learning 
 wherein to avoid their mistakes. It is hardly practicable, 
 within the compass of a book of this nature, to state in detail 
 the laws of the States upon the important branches of the 
 labor problem. Only a general view will therefore be given, 
 the minor details being necessarily omitted. Each State natu- 
 rally has legislated with particular reference to those depart- 
 ments of labor that are most prominent within its own borders. 
 The mining States have their own special laws, with hardly 
 a reference to manufacturing interests ; the States where the 
 factory operatives are most numerous have legislated largely 
 in their interests ; while the great agricultural States have 
 enacted but little, if any, legislation on these subjects. 
 In considering this subject, it will be most practicable to
 
 LIEN LAWS. 173 
 
 divide it into its natural departments, even as we find the 
 States themselves have done in their legislation. 
 
 Many of the States have laws limiting the hours of labor 
 of children to ten per day. It has become a well recognized 
 truth that the interests of the State demand this care of its 
 children. The laws relating to apprenticeship are of the 
 same general nature, providing for the indenture of children 
 during their minority, after they become of an age when their 
 work is of value, to persons who stand to them in the rela- 
 tion of parents. These laws cover orphans and children in 
 asylums. In most States the consent of the children them- 
 selves must be obtained if they are fourteen years of age or 
 over. The details of laws on this topic vary considerably, 
 but all are based on the same general principle. Many 
 States also attempt to guard the interests of th mechanics 
 and all persons performing labor on, or furnishing materials 
 for, any building, by giving them a lien on the structure 
 itself and on the interest of the owner of the lot on which it 
 stands. Many of these laws have been so amended as to 
 make them practically inoperative. They give to employees 
 on railroads and steamboats, and to persons- furnishing them 
 supplies, a lien on the franchise, on the gross earnings and real 
 and personal property of the companies operating them ; and 
 this lien takes precedence of all other claims. Workmen 
 upon vessels have liens that have the precedence of all others 
 except those for mariners' wages. Lumbermen have liens on 
 the lumber for services or supplies furnished. Farm laborers 
 have a lien on the crops he has helped produce, to secure 
 compensation for his labor. These liens are of more or less 
 limited duration, varying with different States and with the 
 nature of the object the lien is put upon. Miners also have 
 protection by a per diem penalty and other compensations for 
 failure of the companies to pay them within certain regular 
 intervals. 
 
 California, Connecticut (except on farms and where other- 
 wise agreed), Illinois, New Mexico (in the mines), Pennsyl- 
 vania and New York (except for farm labor and weekly, 
 monthly or yearly contracts) , have come down to the limit of
 
 174 THE LAB R MOVEMENT. 
 
 eight hours as a legal day's work, and most States, however, 
 leave it to be understood that ten hours constitute a day's 
 work unless it is otherwise stated. Various States also have 
 special provision as to the hours of labor for women and chil- 
 dren. Massachusetts forbids the employment of minors under 
 eighteen, and women in all corporations for more than ten 
 hours per day, except where the hours are differently appor- 
 tioned so as to secure a shorter working day each week ; but 
 no week shall have over sixty hours of work. Rhode Island 
 provides that minors between twelve and fifteen shall not work 
 more than eleven hours per day, nor before 5 A. M., nor 
 after 7.30 P. M. Vermont limits the hours for the work of 
 children under fifteen to ten daily. Wisconsin and Dakota 
 provide that minors under eighteen, and women, shall not 
 work over eight hours per day in manufactories, workshops 
 or other places used for mechanical or manufacturing pur- 
 poses. These laws are of little or no effect where organized 
 labor can not compel the standard thus fixed to become the 
 custom. California allows children to work only eight hours 
 daily, except in vinicultural or horticultural pursuits. 
 
 In Connecticut children under fifteen can work in mechani- 
 cal or manufacturing establishments not more than ten hours 
 a day or fifty-eight hours a week. Indiana allows no minors 
 under eighteen to work more than ten hours a day in cotton 
 or woolen factories ; and children under twelve must not be 
 employed over eight hours per day. Maine and Maryland 
 say no minor under sixteen shall work over ten hours a day. 
 In Michigan children under eighteen and women can work 
 only ten hours a day or sixty hours a week, and one hour 
 must be allowed for dinner. Minnesota limits the hours also 
 to ten, and New Hampshire fixes that limit for minors under 
 fifteen, New Jersey for those under sixteen, Ohio for those 
 under eighteen, and Penny Ivania for those under twenty-one. 
 Several States absolutely prohibit the employment in factories 
 of children under a certain age, as follows : Indiana, none 
 under twelve in the manufacture of iron, steel, nails, metals, 
 machinery or tobacco ; Colorado, none under twelve in the 
 .mines ; Connecticut, none under fourteen, unless having had
 
 REGULATING CHILDREN'S WORK. 1 75 
 
 twelve weeks' schooling ; Illinois and Indiana, none under 
 fourteen in the mines ; Iowa and Kansas, none under twelve 
 in the mines ; Maine, none under twelve, except having had 
 four months' schooling in year previous ; Massachusetts, none 
 under twelve during the hours when the public schools are 
 in session ; Michigan, none under fourteen, unless with three 
 or four months' schooling in previous years ; Missouri, none 
 under twelve, and none under fourteen, unless he or she can 
 read and write, in the coal mines ; New Hampshire, none under 
 sixteen, unless attended private or public school at least twelve 
 weeks in preceding year ; New Jersey, no boy under twelve, 
 and no girl under fourteen, during school hours ; New York, 
 none under fourteen, except with fourteen weeks' schooling 
 in previous year, and none under eighteen more than sixty 
 hours per week ; Ohio, none under twelve ; Pennsylvania, 
 none under twelve in the coal mines, and none under thirteen 
 in factories. In Georgia the hours of labor for persons under 
 twenty-one in all manufacturing establishments and machine 
 shops, are from sunrise to sunset. 
 
 Besides providing that children shall be prohibited from 
 working in factories, except under certain regulations, the 
 State insists that its children shall be educated to a greater 
 or less extent in their early years. Some States in the Union 
 do not make special laws upon this subject, although more- 
 or less legislation tends in that direction, while some have 
 very definite statutes upon it. Connecticut requires all chil- 
 dren between eight and sixteen, of good physical and mental 
 condition, to attend school while it is in session. 
 
 The need of protection from fire has caused legislation re- 
 quiring factories and large buildings, used either as tenements 
 or for work-rooms, to be provided with fire-escapes. Massa- 
 chusetts, which is dotted all over with factories, and whose 
 cities are thronged with working people, has as complete laws 
 on this subject as any State, and much more complete than 
 most. It has inspectors of factories and public buildings, who 
 may enter all buildings used for public or manufacturing pur- 
 poses, examine the methods of protection from accident, the 
 means of escape from fire, and make investigations as to the
 
 176 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 employment of women and children. The law provides that 
 all factories and manufacturing establishments, three or more 
 stories in height, in which forty or more persons are employed, 
 unless supplied with a sufficient, number of tower stairways, 
 shall be supplied with sufficient fire-escapes, properly con- 
 structed upon the outside thereof, and connected with the 
 interior by doors and windows, with suitable landings at 
 every story above the first, including the attic, if the same 
 be used for work-rooms. Cities may provide that this pro- 
 vision shall apply to all buildings three or more stories in 
 height. Every building, three or more stories in height, in 
 whole or in part used, occupied, leased or rented for a tene- 
 ment to be occupied by more than four families, or a lodging- 
 house, shall be provided with a sufficient means of escape in 
 case of fire. Outside or inside doors of buildings where op- 
 eratives are employed shall not be locked, bolted, or otherwise 
 fastened during labor hours, to prevent free egress. Every 
 room above the second story in factories or work-shops in 
 which five or more operatives are employed, shall be provided 
 with more than one way of egress by stairways on the in- 
 side or outside of the building, and such stairways shall be, 
 as nearly as practicable, at opposite ends of the room. Stair- 
 ways on the outside must connect with each story by doors 
 or windows opening outwardly, which must at all times be 
 kept clear of obstruction. All main doors must open out- 
 wardly, and each story must be amply supplied with means 
 for extinguishing fires. 
 
 Other States have provisions very similar to those of Mas- 
 sachusetts. Connecticut requires fire-escapes to each story 
 above the second for buildings used for work-rooms, factories, 
 lodging or tenement-houses. Delaware says escapes must be 
 provided for the third story and those above. Illinois requires 
 metallic fire-escapes on all buildings of four or more stories, 
 except exclusively private houses. Maine provides that 
 every building in which trade, manufacture or business is 
 carried on must have fire-escapes from each story above the 
 ground. Michigan requires suitable escapes from similar 
 buildings over two stories high, and New Jersey does for
 
 SHOPS MUST BE CLEAN AND SAFE. 1 77 
 
 such buildings \vhere thirty or more operatives are steadily or 
 casually at work. Ohio compels convenient exits from the 
 upper stories of such buildings, easily accessible in case of 
 fire. Pennsylvania provides for fire-escapes similar to those 
 in States already mentioned ; and also, as an additional safe- 
 guard, provides that in each room in such buildings on the 
 third or higher floor there shall be a chain securely fastened 
 to at least one window, not less than ten feet long, to which 
 shall be attached a rope not less than an inch in diameter and 
 long enough to reach the ground. These ropes and chains 
 are to be kept in an unlocked box near the inside sill of the 
 window. The halls and head and foot of the stair-ways in 
 such buildings must be lighted with a red lamp, and alarms 
 and gongs easy of access must also be kept. 
 
 In some of the States there are laws requiring that suit- 
 able seats shall be provided for females in manufacturing,, 
 mechanical and mercantile establishments, which they can 
 use when not engaged in the active duties of their employ- 
 ment. Employers are required to give due notice before dis- 
 charging an employee. Railroad companies are forbidden to 
 exact any part of the earnings of the employees for any hospi- 
 tal, reading-room, library or gymnasium. Work-shops must 
 be kept in a cleanly condition and free from noxious effluvia 
 from any source, and must be well lighted and ventilated. 
 Elevators and machinery must be properly guarded to pre- 
 vent accident. The formation of corporations in the interest 
 of trade and labor, for the improvement of the social and mate- 
 rial interest of their members, is authorized and encouraged. 
 Corporations must give thirty days' notice of a reduction of 
 wages, specifying amount of same. New Jersey has pro- 
 hibited employers from attempting to compel their employees 
 to purchase at stores they may own. Ohio has a similar law. 
 New York says operatives may assemble and use all lawful 
 means to induce employers to pay a just and fair compensa- 
 tion for services rendered. Pennsylvania requires persons 
 controlling coal mines to keep at each mine a suitable ambu- 
 lance and stretchers to carry injured persons to their homes. 
 
 The States in which mining is a prominent industry, have 
 
 (12)
 
 1/8 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 enacted laws to protect the miners from accidents by fire and 
 otherwise. Colorado prohibits the employment of more than 
 fifteen workers in mines where 15,000 square yards have been 
 excavated, unless there are two separate outlets to every seam, 
 separated by natural strata, not less than one hundred feet in 
 breadth, by which distinct means of egress and ingress are 
 always available. To all other mines worked by shafts, slopes 
 or drifts, there must be two openings twelve months after 15 ,000 
 square yards are excavated, provided more than fifteen persons 
 are employed. Communication with contiguous mines must 
 be constructed in connection with every vein or stratum of 
 coal worked. Metal tubes or telephones must be provided, so 
 that conversation may be had all over the mine. Safety lamps 
 must be provided. The owner or agent of a mine working 
 ten or more men close to an abandoned mine containing in- 
 flammable gas or fire-damp, must bore holes twelve feet in 
 advance of the coal face of the working places. An exami- 
 nation of them must be daily made and a record kept. The 
 fire-boss must make a daily record of defects in ventilating 
 apparatus, etc. The provisions in regard to hoisting appa- 
 ratus, gang-ways on which cars are moved, ventilation, etc., 
 are very complete. Illinois provides that copper needles must 
 be used in preparing blasts, and not less than nine inches of 
 copper on iron bars used for tamping blasts of powder. In- 
 diana requires an inspection each morning of the wire ropes 
 used for lowering and hoisting in coal-mines, which must be 
 of wire. When gas is known to exist the mine must be prop- 
 erly examined each morning. Not more than ten persons are 
 allowed to work in any mine until a second outlet is completed. 
 Iowa also requires two outlets to all mines, and Kansas requires 
 them when more than twenty-five men are employed. Kansas 
 also requires escapement shafts to be provided with ladders 
 securely fastened so as to bear at least ten men, or other safe 
 means for hoisting miners independent of the regular hoisting 
 machinery. Missouri has laws similar to those of Colorado, 
 as also has New Mexico. Ohio provides that all doors, to 
 assist in ventilation of mines, must shut of their own accord 
 and not be able to stand open. It also requires morning in-
 
 LEGAL ARBITRATION. 1 79 
 
 spection of mines where gas exists, and means of conversation 
 from top to the bottom. The provisions of Pennsylvania are 
 very similar to those already quoted. Tennessee requires 
 machinery in and about mines and tops of shafts to be prop- 
 erly fenced off. Most of the mining States provide for 
 inspectors, appointed by the Governor, with full powers to 
 see that the provisions of the laws are properly enforced. 
 
 The question of arbitration for the settlement of contro- 
 versies between employers and employees has become very 
 prominent within a few years. Several States have already 
 taken action in the matter. In the Legislature of New 
 Jersey, of 1880, provisions were made for the arbitration 
 of labor disputes before an arbitrator selected by employers, 
 another by employees, and a third by the other two. Arbi- 
 tration is voluntary, but after submission the award is bind- 
 ing. Pennsylvania provides that presiding justices of common 
 pleas courts, upon petition or agreement, shall issue license 
 for the establishment of tribunals to settle disputes in iron, 
 steel, glass, textile fabrics and coal trades. Petition must be 
 signed by fifty workmen or five separate firms, individuals or 
 corporations, within the county of the petitioners, or by five em- 
 ployers, each employing at least ten men, or by the represen- 
 tatives of a firm, individual or corporation employing not less 
 than seventy-five men, and the agreement shall be signed by 
 both of said specified numbers and persons ; provided, that 
 if there be a strike or dispute at the time, and suspension 
 exists, or is probable, the judge shall require testimony as to 
 the representative character of the petitioners, and if they do 
 not represent, at least half each party in dispute, license may 
 be denied. Workmen signing must be resident of a judicial 
 district one year, engaged in the branch of trade they repre- 
 sent two years, and be citizens of the United States. Employ- 
 ers signing must also be citizens and engaged in some of the 
 branches of business mentioned for one year, must each em- 
 ploy ten workmen in such branch, and each may be a firm, 
 individual or corporation. Petition must be sworn to by at 
 least two signers. After the arbitrators on each side have 
 chosen their umpire, the license may issue, fixing time and
 
 l8o THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 place of meeting. One tribunal may be created in each 
 judicial district for each of the trades named, to continue for 
 one year. The position of umpire can only be filled by the 
 mutual choice of all the representatives of both employers 
 and workingmen, and he acts only after the failure of the tri- 
 bunal to agree in three meetings. His award is final only 
 upon what is submitted to him in writing signed by all mem- 
 bers of the tribunal, or by parties submitting the same, and 
 upon questions affecting the price of labor. It shall in no 
 case be binding upon either employer or workmen, save as 
 they may acquiesce or agree therein after such award. The 
 tribunal shall receive no compensation from city or county, 
 but expenses may be paid by voluntary contributions. No 
 lawyers or agents are to appear on either side, and the pro- 
 ceedings are voluntary. 
 
 Iowa has a law very similar to that of Pensylvania, but the 
 awards are conclusive and final, and when the award is for 
 a specific sum of money the award may be made a matter 
 of record in the district court of the county, and the proper 
 court may issue final and other process to enforce the same. 
 Tribunals must sit at the county seats, but disputes in one 
 county may be referred to a tribunal sitting in another. 
 
 The law of Kansas is nearly in the exact words of that of 
 Iowa. It provides, however, that members of the tribunal 
 shall draw two dollars each from the county treasury for each 
 day of actual service. The award of a tribunal may be im- 
 peached for fraud, accident or mistake. Ohio has a law 
 closely similar to those of the above States. 
 
 New York provides for local boards of five arbitrators, two 
 to be chosen by the employer and two by the employees, they 
 to choose the fifth, who shall act as chairman. A decision by 
 such a board is final, unless an appeal is made to the State 
 Board. This latter body is appointed by the Governor, and 
 holds office for one year. One member must be taken from 
 each of the two leading political parties and the third from a 
 bona fide labor organization. Two of the three make a quo- 
 rum to transact business, and may hold meetings at any time 
 or place in the State. Each arbitrator is entitled to a salary of
 
 J. B. WEAVER H.B. LOWERING. 
 
 NATIONAL LABOR LEGISLATORS.
 
 THE DOUGLAS BILL. l8l 
 
 $3,000, payable quarterly, while the clerk has $2,000. The 
 duty of the State Board is to consider appeals from the local 
 boards, and its decision is final and conclusive on both parties. 
 This law was passed May 18, 1886, and section 9 provides 
 that it shall make a report to the next Legislature of such 
 statements, facts and explanations as will disclose the actual 
 working of the Board, and such suggestions as to legislation 
 that may seem conducive to harmonizing the relations of, and 
 disputes between, employers and the wage-earning masses, 
 and the improvement of the present system of production. 
 
 The Massachusetts Legislature had much debate in the 
 session of 1886 over the question of arbitration, and finally 
 passed a measure known as the Douglas bill, because it was 
 especially in charge of Senator W. L. Douglas, of Brockton, 
 who was on the Committee on Labor, which reported the bill. 
 This provides that the Governor shall appoint one member of a 
 State Board, who shall be an employer or selected from some 
 association representing employers of labor ; a second, who 
 shall be selected from some labor organization and not an em- 
 ployer of labor ; and a third, who shall be appointed on the 
 recommendation of the other two. If they cannot agree, how- 
 ever, on this third man, within thirty days, then he shall be 
 appointed by the Governor. This Board holds office for one 
 year, or until their successors are appointed. The decision of 
 the board is to be binding for six months, or until either party 
 has given the other written notice of his 'intention not to be 
 bound by the same at the expiration of sixty days therefrom. 
 The bill further provides for local boards of arbitration with 
 powers equal to those of the State Board, which may ask and 
 receive advice from that Board. The pay of the arbitrators is 
 to be five dollars per day for actual service, and necessary ex- 
 penses, all to be paid from the State treasury. 
 
 The provisions and scope of the national law upon this 
 matter are fully discussed by Hon. J. J. O'Neill, member of 
 Congress from the city of St. Louis and chairman of the 
 House Committee on Labor, in his chapter on "Arbitration," 
 in another part of this book. 
 
 Not only have many States created Bureaus of Labor, but
 
 l82 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 Congress has established (June 27, 1884) a National Bureau, 
 of which Hon. Carroll D. Wright, of Boston, is the chief. 
 The State Bureaus have been established as follows and in 
 the following order : Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics of 
 Labor, 1869 ; Pennsylvania Bureau of Industrial Statistics, 
 1872 ; Connecticut Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1873 (discon- 
 tinued 1875, re-established 1885) ; Ohio Bureau of Labor 
 Statistics, 1877 ; New Jersey Bureau of Statistics of Labor 
 and Industries, 1878 ; Missouri Bureau of Labor Statistics 
 and Inspection, 1879; Illinois Bureau of Labor Statistics, 
 1879 ' Indiana Bureau of Statistics and Geology, 1879 New 
 York Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1883 ; California Bureau of 
 Labor Statistics, 1883 ; Michigan Bureau of Labor and Indus- 
 trial Statistics, 1883 ; Wisconsin Bureau of Labor Statistics, 
 1883 ; Iowa Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1884 ; Maryland Sta- 
 tistics of Labor, 1884 ; Kansas Bureau of Labor and Indus- 
 trial Statistics, 1885. These bureaus are located at the 
 capitals of the States named, and their publications are be- 
 coming widely known for the valuable contributions which 
 they make to economic science and literature. They are 
 bureaus distinctly American in their character, although some 
 of the European governments are now contemplating the 
 establishment of kindred offices.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PRINTERS AND THEIR UNIONS. 
 
 FIRST LOCAL UNION IN AMERICA RULES FOR FORMING NEW SOCIETIES 
 
 DEMANDING A GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE THE NATIONAL 
 TYPOGRAPHICAL UNION FORMED CHARTERING SUBORDINATE UNIONS 
 
 GENERAL LAWS FORMULATED STRONG FRATERNAL FEELING CON- 
 DITIONAL MEMBERSHIP ANOTHER NAME ADOPTED WOMEN'S TYPO- 
 GRAPHICAL UNION No. i PRESSMEN'S UNION PERMITTED FEDERA- 
 TION OF TRADES-UNIONS EXPERIENCE IN STRIKES IMPORTANT 
 QUESTIONS THE UNION HAS DISCUSSED SUMMARY OF GENERAL 
 LAWS SESSIONS AND OFFICERS OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL 
 TYPOGRAPHICAL UNIONS. 
 
 THE International Typographical Union had its origin 
 in the " National Convention of Journeymen Printers," 
 which assembled at StonealPs Hotel, Fulton Street, New 
 York City, on December 2, 1850. The convention assem- 
 bled under a call made by printers' societies in New York, 
 Boston and Philadelphia, and comprised delegates from the 
 States of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland 
 and Kentucky. A permanent organization was effected by 
 the election of John W. Perejoy, of Maryland, as President ; 
 George E. Greene, of Kentucky, and M. C. Brown, of 
 Pennsylvania, Vice-Presidents, and F. J. Ottarson, of New 
 York, and John Hartman, of New Jersey, Secretaries. The 
 plan of organization adopted was so well conceived and far- 
 reaching in its aims that substantially the same course of 
 action in respect of the management of the trade throughout 
 the whole country is paramount to-day. How well these pio- 
 neer organizers of the printing trade laid the foundation of a 
 stable, well-disciplined and intelligent national craft organiza- 
 tion can readily be seen from an address to the journeymen 
 printers of the United States, issued under authority of the 
 first convention, in which are set forth the following guiding 
 modes of action in the formation of societies : 
 
 (183)
 
 184 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 1st. An understanding in the regulation of scales of prices in different 
 localities, so that those in one place may not be permitted to become so com- 
 paratively high as to induce work to be sent elsewhere. 
 
 2(1. The enforcement of the principle of limiting apprentices, by which 
 measure a too rapid increase in the number of workmen, too little care in the 
 selection of boys for the business, and the employment of herds of half men 
 at half wages, to the detriment of good workmen, would be effectually pre- 
 vented. 
 
 3d. The issuing of Traveling Certificates, by which the distresses of brother 
 craftsmen, incurred in journeying from one place to another in search of work, 
 might be relieved. 
 
 4th. Measures to prevent disgraced members of the profession enjoying, 
 anywhere in the United States, those privileges which belong exclusively to 
 honorable printers. These consisted in keeping a registry of "rats, "to be 
 sent by the Executive Committee to every Union in the country for reference, 
 and admitting to membership no stranger who did not produce evidence of 
 his having been a member in good standing of the printing society (if any 
 existed) in the place from whence he came. 
 
 5th. The gradual collection of a sum of money by each Union sufficient to 
 enable it to hold out successfully against the employers, in the event of a con- 
 tention for higher wages. 
 
 The address, which is generally conceded to have been 
 written by Hon. M. F. Conway, of Baltimore, presented the 
 relations of capital and labor in as clear a light as any later 
 labor monograph on this vexed question, and undoubtedly its 
 free circulation among the craft in the larger cities of this 
 country gave the project of national organization a successful 
 impetus. 
 
 Prominent among the subjects discussed at this first session 
 was reform in the public printing, and a resolution was passed 
 recommending Congress to withhold the government printing 
 from all persons not practical printers. The agitation for the 
 establishment of a government printing office through memo- 
 rials and committees, and the demand for the imposition by 
 Congress of a protective duty on imported stereotype plates, 
 held leading places in the legislation of the national and local 
 unions, year after year, until both measures received the sanc- 
 tion of Congress. 
 
 The second "National Convention of Journeymen Print- 
 ers" assembled in Baltimore, Md., on September 12, 1851, 
 and comprised delegates from seven States. J. L. Gibbons, 
 of Louisville, Ky., was elected President. A select com-
 
 NATIONAL TYPOGRAPHICAL, UNION. 18$ 
 
 tnittee was appointed to frame a constitution for the perma- 
 nent organization of a National Union, which, after slight 
 amendment, was passed, and the new organization took to 
 itself the title of "THE NATIONAL, TYPOGRAPHICAL UNION." 
 
 The Constitution was signed by all the members of the 
 convention, and afterwards sent to the several subordinate 
 unions for their ratification, the agreement being that when 
 unions in five different States ratified the proposed Constitu- 
 tion, the Executive Committee should order the convening of 
 the National Union in Cincinnati, Ohio, on the first Monday 
 in May, 1852. 
 
 The subordinate or local unions were prompt to accept the 
 constitution and new form of government, and the first session 
 of the National Typographical Union was held at the above 
 place and date. 
 
 It is noteworthy, and indicative of keen foresight on the 
 part of the founders of this great labor union, that, first, they 
 soon cut loose from the entanglements of State or district 
 unions in even the classification of subordinates by arbitrary 
 or geographical lines, and recognized the unit of organiza- 
 tion wherever found ; and, second, that initiation ceremonies, 
 melo-dramatic oaths, passwords, signs, grips, etc., though 
 advocated by many worthy representatives, and repeatedly 
 considered by the National Union, never found a place in the 
 national or subordinate constitutions. The healthy growth 
 and life of trade organizations are conserved by maintaining 
 a wise mean between secret and open sessions. Free dis- 
 cussion in meeting-rooms of workingmen has a tendency to 
 evolve measures and legislation able to stand the test of public 
 opinion, when that opinion is invoked. 
 
 The issuing of charters by the national body to subordinate 
 unions was commenced at this session. It was found impos- 
 sible to settle definitely the question of seniority in respect of 
 date of organization of several societies represented, and the 
 matter was finally settled by drawing for numbers, with the 
 following result : Indianapolis, No. I ; Philadelphia, 2 ; Cin- 
 cinnati, 3 ; Albany, 4 ; Columbus, 5 ; New York, 6 ; Pitts- 
 burgh, 7 ; St. Louis, 8 ; Buffalo, 9 ; Louisville, 10 ; Memphis,
 
 l86 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 ii ; Baltimore, 12 ; Boston, 13 ; Harrisburg, 14. The result 
 of the drawing caused great dissatisfaction in the older so- 
 cieties ; Baltimore, especially, at the succeeding session at 
 Pittsburgh, formally protested against her charter assignment 
 as No. 12, claiming that the Baltimore society was organized 
 in, and had remained in continued existence since, 1831.* 
 
 The Pittsburgh session (1853) was largely devoted to gen- 
 eral legislation ; important amendments to the constitution 
 were proposed, a body of general laws was formulated, and 
 a minimum standard of type measurement adopted. 
 
 No very marked features in legislation or growth charac- 
 terized the succeeding sessions at Buffalo, Memphis, Philadel- 
 phia, New Orleans, Chicago, Boston, and Nashville. At the 
 last-named (1860) the union adjourned to meet in New York 
 City, in May, 1861 ; but before the time of meeting, the great 
 Civil War had commenced, and it was judged prudent by a 
 majority of the National officers to postpone the session for 
 one year, which was done, against the earnest protest of the 
 president, who probably shared the optative views of Secretary 
 Seward as to the duration of hostilities. The tenth session, 
 however, was held in New York in May, 1862, but no dele- 
 gates from the Southern unions put in an appearance, unless 
 St. Louis might be placed in that category. But it would 
 seem that, whether spoken of love or crafthood, absence makes 
 the heart grow fonder, because annually from 1862 to 1866, 
 when the absentees from the South again answered roll-call, 
 the national minutes contain expressions of hearty good-w r ill, 
 which even war could not impair, entertained by the Northern 
 Union printers toward their Southern brethren. 
 
 At the Louisville session (1864) a "conditional member- 
 ship" measure was adopted in the hope of drawing within the 
 scope of union influence that class of young men commonly 
 known as "country printers." Many strikes had been lost to 
 the union cause by the importation into cities, during trade 
 troubles, of callow craftsmen and "two-thirders," and the con- 
 ditional enrollment of this class in the union ranks, it was 
 
 * The printers of Boston, Mass., took part in a labor procession in 1834. [Eo.
 
 INTERNATIONAL, TYPOGRAPHICAL, UNION. 187 
 
 expected, would imbue them with the spirit of unionism and 
 increase the number of subordinate unions. At the Memphis 
 session (1867), President Oberly reported : "The conditional 
 card system has proved impracticable, and I therefore recom- 
 mend that it be repealed." Why did so excellent a measure 
 fail of success? Because, like scores of similar good meas- 
 ures in the history of all trades, it was born before its time. 
 For the past twenty years there have existed conditions condu- 
 cive to the successful adoption of a nine-hour working day. 
 What has been the cost to workingmen, in lost wages and lost 
 situations alone, of the eight-hour agitation? There is a 
 clever mot current among doctrinaires, but which does not 
 apply to the practical concerns of men, that "it is well often to 
 aim at the unattainable, as we thereby make attainable what 
 would otherwise be unattainable." On the contrary, no meas- 
 ure of labor reform can be vitalized in the absence of con- 
 junctive conditions and reciprocal relations. Strong unions 
 are slowly built up, step by step. 
 
 At the Albany session (1869) the National Union became 
 "The International Typographical Union, of North America," 
 declaring itself to possess " original and exclusive jurisdiction 
 in all matters pertaining to the fellowship of the craft in the 
 United States and British Provinces." This extension of juris- 
 diction was made at the right time, as immediately four unions 
 in Ontario (Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton and London), one in 
 Quebec (Montreal), one in New Brunswick (St. John), and 
 one in Nova Scotia (Halifax), joined the international organi- 
 zation. Another step in the right direction was taken at this 
 session, in the chartering of Women's Typographical Union 
 No. i, of New York City. Plans for regulating female labor 
 in printing offices had been discussed at previou,s sessions, but 
 no satisfactory conclusion was reached until the Constitution 
 was amended to the effect that "the subordinate unions shall not 
 legislate against women compositors where they conform to 
 the laws and requirements of the International Typographical 
 Union." This wise settlement of the vexed question opened 
 the doors of local unions to competent female compositors 
 and raised their labor to the wage scale of male compositors.
 
 l88 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 Thus justice at last prevailed over custom, and the old parti- 
 tion wall of restriction, dividing the labor of the sexes, was 
 demolished, it is hoped for all time, in the printing craft. 
 
 At the Montreal session (1873) the Constitution was so 
 amended as to permit the formation of pressmen's unions, and 
 two of them (Washington and Detroit) were organized dur- 
 ing that year. These unions have materially strengthened 
 the craft in large cities, and wield a power in strikes which 
 cannot well be over-estimated. 
 
 It is safe to assert that the International Typographical 
 Union is the oldest national craft-organization in the country, 
 gauged by the standard of continuous existence. Its consti- 
 tution and rules of government have served as models for 
 other skilled labor unions ; and although the Union has been 
 often charged with " selfishness " and " exclusiveness " by sis- 
 ter unions, yet it has generally given its influence and aid, at 
 the proper time, to confederations of skilled labor. During 
 the existence of the first National Labor Union, the union 
 printers were ably represented therein by Mr. Andrew C. 
 Cameron, of Chicago, and others. At the Washington ses- 
 sion (1879) tne corresponding secretary of the International 
 Typographical Union was directed to correspond with the 
 different " International Labor Unions of North America " on 
 the subject of uniting the trades-unions more closely for mu- 
 tual defence and support. Notwithstanding many discourage- 
 ments, the first convention was held at Terre Haute, Ind., in 
 August, 1881, which adjourned to meet in Pittsburgh, Nov. 
 I5th, when one hundred and seven delegates, representing 
 fourteen States, assembled and perfected the organization 
 known as " The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor 
 Unions of the United States and Canada." The platform of 
 the Federation is broad, liberal, practical, and modern ; de- 
 manding the passage of laws for the incorporation of trades- 
 unions and similar labor organizations (one was passed by 
 the Forty-ninth Congress) ; advocating State legislation en- 
 forcing the education of children, favoring the passage of 
 laws forbidding the employment of children under fourteen 
 years of age, demanding the enactment of uniform appren-
 
 PRINTERS' STRIKES. 189 
 
 tice laws, and the enforcement of the national eight-hour 
 law, urging the repeal of laws providing for the employ- 
 ment of convicts under the contract system, favoring the 
 passage of laws to secure the mechanic the first lien upon 
 the product of his labor, demanding the repeal of " conspir- 
 acy laws" as applied to organized labor, calling for national 
 legislation to prevent the importation of foreign laborers under 
 contract, etc. As the International Union proudly claims the 
 paternity of this important organization, and its delegates 
 have thus far held prominent place in its management and 
 legislation, the slur of "craft exclusiveness " may as well be 
 dropped by some sister unions. 
 
 In the matter of strikes, it is safe to assert that no skilled 
 mechanics in this country have passed through such trying 
 experiences as the union printers. The business history of 
 nearly every prominent newspaper and jobbing establishment 
 has its "strike" paragraph or page. The list of surrendered 
 charters on the records of the International Union only shows 
 the total wrecking of subordinate unions ; it does not indicate 
 the great number of crippling compromises, abortive arbitra- 
 tions, and unsuccessful local strikes, which have marked the 
 history of the printing trade for the past thirty years. And 
 these results are not to be wondered at when we consider that 
 this organization, composed of a remarkably intelligent and 
 independent membership, -has been the pioneer in testing and 
 enforcing " usages and customs " in trade-unionism which 
 were neither congenerous to, nor appreciated by, other trades. 
 It has not alone been a series of struggles between capital 
 and labor, about wage-scales and hours of work, but the jus- 
 tice or injustice of craft privileges has held a prominent place 
 in disputes between employers and employees. And in these 
 contentions the union printers have almost uniformly found 
 the whole power of the press arrayed against them ; but, even 
 against such great odds, " the men of the stick " have kept 
 their place in the front rank of skilled labor, and are deserv- 
 edly proud of the acknowledged strength and pre-eminence 
 of their national organization. 
 
 Among the general laws governing subordinate unions, is
 
 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 the following section on strikes, which shows the advanced 
 position held by the craft on this troublesome question : 
 
 The International Union regards the result of strikes as inexpedient, except 
 where the rules or principles of the International or of a subordinate union 
 may have been violated. Recognizing strikes as detrimental to the best inter- 
 ests of the craft, it directs subordinate unions not to order a strike until every 
 possible effort has been made to settle the difficulty by arbitration. 
 
 The preceding pages present sorne of the prominent fea- 
 tures in the historical background of the International Union. 
 During the thirty-six years of its existence, scores of import- 
 ant craft questions have been discussed at the annual sessions, 
 such as Sunday work, establishment of a home for superan- 
 nuated printers, status of subordinate unions in relation to the 
 national body, uniform constitution for subordinate unions, 
 territorial jurisdiction of unions, and the international (strike) 
 fund. 
 
 The general laws of the organization have long been con- 
 sidered as models in their way and have proved to be capable 
 of the preservation and promotion of the interest of this great 
 trades-union. These are summarized in the extracts from the 
 first general address quoted in the opening of this chapter. 
 Among other things, the general laws provide that no sub- 
 ordinate union shall admit a person who has worked at the 
 trade for less than five years, or who is under twenty years of 
 age. These general laws also favor admitting employers to 
 membership, when practical printers, if they so desire. One 
 of the most interesting provisions of the general laws is the 
 following : 
 
 Subordinate unions, foremen of offices, and chapels, shall make no distinc- 
 tion on account of sex in persons holding International Traveling Cards. 
 Female compositors holding such cards are entitled to all the privileges and 
 benefits conferred by them, and subordinate unions must recognize that fact. 
 Subordinate unions cannot refuse women admission on account of sex.
 
 OFFICERS, SESSIONS, ETC. 
 
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 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 SHOEMAKERS IN THE MOVEMENT. 
 
 " Oh ! Workers of the old time, styled 
 
 The gentle craft of leather! 
 Young brothers of the ancient guild, 
 
 Stand forth once more together ! 
 Call out again your long array, 
 
 In the olden merry manner ; 
 Once more, on gay St. Crispin's day, 
 
 Fling out your blazoned banner ! " 
 
 Whit tier. 
 \ 
 
 HAND WORK IN THE OLDEN TIME THE LITTLE SHOP ITS EDUCATIONAL- 
 INFLUENCE THE NEWSPAPER AND THE DEBATE COUNTRY WORK 
 MACHINERY AND CHANGES WROUGHT BY IT ORGANIZATIONS THE 
 CRISPINS THEIR FOUNDER GROWTH OF THE ORDER DECADENCE 
 AND MORAL L ASTERS' PROTECTIVE UNION METHODS AND PRINCI- 
 PLES THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR LARGE SUPPORT FROM SHOEMAKERS 
 THE INDUSTRIAL WAR LYNN IN 1860 BROCKTON AND THE "42." 
 
 THE keen-witted cobbler who made holiday in Roman 
 streets to see and rejoice in Caesar's triumph, and whose 
 sharp retorts so ruffled the sensitive nerves of Tribune Marul- 
 lus, was the fitting representative of his craft. A " cobbler's 
 wit" has long been famed; and Shakespeare but used the 
 proverbial aptness of the shoemaker's tongue to spice the 
 opening scene of the great Roman tragedy. The tradi- 
 tions of the craft have been well preserved ; and while the 
 shoemaker of the nineteenth century no longer universally 
 " sticks to his last," yet the old-time front rank of compara- 
 tive intelligence has ever been maintained by the trade as a 
 whole. 
 
 The history of organized labor would be really incomplete 
 if the part played by the workers- in " the gentle craft of 
 leather" was to be omitted. The cobbler in the streets of 
 Rome, the guild brother in the middle ages, the early New 
 
 (192)
 
 THE SHOEMAKER OF ESSEX. 193 
 
 England hand-worker in the little shop, and the operative of 
 to-day, who guides an ingenious machine in the big factory, 
 have all left their imprint on the era in which they lived. 
 
 The leather industry is a typical one in its development 
 from the hand to machine labor ; but the shoe factory has 
 been far less potent than the cotton factory as yet, in crush- 
 ing out the individuality of the people employed in it. This 
 is due to a variety of causes, among them the comparatively 
 recent introduction of machinery, and superior organization 
 among shoemakers. 
 
 The labor question exists in this industry in all its force. 
 Here we find the sharp competition among manufactures for 
 the market, and the still sharper competition among the oper- 
 ators for work. This condition of the latter is interrupted by 
 the constant introduction of new labor-saving and profit-mak- 
 ing machinery, and the consequently increased facility with 
 which comparatively unskilled labor may be utilized in the 
 production of shoes. In addition to these drawbacks, shared 
 in common with most of the makers of staple commodities, 
 the shoemaker meets with difficulties peculiar to the craft. 
 Among these may be classed the " farmer and fisherman 
 shoemaker," hard to enroll in the ranks of labor organiza- 
 tion, and oftentimes a serious stumbling-block in the way of 
 the union of labor societies in their efforts to control the labor 
 market. 
 
 To fully comprehend the work done by shoemakers in 
 organization, in the face of these obstacles, it may be well to 
 glance at the development of the trade itself. 
 
 In 1634 Philip Kirtland established a shoemaking shop in 
 Lynn. Kirtland Street, in the west end of that city, is named 
 after him. The trade was not firmly established until nearly 
 a century and a quarter later, in 1750, when John Adam 
 Dagyr, the " celebrated shoemaker of Essex," went to Lynn, 
 laid the foundation of the modern trade. Dagyr was a Welsh- 
 man, and became successful and famous, although he met 
 with reverses, and finally died a pauper. During the first 
 half of the present century, New England was, even more 
 than at present, the abiding place of the shoemaker. As 
 
 (13)
 
 194 THE I..ABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 early as 1812 wagon loads of boots and shoes were sent from 
 Lynn and Haverhill to New York and Philadelphia. These 
 shoes were "hand-welts." The manufacturers cut the stock 
 and then gave it out to be made up in the little country shops. 
 With the coming of canals and railroads, furnishing the man- 
 ufacturer with means of transportation for the product of his 
 factory, the industry rapidly developed. 
 
 Previous to 1857 the wives and daughters of the country 
 shoemakers stitched the uppers at their homes. It was hard 
 and toilsome labor, but labor surrounded by far different influ- 
 ences from those which help to mould those employed in mak- 
 ing shoes. It should be pointed out, however, that the date 
 of the organization of shoemakers is nearly identical with that 
 of the establishment of the factory system ; that most of the 
 legislation, statutory or to be enforced by wage-workers, 
 aimed at by these organizations, relates to abnormal social 
 conditions brought about by the use of machines, and that 
 possibly the source of the unrest and sense of injustice so 
 largely permeating the wage class of to-day is due as much 
 to the inequitable division of the benefits of machinery, as to 
 any other one reason. 
 
 With the machine, in the abstract, the labor reformer can 
 have no contest. The futility of opposing the forces making 
 toward larger industrial development is clearly seen by him. 
 His utmost restrictive effort is to prevent sudden and radical 
 changes with consequent displacement of labor and attendant 
 suffering. The demand of the labor organization is, how- 
 ever, that the machine shall be the servant of the producing 
 masses as well as of the consuming ; that its benefits shall be 
 as great to the man who runs as to the man who owns it ; 
 that the leisure it creates accrue to mechanic as well as mil- 
 lionaire ; that the child and mother be not taken from the 
 home to operate it while the father is made a truant ; in short 
 that it be subordinated not alone to the greed of gain and 
 desire for cheapness of production among capitalists, but to 
 the needs, wants and general advancement of the working 
 people. Before machinery made necessary the massing of 
 large numbers of operatives in one factory, it is perhaps not
 
 THE M KAY STITCHER. 195 
 
 too much to say that almost every New England shoe shop 
 was a lyceum. Not so romantic, possibly, as the academic 
 groves where the Grecian seekers after truth gathered about 
 the old-time philosophers, but quite in harmony with that 
 Yankee combination of utility with a keen spirit of inquiry into 
 all things mundane and celestial. In the little shops of Lynn, 
 Haverhill, Milford and other shoe centres, it was a common 
 thing for the workmen to hire a boy to read to them while 
 they were at work, the contents of the last newspaper ; 
 questions public, philosophic and theoretical, were discussed 
 with zest and acumen amid uninterrupted tasks. It may be 
 noted that in Tchernychewsky's "What's to be Done," the Rus- 
 sian reformer describes this method of education as prevailing 
 in the modern co-operative shops directed by the heroine, 
 Vera Parlovnu. To this custom of daily reading and discus- 
 sions may doubtless be credited the many graduates from 
 the shoemaker's bench to positions of public trust. It was 
 about this date that the Singer sewing machine was intro- 
 duced. In 1859 Blake brought out his sole-sewing machine. 
 This was remodeled and improved by Gordon McKay, a 
 Lawrence mechanic, and the result was the McKay stitcher, 
 which completely revolutionized one branch of the manufact- 
 ure of shoes. Previous to the invention of this machine, all 
 the medium and low-priced shoes were pegged, this mode 
 of fastening the sole to the upper being cheaper than the two 
 seams necessary in the welted shoe. The McKay stitcher 
 superseded the hand-welt and turned process, and the large 
 manufactory superseded the small shops of the hand-worker. 
 Soon after this came the pegging machine; then heel trim- 
 mers and burnishers, edge-trimmers and setters, bottom-fin- 
 ishers and buffers, heel crimpers, polishers, button fasteners, 
 and scores of other machines followed in quick and bewilder- 
 ing profusion. By 1870 the present factory system was well 
 developed. 
 
 It is neither within the scope nor province of this chapter 
 to treat of .the effects physiological, pathological and socio- 
 logical of the introduction of machinery upon those im- 
 proved mechanisms of production. We may, perhaps, be
 
 196 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 pardoned a memory of regret for that time when the man 
 was more than a tender to the machine, and the military rule 
 of our present industrial system did not oppose a perpetual 
 menace to the individuality of the operative. 
 
 The training given its members by the Sons of St. Crispin 
 made them available material for the Knights of Labor, in 
 which society the shoemakers have long taken an active inter- 
 est. This is especially true of New England, where, until the 
 early part of 1884, by far the greater proportion of the 
 strength of the Order consisted of shoemakers, and even at 
 present nearly fifty per cent, of the members of the Knights 
 of Labor in Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire are 
 of the same craft. This being the case, the history of the 
 shoemakers in the Knights of Labor would, so far as New 
 England is concerned, be the history of the Order itself, which 
 is told in detail elsewhere. Chicago, Cincinnati, Rochester, 
 Detroit, Philadelphia, and the shoe towns of Massachusetts, 
 had local assemblies of the society early formed. 
 
 The peculiar nature of the shoe industry, with its many 
 branches of labor, formed an excellent field for the practical 
 test of some of the principles of the K. of L. In no other 
 trade, perhaps, has arbitration, in this country, at least, been 
 so thoroughly tried, and in no other trade has it, from the 
 very nature of the case, been so successful. The present 
 system of shoemaking may be compared to a complicated 
 and delicately organized machine, which must be kept in 
 good running order, and in which frictions between the parts 
 must be abolished as much as possible. While arbitration 
 has not proved an infallible lubricating oil, yet it has modi- 
 fied many of the lesser and some of the graver complications 
 arising between employer and employee in the shoe trade. 
 This has been notably the case when the proper machinery 
 for arbitration has been created. In Philadelphia the "Joint 
 Board of Arbitration" brought into being the famous "Phila- 
 delphia Rules," which have been adopted in some other sec- 
 tions of the country, and which are referred to elsewhere in 
 this chapter. In Lynn and Beverly a "Municipal Board" 
 serves to form a channel for arbitration ; in Brockton a "Joint
 
 SHOEMAKERS IN THE K. OF L. 
 
 Council" and in Haverhill a "Joint Board of Arbitration" 
 serve the same purpose. 
 
 The system of organization obtaining in the Order of the 
 Knights of Labor, has also been advantageous to its growth 
 among shoemakers. It was comparatively an easy matter 
 for the trade society to organize the cities, but difficult to get 
 a hold on the country. The local assembly of the Knights 
 of Labor overcame this difficulty by enrolling men of all 
 trades in one branch, where necessary, and developed its 
 greatest strength at first in New England in the shoemaking 
 villages, towns, and smaller cities. Marblehead (L. A. 500) 
 had the honor of the parent assembly, and Lynn, Wey- 
 mouth, West Quincy, Newburyport, Natick, Milford, and 
 Stoneham are near the head of the list as to priority of or- 
 ganization. Every District Master Workman of District 
 Assembly 30 has been a shoemaker at some time of his life, 
 and most of its executive officers are to-day of the same 
 trade. 
 
 Two distinctively trade districts of the Knights of Labor 
 exist at present, one in Philadelphia (No. 70) , an offshoot 
 of District Assembly No. i, and one in New York, No. 91. 
 New England shoemakers have had the formation of a trade 
 district under consideration for some time, but have, from one 
 cause or another, postponed its construction. 
 
 It is as yet a question among the Knights of Labor, and 
 one in which the shoemakers take an active interest, as to 
 whether the purposes of the organization can be best sub- 
 served by the system of trade or mixed districts. It is claimed 
 by advocates of the former system that celerity in the doing 
 of business, economy, and greater power can be obtained by 
 first organizing a trade by itself, and then amalgamating in 
 the general body ; while the supporters of the latter proposi- 
 tion assert that the trade interest should always be kept sub- 
 ordinate to the general welfare, and that this can only be 
 done by organizing mixed local assemblies. Upon the final 
 decision of this question will largely depend the line upon 
 which future organization of the shoemakers of the country 
 will advance.
 
 198 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 Labor organizations among shoemakers may practically be 
 embraced under three heads the Knights of St. Crispin, the 
 Lasters' Protective Union, and the Knights of Labor. Other 
 organizations of a temporary nature have existed in the trade, 
 and there are at present local unions of edge-setters, trimmers, 
 cutters, etc., here and there. These latter societies are merg- 
 ing, one by one, into the Knights of Labor, and eventually 
 \\ill doubtless become a part of that organization. While the 
 local unions may serve a temporary useful purpose, yet the 
 lesson of the labor organizations of the past seems to be 
 plainly that in the age of collective capital there must be a 
 larger co-operation among the wage-workers than the isolated 
 local union is able to give. 
 
 Of the distinctive shoemakers' organizations of America 
 that of the "Knights of St. Crispin" must be accorded foremost 
 mention. The history of the growth and disintegration of this 
 Order makes an interesting and instructive chapter. Here 
 was a powerful combination of intelligent men, extending 
 over the country and numbering at one time many thousand 
 members, practising the virtues of arbitration and -co-opera- 
 tion, electing its representatives by scores to the Legislatures, 
 yet without cohesive power enough to hold together to accom- 
 plish the purposes for which it was formed. 
 
 The Order of the Knights of St. Crispin, like that of the 
 Knights of Labor, was formulated mainly by one man. 
 Newell Daniels, a boot-treer of Milford, Mass., in 1864, first 
 conceived the main points of that organization, drafting a 
 crude constitution, and talking the idea over with some of his 
 fellow-workmen. Daniels went West before his proposed so- 
 ciety had taken definite shape in Milford. He finally located 
 in Milwaukee, Wis., and it was not until the first of March, 
 1867, that his long-contemplated scheme took definite shape 
 in a working lodge of Crispins. The seven founders of the 
 original lodge in Milwaukee were: Newell Daniels, S. ; 
 Samuel Wilson, S. K. ; W. C. Haynes, K. ; Albert Jenkins, 
 I. S. ; Thomas Houren, O. S. ; F. W. Wallace, Usher; and 
 Henry Palmer. Wallace gave the Order its name, in honor 
 of the patron-saint of the shoemakers, and a ritual had been
 
 GRAND LODGE OF ST. CRISPIN. 199 
 
 prepared by Daniels, which was accepted after some modifi- 
 cation by a committee of three, appointed for that purpose. 
 
 The German Custom Shoemakers' Union, of Milwaukee, 
 soon after this adopted this Crispin plan of organization, and 
 became Lodge No. 2. The Shoemakers' Union, of Chicago, 
 was visited by Daniels in April, but did not at that time accept 
 his invitation to join the Crispins. A circular was drafted by 
 Daniels, setting forth the plans of the Order, and, to use his 
 own words, " sent to every place where we knew there was 
 a shoemaker." Responses were received from various parts 
 of the country, and in September Daniels was sent East to 
 propagate Crispin principles, and to organize societies where 
 possible. Lodges were formed by him in Oswego, N. Y., 
 and in Hopkinton, Milford and Stoughton, Mass. Chicago 
 was the next place to fall into line, and the Knights of St. 
 Crispin may be said to have fairly taken root. In January, 
 1868, charters were issued and a remodeled constitution 
 printed, the preamble of which was written by Martin Gavin, 
 the former corresponding secretary of the Chicago Shoe- 
 makers' Union, who had removed to Milwaukee and become 
 a member of the senior lodge there. Local lodges were now 
 formed quite rapidly. Stoneham, Natick, West Medway, 
 Woburn, Worcester, Upton, Spencer, Danvers, Boston and 
 Webster were among the first towns in Massachusetts to 
 next organize. 
 
 The first Grand Lodge meeting was held in Rochester, 
 in 1868, about sixty charters having been issued. Martin 
 Gavin was chosen as the first presiding officer over the 
 Grand Lodge. 
 
 The preamble of the constitution, as finally adopted, was 
 as follows : 
 
 The objects of this organization are to protect its members from injurious 
 competition, and secure thorough unity of action among all workers on boots 
 or shoes in every section of the country; claiming, as we do, that labor is 
 capital, and the only capital that possesses power to reproduce itself, or, in 
 other words, to create capital ; that labor is the interest underlying every other 
 interest, and therefore is entitled to, and should receive from, society and gov- 
 ernment protection and encouragement. 
 
 Recognizing the right of the manufacturer or capitalist to control his capi- 
 tal, we also claim and shall exercise the right to control our labor, and to be
 
 2OO THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 consulted in determining the price paid for it, a right hitherto denied us; 
 and believe an international organization, embracing all workers on boots or 
 shoes in the United States and provinces of North America, is the only way 
 in which this right can be successfully vindicated. 
 
 We believe also in co-operation as a proper and efficient remedy for many of 
 the evils of the present iniquitous system of wages that concedes to the laborer 
 only so much of his own productions as shall make comfortable living a bare 
 possibility, and places education and social position beyond his reach. 
 
 We therefore urge all workers on boots and shoes, in every section of the 
 country, to join us in this effort to secure, through the power of organization, 
 both for ourselves and our children after us, a steady demand and fair com- 
 pensation for our toil, and a position in society, to which, as wealth-producers 
 and loyal citizens, we are justly entitled. 
 
 W T e censure the system of a Crispin making a profit on the labor of a 
 brother Crispin as contrary to the spirit of Crispinism. 
 
 The following regulation from a subsequent constitution 
 governing local lodges indicates a vital defect in the Knights 
 of St. Crispin : 
 
 No member of this Order shall teach, or aid in teaching, any part or parts 
 of boot or shoe-making, unless the lodge shall give permission by a three- 
 fourths vote of those present, and voting when such permission is first asked. 
 Provided, this article shall not be so construed as to prevent a father from 
 teaching his own son. Provided, also, that this article shall not be so con- 
 strued as to hinder any member of this organization from learning any or all 
 parts of the trade. 
 
 For five subsequent years, after the Rochester session of 
 1868, the Order of the Knights of St. Crispin was a power 
 in the land. It made and unmade politicians ; it established 
 a monthly journal ; it started co-operative stores ; it fought, 
 often successfully, against threatened reductions of wages and 
 for better returns to its members for labor performed ; it grew 
 rapidly in numbers, and became international in its scope ; it 
 is estimated that four hundred lodges and forty thousand 
 members at one time owed it allegiance ; it became the 
 undoubted foremost trade organization of the world. 
 
 Among the men prominent in its councils and holding posi- 
 tions of high executive trust and responsibility, were Richard 
 Griffiths, since General Worthy Foreman of the Knights of 
 Labor; Ralph Beaumont, "the Elmira shoemaker"; S. P. 
 Cummings, of Lynn ; C. C. Mower, of Upton ; James P.
 
 FAILURE OF THE CRISPINS. 2OI 
 
 Wright, of Baltimore ; Robert Schilling, of Milwaukee ; 
 Nathaniel Stoddard, of Brockton; Charles S. Goodwin, of 
 Haverhill ; B. B. Scully, of Lynn, and scores of others. 
 
 The reaction came. The sixth annual session of the Grand 
 Lodge, held in Cleveland, in June, 1873, revealed a deplora- 
 ble spirit of discord and distrust existing in the organization. 
 The " Report of the I. G. S. K." might contain these words : 
 "Something has got to be done, or this order will be a thing 
 of the past from the adjournment of this Convention." The 
 Convention tried vainly to do this " something." It discussed 
 co-operation and arbitration, and proposed plans to put these 
 principles into effect, but it could find no substitutes for the 
 spirit of confidence and solidarity which had given the order 
 its power and prestige. The subsequent twelve months wit- 
 nessed the rapid decay of the society, and when a few dele- 
 gates assembled in Philadelphia, in June, 1874, at the seventh 
 session of the Grand Lodge, as one of them .told the writer, 
 they " attended the funeral of|the Knights of St. Crispin." 
 
 Faith in the Crispin idea was not wholly extinct, however, 
 and a few men, headed by B. B. Scully, of Lynn, went zeal- 
 ously at work to revive the organization. After a year's hard 
 work, in 1875, they succeeded in getting it re-established in 
 some thirty shoe towns of Massachusetts, and it was again 
 pvished westward as far as Chicago. In 1877 the order in 
 Lynn defeated an attempt of the manufacturers to impose an 
 "iron-clad" on employees. For a time the new departure 
 seemed to flourish, but the forces which had shattered the 
 original movement still held powerful, and ,the revival was 
 but temporary, and by 1878 the order was practically extinct. 
 
 Among the causes alleged by old members of the Order, as 
 responsible for the downfall of the Knights of St. Crispin, 
 are interfering in politics, treachery of leaders, high salaried 
 officers, etc. To the dispassionate observer, it would seem 
 as if a deeper reason exists for the failure. 
 
 The labor movement, in common with all physical and 
 mental phenomena, is subject to the law of evolution. The 
 Crispin idea of establishing a monopoly in labor on shoes, 
 had in it inherent defects, which brought about its decline
 
 202 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 There was much that was practical, much that was good, in 
 the early work of the society. Its base was not broad enough 
 to support the superstructure, and it consequently toppled 
 over of its own weight. 
 
 The Crispins failed, not because they were a trade organi- 
 zation, but because, while seeking justice for their own mem- 
 bers, they failed to be just to the workers outside their fold. 
 The excessive restrictions imposed by local lodges on their 
 members against teaching any parts of boot or shoe making 
 to others, was as untenable a position as the "iron-clad" of 
 the manufacturers. 
 
 In addition to this especial weakness of the Knights of 
 St. Crispin, the order was afflicted with the usual bane of 
 labor societies, diverse theories among those enrolled in its 
 ranks. In the first flush of enthusiasm, its progress was 
 rapid. The mere fact of organization conferred a benefit. 
 After the primary stage had been passed, and expectation 
 had ripened into performances more or less disappointing, 
 the Order branched out from its original intent, and tried to 
 revolutionize social conditions and qualities of human nature, 
 which are susceptible of modification only after long and per- 
 sistent effort. It undertook a task beyond its strength, and 
 discord, suspicion and jealousy helped to dig its grave. 
 
 The lesson of the Order of the Knights of St. Crispin is not 
 necessarily a dispiriting one. From its ruins, other orders 
 have been evolved ; from its mistakes, wisdom may be gained 
 for the future. The band of earnest men who made sacri- 
 fices in its behalf deserve all honor and praise as the forerun- 
 ners of that larger army which is to carry the banner of labor 
 reform to ultimate victory. 
 
 The Lasters' Protective Union of New England occupies 
 a unique position among organizations of workers on shoes. 
 In all other divisions of the trade the machine has materially 
 modified the condition of labor; but the laster, with his 
 "jack," hammer and pincers, is yet one of the few handi- 
 craftmen of the nineteenth century. Repeated attempts have 
 been made by cunning and inventive geniuses to supplant the 
 lasters with the "iron idol" that never strikes, and is never-
 
 LASTERS PROTECTIVE UNION. 2OJ 
 
 hungry or tired. Various degrees of success have crowned 
 their attempts, but a complete substitute for the peculiar skill 
 and judgment required to last a shoe by hand has not as yet 
 been found. The secret of the difficulty of the problem is 
 due to the fact that the work of fitting the upper to the sole of 
 a shoe is not automatic. Each pair of shoes, and not infre- 
 quently " rights " and " lefts " of the same pair, require a 
 trifle of difference of treatment in order to be a perfect job. 
 This is caused by variation in quality and condition of leather, 
 defects in work done before the shoe reaches the laster, etc. 
 To make a machine which will take account of all these dis- 
 tinctions is apparently as hard as to make one which will 
 set type correctly, and so the laster and the compositor are 
 not yet driven from the field of hand labor by the all-con- 
 quering genii of the machine, although the time is doubtless 
 near at hand when the inevitable law of development in the 
 world of production will bring about this result. 
 
 The success of the Lasters' Protective Union must, in a 
 large degree, be attributed to the conditions stated in the fore- 
 going paragraph, as well as to its form of organization and 
 excellent administration. As shoes cannot be made without 
 lasting, and as lasting cannot be done without lasters, the 
 problem before the unions has been a simpler one than in di- 
 visions of the craft where the machine turns out from fifty to 
 a hundred cases of shoes per day. 
 
 After the banner of St. Crispin had fallen and the twin foes 
 of all labor societies, discord and apathy, had done their work 
 in that once powerful Order, the shoemakers of New England 
 went back to the old plan of "every man for himself, and the 
 the devil take the hindmost." It is needless to say that his 
 Satanic Majesty improved the opportunity. The spirit of 
 competition among manufacturers for a market for their shoes 
 brought about the inevitable "bear" pressure upon the market 
 for labor. Yearly reductions in wages in all the shoe-making 
 centres naturally followed. The Order of the Knights of 
 Labor was practically unknown in New England, and once 
 again by sad experience the shoemaker learned the lesson 
 that in an age of associated industry, if he desired a fair
 
 204 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 return for his labor he also must associate himself with his 
 fellows. 
 
 In December, 1869, sixteen Lynn lasters came together and 
 organized under the name of the "Lasters' Protective Union." 
 The lasters were among the poorest paid of any of the opera- 
 tives in the shoe trade, and had been among the first to feel 
 the effects of the repeated reductions. The Lynn Union was 
 successful in several minor undertakings, and the lasters in 
 other places followed the example of their Lynn brethren 
 and also formed unions. A convention of the various local 
 branches was soon afterwards held and a constitution adopted. 
 The subsequent growth of the Union in New England has 
 been a steady one, and on August i, 1886, there were in ex- 
 istence fifty-three branches, with an approximate membership 
 of ten thousand individuals. The constitution of the Union 
 sets forth as its objects : "To acquire a thorough understand- 
 ing of the needs and requirements of each branch ; to secure 
 the elevation of our labor and perpetuation of our organiza- 
 tion ; to render necessary assistance in time of trouble to any 
 branch of our organization which may be engaged in striving 
 to maintain or better the present condition of the labor of its 
 members." This declaration is not so ambitious as that of 
 some other labor societies. There is no indication in it of 
 an attempt to revolutionize society or to overturn the existing 
 order of things, but, measured by the test of real improvement 
 in the wages and condition of its members, the Lasters' Pro- 
 tectve Union may perhaps claim that its work, during the 
 period since its formation, compares favorably with that of 
 any other association of wage-workers. 
 
 The various general conventions of the unions have evolved 
 the following plan of government as the most practical and 
 effective in the adjustment of all disputes arising between 
 employers and members of the Lasters' Protective Union. 
 A general secretary is elected annually at a salary of one 
 thousand dollars per year. This officer performs the routine 
 clerical work of the general body, keeps the local branches 
 informed of all difficulties arising in the trade, compiles from 
 the accounts of the local secretaries a statistical account of
 
 VARIOUS ORGANIZATIONS OF SHOEMAKERS. 205 
 
 wages paid in each locality, and in addition acts as traveling 
 executive officer of the unions in all cases of differences with 
 an employer. Those who are accustomed to regard the sala- 
 ried offices of labor societies as sinecures may possibly ex- 
 empt the general secretary of the Lasters' Union from the 
 list. The present "Pooh Bah," in the service of the lasters, 
 is Mr. Edward L. Daley, of Lynn, and his conservatism, 
 probity, judgment and ability, are freely conceded by manu- 
 facturers and men alike. The general secretary is assisted 
 in his executive work by a general advisory board. This 
 board is made up of one member from each local branch. 
 In cases of dispute requiring the services of the general ad- 
 visory board, three members of that board act, viz. : the 
 general secretary, the local member, and the representative 
 of the branch situated nearest to the locality of the trouble. 
 This provides for an efficient committee at a small cost. 
 
 The Lasters' Union adopted at the beginning, and has 
 maintained until the present time, what may be called an 
 energetic policy ; that is, while always practicing conciliation 
 and giving the employer a chance to arbitrate at the com- 
 mencement of a controversy, yet if other means fail, it has 
 no scruples in using more vigorous methods, believing that 
 the control of the labor market is as essentially the province 
 of the labor organization, as the control of capital is of the 
 capitalist. The Marblehead strike of 1883, embracing twelve 
 shops, and the Brockton lockouts of 1885 and 1886, are 
 among the most notable contests in which the union has 
 been concerned. 
 
 The question of merging with the Knights of Labor has 
 several times been considered by the Lasters' Union in their 
 conventions, but while many of its members, probably the 
 majority, are Knights of Labor, yet the Union, as a whole, 
 has preferred to preserve its autonomy as a trade organi- 
 zation. 
 
 The various organizations of shoemakers have all had their 
 Sedans and Waterloos, their Bunker Hills and Gettysburgs 
 on the industrial battlefield. Never as yet forced to the 
 starved submission of the cotton-factory folk, shoemakers
 
 2O6 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 have always been ready to accept the gage of battle in de- 
 fence of principle. Organized and unorganized, they have 
 pitted themselves against the " passionless endurance of the 
 almighty dollar," sometimes winning and sometimes losing, 
 in that anomalous strife continually going on between the 
 two factors of modern production. Many of the memorable 
 strikes of shoemakers have been for the recognition of their 
 right to organize. And the tenacity with which the employ- 
 ing classes hold to assumed prerogatives, may be noted in 
 the fact that after a quarter of a century of contention for 
 this right by labor organizations, the Knights of Labor are 
 obliged, in 1886, to fight again over the same ground, and 
 even in the old Commonwealth of Massachusetts to invoke 
 the entire strength of the organization for the exercise of this 
 privilege by its members. 
 
 The stories of these contests, their comedies, melodramas 
 and tragedies, would perhaps be as valuable to coming gen- 
 erations as the chronicles of the noisier battle-fields of his- 
 tory ; but our space will permit detail in the case of but two 
 typical ones, the Lynn strike of 1860, and the Brockton 
 strike, or lockout, of 1885. 
 
 Lynn early became the "city of shoes," the farmer settlers 
 of the locality turning their attention to this industry. The 
 figures of the trade for 1859, while insignificant in compari- 
 son with the immense volume of shoe business transacted in 
 1885, are yet indicative of the fact that the Lynn of that year 
 \vas the shoe centre of New England. There were in ex- 
 istence at that period one hundred and thirty-eight small 
 manufactories, with a product of about four million, five hun- 
 dred thousand pairs of women's and children's shoes. These 
 factories gave employment to eleven thousand persons, over 
 half of whom did the most of their work at home. The 
 leather was first cut by "clickers" in the large shops. The 
 uppers were then turned over to the "binders," female 
 workers, who, at their homes, prepared them for the 
 " cordwainers," and returned them to the factories. The 
 cordwainers received the uppers and soles from the factories 
 and made them up.
 
 THE LYNN STRIKE. 2C7 
 
 Prior to 1860, labor organization was almost totally un- 
 known. The individual looked after his interest as best he 
 could. Wages were low, averaging for male labor not over 
 one dollar a day, and the supply of farmers' sons who were 
 anxious to learn the business was practically unlimited. 
 Trade had not recovered from the panic of 1857, and the 
 winter of 1859 f un d many manufacturers doing but little 
 work, and privation visited the homes of many of the Lynn 
 cordwainers. 
 
 A spirit of unrest and discontent was abroad all over the 
 state. From Milford, Natick and Marlboro came reports of 
 dissatisfaction with the prices paid for labor. Alonzo G. 
 Draper, afterward a brigadier-general in the Union army, 
 and at that time editor of the New England Mechanic, for a 
 year had advocated concerted action for increase in prices. 
 The discontent in Lynn gradually took shape. Committees 
 were formed, and the question of wages discussed. On the 
 evening of February 3, 1860, a great mass meeting was held 
 in the old Lyceum Hall, to consider whether a strike was 
 advisable. George P. Sanderson, afterward mayor, was 
 chairman, and ad'dresses were made by Gideon F. Howard, 
 of South Randolph ; George Cahill, of Quincy ; James Dil- 
 lon and A. G. Draper, -of Lynn. On February 8th a price- 
 list was adopted and resolutions were passed pledging those 
 present to strike unless the list was accepted by the manufac- 
 turers. At a subsequent meeting, February I5th, in Lyceum 
 Hall, it was voted that nearly twelve hundred workmen were 
 ready to strike, and it was determined to fix February 22d as 
 the date for the beginning of the contest. Accordingly, on 
 the morning of the birth-day of the Father of his Country, 
 five thousand people, assembled in Central Square, were ad- 
 dressed by speakers, and then paraded through the streets. 
 The great strike of 1860 had begun. 
 
 Lynn has seen many strikes since that date, but it is safe to 
 say that in none of them has there been a more determined 
 purpose, more unity of action, or more exciting incidents than 
 in that of 1860, of the cordwainers. The strike is further 
 interesting, as from it resulted the trades organization, which,
 
 208 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 in one form or another, has since prevailed among the Sons 
 of St. Cripin. 
 
 For seven weeks, or until April 12, the struggle continued. 
 All the accompaniments of the modern strike were present, 
 while there were several decidedly unique features peculiar to 
 the time. Oratory, parades, music, banners, etc., abounded. 
 Candy pulls, chopping bees, clam chowders, furnished enter- 
 tainment to the strikers. Comparatively little suffering is re- 
 corded as existing among the families of the participants. The 
 turbulent element occasionally cropped out, and a "scab" was 
 argued with by physical suasion until he saw the folly of his 
 way. Express wagons carrying work into the country were 
 overturned and the cases of shoes taken away. 
 
 On March 7th nearly two thousand stitchers joined the 
 strike and a grand procession was inaugurated. ' The Lynn 
 Guards, with music, headed the column ; then came the 
 female strikers, with flags and banners, followed by four 
 thousand workmen, fire companies, etc., ; the whole making 
 an imposing display. A heavy fall of snow commenced, but 
 it did not dampen the ardor of the enthusiastic girls. Each 
 succeeding day brought with it some diversion, and the old 
 Lynn resident has a stock of racy anecdote as a relic of the 
 period. The strikers were organized by wards, and it was 
 customary to gather daily in Central Square, and from thence 
 march wherever the business of the day was to be. One day 
 a trip was made to Marblehead. On another a procession 
 marched to Salem. A clam chowder in Rock's pasture, a 
 tramp to South Reading and Stoneham, a "candy scrape" and 
 dance, were among other notable events. A favorite amuse- 
 ment of the strikers was to escort the fresh converts to the 
 factories, while they formally gave up' their jobs. This 
 ceremony was always performed with music and due im- 
 pressiveness. An illustration of the discipline prevailing 
 among the militia of that time may be found in the following 
 incident : Colonel Coffin ordered Company F to stand guard 
 to quell any possible outbreak. Many of the company were 
 cordwainers, and the organization voted to escort the strikers, 
 which it accordingly did.
 
 THE BROCKTON STRIKE. 209 
 
 After the strike had continued for five or six weeks, the 
 necessity for a permanent organization was seen. The 
 "Journeymen Cordwainers' Association" was formed, and a 
 constitution and by-laws adopted. On the evening of April 
 1 2th a big mass-meeting was held, and as the result of its 
 deliberations, it was 
 
 ResolvcJ That we now commit our cause, with all its interests, into the 
 hands of the organization known as the Journeymen Cordwainers' Associa- 
 tion, whose avowed objects are the protection of labor and the promotion of 
 the welfare of that great branch of industry which has rendered the name of 
 our city so well-known throughout the Union. 
 
 The outcome of the strike was a compromise in the matter 
 of prices, and the establishment of a union for future use- 
 fulness. 
 
 The "Brockton strike " of 1885 deserves more than a pass- 
 ing notice by reason of its bearing upon the recognition of 
 certain principles contended for by labor organizations. Sev- 
 eral minor misunderstandings having arising in Brockton dur- 
 ing the autumn of 1885, forty-two of the shoe manufacturers 
 of that city associated themselves together to maintain the 
 untenable position that there should properly be but one party 
 to a labor contract, and that party the employer. On Novem- 
 ber 1 2th the famous "forty-two" issued a manifesto to the 
 lasters in their employ, stating that on and after November 
 i6th the price for lasting would be fixed at a rate appended- 
 In the manifesto was this paragraph : " We believe in the 
 individual right of all to hire or discharge whomsoever he 
 may choose, as well as the workman's right to work when- 
 ever and wherever it is for his interest so to do." As a result: 
 of this manifesto, all members of the Lasters' Union were 
 ordered by that body, on the I4th, to stop work, and two days 
 later the finishers followed suit. The Knights of Labor, 
 through their joint board, passed resolutions deprecating the 
 action of the manufacturers in ignoring the labor organiza- 
 tions, and pledged the support of the order in assisting the 
 lasters to win that recognition. A committee of arbitration 
 of nine men, representing all the labor organizations of the 
 shoe trade in the city, waited upon President Geo. E. Keith, 
 
 (14)
 
 2IO THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 of the manufacturers' association, and through him requested 
 that association to meet with them with a view to settling the 
 existing difficulty by arbitration. The request was refused, 
 Mr. Keith stating "that it was no use to talk, as the manu- 
 facturers had set their prices." The committee withdrew, 
 feeling they had done all that was possible toward a peace- 
 ful and honorable adjustment. On the Wednesday following 
 (i8th) the Executive Board of District Assembly 30, Knights 
 of Labor, also endeavored to obtain a conference with the 
 " forty-two," but their communication was ignored. The 
 manufacturers seemed determined to force the contest upon 
 the issue raised, and as the surrender by the labor organiza- 
 tions of the right to be consulted at the making of a price list 
 would have been the virtual surrender of their utility, there 
 seemed to be no alternative except a trial of strength. Con- 
 sequently the forty-two shops were soon deserted, the amount 
 of their weekly pay-roll of $71,000 was withdrawn from cir- 
 culation, and 5,755 operatives entered upon a period of idle- 
 ness. 
 
 To this struggle, there could be but one outcome. Public 
 opinion was overwhelmingly on the side of the employees, 
 and was retained by them during the weeks that followed by 
 the sobriety, peacefulness and invariable good order pre- 
 served by the strikers. There was a total absence of any- 
 thing like physical intimidation during the continuance of the 
 trouble, the police record showed a marked decrease in cases 
 of drunkenness, and the whole course of procedure of the 
 operatives was that of a law-abiding, orderly community con- 
 tending for the recognition of a just and important principle, 
 affecting their industrial welware. One week passed by, 
 two weeks, and the third was drawing to a close. The ex- 
 pected collapse in the labor ranks had not come. The most 
 needy had been assisted from the treasuries of the societies 
 and from individual sources. The outlook was not cheering ; 
 winter was rapidly approaching, and the howl of the hunger- 
 wolf could be heard at a distance by anxious parents watch- 
 ing over little ones. On the other hand, the plight of the 
 "forty-two" was unenviable. The smaller manufacturers,
 
 PHILADELPHIA RULES. 211 
 
 especially, were growing restive. Machinery was standing 
 idle, interest on borrowed capital was accumulating, and 
 competitors were encroaching upon their markets. 
 
 The Brockton manufacturers, some forty in number, who 
 had not joined the association, were running their shops at 
 full capacity. To the pressure of these circumstances the 
 " forty-two " finally yielded, and on- November 3oth voted to 
 place the entire settlement of the trouble in the hands of their 
 executive committee. As a result of this step, the committee 
 invited the joint labor board to confer with them, and after 
 repeated interviews "a set of rules and regulations was 
 adopted for the government of Brockton factories and the 
 avoidance of future industrial warfare. These rules and 
 regulations were based upon the "Philadelphia Rules," so- 
 called from their previous adoption and use by the Philadel- 
 phia shoe manufacturers and operatives. These rules, in 
 substance, embodied: I. The right of the manufacturer to 
 employ and discharge help, qualified by the specification that 
 no employee should be discharged because of membership or 
 prominence in a labor society. 2. The fixing of the ten-hour 
 day as the standard. 3. The appointment of a joint com- 
 mittee of arbitration, consisting of twelve members, six from 
 each side, with regulations to govern the same. ( 4. This 
 committee was to settle all difficulties, and no strike or lock- 
 out was to be entered into by either party pending a settle- 
 ment. 5. The referring of the settlement of wages paid to 
 hands working by the day or week to the manufacturer and 
 individual employee. 6. The payment of standard prices by 
 all members of the association. This agreement was signed 
 on the part of the manufacturers by George E. Keith, Rob- 
 bins B. Grover, Zimri Thurber, George G. Snow, George 
 Churchill, and D. L. Weeks. For the labor organizations it 
 was signed by James H. Stillman and Jabez Tabor, of the 
 Knights of Labor; Edward Smith and M. J. Dunn, for the 
 Lasters' Union ; J. M. O'Donnell and Charles W. Turner, 
 for the Trimmers' and Setters' Union. 
 
 The first step had been taken toward a cessation of hos- 
 tilities, and the community gave a sigh of relief. There was
 
 212 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 yet much to be done, however, and the joint committee at 
 once met (December nth) to agree upon a price-list. At 
 the first conference a disagreement arose as to the price to be 
 paid for lasting, and an adjournment of one week was voted 
 before coming to any understanding. Under article nine of 
 the "rules," it was provided that in case of inability to agree 
 in the joint board, each party should appoint one representa- 
 tive, these two the third, and the three were to be the final 
 arbitrators. The claim was made by the lasters that the 
 "forty-two" were trying to reduce prices for lasting. No 
 attempt was made by the joint board to take advantage of 
 the provisions of this article. A feeling of despondency once 
 more settled over Brockton. The law of necessity was 
 stronger than obstinacy, however, and on the i9th three 
 arbitrators were agreed upon. The three men chosen were 
 Mayor John J. Whipple, for the lasters ; Walter F. Cleave- 
 land, a city water commissioner for the association, and 
 Charles C. Bixby, as the third member of the triumvirate. 
 On the evening of the 2ist the arbitrators rendered their 
 verdict, which was a compromise between the price-list de- 
 manded by the lasters and that offered by the " forty-two." 
 Shops were opened on the following morning, and the big 
 Brockton strike was ended. 
 
 What was and is the lesson? Simply this, that common- 
 sense and reason in the world of industry are as indispen- 
 sable as elsewhere, that mutual concession and consideration 
 between manufacturers and operatives is the only solution of 
 "labor troubles," so long as the wage system prevails, and 
 that when the spirit of arbitration is lacking on either side, 
 there will be industrial war useless, bitter and unworthy of 
 our progressive age. 
 
 The unfortunate controversy and lockout occurring in 
 Brockton in the July following the adoption of the "Phila- 
 delphia plan " but emphasize the fact that rules cannot take 
 the place of mutual consideration, and that fair play between 
 employer and employee is the essence of a just settlement of 
 all difficulties. 
 
 In the few pages devoted to the organization among shoe-
 
 HIGH HOPE OF DAYS TO COME. 213 
 
 makers, we have deemed it best not to occupy space in 
 recounting trivial details, but rather to outline certain broad 
 phases. The "blazoned banner" of St. Crispin has ever been 
 flung out at the head of the labor column. The organization 
 may come, and the organization may go ; but we may have 
 faith that the love of right and liberty underlying all social re- 
 forms will in the future, as in the past, give inspiration to the 
 workmen in the gentle craft of leather. Crispin, Unionist, 
 Knight of Labor, have all had for their ideal a better liveli- 
 hood and larger possibilities for their members, and in this 
 broadening sweep and loftier trend of labor organizations lies 
 the high hope of the days to come and children yet unborn.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 PROGRESS IN THE TEXTILE TRADES. 
 
 EARLY ORGANIZATION IN 1850 A STRIKE IN 1850 SPINNERS REORGANIZE 
 IN 1858 PARALYZED BY THE WAR REORGANIZED IN 1866 CON- 
 VENTION IN 1868 AGITATION FOR TEN HOURS FRUITLESS STRIKES 
 
 THE UNION BROKEN UP REORGANIZED A TEN-HOUR LAW 
 THE CHOSEN BATTLE-FIELD OTHER LABOR ASSOCIATIONS FORMED 
 
 SUCCESSFUL STRIKE GREAT STRIKE IN AUGUST, 1875 UNCONDI- 
 TIONAL SURRENDER ORGANIZATIONS BROKEN UP WEEKLY PAY- 
 MENTS A GLOOMY PERIOD GEORGE E. McNEiLL TO THE RESCUE 
 
 REDUCTION OF WAGES IN 1878 DEFAULTING TREASURERS A 
 GREAT DEMONSTRATION ROBERT HOWARD CHOSEN SECRETARY 
 ARBITRATION DENIED A STRIKE ORDERED JOHN KELLY'S GIFT 
 THE INTERNATIONAL ASSISTS STARVED INTO SUBMISSION AN 
 ADVANCE GRANTED MORE WEEKLY PAYMENTS ANOTHER ADVANCE 
 
 LEGISLATION REFUSED STRIKE AVERTED BLACKLISTING SPOT- 
 TERS SHORTER HOURS RHODE ISLAND AND MAINE VISITED 
 GLORIOUS RESULTS HARD TIMES AGAIN ANOTHER STRIKE 
 AGAIN DEFEATED BURNING OF SAGAMORE MILL CURTAILING PRO- 
 DUCTION ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION GLIMPSES OF OTHER 
 CONTESTS. 
 
 THE early history of organization in the textile trades of 
 the United States can be traced as far back as 1844. 
 Strikes had occurred prior to that, and doubtless temporary 
 associations were formed in the thirties, when an agitation 
 was commenced by a small band of earnest men in Fall 
 River, Mass., having for its object a reduction in the hours 
 of labor. A paper was started called The Mechanic, to ad- 
 vocate less hours of labor ; and about this time, also, a paper 
 was published in the city of Lowell called the Voice of In- 
 dustry, that contributed largely to the advance of the move- 
 ment. The factory operatives were then working from five 
 o'clock in the morning to seven o'clock in the evening, with 
 but two half-hours of intermission, one for breakfast and the 
 other for dinner, which left the number of working hours 
 thirteen daily. These papers did good service in their own 
 
 (214)
 
 THE FIRST STRIKE. 
 
 215 
 
 peculiar line towards redressing the grievances of the opera- 
 tives employed in the textile industries, 
 
 It was not until 1850 that anything like a thoroughly 
 organized effort was made to obtain an advance in wages. 
 This occurred in Fall River, where the spinners employed 
 at the Metacomet Mill solicited the treasurer, Colonel Bor- 
 den, to make a certain alteration in their list of prices. This 
 Colonel Borden refused to do, and, pointing to the sides of his 
 granite mill, he said : "I saw that mill built stone by stone ; I 
 saw the. pickers, the carding engines, the spinning-mules and 
 the looms put into it, one after the other, and I would see 
 every machine and stone crumble and fall to the floor again 
 before I would accede to, your wishes." A strike resulted, 
 which lasted ten months, when the mills started up again, but 
 much difficulty was experienced in finding competent help to 
 fill the places of the strikers, many of them having wandered 
 away and found work elsewhere. Organizations have ex- 
 isted chiefly among the spinners in the textile trade, and no 
 branch of labor has received so many hard knocks, sustained 
 so many crushing defeats, and suffered so much as they have, 
 in defending the rights and dignity of honest labor. It .has 
 been so with them all the world over ; ever since James Har- 
 greaves, of Oswaldtwistle, England, invented the spinning- 
 jenny, in the year 1767, the spinners' troubles have been 
 going on. Spinning, prior to Hargreaves' invention, used to 
 be performed on the old-time spinning-wheel. The jenny was 
 so constructed that a number of spindles could be driven to- 
 gether, which resulted in throwing many people out of 
 employment, causing great discontent, and leading to trou- 
 bles of various kinds among the operatives. The spinning- 
 jenny of Hargreaves was improved in 1768 by Richard 
 Arkwright, of Preston, who invented the spinning-frame, 
 and by Crompton, of Bolton, afterwards, who invented the 
 spinning-mule. These inventions, combined with the inven- 
 tion of the power-loom by Cartwright, and the steam-engine 
 by Watts, laid the foundation of the factory system. Those 
 who h'ave been brought up in the cotton trade have often 
 heard their fathers tell, as it had been told them by their
 
 2l6 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 fathers before, that the spinners' troubles commenced with the 
 building of factories for manufacturing purposes. Therefore, 
 for years after the failure of the strike of the spinners in 1850, 
 no organization existed outside of that of the Fall River 
 spinners in the textile trade. 
 
 The spinners' organization of Fall River, with other friends 
 outside of the trade, kept a running agitation going from the 
 time of their defeat in 1850, in favor of reducing the hours 
 of labor to ten daily for women and minors employed in the 
 textile industries. Their efforts proved unavailing, owing to 
 the lack of support from other manufacturing centres. In 
 1858 the spinners reorganized their union, with Patrick 
 Carroll as president, and John McKeown as secretary ; and 
 immediately began an agitation for an advance in wages. 
 Meetings were held in the fields or behind the mills, where 
 the men thought they would be secure from observation. 
 Finally it was agreed that a petition should be sent to the 
 mill treasurers, asking for an advance in wages. 
 
 James Cordinley, one of the members of the organization, 
 invited them to his house to draw up the petition. When the 
 petition was drawn, another obstacle appeared in the way, as 
 no member of the organization dared to place his name first, 
 fearing that he might be singled out as a ringleader, and that 
 his name would be put on the blacklist, which would prevent 
 him from getting work again in the city. Several of their 
 members had been selected as victims after the strike of 
 1850, and were kept out of employment for years after in 
 the mills of Fall River. However, a woman's ingenuity 
 overcame the obstacle, and Mrs. Cordinley suggested that 
 rings be drawn at the foot of the petition, and she furnished 
 a bowl for the purpose, so that all the rings should be of 
 equal size, and inside of these rings the spinners signed the 
 petition, requesting an advance of wages. The manufac- 
 turers, in reply 10 the request of the spinners, agreed to give 
 one-third of the advance asked for, which was accepted, and 
 the other two-thirds was obtained prior to the outbreak of the 
 war. The union was almost dead during the war, as most 
 of its members had gone to shoulder the musket and to fight
 
 NEW ENGLAND LABOR LEADERS.
 
 CONVENTION ir MAINE. 217 
 
 for the maintenance of this Union of States, and to strike the 
 shackles from the negro. The books had been closed in 
 1861, and when they were opened again, at the beginning of 
 1866, a large number of the old members failed to respond to 
 the roll-call. They had been left behind on the hard-fought 
 battlefields between the Potomac and Richmond, where they 
 had surrendered their lives for their country and freedom. 
 
 Shortly after the reorganization of the union in 1866, an 
 agitation, which proved very successful, was begun for ad- 
 vancing wages. Not only in Fall River, but in Lowell, 
 Lawrence,. New Bedford, Lewiston, Biddeford, Claremont, 
 and many other cotton districts, the wages were advanced. 
 Print cloths in that year were selling at nineteen and a half 
 cents per yard, which at the present time can be bought at 
 three and one-fourth cents per yard. In the meantime, 
 while wages were being advanced, the members of the union 
 never kept their eyes off that most important question of 
 reducing the hours of labor ; and to this end an agitation 
 was started in all the textile districts of New England. 
 Organizers were sent out to preach the doctrine of shorter 
 hours of labor, and point out their advantages to the great 
 army of toilers. These missionaries penetrated nearly every 
 town and city in New England, where the busy hum of the 
 spindle or the merry crack of the shuttle was to be heard, 
 resulting in a convention held in Biddeford, Maine, in 1868. 
 Among those present were Isaac Cartnell, representing Fall 
 River ; William Isherwood, Lowell ; Patrick McHugh, Law- 
 rence ; Wright Beaumont, Lewiston ; Richard Barlow, New 
 Bedford; Thomas Lynch, Manchester, N. H., John Mc- 
 Laughlin, Salmon Falls, N. H., and William Green and 
 John Trainer, of Lawrence and Biddeford, respectively. 
 The convention was in session a few days, and it was finally 
 resolved that the efforts of the operatives should not be re- 
 laxed, but that they should push forward with new strength 
 and vigor in the hope of having ten hours recognized as a 
 standard day's labor in cotton and woolen mills. 
 
 On the return of the delegates, meetings were called to 
 consider the best means to obtain from the manufacturers
 
 2lS THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 the concession of ten hours for a day's labor. The manufac- 
 turers in some districts agreed to adopt the ten-hour system. 
 Fall River began to work ten hours a day ; the Atlantic Mills 
 in Lawrence and the Wamsutta Mills of New Bedford did 
 the same. Several of the districts belonging to the Spinners' 
 National Organization ordered their members out on strike, 
 in the hope of wringing it from their employers, but their 
 hopes were scattered to the winds, for in every instance in 
 the industrial struggles in which they were engaged, they 
 were unsuccessful. Their leaders were blacklisted, and could 
 not obtain employment except in secluded villages where they 
 were not known. New Bedford manufacturers adopted the 
 ten-hour system on the ist of January, 1868, and went back 
 again to the long hour system on February ist, the month 
 following. This action of the manufacturers created a strong 
 feeling of distrust and indignation among the operatives, and 
 the Spinners' Union of that city called a special meeting, and 
 before its close a vote was taken and it was decided to strike 
 for ten hours' labor per day. The strike was bitterly con- 
 tested for ten weeks, when the spinners were defeated, some 
 of them suffering the severest pangs of hunger before they 
 would yield. The blacklist was again brought into force, 
 and all those who had assisted in calling meetings or taken 
 any active part whatever, were compelled to leave the city, 
 work being refused them there. For the unions this was the 
 "winter of their discontent," nearly all of them having fallen 
 through, \vith the exception of that at Fall River, where the 
 mills engaged in cotton manufacture were still running ten 
 hours per day. Repeated efforts were made between 1868 
 and 1870 to reorganize the unions outside of Fall River, but 
 they all proved ineffectual, for they had been badly crushed, 
 and their leaders sent away. Still, ten hours for a day's labor 
 was on everybody's lips. 
 
 The ten-hour bill in England passed its final stages in 1850, 
 and the great bulk of the textile \vorkers in the United States 
 argued that, living under republican institutions, they were 
 entitled to equal rights and privileges with those living under 
 monarchical institutions.
 
 THE NINE WEEKS STRIKE. 219 
 
 Fall River still was working its employees in the mills but 
 ten hours per day. In 1870 the spinners asked for a restora- 
 tion of ten per cent., which had been taken from their wages 
 a short time previously. The manufacturers offered to com- 
 promise by giving five per cent., which the spinners refused. 
 A strike was ordered and, after a nine weeks' struggle, the 
 spinners were defeated, and when the machinery was started 
 up again every manufacturer in Fall River went back again 
 to the long-hour system, after working ten hours per day lor 
 twenty-two months. 
 
 During this nine weeks' strike an effort was made by the 
 Durfee Mill officials to obtain "knobsticks" to take the places 
 of the strikers. Great confusion and excitement prevailed 
 around the mills when the "knobsticks" were put in the mills 
 to work, and several violent assaults were made upon them. 
 Some of them were badly beaten, and it was feared that there 
 would be a riot. The bitter feeling was increased by a mill 
 official's ordering a fire company, which had been summoned, 
 to play upon the excited crowd. This nearly caused a riot, 
 but ultimately wise counsel prevailed and reason triumphed 
 over passion, and the strikers quieted down again. 
 
 This strike and its attendant consequences was a severe 
 blow to the spinners of Fall River, for through losing the 
 battle they had to go back to long hours, their wages were 
 reduced, and the backbone of their union broken. 
 
 Thus twelve years 1 from the time of the reorganization of 
 the Fall River Spinners' Union, which was in 1858, it had 
 temporarily ceased to exist. The furniture belonging to the 
 union was given to a body of men who had formed a short- 
 hour committee, and who were endeavoring to have a law 
 passed through the Massachusetts Legislature that would 
 restrict the hours of labor to sixty a week for all women and 
 minors employed in textile industries. This band of men 
 were untiring in their exertions, and they could be seen fre- 
 quently, after their day's work in the mill was over, with a 
 table and a chair at the corners of the principal streets Solicit- 
 ing names to petitions designed for presentation to the Legis- 
 lature in favor of the passage of a ten-hour law. Among the
 
 22O THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 most diligent workers in this movement were Allen Lockwood 
 and William Isherwood, while Representatives Fairbanks, 
 Davol and Hart supported in an able and effective manner the 
 passage of the bill in the Legislature. The Spinners' Union 
 began to move again 1873, when it was reorganized, and at 
 once took a leading part in the agitation in support of a 
 ten-hour law. The factory hands in Lawrence were work- 
 ing assiduously also to further the ten-hour movement. A 
 demonstration was gotten up on a large scale in Fall 
 River, upwards of fifteen thousand people participating in 
 it. There were bands heading the different divisions of 
 the procession; while banners were carried aloft by little 
 children, with various mottoes inscribed on them favoring 
 less hours of labor. A meeting was held after the procession 
 had marched through the city, and resolutions drawn and ap- 
 proved. They were afterwards sent to the Legislature, and 
 a ten-hour bill was made law for all women and children 
 employed in the textile industries in 1874. 
 
 The years of 1872-73, prior to the passage of the ten- 
 hour law, was a very trying time for the operatives em- 
 ployed in the textile industries. The failures of banks and 
 the subsequent financial depression, led to an era of bad trade 
 which continued, with a downward tendency in the price of 
 textile products, and a corresponding decrease in wages, up 
 to the year of 1879. Fall River, having grown into the 
 largest cotton manufacturing city in the country, was destined 
 to play a conspicuous part in the great industrial struggle 
 which took place between employers and employees during 
 this long period of depression, in which there was over forty 
 per cent, reduced from the wages of employees. At the ter- 
 mination of the war, Fall River had 265,328 spindles engaged 
 in cotton manufacture ; and ten years after, in 1874, when the 
 ten-hour bill passed both branches of the Legislature, the 
 number of spindles had increased to 1,258,508, and the popu- 
 lation increased from 17,525 in 1865, to 43,289 in 1874. No 
 other textile city was growing so rapidly, and none felt the 
 effects of the depressed condition of trade more than this 
 city did, because nearly all its people were dependent upon
 
 FALL RIVER CONVENTION. 221 
 
 the cotton industry for a livelihood. In the fall of 1873 
 wages were reduced ten per cent. In the course of a few 
 months another reduction was made ; and, in the beginning 
 of 1874, l ar g e meetings of operatives were held in various 
 parts of the city, and resolutions passed protesting against 
 the reductions in wages. The spinners began to fall into 
 line rapidly, leaving no stone unturned to close up and so 
 strengthen their ranks as to be able to not only resist further 
 encroachments upon their wages but to compel a restoration 
 of some of that which had been taken from them the year 
 previously. A convention of delegates from the various 
 spinning districts was convened in Fall River in the spring 
 of 1874, an d a system of concerted action was agreed upon ; 
 also, that with the first appearance of an improvement in the 
 trade, the spinners of Fall River should throw down the 
 gauntlet and demand an advance in wages or strike for it. 
 Thus Fall River was selected as the battle-field for the textile 
 workers of New England. And it is only fair to say that 
 its working people always proved themselves to be ahead of 
 most of the New England operatives in intelligence, execu- 
 tive ability, perseverance and determination when engaged 
 in industrial warfare. In following the progress of the textile 
 trades organizations through the remainder of this chapter, 
 Fall River will be taken as a suitable type of the cotton-pro- 
 ducing districts. Its experience was duplicated with more or 
 less variation in Lawrence, Lowell and similar centers ; but 
 it is not essential to detail here the strikes and their results, 
 by which the operatives sought to maintain and improve 
 their condition. 
 
 In 1874 tne Fall River spinners petitioned the manufac- 
 turers for more wages, and were refused. A vote was taken 
 at the next general meeting, and it was decided to defer leav- 
 ing work until a more auspicious time. 
 
 About this time the card-room operatives began to make 
 strenuous efforts to form an organization for the promotion and 
 protection of their interests. After many unsuccessful efforts 
 an association was finally formed, and they commenced to 
 hold their meetings in the spinners' hall. This association
 
 222 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 consisted chiefly of women, as there are but few men engaged 
 in that branch of cotton manufacturing, and its membership 
 numbered over one thousand at the close of 1874. Simul- 
 taneously with the card-room hands, the weavers began to or- 
 ganize also. They formed an association called the Weavers' 
 Protective Association, and before the advent of 1875, that 
 ever memorable year in the history of textile warfare, the 
 number of good members on the books exceeded five thou- 
 sand. The men who were elected officers of this association 
 were possessed of extraordinary skill and ability as organiz- 
 ers, and they soon began to formulate plans for the organiza- 
 tion of the whole of the wage-workers employed in the textile 
 industries of New England. To this end deputations were 
 sent out to do missionary work in the towns and cities of Mas- 
 sachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. 
 Several weavers' organizations were formed, and the people 
 were thoroughly aroused to the emergencies of the hour. 
 Promises were made to stand by their fellow toilers in Fall 
 River in defending the rights and dignity of labor. Toward 
 the end of 1874 * ne spinners, weavers and card-room hands 
 held several joint conferences, with the view of adopting the 
 best possible course to effect a restoration of some of the cut- 
 downs which had been made in their wages during the two 
 preceding years. It was unanimously agreed that mixed dep- 
 utations, consisting of a spinner, a weaver, and a card-room 
 hand, should interview their employers and request a return 
 often per cent, in wages. The request was refused. Conse- 
 quently the weavers at three mills tendered ten days' notice, 
 prior to going out on strike. In the early part of February, 
 1875, tne notice expired, and the weavers of the Merchants, 
 Crescent and Granite Mills, Fall River, struck work. When 
 the spinners saw the weavers leaving the mills, they struck 
 also ; and they were afterwards followed by the card-room 
 hands. Large meetings of the operatives were held, and dele- 
 gates were appointed to visit all the manufacturing districts to 
 solicit aid for the strikers. The weavers remaining at work 
 at the other mills in the city were levied ten cents per loom to 
 assist those on strike. The card-room hands also taxed each
 
 THE GREAT VACATION. 223 
 
 member employed, while the spinners levied a tax of one dol- 
 lar per head weekly on each member. Considerable money 
 rolled in from outside districts ; and what improved the pros- 
 pects of success was the strengthening of the cloth market, 
 the advance in price of cloth and the appreciation of mill 
 stock. These causes filled the strikers with hope and con- 
 fidence, and three more mills were ordered to be struck. This 
 action made the total number of operatives on strike between 
 three and four thousand. In the middle of March, negotia- 
 tions were opened which led to the strikers resuming work on 
 the promise that the ten per cent, advance in wages would be 
 given on April ist. Shortly after this advance in wages, 
 deputations visited their employers soliciting .weekly, instead 
 of monthly, payment of wages. Their request was refused ; 
 but this commenced the agitation which resulted in the enact- 
 ment of the present law in Massachusetts, which compels all 
 corporations to pay their employees weekly. 
 
 There was more or less uneasiness evinced throughout the 
 textile districts during the summer of 1875. Strikes on a 
 small scale were very common among the weavers, and much 
 hard feeling was engendered between the employers and the 
 employees. Finally the Fall River manufacturers, taking 
 advantage of a lull in the market and contending that they 
 were paying higher prices .than other districts, posted notices 
 to the effect that wages would be reduced on the first of 
 August ten per cent. The embers of discontent, which 
 had been smouldering all summer, burst suddenly into a 
 blaze. Delegates were appointed from the meetings of the 
 weavers, carders and spinners to confer together, to strike 
 out some line of action for the help to pursue. The three 
 separate bodies met in their respective rooms, a few days 
 prior to the notices for a reduction in wages expiring, and 
 delegates were appointed from each body, who conferred to- 
 gether and decided to suspend work for the month of August. 
 Thus on the first of August commenced what is called "The 
 Great Vacation," when 1,269,048 spindles ceased to hum; 
 over 30,000 looms, which manufactured cloth at the rate of 
 343,375,000 yards per year, or nearly a mile per minute,
 
 224 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 were silent; which rendered 15,000 people idle, with a loss 
 weekly in wages of $82,973. This was a sad condition of 
 affairs for employers and employees to witness on August 
 1st, 1875. The breach seemed to widen as the stoppage 
 continued. There did not seem a vestige left of that old 
 friendly feeling which used to exist between employer and 
 employee in the early days of cotton manufacturing in the 
 United States. After three weeks had elapsed, and the help 
 were getting ready to resume work again, it suddenly leaked 
 out that the manufacturers would not start the mills until each 
 operative signed his or her name to an iron-clad document. 
 Some of the stipulations were that only one out of every eight 
 operatives could give notice to leave work at the same time. 
 This was done to prevent concerted action on the part of the 
 operatives. Another stipulation was that no operative should 
 belong to a trades-union in the future. The operatives, after 
 the month's vacation expired, refused to start work under these 
 conditions on the first of September. 
 
 Finally hunger and want won the battle, and in the eighth 
 week of the stoppage the various unions voted to resume 
 work unconditionally, accepting the ten per cent, reduction, 
 and signing the infamous document as demanded by the man- 
 ufacturers. Thus ended the nine weeks' "vacation," which 
 caused a loss of $746*7 m wages alone, while the loss to 
 the manufacturers must have been enormous. With a single 
 exception the conduct of the operatives was praiseworthy all 
 through the strike, and in that one instance it is an open 
 question whether the starving people out of work or the city 
 officials were to blame. Two companies of militia were sum- 
 moned from Taunton and Middleboro, when a collision be- 
 tween the strikers and the authorities seemed inevitable, and 
 Company M, of Fall River, was also at the service of the 
 authorities. Their services were not needed, however, and 
 the operatives were soon on most friendly terms with them. 
 Those who had acted as leaders in the operatives' ranks, or 
 any of those who had addressed the public meetings, which 
 had been held so frequently during the stoppage of the mills, 
 were all blacklisted, arid prevented from obtaining employ-
 
 SPINNERS' UNION OF FALL RIVER. 225 
 
 ment at any of the mills in the city. The weavers' organi- 
 zation was completely broken to rjieces, and what little money 
 was in the treasury w r as divided among the members who had 
 been victimized, to enable them to travel and seek employ- 
 ment elsewhere. The card -room operatives' organization 
 went to pieces also, owing to the loss of its leaders, who were 
 all placed under the ban of the blacklist. The spinners' or- 
 ganization still kept its head above the water, and though 
 most of its members signed the "Infamous Document," as did 
 those of other branches, they were no way reluctant in telling 
 their overseers that they did not consider it binding, as it 
 was their starving children that compelled them to sign it 
 against their wills, and that they should still stand by their 
 union. 
 
 As a natural result of the fierce industrial struggles between 
 the employers and employees which occurred in the textile 
 industry, and the many defeats the latter sustained, but one 
 organized body of textile workers remained in 1876 ; that was 
 the Spinners' Union of Fall River. Trade, about this time, 
 took a slight upward movement, and the Fall River spinners, 
 always on the alert, immediately petitioned for more wages. 
 Deputations waited upon the employers at every mill in the 
 city, but the answers received were all unfavorable. Weekly, 
 instead of monthly, payments were granted, however, at some 
 of the mills. 
 
 The failure of the chief of the district police to enforce the 
 labor laws caused the adoption of resolutions of censure by 
 the spinners and their remonstrance before the legislative 
 labor committee. A new chief was soon appointed, and the 
 ten-hour law was so amended as to make its enforcement 
 more easy. 
 
 During 1876 another ten per cent, reduction was made. 
 This angered the operatives to such a degree that it was only 
 by the utmost efforts of the officers of the union that the spin- 
 ners were prevented from striking. The union now com- 
 menced to lose members. A strike occurred at the Granite 
 No. i mill, which ended disastrously to the spinners. An 
 unsuccessful strike in New Bedford at this time was felt so 
 
 (15)
 
 226 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 keenly in Fall River also, that many members of the Spin- 
 ners' Union fell in arrears, and it was with the utmost difficulty 
 that it could be kept together. 
 
 For the purpose of stemming the tide of dissolution which 
 seemed to have set in, the veteran labor reformer, George 
 E. McNeill, of Boston, who had in the past given his ser- 
 vices to the union, was invited to assist in rallying the 
 men and preserving the Union. Mr. McNeill was highly 
 respected among the spinners, for they knew him to be an 
 earnest, sincere man, who lost considerable time and money 
 through ever being willing to give his services gratuitously 
 to any movement tending to unite and elevate the working- 
 men. Meetings were held in various parts of the city, which 
 Mr. McNeill addressed. He seemed to inspire new hope 
 and courage into the men. Many of them fell into line 
 again and promised to stand by the Union through " thick 
 and thin," and saying that in it lay their only salvation. 
 Toward the end of 1877 the Spinners' Union was as strong 
 as at any past period in its history. 
 
 In 1878 trade gradually grew worse, until there was scarcely 
 any margin for the manufacturer, and the wages of the em- 
 ployees were thirty per cent, less than in 1873. Fall River 
 felt the depression more keenly than any other textile dis- 
 trict. Some of the mills were paying twenty per cent, for 
 money, and cloth was down to three cents per yard for prints. 
 On March I2th notices of a fifteen per cent, reduction were 
 posted. A mass-meeting of operatives was immediately held to 
 protest against the reduction. Over twenty-five hundred peo- 
 ple assembled in the Academy of Music and protested against 
 their wages being reduced. They said that if the reduction 
 of wages was enforced, it would make forty-five per cent, 
 in the total of reductions in wages sustained in less than 
 five years. Deputations were appointed from the Spinners' 
 Union, to request their employers to run the mills four days 
 per week instead of cutting down wages. The spinners con- 
 tended that every time wages were reduced the price of cloth 
 fell more proportionately ; and, consequently, the reduction 
 was no benefit to employers, while it was a loss to the em-
 
 GRAND DEMONSTRATION OF 1878. 2 27 
 
 ployees. The only gainers were the consumers. They also 
 claimed that by cutting down wages they were "killing the 
 goose that laid the golden egg," by reducing the purchasing 
 power of the people. The employers insisted on reducing 
 wages, and the reduction went into effect toward the latter 
 end of March. Two weeks after the reduction in wages 
 cloth fell to lower prices than ever known, and a tremendous 
 shrinkage took place in mill stocks. The policy of running 
 the mills on short time, advocated by the operatives but a 
 month before, was resorted to in April by the manufacturers, 
 and the mills were run but alternate weeks for eighteen weeks 
 through the summer months. Hardly had the short time been 
 adopted, when the air was full of rumors that more than two- 
 thirds of the mills in Fall River were on the verge of ruin. 
 
 It is hardly necessary here to detail how Treasurer Angier 
 S. Chace of the Union Mill was found to be a defaulter to the 
 amount of about $500,000 ; Treasurer George T. Hathaway, 
 of Border City, Nos. i and 2, and of the Sagamore, to the 
 extent of over $1,000,000; Treasurer Charles P. Stickney, of 
 the Fall River Gas Company, in the sum of $30,000 ; and how 
 they were sentenced to twelve, ten and five years' imprison- 
 ment, respectively, in the State prison. The public has not 
 yet forgotten these crimes and their punishment. The people 
 of Fall River, now said that the industrial struggle t of 1875 
 had worked more to the injury of the manufacturers than 
 they had been willing to admit. 
 
 About this time the operatives decided to have a public dem- 
 onstration, expressing dissatisfaction at the low wages they 
 were receiving, at the violation of the ten-hour law, and their 
 contempt for the fraudulent mill treasurers, who, by their dis- 
 honesty, had robbed some workingmen of their whole life's 
 savings. The demonstration was on a Saturday afternoon, 
 in the month of May, and the various divisions marched to 
 the city lots in the centre of the city, preceded by bands and 
 commanded by mounted marshals. It was supposed that 
 twenty thousand people participated in the procession, many 
 of them carrying banners and cartoons expressive of their 
 opinions upon the state of affairs in the city, and of their
 
 228 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 sentiments. Groans were given outside many of the mill- 
 treasurers' residences, but no acts of violence were com- 
 mitted. The procession finally reached the public park, 
 where speeches were delivered from the band-stand by the 
 officers of the day, and the people were advised to go peace- 
 fully to their homes, and to respect the law in its integrity 
 and entirety. 
 
 There was great misery and distress existing in Fall River 
 during the summer months, owing to the mills running only 
 half time, and to the great reduction which had been made 
 in wages. 
 
 The Spinners' Union, the only organization of textile 
 workers in the New England States, could hardly maintain 
 its existence. In the month of June, Robert Howard was. 
 appointed secretary, and the association soon began to in- 
 crease in members and in funds. Every member seemed to 
 have confidence in his ability and strict integrity, and he 
 went to work with a will to help to build up the Union 
 stronger than ever it was before. It had grown so strong 
 by December, 1878, that Mr. Howard was elected perma- 
 nent secretary, so that he could devote all his time to the 
 interest of the Union and its members. His salary was 
 equal to that of the average spinner. Early in 1879 busi- 
 ness began to improve. The members of the Spinners' 
 Union at Fall River thought the time had come for the res- 
 toration of a part of the reduction. A meeting of spinners 
 was called, and the condition of trade fully discussed. It was 
 resolved that petitions be sent to the employers, soliciting a 
 return of ten per cent, in wages. The petitions met with a 
 cold and haughty refusal. All argument was of no avail. 
 The spinners, after hearing the reports of the committee, 
 postponed taking action for two weeks. Negotiations were 
 going on meanwhile between employers and employees as 
 to the best and most satisfactory basis on which to effect a 
 settlement of the dispute ; but nothing definite was accom- 
 plished. When the adjourned meeting came the situation 
 was thoroughly discussed. Finally an informal vote was 
 taken, and the majority voted in favor of striking, in order to
 
 GREAT STRIKE OF 1879. 22 9 
 
 to enforce their just demands. The committee, desirous of 
 giving the employers more time for reflection, and feeling 
 opposed to a strike, suggested that the vote be taken by 
 ballot one week hence. In accordance with the laws of the 
 association, a two-thirds vote would be required before a 
 strike could be declared. The taking of the vote was de- 
 ferred for one week. Efforts were made during the week to 
 bring about a settlement of the troubles by arbitration. To 
 this end the spinners' committee announced publicly that 
 they would submit the whole case for settlement to a board 
 of arbitration. The employers issued a circular shortly after 
 this, stating that they did not propose to allow outsiders to 
 run their business, and that arbitration was not in consonance 
 with the ways of doing business in the United States. The 
 spinners' secretary, Mr. Howard, immediately replied through 
 another circular, showing that arbitration was in consonance 
 with the customs of this country, and that our own Govern- 
 ment had set the example by settling with the Government 
 of England the claims arising out of the depredations com- 
 mitted by the "Alabama." All efforts having failed, but two 
 courses were left open to the spinners. One was to entirely 
 recede from their position : the other, to enter into a struggle 
 with their employers, the result of which it was impossible 
 to foretell. 
 
 On the 1 5th of June the spinners decided to strike, and 
 that, instead of leaving work immediately, to give two weeks' 
 notice that unless the advance was conceded by the 26th 
 of June, all hands would leave work. Several meetings 
 were held between the I5th and 26th of the month. But 
 the "die was cast" ; neither party would recede from its posi- 
 tion. The most that could be gained was a promise from 
 several mills of weekly payments. This did not satisfy the 
 spinners. On the 26th the notice expired, and on the 
 morryng following upwards of one thousand spinners and 
 about nine hundred boys, who were employed in the same 
 department, were in the streets. All the money the spinners 
 had in their treasury was fifteen hundred dollars, a sum en- 
 tirely insufficient to meet the emergencies of the case. Thirty
 
 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 delegates were appointed to solicit aid. Some went to New 
 York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, 
 New Hampshire and Maine, but most of them stayed in Mas- 
 sachusetts. A few days after the spinners struck work, most 
 of the other operatives in the mills were compelled to stop for 
 the want of yarn, and other kindred causes, thus throwing 
 over fourteen thousand people on the streets. The cloth trade 
 kept improving, making the manufacturers desirous of getting 
 their machinery in motion. With this object in view, agents 
 were hired and sent out all over the cotton districts to try and 
 obtain spinners. These agents received from three to twelve 
 dollars per head, besides all expenses incurred for every spin- 
 ner so obtained. Some of these, "knobstick" spinners, as they 
 were called, received fifty and sixty per cent, more wages 
 than the spinners on strike could earn, in order to induce thjem 
 to remain. Every one of them was furnished with a revolver 
 as soon as they entered the mills, to shoot the strikers if they 
 approached them. 
 
 Large dwellings were built in all the mill-yards for the 
 knobstick spinners to reside in, because the employers were 
 afraid to have them outside the mill, thinking that the striking 
 spinners would induce them to leave the city. Drink of all 
 kinds used to be carried to the barracks, as their dwelling 
 places were commonly termed, and other various kinds of 
 pleasures were introduced by some of the mill officials, who 
 publicly desired to be regarded among the strongest of tem- 
 perance reformers. 
 
 A great number of the knobstick help consisted of young 
 French Canadians. Circulars and posters in English and 
 French were freely circulated in the regions they came from, 
 stating the cause of the troubles in Fall River, and asking 
 other cotton operatives to keep away. Great meetings were 
 held at Lawrence, Lynn, Boston and Lowell during the 
 strike, all of which were addressed by the secretary gf the 
 association. More than ten thousand people were present at 
 the meeting, which was held on the common, at Lynn ; and 
 during the strike the shoe-workers of Lynn sent to the strik- 
 ers in Fall River, $2,300. The cities of Lowell and Law-
 
 INTERNATIONAL LABOR UNION. 231 
 
 rence sent $1,400 between them; New York sent $1,500, 
 while large contributions were received from all parts of the 
 States. The Typographical Union, of San Francisco, Cal., 
 sent two hundred dollars by telegraph. It is deserving of 
 mention, as " actions speak louder than words," that two of the 
 delegates who were stationed in New York called upon the 
 late John Kelly, of Tammany Hall fame, who, upon seeing 
 their credentials, immediately gave them one hundred dollars. 
 During the sixteen weeks of the strike upwards of twenty-five 
 thousand dollars were raised from outside sources. 
 
 The International Labor Union of America, which the spin- 
 ners joined a little prior to the strike, rendered them good 
 service, perhaps bringing directly and indirectly about two 
 thousand dollars into the spinners' funds. George E. McNeill 
 was president of this union ; John H. O'Connor, of Paterson, 
 secretary ; and Carl Speyer, of New York, treasurer. The 
 officers did all that men could do to raise money to enable the 
 spinners to prolong the contest, because nearly everybody was 
 convinced that, if the spinners could only hold out, owing 
 to the great improvement in the market, the manufacturers 
 would eventually yield. The latter, however, determined to 
 starve the spinners into submission. All the relatives of the 
 strikers were prevented from getting work in the city, and 
 such as were working were singled out and discharged. 
 Efforts were made to prevent the storekeepers from serving 
 them with groceries on credit ; and many families were put 
 out of their tenements, having to seek shelter where best they 
 could. The spinners, before they struck, passed a resolution 
 to do without any assistance for the first three weeks, and 
 afterwards to be satisfied with such help as the association 
 could render. The relief was doled out in grocery checks, 
 and the amount allowed was one dollar and fifty cents per 
 week for an unmarried man, the same amount to married 
 men, with twenty-five cents additional for their wives and 
 each child unemployed. Before the strike had been pro- 
 gressing many weeks, many of those engaged in it were in 
 an impoverished condition. To make matters worse, the 
 corporation officials had a large number of the strikers ar-
 
 232 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 rested on the most flimsy pretexts. So long as the funds of 
 the association held out, none of the strikers were allowed to 
 go to jail, if a fine was the alternative. But this drain on the 
 treasury led to a reduction in the weekly allowance to those 
 on strike. After the strike had continued ten weeks, it was 
 plain to be seen that the employers, despite the advance of 
 three-quarters of a cent per yard in cloth, intended to fight 
 it out to the bitter end. More money was needed by the 
 spinners, or hunger would do its work effectively, and the 
 contest would be lost. A variety troupe was formed from the 
 strikers, which gave several skoivs in the Opera House, Fall 
 River, to good houses, all the proceeds, after paying running 
 expenses, being passed in to the spinners' treasury. So suc- 
 cessful was the troupe at home, that it ventured abroad, visiting 
 Brockton, Randolph, Holbrook, Lynn, Boston, Lowell and 
 Lawrence. Considerable sums of money were raised by this 
 troupe, all of which were utilized for the benefit of the strikers. 
 At the end of fourteen weeks from the commencement of 
 the strike, signs of weakness were visible in the ranks. In- 
 sufficient food and shoeless feet were telling upon the strikers, 
 and every imaginable kind of temptation was being held out 
 by the superintendents and overseers of the mills, in order to 
 get them to break from the rest and thus hasten the end of the 
 strike. In the sixteenth week a break occurred among the 
 help on strike at the Border City Mills. Several of them, 
 having been filled with drink, returned to work. This was 
 the signal for others to follow. A general meeting was then 
 called, and it was resolved, though not without much opposi- 
 tion, that the help at each mill should make the best possi- 
 ble terms with their employers. Some of the mills promised 
 weekly instead of monthly payments, and other small conces- 
 sions. Thus ended the most determined and the most bitterly 
 contested struggle that ever occurred in the annals of Fall 
 River industrial history. The strike commenced June 26th, 
 1879, an d enc i e d October i6th. It was lost only for want of 
 money to carry it on with. The strikers were just as deter- 
 mined at the ending ^as they were at the beginning of the 
 conflict ; just as confident that their cause was right.
 
 WEEKLY PAYMENTS. 233 
 
 The spinners, at the first meeting of the association held 
 after the termination of the strike, placed a levy of one dollar 
 and fifty cents per month upon each member to assist those 
 who had been victimized and deprived of their situations. 
 
 Trade continuing to improve, the spinners, in November, 
 asked an increase, and two months after the wages were ad- 
 vanced in accordance with the spinners' request ; all the mills 
 in the New England States following the example. Thus 
 the persistent and determined action of the Fall River Mule- 
 Spinners' Union secured not only an advance for themselves, 
 but for the whole of the unorganized cotton help of New 
 England. The Union then began to agitate for weekly pay- 
 ments instead of monthly, and before the expiration of March, 
 1880, nineteen out of the fifty-three mills made the desired 
 change. The power of united action was once more forcibly 
 displayed, as no other cotton mill in the United States was 
 then paying weekly. 
 
 The Fall River spinners, in April, 1880, three months after 
 receiving the fifteen per cent, advance, owing to the continued 
 prosperity in trade, voted to strike ten mills out of the fifty- 
 three in the city if wages were not increased ten per cent. 
 The Manufacturers' Board of Trade met on the same day, 
 and it was a surprise on the following morning to find in the 
 same papers two announcements one, of a threatened strike 
 of the spinners ; the other, from the manufacturers, stating 
 that wages would be advanced as desired. The other mills 
 in New England again adapted the example set in Fall River 
 and increased wages. Thus the cotton operatives of New 
 England were once more indebted to the activity of the Fall 
 River Spinners' Union for the increase in wages. From this 
 time until fall the spinners labored zealously for weekly pay- 
 ments and a better enforcement of the ten-hour law. Their 
 efforts were defeated in the Legislature ; the mill treasurers 
 were then labored with, and several of them adopted weekly 
 payments. In September, but six months after the last ad- 
 vance in wages, the mill officials notified the help that on 
 account of the fall in the price of cloth, which was then 
 selling at four cents per yard, the wages would be reduced
 
 234 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 ten per cent. ; or, in other words, put back to where they 
 were prior to the first of April of the same year. The opera- 
 tives were wild with excitement, the storekeepers and other 
 respectable citizens holding with them, because they knew 
 well that during the preceding twelve months the corporations 
 had made immense sums of money, and that many of them, 
 after paying twenty per cent, dividends, had as much money 
 in reserve as would pay dividends for some time to come. 
 
 In the face of this extraordinary prosperity, it was no 
 surprise to see the operatives threatening to strike if the 
 reduction should be enforced. Several large meetings of 
 the operatives were held to protest against wages being re- 
 duced. It was ultimately arranged for a deputation each of 
 spinners and employers to meet the day preceding the reduc- 
 tion going into effect, to discuss the case on its merits. The 
 Secretary of the Spinners' Association, with five other spin- 
 ners, met four of the employers. The conference lasted four 
 hours, and then broke up without agreeing to anything. The 
 same night the Spinners' Hall and the stairway to it were 
 crowded with operatives desirous of knowing the result of 
 the interview. It was stated at the meeting that the em- 
 ployers insisted that wages should be reduced, come what 
 might. After a lengthy and heated debate, a vote was taken 
 by ballot for a strike or no strike, and out of 700 spinners 
 310 voted in favor of striking and 390 against it. A strike 
 was thus averted, and the ten per cent, reduction in wages 
 was accepted under protest. All classes were delighted that 
 there was to be no strike, and many were the words of praise 
 spoken of the officers of the Spinners' Association, especially 
 of the secretary, as it was generally admitted that a word 
 from him could have turned the meeting either way. An- 
 other demand for weekly payments was made, and at the 
 beginning of 1882, out of fifty-three mills in Fall River, forty 
 of them were paying weekly a result reached by the power 
 of organized labor. 
 
 About the same time that strikes in Lawrence and Cohoes 
 were progressing, early in 1882, desperate attempts were 
 made by the Fall River Manufacturers' Board of Trade to
 
 A TRAITOR IN THE UNION. 235 
 
 break up the Spinners' Union. . To accomplish this end it 
 was agreed to discharge and blacklist all the members of the 
 committee and the collectors of the Spinners' Union fees. 
 This caused great indignation in the union, and it was verv 
 remarkable that every member of the committee was discov- 
 ered and his name put upon the blacklist, although these 
 members were steady, industrious men, and the very best of 
 spinners. It was discovered about three months after the 
 blacklisting had commenced that a spinner named Wilkin- 
 son, who came from the town of Oldham, in England, was 
 attending the spinners' meetings merely to carry away to the 
 manufacturers the names of the committee men and other 
 prominent members, for which services he received ten dol- 
 lars per month in addition to his wages for spinning. Shortly 
 after Wilkinson was discovered in his nefarious dealings, his 
 goods, himself and family were secretly removed from the 
 city, but to what part of the country it was impossible to find 
 out. He was removed to prevent his making a confession, 
 through the press, of his treachery. 
 
 It was a trying time for the Spinners' Union. Many of its 
 members Were in favor of striking, while the more conserva- 
 tive were in favor of supporting those who were blacklisted, 
 until work could be found for them. The latter course pre- 
 vailed, and they were supported at the rate of six dollars per 
 week, and fifty cents for their wives and children not work- 
 ing. Between two and three thousand dollars were paid in 
 this way ; but the union was preserved, the Manufacturers' 
 Board of Trade finding themselves unable to destroy it. The 
 spinners who were blacklisted had to resort to various schemes 
 to obtain employment. Many of them began work under as- 
 sumed names, but when discovered they were immediately 
 discharged. The Board of Trade, in order to checkmate 
 those efforts of the men to obtain employment, hired a clerk, 
 commonly called a " spotter," whose duty it was to visit the 
 mills every month to find out whether any of the blacklisted 
 men were employed. He was furnished with all their names, 
 aliases, descriptions and other particulars, and if any of them 
 were found working they were instantly discharged without
 
 236 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 any reasons being assigned. Many of the men who were 
 blacklisted had to travel to districts where they were un- 
 known to find employment ; and to the credit of the Fall 
 River men it must be said that many of the organizations of 
 cotton operatives now springing into existence in many parts 
 of the New England States are due in no small degree to 
 their efforts. 
 
 In the fall of 1882 the spinners of Fall River, Lowell, Law- 
 rence, New Bedford, Manchester, Nashua, Salmon Falls, New 
 Market, Lewiston and Biddeford, held a conference in Cod- 
 man Hall, Boston, to devise the best means of bringing about 
 a reduction in the hours of labor in the textile trade in States 
 outside of Massachusetts. After a whole day's session one 
 hundred dollars was voted, and Mr. Howard, the secretary, 
 was instructed to commence an agitation for the furtherance 
 of this object in Rhode Island immediately. Early in the 
 following year, 1883, meetings were held in Central Falls, 
 Woonsocket, Rocky Point, and several other places, in favor 
 of a law limiting the hours of labor for all women and 
 minors under eighteen years of age to ten daily. "Ten-Hour 
 Leagues" were established, which worked diligently and 
 faithfully, visiting the representatives in their respective dis- 
 tricts, soliciting them to vote in favor of the passage of a ten- 
 hour bill, which was presented by Hon. Hugh Carroll, of 
 Pawtucket. Mr. Howard interviewed Governor Bourne, re- 
 questing him to recommend, in his message to the Legislature, 
 a reduction in the hours of labor for women and children em- 
 ployed in textile industries. His Excellency would not give 
 an absolute promise, yet when his message was delivered it 
 contained the recommendation. Mr. Howard in the same 
 year was deputed by the Spinners' Association to appear be- 
 fore the legislative committee on labor in Augusta, Me., 
 where a hearing was being held in the State House, on a bill 
 proposing a reduction in the hours of labor in textile indus- 
 tries. After his return from Augusta he was again sent to 
 Rhode Island, where the seed he had sown a few months pre- 
 viously was now beginning to blossom, The people were 
 awake, and demanded with one voice to be put on a level
 
 THE EIGHTEEN WEEKS' STRIKE. 237 
 
 with Massachusetts in regard to working hours. The first 
 year the bill was defeated ; but the year following meetings 
 were held in every village, town and city in the State, hear- 
 ings were held in the State House and large numbers of oper- 
 atives appeared before the committee to give testimony in favor 
 of the ten-hour bill. That year (1885) tne bill passed both 
 branches of the Legislature, received the sanction of the 
 Governor, and went into force January i, 1886. As much as 
 the people of Rhode Island were elated over this victory, they 
 were not one whit more so than the .spinners of Fall River, 
 who, two years after they sent their secretary to that State to 
 agitate a reduction in the hours of labor, had the proud satis- 
 faction of seeing a law placed on the statute books limiting 
 the working time for women and children to sixty hours 
 weekly. 
 
 From 1882 to 1884, the cotton industry was gradually 
 growing worse ; goods were being piled up, and scarcely 
 any buyers were in the markets ; margins of profits were 
 narrowed down so small that reductions in wages were 
 made in Lowell, Lawrence, Manchester, New Bedford, 
 and, finally, in Fall River. The help in these places 
 were very much dissatisfied, and strongly remonstrated 
 against their wages being reduced. In Fall River the spin- 
 ners interviewed their respective treasurers, and once more 
 argued against the suicidal practice of reducing wages, and 
 requested that the working time be reduced one-third instead. 
 This proposition was laid before the Board of Trade, com- 
 posed of manufacturers, and a reply was sent to the Secre- 
 tary of the Spinners' Association, stating that wages would 
 be reduced first, and that less working time would be con- 
 sidered after. The letter was read to a crowded meeting of 
 spinners, who deemed the answer unsatisfactory, and a strike 
 was finally ordered at ten mills. The Spinners' Union had 
 at this time a fund of over ten thousand dollars standing to 
 the credit of its six hundred members. The spinners entered 
 the contest feeling that right and justice were on their side. 
 They had good reasons for thinking so, for the dividends de- 
 clared by the fifty-four mills of Fall River averaged a shade
 
 238 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 over five per cent, for the previous year. The strike began 
 on February 4th, 1884, and was fiercely contested for eight- 
 een weeks. It then collapsed for the want of funds. The 
 mill-owners again imported the obnoxious "knobsticks," 
 in spite of their bitter experience in 1879. The allowance 
 made the strikers was five dollars a week, fifty cents for their 
 wives and twenty-five cents for each unemployed child, while 
 the strike lasted. Large sums were sent from outside cities 
 to assist the strikers. The most notable event of the strike 
 was the burning of the Sagamore mill, which was one where 
 the spinners were on strike. Some of the friends of the 
 manufacturers accused the strikers of setting fire to the mill ; 
 but after a most thorough investigation, not a vestige of evi- 
 dence could be obtained to fasten the crime upon them. The 
 probability was, that one of the "knobsticks," who could do 
 as they liked, was passing through the cotton-room, smok- 
 ing, and threw a lighted match into a bale of cotton, which 
 quickly took fire, spread with lightning-like rapidity to the 
 other bales, causing the destruction of the mill. 
 
 The great curtailment in production caused by the strike 
 did not seem to help the markets as much as was anticipated, 
 and shortly after its termination the mills in Fall River began 
 to stop every alternate week during the summer months, the 
 Lowell and New Bedford mills following the example. This 
 was just the policy the spinners proposed before they went 
 on strike, instead of reducing wages. These stoppages cur- 
 tailed production to the amount of one million pieces of 
 cloth. But trade still remained dull and unprofitable. In 
 January, 1885, there being no signs of a revival in trade, 
 the corporations of Lowell and New Bedford reduced wages 
 again, which gave the Fall River corporations a good excuse 
 for reducing wages also. Only six months after these reduc- 
 tions, the mills all over New England were compelled by 
 depressed markets to commence working short time again ; 
 and in the principal towns and cities of cotton manufacture, 
 from eight to ten weeks' curtailment of production took place 
 in the summer of 1885, which kept more than two million 
 pieces of goods out of the market. This great curtailment of
 
 CURTAILMENT OF PRODUCTION. 239 
 
 production appeared to be the right remedy for a dyspeptic 
 market, which, for a long time previously, had had more 
 goods forced upon it than it could unload at any price. It 
 soon began to assume a more healthy and profitable aspect. 
 The policy of curtailment of production by running less 
 hours was always advocated by the textile organizations, 
 because their members knew, from close watching of the 
 trade, that the policy which will take from, not that which 
 will add to, is that which is going to bring relief to glutted 
 markets. Reducing the working time lessens the delivery 
 of goods, while lessening the wages, lessens the consump- 
 tion of goods, owing to the restriction in the purchasing 
 powers of the masses, thus leading to glutted and stagnant 
 markets. The cotton industry is one of the most important 
 of the nation, and no effort should be spared by employers 
 and employees, who believe in doing what is just and right 
 by each other, to settle disputes by some better method than 
 that of brute force. 
 
 Over 172,000 people are engaged in cotton manufacturing 
 in the United States, who receive in wages $42,000,000 an- 
 nually. It seems unwise and unbusiness-like on the part of 
 wealthy corporations, who often allow their employees to go 
 out on strike before they will condescend to consult with them, 
 or take a word of advice from them. The time is coming 
 when employers of labor will find it to their benefit to treat 
 with their employees as equals on questions concerning the 
 welfare of both. Much of the misrepresentation to which 
 both of them have been subjected in the past has been for the 
 want of a better understanding between them ; and the best 
 and the only way to bring about a better feeling and a better 
 understanding between employer and employee is to meet 
 together more frequently in friendly conference. A little 
 more of the "milk of human kindness" doled out by employ- 
 ers to employees, the substituting of arbitration for the present 
 methods of settling disputes would enable the manufacturers 
 of the United States to hold the foremost place in the great 
 commercial race now taking place among the most highly 
 civilized and enterprising nations of the world.
 
 240 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 It would be extremely interesting to follow the struggles of 
 the cotton operatives in Lawrence, Lowell, New Bedford, 
 Mass., and at 'Cohoes, N. Y. ; but after all it would be 
 mainly a repetition of the story told of Fall River, with the 
 places, names and dates changed. We will just glance at 
 them, however. Lowell saw an unsuccessful strike in 1874, 
 when seventeen hundred dollars was sent the strikers from 
 Fall River. In 1876 there were unsuccessful strikes at Arc- 
 tic and Aquidneck, R. I., and Clinton and New Bedford, 
 Mass. In March, 1880, a bitterly-contested strike began in 
 Cohoes, N. Y., which resulted in a ten per cent, advance 
 after ten weeks of idleness. After this strike, Secretary 
 Howard, of the Fall River Spinners' Union, visited Cohoes 
 and organized a union there, but it soon v/ent to pieces by 
 reason of blacklisting. In 1882 there was a great strike in 
 Lawrence against a twenty per cent, reduction at the Pacific 
 Mills, which had paid out $9,525,000 in dividends, equal 
 to 381 per cent, on its capital in the nineteen years pre- 
 vious, and had also increased its capital from $2,500,000 to 
 $5,000,000. Public sympathy through the city and State 
 was with the operatives, but they were finally starved into 
 surrender. Contemporaneous with this strike was another, 
 but unsuccessful one, at Cohoes, N. Y., against a ten per 
 cent, reduction. These strikes cost the corporations immense 
 amounts, even though they finally carried their point. 
 
 [In the chapter devoted to miscellaneous trades some ac- 
 count is given of the organizations existing in the wool, flax 
 and silk industries. EDITOR.]
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 COAL MINERS. 
 
 DIFFICULTIES OP ORGANIZATION FARM LABORERS AS MINERS FIRST 
 ORGANIZATION, 1857 ADDRESS OF DANIEL WEAVER NATIONAL 
 MINERS' ASSOCIATION, 1861 FIRST MINERS' PAPER MINERS' ANO 
 LABORERS' BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION JOHN SINEY AS AN ORGAN- 
 IZER EFFECT OF THE PANIC OF 1873 REPEATED STRIKES AND 
 DEFEATS ARREST OF JOHN SINEY AND TWENTY-SEVEN OTHERS 
 THE UNION DEMORALIZED INTRODUCTION OF THE KNIGHTS OF 
 LABOR ITS RAPID EXTENSION AMONG MINERS SUCCESSFUL STRIKE 
 IN PITTSBURGH DISTRICT PIT COMMITTEES MOVEMENT FOR FORT- 
 NIGHTLY PAYMENTS, EIGHT HOURS AND ABOLITION OF COMPANY 
 STORES OHIO MINERS' AMALGAMATED ASSOCIATION, 1882 NA- 
 TIONAL CONVENTION AT INDIANAPOLIS ORGANIZATION OF NATIONAL 
 FEDERATION OF MINERS AND MINE LABORERS ITS OBJECTS ARBI- 
 TRATION ATTEMPTED. 
 
 THE coal miners of the United States are, perhaps, more 
 generally misunderstood than any class of laborers in 
 the world. Whenever they have undertaken any step for 
 their industrial advancement it has been in the face of an 
 adverse public opinion, which has been taught to regard them, 
 as almost beyond the pale of well-ordered civilization. They 
 have thus failed to receive the moral encouragement and sup- 
 port which has sustained and assisted other wage-workers, 
 especially in their later contests. 
 
 But this, serious as it may be, is merely external. Among 
 themselves and in the conditions of their work and life, the 
 miners have had many internal difficulties to contend with 
 difficulties which have stood in the way of organization and 
 united action. Scattered in remote districts, frequently 
 many miles away from the towns, and shut off almost en- 
 tirely from all social intercourse, the opportunities for the 
 interchange of ideas and the upbuilding of compact, service- 
 able organizations have necessarily been slight. Nor is this 
 all. The coal miner has been of necessity a bird of passage. 
 
 (2 4I ) 06)
 
 242 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 Different seasons have found him in different localities, as the 
 opportunities for work has offered. Coal which depends on 
 river transportation must be mined in the spring and fall, 
 while that transported by the lakes is confined to summer, and 
 only domestic coal can be operated during the winter. These 
 conditions have been serious obstacles to the miners in the 
 labor movement in two ways : first, because they have con- 
 tributed much to injure the reputation of miners for thrift and 
 stability as a class ; and, second, because they have had a 
 tendency to disrupt local organizations and injure their effi- 
 ciency. It is, however, the first of these two evils that the 
 miners have most deplored. They have felt deeply the injus- 
 tice of the prejudice existing against them. They trace it to 
 the corporations that employ them, whose interest it has some- 
 times been to represent them as a class of shiftless laborers, 
 careless of their habits and reputation. These ideas have 
 been sent out especially in times of strikes, the newspaper 
 accounts often giving them free circulation. The public has 
 formed its estimate of the miners' character upon the basis 
 of these unjust assertions, which have taken on a color of 
 truthfulness from the unfortunate circumstances arising out 
 of the conditions of their life. The miner has felt that he 
 could get no fair presentation of his grievances in the news- 
 papers, and that his unequal battle must always be fought 
 in the face of these difficulties. The advent of labor news- 
 papers has done much to change this aspect of the case, how- 
 ever, and gradually the public has been made to see this great 
 body of industrious men in a fair light. 
 
 There have been other difficulties in the way of organiza- 
 tion, wholly outside of and beyond the prejudice we have 
 noled, and the unfavorable effect of the seasons on mining 
 operations. One of the most serious of these has been the 
 employment of farm-hands in the mines during the winter 
 season. This practice has introduced an element of labor 
 which had nothing to gain by such organizations as the 
 skilled miners were striving to build up. It was an ele- 
 ment which had no interest in the permanent welfare of the 
 miners as a class. To them it was of little consequence
 
 EARLY ORGANIZATIONS OF MINERS. 243 
 
 whether the wages were high or low. Employment in the 
 mines was not their chief dependence. They earned their 
 living by farming, and such few dollars as they could realize 
 in the winter were so much additional income. They were 
 not experts, and their occasional presence among the miners 
 furnished the employers with a pretext for keeping the wages 
 at the lowest point at which men could exist. The effect of 
 this unnatural element of competition on the efforts at labor 
 organization can be readily understood. That the farm- 
 hands were regarded and treated as interlopers coming be- 
 tween the hard-working miners and their just rights, was not 
 much to be wondered at. 
 
 In spite of these manifold difficulties, the coal-miners of the 
 United States finally began the work of organization on such 
 a scale that it could not be longer delayed or defeated. It 
 was not until this organization was well under way, that 
 they encountered the last obstacle which the employers had 
 to place in their path, and this was of only temporary and 
 local consequence. This was the policy, steadily pursued by 
 the corporations, of eliminating the leaders from the ranks of 
 the miners by offering them good salaries as superintendents. 
 The plan worked successfully in some localities, and many 
 men, now the bosses of mines, owe their positions to the 
 prominent part they played in the early history of the organi- 
 zation. It is a matter of pride, however, that some of the 
 strongest and ablest leaders were neither to be bought, 
 cajoled, or driven, and that through them the organizations 
 so long desired were finally built up. 
 
 In the early history of mining organization the trade was 
 confined to a few States, the anthracite regions and the 
 river coal, as it is called, of the Pittsburgh district, and the 
 block coal of the Chenango Valley being the most promi- 
 nent. Pennsylvania, the Mahoning and Tuscarawas Valleys, 
 Salineville, Yellow Creek and the Ohio river in Ohio, and 
 eastern and northeastern Illinois, comprising Will, Grundy, 
 Lasalle and other counties, and the Belleville tract, and East- 
 ern Missouri and Maryland. The later efforts took in more 
 territory in Pennsylvania, consisting of the Bartley mountains
 
 244 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 andTioga, Huntingdon, Clearfield, Jefferson, and other coun- 
 ties. The great Hocking Valley and its surrounding terri- 
 tory, Guernsey, Jackson, and several other counties in Ohio, 
 were also interested. The whole State of Indiana, part of 
 Michigan, more extended fields in Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, 
 Kansas, Colorado, and the far Western territories, the Vir- 
 ginias, old and west, Tennessee, Alabama, and the Southern 
 coal fields generally joined in the movement. The present 
 efforts that are being made embrace every coal field in the 
 country. 
 
 The earliest efforts that we can learn of organization were 
 about 1857 or 1858; but as far as we learn the efforts were 
 confined to districts alone. The condition of the trade at that 
 time was such that it could easily be controlled by such or- 
 ganizations, without calling for assistance from other districts, 
 as each at that time had its own exclusive markets and 
 competition from the others was out of the question. For this 
 reason no efforts were made by the leaders at that time to 
 draw closer together by general organization, and they only 
 lasted for a short time. 
 
 The first attempt at national organization was made on the 
 Belleville Track, Illinois, in January, 1861. In the latter 
 part of 1860, Daniel Weaver, Thomas Lloyd, and several 
 others got together and talked up the benefits to be derived 
 from, and the actual necessity for, the general organiza- 
 tion, and the result was the following address, prefaced by 
 Mackay's poem, "What Might Be Done?" and signed by 
 D. W. :- 
 
 The necessity of an association of miners, and of those branches of indus- 
 try immediately connected with mining operations, having for its objects the 
 physical, mental and social elevation of the miner, has long been felt by the 
 thinking portion of miners generally. 
 
 Union is the great fundamental principle by which every object of impor- 
 tance is to be accomplished. Man is a social being, and if left to himself, in 
 an isolated condition, would be one of the weakest creatures; but, associated 
 with his kind, he works wonders. Men can do jointly what they cannot do 
 singly ; and the UNION of minds and hands, the concentration, of their power, 
 becomes almost omnipotent. Nor is this all ; men not only accumulate power 
 by union, but gain warmth and earnestness. There is an electric sympathy 
 kindled, and the attractive forces inherent in human nature are called into.
 
 FIRST NATIONAL ORGANIZATION. 245 
 
 action, and a stream of generous emotion, of a friendly regard for each other, 
 binds together and animates the whole. 
 
 If men would spread one set of opinions, or crush another, they make a so- 
 ciety. Would they improve the sanitary condition of our towns, light our 
 streets with gas, or supply our dwellings with water, they form societies. 
 From the organization of our armies, our railroad and banking companies, 
 down through every minute ramification of society to trades' associations and 
 sick societies, men have learned the power and efficiency of co-operation, 
 and are, therefore, determined to stand by each other. How long, then, will 
 miners remain isolated antagonistic to each other? Does it not behoove 
 us, as miners, to use every means to elevate our position in society, by a 
 reformation of character, "by obliterating all personal animosities and frivo- 
 lous nationalities, abandoning our pernicious habits and degrading pursuits, 
 and striving for the attainment of pure and high principles and generous 
 motives, which will fat us to bear a manly, useful and honorable part in the 
 world? Our unity is essential to the attainment of our own rights and the 
 amelioration of our present condition ; and our voices must be heard in the 
 legislative halls of our land. There it is that our complaints must be made 
 and our rights defined. The insatiable maw of Capital would devour every 
 vestige of Labor's rights ; but we must demand legislative protection ; and to 
 accomplish this, we must organize. Our remedy, our safety, our protection, 
 our dearest interests, and the social well-being of our families, present and 
 future, depend on our Unity, our duty, and our regard for each other. 
 
 In laying before you, therefore, the objects of this association, we desire it 
 to be understood that our objects are not merely pecuniary, but to mutually 
 instruct and improve each other in knowledge, which is power; to study the 
 laws of life; the relation of Labor to Capital; politics, municipal affairs, lit- 
 erature, science, or any other subject relating to the general welfare of our 
 class. Has not experience and observation taught us what one of the pro- 
 foundest thinkers of the present day has said, that "All human interests, and 
 combined human endeavors, and social growth in this world, have, at certain 
 stages of their developments, required organizing; and Labor the grandest 
 of human interests requires it now. There must be an organization of 
 Labor; to begin with it straightway, to proceed with it, and succeed in it 
 more and more." One of America's immortals said, "To me there is no 
 East, no West, no North, no South," and I would say, Let there be no En- 
 glish, no Irish, Germans, Scotch, or Welsh. This is our country, and 
 
 "All men are brethren how the watch-words run ! 
 And when men act as such is justice won." 
 
 Come, then, and rally around the standard of Union the union of States 
 and the unity of miners and with honesty of purpose, zeal and watchful- 
 ness the pledge of success unite for the emancipation of our labor, and 
 the regeneration and elevation physically, mentally and morally, of our 
 species. 
 
 Yours, on behalf of the miners, D. W. 
 
 The result of this address was that on the 28th of January, 
 1 86 1, a convention was held, consisting of representatives of
 
 246 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 miners from Illinois and Missouri, and the association known 
 as the "American Miners' Association" was established, and 
 Daniel Weaver was elected president, and Thomas Lloyd sec- 
 retary. A constitution and laws were adopted and printed. 
 The leaders felt strongly their utter helplessness without or- 
 ganization, and the following verse, quoted at the head of the 
 constitution of this association well expresses the sentiment 
 which ran through all their earlier records : 
 
 Step by step, the longest march 
 
 Can be won, can be won ; 
 Single stones will form an arch 
 
 One by one, one by one. 
 And by union, what we will 
 Can be all accomplished still. 
 Drops of water turn a mill, 
 
 Singly none, singly none. 
 
 The preamble sets forth : 
 
 The working miners are, in the prosecution of their labors, subjected to 
 manifold dangers from explosions and insecure roofs ; also from fire-damps 
 and other noxious gases, the result of imperfect ventilation, as well as to 
 accidents arising from other causes consequent upon the parsimony of em- 
 ployers, whose objects would seem to be the increase of the volume of their 
 capital, without reference to the fearful loss of life, limb and health, which is 
 the cause of such increase, etc. 
 
 The time for organization had come at last. The constitu- 
 tion provided for the formation of members into lodges, lodges 
 to form districts, all of which were under the supervision of 
 a general board of directors or trustees, who, besides exer- 
 cising general supervision, represented the association in its 
 corporate capacity. The general board consisted of one 
 president, vice-president, financial secretary, corresponding 
 secretary and treasurer, and one delegate from each lodge in 
 the association, who were elected annually by the lodges. 
 The general officers were elected by the delegates, and held 
 their positions two years, or until their successors should be 
 elected and qualified. They were to meet once a year, unless 
 a majority of the lodges determined to call a special meeting 
 of the board. Delegates were allowed a vote for every twenty 
 members they represented. This, in brief, was the form in
 
 AMERICAN MINERS' ASSOCIATION. 247 
 
 which the miners finally developed their first national organi- 
 zation. 
 
 Daniel Weaver, who laid the foundation of the organiza- 
 tion, was an Englishman, raised in the mines, and an old 
 settler in the mining region of the Belleville Tract, to which 
 we owe the first national association. He was, as a matter 
 of course, self-educated. The language of his address be- 
 trays the fact that he had taken an active part in the Chartist 
 movement in England, which may, indeed, have hurried his 
 departure. At the time of organizing the American miners 
 he was ripening in years, and was a deep thinker, logical rea- 
 soner, forcible in expression, and a plain, energetic speaker, 
 who brought convictions to the minds of those listening to 
 him. Under his guidance the organization could not fail of 
 success. 
 
 Weaver was ably assisted in his work by Thomas Lloyd, 
 a Welshman, who came to this country after reaching man- 
 hood, and settled on the Belleville Tract. He, also, was 
 a man of mature years, an energetic worker and a forcible 
 speaker, and was the chief support of Weaver in getting the 
 organization established. When the organization was estab- 
 lished an Irishman named Martin Burke became one of the 
 most active^ eloquent, and successful organizers. These three 
 men were ably assisted by a German named Roeser, who or- 
 ganized and brought into the fold all the German miners in 
 and around that district. Foreigners, it will be seen, were 
 the organizers and officers of the first American association 
 of miners. These leaders finally gave place to younger men. 
 Immediately after the perfecting of the organization, a tailor 
 by the name of John Hinchcliffe started a paper called The 
 Weekly Miner, which was recognized as the official organ ; 
 and so great was his influence that if any member was be- 
 hind in his subscription he could not get a clearance card from 
 his lodge. Mr. HinchclifFe was afterwards elected president 
 of the association. He then read law and was admitted to 
 the bar. In 1871 the miners elected him to the Legislature, 
 where he introduced a law for the proper ventilation of the 
 mines. In 1873 he was chosen State Senator. He died re-
 
 248 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 cently, enjoying the full confidence of the leaders and miners 
 generally. 
 
 The American Miners' Association was not long confined 
 to the Belleville Tract and Missouri. It made rapid strides 
 eastward. Braidwood and La Salle were soon organized 
 into districts. In March, 1863, a district was formed in the 
 Tuscarawas Valley, under the name of Massillon Miners' 
 Association. The constitution and by-laws of the Massillon 
 Society were very elaborate, and provided for the regulation 
 of work in the mines, and the careful government of the asso- 
 ciation. A careful examination of the constitutions of the 
 various associations shows us that each was in itself a gen- 
 eral organization, though nominally a branch of the Belle- 
 ville headquarters. 
 
 The history of this association, for the few years following 
 that convention, was almost identical with that of every dis- 
 trict. Internal dissensions set in among the officers. The 
 result was that with the strikes of 1867 and 1868, the as- 
 sociation went down all over the country, and the American 
 Miners' Association passed into history. In 1869, or the 
 early part of 1870, efforts were made to revive it under the 
 old constitution, which was done in some localities ; but the 
 efforts were spasmodic, and availed little. 
 
 In January, 1871, a convention was held at Bloomington, 
 111., which organized the Illinois Miners' Benevolent and 
 Protective Association, providing that five dollars a week be 
 paid to members while disabled from accident in the mines, 
 or while doing business for the association, and forty dollars 
 were paid on the death of a member. It did not long exist. 
 
 In the anthracite regions of Pennsylvania, the first organi- 
 zation that attracted national attention and became of national 
 importance was the Miners' and Laborers' Benevolent Asso- 
 ciation, better known to miners of the present day by its 
 initials, M. & L. B. A. This was organized in Schuylkill 
 County, and soon spread to western Pennsylvania, and, about 
 the time the American went down, this took its place among 
 the miners of Ohio. It took in men of every trade employed 
 in and around the mines. The local lodges were called sub-
 
 JOHN SINEY, ORGANIZER. 249 
 
 ordinate; the District, Grand; the State, Grand Council; the 
 National, Right Worthy Grand Council of the United States. 
 
 These names were taken from the constitution of Ohio, but 
 in this, as in the American, while the Grand Council of the 
 United States is spoken of, there was no provision made for 
 the recognition of it or its officers, or support to be given to 
 it. Thus, again, each State or territory was a general or- 
 ganization in itself making no provision for representation in, 
 or support of, a higher body. But at this time the States were 
 well able to care for their own trade, and, though no provision 
 was made, a mutual understanding existed between the States 
 for voluntary support and encouragement to each other. 
 
 As in the case of the organizations which had gone before 
 it, the constitution of this association was carefully drawn, and 
 provided elaborate rules for the government of the members 
 and the attainment of the ends desired. Its objects were 
 strictly in the line of its comprehensive name. 
 
 This association was the strongest the miners ever had 
 in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland and Indiana, though the 
 miners of Illinois and the Western States did not organize 
 under it. Their own was so near like it that cards were 
 exchanged and accepted between them. From the time the 
 association was organized and took the place of the American, 
 it flourished with varying success until finally it was absorbed 
 by the National Association of Miners, organized at Youngs- 
 town, Ohio, October 14, 1873. 
 
 It was the Miners' and Laborers' Benevolent Association 
 that brought the late John Siney to the front and proved him 
 a successful organizer, although his services in it were mostly 
 confined to the anthracite regions. It lived through the long 
 and bitter strikes of 1869 and 1870, and in 1872 it existed in 
 all or nearly all the bituminous coal fields, and in Schuylkill 
 and several other counties of the anthracite coal fields of 
 Pennsylvania. The same may be said of Maryland, while 
 in Ohio there was not a coal field but was covered with 
 lodges. Indiana was well organized, as were also the coal 
 fields of Michigan, West Virginia and Kentucky. The 
 Western States, as before stated, although not under it, were
 
 25O THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 fairly organized, so that it might be said that the miners of 
 America were better organized in the spring of 1872 than 
 they ever were before or since, up to the time the present 
 National Federation of Miners and Mine Laborers was or- 
 ganized at Indianapolis, September 12, 1885. 
 
 In 1873 new conditions were apparent in the coal trade. 
 Prices were falling, new fields were being opened, railroads 
 were extending, and competitors were being drawn more 
 closely together in general markets. The miners saw in 
 this changing situation the need of a new form of organiza- 
 tion, and in September, 1873, in response to a call issued by 
 the officers in various States and districts, a convention assem- 
 bled at Youngstown, Ohio, and organized the Miners' Na- 
 tional Association. It was at this point that John Siney 
 came prominently upon the stage. He was chosen presi- 
 dent, with a salary of one hundred dollars a month and 
 traveling expenses. John James, of Illinois, was chosen 
 secretary ; George Archibald, of Pittsburgh, vice-president, 
 and David M. Davis, of Mineral Ridge, Ohio, treasurer. 
 Headquarters were established at Cleveland. Four nation- 
 alities were represented in the chief officers of the associa- 
 tion. 
 
 The association started with good prospects and a large 
 membership, fully sufficient to pay salaries of officers and all 
 running expenses. But the panic of October of that year 
 blighted its prospects somewhat, and the strikes of 1874 re- 
 tarded the growth of the organization. Nevertheless, Siney 
 and the general officers persevered, and with assistance of the 
 representatives to the Youngstown convention, and the officers 
 of the local and district organizations already in existence, 
 the work progressed favorably. At the second annual con- 
 vention, held at Cleveland, O., October 27th to 29th, 1874, 
 there were present thirty-eight delegates, representing 224 
 lodges and branches in seven States and one Territory. The 
 total membership then numbered 21,200. At this convention 
 provision was made for the publication of an official paper, 
 known as the The Miners' National Record. It enjoyed a 
 brief but useful existence. In 1874 tne Schuylkill branch of
 
 STRIKES AND ARRESTS. 251 
 
 the Miners' and Laborers' Benevolent Association carried its 
 twelve hundred members into the national organization, and, 
 though the Belleville people were not wholly in sympathy with 
 this policy, there was a general movement in the same direc- 
 tion everywhere among the miners' organizations. 
 
 The year 1875 saw the Miners' National Association in the 
 zenith of its power. The same year witnessed a crisis in the 
 affairs of all the organizations. It brought anxiety and grief 
 to the heart of John Siney and his brave colleagues, who put 
 forth every effort to check the disintegration going on around 
 them. As the organizations waned, wages fell, and they have 
 yet to be restored to the standard then lost. Everywhere 
 there were strikes, and nearly everywhere defeats. The 
 arrest of Siney, Parks, and twenty-six others, in May, in 
 the Clearfield region, had a very dampening effect upon or- 
 ganization all over the country, and particularly in Pennsyl- 
 vania. Some of them were sentenced to one year in the 
 penitentiary, with twenty-five dollars fine ; more got off with 
 six months' imprisonment and a fine. Siney and Parks were 
 put under five hundred dollars bail to appear at the following 
 September court, when Siney was acquitted and Parks sen- 
 tenced one year to the penitentiary and one dollar fine. By 
 the fall of that year every district was demoralized. 
 
 About this time the Order of the Knights of Labor was 
 spreading rapidly among the miners, and early in 1875 some 
 of the lodges were organized into local assemblies of that 
 Order. The trial of the Osceola men had the effect of driv- 
 ing men to secret organization, and in the winter of 1875 anc ^ 
 1876, such was the excitement in the Pittsburgh district, 
 along the rivers and railways, that a man must have been 
 dull indeed not to know that some kind of a secret organi- 
 zation was being organized, and very rapidly, too, though 
 nothing could be really found out about it. Miners organ- 
 ized very generally into it for a while, in localities, but as it 
 never seemed to show, on the surface, of anything being done 
 to raise the price of mining, they fell off about as rapidly as 
 they organized ; but on going to other places, they carried 
 it along with them, thus keeping up a steady growth of the
 
 252 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 order among the miners, though it never reached sufficient 
 force to make its power felt by any concerted action, Mary- 
 land, of all the States, making an effort to organize the 
 miners thoroughly into the order. The years 1877 and 1878 
 passed without any success at organization, although sev- 
 eral conventions were held in Ohio, and organizations were 
 started, but they went down without getting established, as 
 the spirit of lethargy and indifference seemed to have con- 
 trol of miners generally. It remained thus until the winter 
 of 1878 and 1879, when miners along the Monongahela 
 and Youghiogheny Rivers, of the Pittsburgh district, with 
 District Assembly No. 9, as a nucleus of an organization, 
 determined to ask for an advance in the price of mining 
 when the spring run opened. They were out several weeks 
 to enforce their demand, and were about to go to work with- 
 out it, when some information imparted to them by D. R. 
 Jones, who was then reading law in Pittsburgh, and had 
 overheard it from the Coal Exchange, caused them to hold 
 out long enough to get the increase demanded. 
 
 This success emboldened them, and they at once made up 
 their minds to put some one in the field to look after their 
 interests. As the miners of Haye's Six-mile ferry had taken 
 Jones from the school he was teaching and more than doubled 
 his salarv to check weigh for them, the miners took him up, 
 as the most available man for them, and made him president, 
 to look after their interest. They had no regular form of 
 organization except through pit committees, who elected a 
 president and secretary from their number. 
 
 The position which Mr. Jones was called to occupy was 
 one of extraordinary power and responsibility. Established 
 in his headquarters at Pittsburgh, he had neither secretary, 
 treasurer, nor executive committee to consult. He was ac- 
 countable to no one. Each miner paid him five cents a month 
 for his services, and he ran the office as he pleased. The 
 association prospered amazingly under his management, and 
 was an example and an inspiration to other miners in all parts 
 of the country. The success of the Pittsburgh experiment 
 aroused them to action. They met in that city in March,
 
 NATIONAL FEDERATION. 253 
 
 1880, and decided to make a concerted move for "uniform, or 
 no screen work, fortnightly payments, eight hours' work, and 
 the abolition of company stores." August i, 1880, was fixed 
 upon as the date on which the decisive step should be taken. 
 The ist of August found the miners of the Tuscarawas 
 Valley and of Salineville prepared for the struggle. The 
 former stood out for nine months and the latter four months ; 
 but, being unassisted and unsupported by the other bodies > 
 the strike was a failure. 
 
 A call issued for a meeting of delegates at Columbus, April 
 22, 1882, resulted in a large representation of the miners, and 
 the formation of the Ohio Miners' Amalgamated Association. 
 This organization has proven a great success, having been 
 tried and proved by the fire of experience. In the fall of 
 1882, Mr. Jones retired from the management of the Pitts- 
 burgh association, which was then thoroughly organized on 
 a new basis. 
 
 During 1883 an d 1884 the miners became aware of impor- 
 tant developments in the coal trade, which they foresaw must, 
 sooner or later, have a serious effect on their wages. Rail- 
 roads and telegraphs had annihilated space and time until the 
 East was no longer the market of Eastern coal-fields, nor the 
 West of those in its section. The same was true of the North 
 and South. Competition entered fiercely into the price of coal, 
 and wages were endangered as never before. At the same 
 time electricity and natural gas had come in to reduce the de- 
 mand in that direction, and improved machinery had devel- 
 oped a tendency to reduce the demand for manufacturing 
 purposes. In view of these facts the leaders issued a call 
 for a great national convention, to be held at Indianapolis, 
 September 12, 1885. The representatives of every form of 
 coal miners' organizations were invited to be present. Out 
 of this convention came forth the present great association, 
 known to the country as the National Federation of Miners 
 and Mine Laborers of the United States and Territories. 
 This memorable convention was called to order by J. J. 
 Sullivan, of Iowa. John McBride, of Ohio, was made tem- 
 porary chairman, and permanent officers were elected as
 
 254 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 follows : President, Daniel McLaughlin, of Illinois ; Secre- 
 tary, J. B. Fleming, of West Virginia ; Assistant Secretary, 
 J. J. Sullivan, of Iowa; Executive Secretary, Christopher 
 Evans, New Straitville, Ohio ; Treasurer, Daniel McLaugh- 
 lin, Braidwood, 111. The Executive Board consisted of Chris- 
 topher Evans, Ohio ; Daniel McLaughlin, Illinois ; John H. 
 Davis, Pennsylvania; J. B. Fleming, West Virginia; J. J. 
 Sullivan, Iowa. Members at large : George Harris, Pennsyl- 
 vania ; John McBride, Ohio ; David Ross, Illinois ; Patrick 
 McAdams, Indiana; T. P. Gray, West Virginia; A. M. 
 Reid, Iowa ; James Smith, Kansas. 
 
 The purpose of the organization is well stated in the fol- 
 lowing preamble to the constitution : 
 
 As miners and mine laborers, our troubles are everywhere of a similar char- 
 acter. The inexorable law of supply and demand determin^ the point where 
 our interests unite. The increased shipping facilities of the last few years 
 have made all coal-producing districts competitors in the markets of this 
 country. This has led to indiscriminate cutting of market prices and unnec- 
 essary reductions in our wages, which for some time have been far below a 
 living rate. Our wages are no longer regulated by our skill as workmen, nor 
 by the value of the products of our labor, but by competition with cheaper 
 labor. Our standard of workmanship is fast being lowered by the present 
 method of screening coal before weighing, and of the practice on the part of 
 our employers of importing foreign cheap labor to their mines. In many 
 localities free speech has been effectually suppressed. That monstrous swin- 
 dling machine, the "truck system," which was banished from England by 
 legislation, has been transplanted, and is now flourishing in our midst. Our 
 ills are many and our privileges few; all can be attributed to the lack of or- 
 ganized effort on our part. Our failure to act in concert when contesting for 
 principles and rights has brought about the demoralization and degradation 
 of our craft. Local, district and State organizations have done much towards 
 ameliorating the condition of our craft in the past, but to-day neither district 
 nor State unions can regulate the markets to which their coal is shipped. We 
 know this to our sorrow. Hence, while approving of local organizations, 
 whether secret or open in character, we are convinced that by federating 
 under one general head our powers for good would be increased and a speedy 
 betterment of our common condition follow. In a federation of all lodges 
 and branches of miners' unions lies our only hope. Single-handed we can do 
 nothing, but federated there is no power of wrong that we may not openly 
 defy. Federation will act as a stimulant, and infuse new life into all the dif- 
 ferent local, district and State organizations. It should do so. The cry of 
 distress which arises from members of our craft in all sections of the countrv 
 demands us to act, and act at once. Then let us organize and agitate for 
 liberty and living mining rates for justice to our craft.
 
 TRADES UNION LEADERS.
 
 OBJECTS AND METHODS. 255 
 
 The objects of the association were declared as follows : 
 
 1. The objects of the association will be to promote the interests of miners 
 and mine-laborers morally, socially, and financially; for the protection of 
 their health and their lives ; to spread intelligence amongst them ; to remove, 
 as far as possible, the cause of strikes, and adopt, wherever and whenever 
 practicable, the principles of arbitration and restriction ; to urge upon all 
 miners and mine-laborers the necessity of becoming citizens, that we may 
 secure, by the use of the ballot, the services of men friendly to the cause of 
 labor, both in our State and National legislative bodies; to create a fund for 
 the support and protection of the members of this association. 
 
 2. To obtain legislative enactments for the more efficient management of 
 mines, whereby the lives and health of our members maybe better preserved. 
 
 3. To shorten the hours of labor to eight hours per day. 
 
 4. To secure the enactment of a law for the weighing of all coal before 
 being screened, and to prevent operators and miners from contracting to 
 waive or modify the said law. 
 
 5. To protect all members who are unjustly dealt with by their employers 
 while endeavoring to carry out the behests of this confederation. 
 
 6. To assist all similar organizations which have the same objects in view, 
 to-wit : mutual protection, and the protection of labor against the encroach- 
 ments of capital. 
 
 7. The total abolition of the system of contracting convict labor in any 
 mines, manufacturing establishments, or any other institutions, when brought 
 in contact with free and honest labor. 
 
 8. The adoption of the two-weeks' pay system, and the abolition of the 
 truck-store system in all its forms, and to secure to its members justice and 
 equality in every legitimate way. 
 
 Having seen, from past experience, the futility of strikes, it 
 was thought best to adopt some method to avoid them, and 
 settle all differences in the future by a mutual understanding 
 with employers. ' With this end in view a circular letter was 
 addressed to all mine operators in the United States, inviting 
 them to a conference with the miners' executive committee to 
 adopt some method to settle difficulties in the future without 
 recourse to strikes. The result was that several oper- 
 ators met with them at Chicago in October, 1885. There not 
 being operators enough present to guarantee unity on their 
 part, they could enter into no agreement ; but a committee 
 representing both sides was appointed to issue an address to 
 all mine operators and miners, showing them the necessity 
 for united action between them to prevent the cutting of prices 
 in the markets, and thus reducing the rate of miners' wages 
 to below the actual cost of living, thereby degrading their
 
 256 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 manhood. The convention, or conference, adjourned to 
 meet at Pittsburgh, Penn., December 12, at which there 
 was a better representation of both sides. A committee was 
 appointed at that conference to draw up a scale of prices to 
 be paid for mining in the different districts represented, and 
 let the operators into the different markets on an equality 
 in regard to prices paid for mining. A scale was partially 
 agreed upon by the committee and submitted to the confer- 
 ence, and after a great deal of discussion it could not be 
 finally agreed to by all operators present, and the conference 
 again adjourned to meet at Columbus, February 23, 1886, 
 when the following scale of prices submitted was adopted 
 with but one dissenting vote, and signed on behalf of the 
 miners and operators to go into effect May i, 1886, for one 
 year : 
 
 Pittsburgh ..... a| cents per bushel, or 71 cents per ton. 
 
 Hocking Valley . 60 " " " 
 
 Indiana Block . . . . . . . . . So 
 
 Indiana Bituminous, No. i ...... 65 
 
 Indiana Bituminous, No. 2 ...... 75 "'" 
 
 Wilmington, 111. 95 " " " 
 
 Streator . . So ' 
 
 Grape Creek . . . . . . . . . 75 " " " 
 
 Mount Olive 56$ " " " 
 
 Staunton .......... 56^ ' ' ' 
 
 Springfield .......... 6^4 ' 
 
 Des Moines, Iowa . . . . . . . . 90 ; 
 
 Reynoldsville, Fairmount, screen coal . . . *. 71 " ' 
 
 At West Virginia, the Kanawha district reduced prices to be restored to 
 75 cents per ton. 
 
 In order to settle any disputes that might arise on other 
 questions, and prevent the mines from stopping work, a 
 board of arbitration was appointed for each State, consisting 
 of representatives of each side. In case they could not set- 
 tle a difficulty arising in their own State, a national board 
 was elected, to whom all cases that could not be settled in 
 any district or State should be referred for final adjudica- 
 tion, and whose decision should be binding upon the par- 
 ties interested, until May i, 1887. 
 
 So far, there has only been trouble between the miners and
 
 A SPIRIT OF INDEPENDENCE. 257 
 
 those represented at the different conferences, in one general 
 and one or two local matters. The operator who refused to 
 agree to the scale of prices was McClure, of Grape Creek, 
 111., who has locked his men out for not working below the 
 scale of prices, and then endeavored to import colored men 
 from the South to take their places. Trouble has arisen 
 in other places, where the operators declined to attend the 
 conferences and refused to be governed by the scale. The 
 spirit shown by the representatives of miners in inviting 
 employers to counsel with them, and impartially doing all 
 in their power to avoid conflicts, is having, and will have 
 in the future, a good effect, as many operators, who in the 
 past looked upon their employees as something about whom 
 they should have no concern, readily correspond with the 
 executive officers in regard to disputes and differences that 
 are likely to arise. 
 
 STRIKES IN THE MINING REGIONS. 
 
 There is no industry under the sun that has such a record 
 for strikes as the coal mining industry. The partial cause of 
 this has been stated at the commencement of this chapter. 
 The recklessness of miners is derived from their calling, 
 which also gives them a spirit of independence such as can- 
 not be found among the workmen of any other trade. They 
 do not cringe or fawn to authority. Many of them left their 
 native land because of the oppressions there, and in the hope 
 of obtaining a larger share of liberty here. Hence they re- 
 sist every imposition placed upon them, and resent every 
 intrusion on their rights ; and the stubbornness shown by 
 them in many of their strikes, in which they suffer hunger, 
 cold and hardship, often evicted from their homes in the 
 depth of winter to seek the friendly shelter of the woods or 
 tents, shows how dearly they love justice, and how hard they 
 are willing to fight for it. If the workmen of the shops and 
 factories of the cities and towns of the United States had 
 shown the same spirit at the ballot-boxes for the last twenty 
 years, the mis-legislation that now curses the laboring man 
 would have been wiped out.
 
 258 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 In giving a synopsis of the strikes in this trade, a general 
 glance will be sufficient, as the causes that led to them in one 
 district were the causes in another, and generally the result 
 in one place was the same as in another. 
 
 The first strike of which we have record occurred in the 
 Belleville Tract, in 1862-3. This was a strike for an advance 
 of wages. After several months, the companies imported a 
 number of Belgians to take the places of the strikers. Many 
 of these new-comers were sent away, their expenses being 
 paid by the Miners' Association. After a nine months' strug- 
 gle, they gained a victory, their stubborn resistance being 
 aided by the upward tendency of prices. This strike was 
 followed by others in other parts of the country for an ad- 
 vance, all being successful. In some places advances were 
 given without strikes. The prices thus advanced went on 
 with the increased volume of currency, until coal that was 
 mined for $i a ton paid $2.30 per ton when the volume of 
 currency was greatest.* 
 
 The contraction of the currency in 1866-7-8 brought down 
 the prices in proportion, and the miners who fought for the 
 advance did not feel like submitting to a reduction without 
 an effort all over the country. Many of those who had fol- 
 lowed the campaigns of the war, and who had come back to 
 the trade they had left, did not feel as though they ought 
 to give up what was theirs by right, and were ready to live 
 again on soldiers' fare rather than yield. In many places the 
 very men whose shackles they had broken were imported to 
 take their places. Particularly was this the case in mining 
 regions in the South and Southwest and along the Ohio River. 
 In Braidwood, during the strikes of 1867 and 1868, Bohe- 
 mians and Italians were imported into the mines. In the 
 Eastern Pennsylvania regions, in some localities, after over 
 one year's strike, the miners were defeated by imported labor. 
 While the valleys of Ohio did not suffer much from importa- 
 tion, the miners, after several months' struggle, were defeated. 
 
 * The present price is seventy cents a ton, with the screen-bars increased in 
 size and width one-fourth of an inch, making it at least equal to another ten- 
 cent reduction.
 
 STARVED INTO SUBMISSION. 259 
 
 These strikes were spasmodic from that until the strikes of the 
 anthracite regions in 1869 and 1870 ended them. 
 
 While many local strikes took place, most of them of short 
 duration, the next of any importance was the strike of the 
 Tuscarawas and Mahoning Valley, of 1873, against a fifteen 
 cents' reduction on the ton, which lasted for six months, and 
 was compromised at the end of that time in the Tuscarawas ; 
 but in the Mahoning it lasted three months longer, when 
 importation of Swedes and Italians into the mines, and the 
 using of cheaper coals for making iron defeated the men, and 
 they went to work in the fall for what they could get. Before 
 this it was thought that the block-coal of the Mahoning and 
 Shenango Valleys was the only coal that would make No. I 
 iron ; but during the strike of that year, Pittsburgh and other 
 cheaper coals were experimented on, and with success, and 
 proved a very severe blow to that trade and to those valleys. 
 
 Then came the strike of 1874 in the anthracite regions of 
 Pennsylvania, in which the men were starved out by imported 
 labor, and the tyranny of the coal, iron and railroad corpora- 
 tions of the State, who owned the legislature, governor and 
 judges, thus controlling the government of the State, and 
 from whose control the workingmen of the State, to their 
 everlasting disgrace, have never wrested it. 
 
 These strikes continued until 1875. I n that year a coal 
 operator having mines on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, 
 from Pittsburgh to Connellsville, imported a number of Ital- 
 ians, arming them with breech-loading rifles and warning 
 them to shoot every English-speaking white man who came 
 near them, informing them that unless they did so they would 
 receive injury. The result was that a riot ensued, in which the 
 Italians used their rifles, killing two men and wounding others. 
 
 This created terrible excitement, miners, farmers and busi- 
 ness men entering their protest against the action of the coal 
 operator, and declaring that if the law did not restrain these 
 armed Italians, thev would. A warrant was sworn out against 
 the operator, Mr. Armstrong, and his Italian employees, and 
 the sheriff of Westmoreland county, assisted by a number of 
 volunteers, arrested them.
 
 26O THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 The grand jury found a true bill of murder in the second 
 degree against the Italians who used the rifles and against 
 Armstrong and the chief of the Italians as accessories before 
 the fact. The chief and the Italians were sent to the peni- 
 tentiary, and Armstrong was fined five dollars and costs. 
 
 In that same year, at a place about sixty miles distant, John 
 Siney and twenty-six others were arrested for attempting to 
 induce imported men not to take the places of strikers. 
 Among those who were arrested with Siney were J. J. Ma- 
 loney, John R. Joyce, and Zingo Parks. The two former 
 were forty miles from the place at the time of the alleged 
 offence. Joyce and Maloney were sentenced to one year's 
 imprisonment, because they were president and secretary, re- 
 spectively, of the Union. Zingo Parks was also sentenced 
 for one year, although he was in another county at the time 
 of the trouble. Six others received sentences of six months 
 each. 
 
 Strikes continued through the year, imported labor every- 
 where taking the places of the strikers. In some places it 
 was colored men ; in others, Germans, Italians, Swedes, Po- 
 landers, Hungarians, and everything else they could employ, 
 who took the places of the miners. It was only the coolness, 
 fortitude and sagacity of the leaders that prevented bloodshed 
 in every coal-mining district. 
 
 The military were called out to serve the purpose of the 
 operators in Indiana, Illinois and Iowa, and every effort was 
 made to incite the men to some rash act, to give the authori- 
 ties an excuse for the arrest of the men or an attack of the 
 militia. In April, 1876, a small riot occurred in the Tus- 
 carawas Valley, in which one man was shot and a building 
 burned. Several miners were arrested and sent to jail. One 
 man was sent to the penitentiary for three years, who was 
 pardoned out in a few months. 
 
 In 1880, a strike occurred in the same valley against the 
 introduction of screens, and was finally defeated by the im- 
 portation of colored men. Colored men were also introduced 
 in the Mahoning Valley and in the Panhandle district of Penn- 
 sylvania. In 1882, in the Pittsburgh district, miners who had
 
 HOCKING VALLEY STRIKE. 261 
 
 been put out of their houses were camping in tents, Hunga- 
 rians were imported, and men, women and children put to 
 work in the coke regions. The same class were introduced 
 into the soft-coal fields of Clearfield. 
 
 The miners of Maryland, having been crushed down by 
 and through the strikes of 1875, quietly submitted without a 
 murmur to all the impositions placed upon them. They or- 
 ganized local assemblies of the Knights of Labor until they 
 had sufficient locals to organize a district, when they organ- 
 ized District Assembly No. 25. They then persevered, and 
 got every mine and mining locality in the State thoroughly 
 organized, and built up a good treasury in the district. When 
 the season for work was about to open, they presented a bill 
 of grievances to their employers, which was indignantly re- 
 jected. Knowing they were living up to the Constitution of 
 the Knights of Labor, and would be supported by it, they 
 made every effort to reason with the employers and effect a 
 settlement; but every advance was spurned, and the ones 
 offering them treated with contumely. But it did not end 
 here. The employers, backed and supported by the Balti- 
 more & Ohio Railway, assumed the aggressive and demanded 
 concessions from the men. After four months' struggle the 
 men had to yield, and many of them were prevented from 
 obtaining work elsewhere. 
 
 THE GREAT HOCKING VALLEY STRIKE, 1884 AND 1885. 
 
 No battlefield was ever better contested than was the strike 
 in the valley during that time ; no better generalship was ever 
 shown than was shown by the leaders of the workingmen in 
 that battle. It was a battle of dollars and cents of great capi- 
 talists, backed by armed force, against poverty, hunger, cold 
 and want, backed by the support and sympathy of their fel- 
 lowmen the world over. The same tactics of capital were 
 used armed thugs and imported labor were transported into 
 the valley. Men who preached and taught temperance had 
 barrels of beer and whiskey rolled among their hirelings to 
 make them fighting mad. In their hurry they sometimes 
 shot down each other, and the coroners rendered a verdict of
 
 262 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 accidental shooting. When arrested the judge and jury set 
 them free. For nine months the contest waged, ending in 
 defeat. They were defeated by circumstances, and they ac- 
 cepted the inevitable with a determination, if ever they had to 
 fight again, they would go through the same thing for the 
 same cause. The Hocking Valley syndicate won, but lost 
 over four million dollars, millions of dollars of credit in 
 the commercial world, and millions of dollars of trade that 
 they have never got back, and never will, as it has 
 gone elsewhere, and won nothing but the ill-will of the 
 men. 
 
 In January of the year 1884, the syndicate asked the men to 
 accept a ten-cent reduction. The men asked them to appoint a 
 committee to meet in conference, and show cause why they 
 should accept it. The request was granted, a conference was 
 held, and the men demonstrated to them fairly that to accept 
 a reduction would not benefit them in the markets, and they 
 saw it, and did not insist. In March following they offered a 
 twenty cents a ton reduction. The miners accepted ten, and 
 offered to take the other ten if they would give them reasons 
 for doing so. Another conference was held, which resulted 
 the same. This did not suit the syndicate ; they wanted a 
 reduction, and to crush out the union, so they could run their 
 own business to suit themselves. So they laid their plans and 
 made up their minds to show the Miners' Association that they 
 would crush it out. They tried, but failed, and after losing 
 millions of dollars as above stated, they are now ready at any 
 time to consult the officers of the Ohio Miners' Association, 
 which is stronger now in the great Hocking district than it 
 has ever been. 
 
 A short strike took place in the Third Federated District for 
 the Columbus scale, which was too hasty and ill-advised to 
 be a success, the miners of that district being yet unorganized, 
 and were not prepared, nor had they confidence in the hastily 
 chosen leaders of that movement, or in themselves. There 
 is now, April 15, 1886, a strike existing at Grape Creek, 111., 
 over the Columbus scale, and the same old tactics, armed 
 thugs and imported labor.
 
 RESULTS OF THE ORGANIZATIONS. 263 
 
 The Miners' and Laborers' Benevolent Association was 
 successful in securing the appointment of mine-inspectors in 
 the anthracite coal regions and the enactment of laws giving 
 proper ventilation to the mines, with penalties attached for 
 violation. These laws give the inspectors power to bring suit 
 to enforce the law. A law was also passed making the area 
 of screens in the bituminous regions uniform in size, the 
 miners to be paid for all merchantable coal. This law, to- 
 gether with laws with regard to company or "pluck-me" 
 stores, as they are called, are a dead letter. 
 
 Coal miners also took part in the general agitation of the 
 movement, electing delegates to various labor congresses 
 and labor conventions, and helped to secure the establish- 
 ment of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Labor. Some of the 
 most earnest and able advocates for justice to labor were 
 educated in the meetings of the miners. This organiza- 
 tion also assisted in securing legislation in Ohio, establishing 
 mine-inspectors. The miners of Ohio have as yet failed to 
 secure legislation regulating the size of screens. A com- 
 mission was appointed to investigate the question, and two 
 reports were presented, the committee not being able to 
 agree. Laws have also been passed in Ohio, abolishing the 
 " pluck-me " stores and the scrip and check systems ; but these 
 laws are not wholly enforced. The miners in this State have 
 also taken an active part in the general movement, signing 
 petitions for the better treatment of girls and women in stores, 
 workshops and factories. 
 
 In Illinois, the miners of St. Clair county held a conven- 
 tion, and voted to support only candidates in favor of their 
 interests. This resulted in the election of John Hinchcliffe, 
 as before mentioned, who introduced the legislation. 
 
 Among the papers which have been of great assistance to 
 miners are the Workingmen 's Advocate, of Chicago, 111., 
 edited by A. C. Cameron, established in 1864, one of the 
 ablest labor papers ever published; The Workingman, of 
 Pottsville, Penn., the official organ of the miners of that 
 State; the Weekly Record, of Mahoning City, Penn., edited 
 by a miner ; and the National Labor Tribune, of Pittsburgh,
 
 264 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 Perm., started in 1872. This last-named paper has stood 
 by the miners through sunshine and cloud, and is now the 
 official organ of the Federation. 
 
 PINKERTON'S DETECTIVES AND MOLLY MAGUIRES. 
 
 These two subjects cannot be treated separately. Of late 
 years it has been the custom of corporations, whenever there 
 was a dispute between them and .their employees, to send 
 to the Pinkerton detective agencies for assistance. These 
 agencies have furnished men to any required number, and 
 have armed them with rifles, revolvers, and other deadly 
 weapons, presumedly to guard property and to protect the 
 men who take the place of those on strike. They have 
 awakened the hatred and detestation of the workingmen of 
 the United States ; and this hatred is due, not only to the fact 
 that they protect the men who are stealing the bread from the 
 mouths of the families of strikers, but to the fact that as a 
 class they seem rather to invite trouble than to allay it. 
 
 The editor of this work has had occasion to review much 
 that has been said and written upon this question, and is con- 
 vinced that the full truth cannot be written, at least so as to 
 be believed, until some years have elapsed* from the time of 
 the occurrence of the scenes that have been and are being 
 enacted. How far the detectives were instigators and abettors 
 in the Molly Maguire difficulties is not generally known. But 
 the editor, at least, is convinced that many innocent men suf- 
 fered death in consequence of the Pinkerton exposure rather 
 than as a result of crimes committed. 
 
 The author of this chapter charges the Pinkerton force with 
 being recruited from "the lowest beings in human society, 
 thieves, pickpockets, and penitentiary refugees." 
 
 With this statement, we give the following story as it comes 
 to us : The Pinkerton detectives are employed to terrorize the 
 workingmen, and to create in the minds of the public the idea 
 that the miners are a dangerous class of citizens that have 
 to be kept down by armed force. These men had an interest 
 in keeping up and creating troubles, which gave employers 
 opportunity to demand protection from the State militia at the
 
 THE MOLLY MAGUIRES. 265 
 
 expense of the State, and which the State has too readily 
 granted. This additional expense of a coal and iron police 
 is added to the cost of mining, and comes out of the men 
 working in the collieries. 
 
 With the going down of the open organizations in 1879, 
 the detectives came into play in a very prominent manner. 
 Unless some sensational plot or conspiracy was discovered, 
 their services would not be required. They were compelled 
 to do something that they might continue in service at good 
 wages. 
 
 A class of men gathered around the mining regions, some- 
 times" working, and always drinking, boasting that they 
 belonged to the Molly Maguires in the old country. Some 
 of these men were the terror of the region, dangerous to 
 property and to human life. That they held meetings and 
 denounced not only some of the employers, but some of the 
 workingmen, is a well-known fact. It is claimed that the 
 detectives, coming amongst these men, representing them- 
 selves to be miners from other parts of the country, and 
 setting themselves up as martyrs to aristocracy and respec- 
 tability, gained considerable influence, and that the Molly 
 Maguires, as an organization, were organized with their con- 
 nivance and assistance. 
 
 When the meetings were held whiskey flowed freely. As 
 no business could be done or speaking indulged in unless the 
 members were half or wholly drunk, meetings were generally 
 held convenient to a saloon or bar-room. The very worst 
 men were put into official positions ; every virtue was crushed 
 out, and vice was instilled into the minds of the men ; man- 
 hood and morality were totally tabooed. 
 
 If there was an honest man on the police force in these 
 localities who did not agree with them and their methods, he 
 was marked ; if there was any business man who was not 
 liked, or any boss they could not freely bleed, no matter 
 how valuable he was to the company, he was put out of the 
 way, and sometimes the more valuable he was, the better 
 the plea to put him out of the way, thus giving the company 
 a greater reason to believe that it was done through retalia-
 
 266 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 tion, the detectives claiming to be on the track of the 
 assassins. 
 
 The members not being able to fully realize their positions, 
 would sit and listen to the blackening of the characters of 
 good men that all the subtleties of a fiendish imagination 
 could bring forth or the eloquence of demons inspire. The 
 necessity for their destruction was painted in vivid colors, so 
 that the allusion to their taking off was greeted with applause. 
 By the time the meetings closed there were often volunteers to 
 carry out the work. If volunteers were not forthcoming, as 
 men, sometimes, drunk though they were, were appalled at 
 the thought of taking human life, they drew lots and 'fixed 
 upon the man to do it. The deed was done, and then the 
 detectives had the task of hunting down the assassins, know- 
 ing very well who they were. 
 
 If there was a sober, industrious man who had the courage 
 of his convictions, and by expressing them had made himself 
 obnoxious to the Pinkerton men or to the company by whom 
 they were employed, that man was selected, and step by step 
 he was dogged and hunted down. Juries were packed and 
 judges selected to give sentence. Men were paid to swear 
 his life away for some offence of which he was innocent, the 
 real murderer generally being away. 
 
 < This evidence only educes the fact of the power of a few 
 men to terrorize a community and to bring disgrace upon a 
 movement that seeks the elevation rather than the degradation 
 of mankind. The miners' organizations and miners gener- 
 ally have been made to suffer under the burden of the terrible 
 accusations against them, while stories fully as tragic have 
 been repeated of border life and of murders committed in the 
 open streets by gamblers and blacklegs, without any special 
 effort on the part of any corporation of employers to bring 
 such men to justice. All that the miners and mine laborers ask 
 of the general public is to investigate into the real facts and 
 into the conditions under which they labor, and to assist them 
 rather than to hinder them in their efforts at improvement. 
 They point to the arrest of John Siney, Parks, Joyce, Malo- 
 ney, and twenty-six others, in 1875, an d the cases of William
 
 NEW FIELDS OF LABOR. 267 
 
 Walton, Johnson, and twenty-six others in the present year, 
 who were guilty of no like offence, but whose every effort has 
 been to bring peace and justice to all. 
 
 The future prospects of the coal miner are anything but 
 encouraging. The consumption of coal is daily being dis- 
 placed with gas and electricity. The mines are now over- 
 crowded with men who find that every day not only increases 
 the efficiency of coal-producing machinery, but adds to the 
 producing power of labor in the mines ; thus increasing the 
 hardships of the miners, many of whom, ere long, will be 
 forced to seek other occupations to procure a living for them- 
 selves and their families. Organization, thorough and com-' 
 plete, may give temporary relief; but the fact cannot be 
 denied that there are too many mines and too many miners, 
 and to afford means for all to live and prosper, new fields 
 of labor must be found.
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE STORY OF THE IRON WORKERS. 
 
 THE FIRST UNIONS A STRIKE IN 1850 THE WORKMEN DEFEATED 
 UNITED SONS OF VULCAN THEIR GROWTH, SUCCESSES AND DEFEATS 
 
 ASSOCIATED BROTHERHOOD OF IRON AND STEEL WORKERS IRON 
 AND STEEL ROLL HANDS' UNION A NOTABLE STRIKE THE UNITED 
 NAILERS THE AMALGAMATED ASSOCIATION OF IRON AND STEEL- 
 WORKERS How IT WAS FORMED ITS PURPOSES CO-OPERATION 
 FAILS RAPID GROWTH OF THE ORDER PERIOD OF STRIKES A 
 TARIFF QUESTION STRIKE AT CINCINNATI 1882, A YEAR OF STRIKES 
 
 GREAT STRIKE AT PITTSBURGH WORKMEN DEFEATED TESTI- 
 MONIAL TO PRESIDENT JARRETT NAILERS LEAVE THE ASSOCIATION, 
 MEET REVERSES, AND RETURN REASONS FOR PROTECTIVE TARIFF 
 PRESENT CONDITION OF THE ASSOCIATION ARBITRATION AND CON- 
 CILIATION THE LATTER PREFERRED STRIKES CONCLUSION. 
 
 THIRTY years ago no labor organization or union of 
 any kind existed among the iron and steel-workers of 
 the United States. The first union of which we .have any 
 authentic information connected with the iron trades in this 
 country, was that known as the "Sons of Vulcan," the mem- 
 bership of which was composed of boilers and puddlers. The 
 next union was that of the "Associated Brotherhood of Iron 
 and Steel Rail Heaters of the United States." This was fol- 
 lowed by the "Iron and Steel Roll Hands' Union," and this 
 again by the "United Nailers." These different unions were 
 federated in 1876, forming the present great organization 
 known as the "Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel- 
 Workers of the United States." In tracing the history of the 
 trades-unions of the iron workers, we will give a brief outline 
 of each of the unions in the order in which we have here 
 enumerated them. It would be extremely interesting to 
 trace the growth of the iron industry here, but it can be 
 only briefly touched upon. Iron was first manufactured in 
 this country in Lynn, Mass., in 1645, the works consisting 
 only of a blast furnace and refinery forge. Iron was not 
 
 (268)
 
 THE FIRST STRIKES. 269 
 
 manufactured in Pennsylvania until early in the eighteenth 
 century, when Thomas Rutter built, in 1716, a blomary on 
 Manatawney creek in Berks county, about three miles above 
 Pottstown. A blomary is the place in which the iron is 
 produced directly from the ore. But Pennsylvania rapidly 
 took the lead in this industry, and in 1759, Acrelius says: 
 "Pennsylvania, in regard to its iron works, is the most 
 advanced of all the American colonies." Early in the seven- 
 teenth century, improvements in the manufacture of iron 
 were invented in England, and they were soon adopted in 
 America. In 1790, Jacob Perkins, of Newbury port, Mass., 
 invented and patented the first nail-cutting machine. About 
 the -same period, also, important inventions in this line were 
 made in England. The iron industry grew most rapidly 
 under the stimulus of these inventions. In 1817, the first 
 rolling-mill proper in the United States, where puddling 
 and rolling of bars was done, was built by Colonel Meason, 
 at Plumsock, Fayette county, Penn. Edward Nock, an 
 Englishman, introduced the process of pig-boiling in this 
 country, at the mill of Lorenz & Cuddy, Pittsburgh, Penn., 
 November 16, 1837. Boiling soon superseded puddling, and 
 but little puddling is now done in this country. The price 
 paid for boiling in 1837 was $7 per ton ; for puddling, $4.25. 
 By 1842 boiling was reduced to $5, and puddling to $3.50. 
 The first strike of the boilers was caused by a reduction from 
 $5.50 to $5 per ton, in February, 1842. The strike was 
 ended July 9th, by the surrender of the strikers, and $5 was 
 paid until 1845. In May of that year an advance of one 
 dollar per ton was demanded and refused. A strike fol- 
 lowed, which ended successfully in the latter part of August, 
 and $6 was paid until January, 1850. Early in 1848, 
 the puddlers at the Phoenixville Rolling Mills, Chester 
 county, Penn., struck against a reduction from $5 to $3.50 
 per ton, but at the end of April they accepted the reduc- 
 tion and returned to work. In conducting these strikes some 
 form of organization must have been created. It is through 
 such experiences as these that the wage-workers learn the 
 need of trades-unions.
 
 27O THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 On January 12, 1850, a strike of the iron workers of Pitts- 
 burgh commenced, against the following proposed reduction 
 in wages : 
 
 Puddlers, from $4.00 to $3.50 per ton. 
 Boilers, " 6.00 to 4.50 " " 
 Refiners, " i.oo to .80 " " 
 Scrappers, " 3.75 to 2.50 " " 
 Heaters, " 1.37 to i.oo " " 
 
 This strike was a remarkably bitter one. For the first time 
 in the iron mills, the manufacturers resorted to the tactics of 
 importing foreign workmen to take the places of workmen 
 on strike. On February i8th, they had succeeded in getting 
 a sufficient number of hands from the East to start four mills at 
 the reduced rate of wages. This caused very bitter feelings 
 on the part of the strikers, their wives and children, against 
 the manufacturers, and particularly against the imported 
 workmen. A few attacks were made upon the mills and the 
 workmen operating them at the reduced wages, in which the 
 women were by far the boldest and most aggressive ; but the 
 total damage done amounted to but a few hundred dollars, 
 and the injury of one or two workmen. Several arrests were 
 made of those who had taken part in these attacks. They 
 were put on trial, and two men and four women found guilty 
 in manner and form as indicted. Three of the men were 
 acquitted. The male defendants were sentenced to pay a fine 
 of six and one-fourth cents, with cost of prosecution, and 
 undergo imprisonment for eighteen months in the peniten- 
 tiary. The women were each sentenced to pay a fine of 
 fifty dollars and costs, and imprisonment for thirty days in 
 the county jail. They were subsequently pardoned, and the 
 fines remitted by Governor Johnson, upon petitions of eight 
 of the jury that convicted them and a large number of citi- 
 zens. The strike ended in favor of the manufacturers ; but 
 the result left the workmen greatly depressed and discon- 
 tented, and many scattered to new fields of operations 
 throughout the West. The next ten or eleven years wit- 
 nessed many petty strikes, as the men, at every available 
 opportunity, would seek redress for some real or imaginary 
 wrong, while the manufacturers, in times when the prices
 
 SONS OF VULCAN. 271 
 
 tended downward, in an effort to save fleeting profits, would 
 retaliate through a reduction of wages. Rules and regula- 
 tions were adopted in the several mills by the manufacturers 
 which were very obnoxious to the workmen, and which they 
 resisted in every possible way, strikes and losses to both 
 sides generally being the result. To add to the misery, the 
 condition of trade was very dull, business was demoralized, 
 and a more deplorable condition of affairs was hardly con- 
 ceivable. Wages kept going down, money was growing 
 more scarce and of less value every day, until in 1858 boil- 
 ing was down to $3.50 and $4.00 per ton, and in some of the 
 Eastern mills boiling was below $3.00 per ton, and puddling, 
 in some instances, down as low as $2.20 per ton, and we 
 have an instance in which $1.90 was paid for puddling at 
 Danville, Penn. The pay in those days was generally in 
 store-orders. During these dark and dismal years it might 
 truthfully be said that upon the whole the workmen, not- 
 withstanding their occasional turbulence, were as completely 
 subjugated to the will of their employers as it was possible 
 for men to be in this free and rapidly-growing country. It 
 was in the midst of these dark years that a trades-union 
 was formed, under the name of the 
 
 "UNITED SONS OF VULCAN." 
 
 On the 1 2th day of April, 1858, a few of the men con- 
 nected with the boiling department of the iron mills of Pitts- 
 burgh held a meeting at the "Our House," on Diamond street, 
 and organized the above-named trades-union. Among the 
 boilers who were early pioneers of trades-unionism present 
 at this meeting were Patrick Graham, Matthew Haddock, 
 James Davies, Joseph Mellard and Hughey Hagan. A few 
 others were present, whose names are not known. 
 
 The inactivity of business and consequent scarcity of em- 
 ployment, together with the supposed hostility of the mill- 
 owners, caused the membership to keep the fact of organi- 
 zation a profound secret. Through fear of hostile action by 
 the employers, but very few names were added to the list of 
 members. In the fall of 1858, the members, impressed with
 
 272 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 the perils incident to an effort to extend the organization, 
 concluded to suspend further operation. 
 
 A 'favorable opportunity presented itself to reorganize on a 
 firmer basis, in 1861. The members assembled and a plat- 
 form of principles and a constitution were adopted. The 
 growth of the organization was very slow for some time, 
 as the members realized that their object required quiet 
 yet earnest labor ; hence great precaution was taken as to 
 who should be admitted to membership. 
 
 In August, 1861, Miles S. Humphreys was elected Grand 
 Master of the organization. The breaking out of the War of 
 the Rebellion and the passage of the tariff of 1861, was fol- 
 lowed by a revival of business and greater activity in the 
 trade. Through this, together with the energy thrown into 
 the work by Grand Master Humphreys, the organization 
 rapidly increased in membership. The National Forge was 
 organized in Pittsburgh, September 8, 1862. The first officers 
 elected were: President, Miles S. Humphreys; Vice-Presi- 
 dent, Patrick Graham ; Treasurer, H. Thompson ; Vice-Secre- 
 tary, M. Grogan. By this time the organization had gained 
 position and influence, which it immediately began to exert, 
 culminating in a full and complete recognition of its rights 
 by the manufacturers, early in 1873. Nearly every demand 
 made by its members upon the manufacturers was conceded r 
 and its growth became very rapid. 
 
 In the second annual session, held in Wheeling, W. Va., 
 a general constitution was adopted. This provided that only 
 good, practical workmen should be admitted to membership, 
 and that the objects of the organization should be to maintain 
 the best interests of the craft, to aid sick and distressed mem- 
 bers and to do all other things pertaining to the business of 
 the forge. By this time President Humphreys had organized 
 forges in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, New Jersey, West 
 Virginia, Kentucky, Illinois and Maryland. At this time de- 
 mands for increasing wages were usually acceded to, or were 
 granted after short strikes. Difficulties of this kind frequently 
 occurred and a conference of representative men from each 
 side was chosen to adjust them. The plan worked well, but
 
 BOILERS AND PUDDLERS. 273 
 
 necessitated so frequent meetings that a general plan was 
 sought which would fix wages justly commensurate with the 
 price of iron. This gave birth to what is known as the "Scale 
 of Prices" system in regulating wages among the iron and 
 steel workers. The first scale adopted will be given under 
 the heading of "Arbitration and Conciliation." This was the 
 first graduated scale of wages based on the price of the pro- 
 duct of the workman that we have on record. The system 
 was first suggested by Mr. B. F. Jones, of the firm of Jones 
 & Laughlin, Pittsburgh, and afterwards worked out by Presi- 
 dent Humphreys, who is the acknowledged founder of the 
 scale system. Mr. Humphreys served in the capacity of 
 President up to 1866. He was succeeded by Joseph Chi- 
 verton. 
 
 No official record of the proceedings of the annual meet- 
 ings of the National Forge were published until 1867, hence 
 we have no data of the number of forges previous to the 
 assembling of the National Forge in Pittsburgh, in August, 
 1867. At this convention there were fifty delegates present. 
 The number of forges was forty-seven. Twelve forges were 
 not represented. The organization was divided into districts, 
 and placed under the charge of district deputies. Five heats 
 double, and six heats single turn was fixed as the limit of a 
 day's work at a puddling furnace. The attempt was made, 
 but failed, to organize a helpers' union, making it subordi- 
 nate to the local forge. It was decided that the Grand 
 Forge should issue a pamphlet on the same plan as the first 
 International Journal of the Moulders' Union. This was 
 afterwards changed, and a very good and useful little pamph- 
 let, called The Semi-Annual Vulcan Record, was issued. 
 Resolutions were unanimously adopted, in which they pledged 
 themselves to spread the seeds of union zealously until the 
 iron boilers and puddlers of every locality should be under 
 the jurisdiction of the union ; demanded through the sim- 
 plicity of justice fair remuneration for their arduous toil, and 
 the elevation of labor ; pledged themselves to support the laws 
 enacted at this session, and to support the Daily and Weekly 
 Advocate, of Pittsburgh, which they practically adopted as
 
 274 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 the official organ of the union ; condemned the statement of 
 A. S. Hewitt, of New Jersey, relative to the moral standing 
 of the organization, made before the Royal Commission of 
 England, as a base calumny, holding him up to contempt ; 
 thanked Hon. W. C. M'Carthy, mayor of Pittsburgh, for the 
 courteous manner in which he tendered the hospitality of the 
 city to the union ; and thanked the Daily Evening Advo- 
 cate and the Commercial for publishing reports of pro- 
 ceedings, etc. 
 
 Internal dissensions, however, had already sprung up in 
 the organization, local forges were behind in their dues, 
 petty jealousies existed, and there was a stormy time over 
 fixing the compensation of the Grand Secretary, which was 
 finally made $700 a year. ' After this convention, the or- 
 ganization became more demoralized, and less than half 
 the members remained at the time of the next convention, 
 held at Buffalo, August 5, 1868, when only fourteen forges 
 were represented. At this time the treasury of the Grand 
 Forge showed a deficit of about $800. The Grand Master's 
 address at this convention was a remarkable document, full 
 of wise advice, sound argument and excellent counsel. The 
 constitution was largely reconstructed at this convention, and 
 the question of making the organization a beneficial one vras 
 referred to the sub-forges for consideration. Hugh Mc- 
 Laughlin, of Chicago, offered a resolution relative to form- 
 ing an association for the purchase of public lands. It was 
 adopted, but no further action on it was taken. The offices 
 of Grand Master and Grand Secretary were consolidated, 
 and John O. Edwards chosen to fill it. He Was a man of 
 great energy and perseverance, and a good financier. He 
 freed the Grand Forge from debt. Under his administration 
 the organization gained new life, energy and strength ; and 
 it kept growing larger and stronger until it was merged into 
 the Amalgamated Association. 
 
 At the convention in Wheeling, W. Va., August 3, 1869, 
 the constitution was remodeled. A strike at Clifton, W. Va., 
 had taken place during the year, caused by a failure of 
 the employers to pay wages as promised. A committee from
 
 CHINESE LABOR DENOUNCED. 275 
 
 the men waited on the manager ; hot words ensued, and 
 the manager ordered the discharge of the committee. The 
 forge took the matter up, and sent resolutions to the office 
 demanding the payment of wages due, the reinstatement of 
 the discharged committee, and the removal of the manager. 
 The Grand Master sustained the men in the first two de- 
 mands, but strenuously opposed the last. He urged the 
 men to strike only for principles, and not against men. He 
 said it was "presumption in us to dictate to our employers 
 whom they shall or shall not hire to manage their affairs. 
 I think the gap between us and our employers would be 
 lessened, as they could see that we were led by reason, and 
 not by prejudice." The men, however, refused to accept 
 his advice. The convention indorsed the sentiments of the 
 Grand Master, but quietly passed over the refusal of the 
 men. 
 
 During the following year, several small strikes in the 
 Eastern mills against a reduction of wages were settled by 
 compromise. At the convention of 1870, held at Harris- 
 burgh, Penn., resolutions, prepared by ex-Grand Master 
 Humphreys, were adopted. In them the policy of importing 
 of Chinese labor was deprecated as derogatory to the best 
 interests of the free and intelligent labor of the country ; the 
 selfishness characterizing the actions of capitalists was con- 
 demned, as incompatible with American patriotism ; and the 
 importation of contract labor, which " piled the wealth of our 
 country into heaps, making the rich richer, and the poor 
 poorer," tending to unduly depreciate the value of all labor, 
 was stigmatized as not being in the spirit of the policy of 
 inviting immigration to the United States. These resolu- 
 tions are among the first blasts of organized labor against 
 the importation of foreign labor under contract. The Sons 
 of Vulcan were opposed to the free importation of the pro- 
 ducts of foreign labor in competition with those of their own 
 labor. It needs no argument, therefore, to prove they were, 
 as all iron workers now are, consistent protectionists. 
 
 In August, 1871, the Grand Forge met in Chicago, and 
 twenty-one new forges were reported. Grand Master Edwards,
 
 276 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 after serving the organization for several years most faithfully 
 and efficiently without compensation, was succeeded by Hugh 
 McLaughlin, of Chicago, who served very acceptably for 
 two' years. In 1872 a salary of $1,200 dollars was voted 
 the Grand Master, as the duties of that office now occu- 
 pied all his time. An epidemic of strikes broke out, and 
 when the Annual Convention met in Troy, N. Y., in August, 
 1873, he seemed to have lost proper control of the organiza- 
 tion. During his two years of service, however, it almost 
 doubled its membership. At this convention the Committee 
 on the Good of the Order advised most patient and careful 
 consideration of evils, proposed to be remedied before a strike 
 was agreed on ; and that strikes should always be made for 
 the removal of evils, not against managers. 
 
 During President McLaughlin's term, efforts were inaugu- 
 rated to form an alliance with the Amalgamated Iron Work- 
 ers' Union, of Great Britain. But up to this time nothing 
 ha,d been accomplished, because the communication from the 
 Sons of Vulcan to the union, relative to such a federation, 
 was not intended to be official. The union was heartily in 
 favor of the principle of federation. 
 
 David Harris, of Pittsburgh, Penn., was chosen as the suc- 
 cessor of Hugh McLaughlin. He was remarkably well fitted 
 for the office in all respects, and his selection was most oppor- 
 tune. The panic of 1873 had already set in. Prices tumbled, 
 wages went down, mills stopped, and strikes seemed to be the 
 order of the day. The depression in trade, and dearth of work 
 and scarcity of money, demoralized matters generally, so that 
 the opening of the year 1874 found the forges almost 
 totally poverty-stricken, and many of them unable to pay 
 their National Forge dues. In that year of severe troubles, 
 President Harris organized twenty new forges, and the or- 
 ganization steadily increased in membership. Towards the 
 end of October, 1874, the manufacturers notified the union 
 that they desired a change in the base of the scale from 
 $6 to $5.50. This was, after several conferences, finally 
 rejected, and thus occurred the trying strike of 1874-75. No 
 organization was ever more severely tried than were the Sons
 
 RAIL HEATERS ORGANIZE. 277 
 
 of Vulcan during this strike. Both officers and men fought 
 bravely through that dark and dreary winter. It was during 
 these times that the question of a more perfect organization, 
 or, more properly speaking, the amalgamating of the several 
 iron workers' unions into one grand organization was talked 
 of in a general way. It was the time of seed-sowing. The 
 strike of the winter of 1874-75 made it highly apparent that 
 such an organization was necessary. President Harris served 
 two years in office, and was succeeded by Joseph Bishop, of 
 Pittsburgh, who was the last President of the Sons of Vulcan. 
 He was elected at the Philadelphia Convention in August, 
 1875, and served for one year. Under his leadership the 
 organization flourished remarkably well. Nothing of par- 
 ticular importance took place during the year. The time 
 was chiefly spent by the president in preparing the ground- 
 work for the new organization, the Amalgamated Associa- 
 tion. 
 
 ASSOCIATED BROTHERHOOD OF IRON AND STEEL RAIL 
 
 HEATERS. 
 
 This organization was formed in the latter part of August, 
 1872. Several local lodges had been organized previous to 
 this date, but it is impossible to get at the exact dates of their 
 formation. That of Friendship Union Lodge, of Chicago, 
 111., is the earliest on record. The organization of this lodge 
 took place some time in 1869. It was this lodge that took the 
 initiative steps to bring about the organization of a National 
 Association, by issuing a circular calling a convention of the 
 craft at Chicago, August 30 and 31, 1872. Delegates from 
 the following mills met at the hall of the Association, 358 
 Milwaukee avenue ; Bridgeport, Alleghany, Penn. ; Joliet, 
 111. ; Bethlehem, Penn. ; Wyandotte, Mich. ; Wheatland, 
 Penn. ; Decatur, 111. ; Bay View, Wis. Thomas P. Jones 
 was chosen President,* and E. B. Evans Secretary of the 
 Convention. A constitution and by-laws were adopted, and 
 such other measures were enacted as were necessary to per- 
 fect the organization. A strong feeling existed among dele- 
 gates that a clause should be placed in the constitution to
 
 278 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 make provisions for the support of families of sick or deceased 
 members, but the question, when put to a vote, was lost. 
 The word " rail " was ordered stricken from the title of the 
 Brotherhood ; and bar-mill, plate-mill and guide-mill heaters 
 were made eligible to membership. A motion was made to 
 have the word " white " inserted in the clause on eligibility of 
 membership, but it was lost. The following were elected 
 officers of the Grand Lodge : W. G. S., Thomas P. Jones, 
 Chicago; W. V. G. S., E. B. Evans, Bay View; W. G. I., 
 John Rees, Bridgeport; W. G. B., Morgan D. Davies, Alle- 
 ghany, Penn. ; W. G. Sc., James D. Kelly, Joliet, 111. The 
 Grand Lodge of the Associated Brotherhood met annually 
 after this up to the date of its being merged into the Amal- 
 gamated Association. Its second convention was held in 
 Alleghany City, in May, 1873. The first year had been a 
 prosperous one, the organization having increased from nine 
 to twenty-two lodges. 
 
 The reports of subsequent conventions show that internal 
 dissensions soon crept in. The nature of the depressed period 
 of trade following the panic of 1873 also worked serious in- 
 jury to the success of the organization. At the Third Annual 
 Session of the Grand Lodge, in Covington, Ky-, July, 1874, 
 it appears that the total number of lodges represented was 
 18, with a total membership of 459 ; not reporting, 10. Total 
 membership, 700. Much of the increase in membership was 
 due to making " rollers " and " roughers " eligible to mem- 
 bership ; but from this date the organization gradually lost 
 strength. It is a singular fact that even to the present time 
 no class of iron and steel workers are so badly disorganized 
 as are the heaters, rollers and roughers of the large rail-mills 
 of the country. 
 
 President Jones was an able and well-informed man, bold 
 and impartial. He was succeeded in 1874 by Adam W. 
 Schada, of Bethlehem, Penn. In 1875, there was no regular 
 meeting of the order, and the final meeting was at Pittsburgh, 
 in August, 1876. For the two preceding years neither the 
 president nor treasurer had attended to their official duties. 
 Vice-President Sullivan and Recording Secretary Spangler
 
 ROLLERS AND ROUGHERS. 279 
 
 attended to the executive business of the organization, for 
 which they deserve the highest praise. At the Pittsburgh 
 Convention only 13 delegates were present, representing 14 
 lodges, having a membership in good standing of 412. There 
 were 18 lodges having no delegate present. These lodges 
 had about 650 members. Much credit is due to Samuel 
 Rowley for his good services to this organization. 
 
 IRON AND STEEL ROLL HANDS ' UNION. 
 
 This organization was composed of practical rollers, rough- 
 ers, catchers and hookers, thus making it the second organiza- 
 tion composed of what are termed, in rolling-mill phraseology, 
 " finishers." It will be observed that the Associated Brother- 
 hood of Heaters, Rollers and Roughers made no provision 
 to admit to membership a large portion of finishing hands, 
 hence the necessity of this organization. Local lodges were 
 organized as early as 1870. The roll hands of the North 
 Mills, Chicago, were the first to form a local lodge. Spring- 
 field, 111., and other places soon followed. The organization 
 of the National Union took place at Springfield, 111., June 
 2, 1873. The first National Convention was held at the same 
 time. Nineteen delegates, representing fifteen lodges with 
 a total membership of 473, were present. The National 
 Union officers elected were as follows : President, Alfred 
 Sowers, Springfield, 111. ; Vice-President, John W. Fultz, 
 Indianapolis, Ind. ; Secretary, Robert F. Williams, Spring- 
 field, 111. : Financial Secretary and Treasurer, Richard Brunt, 
 Chicago, 111. During the convention R. F. Williams resigned, 
 and William Houston was elected in his place as secretary. 
 The business of the convention was of the usual formal char- 
 acter incident to organization. The most striking feature 
 was a seeming opposition to any affiliation with other organi- 
 zations. This feeling was carried so far as to culminate in a 
 motion " That our union have nothing to do with the Heat- 
 ers' or Puddlers' Union." The vote on this motion was a tie ; 
 but the president, casting his vote in the negative, the motion 
 was lost. A motion then prevailed " That no roller go to 
 a heaters' union, but let us have an understanding between
 
 280 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 both grand bodies to assist each other in a legal strike, or in 
 any dispute that may arise." Later, this union became the 
 most zealous advocate of amalgamation. Buggymen were 
 made eligible to membership, and later, during the conven- 
 tion, a motion prevailed "That all workmen in the mill who are 
 capable of working around the rolls be taken into the union." 
 The limit of a day's work was fixed at six rounds. The first 
 year of the existence of the Roll Hands ' Union was fraught 
 with difficulties throughout. It was a common thing for em- 
 ployers to have a "black-list." 
 
 The following short history of a strike at Carondelet, Mo., 
 very clearly shows the disposition of employers and employees 
 at this time. The company had notified the workmen that a 
 reduction of fifteen per cent, in wages was to take place. 
 New rules for the government of the works were put up by 
 the company. These rules, it appears, were very obnoxious 
 to the men. We have failed to get a copy of them. How- 
 ever, the workmen refused to accept the reduction offered, or 
 to abide by the new rules. The reply of the workmen to the 
 company was as follows : 
 
 1. We agree to accept the same reduction as Chicago, viz. : nine and one- 
 half per cent, (said reduction to come off our old scale), and no other. 
 
 2. We agree to sign said scale for one year, or longer if required ; either 
 party wishing a change to give thirty days' notice of their intentions. 
 
 3. We refuse to sign any agreement to forfeit money due for quitting work 
 without giving notice. 
 
 4. We demand the abolishment of the "black-list" forever. 
 
 5. No prejudice to be held against any one for any part taken by them ; we, 
 leaving here, have no objections to any one going to work in our places, if 
 they do so on conditions required above. Any one going to work in our 
 stead, and signing' conditions required of us by the company, we shall con- 
 sider them doing an injury to the cause of labor, and unworthy of being a 
 citizen of the great Republic. 
 
 In reply to this, the following is the only agreement the 
 company would make: "We hereby pledge ourselves that 
 we will not 'black-list' any person in our employ, providing 
 he works the usual notice, and leaves the company in an 
 honorable way." 
 
 In this case the workmen were defeated, by parties accept- 
 ing the terms of the company. The Roll Hands' Union suf-
 
 THE AMALGAMATED UNIONS. 28 1 
 
 fered a period of decadence from the date of its second annual 
 convention, up to the time the Amalgamated Association was 
 brought about. 
 
 The President and Recording Secretary of the National 
 Union were both men of broad views, and well informed on 
 general topics. They were succeeded by David A. Plant as 
 President and William Martin as Recording Secretary. No 
 two men did as much as they in bringing about the unifica- 
 tion of the iron and steel workers of the United States. They 
 served in their official capacity for two years. No annual 
 convention was held by this organization in 1875. The post- 
 ponement of this convention and that of the heaters' organi- 
 zation was brought about by correspondence carried on by 
 Mr. William Martin with the subordinate lodges of both 
 organizations, which culminated in an agreement to meet in 
 joint session in Indianapolis, Ind., for the purpose of drafting 
 a code of laws to govern them as an amalgamated body. 
 Thus practically the unification of the workmen of the finish- 
 ing departments had been consummated in advance of the 
 more general unification of all- iron and steel workers in the 
 Amalgamated Association. 
 
 THE UNITED NAILERS. 
 
 This organization was composed of only a few local lodges. 
 A national lodge had never been formed. These lodges were 
 in existence at the date of the organization of the Amalga- 
 mated Association, one of which was represented at the con- 
 vention, and admitted to membership in the Amalgamated 
 Association. 
 
 THE AMALGAMATED ASSOCIATION OF IRON AND STEEL 
 
 WORKERS. 
 
 The first official action taken towards bringing about the 
 consolidation of the preceding organizations was by the Iron 
 and Steel Roll Hands' Union, at its convention at Columbus, 
 O., in April, 1874. A motion was carried "That this conven- 
 tion use every honorable means to get the Roll Hands' Union, 
 the Heaters' Association, and the Boilers' Union confederated,
 
 282 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 and that a delegate be elected by this convention to confer 
 with the heaters at their next convention." Mr. David A. 
 Plant was elected to attend to the duty. He at once opened 
 correspondence with the President of th'e Heaters' and Boil- 
 ers' Union, and received a reply stating that personally he 
 heartily favored the movement. In July following, Mr. 
 Plant attended the Heaters' Convention at Covington, Ky., 
 before which he laid the action taken on the question of 
 amalgamation by the Roll Hands' Union, and also read the 
 communication he had received from President Harris. After 
 a lively debate upon the subject by the representatives pres- 
 ent, it was 
 
 Resolved, That there be a committee appointed from this body to confer 
 with a like number from the Rollers' and Boilers' Union, looking to the con- 
 solidation of the three in one. 
 
 The committee selected was composed of Thomas P.Jones, 
 Richard Sullivan, and John Schreyer. Mr. Plant addressed 
 the Boilers' Union in August, 1874, in favor of the proposed 
 federation. The convention took favorable action, but in the 
 haste of legislation the appointment of the committee was 
 overlooked. In the Annual Convention held at Philadelphia, 
 in August, 1875, President Harris in his report urged very 
 strongly the advantages of a union of all the various branches 
 of iron workers. 
 
 This question was again referred to the Committee on Good 
 of the Order. In the meantime arrangements had been made 
 by the Heaters' and Roll Hands' Union to dispense with hold- 
 ing the regular annual convention, and instead to meet in 
 joint convention for the purpose of consolidating. This joint 
 convention was held in August, 1875, at the same time the 
 Boilers' Convention was in session in Philadelphia. Favora- 
 ble action was again taken on the question of amalgamation. 
 Shortly after the adjournment of the Philadelphia Convention, 
 President Bishop, of the Boilers' Union, opened correspond- 
 ence with the representatives of the Heaters' and Roll Hands' 
 Union It was arranged that the committee of the several 
 organizations meet in Pittsburgh Penn., December 7, 1875.
 
 THE UNION PERFECTED. 283 
 
 The meeting was held on this date. The following are the 
 names of the respective committees : 
 
 Iron and Steel Roll Hands : David A. Plant, Grand Presi- 
 dent ; William Martin, Grand Recording Secretary; John 
 W. Fultz, Grand Treasurer. 
 
 Associated Brotherhood of Iron and Steel Heaters, Rollers 
 and Roughers : Richard Sullivan, Vice-Grand Sire ; Benja- 
 min F. Spangler, Grand Scribe ; James Penney, Central 
 Lodge No. 10, Pennsylvania ; James T. Clites, Wheeling 
 Lodge No. i, West Virginia. 
 
 United Sons of Vulcan : Joseph Bishop, President National 
 Forge; Elisha H. McAnincle, Deputy, first district; David 
 Reese, Deputy, second district; John Jarrett, Deputy, sixth 
 district. 
 
 The above committee formed a constitution and by-laws for 
 the government of the proposed amalgamated society. The 
 laws thus provided, together with a number of suggestions, 
 were published and submitted to all the lodges and forges 
 throughout the country for their inspection. It had been 
 arranged that the several conventions of the Heaters', Roll 
 Hands' and Boilers' organizations should meet in Pittsburgh, 
 on the first Tuesday in August, 1876, and, after disposing of 
 such business as pertained to their respective bodies, take up 
 the subject of amalgamation. Each convention favored the for- 
 mation of the amalgamated society. Arrangements were then 
 made by the representatives of the several conventions to enter 
 into joint convention on Thursday, August 3, 1876. At the 
 hour appointed, the Boilers' committee met the representatives 
 of the Heaters' and Roll Hands' organizations, and escorted 
 them to the hall of the United Sons of Vulcan. 
 
 The work of organization was at once entered into by the 
 election of James Grundy, of Covington, Ky., as chairman of 
 the convention, and William Martin, secretary. The number 
 of representatives present was 68, divided as follows : Repre- 
 sentatives from the Sons of Vulcan, 46 ; Heaters' Association, 
 15 ; Roll Hands, 6; Nailers' Association, i. 
 
 The constitution and by-laws drafted by the committee at 
 Pittsburgh, in December, and which had been submitted to
 
 284 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 the various lodges and forges, were adopted, with a few alter- 
 ations. The most important and vital question brought before 
 the convention was that of arbitration. After a lengthy de- 
 bate the convention decided against arbitration by a vote of 
 fifty majority. The prevailing sentiment of the delegates 
 present was one of caution in the question of strikes, as is 
 evidenced by the following : 
 
 Resolved, That every representative to this convention be instructed to 
 impress upon the minds of the members of their respective lodges the neces- 
 sity of using every precaution in guarding against strikes or any other 
 troubles that may arise during the first year. 
 
 The preamble to the constitution expressed the views and 
 causes that led to amalgamation. It quoted from a writer on 
 association, setting forth "that labor has no protection; the 
 weak are devoured by the strong ; all wealth and all power 
 centre in the hands of the few, and the many are their victims 
 and their bondsmen." It set forth the necessity of having the 
 most perfect and systematic arrangement possible to attain the 
 highest degree of success in any undertaking ; that to acquire 
 such a system requires that the business should be controlled 
 by one mind, if persons so controlling were actuated by pure 
 and philanthropic principles ; that in the formation of a na- 
 tional amalgamated association, embracing every iron and 
 steel worker in the country lay their only hope, concluding 
 as follows : 
 
 We ask, is it charitable? Is it humane? Is it honest? To take from the 
 laborer, who is already fed, clothed and lodged too poorly, a, portion of his 
 food and raiment, and deprive his family of the necessaries of life by the 
 common resort a reduction of his wages? It must not be so. To rescue 
 our trades from the condition into which they have fallen, and raise ourselves 
 to that condition in society to which we, as mechanics, are justly entitled, 
 and to place ourselves on a foundation sufficiently strong to secure us from 
 further encroachments, and to elevate the moral, social and intellectual con- 
 dition of every iron and steel worker in the country, is the object of our 
 National Association, and to the consummation of so desirable an object, we, 
 the delegates in convention assembled, do pledge ourselves to unceasing effort. 
 
 Section 2 of the constitution stated that the objects of this 
 association shall be to obtain by conciliation, or by other 
 means that are fair and legal, a fair remuneration to the
 
 A CHANGE FOR THE BETTER. 285 
 
 members for their labor ; and to afford mutual protection 
 to members against broken contracts, obnoxious rules, unlaw- 
 ful discharge, or other systems of injustice or oppression. 
 
 The National Lodge officers elected by the convention 
 were : President and Secretary, Joseph Bishop ; Treasurer, 
 Edward McGinness ; Trustees, David A. Plant, William 
 Martin, and John Jarrett. 
 
 The salary of the president was fixed at $1,500 for the 
 year. 
 
 The choice of Mr. Bishop for the presidency was a very 
 happy one, as subsequent events clearly proved. The con- 
 ditions surrounding the new organization were fraught with 
 difficulties of every description. The most dangerous of 
 these were the antipathies of the different trades towards 
 each other, especially between the puddling and finishing 
 departments. This was handled in a masterly way by Presi- 
 dent Bishop, and to all appearances, at the end of the first 
 year of the existence of the association, seemed to be al- 
 most entirely obliterated. Fortunately, the first year was 
 in a general way of a peaceable character ; but very few 
 strikes occurred, and what did were of minor importance ; 
 consequently it was a prosperous year, but not so much in the 
 material growth of the organization as the advancement in 
 thought and progressiveness of the membership. A change 
 for the better was taking place ; the impulsive, hasty senti- 
 ment was being superseded by the calm and dispassionate. 
 Indeed, so great were the strides in progress and intelligence, 
 that the convention which met at Columbus, in 1877, has 
 been looked upon as the most progressive and successful ever 
 held by the iron and steel workers of this country. It was 
 also beyond a question the most harmonious. 
 
 Nothing more clearly defines the position of the member- 
 ship at this time than the resolutions passed in reference to 
 the serious railroad troubles of that year. They declared : 
 That it is the duty of workmen to combine for their common 
 protection ; that the demand for a restoration of the late re- 
 duction and the modification of tyrannical rules and orders 
 was just and proper ; that all violations of law tended only
 
 286 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 to injure the cause and those engaged therein ; that they 
 were ready at all times to co-operate with other organiza- 
 tions to resist oppression and an unnecessary reduction of 
 wages ; that the acts of lawlessness, the destruction of prop- 
 erty, bloodshed and riotous demonstrations were to be con- 
 demned ; that the arbitrary power assumed by corporations 
 demanded serious and careful reflection in order to strip them 
 of some of their unlimited powers and to better reward labor ; 
 and that disagreements between employer and employee 
 should be settled by representatives of both sides meeting 
 together. 
 
 The second year brought about somewhat of a reaction in 
 the growth of the organization, due to the depression in busi- 
 ness. This condition of affairs continued until early in 1879. 
 Prices kept steadily going lower up to October, 1878, and 
 remained almost stationary for four months. For the year 
 ending August, 1878, eleven new lodges were organized, and 
 ten became defunct. Strikes now began to multiply. Sev- 
 eral of these were against reductions in wages. Others were 
 against what was known as the "contract" system, which 
 was a kind of co-operation offered by the company, in which 
 were certain conditions, the principal of which was that the 
 men agreed to allow the company to retain the first four 
 weeks' wages in hand, and also twenty-five per cent, of all 
 wages earned thereafter, the same to be paid to men at the 
 end of the year, if the profits of the business w r ould justify 
 such payment. It is needless to add that the reserved wages 
 were invariably lost by the men. Another drawback was the 
 failure, on the part of the officers, to enforce the law on the 
 protective fund. This law provided that twenty-five cents 
 per month should be paid by each member for the purpose of 
 providing a fund to pay members on strike. Up to this time 
 this law had not crystallized. This was a source of annoy- 
 ance to the president, and of disaffection among the members 
 who were so unfortunate as to find themselves on strike. The 
 duties of the president, in serving as secretary, were too 
 onerous. It was therefore enacted that he should be an or- 
 ganizer, and attend to executive duties only, at a salary of
 
 A HIGH PROTECTIVE TARIFF. 287 
 
 $100 per month. He was also empowered to appoint a sec- 
 retary at a salary of $50 per month. Mr. William Martin 
 was selected by the president to serve as secretary. 
 
 The " old rail " question at this time became a source of 
 great annoyance. These rails were largely imported. Be- 
 sides this, the tin-plate mills were closed down in 1878. This 
 brought forth an expression, as the sentiment of the Amalga- 
 mated Association, in resolutions, passed at the Third Annual 
 Convention, held at Wheeling, in August, 1878. These reso- 
 lutions set forth that the iron manufacturers had introduced 
 the custom of making finished iron out of old rails, thereby 
 depriving a large number of men of employment ; and a com- 
 mittee of seven was appointed in each congressional district 
 to personally visit or communicate with representatives to 
 Congress, showing the evil effect of admitting old rails under 
 the existing duties. The resolutions also demanded two and 
 a half cents duty per pound on tin and tern-plate. The 
 Amalgamated Association, and the other iron and steel work- 
 ers' unions before it, have always been in favor of a high pro- 
 tective tariff; but it was seldom that such emphatic action as 
 this just referred to was taken. Mr. Bishop and his commit- 
 tee went to Washington, and to them is due much of the 
 credit of defeating the Wood Tariff Bill. 
 
 Early in 1879, trade began to revive somewhat, and with 
 it the organization revived. During the year ending at the 
 session of the Fourth Annual Convention, held at Youngstown, 
 in August, 1879, twenty-seven new lodges had been organ- 
 ized. During the same year President Bishop, in his annual 
 report, said : "The history of the Associations furnishes no par- 
 allel to the past year for strikes and disputes. We have not 
 been without a strike a single day during the year." These 
 strikes were chiefly in the East. For certain reasons, the East 
 had never been successfully organized. Special efforts were at 
 this time put forth to establish unionism in the eastern mills ; 
 these were partially successful. But the resulting strikes 
 seemed to have a paralyzing influence on the movement, 
 which necessitated a temporary suspension of operations. 
 Much dissatisfaction was created about this time with the
 
 288 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 National Lodge President, and his methods of transacting the 
 financial affairs of the organizations. This also caused a tem- 
 porary set back, but it was of brief duration. The president's 
 salary was reduced to one thousand dollars per annum. No 
 change was made in that of the secretary. The secretary 
 was, however, made an elective officer. This action on the 
 part of the convention could be nothing but displeasing to 
 President Bishop ; for, on the ist of January, 1880, he re- 
 signed his position as president. He resigned chiefly on 
 account of the reduction of his salary thirty-three and one- 
 third per cent, in two years. He said the men themselves 
 would be justified in complaining at any such reduction at 
 the hands of their employers ; that a strike would be ordered, 
 and thousands of dollars spent to support the men. He 
 thought the men should apply the same principle to those 
 they chose as officers to work for them. If it was wrong for 
 their employers to reduce wages, it was just as wrong for them 
 also to reduce the pay of their own officers. 
 
 The author of this chapter was elected president on the 
 loth of January, 1880, and at once entered upon the duties 
 of the office. This was the most remarkable year the asso- 
 ciation ever experienced in material growth. Mr. Bishop 
 had, from the date of the convention, in August, up to the ist 
 of January, organized thirty new lodges. In the same period 
 of time five became defunct. From the loth of January to 
 August, 1880, forty-three new lodges were organized, and 
 three became defunct. 
 
 The iron boom which started in 1879 reached its highest 
 point in February, and continued at this point until early in 
 the following April, when suddenly a collapse took place, 
 followed by one of the most remarkable episodes that ever 
 transpired in the history of the iron trades. In the short 
 space of four weeks, dating from the 8th of April to the 5th 
 of May, prices fell from the highest point reached in the boom 
 to the lowest point, a fall of about fifty per cent. Under the 
 scales of prices wages fell in the same proportion ; and yet, 
 sudden as this reaction in wages was, everything passed of 
 as quietly and smoothly as though nothing extraordinary had
 
 OLD IRON RAILS. 289 
 
 happened. Under other circumstances, serious strikes would 
 unquestionably have prevailed. This is a clear proof of the 
 advisability and utility of the scale of prices system of regu- 
 lating wages. 
 
 Notwithstanding this sudden reaction in the iron trade, the 
 association kept on improving. It was, however, becoming 
 more apparent, as time passed on, that new evils were making 
 themselves felt. The National Lodge President, in briefly 
 summing up these in his annual report, at the convention in 
 Pittsburgh, August, 1880, said: "Great care must be taken, 
 or our growth may be a source of weakness to us. Let us 
 not trust in our strength ; the stronger we grow the more 
 care we need to exercise." 
 
 Strikes were very prevalent this year, especially in the 
 Eastern mills. In this year the Philadelphia workmen de- 
 manded a scale of prices to govern wages. The manu- 
 facturers refused, but after a strike of nearly two months a 
 compromise was effected, by which the employers agreed to 
 a scale which provided no fixed minimum. Later, however, 
 came the successful termination of the strike, by which the 
 manufacturers conceded a fixed minimum of wages, based on 
 a manufacturers' card of two cents per pound for bar iron. 
 The majority of strikes ended in the defeat of the men. The 
 places that suffered defeat were Valley Falls, R.I., Columbia, 
 Birdsboro, Catasanqua, Manayank and McKeesport, 'Penn., 
 and Richmond, Va. All of these are Eastern mills, excepting 
 McKeesport. The few Western mills that engaged in strikes 
 were generally successful. 
 
 The convention that met in Pittsburgh, August, 1880, was 
 by far the largest in the history of the organization. The 
 number of officers and representatives was 192. The question 
 of the importation of old iron rails and scrap was still a source 
 of annoyance, and called forth the following resolution, in- 
 structing 
 
 The President of the National Lodge to call a meeting in each district 
 comprising the members of this Association, for the purpose of selecting 
 one representative from each district to visit Washington, D. C., and there 
 lay before Congress our grievance on the above, and such other subjects, as we 
 may deem of interest to the industries of our country.
 
 290 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 The members of this convention seemed to realize the im- 
 portance of paying their officers a decent salary. The salary 
 of the president was fixed at $1,200, and that of the secretary 
 at $1,000 for the next year. 
 
 This was a year of trials. Strikes of greater magnitude 
 had to be met, and some of these were of such serious propor- 
 tions as to entail much suffering and loss on both employees 
 and employers. The most important of these was that of the 
 Harrison Wire Mill, St. Louis, the Steel Works, Pittsburgh, 
 Chattanooga and Knoxville, Tenn., Atlanta, Ga., Spring- 
 field, 111., and the Cincinnati mills, including Wyandotte, 
 Mich., Janesville, O., Portsmouth, O., and Aurora, Ind. 
 Those of Pittsburgh, Knoxville and Janesville ended in the 
 defeat of the men. The Cincinnati strike was caused by 
 the employers refusing to sign the scale of prices presented 
 by the men. 
 
 Large advances in wages had been demanded by the 
 workmen of the different branches of the finishing depart- 
 ments, ranging from ten to thirty-six per cent., against the 
 advice of the National Lodge president. In answer to this, 
 the employers presented a scale of prices which was practi- 
 cally the Pittsburgh scale. Several conferences were held 
 between the employers and the workmen, the last of which 
 was on June 16, 1881, when the men presented their ultima- 
 tum, which was the usual prices, viz., ten per cent, above 
 Pittsburgh. This the<employers refused. 
 
 The Cleveland Convention, held the following August, 
 heartily concurred in the action of the president at that place, 
 and maintained that the condition of affairs there was en- 
 tirely due to the hasty and unwise action of the brothers of 
 the Third District. 
 
 This strike is referred to here because of the influence it 
 had on subsequent events. It cost the organization a vast 
 sum of money, and eventually nearly every lodge in the 
 district became defunct. Not a single mill ever regained its 
 lost trade, several have been shut down ever since, and those 
 that are operated are run only part time ; and this, too, in 
 view of the fact that the manufacturers succeeded in establish-
 
 TROUBLOUS TIMES. 
 
 291 
 
 ing Pittsburgh prices as the rates. The strike thus ended 
 with disastrous effects to both sides. 
 
 The President of the National Lodge, in his annual report 
 at the time, after referring to the general and serious aspect 
 of affairs, said : 
 
 But let us not be deceived, for we are now on the eve of troublous times. 
 There are a few things that I desire to present to you for your consideration. 
 In the first place, I find much discontent, perhaps jealousy, existing between 
 some of our trades. A feeling is prevalent that because one department may be 
 a majority in numbers, that this majority is against the minority exercising 
 their legitimate rights. This feeling is especially suspicious on the wages 
 question. It has caused me much anxiety, from the fact that internal dissen- 
 sion is much more hurtful than any external influences, and requires much 
 sacrifice and patience to control. What remedy have we for this growing 
 evil? I answer, the cultivation and fostering of a greater degree of love and 
 charity for each other, more confidence in the integrity and honesty of each 
 other, more self-denial, and desire for the general welfare of our membership. 
 To assure the success of our organization, we must lay by small bickerings, 
 and keep in view the fact that individual benefit depends upon the general 
 good. 
 
 The convention did all that possibly could be done to pre- 
 vent any further spread of these feelings, but it only succeeded 
 in postponing the trouble. 
 
 At the Cleveland Convention, Canada was added to the juris- 
 diction of the National Lodge. It made colored men eligible 
 to become members, as well as quite a number of trades, 
 such as engineers, boiler-tenders and firemen directly con- 
 nected with mills, and steel-converting men and others in 
 Bessemer steel mills. Blast-furnace men petitioned for ad- 
 mission, but their petition was refused to the lodges. The 
 convention adopted the eight-hour law in Bessemer convert- 
 ing and rail mills, and raised the president's salary to $1,500, 
 and the secretary's salary to $1,300 per annum. Thirty new 
 lodges were organized during the year, and eighteen lodges 
 became defunct. 
 
 The iron and steel workers had for several years advocated 
 a federation of trades. Indeed, it may be said that they were 
 the pioneers of the movement in this country. The Amal- 
 gamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers were repre- 
 sented at a labor congress, held in Pittsburgh, November
 
 292 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 15-19, 1881, by the National Lodge president, and Secretary 
 Martin. This was the only year the association was repre- 
 sented. The cause of future non-attendance was the strik- 
 ing out of resolution n of the platform, which provided for 
 "Protection to American Industries." The year 1882 was 
 the most remarkable and critical in the history of the asso- 
 ciation. The predictions of the president were fully veri- 
 fied. Strikes of the most crucial character took place. Still, 
 the association continued to prosper, forty-six new lodges 
 being organized. The convention which met in Chicago, in 
 August, 1882, was the largest ever held, the number of offi- 
 cers and representatives present being 213. It required a 
 session of nine days to accomplish its work. Many impor- 
 tant changes were made in the constitution and by-laws, 
 among which was that providing for district conventions for 
 the purpose of acting on the scale question. Provision was 
 also made for a general scale convention, to which the action 
 of .the several district conventions would be submitted for rati- 
 fication. This law is still in force, and seems to work remark- 
 ably well. 
 
 The refusal of the President of the United States to appoint 
 a labor representation on the Tariff Commission called forth a 
 resolution condemning the action of the President in so com- 
 pletely ignoring the desires and interests of the producing 
 classes in the formation of said committee. 
 
 The strike at Homestead, the only one settled among those 
 on in August, 1882, was to all intents a victory for the asso- 
 ciation. No more justifiable strikes ever took place than 
 those of Newburgh, Erie and Phcenixville. Each of these 
 was a struggle for the maintenance and recognition of the 
 association. Both Newburgh and Phcenixville were strate- 
 getic points, the former for the Western and the last for the 
 Eastern mills. While they were at this most critical period, 
 the great strike of Pittsburgh and the Western iron mills was 
 inaugurated, thus drawing away the support of these two 
 important points, resulting in the defeat of the men and of 
 the association. 
 
 Much speculation exists in outside circles as to the wisdom
 
 TRADES-UNION LEADERS.
 
 A SERIOUS MISTAKE. 293 
 
 or folly of the "great strike" of 1882. It was brought about 
 by the workmen in all departments making a demand for a 
 general advance in wages of ten per cent. Speaking of this 
 strike in his annual report, the President of the National 
 Lodge says : 
 
 The prevailing opinion existing among the men of the First District prior 
 to the ist of June was that prospects for trade were good; that the state of the 
 markets was favorable, and everything, in fact, in favor of making a demand 
 for higher wages a question of but a fe\v days before it would be decided in 
 our favor. So unanimous was this sentiment, that upon a final vote toeing 
 taken, it was almost altogether in favor of striking. I most earnestly and 
 heartily fought against the movement. I explained that stocks were very- 
 heavy on the market; that the market was fairly glutted with iron, and that 
 prices had a downward tendency, and from these facts I tried to show that I 
 believed the present time rather hazardous to engage in a strike. I further 
 argued that the result of the Cincinnati strike was yet fresh before us, even 
 staring us in the face ; that serious strikes already existed at Phoenixville and 
 Newburgh. 
 
 It may be well to state here, that in 1880 the minimum of 
 the boilers' wages had been increased from $5 to $5.50 per 
 ton on a two and a half cent manufacturers' card, and in 1881 
 the minimum of the wages of most of the finishing depart- 
 ments now had been advanced ten per cent., thus equalizing 
 the advance in wages to all the several departments. As 
 these advances had been attained with but little effort, a gen- 
 eral feeling existed in 1882 that if the demand only was 
 made, concession on the part of the manufacturers was sure. 
 Then again the great strength of the association was too 
 largely relied upon. Subsequent events, however, proved 
 that a serious mistake had been committed. The strike was 
 fully ratified by the Chicago Convention, and this at a time 
 when the ,strike had been in existence for over two months. 
 Still, after a brave struggle of over four months, there being 
 but little sign of an advance in prices of iron in the market, 
 the association withdrew the demand for the ten per cent, 
 advance in wages, thus. ending the strike. Work was re- 
 sumed in the mills at the old rates. The influence of this 
 strike was very damaging, especially upon the morale of the 
 membership. The antipathies between the boilers and fin- 
 ishers broke out with greater violence than ever, and internal
 
 294 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 dissensions became so rife as to put the association to the 
 severest tests. To add to the confusion, the Bessemer steel 
 rail manufacturers notified their workmen of a reduction in 
 wages of twenty per cent. This was in December, 1882. 
 The price of rails had decreased from $59 to $45 per ton 
 during the year. The men refused to accept this reduction, 
 but finally offered to compromise at twelve and a half per 
 cent. This was rejected. The price of rails was still going 
 lower, and quoted at $43, when the National Lodge presi- 
 dent advised the acceptance of twenty per cent, reduction in 
 wages. This the men refused to do. A few days later the 
 manufacturers withdrew the proposed reduction of twenty per 
 cent., and instead proposed thirty-three and a third per cent, 
 reduction. A bitter struggle followed, lasting in most of the 
 works for fully four months, when the workmen agreed to 
 accept thirty-three and a third per cent., and in some cases 
 even a greater reduction in wages. The organization thus 
 received a severe set-back. 
 
 The number of lodges instituted during the year endjng 
 at the convening of the Philadelphia Convention, in August, 
 1883, was 34. The number of defunct lodges was 48, 
 a net loss of 14 lodges. Nineteen of these were, however, 
 connected with closed works, and quite a number of these 
 works are still idle. The number of officers and representa- 
 tives present at the Convention of 1883 was 153. At this 
 time there were 183 lodges in good standing. This conven- 
 tion was the last one at which the author of this chapter pre- 
 sided. He had notified the association of his firm determina- 
 tion to retire from office. This determination was formed 
 simply because he believed a change would be beneficial to 
 the welfare of the organization. The true relationship be- 
 tween the retiring president and the association is shown by 
 the following, taken from the Journal of Proceedings, Phila- 
 delphia Convention, August, 1883 : 
 
 The next business that came before the convention was the most touching 
 of any during the entire session. It was that of presenting a testimonial, 
 procured by the delegates, to President Jarrett, on his retiring from the office 
 of president. It consisted of a beautiful gold-headed cane, and an elaborate
 
 PRESENTATION TO PRESIDENT JARRETT. 295 
 
 and handsome silver set of seven pieces, the inscription on which read : 
 " Presented to Mr. John Jarrett, by the Delegates to the Eighth Annual-Con- 
 vention. A. A. of I. & S. W., August, 1883." It had been quietly arranged to 
 surprise President Jarrett, and it was carried out to the letter. During the 
 presentation speech it was an affecting scene to see the commotion among 
 the delegates, but few dry eyes being in the audience. 
 
 Vice-President John I. Davis had been chosen to make the 
 presentation speech, and in it he spoke in the highest terms of 
 the retiring president, extolling his wisdom, integrity, fidelity 
 and efficiency in the highest terms, and claiming him as one 
 of the most consistent, fearless and foremost champions of 
 labor. The presentation was a complete surprise to the 
 president. His response expressed his appreciation of this 
 expression of esteem for him, and a recognition of his earnest 
 labors in behalf of the association. Deafening cheers from 
 the delegates, as he closed his speech, testified further their 
 regard for him. 
 
 William Weihe was elected president at the Philadelphia 
 Convention, and he still retains that position. He has proved 
 himself an admirable leader. Under his leadership the asso- 
 ciation, though under adverse circumstances, still maintains 
 its lead among the trades-unions of the country. The first 
 and second years of his incumbency in office were a period of 
 decadence, but the last year is one of growing prosperity and 
 rapidly returning strength. The decadence referred to was 
 partly due to the strikes that had previously taken place. 
 But new elements of discord were forcing themselves for- 
 ward, breeding discontent and animosities. Secretary Martin, 
 in referring to these at the Wheeling Convention, in 1885, 
 said : 
 
 Internal dissensions, stoppage of mills in whole, or in part, depression in 
 trade almost bordering on a panic, and the withdrawal of the nailers and 
 nail-feeders, mainly brought about by a cowardly, cringing, vacillating mi- 
 nority, have all combined to reduce the numerical strength of the organiza- 
 tion in the past year. 
 
 The withdrawal of the nailers was due directly to two 
 causes : first, dissatisfaction with the way the apprentice 
 rules were enforced by President Weihe ; and, second, dif-
 
 296 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 ference of opinion as to the propriety of demanding extra 
 price for cutting steel nails. At the Scale Convention, held in 
 Pittsburgh, April 5, 1884, it was resolved to demand twenty 
 per cent, extra for cutting steel nails, when harder than iron. 
 The Wheeling nailers did not, it appears, enforce this de- 
 mand. The question was brought up before the Pittsburgh 
 Convention, in 1884, when it was 
 
 Resolved, That the vice-presidents of the districts be instructed to compel 
 all nailers in this association to enforce the provisions of the scale in relation 
 to steel nails. 
 
 In the attempt to carry out his resolution, it was discovered 
 that the nailers, or at least eighteen out of twenty, in their testi- 
 mony before the investigating board, said, " that the steel they 
 were working was equally as soft as iron," and some said 
 "that they would prefer steel to iron at the same prices." 
 This testimony was not kindly received by the membership 
 in general, they failing to conceive how steel could be as soft 
 as iron. Still the matter was allowed to drop. Early in 1885, 
 the National Lodge officials issued a circular bearing on the 
 wages question, and the prospects of a reduction in wages. 
 A few of the nailers took umbrage at this circular, and pre- 
 sumably for the purpose of protecting themselves, issued a 
 call for a delegate meeting of nailers, to be held in Wheeling, 
 February 5, 1885. At this meeting it was resolved to with- 
 draw from the Amalgamated Association, and to form a new 
 organization, to be called "The United Nailers of America." 
 All the lodges composed of nailers at once withdrew from the 
 Amalgamated Association, and formed themselves into the 
 new organization. The action of the nailers in withdrawing 
 in a body from the association, together with the loss in 
 membership, did not have the demoralizing effect anticipated, 
 but proved in many ways to be extremely beneficial. Inter- 
 nal and personal bickering dissensions gave way to a desire 
 to build up the organization. 
 
 In the adjustment of the annual scale of wages in June, 
 1885, the association agreed to a reduction of ten per cent, 
 in all departments except that of the sheet-mills. This reduc-
 
 STRIKE OF THE NAILERS. 297 
 
 tion was based on a reduction of the base of the manufacturers' 
 card from two and one-half to two cents. This conciliatory 
 spirit on the part of the workmen was very discreet. Nothing 
 more clearly demonstrates this than the result of the nailers' 
 action. They refused to accept any reduction, the manufac- 
 turers having proposed a reduction from twenty-one cents to 
 seventeen cents. A strike ensued, which continued through- 
 out the year, resulting in disaster to the nailers, though the 
 year has been one of upbuilding to the Amalgamated Asso- 
 ciation. At the last convention; the nailers petitioned the 
 association to allow them to return. The petition was, after 
 a lengthy discussion, conceded. 
 
 In a general way but very few strikes of importance, out- 
 side of that of the nailers, have taken place in the last three 
 years. It has been a period of comparative peace. The 
 changes in the laws have been of but a moderate character. 
 The stoppage of the third turn in sheet-mills was one of the 
 most important. This third turn in sheet-mills was one of the 
 few instances in which the eight-hour system has been tried 
 among the iron workers. In some few mills it seemed to 
 work very satisfactorily ; but, as it could not be applied satis- 
 factorily to the workmen in all the mills, it was decided to 
 discontinue the system altogether in sheet-mills. The eight- 
 hour system is still carried on in the Bessemer converting, 
 and in some cases, finishing mills. The association is in 
 full accord with the general eight-hour movement, and favors 
 the system in all instances in which it can conveniently be 
 administered. 
 
 The association seldom takes any action on questions of 
 a political character. It is severely non-political. It never 
 referred to party politics but in one case, and that in connec- 
 tion with the appointment of a labor representative on the 
 Tariff Commission. Though always an ardent advocate of 
 a protective tariff, it was such from an economic standpoint 
 only. The following is a close expression of its sentiments 
 on this subject : 
 
 That all producers and manufacturers should bear alike equal burdens of 
 taxation, and foreign producers and manufacturers should not be exempted
 
 298 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 therefrom. Our tariff should at all times be so adjusted as to, at least, tax them 
 the like amount of tax paid by home producers and manufacturers for the 
 support of local, State and National governments, as well as the amount of 
 difference in the wages of labor and cost of manufacture, and the ruling rate 
 of interest in this country, so that American capital and labor invested in the 
 productive industries of the land shall be placed upon an equal footing in our 
 own home markets with foreign capital and labor, and not discriminated 
 against by national legislation. Our government has neither the moral nor 
 political right to discriminate against home capital and labor in its tariff legis- 
 lation, and against any such policy we are unalterably opposed. We there- 
 fore favor a tariff so adjusted as to give to our people, who pay the taxes and 
 support the government, adequate protection against foreign competition, and 
 place them upon, at least, an equal footing with foreign competition, in our 
 home markets. We also favor the abolition of internal revenue taxes, and if, 
 after their abolition, further reduction of taxation by the National Govern- 
 ment shall be desired at any time, it shall be done by placing on the free list 
 such articles as do not enter into competition with home productions and 
 manufactures ; but in no case should the tariff upon such articles as do enter 
 into competition with them be placed at lower duties than shall be required to 
 maintain and keep them upon a footing with foreign competitors. 
 
 In the former part of this chapter, reference is made to the 
 iron workers as being the pioneers of the " Federation of 
 Trades." At their last convention, it was determined to have 
 nothing to do with the movement. We cannot give the rea- 
 sons for this, unless it be that the Amalgamated Association 
 expect that the Knights of Labor will eventually represent, 
 or, what is more proper, actually be the " Confederation of 
 Trades." The question of affiliation with the Knights of 
 Labor was submitted by the convention to the subordinate 
 lodges for their consideration. The next convention will take 
 action on the subject. 
 
 The association is not a beneficial order, in the sense of pro- 
 viding for sickness and death among its membership. In the 
 case of disabled members, the result of serious accidents, in 
 the mills voluntary subscriptions are generally taken up a 
 plan that has always worked very successfully. Sums of 
 from $1,000 to nearly $3,000 have been realized in this way, 
 and the disabled member would be started in a lucrative busi- 
 ness. It can be said of the iron and steel workers, that, as a 
 rule, they are generous and charitable towards a brother who 
 happens to be so unfortunate as to meet with serious bodily 
 harm, and become unable to follow his occupation, or perform
 
 CONCILIATION. 
 
 299 
 
 other manual labor to earn a living. The National Labor 
 Tribune has been the official organ of the association for over 
 ten years. 
 
 Mr. Martin, the secretary of the association, has served in 
 that capacity for nine years. He is a man of rare ability, 
 and for care and fidelity, unsurpassed. The whole office work 
 of the association is conducted on strictly business principles ; 
 and to the credit of Mr. Martin, it may be said that no seri- 
 ous error ever occurred in the financial affairs of the associa,- 
 tion during his official career. The salary of the secretary, 
 at present, is $1,170 per annum, and that of the president is 
 $-1,350 per annum. 
 
 ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION. 
 
 The Amalgamated Association never advocated arbitration 
 as a means of settling disputes, or regulating wages. It is 
 somewhat singular, too, to observe that though a strong sen- 
 timent in favor of arbitration existed among the iron and steel 
 workers up to the period of the organization of the Amalga- 
 mated Association, since then it has steadily been growing 
 weaker, until at the present time the feeling is one of strong 
 opposition. The association is, however, heartily in favor of 
 conciliation. By conciliation is meant the right to settle or 
 prevent labor differences by conferences between the parties 
 interested, or their authorized representatives, these confer- 
 ences having no power to reach a decision only as the result 
 of mutual agreement. But arbitration provides for a third 
 party to pronounce judgment, should the interested parties 
 or their representatives fail to reach a settlement. It is not, 
 however, so much the third-party idea as other matters that 
 cause the association to oppose arbitration. They maintain 
 that arbitration does not and cannot protect the workingman : 
 because, first, there is no fixed amount that can be considered 
 as fair profits to the employer ; second, no provision is made 
 to provide a fixed minimum in wages or prices, and conse- 
 quently under the laws of free competition it is possible that 
 prices may go so low as to make reasonable wages an impos- 
 sibility. As an illustration of this fact they point to the opera-
 
 3OO THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 tion of arbitration among the iron workers of the North of 
 England, where prices of iron have become so low as to 
 leave the wages of the workmen so meagre that respectable 
 living is out of the question. Under arbitration in England, 
 the price of puddling is reduced to six shillings and three 
 pence, or $1.50 per ton, with the possibility that it may be 
 yet further reduced ; when with conciliation, in this country, 
 the price of puddling is $5.00 per ton, which is the minimum, 
 based on a two cents manufacturers' card. 
 
 The Amalgamated Association place a great deal of im- 
 portance on the fixity of a minimum in wages. The principle 
 is, beyond question, a correct one ; for the argument involved 
 is that the first consideration to be accepted is of greatest im- 
 portance in the laws of production is reasonable wages to 
 labor. It is a common saying among iron workers, " let us 
 take care to secure fair wages, and prices may take care of 
 themselves." They, however, while professing to be a com- 
 bination to maintain reasonable wages, also advocated combi- 
 nations among manufacturers for the purpose of maintaining 
 prices at a reasonable level. The idea of the manufacturers, 
 by so doing, becoming a monopoly, is absurd and ridiculous, 
 because the scales of prices provide that the wages paid are 
 based on the selling prices of iron, whatever that may be ; but 
 wages are not affected when iron sells below the minimum 
 price recognized by the association. 
 
 Conciliation, as a means of settling labor disputes between 
 the iron manufacturers and their employees, has been in 
 operation for nearly twenty-two years. The appointment of 
 conference committees representing each side, dates back to 
 January, 1865. The result of this the first meeting of what, 
 as many term, the Conciliation Board was the adoption of 
 the following scale of prices : 
 
 MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT, 
 
 Made this I3th day of February, 1865, between a committee of Boilers and a 
 committee from the Iron Manufacturers, appointed to fix a scale of prices to 
 be paid for boiling pig iron, based on the manufacturers' card of prices, it 
 being understood either party shall have the right and privilege to terminate 
 this agreement by giving ninety days' notice to the other party, and that there
 
 SCALE OF PRICES. 301 
 
 shall be no deviation without such notice. When the manufacturers' card of 
 prices are at the rate named below, the price for boiling shall be at the 
 prices opposite, per ton of 2,240 pounds : 
 
 Manufacturers. Boilers. 
 
 8i cents per pound . . . . . . $9 oo 
 
 Si " " " 8 75 
 
 8 " " S 50 
 
 7l " " " 825 
 
 7^ and 7^ cents per pound . . 8 oo 
 
 7 and 6^ " " " . . . . 7 50 
 
 6i and 6^ " " " . . . 7 oo 
 
 6 and 5! """.... 6 50 
 
 $h and 5i " " " . . . . 6 oo 
 
 5 and 4! """.... 5 75 
 4fe and 4^ .... 5 50 
 
 4 and 3! " " . . . . 5 oo 
 
 3i and 3i ". " " . . . .4 75 
 
 3 and 2$ """.... 4 50 
 
 2^ cents per pound . . . . 4 oo 
 
 The adoption of this scale was hailed by all as an era of 
 peace ; but, as subsequent events showed, they were disap- 
 pointed. Iron declined from seven and one-half cents in 
 February, to four cents in July ; and, as a consequence, the 
 price for puddling declined in the proportion stipulated by 
 the scale. Impressed with the belief that the basis of the 
 scale was too low, the puddlers gave the required ninety 
 days' notice, in the summer of that year, to terminate the 
 agreement. At the expiration of the notice, the price of 
 iron had advanced slightly, giving the puddlers $6.00 per 
 ton, whereupon they demanded and received $2.00 per ton 
 of an advance, making the price $8.00 per ton. The latter 
 figure prevailed as the price for puddling from October, 1865, 
 to October, 1866, when the puddlers, believing that the price 
 of iron justified their action, demanded an advance of $1.00 
 per ton, which was, with considerable reluctance, conceded 
 by the manufacturers. About two months later, the manu- 
 facturers gave evidence of an unwillingness to continue pay- 
 ing the prices, and finally served notice of a reduction of 
 $2.00 per ton. This the workmen promptly rejected, when 
 a general lock-out resulted in all the Pittsburgh and adjacent 
 mills. The lockout lasted from December, 1866, to May,
 
 302 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 1867, when it terminated by the manufacturers paying the 
 old price of nine dollars per ton. At the close of the lock 
 out, the Boilers' Union, with the view of cultivating a better 
 feeling between the workmen and the manufacturers, and to 
 prevent the possibility of further strikes, resolved to ask a 
 conference with manufacturers, for the purpose of adopting 
 a scale of prices. A committee was appointed to negotiate 
 with the manufacturers. They at once prepared and ad- 
 dressed a circular to the employers, in which they favored the 
 establishment of a rule fixed upon the average price of the 
 different grades of manufactured iron, as a basis by which the 
 wages of labor should be governed. They allowed a reason- 
 able time for the consideration of the proposition, and asked 
 for a conference between a committee of the employers and a 
 committee of the men. 
 
 The manufacturers, in due course of time, responded affirm- 
 atively to the above circular, when conference committees 
 were selected by each side, who convened and after several 
 meetings, agreed "That nine dollars per ton shall be paid 
 for boiling iron, until the iyth day of August, 1867. From 
 that date until the i$th day of September, eight dollars shall 
 be paid ; " and a regular scale of prices was provided after the 
 latter date, it being twenty-five cents per ton reduction or ad- 
 vance, in the price of boiling, for each change of one-quarter 
 of a cent per pound on card rates. Either party to this 
 agreement could terminate it by giving thirty days' notice 
 to the other party. In 1871, by mutual consent, slight tech- 
 nical change was made in the scale. It was arranged that 
 the manufacturers' card rates should rise and fall by tenths in 
 place of by one-fourths ; the price of boiling to advance and 
 decline ten cents on each one-tenth manufacturers' card. 
 
 For a period of seven years following the adoption of the 
 foregoing scale, the relations of employers and employees 
 were uninterrupted. The gradual decline in the price of 
 iron from five cents per pound in January, 1873, to two 
 and one-half cents per pound in the fall of 1874, together 
 with a falling off in the demand, caused the manufacturers, 
 in October of the latter year, to request a conference with
 
 FAILURE OF A LOCKOUT. 303 
 
 the workingmen. At this meeting, the manufacturers gave 
 the required thirty days' notice to terminate the scale. They 
 also demanded the following change in the "Scale of Prices," 
 viz. : a reduction of one dollar per ton for puddling on the 
 basis of the present scale ; that is, when iron is selling at three 
 cents, boiling shall be $5 per ton, and $4.50 on a two and 
 a half cent card. It Avill be observed that this was a reduc- 
 tion in the base of the scale. Several conferences were held 
 between the committees of the Boilers' Union and the manu- 
 facturers, but no decision could be reached. Finally, as trade 
 was depressed and wages generally were low, the workmen's 
 committee proposed to knock off the limitation, and allow the 
 card to drop to two and a half cents, boiling at that rate to 
 be $5.50 per ton. But the manufacturers would not deviate 
 one iota from the stand they had taken. A lockout fol- 
 lowed, which lasted for five months. On the I4th day of 
 April, 1875, tne Association of Iron Manufacturers held 
 a meeting, and resolved to accept the terms of the boilers, 
 and resumed operations by signing a scale of prices which 
 was ten cents' advance or reduction for each change of two 
 dollars per ton on card. Either party to this agreement could 
 terminate the same by giving thirty days' notice to the other 
 party. 
 
 The continued depression in business, and consequent de- 
 cline in prices of iron, kept matters in a very discouraging 
 condition, with no immediate hope of relief; the manufac- 
 turers contending, in the meantime, that they were losing 
 money, and justly unable to continue paying the wages, 
 according to the scale. 
 
 In October, 1875, the scale was again set aside by the 
 action of the manufacturers, and committees were called to- 
 gether to consult over a reduction. The price-list of iron had 
 fallen to two and a half cents per pound, while large quanti- 
 ties were being sold at a much less figure ; in fact, everything 
 became confused, and all, apparently, sold at prices best 
 suited to themselves. The subject for consideration before 
 the conference committee was not so much the adoption of a 
 scale of prices as the devising of some means and the adop-
 
 304 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 tion of a rate of wages as would enable all to tide over the 
 difficulties that oppressed them. The manufacturers insisted 
 that boiling should be reduced to $4.50 per ton. A com- 
 promise was at last effected, early in December, providing that 
 wages, up to December I3th, should be at the rate of $5.00 
 per ton, and from December I3th to February 14, 1876, the 
 wages were to be $4.75 per ton. Aftef the expiration of the 
 above date, the committees again convened, but failed to 
 effect any definite arrangement, and finally separated with the 
 understanding that each and every firm was at liberty to act 
 as they thought best. The boilers, however, resolved to 
 accept no further reduction, so that $4-75 continued to be the 
 price paid till May, 1875. Early in May, the committee again 
 met, but failed to arrive at any agreement. The men had 
 observed that up to this time the manufacturers had always 
 made their attempts to reduce the scale in the winter. To ob- 
 viate this in the future, it was determined to make the scale of 
 prices operative for one year, dating from June ist of each 
 year. Having failed in agreeing upon a scale with the manu- 
 facturers, the boilers presented a scale, being a reduction of 
 fifty cents per ton for boiling on a two and a half cent card. 
 The scale was accompanied with the notification that, unless 
 agreed to by the manufacturers, they (the boilers) would cease 
 working after the 3ist of May. The manufacturers refused 
 to sign this scale, and as a result the mills stopped. The 
 suspension, however, lasted only about two weeks, when the 
 manufacturers signed the scale, and for the first time work 
 was resumed, with the assurance that for one year at least the 
 wages question was settled. Upon the recurring month of 
 June, 1877, the same proceedings were enacted ; also in June, 
 1878, and June, 1879. In June, 1880, a demand of fifty 
 cents per ton advance was made by the boilers on the two and 
 a half cents card, and, after a stoppage of a few days over a 
 week, it was conceded by the manufacturers. The scale of 
 1880 was operative for five years, when the base was reduced 
 to $5.00 per ton on a two cent card. 
 
 The only scales of prices adopted previous to June, 1880, 
 to govern the finishing departments were those of the Guide
 
 TABLE OF PRICES. 
 
 305 
 
 Mills, made on the 2d day of April, 1872, and the Bar Mills, 
 made on the ijth day of October, 1879. 
 
 The agreement was entered into between the committee of 
 the Manufacturers' Association and a committee of the Amal- 
 gamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers, at Pitts- 
 burgh, Penn., June 25, 1886. This scale of prices covers 
 every possible detail of boiling, muck or puddle mill, bar 
 and nail-plate mill, guide, ten-inch, hoop and cotton-tie mills, 
 with its different departments of nut iron, channel iron, "T" 
 iron, angles, clip, or wagon strap, hame iron, ten-inch mill, 
 and hoop and cotton-tie mills ; also plate and tank mills, 
 sheet mills, Birmingham wire-gauge, and nail-cutting. The 
 space of this chapter will not permit of the introduction of 
 the figures. The following table, however, will be of interest, 
 as showing the wide range in prices : 
 
 AVERAGE PRICES OF THE FOLLOWING ARTICLES FOR THK 
 LAST TWENTY-FIVE YEARS. 
 
 DATES. 
 
 Anthracite Foundry 
 Iron, Philadelphia, 
 per ton. 
 
 Refined Bar Iron, at 
 Stores, Philadelphia, 
 per ton of 2,240 Ibs. 
 
 Bessemer Steel Rails, 
 in Pennsylvania, per 
 ton. 
 
 Cut Nails, per keg. 
 
 1860 
 
 
 $efi Ttf 
 
 
 $3 J 3 
 
 1861 
 
 20 75 
 
 60 83 
 
 
 2 75 
 
 ]S62 
 
 21 87 
 
 
 
 3 47 
 
 iSfij 
 
 
 1 DA 
 
 
 
 1864 
 
 TO 2C 
 
 
 
 7 85 
 
 1865 
 
 46 12 
 
 106 38 
 
 
 7 08 
 
 1866 
 
 46 87 
 
 
 
 6 97 
 
 
 44 12 
 
 87 08 
 
 
 5 9 2 
 
 1868 
 
 V) 2s 
 
 85 63 
 
 $158 50 
 
 5 '7 
 
 1869 ... 
 
 4.0 62 
 
 Si 66 
 
 '3 2 2 5 
 
 4 87 
 
 1870 
 
 33 2 5 
 
 78 96 
 
 106 75 
 
 4 4 
 
 1871 . 
 
 3^ 12 
 
 7S 54 
 
 1 02 50 
 
 4 5 2 
 
 1872 
 
 48 87 
 
 97 "3 
 
 112 OO 
 
 5 46 
 
 1871 
 
 
 86 43 
 
 1 20 50 
 
 4 9 
 
 1874 
 
 3 2 5 
 
 67 95 
 
 94 2 5 
 
 3 99 
 
 1871; . 
 
 25 50 
 
 60 85 
 
 68 75 
 
 3 4 2 
 
 1876 
 
 22 25 
 
 52 08 
 
 59 25 
 
 298 
 
 1877 
 
 18 87 
 
 45 55 
 
 45 50 
 
 2 57 
 
 1878 .... 
 
 17 O2 
 
 44 24 
 
 42 25 
 
 2 3 1 
 
 1879 
 
 21 SO 
 
 5i 85 
 
 48 25 
 
 
 1880 . 
 
 28 50 
 
 60 38 
 
 67 50 
 
 3 68 
 
 ]8Si 
 
 25 13 
 
 58 05 
 
 61 13 
 
 3 9 
 
 1882 
 
 25 75 
 
 61 41 
 
 48 50 
 
 3 47 
 
 1883 
 
 22 35 
 
 5 3 
 
 37 75 
 
 306 
 
 !SS4 
 
 19 87 
 
 44 05 
 
 3 75 
 
 2 39 
 
 1885 
 
 18 oo 
 
 40 32 
 
 28 50 
 
 2 33 
 
 
 
 

 
 306 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 STRIKES. 
 
 The story of the iron workers would be quite incomplete 
 without reference to their strikes. And yet these contests, 
 so important to the manufacturers and so vital to the work- 
 men, had a similarity of cause, progress, and result that 
 would render their history much alike to the general reader. 
 This topic, therefore, through lack of space to present the 
 interesting and instructive details, must be treated in the 
 briefest manner. Strikes and lockouts were known forty 
 years ago, or more. The Sons of Vulcan had few strikes, 
 the sentiment of the workmen being conservative. The re- 
 vival in the iron business, after the breaking out of the war, 
 caused the workmen to be more aggressive, and they gained 
 about all the advances they asked. Finally, a conference 
 committee, suggested by Mr. B. F. Jones, adopted a scale of 
 prices in February, 1865. This caused a rapid reduction in 
 wages, corresponding, of course, with the rapid fall in the 
 price of iron. Then followed strikes and lockouts, generally 
 favorable to the workmen, until a new scale of prices was 
 adopted in July, 1867. During a lockout, from December, 
 1866, to May, 1867, an attempt was made to employ work- 
 men brought from Europe, but they proved incompetent. 
 There were few strikes until 1869, but from that year until 
 1874 was a period of bitter conflicts. Most of the strikes 
 and lockouts were over wages, but some were simply con- 
 tests for supremacy. In the winter of 1874, a big strike 
 occurred at Pittsburgh against a reduction in the base of the 
 .scale and in wages in general. This was the bitterest and 
 most hotly-contested lockout in the history of the iron 
 workers. The men were in destitute circumstances, and 
 ill-prepared for a lockout at such a season. They believed 
 that it was a crusade against their organization, and they had 
 good reasons for such a belief. During this lockout the work- 
 men refused arbitration, believing it impossible to secure fair, 
 impartial arbitrators, as public opinion was against them. 
 Finally, the manufacturers agreed to start their works on the 
 terms demanded by the workmen.
 
 STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS. 307 
 
 It appears, from the records of the Sons of Vulcan, that from 
 1867 to 1875 there were 87 legalized strikes within their juris- 
 diction, of which 69 were for rates and payment of wages, 16 
 for administration of works, and two for miscellaneous reasons. 
 As near as can be learned, 28 terminated in favor of the work- 
 men, 22 favorable to the employers, 21 were compromised, 
 and 1 6 are doubtful. The Amalgamated Association had few 
 strikes in its first and second years, and generally succeeded 
 in those few. In its third year, the Pennsylvania manufac- 
 turers attempted to destroy it by discharging its leading men. 
 During the next year, the fight was kept up by the Eastern 
 manufacturers. Many strikes occurred in both these years ; 
 and the men were, as a rule, defeated. "Wages were increased 
 in some places in 1880 and 1881, and this increase caused 
 strikes in other places for a like advance. Some of these 
 were successful, while others failed. Other strikes followed, 
 aimed directly at the association, and then came the great 
 strike known as "the Pittsburgh strike of 1882." A reckless 
 desperation seemed to prevail everywhere among workmen 
 and employers. At the Chicago Convention the author, 
 hoping to bring about sober second thought, discussed the 
 situation at length, urging the men to cultivate a higher 
 moral tone, and to act only from principles of right, as well 
 as impressing upon them the injury done themselves and their 
 cause by unjustifiable strikes. But there seemed to be no 
 abatement of the striking spirit. The great strike of Pitts- 
 burgh ended in favor of the employers. In the latter part of 
 1882 and the first seven months of 1883, twenty strikes and 
 one lockout occurred, nearly all of which were precipitated 
 by the workmen, and ended disastrously. In my last annual 
 report, I said : 
 
 Strikes have their causes, and these causes exist either on the part of em- 
 ployers or employees. Every opposition to wrong is a strike ; but a strike is 
 not always an opposition to wrong. Thus it is that strikes are sometimes a 
 mistake, and become an absolute wrong in themselves. Such strikes, when 
 entered into, usually terminate against the aggressive party, but not always so; 
 for we have to admit that might, not right, is often the deciding factor in these 
 questions. Yet, notwithstanding this fact, too much care cannot be taken to 
 prevent unjust and uncalled-for strikes. Full and justifiable cause should exist.
 
 308 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 and every recourse exhausted before the final step is taken. It is very wrong 
 to assume that all strikes emanate from the workingmen ; for the facts teach 
 us, in our departments of labor at; least, that the employers are very often the 
 instigators of strikes. 
 
 Early in 1884, all the strikes of any consequence had been 
 settled, with the exception of that at Birmingham, Ala. In 
 the case of this one, the reaction following all spasmodic 
 movements now set in. A sudden and violent revulsion of 
 feeling and sentiment manifested itself against strikes ; and, 
 from that time to the present, no strikes of any magnitude 
 have occurred. 
 
 The total number of legalized strikes entered in the records 
 of the association from 1876 to 1885, inclusive, was 93, the 
 causes of which were as follows : Wages, 61 ; Unionism, 17 ; 
 Signing of Scale, 3; Miscellaneous, 12. Of these 28 were 
 successful ; 61 were unsuccessful ; 4 were compromised. 
 Startling as these results appear to be, it does not necessarily 
 follow that no good has been accomplished by strikes. We 
 may yet discover that these are side-lights by the way, leading 
 us to a higher state of intelligence. To the association they 
 may prove to be the "baptism of fire" in preparing it for more 
 useful work in the future issues of the labor problem. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 The most important inventions affecting the iron industry 
 since 1840 were the "Bessemer" and "Open Hearth" processes 
 for manufacturing steel, and it was not until 1858 that Mr. 
 Bessemer finally succeeded in producing cast steel from cast 
 iron. The first Bessemer steel rails made in this country 
 were rolled at the North Chicago rolling-mill on May 24, 
 1865. But not until 1867 was there any quantity made to 
 order. From 2,550 net tons in 1867 the production rose to 
 the highest point in 1882, when the tremendous total of 
 1,438,155 net tons was reached. The new processes referred 
 to above have made great changes in the manufacture of iron 
 and in the number of hands employed in the various depart- 
 ments. Many improvements have also been made in the 
 manufacture of rails, by which a large amount of labor has 
 been saved. The vast displacement of manual labor caused
 
 HIGHER INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS. 
 
 309 
 
 by these improvements has completely changed the relations 
 between employers and employees ; and to this is due, more 
 than anything else, the failure of strikes in the large Besse- 
 mer works, and, as we find in most of the Eastern works, the 
 complete subjugation of labor to the will of the employers. 
 I believe that the inventive genius of man in bringing about 
 those vast improvements, is the unseen hand of the Almighty 
 preparing the way for the higher industrial conditions await- 
 ing us in the near future, where the benefit of all this genius 
 will be enjoyed by all men 
 
 It may well be asked, What is the difference between labor 
 owned by the capitalist, in the form of labor-saving machinery, 
 and the laborer himself, as a slave owned by his master? We 
 need some system whereby the great improvements brought 
 about by man's ingenuity will both lighten the arduous tasks 
 imposed upon the. laborer and also shorten his hours of labor. 
 The great task before the labor organizations, in the first 
 place, is to secure fair wages to the laborer. The idea em- 
 bodied in the scale of prices of the Amalgamated Association, 
 that of the fixity of a minimum of wages, is, to my mind, the 
 most feasible. It is no use wasting time talking co-operation, 
 we must act co-operation ; and the first thing to co-operate 
 in is the fixing of a minimum of wages of labor. The wages 
 of the workman should never go below the point that would 
 make it hard for a frugal, industrious man to live and maintain 
 a family. Common day-labor, for instance, should never be 
 below one dollar and fifty cents per day. There is no neces- 
 sity that I should go on enumerating a whole list of occupa- 
 tions ; the. principle I advocate is easily understood. But the 
 question maybe asked, How is this to be accomplished? I 
 answer, by co-operation of employers and workmen. But 
 I must not be understood as saying that this co-operation is 
 possible without organization. Not at all. Such an assump- 
 tion would be preposterous. There must be organization of 
 workmen, and there must be organization of employers. 
 Instead of being constantly in conflict, there should be, 
 there must be, harmony between these two factors. Em- 
 ployers should combine to pay good wages. They will
 
 3IO THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 then have to fix the price of their products, if they are pro- 
 ducers, or whatever their position in the social and industrial 
 world may be, in proportion to the wages paid. 
 
 There is no reason why women should be paid such low 
 wages as thirty-five and fifty cents a day making shirts. Let 
 them be paid, at the lowest, one dollar per day, though to do 
 so would make the shirt that we can now get for seventy-five 
 cents cost us twenty five cents more. Of course, in this large 
 increase in price, I would include better wages to the labor 
 employed in making the linen, or cotton cloth, or whatever 
 it may be, out of which the shirt is made. The advocate of 
 free competition, and the survival of the fittest, would call 
 this an infringement of personal rights. I am not a believer 
 in the everlasting cry of cheapness. We demand good wages 
 first ; and if the business men who attend to the distribution 
 of the products of labor want to charge exorbitant rates, we 
 must then combine to attend to the business ourselves. It is 
 well for workingmen to observe that some of the richest 
 men are to be found among the merchants, the distributing 
 class. 
 
 Again, there must be some means adopted of finding em- 
 ployment for all. There must be employment, or there can- 
 not be any earning of wages ; and when there is no receiving 
 of wages there is no money to spend in buying food, clothing, 
 and the other necessaries of life. To this end the Amalga- 
 mated Association advocate a protective tariff. They do not 
 believe in buying abroad such products as should be pro- 
 duced at home. Every ton of iron and steel brought here 
 from abroad means that amount less work for our iron and 
 steel-workers to do, and the loss of that amount of wages. It is 
 therefore a double loss a loss not only to themselves, but to 
 all dependent upon them. They believe, too, that they must 
 have the work to do, or they cannot be in a position to com- 
 mand good wages, or, indeed, any wages at all. It is but fair 
 to state that the iron and steel-workers advocate a tariff on 
 all products of foreign labor that are brought here in com- 
 petition with those of home labor, even to prohibition, if 
 necessary, believing that the more complete is the control of
 
 LABOR MEASURES ADVOCATED. 31 1 
 
 the market, the easier it is to regulate wages ; and on pre- 
 cisely the same grounds as those on which they advocate 
 tariff, they advocate the prohibition of the importation of 
 foreign labor under contract, and the regulation even of for- 
 eign immigration. Though prison-contract labor, or the 
 products of the labor of the convicts, do not enter into 
 direct competition with the products of our iron and steel 
 mills, still the workmen are strenuously opposed to it. They 
 are also opposed to the system of letting work out on con- 
 tract, which is now so general. A contractor is nothing 
 more or less than an overseer, or boss, and for his services 
 should be paid reasonable wages ; but he should never be 
 allowed to carry on his business at a profit squeezed out 
 of the daily wages of the operative. They also believe in 
 equal pay for men and women, and for white and black. 
 The measure of wages must be in proportion to the work 
 done or labor performed, and not whether it be a man or a 
 woman that does it. 
 
 Notwithstanding the action of the last convention in decid- 
 ing not to affiliate with the "Federation of Trades," I know 
 the iron and steel workers are in hearty accord with all the 
 great questions of the day, as advocated in the platform of 
 the "Federation," and the declaration of principles of the 
 Knights of Labor. They are especially in favor of the com- 
 pulsory education of children, and forbidding the employ- 
 ment of children under fifteen years of age, and the reserva- 
 tion of the land for actual settlers. The only essential point 
 of difference is on that of arbitration. The association attach 
 much importance to the question of temperance. It regards 
 intemperance as a prolific source from which spring many of 
 the evils which the workingman have to endure. Great care 
 has always been taken to impress upon the minds of the mem- 
 bers the necessity of properly husbanding their resources. 
 It is not only necessary that the workmen should receive good 
 wages, but also necessary that they judiciously spend them. 
 In brief, the sole aim of the association is the social, moral, 
 mental, and financial improvement of its members.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE RISE OF RAILROAD ORGANIZATIONS. 
 
 THE ENGINEERS FIRST ORGANIZE FIRST CONVENTION, 1855 THIS AS- 
 SOCIATION SHORT-LIVED ORGANIZED AGAIN IN 1863 PURPOSES OF 
 THE NEW BROTHERHOOD RAPID GROWTH OF THE ORDER LIMIT- 
 ING MEMBERSHIP TO ENGINEERS ATTEMPTED DESTRUCTION OF THE 
 ORDER PRESENT NAME ADOPTED ORGANIZATION IN NEW ENG- 
 LAND OFFICIAL JOURNAL ESTABLISHED CHIEF WILSON'S RESIGNA- 
 TION DEMANDED CHIEF ARTHUR ELECTED STRIKES OF THE BRO- 
 THERHOOD COLOR-BLINDNESS DISCUSSION OF THE LABOR PROB- 
 LEM. THE BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE FIREMEN ORGANIZED IN 
 AN OLD CAR-SHED ANNUAL CONVENTIONS AND RAPID GROWTH 
 ITS BENEVOLENT WORK STRIKES UNKNOWN ITS CHIEF OFFICERS. 
 BROTHERHOOD OF RAILROAD BRAKEMEN ORGANIZED, ' 1883 PHE- 
 NOMENAL GROWTH PRINCIPLES OF THE ORDER IT is OPPOSED TO 
 STRIKES. THE SWITCHMEN'S MUTUAL AID ASSOCIATION ORGANIZED, 
 1877. ORDER OF RAILWAY CONDUCTORS ORGANIZED, 1868. MASTER 
 MECHANICS' ASSOCIATION. 
 
 THE idea that in union of like interests there is strength 
 comes sooner or later to those most concerned therein. 
 Oftentimes its full force is not felt until some pressure from 
 without drives it home. The Brotherhood of Locomotive 
 Engineers is a conspicuous illustration of this truth. Almost 
 as soon as the railroads of the country became sufficiently 
 numerous and centralized to make it practicable, the engi- 
 neers began to move towards an organization for mutual aid 
 and assistance. As early as 1854, it appears that the engi- 
 neers on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad joined in a strike, 
 on account of some difficulty with the officers of the com- 
 pany, in which sixteen of them lost their situations. The 
 rapid extension of railroads, the consequent great demand for 
 engineers, and the evils resulting from the employment of 
 inexperienced, incompetent, and intemperate men for this 
 work caused the older and more thoughtful engineers on 
 
 (3")
 
 THE FIRST CONVENTION. 313 
 
 that road to discuss means of mutual protection, and the im- 
 provement of their fellow-craftsmen. 
 
 It was decided to call a convention of locomotive engineers 
 to consider the subject more fully. Accordingly, a circular 
 was sent to the men on all railroads through the country, 
 asking them to send delegates to a convention in Baltimore, 
 November 6, 1855. About 70 delegates responded to this 
 call, representing 14 States and 55 railroads. An organiza- 
 tion was effected under the name of the "National Protective 
 Association of the United States," and the following officers 
 were chosen : President, Benjamin Hoxies, of the Delaware 
 and Eastern Division of the New York & Erie ; Vice-Presi- 
 dent, J. R. Smith, of the Baltimore & Ohio ; Secretary, Wil- 
 liam D. Robinson, of the New York Central ; Corresponding 
 Secretary, Christian Smith, of the Baltimore & Ohio; Treas- 
 urer, Henry Brown, of the Hartford, Springfield, & New 
 Haven. A constitution and by-laws were adopted, and reso- 
 lutions setting forth the wants, aims, and objects of the asso- 
 ciation were passed. The convention adjourned to Columbus, 
 Ohio, on the first Tuesday in October, 1856. It had failed, 
 however, to adopt certain measures necessary for the suc- 
 cessful continuance of such organizations; and, after meeting 
 at Columbus, pursuant to adjournment, when no important 
 business appears to have been transacted, it never again 
 assembled. Some subordinate associations were formed 
 during the first year, and maintained their organization in a 
 more or less demoralized condition for a few years. Some 
 may even have been in existence in 1863, when the present 
 Brotherhood was founded. 
 
 The engineers were now rapidly becoming more and more 
 numerous ; and the necessity for combination for mutual pro- 
 tection against the growing disposition of railroad officials to 
 encroach on the compensation of the engineers, and many 
 other rights and privileges they considered themselves entitled 
 to, became correspondingly apparent. At this time, little 
 thought was given towards an association for the improve- 
 ment of the character of those in the service. The need for 
 mutual protection was more keenly felt in the West than in
 
 314 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 the East. The course of the officials of the Michigan Cen- 
 tral, in the fall of 1862 and the following winter, aroused much 
 indignation among the engineers, caused a general discussion 
 of the situation, and led the more zealous to earnest efforts for 
 organization. W. D. Robinson, of Marshall, and George Q^. 
 Adams, of Detroit, were especially prominent in this work. 
 In the meantime an association of employees of the Michigan 
 Southern had been started at Adrian, and the men on the 
 Central were invited to join. Messrs. George Q^ Adams, 
 Samuel Keith, and M. Higgins, representing the engineers 
 on the Central and the Detroit & Milwaukee, went to Adrian 
 and joined the organization to learn its purposes. They 
 found it was designed to include all railroad employees in the 
 mechanical departments, and reported unfavorably on the 
 movement, believing the best interests of the engineers could 
 be served by an association which would include only engi- 
 neers and firemen. 
 
 Soon after this, on a Sunday early in the following April, 
 several engineers met at the engine-house in Marshall, as 
 engine-men were in the habit of doing. Among them were 
 Messrs. Robinson and Adams. Conversation naturally turned 
 on their grievances, and some plan to remedy them. While 
 they were talking they discovered the division master-me- 
 chanic of the road watching them ; and so, on the invitation 
 of Mr. Robinson, they withdrew to his house, where they 
 might be more secure in the expression of their opinions. 
 The situation on the Central was only a type of that through 
 the country generally. The railroad officials were constantly 
 encroaching on the compensation and accustomed privileges 
 of the employees, and the latter were becoming more and 
 more discontented in consequence. This gathering of the 
 engineers was the first formal expression of discontent. They 
 met as friends to talk over their grievances ; but before they 
 separated, they planted the germ of a brotherhood that soon 
 grew and extended until its branches had reached the fur- 
 thermost parts of the country. It was here decided to open 
 correspondence with engineers on different roads running 
 into Detroit, looking toward the accomplishment of definite
 
 BROTHERHOOD OF THE FOOT-BOARD. 315 
 
 terms of co-operation. An agreement was also drawn up 
 that, if any one should be discharged from the service of the 
 company for any action in the contemplated movement, the 
 rest of the engineers would notify the company that, unless 
 he was reinstated, they would quit work in a body. Copies 
 of this agreement were circulated among the engineers on 
 the road, and was signed by all but four. This correspon- 
 dence resulted in calling a convention in Detroit, May 5, 
 1863. Engineers on only the following roads were asked 
 to attend this first convention : Michigan Central, Michigan 
 Southern & Northern Indiana, Detroit & Milwaukee, Grand 
 Trunk on the American side, and the Detroit branch of the 
 Michigan Southern. A goodly representation of the engi- 
 neers on these roads appeared at the appointed place. The 
 Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana were represented 
 by F. Avery, Frank Wheeler and John Kenned v ; the De- 
 troit branch of that road, by T. Wartsmouth and E. Nichols ; 
 the Detroit & Milwaukee, by M. Higgins ; the Grand Trunk, 
 by B. Northrup ; the East Division of the Michigan Cen- 
 tral, by George Q^. Adams ; the Middle Division of the same 
 road, by W. D. Robinson. The West Division of this road was 
 not represented. These men, with the advice and counsel of 
 several engineers on these roads, who were not considered 
 delegates, entered on their duties with praiseworthy zeal. A 
 constitution and by-laws, embodying the fundamental prin- 
 ciples of the Brotherhood as it exists to-day, were adopted, as 
 was a form of obligation as a bond of union. On the 8th of 
 May, 1863, twelve engineers, including the delegates, joined 
 hands in a circle, repeated the obligation, which was read 
 by George Q^ Adams, thus pledging themselves to support 
 the constitution and by-laws then adopted. Officers were at 
 once selected, and Division No. i, Brotherhood of the Foot- 
 
 
 
 board, was fully organized, and stood forth as the pioneer in 
 the great work of regeneration and elevation of the locomo- 
 tive engineers on this continent, eager to extend the hand of 
 fellowship to all worthy members of the craft who had any 
 faith in their rights as a class, and a belief that in organized 
 action alone rested a hope of their vindication. In a general
 
 316 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 way, it may be said that the idea most prominent in the con- 
 stitution, and which is repeated with emphasis in every an- 
 nual address of the Grand Chief Engineer, is that members 
 of the Brotherhood shall aim to reach a high standard of 
 ability as engineers and of character as men, well fitted to 
 the important and responsible nature of their occupation, 
 thus entitling them to liberal compensation, which should be 
 insisted upon by all legitimate means. Argument, the true 
 worth of able and competent men, and the highest and best 
 interests of the companies themselves, rather than strikes, 
 were at first, always have been, and are now, the means on 
 which the Brotherhood has relied to maintain the justice of 
 its requests at the hands of the railroad companies. 
 
 Immediately after the adjournment of this initial meeting, 
 the organization of other divisions in the West and North- 
 west was rapidly prosecuted, and sub-divisions had been 
 formed before the leaders of the movement could pause to 
 organize a Grand Division. This was done at Detroit, on 
 the i yth of August, 1873, and the component parts of the 
 Grand Division then established their location and date of 
 organization were as follows: Division No. 2, at Marshall, 
 Mich., June 4 ; Division No. 3, at Michigan City, Ind., June 
 16; Division No. 4, at Adrian, Mich., about June 16 ; Divi- 
 sion No. 5, at Norwalk, O., July 5; Division No. 6, at 
 Chicago; Division No. 7, at Lafayette, Ind.; Division No. 
 8, at Crestline, O. ; Division No. 9, at Laporte, Ind., and 
 Division No. 10, at Chicago, followed in close succession. 
 The first meeting of the Grand Division was held in the 
 room of Division No. i, 23 Merrill's Block, corner of Jef- 
 ferson and Woodward avenues, the same room occupied by 
 that division to-day, and which they have held continuously. 
 All ten divisions were represented at this convention, when 
 the constitution and by-laws were somewhat modified and im- 
 proved. The Grand National Division was here organized. 
 William D. Robinson, who has been called the Father of the 
 Brotherhood, was chosen Grand Chief Engineer ; Charles 
 Steele, of Division No. 5, First Grand Engineer; George Q^ 
 Adams, of Division No. i, Second Grand Engineer; O. T.
 
 THE FIRST CONFLICT. 317 
 
 Johnson, of Division No. 7, First Grand Assistant Engineer; 
 Frank Wheeler, of Division No. 4, Second Grand Assistant 
 Engineer, and E. C. Redfield, of Division No. 6, Third 
 Grand Assistant Engineer. This convention adjourned to 
 meet in Indianapolis, August 17, 1864. 
 
 The burden of the work fell on the Grand Chief, who was 
 regularly employed on the middle division of tha Michigan 
 Central. His increasing work in this office compelled him 
 to obtain leave of absence from his post, and his prominent 
 connection with the Brotherhood finally culminated in his 
 discharge from the road, about the middle of November. 
 Finding it difficult to obtain employment on other roads, 
 for similar reasons, he resigned his office of Grand Chief, 
 November 17, 1863 ; but his resignation was not accepted. It 
 was soon decided that he should devote his whole time to the 
 interests of the Order. The treasury had become empty, and 
 printed copies of the constitution and by-laws were nearly 
 exhausted. These difficulties were finally overcome, and on 
 December 14, 1863, he started on his mission. In just one 
 month he visited fourteen divisions, organized divisions 
 in Milwaukee, Zanesville, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Covington, 
 Ky., and Columbus, and granted charters for Nashville and 
 East St. Louis. 
 
 Early in 1864 Division No. 12, at Fort Wayne, became in- 
 volved in a dispute with the officers of the Pittsburgh, Fort 
 Wayne & Chicago Railroad. Chief Robinson visited them, 
 and left them apparently in good condition. They soon 
 became demoralized, however, and destroyed their charter. 
 The division was soon reorganized. It is needless to say 
 that these engineers were worsted in this the first conflict of 
 the Order. It had now become evident that changes must 
 be made in the constitution, and a special convention was 
 called at Detroit, February 23, for that purpose, when this 
 work was satisfactorily accomplished. The original con- 
 stitution allowed any engineer of good moral character to 
 become a member, and some divisions sought to gain in num- 
 bers by admitting any one who could run an engine, and 
 some firemen and machinists were admitted ; but at this spe-
 
 318 THE LABOR MOVEMENT 
 
 cial session an amendment was adopted excluding firemen 
 and machinists. 
 
 In consequence of grievances at the hands of the Chicago 
 & Galena Union Railroad, a special convention, or union 
 meeting, was held in Chicago, March 10, 1864. Evidence 
 was produced showing positively that a conspiracy on the 
 part of certain superintendents and master-mechanics to de- 
 stroy the Brotherhood in detail, and that Division No. 6, at 
 Chicago, had been selected as the first victim. At this meet- 
 ing resolutions of the strongest and most able character were 
 passed, amounting to the Brotherhood at large as a declara- 
 tion of rights and the vindication of the legitimacy of com- 
 bination for protection, or other purposes, so long as such 
 combination possessed no unlawful or treasonable features. 
 This movement was premature, the organization being yet 
 too imperfect, and the minds of the men not prepared to act 
 in concert in any movement of such magnitude. The super- 
 intendents and master-mechanics also denied being concerned 
 in an attack on the Brotherhood, although there was sufficient 
 proof that the above road was joined with others in some kind 
 of a movement in which they gave it valuable assistance at 
 this time. After this convention the Grand Chief started 
 East, organizing divisions at Altoona, Penn., Philadelphia, 
 Baltimore, and Port Jervis ; at this last place completing the 
 organization of the engineers on the Erie Railroad. He was 
 then called West, and was never able to visit the East as an 
 organizer. 
 
 During the remainder of this year, nothing of special con- 
 sequence to the Brotherhood transpired, except its rapid 
 growth, by which it reached a total of fifty-four divisions, 
 scattered over the country from Chicago and St. Louis to 
 Albany and West Lebanon, N. H., and as far south as 
 Nashville. The finances of the Grand Division were now 
 in a flourishing condition. 
 
 At the Second Annual Convention, held in Indianapolis, 
 August 17, 1864, all the grand officers were present. There 
 were thirty-eight of the fifty-four divisions represented. Chief 
 Robinson reported at length on the work done in the first
 
 THE NAME AND TITLE ADOPTED. 319 
 
 year, and suggested many needed changes in constitution 
 and by-laws, which were made. The name and title was 
 changed to the Grand International Brotherhood of Loco- 
 motive Engineers. The form of initiation was changed, and 
 made more impressive. The office of Guide in sub-divisions 
 was created. At this convention the doctrine or improve- 
 ment in ability and character of the members was made spe- 
 cially prominent. Charles Wilson, of Rochester, N. Y., was 
 chosen Grand Chief, an office he held for over ten years. 
 Robert Laughlin, of Hornellsville, N. Y., was chosen First 
 Grand Assistant Engineer, and that office was made the only 
 salaried one of the Brotherhood, the compensation being fixed 
 at $125 per month. It was voted to adopt the Trades Review, 
 of Philadelphia, as the official organ of the Brotherhood. 
 
 It happened that a lot of Confederate prisoners were con- 
 fined near Indianapolis at this time, and the appearance of 
 the engineers there caused many to think they were con- 
 nected with a reported scheme for the release of these pris- 
 oners. The delegates were consequently followed to and from 
 their hall by a file of United States soldiers, who also guarded 
 the hall while they were in session. As yet the order had no 
 permanent headquarters. The new Grand Chief soon de- 
 cided that, in consequence of the hostility among railroad 
 officials to the Brotherhood, to remain at home and do the 
 work of organizing as best he could by correspondence. This 
 policy proved a wise one. Doubting and suspicious railroad 
 officials were hardly able to understand the quietude, while 
 the Brotherhood used every effort to win their confidence on 
 the merits of their order. As yet there was only one division 
 in New England, No. 13, at West Lebanon, N. H., which 
 was organized by engineers on the Northern Railroad, De- 
 cember 28, 1863. H. A. Cheney was a leading spirit in 
 its organization, 'the preliminary meetings being held at his 
 house, while he went to Detroit to obtain the work and 
 authority to organize. Soon after the Indianapolis Conven- 
 tion, the engineers of the East began to realize the impor- 
 tance of associating themselves with this movement, and those 
 running out of Boston were the first to fall into line.
 
 32O THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 About December i, 1864, a meeting was held in the 
 Olympic Theatre building, corner of Washington and How- 
 ard streets, to consider the question of organizing a division. 
 Maynard Banister, Samuel Hobart and J. M. Alger, of the 
 Boston & Worcester road; James H. Prince and L. Cole, of 
 the Boston & Providence, and John T. Otis, of the South 
 Shore, were present. It was decided to organize, but ad- 
 journment for one week was had without definite action. In 
 the following week, the engineers of all roads running out of 
 Boston were interviewed and invited to participate in the 
 movement. The next meeting was held in Hospitaller Hall, 
 on Washington street. After full discussion, John T. Otis 
 was appointed a delegate to secure the work and a charter, 
 with authority to organize. He went to Rochester, N. Y., 
 and joined Division No. 18 there, December 17, 1864. He 
 then secured a charter from the Grand Chief, and authority to 
 organize. At the following meeting, Friday evening, Decem- 
 ber 30, at Hospitaller Hall, five members were initiated, as 
 follows: Maynard Banister, S. B. Hobart, J. H. Prince, 
 L. Cole, and W. E. White. One week later they initiated 
 fourteen more. Permanent officers were chosen, as fol- 
 lows : John T. Otis, Chief Engineer; S. A. Bragg, First 
 Assistant Engineer ; M. A. Banister, Second Assistant En- 
 gineer. Division 63 was organized at Springfield, Mass., 
 March 3, 1865, and Division 57 was organized at Provi- 
 dence, R. I., April 27, 1865. 
 
 These first few months, closing with the organization of the 
 divisions in Boston, Springfield, and Providence, practically 
 cover what may be termed the formative period of the Bro- 
 therhood. Its growth since then has been steady, but not 
 uniform. It now has a membership of 20,000 in round num- 
 bers, divided among 319 divisions. Various causes, from time 
 to time, tended to delay its development. The chief officers, 
 however, in the face of all difficulties always insisted upon 
 using every possible argument before authorizing a strike, 
 and continually urged upon the members to attain so high a 
 degree of excellence as to command the highest wages with- 
 out objection by the companies. The annual conventions
 
 TRADES-UNION LEADERS.
 
 BENEFIT FUNDS ESTABLISHED. 321 
 
 were held in prominent cities through the country, and were 
 frequently attended by prominent city and State officials. 
 These conventions were generally held in October. At the 
 Convention of 1866, the Locomotive Engineers' Journal was 
 established, which has since reached a very general circula- 
 tion through the Brotherhood. Its pages each month were 
 filled with topics of general interest to the members, special 
 correspondence from brothers, communications from various 
 officers and editorial comments on current topics of particular 
 interest to engineers. It has been a great power in building 
 up the Brotherhood. This convention also established the 
 Widows', Orphans', and Disabled Members' Fund, of which 
 P. M. Arthur, Anson Gustin, and J. H. Prince were the first 
 trustees. This fund was subsequently, after it reached the 
 sum of $14,639.48, transferred to the General Charity 
 Fund. On the 3d of December, 1867, the Locomotive Engi- 
 neers' Mutual Life Insurance Association was established, 
 and it has proven a source of great benefit to the members. 
 
 In 1868, trouble arose between the engineers at St. Louis 
 and the roads, when the right of the Brotherhood to strike on 
 all roads because of trouble on one came up. Chief Wilson 
 claimed that as the companies combined to help each other, 
 so their employees had the same right. His own plan, how- 
 ever, was to have each road settle its own difficulties inde- 
 pendently. In 1870, it was voted to establish headquarters 
 in Cleveland for the following ten years, and there they have 
 remained ever since. An order of burial-service was also 
 adopted at this convention. In 1871, it was determined to 
 procure an international act of incorporation, if possible; if 
 not, then a charter from the United States, so that the Grand 
 International Division might be recognized as a legal body. 
 It was proposed to incorporate the chief officers and one dele- 
 gate from each State. An act of incorporation was drawn up, 
 but it died in Congress. Division 33 was incorporated in Ten- 
 nessee in 1870, but as the division died a natural death in 
 1877 the brotherhood is not now incorporated in any State. 
 In 1872, the convention voted to expel all members engaging 
 in strikes without the direction of their divisions. The grand
 
 322 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 officers were also unanimously instructed to do all in their 
 power to induce the companies to discontinue Sunday 
 trains. 
 
 A special convention was held at Cleveland, February 25, 
 1874, when the resignation of Chief Wilson was asked for and 
 received. His successor was P. M. Arthur, who had been 
 prominent in the Brotherhood almost from its inception, and 
 who has held that place ever since. The cause for this conven- 
 tion was as follows : In November, 1873, the engineers learned 
 that the railroad officials throughout the country had com- 
 bined to reduce their wages, on account of alleged decrease 
 of business and earnings. The engineers did not believe the 
 reasons given were the true ones, and successfully resisted the 
 attempted reduction on one principal road, and checked it on 
 many others by timely remonstrances. An attempted set- 
 tlement with the Pennsylvania road and leased lines failed. 
 Chief Arthur claims the road did wrong in posting a ten per 
 cent, reduction while it still had a written agreement with the 
 engineers that they should receive a stipulated sum for certain 
 services. The reduction was made on a day's notice. The 
 engineers thought such action arbitrary and unjust. They 
 claimed they should have been consulted, and that they would 
 cheerfully have submitted to a reduction, had a good reason 
 therefor been shown. Failing to secure a restoration of 
 wages, they struck at an appointed hour, first having given 
 due warning of their intention. For this Chief Wilson de- 
 nounced them through the public press, although he did not 
 condemn the officials of the road. His action caused an imme- 
 diate demand for his resignation, which was given, as stated 
 above. 
 
 Many chapters could be written simply upon the strikes in 
 which the Brotherhood has been engaged, although they have 
 been comparatively few. But they vitally concerned the gen- 
 eral public, and were followed with the closest interest while 
 they lasted. In general, it may be said that they were all, or 
 nearly all, caused by attempted reduction of wages and 
 attempts to break up the organization. The Brotherhood, 
 as its records abundantly show, first exhausted all pacific
 
 COLOR-BLINDNESS. 323 
 
 means, in accordance with their principles, and then stopped 
 the trains at such hours as to cause as little inconvenience 
 as practicable to the travelling and business public. The Bro- 
 therhood was generally successful in securing a compliance 
 with their requests without much delay. Sometimes the strug- 
 gle was more protracted, the officials refusing at first to even 
 recognize the Brotherhood, or Chief Arthur as its representa- 
 tive. But they were eventually compelled so to do. In a few 
 instances the strikes were unsuccessful, owing usually to 
 the assistance rendered by other companies. The companies 
 always paid much more, in the long run, to fight the Brother- 
 hood than it would have cost to have acceded to its requests. 
 In commenting on the result of one strike, which cost the 
 company at least half a million dollars, Chief Arthur said : 
 
 It is not the money that has been paid the engineers that has bankrupted 
 so many railroads. It is the peculation, fraud, and mismanagement of those 
 high in authority. If all the legitimate earnings of the railroad companies 
 found its way into their treasury, they could afford to pay their employees 
 liberal wages and declare a fair dividend to their stockholders. 
 
 About 1879, tne question of color-blindness became promi- 
 nent, and had reached such importance by the time of the 
 annual convention in 1881, that Chief Arthur gave consider- 
 able space to it in his annual address. He referred to the 
 discharge of experienced engineers, especially in Massachu- 
 setts, for this cause. He charged the examining board of 
 that State with seeking more to enrich themselves than to 
 promote the safety of the travelling public, and urged that 
 common sense would show that self-interest would cause the 
 companies to employ only men who would not cause them 
 serious loss by mistaking the color of signals. He urged the 
 Brotherhood to use its influence to prevent similar legislation 
 in other States to that of Massachusetts and Connecticut on 
 this subject. 
 
 In the tenth annual address of Chief Arthur, he dwelt at 
 length upon the labor problem, and some of his most striking 
 ideas are quoted, as follows : 
 
 Labor needs unity in its ranks, honesty and intelligence in its leaders, and 
 wisdom in its councils. * * * * Employers should rise above their nar-
 
 324 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 rowness, and endeavor to work, as far as possible, to the interest of their 
 workmen, and create more kindly relations. If this were done, there would 
 be fewer strikes, and capital would be benefited in a corresponding degree. 
 * * * * The great mistake some employers make is in refusing to recog- 
 nize the committees sent to them by their workmen to present their grievances. 
 It was the refusal to receive our committees that led to all the trouble we have 
 had as an organization. The best method to settle the difficulties that arise 
 between employer and employee is for the representatives of both sides to 
 come together and talk them over in a friendly spirit, each one making con- 
 cessions whenever the nature of the case would seem to warrant it. * * * * 
 There is no occasion for this constant warfare between capital and labor ; both 
 have rights that each other are bound to respect ; their interests are identical ; 
 the one is indispensable to the success of the other; and the sooner mer* 
 realize that fact the better it will be for the whole country. 
 
 THE BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE FIREMEN. 
 
 This brotherhood was founded December i, 1873, by nine 
 locomotive firemen. They met in an old car-shed at Port 
 Jervis, N. Y., on that day, and organized Deer Park Lodge, 
 No. i , of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen. The 
 purposes of the Order, as stated in the preamble to its consti- 
 tution, are for effecting a unity of the locomotive firemen of 
 North America, and elevating them to a higher social, moral, 
 and intellectual standard ; for the promotion of their general 
 welfare and the protection of their families, and for bringing 
 into perfect harmony the firemen arid their employers, since 
 their interests are identical, and for aiding the families of its 
 members. 
 
 The first Grand Master chosen was J. A. Leach, and he 
 held that office until September, 1876. The first Grand 
 Secretary and Treasurer was G. S. Murray. So zealously 
 did the founders of the Brotherhood labor, that twelve subor- 
 dinate lodges were the fruit of the first year's work. These 
 lodges sent two delegates each to the first annual conven- 
 tion, at Hornellsville, N. Y., December 15, 1874. At this 
 convention, H.. W. Plummer was chosen Vice-Grand Master, 
 the first to hold that place. In December, 1875, tne Second 
 Annual Convention was held in Indianapolis, and it was then 
 found that the Order had grown to 31 lodges, and over 600 
 members. At this convention it was voted to issue the Fire- 
 man's Magazine, in the interests of the Brotherhood ; and it
 
 REMARKABLE GROWTH. 
 
 325 
 
 has now become one of the finest journals of its class, with 
 a very large circulation. The Annual Convention, in St. 
 Louis, in September, 1876, showed 53 lodges and over 
 1500 members. The Convention of 1877, m Indianapolis, 
 showed 78 lodges and 3,500 members. 
 
 In 1877 came the great railroad troubles of the country ; 
 and the Brotherhood, whose growth naturally depends upon 
 a healthy state of railroad interests, felt a check in its growth, 
 which continued even through 1880. But by the time of the 
 Annual Convention of the latter year, which was held in Chi- 
 cago, in September, it was evident that the Order was again 
 advancing, for it reported 98 lodges and a membership of 
 4,500. The Convention of 1882, at Terre Haute, Ind., 
 showed 124 lodges and 5,000 members, which were in- 
 creased during the next year to 178 lodges and 7,337 mem- 
 bers. This was the remarkable growth of only ten years, 
 during three of which the Order was comparatively at a stand- 
 still. The Eleventh Convention was held in Toronto, Can., 
 September 23, 1884, and by this time the lodges numbered 
 240, and the membership over 12,000. At the last Annual 
 Convention, which was held in Philadelphia, September 21, 
 1885, the grand total of 290 lodges and 15,000 members had 
 been reached. On January 9, 1886, at Saginaw City, Mich., 
 was organized Harbor City Lodge, making a round 300 
 lodges and a membership of over 16,000. Thus is sketched 
 the foundation and growth of one of the most successful fra- 
 ternal organizations among railroad men. 
 
 This order is truly a " brotherhood " in all that the name 
 implies. Its last report shows that it has paid out of its bene- 
 ficiary fund $271,764, and to members who have been totally 
 disabled $44,000 more, making a grand total of $315,764. 
 This has gone to those whose extra hazardous calling does 
 not allow them the advantages of ordinary life and accident 
 insurance ; and yet these premiums have not cost the mem- 
 bers over twelve dollars each per annum. 
 
 The Order is wholly fraternal and benevolent. It has an 
 insurance system, under which it pays $1,500 to the family of 
 a deceased member. In this way it has already paid out over
 
 326 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 $600,000. Its motto is, "Benevolence, Sobriety, and Indus- 
 try." As an organization it has never seen a strike, having 
 always been able to adjust its grievances by arbitration, which 
 is one of the fundamental principles of the Order. Although 
 its membership is more largely in the North, it has represen- 
 tatives in every State and Territory in the Union, and in 
 Mexico and every section of Canada. 
 
 The chief officers of the Brotherhood, from its founding, 
 have been as follows : Grand Masters J. A. Leach, W. R. 
 Worth, F. B. Alley, W. T. Goundie, F. W. Arnold, Charles 
 Pope, and Frank P. Sargent; Vice-Grand Masters H. W. 
 Plummer, H. H. Clapp, John Broderick, W. T. Goundie, 
 J. M. Dodge, J. E. Briggs, W. E. Burns, F. P. Sargent, and 
 J. J. Hannahan ; Grand Secretary and Treasurers G. S. 
 Murray, W. N. Sayre, Eugene V. Debs ; Grand Organizer 
 and Instructors S. M. Stevens and J. J. Hannahan; Grand 
 Trustees A. H. Tucker, W. F. Hynes, and C. A. Cripps. 
 At the Toronto Convention, in 1884, E. B. Mayo, W. E. 
 Burns, S. Vaughan, F. W. Dyer, and C. A. Wilson were 
 chosen as Grand Trustees to serve for two years, Mr. Mayo 
 being chairman and Mr. Burns secretary. Mr. Mayo has^ 
 however, been succeeded as chairman by Mr. H. Walton, of 
 Philadelphia. W. N. Sayre was first editor of the Fireman's 
 Magazine, which is now most ably conducted by E. V. Debs, 
 Grand Secretary and Treasurer, assisted by W. F. Hynes 
 as associate editor. 
 
 BROTHERHOOD OF RAILROAD BRAKEMEN. 
 
 This brotherhood is one of the youngest of the organiza- 
 tions of railroad men. It was organized at Oneonta, N. Y., 
 September 23, 1883, when nineteen brakemen employed on 
 the Albany & Susquehanna Railroad assembled, and, with 
 much misgiving and fear of its success, sent ouf a constitu- 
 tion and by-laws. But the growth of the Brotherhood has 
 been remarkable. At its First Annual Convention, held at 
 Oneonta, October 20, 1884, there were 37 lodges reported, 
 with a membership of less than 2,000. The Second Annual 
 Convention met at Burlington, la., October 19, 1885, when
 
 RAILROAD BRAKEMEN. 327 
 
 161 lodges were reported, with a membership of nearly 
 7,000. It now numbers over 230 lodges and about 12,000 
 members, while it is confidently expected that at the Third 
 Annual Convention, which will be held in San Antonio, 
 Texas, in October, 1886, fully 250 lodges will be repre- 
 sented, and a corresponding number of members. Two 
 organizers are constantly on the road organizing new lodges, 
 and instructing those already organized. The growth of the 
 Brotherhood has, indeed, been phenomenal. Its officers ex- 
 pect to see it become in a short time the strongest railway 
 organization in existence, as there are two, and in some cases 
 three, brakemen to one conductor, engineer or fireman. 
 Already the members enjoy many privileges which were 
 considered beyond their reach three years ago, and these 
 are but a small part of what may readily be obtained by 
 united effort. The Order enjoys friendly relations with all 
 railway companies, and its future looks very bright. 
 
 The Brotherhood has been, on the whole, especially fortu- 
 nate in its choice of officers, and is to-day exceedingly well 
 supplied in that respect. The preamble of its constitution 
 states the purposes of the organization to be : To unite the 
 railroad brakemen of the Western hemisphere ; to promote 
 their general welfare, and advance their interests, social, 
 moral and intellectual ; to protect their families by the exer- 
 cise of a systematic benevolence ; and to establish mutual 
 confidence, and create and maintain harmonious relations 
 between the members and their employers. 
 
 Unlike some other organizations of railroad men, the 
 Brotherhood never had a strike. Secretary O'Shea, of the 
 Grand Lodge, says: "Our Brotherhood has never had a 
 strike ; we are opposed to strikes as a means of settling dis- 
 putes and differences between employer and employee. A 
 strike should never be engaged in until all means of arbitra- 
 tion have failed, and then only as a last resort." 
 
 On May 24, 1886, there were twenty-six members expelled, 
 and thirty suspended for inaugurating and conducting a cause- 
 less strike on the Union Pacific Railway. 
 
 The brakemen, like all other railroad men, are very char-
 
 328 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 itable towards their fellows ; and this Order has already paid 
 out nearly one hundred thousand dollars in benefit-claims 
 alone to the families of dead and disabled members. 
 
 The Grand Officers for 1885-86 are as follows : Grand 
 Master, S. E. Wilkinson, Peoria, 111. ; Grand Vice-Master, 
 Neil Sullivan, Binghampton, N. Y. ; Grand Secretary and 
 Treasurer, Ed. F. O'Shea, Galesburg, 111. ; Grand Organizer 
 and Instructor, L. C. Foster, Jr., Ithaca, N. Y. ; Board of 
 Trustees S. E. Wilkinson, Chairman, Peoria, 111.; Daniel 
 L. Cease, Secretary, Phillipsburg, N. J. ; Daniel J. McCarty, 
 Oneonta, N. Yl ; T. J. Shehan, Denver, Col. Editors of 
 Magazine J. P. Bledsoe, Rock Island, 111., and Ed. F. 
 O'Shea, Galesburg, 111. 
 
 THE SWITCHMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 
 
 The first Switchmen's Association was founded in Chicago, 
 August, 1877. It was a local society, chartered by the State 
 of Illinois. The charter-members were : Edward W. Jen- 
 nings, Thomas Griffin, James Cullerton, William Hopper, 
 Thaddeus Boyd, Thomas Green, Edward Scanlon, John 
 .Kenny, William Short, Charles Richardson, William Rosen- 
 crause and John Reily. The first officers were : William 
 Hopper, President ; Thaddeus Boyd, Vice-President ; Thomas 
 Griffin, James Cullerton and Edward W. Jennings, Trustees. 
 Little was done but maintain the organization until 1884, when 
 the spirit of the times and new officers of unusual energy, ability, 
 and enthusiasm infused new life into the association. Many 
 new associations were formed, and the need of a national 
 organization became manifest. In response to a call, a large 
 number of representative switchmen met at 112 East Ran- 
 dolph street, Chicago, February 22, 1886. The meeting 
 lasted eight days, and was very harmonious and enthusiastic. 
 Mr. John Drury, of Chicago, called the delegates to order, and 
 was chosen as chairman. The other officers were : James A. 
 Healey, of Chicago, Secretary ; Joseph D. Hill, of Kansas 
 City, Reading Clerk; M. J. Keegan, of Chicago, Sergeant- 
 at-Arms. A constitution and by-laws were adopted, and these 
 officers chosen for the current year : James L. Monaghan, of
 
 THE ORGANIZATION COMPLETED. 
 
 329 
 
 Chicago, Grand Master; John Drury, Vice-Grand Master 
 and Instructor ; John Downey, of Chicago, Secretary and 
 Treasurer ; M. J. Keegan, James A. Kelly, W. A. Simmons 
 and James A. Healey, all of Chicago ; Joseph D. Hill, of 
 Kansas City ; J. L. Hyer, of Rock Island, and W. R. Davi- 
 son, of Joliet, Board of Directors. A uniform price was 
 adopted, and it was voted to aid in the publication of a 
 monthly journal, devoted to the interests of the Order. The 
 full title of the association is, " The Switchmen's Mutual Aid 
 Association of the United States of America." Its purposes 
 are mutual advancement, mutual protection, and mutual good, 
 especially caring for its members who may be injured in their 
 dangerous calling, and those dependent upon them. 
 
 ORDER OF RAILWAY CONDUCTORS. 
 
 The Order of Railway Conductors of North America was 
 organized at Mendota, 111., in 1868. Its records, however, 
 have been very imperfectly kept, and a consecutive history 
 of its growth is impossible. It is fraternal and benevolent 
 in its objects. C. S. Wheaton, of Chicago, is Grand Chief 
 Conductor; W. P. Daniels, of Chicago, Grand Secretary and 
 Treasurer; J. R. Robinson, of Milwaukee, Hiram Hurty, of 
 Elmira, N. Y., and E. H. Belknap, of Galesburg, 111., Execu- 
 tive Committee; C. S. Wheaton, W. H. Ingram, of St. 
 Thomas, Ont., and W. S. Sears, of Adrian, Mich., Insur- 
 ance Committee : W. P. Daniels, of Chicago, Editor of the 
 Railway Conductors' Monthly, with C. S. Wheaton, E. B. 
 Coman, of Kansas City, Orange Sackett, of Avon, N. Y. , and 
 J. B. W. Johnstone, of Corsicana, Tex., Associate Editors. 
 
 MASTER-MECHANICS' ASSOCIATION. 
 
 The First Convention of the American Railway Master- 
 Mechanics was held at Cleveland, O., September 30, 1868, 
 some fifty or sixty prominent mechanics being present, and 
 "The American Master-Mechanics' Association" was then 
 and there formed. H. M. Britton, of the Indianapolis, 
 Cincinnati & LaFayette was chosen President; N. E. 
 Chapman, of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh, Vice-President ;
 
 33 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 Frederick Grinnell, of the Atlantic & Great Western, Sec- 
 retary ; S. S. Hays, of the Illinois Central, Treasurer. 
 A constitution was adopted, and signed by thirty-eight mem- 
 bers, representing Eastern and Western roads. The Asso- 
 ciation, as formed, admitted to membership master-mechanics, 
 those in charge of the mechanical departments, general 
 master-mechanics, and master-machinists. The officers are 
 chosen annually.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE BUILDING TRADES. 
 
 " Good now, sit down and tell me, he that knows, 
 Why this same strict and most observant watch 
 So nightly toils the subject of the land ; 
 And why such daily cast of brazen cannon, 
 And foreign mart for implements of war; 
 Why such impress of shipwrights, whose sore task 
 Does not divide the Sunday from the week, 
 What might be toward, that this sweaty haste 
 Doth make the night joint laborer with the day : 
 Who is 't that can inform me ? " 
 
 Hamlet, Act /, Scene I. 
 
 SHIP-BUILDING THE EARLIEST INDUSTRY EMPLOYERS' LIABILITY, 1631 
 THE LUNCHEON PRIVILEGE A MOST REMARKABLE RACE WORK 
 FROM SUN TO SUN DEMAND FOR LESS HOURS THE BLACK-LIST 
 FAILURE OF THE FIRST STRIKE FOR TEN HOURS CAPTAIN RICHARD 
 TREVELLICK'S STATEMENT UNIQUE DESCRIPTION TEN-HOUR SYS- 
 TEM GAINED ON OLD WORK THIRTY YEARS' ADVANCE MECHANICS' 
 BELL TEN-HOUR BELL THE BELL DISAPPEARS BROUGHT BACK 
 WITH GREAT REJOICING STATEMENT OF AN OLD SHIP-CARPENTER 
 AGITATION FOR EIGHT HOURS CALIFORNIA SHIP-BUILDERS STRIKE 
 FOR EIGHT HOURS, 1853 STRIKES IN NEW YORK AND PHILADEL- 
 PHIA ORGANIZATION OF HOUSE-CARPENTERS' ASSOCIATION EIGHT- 
 HOUR MOVEMENT IN CALIFORNIA MEETINGS IN NEW YORK AND NEW 
 JERSEY HORACE GREELEY BEFORE THE BUILDING TRADES THE 
 AMALGAMATED SOCIETY OF CARPENTERS AND JOINERS BROTHER- 
 HOOD OF CARPENTERS AND JOINERS OBJECTS, METHODS AND BENE- 
 FITS NINE HOURS ON THE PACIFIC COAST P. J. McGuiRE's RE- 
 PORTS STRIKES FOR EIGHT HOURS. 
 
 SHIP-BUILDERS. 
 
 FROM Shakespeare's time to 1835, tne shipwright's work 
 could well be described as " sweaty haste," with the 
 night made "joint laborer with the day ;" yet the shipwright, 
 in spite of hard physical labor and wearing hours, was a 
 thinker as well as a worker, and to him is largely due the 
 direction of the labor movement toward less hours of toil. 
 
 (330
 
 332 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 The annals of the building trade are meagre. A careful 
 examination of the local histories of the old seaport towns 
 of New England furnishes us, however, with many interest- 
 ing details. The inquiry has also been productive of results 
 of a moral and intellectual character, and broad, historical 
 tendencies have been discovered, which it is hoped will prove 
 of sociological values to the student of that science. 
 
 Ships were built in Boston as early as 1642, and a map 
 dated 1743 shows twelve ship-yards located in the city proper. 
 The same number is contained in the map of the siege of 
 Boston, dated 1775. This industry was of sufficient impor- 
 tance to excite the opposition of the merchants and ship- 
 builders of England ; for the London master-shipwrights, in 
 an address to the Lords of Trade, in 1724, said that in the 
 eight years ending in 1720, there were seven hundred sail of 
 ships built in New England. Many of these vessels were 
 of large size, even for our own times. 
 
 Governor Winthrop, the royal governor of New Hampshire, 
 wrote to the Lords of Trades, at the same time, that a ship was 
 building in Massachusetts of one thousand tons, to mount sev- 
 enty guns. 
 
 On May 28, 1629, the Company's Court wrote Governor 
 Endicott a letter, in which reference was made to a bark 
 already built in the country, from which it appears, as Mr. 
 Felt says, in his "History of Salem," that a vessel had been 
 built, most probably at Naumkeag, and that the "Desire," 
 afterwards launched at Marblehead, was not the first vessel 
 built in the colony. 
 
 In those early days, a sense of justice and equity seemed to 
 provide for that which the workmen are now seeking to cover 
 by the employers' liability law ; for, in 1631, while Richard 
 Hollingsworth was engaged in building a large vessel, one 
 of his workmen was killed, and Hollingsworth was required 
 by the Court of Assizes to pay ten pounds sterling to the 
 wife and children of the deceased, because they thought 
 that sufficient care was not taken to 'have his tackle strong 
 enough. 
 
 In 1631, the bark, "The Blessing of the Bay," built by
 
 THE LUNCHEON TIME. 333 
 
 Governor Winthrop, was launched at Mystic. The cost of 
 this bark was said to be 145, being of thirty tons' burthen. 
 
 The colonists were evidently determined to have good work, 
 as on October 7, 1641, it was ordered that, when any ship was 
 to be built within that jurisdiction, it should be lawful for the 
 owners to appoint and put in some able man to survey the 
 work and workmen from time to time, to see that it be 
 performed and carried on according to the rules of their art ; 
 and, on May 29, 1644, the General Court proposed the for- 
 mation of a company of ship-builders, with power to regu- 
 late the building of ships, and to make such orders and laws 
 amongst themselves as might conduce to the public good. 
 
 In the early part of the present century, the town of Med- 
 ford, Mass., carried on quite an extensive ship-building busi- 
 ness, the Middlesex Canal giving them facilities for getting 
 their timber. From 1803 to 1855, 232,206 tons of shipping 
 were built at this place, at an estimated cost of $10,449,270, 
 or $45 per ton. 
 
 It had been the custom in this industry, as well as in others, 
 to furnish drink or grog at various intervals in the day. In 
 
 O O J 
 
 1817, Thacher Magoun, a ship-builder, determined to abolish 
 the grog privilege. The ceremony of laying the keel, and 
 of commencing each part of the work, as also the christening 
 or naming of a vessel, was always accompanied with the use 
 of ardent spirits. Upon Mr. Magoun giving notice that no 
 liquor could be used in his ship-yard, the words (( JVo JRnin! 
 No RUM ! " were written upon nearly every clap-board of the 
 workshop, and on each timber in the yard. Some of the 
 men refused to work, but finally all gave in, and a ship was 
 built without the use of liquor in any, form. 
 
 The hours of labor at that time were from sunrise to sunset, 
 and all employers were obliged by custom to furnish liquor free 
 at least twice a day. These two periods for drink were really 
 periods of rest, and were called luncheon times, the men 
 having an opportunity to eat as well as drink, and Mr. Ma- 
 goun's no-rum movement meant no luncheon time, and was 
 practically an increase in the working time, the employer thus 
 saving the cost of time as well as the cost of the rum. The
 
 334 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 hours of this luncheon privilege were eleven o'clock in the fore- 
 noon, and four o'clock in the afternoon. 
 
 Many of the workmen who were temperance men were in- 
 dignant at the action of their employer, as they felt that the 
 luncheon times were as oases in the desert of unremitting 
 toil. 
 
 Drinking habits continued, in spite of this innovation ; and 
 it is a matter of record that the agitation for temperance in 
 drink coincides, in point of time, with the agitation for temper- 
 ance in labor, that is, for shorter hours. 
 
 Richard Henry Dana, in his " Two Years Before the Mast," 
 gives considerable space to the introduction of this reform, 
 and charges some of the reformers with the most selfish 
 motives. It is not to be wondered at that neither the sailors 
 nor the workingmen were very favorably impressed by the 
 penurious manner in which the change was brought about. 
 Mr. Dana, in the book referred to, says : 
 
 This was a temperance ship, and, like- too many such ships, the temperance 
 was all in the forecastle. The sailor, who only takes his one glass as it is 
 dealt out to him, is in danger of being drunk, while the captain, who has all 
 under his hand and can drink as much as he chooses, and upon whose self- 
 possession and cool judgment the lives of all depend, may be trusted with 
 any amount to drink at his will. By seeing it allowed to their officers, they 
 will not be convinced that it is taken from them for their good, and, receiving 
 nothing in its place, they will not believe that it is done in kindness. 
 
 By the local decay of ship-building on the south shore 
 early in the nineteenth century, this force of ship workers was 
 diffused, carrying with them certain steady tendencies toward 
 industrial progress, as far as the city of New York on the 
 one hand and the city of Bath, Me., on the other. None of 
 the towns on the south shore obtained the size and importance 
 of the ship-building localitied on he north shore. It thrived 
 in many of them until the exhaustion of timber and the de- 
 mand for large vessels transferres the industry to various 
 points on the north shore of Massachusetts Bay. 
 
 A most remarkable race and local development presents 
 itself here, calling for a notice, which must be much briefer 
 than its importance demands. The inhabitants of the towns 
 of Scituate, Marshfield, Pembroke, and Hanover, and the
 
 THE ROMAN ELEMENT. 
 
 335 
 
 region thereabouts, were, and are to this day, distinctively 
 marked by the mental and physical characteristics of the 
 Roman people. One cannot be familiar with them without 
 noticing the Roman cast of countenance, and the prevalence 
 among the women of Latin names, such as Julia, Marcia, 
 Sylvia, etc. This is accounted for by the fact that the first 
 settlers of these localities came from the south-east portions 
 of England. That part of our mother-country was the first 
 that was occupied by Julius Caesar, and the last to be aban- 
 doned by the legions. Rome held possession of the island 
 more than four hundred years, and it was never abandoned 
 by those descended from the Romans. They retained their 
 local authority and customs, especially in the city of London, 
 as late as the Danish invasions in the ninth century. The 
 Anglo-Saxons, though nominally in authority, were glad to 
 make common cause with them in resisting the Danes. It is 
 in consequence of the discovery of these facts that the theory 
 of the exclusively Saxon character of English civilization is 
 now repudiated by some able scholars.* 
 
 The influence of this Roman element in forming the char- 
 acter of New England has been, as in old England, entirely 
 overlooked ; but it has been of great value. Deane's " His- 
 tory of Scituate" speaks thus of the original colonists : 
 
 Previous to 1640, most of the population was from the county of Kent, in 
 England. Many of them were from London. 
 
 After giving a list of names, it says : 
 
 The above-named gentlemen, and others, were called "men of Kent." 
 * * * * It was a natural and unavoidable consequence, that in this wilder- 
 ness a less polished race should succeed ; yet many of their fathers survived 
 the darkest period of the colony, and gave a lasting impression of their man- 
 ners upon posterity. * * * * The North River was celebrated for its ship- 
 building in the early annals of the colonies, and it has held its ascendancy 
 until late years [written in 1831]. It has been famous for the education of 
 shipwrights, -who have emigrated, and established their business along the 
 -whole coast, from New York to the furthest boundary of Maine. Scarce a 
 ship-yard or navy-yard can be visited in this whole range of coast, without 
 meeting many workmen who, themselves or their fathers, were educated on 
 the North River. 
 
 * See "The Romans of Britain," by Henry C. Coote.
 
 336 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 Here it is necessary to glance at some of the main currents 
 of history, in order to explain fully the tendency of the pre- 
 ceding statements. 
 
 Of all the people of the ancient world, the Romans had the 
 fiercest contest over the social question, and the empire fell 
 because of their failure to adjust it. The uprising of the 
 peasantry of Essex and Kent, in 1381, the two counties 
 of England the most deeply impressed by the Romans 
 through marriage and the irregular intercourse of the sol- 
 diers, was a reappearance of the old Roman spirit of agra- 
 rianism in their descendants. London, even, had not entirely 
 lost its Roman character, as is shown by the ready union of 
 its lower classes with the insurgents under Wat Tyler. The 
 insult to the girls, and the swift uprising of the people which 
 followed, was substantially a repetition of the scenes con- 
 nected with the assassination of Virginia by her father, and 
 the meeting of the Roman army at Mons Sacer. 
 
 The strongly marked character of the immigration into 
 Scituate and the adjoining towns brought the seeds of the 
 social question in its highest form to our shores. By all the 
 circumstances of their origin, these humble but energetic peo- 
 ple were fitted to revive it at the right time and in the proper 
 manner. 
 
 As the Dutch man-of war which carried the first Africans 
 into James River contained the seeds which were to ripen in 
 the tremendous struggle which has just ceased, so the con- 
 flict of ideas was inaugurated by the " men of Kent " in the 
 strike of 1832, by the south shore ship-carpenters, laboring 
 at Boston and New York. They triumphed by united action 
 and peaceful discussion. They proved that daily labor may 
 be limited without reduction of production or wages, or in- 
 jury to society ; and in doing this they were the first to lay a 
 broad and firm foundation for the elevation of the working 
 classes of the earth. 
 
 The story of the struggle of the ship-workers and build- 
 ing trades in the early days of the Republic has been told in 
 Chapter IV, "The History of the Movement Before the War." 
 It is evident that they were among the first to organize their
 
 OPPOSITION OF THE MERCHANTS. 337 
 
 craft into unions, and that they jealously guarded its interests, 
 bringing their apprentices into the rules and customs of the 
 craft on the completion of their apprenticeship. They seem 
 to have been the first to bring the question of the hours of 
 labor to a direct issue. The journeymen mechanics and 
 master-mechanics of 1825 and 1830 were the employees of 
 the merchants, so that the contest of the ship-workers of that 
 time was with the merchants rather than with their direct em- 
 ployers. 
 
 Calkers, from the painful positions of their labor and other 
 causes, were especially prominent, if not really in advance 
 of the ship-carpenters in matters of organizing. They were 
 a set of rough and ready men, interested in public affairs, and 
 from the date of the agitation against the oppressive acts of 
 Great Britain convened together, often in a social manner, 
 and it is claimed that the word " caucus," now so much out 
 of repute, and yet a necessity for political methods, was first 
 derived from the words " calkers' meeting." 
 
 The New York Society of Journeymen Shipwrights was 
 incorporated on April 30, 1803, and the house-carpenters of 
 the city of New York, in 1806. We have not records of these 
 societies, no account of their objects or methods. 
 
 The resolutions adopted by the merchants at that time 
 against reducing the hours from fourteen to ten are very simi- 
 lar in their character to the position taken by them in the 
 recent demand of the mechanics of the country for eight 
 hours. The merchants of that day said to their fourteen- 
 hour workmen, "No unreasonable service is expected or re- 
 quired ;" but the ship-carpenters and caulkers still continued 
 to think it unreasonable service, and continued their struggle, 
 often at great sacrifice of time and money. 
 
 We give the following resolutions, adopted by the mer- 
 chants, entire : 
 
 Resolved, That we view with deep regret the course that some of our fellow- 
 citizens, journeymen ship-carpenters, caulkers and others, are pursuing in the 
 adoption and maintenance of a system of measures designed to coerce indi- 
 viduals of their craft, and to prescribe the time and manner of the labor for 
 which they are liberally paid.
 
 338 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 Resolved, In our opinion, the tendency of this combinatiou of ship-carpen- 
 ters, caulkers and others, instead of benefiting them, has a direct tendency 
 either to put their business into other hands or seriously to injure it by in- 
 ducing ship-owners to repair their vessels elsewhere rather than submit to the 
 inconveniences, delays and vexations to which they would be exposed when 
 they can obtain labor only at such times and on such conditions as the folly 
 and caprice of a few journeymen mechanics may dictate, who are now idle 
 two or three of the most valuable hours in the day. 
 
 They then proceeded to declare their intention to blacklist 
 all persons who belonged to the association. 
 
 In an appeal of the ship-workers to the merchants of Bos- 
 ton, dated May 21, 1832, the grievances of which they com- 
 plained, in addition to the long hours, were, that if a vessel 
 had to be moved from one part of the city to another, they 
 were compelled to assist in doing it ; that after getting the 
 vessel in place, if the weather was unfavorable, they had to 
 wait, and were sometimes detained three or four days before 
 they could commence work on her ; that they were compelled 
 to be at the yard in the morning by sunrise and labor until 
 sunset of the longest days, w T ith hardly time to get their 
 meals, and if anyone happened to be tardy, the finger of 
 scorn was pointed at them, and the employer would say, 
 "Where have you be'en?" or, "If you don't come earlier, I will 
 not employ you any more." They complained that it was but 
 few of them that could make both ends meet at the end of the 
 year. They also complained that sometimes it happened that 
 it would commence to rain after they had been at work two 
 hours, and that they would not be paid for their two hours of 
 work. 
 
 The statements in respect to overwork have an important 
 bearing on the question of the adaptation of reduced hours of 
 labor to exceptional trades, such as moulders, who must attend 
 to furnaces, etc. It was quite properly asserted, by the em- 
 ployers, that as many of the jobs called for early and late 
 labor on account of the tides, the reform was inapplicable 
 to the repairs of shipping. The men claimed that they would 
 cheerfully meet this objection by extra hours when the exigen- 
 cies demanded it. The event has justified their position, as 
 there is at present no friction from this cause, nor has there
 
 MEETING OF SHIP-WORKERS. 
 
 339 
 
 been during all the thirty years or more in which eight hours 
 has been established. 
 
 It is worthy of further note, as bearing on other callings, 
 that the extraordinary demand for ships during the California 
 emigration in 1850, and thereafter, was met without overwork, 
 and without breaking down the ten-hour day, which had by 
 that time extended to the ship-yards. 
 
 The demand was so sudden and imperative that ships of 
 two thousand tons, and more, were contracted for under pen- 
 alty of a heavy daily forfeiture if they were not alongside of a 
 wharf, ready for their cargo, in ninety days. The contracts 
 were met ; thus proving the existence of a flexibility in the 
 conditions of toil, of which we had been previously ignorant. 
 
 That the same result would happen in the case of the great 
 manufacture of boots and shoes, is believed by those most con- 
 versant with the facts. It is claimed by the employers that the 
 hours in that business do not admit of a reduction below ten, 
 on account of the necessity of filling orders rapidly, but the 
 mistakes and misapprehensions of the past on this subject are 
 too evident to give the claim much value. It may be safely 
 inferred that the piece-working shoemakers of the country 
 will inaugurate the change when its merits are fully under- 
 stood. 
 
 A very large sum of money was subscribed by the mer- 
 chants to defeat the ten-hour movement. A meeting of the 
 ship-workers was held shortly afterwards, at which resolu- 
 tions were adopted indicating that they were willing to work 
 more than ten hours a day for additional pay ; and it was 
 further resolved by them 
 
 That we think it an unreasonable representation to make towards the so- 
 ciety of which we are the members, to state in public print that we are vexa- 
 tious, and that we refused to work any more than ten hours pef day. We are 
 willing to receive any communication or meet any committee in a fair and 
 honorable way. 
 
 Resolved, That, from and after the 2oth of March until the ist of Septem- 
 ber, we will not labor more than ten hours per day, unless being paid extra 
 for each and every hour; and that we are willing, if requested, to begin at 
 half-past four in the morning, and labor not exceeding ten hours, or we will 
 work later in the evening, if requested, not exceeding ten, by being paid 
 therefor.
 
 34 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 The following extract from a communication published in 
 one of the Boston daily papers will show the feeling which 
 existed against the objects and organization of the men : 
 
 Had this unlawful combination had for its object the enhancement of daily 
 wages, it would have been left to its own care; but it now strikes the very 
 nerve of industry and good morals, by dictating the hours of labor, abro- 
 gating the good old rule of our fathers, and pointing out the most direct 
 course to poverty; for to be idle several of the most useful hours of the morn- 
 ing and evening will surely lead to intemperance and ruin. 
 
 That our readers at a distance may know the truth of their " oppression," 
 we state that the hours of labor are from sunrise to sunset, allowing two 
 hours for meals; and for this service a journeyman, who is a tolerable work- 
 man, gets two dollars and fifty cents. Thus, for one good, old-fashioned 
 day's work, enough is paid to defray the board of a whole week. The vicis- 
 situdes of weather may occasion, at times, the loss of a day; but the ship- 
 wright is no more exposed to this casualty than is the mason, carpenter, 
 painter, or many other tradesmen, who work as many hours as they can see 
 for much less pay than the complaining ship-wrights get. The truth is, that 
 such combinations never take place but in times of great depression, or, the 
 reverse, of extreme prosperity, as is now the case with all whose labor 
 depends upon the shipping interest. The course which th persons alluded 
 to are thus pursuing will tend to lose them the respect not only of the mer- 
 chants, their direct employers, but of all members of the community, and 
 finally of themselves. 
 
 The journeymen carpenters and calkers failed to secure 
 what they sought; but, through July and August, 1832, they 
 were allowed two hours at noon, because of the extreme 
 warmth of the weather and the fear of pestilence. 
 
 The defeat of the first strike for ten hours appeared at the 
 time to be disastrous and humiliating. It is probable, how- 
 ever, that the moral effect of the repulse was more beneficial 
 than victory would have been. Sympathy was aroused, the 
 interests of cultivated circles were enlisted, and yet when the 
 ten-hour day was gained, it was gained as the result of a 
 strike. 
 
 While the merchants of Boston were saying that it was 
 impossible to conduct their business on the ten-hour system, 
 the system was adopted in New York and Philadelphia, after 
 a struggle, of which mention will be made hereafter, and it 
 was working satisfactorily. 
 
 The arguments adduced by the representatives of labor
 
 RICHARD TREVELLICK. 
 
 341 
 
 in favor of the ten-hour movement did not fail to have their 
 effect upon the thoughtful minds in the community. An 
 article in the New England Magazine a magazine of high 
 rank in that day (1835) spoke in no uncertain terms. It 
 charged that the employing class was so exclusively engaged 
 in its own affairs that the laborer was not only greatly neg- 
 lected, but constantly liable to have his rights trampled upon, 
 and to be injured by the competition of foreigners, whose 
 increase ought to be checked by legislation. The writer 
 says : 
 
 Is there no duty to be discharged ? Is there nothing to be apprehended from 
 the great mass of uneducated minds whose restless hearings are felt in every 
 part of the land? Is there no danger' that this chaos of intellect may, ere 
 long, break forth like the rushing storm, and cover the country with desola- 
 tion far and wide ? 
 
 Public sentiment grew stronger in favor of the ship-workers, 
 and the boon gained by New York and Philadelphia in 1832 
 or 1833 spread along the coast, and culminated in the procla- 
 mation of President Van Buren, fixing the hours of labor for 
 persons employed in the navy-yards. 
 
 Captain Richard Trevellick, now of Detroit, Mich., who 
 was a ship-carpenter in New York in the early days of the 
 movement, thus describes the conditions under which the men 
 worked, in letters to JFtncher's National Trades Review : 
 
 Everywhere, from the Government ship-yards down to the ten-ton sloop set 
 up in the woods miles from any place, the rule holds good. Hurrah! hurry 
 and hiring men to-day; to-morrow, or day after, or next week, the place is as 
 quiet as a grave-yard ; the crisis is passed, hurry is over, the craft launched 
 and gone, and so all the craftsmen scattered in as many directions, perhaps, 
 as there are men, in search of some other three-weeks' job. 
 
 In some four or five of our larger cities ship-work is something more con- 
 tinuous and reliable ; but even they are by no means exempt from depressions 
 and sudden fluctuations ; and whenever the " slack time" comes if the ship- 
 carpenter, caulker, joiner, etc., is not absolutely discharged, his wages are 
 reduced until he finds himself wondering "what he will do Avith it," his 
 remuneration, at the highest figure, being no greater than that of some half 
 a dozen other classes of mechanics, whose employment is constant and always 
 under shelter, so that whatever time they may lose is voluntary. 
 
 He speaks thus of the regulation of the day's work : 
 
 As the order of labor in those days was to fall to in the morning at the first 
 glance the bosses could catch at a sunbeam gilding the tallest spire in sight,
 
 34 2 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 there being no steeple in sight from the "Hook," bosses used to catch their 
 matin sunbeams from the vane of the i/o-foot Liberty-pole over in Grand 
 street, below Lewis, the stretch during the summer solstice, from "com- 
 mencement" to twelve o'clock, was rather a long and tedious one. It would 
 have been far more tedious but for an indulgence that custom had made as 
 much of a necessity in a New York ship-yard as a grind-stone. 
 
 In our yard, at half-past eight A. M., Aunt Arlie McVane, a clever, kind- 
 hearted, but awfully uncouth, rough sample of the " Ould Sod," would make 
 her welcome appearance in the yard with her two great baskets, stowed and 
 checked off with crullers, doughnuts, ginger-bread, turnovers, pies, and a 
 variety of sweet cookies and cakes; and from the time Aunt Arlie's baskets 
 came in sight until every man and boy, bosses and all, in the yard, had been 
 supplied, always at one cent apiece for any article in the cargo, the' pie, cake 
 and cookie trade was a brisk one. Aunt Arlie would usually make the round 
 of the yard and supply all hands in about an hour, bringing the forenoon up 
 to half-past nine, and giving us from ten to fifteen minutes' breathing spell 
 during lunch ; no one ever hurried during " cake-time." 
 
 After this was over we would fall to again, until interrupted by Johnnie 
 Gogean, the English candy-man, who came in always about half-past ten, 
 with his great board, the size of a medium extension dining-table, slung be- 
 fore him, covered with all sorts of "stick," and several of sticky, candy, in 
 one-cent lots. Bosses, boys and men all hands, everybody invested one 
 to three cents in Johnnie's sweet wares, and another ten or fifteen minutes is 
 spent in consuming it. Johnnie usually sailed out with a bare board about 
 eleven o'clock, at which time there was a general sailing out of the yard and 
 into convenient grog-shops after whiskey; only we had four or five men 
 among us, and one apprentice not quite a year my senior who used to sail 
 out pretty regularly ten times a day on an average ; two that went for whiskey 
 only when some one invited them to drink, being too mean to treat them- 
 selves ; and two more who never went at all. 
 
 In the afternoon, about half-past three, we had a cake-lunch, supplied by 
 Uncle Jack Grider, an old, crippled, superannuated ship-carpenter. No one else 
 was ever allowed to come in competition with our caterers. Let a foreign 
 candy-board or cake-basket make their appearance inside of the gates of our 
 yard, and they would get chipped out of that directly. 
 
 At about five o'clock P. M., always, Johnnie used to put in his second ap- 
 pearance; and then, having expended money in another stick or two of candy, 
 and ten minutes or so in its consumption, we were ready to drive away again 
 till sun-down ; then off home to supper. 
 
 Captain Trevellick, the same writer, thus describes the 
 methods of settling difficulties in 1835 : 
 
 Thirty years ago the mechanics of the country had no other resource, no 
 available means of coping with and conquering capital, whenever it began to 
 inflict upon us its more objectionable features of serfdom, than by prompt and 
 absolute defiance in refusals to labor until demands that we believed to be just 
 were complied with. In those days there was little of tact, diplomacy, or spirit 
 of concession manifested in any of our strikes. They were crude in concep-
 
 A POOR COLLECTION. 
 
 343 
 
 tion, stubbornly contested, and resulted always in something of humiliation to 
 the conquered party, a sentiment never conducive to cordiality in the future. 
 Besides, our early strikes almost always resulted in pecuniary loss to our- 
 selves, whether we conquered or not. 
 
 Nevertheless, firmly imbued with the belief that our strikes being justifia- 
 ble, would result in something better eventually, in some form that was all 
 vague and indefinite to us then, we persisted in our strikes, improving their 
 features always as time went on, doing the best we could, under the circum- 
 stances, to protect ourselves and prepare the way for future mechanical organi- 
 zations more perfect in their moral and social economy. 
 
 Mechanical mankind had labored from sunrise to sunset, with only the hour 
 of intermission at dinner-time, so long that, at the beginning of my appren- 
 ticeship, New York mechanics of all classes had no idea of a briefer term 
 of labor; and one night, when some premature philosopher and philan- 
 thropist (I have forgotten who he was), preached ten hours to eight or nine 
 hundred of us in the old Broadway Tabernacle, telling us earnestly that the 
 time for a reduction of the hours of labor was close at hand, we laughed at his 
 absurd theories, ourselves convinced that the advent of a ten-hour system of 
 labor was ten times more remote than that of the millennium. This was, not- 
 withstanding an honest, earnest and most eloquent appeal to our sympathies 
 from Mr. James Harpier, then, as he has ever been since, the firm, fast, and 
 consistent friend of mechanics. When the hats were passed around to take 
 up a collection for the benefij of the first champion of the reduction of the 
 hours of labor, so little did we understand our rights and necessities, and so 
 ungrateful were we for the stout battle done in our behalf, that in every hat 
 that went up to the speaker's stand there were infinitely more of Mrs. Miller's 
 "fine cut," " old sojers," eyeless brass buttons, and "bungtown" coppers 
 than silver quarters, shillings and sixpences. 
 
 I remember distinctly the inimitably droll, sarcastic manner in which we 
 were reproved ; it made many of us hang our heads in shame, and sneak off 
 out of the Tabernacle as though we had been detected thieves. 
 
 At this time the general term for a strike was "turn out;" 
 so when, some time after this, Mr. Trevellick was informed 
 that they were going to " strike " the bosses, he supposed that 
 they were going to do personal violence, and he protested ; 
 but, when it was explained to him that they were to " turn 
 out" for hours, or going to "strike" for hours, he joined 
 issue with them. This was at the time of one of the great 
 ship-carpenters' strikes for the ten-hour system, and the one 
 which proved successful. He writes : 
 
 I think the strike continued ten days, during the whole of which time our 
 bosses came and went about their business, just as if there was no difficulty 
 any whet e; and when, at length, our rebels returned, saying that the bosses 
 up the " island " had agreed to the ten-hour regulation and all hands were
 
 344 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 goiog to work again, the bosses said, " Very well, you can come on whenever 
 you like." Thus was the ten-hour rule of labor inaugurated among New 
 York ship-mechanics, and again all went on quietly as before. 
 
 Immediately after the adoption of the ten-hour system, a 
 code of labor regulations was adopted, in which it was agreed 
 that all the work performed on any craft afloat, whether new 
 or old, was to be considered "old work," on which the day's 
 work was to be nine hours, and if they \vorked till bell-time 
 it was to count an extra eighth. So, also, if they went to 
 work on any hurrying old job at six in the morning, that hour 
 was to be another eighth of a day to them. He continued : 
 
 The educational advance made by the mechanical and laboring classes in 
 the United States since the inauguration of the ten-hour rule of labor has 
 been more than equal to every step taken in that direction since the days of 
 John the Baptist, and, for all that any of us know to the contrary, a thousand 
 years previous to that era. Add the other two hours to the liberty term, and 
 we shall increase the ratio of progress threefold, with the certainty of knowing 
 that, with the generation next following, we or our country shall have, as a 
 rule, mechanics and all classes of laboring men and women educated to a 
 standard of physical, mental, moral and social excellence that will be its own 
 securitv against idleness, vice, degradation and misery. 
 
 Comparing the advancement made in different sections, 
 Mr. Trevellick writes : 
 
 The mechanics of New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore have made, I 
 think, about five times the progress towards moral and social respectability 
 within the last twenty-five years that the Bostonians have, simply because 
 twenty-five years ago Bostonians had five times fewer steps to climb up the 
 moral and social ladder than the mechanics of her three sister cities above 
 named. While a mechanical apprentice or journeyman mechanic of Boston 
 was just, and as justly proud of being a respectable member of society, and a 
 gentleman in general deportment twenty-five or thirtv years ago as they are 
 to-day, with us in New York, boy or man, we were rather proud to be known 
 as one of the infamous " Chichester Gang," " Sons of Harmony," or a " Butt- 
 Ender." Philadelphia mechanics of that day boys and men, or those who 
 ought to have been men knew no more coveted distinction than that of a 
 "killer" or a " Moyamensing Ranger." While Baltimoreans were prouder 
 of the titles of " plug uglies," "blood-tubs" and "roughs" under half a 
 dozen other distinctive names than they were of being good citizens or skil- 
 ful mechanics. 
 
 He claims that the reduction of the hours of labor tended 
 greatly to the overthrow of all these brutalisms, and that they 
 rapidly came up from the depths, and contributed such ex-
 
 THE MECHANICS' BELL. 
 
 345 
 
 amples and instructions to their provincial brethren all over 
 the country as would develop their ambitions, energy, and 
 determination not to be left behind in the mechanical reform 
 race. 
 
 He concludes : 
 
 The constantly accumulating power of multiplied trades-unions throughout 
 the length and breadth of the land, and the great eight-hour Magna Charta 
 of emancipation for the American people from excessive labor are now be- 
 coming everywhere popular. Our march is shoulder to shoulder, in solid 
 phalanx towards a common goal, that thirty years ago was beyond the orbit 
 of Mars to the operative mechanics and workingmen of this country. 
 
 THE MECHANICS' BELL. 
 
 The story of the " Mechanics' Bell " is the story of the first 
 victory won on this continent for less hours of toil. As the 
 " Liberty Bell " rang out the proclamation of liberty from 
 monarchical control, so the " Mechanics' Bell " proclaimed the 
 liberty of leisure for the sons of toil. 
 
 The old "Mechanics' Bell" hangs in its skeleton tower at 
 the East River, foot of Fourth street, New York, directly 
 opposite the spot where once "Skinny" Beadle's cottage 
 stood. Beadle w r as a watchman for Smith & Dimon, ship- 
 builders, whose yard, more than sixty years ago, was on the 
 territory where now stands the tower of the old bell. Old 
 "Skinny" died during the campaign of "Buck, and Breck." 
 in 1856. For a long time his old cottage was untenanted, 
 and was said to be haunted. Men could be found who were 
 positive they saw old " Skinny " long after he was buried. 
 
 The original " Mechanics' Bell " was erected in 1831. It 
 first stood in a coal-yard, and afterward found a resting-place 
 in Bishop & Simonson's yard. Its first ringer was a man 
 named McCoy, who died more than a quarter of a century 
 ago. When the bell was first erected, there were no regular 
 hours of labor, and the mechanics worked from sun to sun. 
 It was no unusual sight to see men working in the ship yards 
 and along the wharves at four o'clock in the morning. For 
 the ship yard men, life was simply work and sleep, recrea- 
 tion being almost lost sight of. Many efforts were made to 
 change this state of things, and strikes were resorted to after
 
 346 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 arbitration had failed. At first the strikes were for regulating 
 the hours of eating, sleeping, and working, and they were 
 resisted by the bosses, who would not listen to this new idea. 
 The strikes broke out periodically. At length the bosses 
 divided on this question, and an : unkindly feeling sprang up 
 between a majority of them on one side, and the remainder 
 and the mechanics on the other. After a bitter struggle, the 
 mechanics carried their point. They then demanded ten 
 hours a day, without naming the particular hours. Against 
 this the bosses struck, but gave in after a short struggle. 
 
 The mechanics, proud of their victory, determined to have 
 a new bell, to be known as the "Ten-hour Bell." They took 
 the old bell, which was small, and had it recast into the new 
 one, dropping gold, silver and copper coins into the furnace. 
 The new bell was raised with appropriate honors in 1844, 
 and "Old Baxter," a veteran of 1812, was appointed bell- 
 ringer. The bell was now placed on a new skeleton tower <5n 
 the top of a blacksmith's shop in Webb's shipyard, on Lewis 
 street, between Fifth and Sixth streets. On one of the cross- 
 pieces of the tower was placed a golden sign, with the words, 
 "Mechanics' Bell." 
 
 The first ten-hour day was from 6 A. M. to 8 A. M., when 
 an hour was given for lunch. The bell rang again five min- 
 utes before nine, and rang five minutes while the men pro- 
 ceeded to work. It rang again at noon, when an hour was 
 given for dinner; at I, when the men returned to work, and 
 again at 6, when the day's work ended. The bell, at five 
 minutes of 9, also served as a school-bell for the old Fifth- 
 street School. After about ten years of this arrangement, 
 the ten-hour day was regulated as at present. Matters thus 
 continued until the eight-hour strike, during the war. The 
 mechanics who then owned the bell ordered that it should be 
 rung at 8 A. M., 12 M., and i and 5 p. M. ; and it continued 
 thus to ring during that strike. After the failure of the strike, 
 the bell was rung as previously. For many years, however, 
 on Saturdays the bell has rung at 4 p. M., instead of 6, work 
 then stopping. On Monday, May 17, 1886, the bell began 
 to ring at 7, 12, i and 5, making only nine hours a day, and
 
 THE BELL REMOVED. 
 
 347 
 
 the ship-joiners of the Eleventh Ward are now working 
 under that system. 
 
 Webb's shipyard, where the " Mechanics' Bell " stood, 
 changed hands, and the decay of ship-building, the last ship 
 having been built in New York during the eight-hour strike, 
 having driven the mechanics away from their old stamping- 
 ground, an effort was made by Webb's successors to seize the 
 bell. Their excuse was the damage to them by having boys 
 throw stones at it. The old bell had not rung for a long time, 
 and they thought no one would bother their heads about it. 
 They intended to sell the old bell to pay for damages. But 
 one day William Douglas, a veteran shipwright and president 
 of the Shipwrights' Association during the eight-hour strike, 
 made his appearance at the old bell-tower, and, to the astonish- 
 ment of the neighbors, proceeded to take down the bell. The 
 news spread like wildfire, and an excited crowd soon gathered, 
 demanding the reason of this action. Douglas explained ; and, 
 instead of being mobbed, he was loudly applauded. By adroit 
 talk, Douglas secured the confidence of the owners of the yard, 
 and when the bell was down a cart was handy, on which the 
 old bell disappeared. For a long time its whereabouts were 
 unknown, except to a few devoted men sworn to secrecy. At 
 length, it was determined to raise it again. The old stock 
 wished it replaced in the Eleventh Ward, the shipyard dis- 
 trict, while others wished it taken to Greenpoint, on the 
 ground that the bell should follow the ship-building business, 
 which had left New York City. At an exciting meeting the 
 New Yorkers won. A new tower was erected, and the old 
 bell was raised, amid the most intense enthusiasm, where it 
 now stands, at the foot of Fourth street, East River. There 
 it remained until October, 1880, when it cracked and ceased 
 ringing. 
 
 It was recast about a month later, and was again hung on 
 the day of President Garfield's election, and has never ceased 
 ringing regularly since. 
 
 It now rings four times a day ; ringing at 7 A. M. for the 
 men to go to work, again at 12 M. for dinner, at i P. M. for 
 the return to work, and at 5 P.M. to finish, thus making
 
 348 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 a nine-hour day. It has rung under this system only a few 
 months, an agreement between the mechanics and the "bosses" 
 having brought this about. 
 
 The ten-hour system did not extend outside of the " old 
 workers " of Boston for several years. It was first adopted 
 on new work in the shipyards of Medford, Mass., at that 
 time the chief ship-building centre of the New England 
 States, in 1840, as will be seen by the following statement 
 of Mr. John Stetson, an old ship-carpenter, now living in 
 
 that town : 
 
 MEDFORD, MASS., July 19, 1886. 
 
 * * * * Early in the spring of 1840, namely, April i4th, the day of my 
 marriage, I, with fc gang of six other men, under a written contract made by 
 me, commenced a job of ceiling and putting in lower deck of a ship in the 
 yard of Jotham Stetson, in Medford. The men engaged with me were Benja- 
 min H. Sampson, Luther Turner, Amos Hutchings and others. Before com- 
 mencing the job, we took a vote to do it on the ten-hour plan. This was the 
 first work done, I believe, on this system in private yards, although it had 
 been to some extent adopted in government yards. 
 
 At the same time Mr. Hutchings had made a contract for the same gang to 
 plank a ship for Mr. James O. Curtis. Mr. Curtis' opposition to the plan was 
 so great that he would not allow the work to be done by us. 
 
 Mr. Stetson was extremely indignant, and opposed us bitterly ; but was 
 obliged to submit, as we had a written contract with him. He contented him- 
 self with announcing that in future he should reserve the right of employing 
 men who would do as he wished. I told him he always had had that privi- 
 lege, as I had the right of working for whom I chose. 
 
 Public sentiment, as well as the ship-builders, was strongly opposed to the 
 ten-hour plan. The builders sent to other places for men, who, on arriving 
 and learning the state of affairs, refused to go to work on the old plan. Sev- 
 eral public meetings were held in the town hall. 
 
 However, we did that job on the new time-table, and I never did a day's 
 work on the old plan after that. Mr. Curtis' opposition was such that the 
 gang all but myself went to Haverhill, where they built a ship on ten-hours' 
 time, and thence they went to Newburyport to plank a ship, the first ten-hour 
 work done there, as I believe. 
 
 At the beginning of this movement, business was very dull ; but soon after 
 all the builders made contracts to build, and business reviving, all fell into 
 line, and the system was established. Yours truly, 
 
 JOHN STETSOX. 
 
 This coincides with the experience in Bath, Me., as given 
 to us by Mr. Henry T. Delano, an old ship-carpenter, now 
 living, who introduced the ten-hour system in that city, in
 
 THE EIGHT-HOUR AGITATION. 349 
 
 1847, as related in the chapter on,the " History of the Move- 
 ment," page 96. 
 
 It will be noted that the proclamation of President Van 
 Buren, establishing the ten-hour system in all public establish- 
 ments, was issued on April 10, 1840. 
 
 The ship-carpenters and calkers continued their organiza- 
 tion, and the workers on old work soon commenced the 
 agitation for the eight-hour day, gaining it in 1849 > an d the 
 agitation for shorter time continued among the other building 
 trades, notably the stone-workers, who probably were second 
 only to the ship-workers in their movement in this direction. 
 Strikes occurred for less hours of work on Saturday, for ad- 
 vances in wages, and against proposed reductions. Great 
 carelessness existed then, as now, in the preservation of the 
 records of the labor associations, and little is known of their 
 individual efforts. It was not until the national and interna- 
 tional organizations came into existence that much informa- 
 tion could be obtained ; and, even in the case of many of these, 
 the records have been lost by the secretaries, especially where 
 an organization has disappeared for a time, to be revived and 
 controlled by new men. 
 
 The discovery of gold in California revived the ship-build- 
 ing trades, and many of the ship-workers themselves were 
 among the emigrants to California. They proceeded to or- 
 ganize as soon as work in their craft demanded. Isolated 
 unions of house-carpenters, painters, roofers, bricklayers, 
 stone-masons and stone-workers generally, existed. 
 
 In the spring of 1853, there was an extensive simultaneous 
 movement in the building trades, the principal demand being 
 for an increase of wages. The Boston ship-joiners on repairs 
 made an unsuccessful strike for eight hours, which they suc- 
 ceeded in gaining the next year. The movement for an 
 advance of wages was especially strong in Philadelphia, and 
 many strikes occurred. A Philadelphia correspondent of the 
 New York Tribune, in 1853, confessed that an advance 
 of wages was absolutely necessary in order to enable the 
 workingmen to support their familes under the burdensome 
 prices.
 
 350 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 House-carpenters, shoemakers and riggers held meetings 
 and adopted resolutions expressing a determination to obtain 
 an advance. The metal-workers of New York City and 
 Brooklyn held a meeting in April of that year, and organ- 
 ized by the selection of Mr. A. B. Smith as chairman, and 
 Mr. William Caldwell as secretary. They voted to demand an 
 increase in wages, their present rates being from ten to twelve 
 shillings a day, and they concluded to demand two dollars. 
 The ship-joiners resolved to demand $2.50 per day. 
 
 During the summer months, the journeymen house-carpen- 
 ters of Boston held a meeting for the organization and gov- 
 ernment of the Carpenters' Association. They voted to adopt 
 a ten-hour system, and to raise a fund for the benefit of those 
 persons whose employers should not accede to their de- 
 mands. 
 
 A Board of Trade report of about 1853 says, that in Boston 
 there was a scarcity of men ; that there was much repairing 
 going on, and not more than half the number of men to be 
 obtained that might work conveniently on vessels. 
 
 The report of the second commission on the hours of labor, 
 Massachusetts House Document 44, 1867, says : 
 
 Those who are familiar with the former condition of the workmen in this 
 business know that it is much elevated in consequence of a reduction of the 
 hours of labor and associated effort in trades-unions. They are remembered 
 as working in 1835 thirteen or fourteen hours a day for $1.50 per diem. They 
 lived, for the most part, in the city near their work. The younger portion 
 lormed' the nucleus of the Fort Hill rowdyism. It was a period when, in 
 connection with fire department, they kept the city in constant alarm. From 
 1853 to the present time, the same class of labor, and some of the same in- 
 dividuals, are found in possession, as we have shown, of the eight-hour day, 
 the president of the association stating that at least one-third of them are 
 owners of property. 
 
 In 1856, the ship-carpenters of California had organized 
 and moved, with other trades, for the eight-hour day ; for it 
 must be remembered that the eight-hour system was gained 
 only for workers on old work. Continued efforts were made 
 to secure the same privileges for new work among the house- 
 carpenters and other building trades, but little was gained. 
 Constant demands were made, and in 1866 the ship-carpenters
 
 GREAT PUBLIC MEETING. 351 
 
 employed in the various yards in Greenpoint, L. I., went on 
 strike for the eight-hour system. 
 
 This movement extended to other trades, and on April 5th 
 a mass-meeting of the workingmen of New York, Jersey 
 City and Brooklyn in favor of the eight-hour system was held 
 in Union Square. Four stands were erected in the vicinity of 
 the Maison Doree ; and in consequence of the mildness of the 
 evening, as well as the interest taken in the subject, the attend- 
 ance was very large. About eight o'clock delegations from 
 the different trades-unions, with banners, music, torch-lights, 
 and transparencies marched into Union Square, and took up 
 their positions around the several stands. Mr. John Reed, 
 the president of the Workingmen's Union, was chosen chair- 
 man, and H. A. Whitfield secretary. 
 
 Mr. Reed made a very able speech, in which he referred to 
 the fact that they were not aware of their strength physically 
 and politically, or of how it might be effectually used. He 
 said: "It is our glory and boast that we have reached a 
 higher standard. We can afford to put this question on the 
 very highest grounds." He said that the system of co- 
 operation, or self-help, was the great and only solution of 
 the labor problem, but that it was not available at present: 
 that the great mass must get along on the old wage-system 
 for some time to come. A series of resolutions were adopted, 
 regretting the defeat of the Eight-hour Bill in the Assembly, 
 and asking the adoption of the ordinance by the common 
 council of the city. 
 
 Horace Greeley was introduced, and was received with tre- 
 mendous cheering. He said it appeared to him a desirable, 
 natural and proper arrangement, that they should have one- 
 third of their time for sleep, one-third for labor, and one-third 
 for all other employments ; it seemed to him a beneficial re- 
 sult, at which they should all aim, and to which he believed 
 and trusted they would ultimately come. He said : 
 
 The fault of this age is that workers, whether with hand or brain, labor too 
 hard and too long. We have too many idlers, and too many who do a great 
 deal more than one man's part. In this city we employ more than a hundred 
 thousand persons, who add nothing to the wealth of the world; they are mere 
 distributors.
 
 352 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 He had but little faith in legislation for reducing the hours 
 of labor, but he was willing to see the experiment tried. He 
 thought labor should take a little more responsibility upon 
 itself. Addresses were made at the other stands by promi- 
 nent labor men. 
 
 On April i7th, the ship-joiners of New York and vicinity 
 held a mass-meeting, and adopted, among others, the follow- 
 ing resolution : 
 
 Resolved, That we, the ship-joiners of New York and vicinity, in mass- 
 meeting assembled, do hereby announce through the city press that we boldly 
 sustain and heartily co-operate with the following trades in the movement to 
 reduce the hours of labor: New York caulkers, ship-wrights, riggers, house- 
 carpenters, and ship-painters. 
 
 The master-shipwrights and caulkers of New York pub- 
 lished an article against the movement, which aroused the 
 indignation of the men, who claimed that the names sub- 
 scribed to the article represented only one-fifth of the capital 
 invested. The ship-workers proposed to do the work them- 
 selves, without the aid of the master ship-wrights, agreeing to do 
 it as quickly and as perfectly, at less cost. They also published 
 a card, correcting various statements made by the master 
 ship-wrights in their article, in which they solicited work. 
 
 The New York Tribune, of May loth, reports a meeting 
 of the ship-carpenters and joiners on the preceding evening 
 to take action in reference to a strike, which had then been 
 continued six weeks. The movement was controlled by the 
 Workingmen's Union, which consisted of the various trades 
 of the city. 
 
 The Tribune said : 
 
 There are nearly ten thousand mechanics now out of employment by reason 
 of the strike, whose united earnings would have amounted to nearly one hun- 
 dred and fifty thousand dollars per week. 
 
 At the meeting, the president denounced the manner in 
 which the press had spoken of the strike. 
 
 On May i5th, the New York papers announced the failure 
 of the strike. The World, referring to the matter, said :
 
 THE LOCKOUT. 353 
 
 He is not a friend of American workmen who does not tell them plainly 
 why, in the struggle which they have sought, justice is not on their side. As 
 for legislating eight hours to be a day's work, it is contrary to the true inter- 
 ests of the workingmen that government city, State or -federal should 
 meddle with the matter at all. No number of hours can hereafter, any more 
 than now, be the measure of a day's work in the various industries of differ- 
 ent men. 
 
 i 
 
 The Tribune, while agreeing with the World in respect to 
 legislation, said: 
 
 But the World fails to take into account the counteracting influences, the 
 continual progress and important results of labor-saving inventions, of rail- 
 roads and canals. Between 1850 and 1860 the population of this country in- 
 creased but little over thirty per cent., while the increase of our natural wealth 
 was over one hundred per cent, and that of our efficiency as producers of 
 wealth was fully as great, so that it by no means follows that we must work 
 harder for a given result in 1870 than we did in 1860. 
 
 A large and enthusiastic meeting of the workingmen of 
 Boston was held in that city, on July 2, of the same year, to 
 hear a true statement of the calkers' lockout, and to tender 
 aid. Colonel C. E. Rowell presided. A speech was made 
 by Mr. C. E. Turner, president of the Boston Calkers' Asso- 
 ciation. He stated that this was not a strike, but a lockout, 
 and that the lockout was caused by the fact that the ship- 
 calkers of Boston would not work on ships forwarded from 
 New York. He said : 
 
 We were obliged to assist our fellow-craftsmen. We have worked for fifteen 
 years on the eight-hour system, and want not only to continue it, but to help 
 others to it. 
 
 It seems that a vessel, which was chartered in New York, 
 was forwarded to Boston for repairs, and the men refused to 
 work, unless New York calkers could come and assist on the 
 work on the eight-hour system. 
 
 It was these strikes and lockouts and the previous agitation 
 which led to the eight-hour law being passed in 1868, which 
 was inaugurated in the navy-yards, shortly after the Fourth of 
 July, of that year. 
 
 In the spring of 1869, workmen in the yards received offi- 
 cial notice that their pay would be reduced one-fifth. Oppor- 
 tunity was afforded them to labor ten hours at the usual rate
 
 354 
 
 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 of wages. The government was desirous of increasing its 
 force at the time, but found it impossible to obtain men who 
 would comply with the terms imposed, and many of the 
 employees withdrew. This led to the proclamation of Gen- 
 eral Grant, as published in Chapter V. From this time the 
 depression in the ship-building industry has seriously affected 
 the men, and very little has been attempted in the direction of 
 organization. 
 
 In Philadelphia, they were the first to organize under the 
 Knights of Labor after its formation by the garment-cutters. 
 Strikes have occurred in the ship-building centres during this 
 time, some of them for higher wages, some against reduc- 
 tion, and some for less hours of labor. 
 
 The craft has lost its prominence in the labor movement, 
 probably to revive with power on the revival of their industry. 
 
 AMALGAMATED SOCIETY OF CARPENTERS AND JOINERS. 
 
 This organization was founded in England, in June, 1860, 
 but there are several branches in the United States. Candi- 
 dates for admission must be in good health, have worked at 
 the trade five years, be good workmen, of steady habits and 
 good moral character, and not less than 20 nor more than 45 
 years of age. The scale of entrance-fees varies from 7 shil- 
 lings and 6 pence at 25 to i pound and 15 shillings at 45. In 
 1860, it had 618 members and 321 assets ; but at the end of 
 1885 it had 25,781 members and 50,850 assets. Its aver- 
 age annual membership was 12,180. The total amount of 
 benefits paid out per member for 26 years was 46 IDS. 
 
 It appears that on the 3ist of January, for the last eleven 
 years, the number per one thousand members unemployed 
 was as follows: 1876, 16; 1877, 26; 1878, 42; 1879, I ^7 5 
 1880, 181 ; 1881, 191 ; 1882, 68; 1883, 81 ; 1884, 77 5 1885, 
 108 ; 1886, 180. The most severe season was 1879, when 
 the cost for unemployed benefit per member was i 125. 9^. 
 per member ; and 1885 came next, with i 75. 3^. The de- 
 pression of 1879 came after several years of fairly good trade ; 
 but that of 1885 came after losses in preceding years, and was 
 most severely felt. The annual report for 1886 says :
 
 CARPENTERS AND JOINERS. 355 
 
 During the year we have only made one serious resistance to a reduction of 
 wages, viz. : at Sunderland, and in this case the men fortunately sustained 
 their point. The struggle, however, was so prolonged and costly that both 
 sides agreed and have succeeded in forming a Board of Conciliation and 
 Arbitration, to which all future disputes shall be referred. 
 
 The branches are now distributed as follows : England, 
 338; Ireland, 20; Scotland, 15; United States, 25; Can- 
 ada^; New Zealand, 10; Australia, 22; South Africa, 4; 
 total, 440. There is kept in the treasury a balance equal, 
 at least, to two pounds per member. The society publishes 
 an annual report, that for 1886 making 366 pages, which 
 is mostly filled with statistical information as to the state of 
 the order, as a whole, and of the branches in oarticular. 
 
 THE BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS AND JOINERS. 
 
 The Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners was organized 
 at a Convention of Carpenters' Unions held in Chicago, 111., 
 August 8, 1881. Prior to this organization, many local unions 
 had existed, and efforts had been continually made for the 
 formation of a national organization. The first attempt was 
 made in 1854, anc ^ tne second in 1867. The preamble to 
 the constitution sets forth the objects to be 
 
 To rescue our trade from the low level to which it has fallen, and, by mutual 
 effort to raise ourselves to that position in society to which we are justly enti- 
 tled; to cultivate a feeling of friendship among the craft; and to elevate the 
 moral, intellectual and social condition of all journeymen carpenters. It is 
 furthermore our object to assist each other to secure employment; to furnish 
 aid in cases of death or permanent disability, and for mutual relief, and other 
 benevolent purposes. 
 
 The officers consist of a general president, eight vice- 
 presidents, a general secretary, treasurer, and an executive 
 board. The executive board is composed of five members, 
 elected from the union or unions within a radius of ten miles 
 of the city selected as headquarters. This board has power 
 to decide all points of law, settle all grievances, and to author- 
 ize strikes in conformity with the constitution. 
 
 The constitution provides that whenever a dispute arises 
 between an employer or employers and members of the
 
 356 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 Brotherhood, the members shall lay the matter before the 
 local union, which shall appoint an arbitration committee to 
 adjust the matter ; then, if the members of the committee 
 cannot settle the dispute, the matter shall be referred to the 
 union. If a two-thirds vote of secret ballot shall decide that 
 the members shall be sustained, then they shall be authorized 
 to strike ; which strike shall take effect immediately when- 
 ever the demand is refused by the employers the following 
 day. 
 
 The organization provides a funeral-benefit of $250 if a 
 member dies, and $50 in case of the death of the wife of a 
 member. It also provides a disability benefit. Any mem- 
 ber .in good standing, who becomes permanently disabled by 
 accidental injuries received at his work, which incapacitates 
 him from again following the trade, shall be entitled to $100 for 
 a six months' membership, and $200 dollars for a two years' 
 membership. The majority of the local unions have weekly 
 sick-benefits, ranging from $3.00 to $3.50 per week. 
 
 The organization favors the establishment of building 
 leagues ; is opposed to piece-work and convict labor, and 
 desires uniform lien laws throughout the United States and 
 Canada. 
 
 The First Convention of the Brotherhood after the organiza- 
 tion was held in Philadelphia, in 1882. The Second Conven- 
 tion was held in New York, in 1884. The Convention of 
 1883 was postponed, in order to place the unions on a better 
 foundation, giving them more opportunity to ascertain the 
 actual requirements of the organization, and become more 
 familiar with the constitution. 
 
 The struggle during the first year or two of the organiza- 
 tion, as of all other workingmen's societies, was a difficult 
 one ; but at this convention the general secretary was able to 
 report that the association was out of debt, and that a surplus 
 of funds was on hand. During the preceding year, twenty- 
 one new unions had been formed, an increase of i ,866 mem- 
 bers in good standing. The secretary reported that strikes 
 had occurred in Chicago and New Orleans, and had succeeded 
 in fixing the standard rate of wages at three dollars per day*
 
 DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES. 357 
 
 The strike lasted three weeks, and resulted in partial success. 
 A strike occurred in Canada for nine hours per day, lasting 
 two months and a half; but, owing to the influx of immigra- 
 tion, a compromise was made upon eight hours as a day's 
 work on Saturday. The secretary says : 
 
 The successful movements for nine hours in the spring of 1885 on the 
 Pacific Coast, in San Francisco, San Rafael, Oakland, and Alameda, has had 
 a salutary effect in those localities, and it is due to the example of our Brother- 
 hood that other trades are falling into the same line all over- the country. A 
 reduction of the hours of labor on Saturday in St. Catharines and Hartford, 
 and Philadelphia, and Boston, has been accomplished, an agitation has been 
 created, out of which has grown a strong central organization of various 
 trades in Philadelphia, known as the Short-Hour League. The usual custom 
 of reducing the wages in winter and payment by the hour has ceased to be 
 the rule where the union has any power. The rates of wages have become 
 firmer, and all men less exposed to reduction of wages ; and on organization 
 they have been able to save themselves from any imposition. 
 
 He favors the forming of trades-assemblies central coun- 
 cils, and calls upon the members to secure a close co-opera- 
 tion of the bricklayers, plasterers, and laborers of each city, 
 and refers to the fraternal feelings existing between the 
 organizations and the Knights of Labor in several cities. 
 At this convention, a Declaration of Principles was adopted, 
 containing these salient points : That as the average laboring 
 man expends his entire earnings immediately, every dollar 
 added to his wages adds to every market he patronizes ; and, 
 therefore, that every reduction of wages immediately cripples 
 all markets ; that a reduction of hours of days' work increases 
 the opportunities and intelligence of the laborer, as well as 
 increases the demand for labor in price for a day's work ; 
 that it is ruinous to reduce domestic wages to enable our 
 country to compete with foreign markets ; that as the laboring 
 classes are united all over the world, and regard it as nation- 
 ally as well as morally due of all for the interest of all to stop 
 this ruinous competition of wages ; that all protected produc- 
 tions are protected at the expense of citizens, and that such 
 industries have no moral right, and should have no legal 
 right, to employ foreign labor, or persons who send or carry 
 their earnings out of the country ; that all aliens shall be
 
 358 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 employed by self-sustaining industries, and not by those 
 receiving support by tax upon the citizens ; that protected 
 industries should have no legal right to reduce, or aid in 
 reducing, wages from any standard. They object to prison- 
 contract labor, because it puts the criminal in competition 
 with honorable labor. They hold that voting is better than 
 striking, but that both are right and necessary, and that no 
 wage-worker should vote for any man or any party that does 
 not directly support the labor cause by thought or argument 
 and action ; nor should any wage-worker vote for any man 
 or party who has, does, or will oppose any man opposed to 
 the party. 
 
 The next biennial convention was held at Buffalo, N. Y., 
 August 3d, and continued four days. The general secre- 
 tary, in his report, congratulates the members upon the great 
 growth of the organization. One hundred and forty-eight 
 new unions had been formed, and' six unions reorganized. 
 The general secretary, in his report, says : 
 
 This convention marks the entrance into the sixth year of our history as 
 an organization; and in that time a work has been accomplished that, when 
 we contemplate its magnitude, our hearts swell with a modest and exultant 
 pride in the results achieved. 
 
 As the humble founder of this Brotherhood, it affords me the immense 
 pleasure to predict that, from present indications, our society, before many 
 years, will be one of the most powerful trades organizations in America, and 
 second to none in point of members and financial standing. For that object 
 I have labored and struggled for many a long and weary day; and I take this 
 occasion to thank the delegates here assembled for their presence, and the 
 officers and members of the local unions, for their faithful aid and co-opera- 
 tion in this noble and exalted work. 
 
 Referring to the condition of trade, he said : 
 
 The past year has not been as brisk for carpenter-work as was anticipated in 
 the early spring, though in some locations it has been fairly good. The rail- 
 road strikes in the Southwest had a very depressing effect on speculative capi- 
 tal, and it shrank from contemplated investment in real estate, causing quite a 
 depression in the building trades. As a consequence, the movement this 
 spring for shorter hours among the workmen in the building trades were 
 thereby much embarrassed. Trade has improved considerably of late; wages 
 and prices, however, are by no meaps commensurate to the work, while in 
 the majority of cities the labor market is constantly overcrowded with car- 
 penters. In the two years that had intervened the Association had increased
 
 FRIENDLY RELATIONS. 
 
 359 
 
 its membership over seventeen thousand, making a total membership of 
 21,423. The financial affairs were in a prosperous condition. He reported eight 
 unions working eight hours per day, seventeen working nine hours per day, 
 and twenty-one working shorter hours on Saturday. Seventeen thousand 
 nine hundred and fifty dollars had been paid in benefits. In relation to the 
 standing of the Brotherhood with other societies, he reports that the Carpen- 
 ters' Assembly, Knights of Labor, of Troy, N. Y., refused to work with 
 members of the Brotherhood, and struck against them. 
 
 He adds : 
 
 I wrote, on March 18, 1886, to the General Secretary of the Knights of 
 Labor, proposing a mutual interchange of cards between our respective organi- 
 zations. To .this I received a promise that the subject would be referred to 
 the General Executive Board of the Knights of Labor, but up to date nothing 
 has been done in the premises. 
 
 He refers to the meeting of the representatives of the thirty- 
 two national and international unions to bring about harmo- 
 nious relations between the unions and Knights of Labor. 
 He called the meeting because, as he says, "I discerned a 
 secret and formidable movement of a certain element within 
 the Knights of Labor bent upon hostility to trades-unions, and 
 aiming to attack them singly, and, if possible, encompass their 
 destruction." "Friendly relations," he said, "are maintained 
 between the Brotherhood of this country and the carpen- 
 ters' unions of Great Britain, Germany, France and other 
 European countries. 
 
 Referring to the strikes for eight hours on May ist, he 
 says : 
 
 In twenty-one cities our local unions have gained twenty-five cents per 
 day advance in wages, making in all fifty-three cities where our local unions 
 have made gains the past year, either in more wages or in reducing hours, 
 while only in nine cities have our local unions failed to secure their demands, 
 and in these cities they demanded the eight-hour system last May. A resume" 
 shows that 2,486 of our members are working eight hours per day, 5,824 are 
 on nine hours per day, and 1,118 are having shorter hours on Saturdays. 
 This makes a total gain to these members of 65,894 hours per week, adding 
 to the gains on the Pacific Coast, which amount to 6,540 hours per week, 
 makes a sum total of 72,434 hours per week gained to our members through 
 organization. It now remains with this convention to take wise and judicious 
 steps, whereby a reduction of the hours of labor may be more universally 
 established in the trade.
 
 360 THE LABOR MOVEMENT 
 
 At this convention, W. J. Shields, of Boston, was elected 
 general president, and P. J. McGuire was re-elected general 
 secretary. 
 
 From 12 local unions in 1881, the Brotherhoood has 
 increased to 214 local unions, at the present writing, and 
 from a membership of 2,042 it has grown to 42,521 mem- 
 bers, a gain of 18,481 members the past two years. Its 
 jurisdiction stretches from Union No. 83, of Halifax, Nova 
 Scotia, to San Francisco, Los Angeles and British Columbia, 
 with ii local unions in Canada, and more than a score of 
 unions in the Southern States, as far south as New Orleans 
 and Galveston. In the Southern States the colored men 
 working at the trade have taken hold of the organization 
 with avidity, and the result is, the Brotherhood embraces 
 14 unions of colored carpenters in the South. 
 
 It is by no means unusual to see colored delegates in attend- 
 ance at the conventions of the Brotherhood ; for the organiza- 
 zation recognizes no distinction on account of color, race, 
 nationality, religion, or politics, its members recognizing 
 each other only as American workingmen. Its constitutions 
 and documents, however, are translated and printed in the 
 German, French, Bohemian and Scandavian languages.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS TRADES. 
 
 TRADES ORGANIZATIONS, PAST AND PRESENT THEIR INFLUENCE ON THE 
 LABOR QUESTION AXE-MAKERS' UNIONS PANIC, 1873 REDUCTION 
 IN WAGES FORTY PERCENT. REDUCTION IN 1880 STRIKES AXE- 
 MAKERS AFFILIATE WITH K. OF L. JOURNEYMEN BAKERS' NATIONAL 
 UNION NATIONALITY OF ITS MEMBERS EARLY ATTEMPTS TO BET- 
 TER THEIR CONDITION EMPLOYERS MAKE CONCESSIONS UNIONS 
 FORMED IN ALL LARGE CITIES BOILERMAKERS AND IRON SHIPBUILDERS' 
 FIRST ORGANIZATION BRANCHES IN U. S. AND CANADA OPPOSED 
 TO STRIKES ST. PAUL STRIKE UNION VICTORIOUS BRICKLAYERS 
 AND MASONS AN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION ANNUAL CONVEN- 
 TION DEMORALIZING EFFECT OF PANIC, 1873 UNION BOTH BENEVO- 
 LENT AND PROTECTIVE BARBERS ORGANIZE A PROTECTIVE UNION 
 DRUGGISTS' WARE AND GLASSBLOWERS ORGANIZE, IN 1874 IMPROVED 
 LEAGUE MEN IMPORTED FROM GERMANY MANUFACTURERS AT- 
 TEMPT TO BREAK UP THE ORGANIZATION FLOURISHING CONDITION 
 OF THE ORGANIZATION AMALGAMATED ENGINEERS ITS MEMBER- 
 SHIP PAINTERS' UNION ORGANIZED, 1856 INTERNATIONAL FURNI- 
 TURE WORKERS' UNION ATTEMPTS TO ENFORCE THE EIGHT-HOUR 
 LAW GRANITE-CUTTERS NATIONAL UNION ORGANIZED DIS- 
 CHARGES AND LOCKOUTS COMBINATION OF EMPLOYERS TO REDUCE 
 WAGES HORSE-RAILROAD MEN STRIKES ON THE NEW YORK CITY 
 HORSE-RAILROAD LINES NATIONAL SILK AND FUR-HATTERS NA- 
 TIONAL ASSOCIATION FORMED NEW YORK STEREOTYPERS' ASSO- 
 CIATION JOURNEYMEN TAILORS' NATIONAL ASSOCIATION THE 
 TELEGRAPHERS THEIR STRIKES WOOD-CARVERS WOOL-HAT 
 FINISHERS. 
 
 NEARLY every trade and occupation has had in the 
 past, as most of them have in the present, some form 
 of a trades organization. Each one of these crafts or callings 
 has its own peculiar history. As a rule, these organizations 
 have had but short existence, taking new forms and new 
 names and adopting new methods, as the exigencies of the 
 times demanded. They have tended very much to the de- 
 velopment of the labor question. One by one they join some 
 
 (360
 
 362 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 federation, either in their town or city, under the name of 
 central trades and labor unions, or by uniting with other 
 unions, and, after a time, form a national organization of 
 their trade. Since the organization of the Knights of Labor, 
 trade assemblies have been organized, and some unions have 
 received charters from the General Assembly of the Order as 
 Trade Districts. Notably among these is the Miners' Na- 
 tional Assembly, of which William H. Bailey, a member of 
 the Executive Board, is District Master Workman. 
 
 In this chapter we give, in their alphabetical order, a brief 
 abstract of the history of some of the labor unions not in- 
 cluded in the foregoing chapters. We are obliged to omit 
 from this list some of the organizations of the glass industry ; 
 also the horse-shoers, iron-moulders, metal-workers, piano- 
 makers and plasterers. The glass-workers, in some of the 
 branches, have had organizations in this country as far back 
 as 1848 or 1850. 
 
 The glass-blowers' organizations at one time held an al- 
 most complete monopoly of the skilled craftsmen, and the 
 price-lists of the union were accepted by the manufacturers 
 without question ; and, in conversation with some of the 
 manufacturers years ago, we found them favorable to the or- 
 ganization : yet the glass-blowers have had many and fierce 
 struggles as an organized body and as individual craftsmen. 
 In New Jersey, the truck system prevailed to a great extent ; 
 and it was the custom of the manufacturers to issue a " cur- 
 rency" of their own, contrary to law. The organization suc- 
 ceeded finally in electing one of their prominent members to 
 the New Jersey legislature, and by public agitation suc- 
 ceeded, through the combined efforts of the State Conven- 
 tions of the unions, in securing some beneficial legislation. 
 
 The window-glass blowers, having a charter from the 
 Knights of Labor, hold a complete monopoly of their craft. 
 The story of some of their contests to gain this desired end 
 reveals the utmost heroism and devotion to their cause. 
 Their motto is, " Never surrender ! " and since they have come 
 under the shield of the Knights of Labor, they have sent their 
 agents to Europe and organized the workers there, Isaac
 
 VARIOUS UNIONS. 363 
 
 Cline, whose picture appears elsewhere in the work, being at 
 one time their agent. 
 
 The horse-shoers now have a national organization, with 
 James Rafferty, of Pittsburgh, as president. This was a dif- 
 ficult craft to organize, on account of the numberless small 
 shops, where one or two men were employed ; but, as the 
 horse-railroads and other great enterprises tended to congre- 
 gate these workers in large bodies, they succeeded first in 
 forming local organizations, and then bringing them together 
 into a national body. 
 
 The Iron Moulders' Union for a time was one of the great 
 leading unions of the country. It has had some of the ablest 
 leaders of the movement as its officers, and covered the prin- 
 cipal points of its industry from East to West. The national 
 organization has its headquarters at Cincinnati, Ohio, with 
 Mr. T. S. Fitzpatrick as its president. 
 
 Of the Metal Workers' National Union, we have no infor- 
 mation at hand. W. M. Schultz is the general secretary, with 
 his headquarters in New York City. 
 
 The piano-makers commenced to organize shortly after 
 that industry was introduced, and have had many hardly- 
 contested struggles for advanced wages and for lessening the 
 hours of labor. Their headquarters are in New York City. 
 
 The plasterers, as a class, were especially prominent in the 
 struggle for eight-hours, presenting, in the great processions 
 which took place in the principal cities in 1872, a fine appear- 
 ance. Many plasterers' unions have existed outside of the 
 national organization, and some of them are now organized 
 under the Knights of Labor. The general secretary of the 
 national organization, James Murphy, has his headquarters 
 at Buffalo, N. Y. 
 
 The plumbers were among the first of the trades to gain 
 the eight-hour system, which they succeeded in holding for a 
 number of years. All efforts to secure information from the 
 officers of these organizations having failed, we but thus 
 briefly refer to them. In all cases where the history of a 
 trade has been given, we have obtained the information from 
 the leading officers of the several unions.
 
 364 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 THE AXE-MAKERS' UNIONS. 
 
 The first Axe-makers' Union was formed at a recent period, 
 compared with the organization of unions in other trades. 
 This was largely because, up to about thirteen years ago, 
 axe-makers were very well satisfied with their lot. Till then 
 they worked less hours a day, and received much better com- 
 pensation, than other mechanics. Five or six hours a day 
 was considered a day's work, for which the axe-maker re- 
 ceived $5.00 or $6.00 per day, his helper $3.00 or $4.00, 
 while the unskilled laborers about the shop received $2.00 or 
 .$2.50 per day of eight hours. Then, also, they used to be 
 at liberty in the afternoons, and people would wonder if they 
 worked at all. Of course, such a state of affairs did not 
 incite the axe-makers to any action for bettering their condi- 
 tion, or for even preserving the existing conditions. When 
 a member of the craft proposed forming a union, he was 
 cried down as a " crank," and was told there was no need 
 for a union. 
 
 At this time the axe-makers were chiefly American and 
 Irish. Each bit-drawer had a helper, who served an appren- 
 ticeship, and became an axe-maker in turn, as a locomotive 
 fireman learns to become an engineer in time. An axe- 
 maker named Horrigan introduced French Canadians info 
 the trade at cheap prices, whose competition had the usual 
 result of lowering wages. 
 
 The first union was formed in Lewiston, Penn., in 1869, 
 more for fraternal purposes than anything else. It existed 
 only nine or ten months. Branches were started at Lock- 
 haven and Millhall, Penn., and Cleveland, Ohio, and an 
 unsuccessful attempt was made to organize at Rochester, 
 N. Y. These unions did not live to see the necessity of 
 
 tt 
 
 wider organization. 
 
 During the panic of 1873, a general reduction of wages 
 took place throughout the country, averaging from ten to 
 twenty per cent. The workmen now made more axes per 
 day, and made the old wages. Then there was another cut, 
 and the daily production was again increased, until where,
 
 AXE-MAKERS' UNIONS. 365 
 
 formerly, an axe-maker would make 100 bits per dav, the 
 limit of 200 per day was finally reached ; and where the 
 wages had been $4.75 and $3.75 for 100 drawn bits, over- 
 coat steel, they are now about $1.10 for the helpers, and 
 $1.50 for the bit-drawers, making the present daily average 
 earnings in the vicinity of $2.20 and $3.00, respectively, 
 except in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, where the 
 wages fall somewhat below this standard. 
 
 After the above-mentioned unions had died out, no organi- 
 zation existed until the formation of a union in Pittsburgh, 
 Penn., in 1877. The first work of this union was to strike 
 against a reduction of wages. This strike lasted four months, 
 and was successful. About the same time, a union was or- 
 ganized in Cleveland by Thomas B. Barry, then working at 
 that trade. This union succeeded in obtaining a ten per 
 cent, increase of pay, and the institution of a " draw-pay,'* 
 whereby, two weeks after the regular monthly pay-day, they 
 could draw fifteen dollars on account. The members, hav- 
 ing accomplished thus much, became careless, owing to the 
 opposition to unions, and allowed the union to go down. 
 
 Up to 1880, the Knights of Labor had worked secretly. 
 Some few axe-makers had joined them, and were hoping to 
 see their craft generally become Knights. In that year came 
 a forty per cent, reduction of wages, and agitation was begun 
 to secure an advance. In Pittsburgh, Beaver Falls, Lewis- 
 ton, Tyrone, Millhall, and Cleveland the shops had been 
 organized into the Knights of Labor. A strike was inaugu- 
 rated in November, 1880. Mr. Barry was then Master 
 Workman of District No. 47 and of the Axe-makers' Assem- 
 bly. He was requested by the men in Pittsburgh to move 
 fpr an increase of wages. He felt that the Order was yet 
 young, and that if it met with defeat it would help to 
 sustain the reputation of Cleveland as the graveyard of 
 trades-unions. He sought to secure the increase by peaceful 
 methods. The chairman of the shop committee at Pittsburgh 
 agreed with him. They thought the vast difference in prices 
 paid in the shops was good reason why the company should 
 not refuse, and so asked for an advance. The Cleveland axe-
 
 366 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 makers desired a twenty per cent, advance, with or without a 
 strike. Mr. Barry tried to avoid a strike, and was called a 
 " scab " for his pains. He replied that, as for himself, having 
 other resources, he was prepared to go into a strike and carry 
 it through, and never go into a shop again if he did not get 
 the advance". A committee ol the best men in the shop waited 
 on the officials of the company, and requested an advance ; but 
 the officials refused to negotiate or talk with them. The com- 
 mittee returned to their respective departments, and in a short 
 time the arms of the hammers were thrown up, the dampers 
 of the fires knocked down, and the "heats" taken out of the 
 fires, and thrown on top of the " caps." The strike lasted nine 
 months ; and, while it was not a complete success, it probably 
 cost the company $200,000 to carry on the fight. They were 
 obliged to employ unskilled men, in consequence of which 
 they lost, never to regain, their trade and standing in the 
 market. 
 
 The workmen were scattered, but Mr. Barry was the only 
 victim. When the strike terminated he had exhausted his 
 means, and become somewhat involved in debt. He then 
 learned that he could not get work at his trade in the United 
 States or Canada. The doors of sixty-two shops had been 
 closed against him as a dangerous man. The Association 01 
 Manufacturers by vote debarred him from working at his trade. 
 He went to work on the Cleveland Breakwater at $i per day. 
 Finally a shop in Saginaw, Mich., not in the association, 
 offered him work, and he removed there with his family. 
 Later, this company joined the association, and was obliged 
 to discharge him, in July, 1882. The man who notified him 
 expressed his sorrow at it, but said he must go. 
 
 The unions were all connected with the Knights of Labor 
 at this time, but were broken up as a result of the strike. At 
 present they are forming other assemblies of the Knights, 
 secretly in some places, but openly in others. 
 
 JOURNEYMEN BAKERS' NATIONAL UNION. 
 
 Prior to January 13, 1885, when the first convention was 
 held, the various bakers' unions amounted to but little. Most
 
 BAKERS' NATIONAL UNION. 367 
 
 bakers are Germans. Their excessively long hours and the 
 high temperature of their shops, and other abnormal influences 
 caused them to be indifferent to the great questions of the day. 
 Here and there they tried to better their condition, organized, 
 went on strike, but in almost all cases failed, either by treach- 
 ery of their own men or of their bosses. In almost all cases, 
 after such failures, those bodies, or rather their remnants, 
 were turned into benefit societies, of which almost every large 
 city had one or more. The first great strike that occurred 
 took place in June, 1880, after the bakers of New York had 
 been organized. On that occasion, the New York union num- 
 bered about twenty-five hundred members. All of them quit 
 work on one day, and assembled at Irving Hall, where the 
 employers had to call, and sign an agreement, wherein they 
 pledged themselves to have their men work no longer than 
 twelve hours, and fifteen on Saturday ; to abolish board, /. e., 
 give their men the liberty to board where they chose ; and to 
 employ their new hands from the Labor Bureau of the Union, 
 instead of at the various lager-beer saloons, which figured up 
 to that time as bakers' labor exchanges, to the detriment of 
 the pockets and the morals of the journeymen bakers. After 
 the men had returned to work, unexperienced as they were 
 in the labor movements, they thought they would not require 
 a union any more. They became negligent, and abandoned 
 the union, which soon dwindled down to almost nothing, just 
 having enough of principled men to uphold the remnants for a 
 few years ; sometimes even not having the necessary quorum 
 to transact their business. 
 
 As a consequence of the movement in New York, the 
 bakers in Chicago, New Orleans, St. Louis, and a num- 
 ber of smaller cities, such as Newark, N. J., New 
 Haven, Cleveland, etc., also formed unions; but the down- 
 fall of the New York union caused them to collapse and to 
 remain idle, as such, for a period of years. For three years 
 following 1881, nothing was done among the bakers. In 
 April, 1885, Secretary Block started a weekly paper for 
 bakers solely, with the view to establish thereby a Na- 
 tional Union, and at the same time educate the men up to the
 
 368 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 principles of trades-unions, and social questions in general. 
 The New York union, or rather the remnants thereof, con- 
 sisting of about twenty-five members, laughed at the idea ; 
 but they were soon convinced of the probability of success. 
 The paper was intended, from the beginning, to be the prop- 
 erty of the union. The union assisted him, and, on May 2, 
 1885, the first number of the Deutsch-Amerikanische Backer 
 Zeitung ( German-American Bakers' journal) made its ap- 
 pearance. It at at once spread like a prairie-fire through the 
 whole country, and found its way into every German baker- 
 shop throughout the land. All leading cities at once went 
 to reorganize their forces. The secretary's first attempt was 
 directly towards a National Convention, and his efforts were 
 so far crowned with success, that on January 13, 1885, twenty 
 delegates from seventeen cities gathered in Pittsburgh, Penn., 
 to lay the foundation-stone for the Journeymen Bakers' Na- 
 tional Union, of the United States, of which he was elected na- 
 tional secretary. At that convention, of course, the leading 
 question was, how to act to accomplish an improvement in 
 the condition of the men in the trade. Mr. Block advised 
 them not to follow the policy of strikes, if it could be helped, 
 but in all cases to apply the " boycott " if a struggle should 
 ensue. The delegates approved of his suggestion, and later 
 events proved its efficacy. In New York, Chicago, St. Louis, 
 Brooklyn, Cleveland, Buffalo and Detroit, a great change 
 was accomplished in the trade. The hours of labor, which 
 up to that time ranged from 13 to 18, and on Saturdays, with 
 Sunday, from 15 to as much as 25 in some cases, were reduced 
 to 12, and 14 on Saturdays ; in Chicago, even to 10 and 12 ; 
 and the fight is still going on, on the whole line, without 
 strikes of any account, simply by the aid of " Saint Boycott. " 
 The National Union numbers to-day 38 local unions, from 
 Boston to San Francisco. Its paper is a complete success, 
 a thorough educator and organ, and a medium of exchange 
 of thoughts among the German bakers of this country. The 
 union has accomplished a great deal in one year. It is about 
 to gather statistics to show, beyond question, how far it has 
 benefited the men. It has elevated a great number of the
 
 BOILERMAKERS AND SHIPBUILDERS. 369 
 
 men intellectually, has sown the seed of true republicanism 
 into their minds, has elevated them to be men who are ready 
 to fight for their rights, has taught them that they are not 
 born to remain willing slaves. The bosses display antagonism 
 against Secretary Block, and have gone so far as to establish 
 a weekly trades-paper in New York City, to counteract his 
 efforts. 
 
 BOILERMAKERS AND IRON-SHIP BUILDERS. 
 
 The International Brotherhood of Boilermakers' and Iron- 
 Ship Builders' Union was first formed by the boilermakers of 
 the city of Chicago, in 1880. In that year, they sent a dele- 
 gate as an organizer all over the country, and in one year he 
 organized sixty-four branches of this union. There had been 
 local unions in some cities he visited. In New York, there has 
 been a local union for over thirty years, but this is the first inter- 
 national union ever organized by boilermakers in this coun- 
 try. It now numbers 108 branches in the United States and 
 Canada, with a membership of over 8,000 in good standing. 
 It extends from Maine to California, and from Canada to the 
 Gulf of Mexico. The first convention was held in Chicago, 
 and there were 23 delegates present. The next was held at 
 Boston, and there were 68 delegates .present. The next con- 
 vention was held at Cincinnati, and the iron-ship builders 
 from the Delaware River were admitted into the organization. 
 The number of delegates present at this meeting was 82. The 
 next convention was held in New York, and there were 97 
 delegates present. Three of these were from England to rep- 
 resent the boilermakers and iron-ship builders of that country, 
 where it is one of the strongest and richest of the trades- 
 unions. At this convention the organization joined hands with 
 the boilermakers of England, and became part and parcel 
 of that union. It claims that it is the only trades-union in 
 this country whose organization extends over the New and 
 the Old World. The Convention of 1885 was held in Mil- 
 waukee, Wis., in September, and that of 1886 in Reading, 
 Penn., also in September.
 
 37 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 This organization never allows a strike in any branch of 
 the Brotherhood. It always claims the right of a conference 
 between the employer and the members of the union. If all 
 fails, and it has no other remedy, it reserves the right to strike. 
 Since the organization has been in existence, it has had some 
 very hard strikes to handle. 
 
 The St. Paul, Minn., strike lasted six months, and the 
 Brotherhood won. The Brotherhood has never lost a strike. 
 It is not organized for strikes. It has a far higher call- 
 ing and duty to perform, as it is a chartered body under 
 the laws of the State of New York, for benevolent and char- 
 itable purposes. This charter is given to all branches of 
 the organization. There are very few trades-unions in the 
 United States that have the same .advantages as the branches 
 of this organization on this question. This organization also 
 advocates the principle that every national or international 
 trades-union should regulate its own affairs ; for a man from 
 another trade or calling does not know the needs and griev-' 
 ances of the men in a different trade. It believes that 
 each trade should preserve its own distinct individuality and 
 autonomy. 
 
 BRICKLAYERS' AND MASONS' INTERNATIONAL UNION. 
 
 For some time previous to the late Civil War, bricklayers' 
 unions of a local character were organized and thrived in 
 several cities of the Union ; but until 1865 there was no effort 
 made by any of the craft to institute or perfect a national 
 organization. The agitation of such a movement, however, 
 between the bricklayers of Philadelphia, Baltimore and New 
 York City resulted in a conference of delegates from the 
 unions of those cities, which was held, October 16, 1865, in 
 " Painters' Hall," Philadelphia. Mr. John A. White, of Bal- 
 timore, was called to the chair, and Jared A. Bitting, of 
 Philadelphia, was made secretary. After adopting the name, 
 " International Bricklayers' Union of North America," and a 
 constitution, the conference, having issued an address to the 
 bricklayers' unions of the country, adjourned, to meet in
 
 NEW YORK LABOR LEADERS.
 
 BRICKLAYERS AND MASONS. 
 
 371 
 
 their first annual session, which was held in Baltimore, Md., 
 in Royston Hall, Monday, January 8, 1866. 
 
 This convention was attended by delegates from Phila- 
 delphia, Baltimore, New York City, Brooklyn, Williams- 
 burgh, Jersey City, Richmond, Va., St. Louis, Mo., and 
 Cincinnati, O. The .convention lasted five days, resulting in 
 perfecting a permanent organization, establishing a code of 
 laws for its government, and perfecting its constitution. Its 
 first national officers elected were : John A. White, of Balti- 
 more, president; J. Edward Kirby, of Baltimore, secretary; 
 Joseph Hackney, of Philadelphia, treasurer. 
 
 The following year the second annual session was held in 
 Cincinnati, O., when delegates from twenty-five unions at- 
 tended, representing the States of New York, New Jersey, 
 Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, 
 Missouri, and Indiana. From that time to 1874, tne organi- 
 zation grew rapidly, having sixty-nine unions on its roll, and 
 embracing a membership of near ten thousand. In the mean- 
 time, the title of the Order was changed to "National Bricklay- 
 ers' Union," and it continued under that name until 1883, when 
 it was again changed to its present form, that of " Bricklayers' 
 and Masons' International Union of America." The reasons 
 of changing the title first adopted to that of "National Union," 
 was that the Order did not at the time deem it advisable to 
 take in unions of its craft in the Dominion of Canada ; there- 
 fore, they deemed its title of "International" did not hold good. 
 Since then, events which were proving to the contrary, the 
 old title was renewed, and the word "Masons" added; and 
 the Order now reaches from Providence, in the East, to Den-' 
 ver, Col., in the West; from Toronto, Canada, in the North, 
 to Galveston, Texas, in the South. 
 
 During the depression of business, occasioned by the finan- 
 cial panic of 1873, and which extended to 1880, the Order 
 decreased in unions and membership until, in 1879, ^ ut tnree 
 unions sent their delegates to represent them in annual con- 
 vention. Those there were No. i, of Cincinnati, O. ; No. i, 
 of Indianapolis, Ind. ; and No. 2, of Covington, Ky. A re- 
 action in business caused a reaction in organization. Union
 
 372 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 after union reorganized, and reported for admission ; and now 
 the Order is stronger than ever before. It has on its roll 103 
 unions, with a membership of about 16,000; and charters for 
 new unions are being granted almost weekly. 
 
 The Order is a purely protective one in a national sense, 
 though all of the subordinate unions have benevolent features 
 combined. Should any unions encounter any difficulty or 
 have trouble with " master-builders," which would result in 
 causing a strike, such union will have to present a bill of griev- 
 ances, which will be submitted to all the subordinate unions 
 before they can be allowed the permission to strike, so as to 
 procure the necessary relief and assistance from the Interna- 
 tional Union. 
 
 The International Union reserves the right, in all such mat- 
 ters as those, of establishing regular hours of labor ; and any 
 subordinate unions which tak'e any of these measures upon 
 themselves without the necessary permission do so upon their 
 own responsibility, and receive no countenance from the 
 Order. 
 
 The union is now in the twenty-first year of its growth, 
 and has held its annual conventions in Baltimore twice, in 
 Cincinnati three times, in New York twice, in Washington, 
 Chicago, Pittsburgh, Albany, Indianapolis, Louisville, Brook- 
 lyn, Quincy, 111., Covington, Ky., Buffalo, Providence, Jer- 
 sey City and St. Louis. The next place of meeting will be 
 Washington. 
 
 At the last convention in St. Louis, Mo., the Order decided 
 to enforce the nine-hour system, to go into effect on the ist of 
 May last. This demand was readily and generally acquiesced 
 in, being regarded by the capitalists of the country as the most 
 conservative demand made by any organization relative to the 
 question of the hours of labor, and, therefore, the least open 
 to objection. The union believes in slow, but sure, methods 
 of conducting business, and always strives to act intelligently 
 on any subject before adopting it. Patiently it waits for the 
 time to come when, to belong to a labor organization is not 
 to be considered a reproach, but to be accorded the same 
 recognition and respect as is given to those of the wealthier
 
 BARBERS. 373 
 
 class, who belong to the so-called boards of trade, exchanges, 
 etc. The objects of both elements are the same, the only dif- 
 ference consisting in "the name." 
 
 BARBERS, OR HAIRDRESSERS. 
 
 This branch of industry is different from the others, in that 
 there are more proprietors of shops to the number of jour- 
 neymen than in any other occupation. The subject cannot, 
 therefore, well be considered from the employers' stand-point. 
 While it would be interesting to trace the progress of this 
 trade from "y e olden tyme," when the same person was barber 
 and surgeon, we must come at once to 1878, when some of 
 the members of the trade saw that a halt must be called to 
 stop ruinous competition, and the " Barbers' Protective Union " 
 was formed, with headquarters at Philadelphia, and a national 
 organ, known as the Barbers' National Journal ', was started. 
 The organization did not grow very rapidly, and it is dying 
 from inactivity. Various papers were started in favor of the 
 trade, among which may be mentioned the Barbers' Gazette, 
 of New York ; the Tonsorial Clipper, of Chicago ; the Hair- 
 dressers and Perfumers, of New York ; and The Shaver, of 
 Holyoke, Mass., the latter being really an ideal paper for the 
 trade. Until recently, the various unions had done compara- 
 tively little that was really beneficial to the craft. But since 
 the birth and general development of the Knights of Labor, 
 there have been formed in nearly all the principal cities assem- 
 blies of that order, composed exclusively of barbers, . and 
 much good has been done. In many instances Sunday-work 
 has been abolished, and there is a general move in this direc- 
 tion in the larger cities. The five-cent shaving has, to a great 
 extent, been done away with. The fight has been hard and 
 bitter, but much good has been done. 
 
 Seeing the necessity of united action, the Boston barbers 
 have called upon their brothers throughout the country to 
 assist in forming a national organization. It is hoped that 
 this will soon be accomplished, and that the condition of the 
 trade will be kept up to its standard. The union in Boston
 
 374 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 has been the cause of many being formed in the United 
 States, and has performed a great deal of active work. 
 
 IMPROVED DRUGGISTS' WARE GLASSBLOWERS ' LEAGUE. 
 
 This organization, as at present constituted, dates from 
 1874. Previous to that time, there had been a union that had 
 gone to pieces in 1867, and glass bottle-blowers in the interim 
 were in a badly demoralized condition. In 1873, just after 
 the " panic, " manufacturers took advantage of the situation, 
 and commenced reducing wages. A union of glass bottle- 
 blowers, called the "Improved League," had been started 
 east of the Alleghany Mountains several years previous to its 
 introduction in the West. The first branch in the West was 
 organized at Pittsburgh, and was known as Branch 14. The 
 new union very soon extended throughout the West. Wil- 
 liam Campbell, of St. Louis, was elected the first manager 
 of the Western district, which embraced Pittsburgh, and all 
 places west of it. In Pittsburgh, in 1876, the manufacturers 
 demanded a further reduction of ten per cent, to which the 
 League refused consent, and the factories lay idle the most of 
 that year. A few were running with men who were not 
 members of the League ; but all those who were gallantly 
 held out, and in the spring of 1877 went to work, the winners 
 of the contest. In that year the St. Louis manufacturers de- 
 manded a reduction, which was refused, and the men went 
 out on strike. The manufacturers went East for men, and 
 brought back a full set to take the places of the strikers. But 
 they did not remain long in St. Louis, as they were prevailed 
 on to go home upon having their fares paid by the strikers. 
 It was a bitter struggle, but resulted in a triumph for the 
 League. In 1877, William Simpson, of Pittsburgh, was 
 elected Manager of the League. In 1878, with an improve- 
 ment in trade, the League rapidly gained strength and cohe- 
 sion, gathering in all the stray workmen who had held aloof 
 during, the dull times. In 1880, Louis Arrington was elected 
 manager. That summer a demand was made for a ten per 
 cent advance, which was granted without any trouble. In 
 1881, the De Steiger Glass Company, of La Salle, 111., dis-
 
 AMALGAMATED ENGINEERS. 375 
 
 charged all their blowers, and sent to Germany and imported 
 a full set of men, to work for but little more than half of the 
 current rate of wages. The League tried all manner of in- 
 ducements and explanations with these imported men to show 
 them where their true interests lay, 'but could make no impres- 
 sion on them. In 1883, the manufacturers complained of the 
 low prices, principally caused by La Salle cutting under the 
 market, and demanded a reduction of ten or twenty per 
 cent. This was refused, and the factories lay idle, gener- 
 ally until February of the following year, when they resumed 
 at the old rate. But, in the fall, they came again with the 
 same demand. It was still refused, as the League could not 
 see that it would improve the condition of the trade a particle. 
 The majority of the factories did not run more than half-time 
 that season. In the meantime, the De Steiger firm at La Salle 
 had failed. Several other firms had tried the German work- 
 men, who were offering themselves on any terms ; but they 
 were found to be both unprofitable and unsuitable. In the 
 fall of 1885, the Pittsburgh manufacturers, doubtless expect- 
 ing that the League treasury and men were impoverished, 
 made the old demand, and refused to start. A number of 
 other places followed their example, so that only about one- 
 third of the men got to work. There was, undoubtedly, 
 a deep-laid plot to break up the League ; but it was entirely 
 unsuccessful. It has now 670 members, divided into 15 
 branches. Last season, it distributed $30,000 in relief to its 
 needy members ; and to-day it is numerically and financially 
 stronger than at any period of its history. 
 
 AMALGAMATED ENGINEERS. 
 
 This organization of machinists was established first in 
 England, but it has numerous and powerful branches on the 
 continent and in America. It is one of the most powerful 
 labor organizations. Many years ago, it succeeded in fixing 
 nine hours as the standard for a day's work. It has a large 
 benefit-fund, and never carries in its treasury less than an 
 allowance of $15 for each member. It now has about 52,000 
 members, and about $1,000,000 in its treasury.
 
 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 INTERNATIONAL FURNITURE WORKERS* UNION. 
 
 The oldest union now belonging to the International Fur- 
 niture Workers' Union is Union No. 7, of New York City. 
 It was organized in April, 1859, un der the name, "United 
 Cabinet-makers of New York." This union made an attempt 
 to enforce the eight-hour work-day in 1872. It only par- 
 tially succeeded, and had to give up after a strike of eight 
 weeks. They claimed that the failure was due to the inac- 
 tivity of the workmen in other cities. Unions were at that time 
 organized, or reorganized, in several cities, which communi- 
 cated with each other, and arranged the First Convention of 
 Furniture Workers, which met in Cincinnati, O., July 7, 1873. 
 A national organization was effected, under the name, "Fur- 
 niture Workers' Association of North America." Unions from 
 the following cities were represented : New York, Philadel- 
 phia, Cincinnati, Chicago, Evansville, Ind., Louisville, Ky., 
 Rochester, N. Y., St. Louis, Mo., and San Francisco. The 
 constitution provided for a central committee as the head of 
 the organization. The central committee had to elect a cor- 
 responding secretary, treasurer, and financial secretary, who 
 were the general officers of the organization. There being 
 no president, the executive committee had to elect a chairman 
 for each session. The constitution provided for mutual assist- 
 ance in strikes, but had no benevolent features. The follow- 
 ing resolutions were adopted : 
 
 The Congress declares the establishment of the eight-hours' normal work- 
 ing-day to be indispensably necessary, and demands the union to begin a lively 
 agitation for its introduction by legislation. The Congress also advocates the 
 abolition of piece-work. 
 
 The Congress recommends to all workingmen's organizations to agitate for 
 the following points : 
 
 That no master shall employ children under fifteen years of age ; that pub- 
 lic school instruction should be obligatory until the age of fifteen years; that 
 school instruction should be gratuitous up to the highest degrees. 
 
 The Congress recommends to the workingmen to organize their trades- 
 unions in the first place, and then to form an independent workingmen's 
 party, to elect only representatives of the working class to the highest legis- 
 lative bodies of the country. 
 
 The Congress advocates the mutual co-operation of the workingmen of all
 
 CONVENTIONS. 377 
 
 countries, and directs the central committee to enter into relations with their 
 respective central bodies. 
 
 The Congress recommends to the local unions the establishment of labor 
 bureaus. 
 
 The Congress demands that employers shall be responsible for all damages 
 to workingmen from accidents arising through any negligence on the em- 
 ployers' part, especially by machinery. 
 
 Considering that the present economical circumstances force the working- 
 men to the practice of unlimited solidarity ; that secret organizations are an 
 obstacle to the labor movement, the Congress recommends to the unions 
 " unrestrained " publicity in their meetings. 
 
 The first central committee was located in New York City, 
 with Karl Speyer as corresponding secretary. The next 
 convention was held in Baltimore, September, 1874. Eleven 
 unions were represented, among which were one of uphol- 
 sterers and one of wood-carvers, both of New York, from 
 the following cities : New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia, 
 Chicago, Providence, R. I., St. Louis, San Francisco. The 
 number of members had decreased since the previous con- 
 vention, on account of the business depression which ensued 
 in October, 1873. The members in Cincinnati went on strike 
 without the consent of the Executive Committee, and were 
 defeated. This broke up their union. 
 
 The next convention was held in Indianapolis, in Septem- 
 ber, 1876. B. Kaufmann was secretary at the time. The 
 number of local unions had at that time, in consequence of 
 the business crisis which wiped so many organizations out 
 of existence, dwindled down to nine. Some of them ceased 
 to exist soon afterwards. At this convention, it was resolved 
 to institute a tool-insurance, for the benefit of the members in 
 case of fire. Such an institution had to a great extent bene- 
 fited the members of Union No. 7, New York, where it was 
 started in 1860. Many thousands of dollars have been paid 
 to members who lost their tools by fire. This insurance is 
 about one-half cheaper than in capitalistic companies. At 
 this convention, it was resolved that the central committee 
 should be located in Chicago. Up to that time, no strike 
 of any importance, as far as the national organization was 
 concerned, had occurred. The central committee had ex- 
 pended hundred of dollars in agitation, without much success,
 
 378 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 besides keeping the organization in existence. After this, no 
 convention was held for four years. The central committee 
 remained in Chicago for two years. H. Stahl, and after him 
 G. Hecrist, was elected corresponding secretary. By a gen- 
 eral vote in 1878, the central committee was again located 
 in New York, and L. Zetsche elected secretary. The central 
 committee then began a lively agitation for eight hours, and 
 issued a pamphlet in favor of the movement. 
 
 The Fourth Convention was held in Chicago, in 1880, and 
 eight of the local unions then existing were represented. 
 Some changes of minor importance were made, and resolu- 
 tions were adopted, declaring 
 
 That it is the duty of all the unions to take in hand, without delay, a reduc- 
 tion of the work-day, so as to hasten the advent of the normal work-day of 
 eight hours, which alone can render an equipoise of production and consump- 
 tion possible, and a lack of employment avoidable. 
 
 New York was again selected as the place for the central 
 committee. The Fifth Convention was held in Cincinnati, 
 where changes of great importance in the constitution v/ere 
 made. A "strike-fund" was established, in order to abolish 
 assessments in cases of strikes. Into this strike-fund, which 
 is under the control of the executive committee, which name 
 was substituted for central committee, each local union has 
 to pay its monthly dues for each of its members. A death- 
 benefit fund was also instituted, out of which, up to the pres- 
 ent day, $4,450 have been paid to twenty-eight families. 
 It was further resolved to issue a journal every two weeks, 
 to be edited by the corresponding secretary. A sick-benefit 
 fund was also established, out of which, during the three and 
 a half years of its existence, $6, 488. 29 have been paid to sick 
 members. 
 
 These new institutions in the organization required, of 
 course, higher dues. The executive committee again came 
 to New York, and H. Emrich was re-elected secretary. 
 Two months after this new constitution was enforced, four 
 unions ceased to exist. The number of members of the Inter- 
 national Furniture Workers' Union which was the name 
 adopted at Cincinnati was only 1,300. But through the in-
 
 GRANITE-CUTTERS NATIONAL UNION. 379 
 
 fluence of the .Journal, it soon commenced to grow again, and 
 has to-day 26 local unions, with over 6,000 members, after sev- 
 eral thousand new members have been lost, and after the fail- 
 ure of the eight-hour movement in May last, in which 14 of 
 the local unions were engaged, and over $30,000 paid out 
 on strike-benefits by the local unions. 
 
 The Sixth Convention was held in Alleghany City, 1884. 
 No great changes were made there, but an important declar- 
 ation of principles was adopted. It affirmed that there was 
 antagonism between the proprietary and the working-classes, 
 the interests of the former being to keep wages as low as 
 possible ; " that the laboring class must emancipate itself from 
 all influences of its enemy, the proprietary class, and organize 
 locally, nationally, and internationally, to set the power of the 
 organized masses against capitalism ; and that it must see that 
 its interests be represented in the shops, in the different 
 branches of the local, State, and national administrations and 
 government." 
 
 Since then, the executive committee has been in New 
 York, with H. Emrich as secretary. The main object 
 in view is still the shortening of the hours of labor. 
 
 THE GRANITE-CUTTERS' NATIONAL UNION. 
 
 The first conception of this union was at Clark's Island, 
 Me., January 2, 1877. The union was started with a 
 view, if possible, of combining every granite-cutter in the 
 United States in one general union. A temporary organiza- 
 tion was formed at Clark's Island, a board of officers was 
 elected, and communications entered into with Carver's Har- 
 bor, Hurricane Island, Spruce Head and Dix Island. Com- 
 mittees were sent to each place, the result of which was the 
 formation of organizations or branches, and a convention was 
 held in Rockland, Me., by delegates selected by Clark's 
 Island, Carver's Harbor, Spruce Head and Hurricane. A 
 constitution was drawn up, which was submitted to the 
 branches for adoption. The branch at Spruce Head an- 
 nounced on March 6, 1877, tnat N. C. Bassick had been 
 elected president for one year; N. S. Fales, Thomas Fahy,
 
 380 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 P. H. Cooney, I. P. Clay and William K. Smith, standing 
 committee, and T. H. Murch, secretary. The first meeting 
 of the National Board was held March 10, and the union duly 
 organized as a National Union, and from that time the union 
 has steadily advanced. The secretary, T. H. Murch, having 
 been elected to Congress in the place of Eugene Hale, J. B. 
 Dyer was elected his successor. The first convention of the 
 union was held in Evans Hall, Boston, Mass., February 5, 
 1878, with twenty-four delegates present, representing twenty- 
 two branches. The first strike of the union was at Vinal- 
 haven, April 6, 1878. Mr. Wharf, the agent of the Bodwell 
 Granite Company, having discharged thirty of the most promi- 
 nent members of the union, the other members struck, and 
 presented a bill of prices. 'Since then, the union has been 
 engaged in several strikes and lockouts, the most notable 
 being the lockout in Quincy, Mass., lasting nearly nine 
 months. The union, being conducted on a conservative pol- 
 icy, has gained the approval of the majority of large employ- 
 ers in the trade, and nearly every branch has its bill of prices 
 to govern its locality, preventing considerable trouble, which 
 previously occurred ; and many of the employers, who were 
 first antagonistic to it, are now its advocates, and prefer union 
 to non-union men. Previous to the organization of the 
 National Union, several places had attempted local unions, 
 but they had fallen through, owing to their isolated condition. 
 Among those were New York, Westerly, Philadelphia, 
 Washington, Boston, Richmond and Baltimore ; but they 
 are again organized as branches of the National Union. The 
 headquarters of the union is changed every two years, and 
 has been located in Rockland, Me., Boston, Mass., Westerly, 
 R. I., Quincy, Mass., and is at present located at 1907 
 Market street, Philadelphia, Penn. The President is John G. 
 Laycock, and the secretary Josiah B. Dyer. The union 
 publishes a trade journal monthly, which is acknowledged to 
 be a credit to the craft. 
 
 In the spring of 1885 a combination was formed, composed 
 of the Smith Granite Co., Rhode Island Granite Works, the 
 Chapman Granite Works of Westerly, R. I., A. G. Crumb,
 
 COMBINATION OF EMPLOYERS. 381 
 
 of Niantic, R. I., Charles F. Stoll, Merritt Gray & Co., of 
 Groton, Conn., Gates & Park, and Booth Bros., of Millstone 
 Point, Conn., to cut down prices fifteen per cent., and efforts 
 were made to get all the New England manufacturers to join 
 with them. The men employed on the Rhode Island Granite 
 Works, at Westerly, Gates & Parks, and Booth Bros.' works 
 at Millstone Point, and Merritt, Gray & Co., of Groton, struck 
 against the reduction ; and, after a protracted struggle, the men 
 were successful, the other firms not enforcing the reduction 
 when the time came. The Rhode Island Granite Works held 
 out until February, 1886, when both parties agreed to leave 
 the question in dispute to the arbitration of the Executive JBoard 
 of District Assembly 99, Knights of Labor, who, having de- 
 cided in favor of the union, the works were opened to union 
 men and declared a union job, and on March 8th a social re- 
 union was held in Westerly, in which all parties engaged in 
 the dispute and settlement had a " good time," and " buried 
 the hatchet." As an offshoot of this trouble, the manufacturers 
 of Barre formed a combination to crush out unionism in Ver- 
 mont, and on a branch being formed in South Ryegate, they 
 sent to the Ryegate Granite Works, at South Ryegate, and 
 the other manufacturers of that place, inviting them to join 
 their combination. As a consequence, the following notice 
 was issued by the Ryegate Granite Works : 
 
 SOUTH RYEGATE, April 8, 1885. 
 
 DEAR SIR : We are informed that something is being done with reference 
 to the formation of a stone-cutters' union in this place. We have seen much 
 of the trouble and disturbance arising from such unions, and are satisfied that 
 they are neither an advantage to workmen nor contractors. We prefer and 
 propose to deal with every man in our employ as an independent individual, 
 capable of managing his own contracts. We allow none of our co-contractors 
 to dictate to us as to what terms we shall employ you upon. And we want 
 no one to dictate to you as to the terms on which you shall work for us. In 
 this view, we have decided to employ no one who is engaged in the enterprise 
 first named. 
 
 An immediate reply, stating what action you intend taking in the matter, is 
 requested. We are, yours very truly, 
 
 RYEGATE GRANITE WORKS, 
 Sellick. 
 
 The men who organized the branch, on being thus locked 
 out, inserted an advertisement in the Boston Herald to keep
 
 382 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 men away, and the works were declared "scabbed." Carter, 
 who ran the works, threatened legal proceedings if the ad- 
 vertisement was not withdrawn, and an humble apology 
 inserted. The men refused to do so. They were arrested 
 and taken to St. Johnsbury, charged with conspiracy, and 
 thirteen were bound over for trial under $300 bail each. 
 The citizens of South Ryegate promptly came to the rescue, 
 and bonds to the amount of $250,000 were ready if neces- 
 sary. At the June term of court, the grand jury having 
 found a true bill, the case was continued until the May, 1886, 
 term, when the judge took the case under advisement to 
 search up authorities cited by Bates & May, the attorneys for 
 the so-called " conspirators," and it still remains unsettled. 
 
 Trouble has also been caused by convict labor on the new 
 capitol at Austin, Texas, which was therefore declared a 
 "scab" job. The. contractor endeavored to get granite-cut- 
 ters from Aberdeen, Scotland, and had some success. On 
 Monday, April 26, 1886, his agent landed at Castle Garden, 
 New York, with seventy-eight granite-cutters and eight tool- 
 sharpeners, under contract to go to Burnet, Texas, to work 
 for him. An effort was made to prevent their proceeding any 
 further in violation of the contract-labor law ; but owing to its 
 defects the attempt was unsuccessful, and the agent and the 
 imported aliens were allowed to proceed by the United States 
 authorities, but twenty-four decided to remain in New York. 
 Those remaining having the proofs of the contract made in 
 Aberdeen with them, and their passage-money advanced 
 them, an affidavit was made before the United States Com- 
 missioner, and all the necessary documents forwarded to Texas 
 for the purpose of testing the law. Suits have been entered 
 against the contractor and the syndicate for the full penalty 
 of one thousand dollars for each man imported, and nineteen 
 additional affidavits have been forwarded to Austin. The 
 trial is expected to come on in the August term of court, and 
 the case is being watched with much interest, as it is claimed 
 to be the clearest case of violation of the law yet discovered. 
 The proofs of contract and of payment of passage-money 
 are so clear, that it appears an impossibility for the contractor
 
 HORSE-RAILROAD MEN. 383 
 
 and the syndicate to evade the full penalty of the law. D. A. 
 78, at its last meeting, decided to push the matter to the utmost 
 extent, and a committee was appointed to secure all legal 
 assistance necessary. In this fight the Granite Cutter's Na- 
 tional Union and D. A. 78, Knights of Labor, are standing 
 shoulder to shoulder, recognizing fully that " an injury to one 
 is the concern of all," in the ranks of labor's army. 
 
 THE HORSE-RAILROAD MEN. 
 
 The first horse-railroad employee to join the Knights of* 
 Labor in New York was initiated in a printers' local assembly. 
 A printer riding up and down on the cars entered into con- 
 versation with the driver, and showed him the advantages of 
 being a Knight. The driver was convinced, made applica- 
 tion, was initiated and finally persuaded thirteen more drivers 
 to join. They then obtained transfer-cards, and started the 
 first local assembly of horse-railroad employees in September, 
 1883. Owing to the opposition of the railroad officials, great 
 caution at first was necessary. By December, the member- 
 ship was increased to about five hundred, and another local 
 assembly was formed, in East New York. Then assemblies 
 were formed in Flatbush, in January, 1884; and in Green- 
 wood and at Green Point in February. A traitor to the 
 cause obtained entrance to the first assembly organized, and 
 gave to the company's officials a copy of the constitution, the 
 names of the officers of the assembly, and of those most 
 active in its interests. Soon after this information was given, 
 three of the officers and about twenty members were dis- 
 charged by the company. This caused a panic in the organi- 
 zation ; and the railroad employees feared to visit any as- 
 sembly, knowing they would be discharged if such visits were 
 found out. The company's inspectors and superintendents 
 followed the men after they were through work for the day 
 to see where they went, and where the meetings were held, 
 and those seen attending the meetings were discharged. 
 This caused the assembly, which numbered six hundred, to 
 drop to thirteen members in good standing in three months. 
 These, however, determined to carry on the cause they had
 
 384 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 espoused, and to form a district assembly of their own. In 
 July, 1884, a district charter was procured from the Knights 
 of Labor. At first it was impossible to procure members, 
 owing to the terrible boycott of the companies. But in Sep- 
 tember, eleven men were secured to start the first assembly in 
 New York. This assembly prospered until January, 1885, 
 when forty of its members were discharged by their employ- 
 ers, and the work of organization was checked. 
 
 The next attempt was made on the " East Side " where three 
 drivers met in a basement, knowing well what would become 
 of them if the company knew they had joined the Knights of 
 Labor. Working cautiously, they secured three more within 
 a week. In another week, these six secured twenty-two, who 
 started the assembly which conducted the strike on the Third 
 Avenue line. The second assembly on the " East Side " 
 started with nine members, who worked so carefully that 
 none were discharged for being members of the Order. 
 Another assembly was formed on the "West Side," in July, 
 1885. These four assemblies initiated some two hundred 
 members each weekly, until, by January, 1886, nearly all the 
 horse-car drivers in New York had been initiated. After this 
 was accomplished, they began to initiate the conductors, and 
 in a few weeks succeeded in getting all of them. 
 
 On the i8th of December, 1885, the first list of grievances 
 was submitted to the Third Avenue Company, which asked 
 time to consider it. This was given, and the answer was 
 satisfactory to the men. A list of grievances was then pre- 
 sented to the Sixth Avenue Company. This was entirely 
 ignored, the company refusing to recognize the organization. 
 After three weeks, the company failing to come to any settle- 
 ment, a strike was ordered. After five hours, the company 
 consented to sign the agreement, and the men returned to 
 their places. The Broadway line was next in order, and after 
 a two weeks' delay a strike was ordered. It lasted only ten 
 hours, the company then signing the agreement. A strike on 
 the Fourth Avenue line then followed. The company soon 
 signed the agreement, but broke it in two weeks. After con- 
 sultations for five days, it refused to make another agreement.
 
 ARROGANCE OF RAILROAD OFFICIALS. 385 
 
 The men gave up their cars, and after sixteen hours they 
 made the first agreement that has been made with any rail- 
 road company in Brooklyn or New York. The smaller com- 
 panies readily complied with the demands of the men. 
 
 The Dry Dock Company was considered by the men the 
 hardest and most selfish corporation in New York city, and 
 they therefore left it until the last, believing that others who 
 had been helped by the Order would stand by it in the trouble 
 expected with this company. Being unable to secure even 
 recognition from the company, a strike was ordered, which 
 resulted in a settlement at the expiration of five days. The 
 committee from the Knights then waited upon President Jacob 
 Sharp, of the Bleecker Street and Twenty-third Street Rail- 
 road. He said he understood how to run a railroad, and that 
 he did not propose to allow any labor organization to dictate to 
 him how much he should pay his employees, nor how many 
 hours they should work. A strike was ordered, which in one 
 day brought Mr. Sharp to ' an agreement. This was to take 
 effect in ten days. He failed to keep it, saying he was mak- 
 ing only ten per cent, profit, and that he would work his 
 men as he pleased, without regard to any organization, etc. 
 The police commissioners and superintendent of police had 
 been witnesses to the first agreement, and they were now ap- 
 pealed to by the committee. After some discussion, the origi- 
 nal agreement was renewed. 
 
 Little or no trouble was experienced in Brooklyn until the 
 Broadway Company was reached. Its president refused to 
 answer verbally the questions of the committee, but wrote on 
 a sheet of paper that his men were satisfied, and that he would 
 stand no interference. A strike was therefore ordered, which, 
 in twenty hours, caused the president to send for the commit- 
 tee, with whom he made a settlement. After some three 
 weeks of hard work, an agreement was also made with the 
 Atlantic Avenue Company. 
 
 During all this time, the companies were doing all they 
 could to weed out the Knights from their employees. One 
 company had its men take an oath that they would not belong 
 to any labor organization. The Third Avenue Company
 
 386 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 failed to keep the agreement made in December. In January 
 and February, they agreed to right the grievances complained 
 of, but failed so to do. The men presented another list, April 
 1 5th. The company then refused to treat with the men 
 at all, and the latter appealed to the executive committee, 
 who tried to make a settlement ; but the president said his 
 board of directors had passed a resolution not to increase 
 wages, nor to have anything to do with the Knights of Labor 
 or any other organization. There were fourteen grievances 
 presented to him, thirteen relating to hours of labor, and one 
 asking for the discharge of six men. He gave only the last 
 to the representatives of the press, saying the company had 
 granted all else the men asked, and that now the men were 
 determined to strike, because the company would not dis- 
 charge their old and trustworthy employees. This strike, 
 after lasting several weeks, was settled. 
 
 During these months of conflict, the cpmpanies have dis- 
 charged about one hundred men, and blacklisted them, so that 
 some had to change their names in order to get work. The 
 assemblies have become so large that they have been split up 
 into twenty-three, with a membership of about 15,000, in- 
 cluding all classes employed by the companies. 
 
 In all of the cities and large towns, the employees of the 
 horse-railroad companies flocked into the Order of the 
 Knights of Labor. Strikes were entered into by the men 
 before they had learned anything of the objects or methods of 
 the Order. The student of the labor question will understand 
 why these men, who had been brutalized by long hours of 
 labor, should so suddenly order strikes, and that these strikes 
 should be followed by acts of violence. In large cities, like 
 New York, Chicago, and St. Louis, there is a large class of 
 men ready to join in any tumult, and to such men much of 
 the blame of unlawful deeds is due. 
 
 PAINTERS' UNION. 
 
 Since 1856, the painters of this country have been strug- 
 gling to bring about an organization of the craft that would 
 place them as artisans in a position to qommand that consid-
 
 PAINTERS' UNION. 387 
 
 eration and recognition from the employing class that at this 
 time many of the other branches of labor have arrived at. 
 
 Previous to this, scattered associations existed throughout 
 the country, and these only numbering from one-third to one- 
 half of the men working at the trade ; the same state of affairs 
 existing to-day, with the exception of a few of the larger cities, 
 where more perfect organization can be found. 
 
 In 1859, J onn Siney travelled through the country in his 
 work of establishing and building up the Moulders' Interna- 
 tional Union, and to his strong appeals to workingmen, urg- 
 ing them to action, was largely due the impetus given to 
 many of the trades in forming new unions and organizing old 
 ones that were drooping. 
 
 At this time an effort was made to found a national union 
 of painters, and the members of the Philadelphia association 
 took a lively interest in the matter. A convention was called 
 and formulated laws ; but after a brief existence the move- 
 ment perished, it being found impossible to persuade the 
 scattered bodies to come together and contribute to the 
 sustenance of a national body. 
 
 In 1871 the New York Operative and Benevolent Union, 
 the oldest and best-governed union of the trade now in exist- 
 ence, came to the front, and the Painters' Grand Lodge was 
 formed. This organization extended into several States, and 
 held four annual conventions, three in New York and one 
 in Baltimore. 
 
 At this period, the International Workingmen's Association 
 was making rapid strides, and many of the branches affiliated 
 with that body. It was at this time that the eight-hpur agita- 
 tion was made. The painters entered into the movement with 
 great zeal ; and the first demand made and the first victory 
 won for shorter hours, both in the North and West, entitle 
 the craft to the honor of claiming to be " the pioneers of the 
 eight-hour movement." 
 
 The grand lodge, as far as its means would warrant, made 
 every effort possible to extend its influence, and at one time 
 things looked quite cheering ; but the great panic that came 
 upon the country at this time causing the overthrow of so
 
 388 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 many labor organizations, among which was the young and 
 struggling association of the painters seemed to put a 
 damper upon them, from which they are just beginning to 
 recover. In a great many localities, the Knights of Labor 
 have succeeded in annexing the local painters' unions ; but it 
 is very generally urged that that organization, while having 
 noble aims, is, with its complicated machinery and its thou- 
 sands of inexperienced members who have been (contrary to 
 its principles and the object of its founders) admitted to its 
 folds, quite too tardy in action, and too unwieldy to prop- 
 erly legislate for any single craft. 
 
 The hope is now revived that a national brotherhood of 
 painters and decorators will at once be instituted, with some 
 twenty to twenty-five States to begin with. A provisional 
 national committee has been formed, and communication 
 opened w r ith all parts of the country ; letters are reaching 
 us from all points, and we may safely promise that, after May 
 next, will be found a new army of workmen organized and in 
 the field. 
 
 NATIONAL SILK AND FUR HAT-FINISHERS ' ASSOCIATION. 
 
 Hatters' guilds were established in England, many years 
 ago ; from them the trade in this country derived its funda- 
 mental laws. The first association in this land was established 
 in Philadelphia, in 1836 ; in New York, in 1845 ; in Boston, 
 in 1850. The National Association was formed in 1854. ^^ 
 "locals" have their own laws, subject to the Central or Na- 
 tional. They have no strikes, and, as their work is piece- 
 paid, they have no stated hours of labor. Their relations with 
 employers are amicable. Any difficulty arising in "locals" is 
 referred, with evidence sent, to the National Board of Directors. 
 Instructions are then sent. If they fail, an officer is sent to inter- 
 view the parties, and he reports to the board. The decision is 
 final. In the principal cities, the associations are protective 
 as well as benevolent. A strict discipline is enforced among 
 them regarding their duties. Apprentices are registered, and 
 serve four years prior to being 21. They must learn, at least, 
 two of the three branches, and must maintain good moral
 
 FREE FROM STRIKES. 389 
 
 character. The mission of the association is to assist all 
 legitimate trades-unions with material aid when struggling for 
 a principle ; to carry comfort and aid to our distressed, medi- 
 cine and proper attendance to the sick ; and to furnish burial 
 to the dead wife or husband. This free land never need be 
 ashamed of such men in trades-unions. In fact, they consitute 
 a bulwark of its ablest defenders. 
 
 NEW YORK STEREOTYPERS' ASSOCIATION. 
 
 This union was instituted September 8, 1863. It was 
 started with about forty men. The trade at that time was not 
 very extensive, stereotyping being used exclusively on book- 
 work and occasionally on jobbing. Now all the daily papers 
 are stereotyped, and books are electrotyped. From its or- 
 ganization up to the present day, it has been one of the most 
 successful trades-unions in New York, seldom if ever having 
 trouble in the shops, free from strikes, and commanding the 
 highest wages, beside having an admirable apprenticeship 
 law, which is vigorously enforced. The union numbers about 
 125 members. Wages are, for day-hands, $4 per day; for 
 night-men, $4 per night. As a general rule, the men are 
 seldom out of employment, the periods of trade depression 
 lasting but a few weeks. The organization has no connec- 
 tion with any national or international union. Many of this 
 trade are members of the Knights of Labor, and a movement 
 is being made to found a National Trade District. 
 
 JOURNEYMEN TAILORS' NATIONAL UNION. 
 
 The Journeymen Tailors' National Trades-Union was or- 
 ganized in Philadelphia, in 1865, and continued in existence 
 till 1886, when the last convention was held in that city. 
 It collapsed in consequence of the depression of business, and 
 its resisting reductions during those years ; also the treasurer, 
 John T. Walsh, absconded with the entire funds, of which he 
 had complete control in 1885. He disappeared just previous 
 to the convention, which was held in St. Louis, in August, 
 1885, taking with him about $3,000. During the union's ex-
 
 390 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 istence, J. Worstadt, of New York, was president, and S. C. 
 Hougendobler, of Philadelphia, was secretary. In 1885, the 
 National Union was composed of thirty-five locals and about 
 4,000 members. The monthly dues were ten cents, and it paid 
 $9 per week in case of strike. 
 
 The Journeymen Tailors' National Union was founded at 
 Philadelphia, at a conference called in the fall of 1883. In 
 August, 1884, at the convention held in Chicago, the present 
 constitution was adopted. It provided for the appointment of 
 an executive board of seven, who should have a supervision 
 over all strikes, declared in favor of arbitration, and selected 
 for officers John B. Lennon, of Denver, Col., president; 
 Joseph Wilkinson, of New York, secretary, and Fred Wer- 
 ner, of New York, treasurer. It also provided for the appoint- 
 ment of three trustees to guard the funds, together with a 
 bond from the treasurer. In 1885, the convention was held in 
 Baltimore, and elected for officers, Charles H. Sharp, of 
 Philadelphia, president; Joseph Wilkinson of New York, 
 secretary; Fred Werner, of New York, treasurer. 
 
 The National Union, during its existence, has engaged in 
 a number of strikes, in most of which it has come out victori- 
 ous ; but its chief good has been in preventing strikes and re- 
 ductions, because being composed of most all the first-class 
 tailors in the United States, an employer will think twice 
 before he will encounter such a body in an unjust demand. 
 
 THE TELEGRAPHERS' NATIONAL UNION. 
 
 The telegraphers, as a rule, situated as they are, with their 
 fingers on the arteries of intelligence and news, have been 
 very susceptible to the agitation in the labor movement and 
 its consequent organization. After the war, a great number 
 of military telegraph operators were thrown into the ranks of 
 the commercial operators, causing disarrangement in wages 
 and competition for places. This, in connection with the then 
 existing labor agitation, led to the formation of a Telegraph- 
 ers' National Union, in 1870, and a strike of short duration 
 in 1871, which resulted unsuccessfully, many of the best men 
 leaving the profession, as it is termed by operators, for more
 
 TELEGRAPHERS NATIONAL UNION. 
 
 391 
 
 lucrative methods of earning a livelihood. This was followed 
 by a short local strike of the unions in San Francisco and 
 Sacramento, CaL, which comprised nearly all the operators 
 in the State. After the unsuccessful termination of this strike, 
 organization slumbered till the fall of 1882, when a few opera- 
 tors in Pittsburgh, Penn., formed an assembly of the Knights 
 of Labor, and bore the expense of sending organizers to the 
 principal Eastern cities. At about the same time another 
 union, called the " Brotherhood of Telegraphers," modelled on 
 somewhat the same principles as the Brotherhood of Loco- 
 motive Engineers, was formed in the West, and the various 
 local bodies soon after amalgamated, under the name of the 
 Brotherhood of Telegraphers, District 45, Knights of Labor. 
 In May, 1883, the question of whether a strike should be or- 
 dered on the lines of all the telegraph companies was sent to 
 all the local bodies, to be voted upon, the result being an 
 overwhelming vote in the affirmative. Accordinglv, July 
 19, 1883, the word was sent over the wires in cipher from 
 Pittsburgh, by John Campbell, District Master Workman, 
 and at noon all the commercial operators, all over the United 
 States and Canada, left their keys, and marched out in a body 
 w r hen the whistle the signal agreed on was blown. Offices 
 everywhere, in large cities and in country hamlets, were left 
 silent and deserted. The press operators and the broker 
 operators were left as the only means of furnishing telegraph 
 accommodations, and perhaps for the first time the public 
 realized its dependence on this means of swift intercommuni- 
 cation. From July i9th to August i7th, nearly a month, the 
 contest was waged between the men and the companies, with 
 varying success, two of the companies, the American Rapid 
 and the Bankers' and Merchants', having acceded to the de- 
 mands of the men, which were a general fifteen per cent, 
 advance and the abolition of Sunday-work without pay, and 
 of other minor grievances. On the latter date, August i7th, 
 the strike was declared off" and the men ordered back to 
 work in a body, by an order from the same source which 
 brought them out. This was generally obeyed, and the men 
 went back in a body, most of them obtaining their old posi-
 
 392 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 tions. The companies abolished the Sunday-work without 
 pay ; and, as all were paid by the month, the month was 
 reckoned at 26 or 27 days, when formerly it was estimated at 
 30 or 31 days. Where a man was paid $60 for performing 
 30 days' work, he now receives $60 for performing 26 days' 
 work. It cost the Western Union Telegraph Company 
 $500,000 extraordinary expenses and an estimated loss of 
 receipts of nearly $1,500,000 more, and the company has 
 never fully recovered from the blow, followed, as it was, 
 by the active competition of the Baltimore & Ohio Telegraph 
 Company and other companies. There were some individual 
 cases of hardship among the men, but they were compara- 
 tively few when the vast aggregate of cases, about 67,000 in 
 all, is considered. It being in the summer, many took it as a 
 summer vacation, which few had enjoyed, owing to the great 
 rush due to the opening of summer offices in beaches and 
 watering-places. The companies, since this strike, seeing 
 that the men had not preserved their organization, displaced 
 as rapidly as possible the higher-paid men by a cheaper 
 grade, until the average was brought very low. The oper- 
 ators have at last, however, plucked up courage, and have 
 secretly reorganized, until they have an organization called 
 the " Telegraphers' Protective Union," which is said to num- 
 ber 8,000 operators in all. 
 
 THE NATIONAL WOOD-CARVERS' ASSOCIATION. 
 
 This association was organized in Philadelphia, in January, 
 1883, by delegates from local associations in New York, Bos- 
 ton, Philadelphia, New Haven and Cincinnati.. The New 
 York association was quite an old organization, and had 
 passed through many vicissitudes ; the others were compara- 
 tively young. A convention was held in October of the same 
 year at Cincinnati, when the original constitution was 
 thoroughly revised. The next convention was held in New 
 York, October, 1884, and the last in Boston, October, 1885, 
 when the plan of holding biennial conventions was adopted, 
 instead of annually, the organization having become so per- 
 fected that annual conventions were deemed unnecessary.
 
 WOOL-HAT FINISHERS. 
 
 393 
 
 At the present time, there are two associations in New York, 
 and one each in Philadelphia, Boston, New Haven, Cincin- 
 nati, St. Louis, and Grand Rapids, Mich. The association 
 has a central committee, composed of the recording and cor- 
 responding secretary in one person, a financial secretary, 
 treasurer and three trustees, elected by the "local" in the 
 places elected by the convention for the location of the com- 
 mittee ; and this committee carries on the business of the 
 National Association, and also has a board of supervisors, 
 located in another city, composed of five members, elected 
 in the same manner as the central committee, who have a 
 certain control over the central committee, and power to sus- 
 pend any member of the whole central committee for cause, 
 and order a new election. The association has had several 
 strikes, and been successful in all until, the recent eight-hour 
 strikes, which were not entirely successful. It adopted the 
 principle, on the start, that a strike should not be entered into 
 except for good and substantial cause, and after all other 
 means had been exhausted for an adjustment, and then only 
 if there was a reasonable certainty of being able to carry it 
 through successfully. In pursuance of this policy, it has 
 been successful when the power of the association was con- 
 centrated upon a single individual or corporation. The 
 present central committee is located in New York, where the 
 next convention is to be held in October, 1877, and the board 
 of supervisors in New Haven, Conn. 
 
 WOOL-HAT FINISHERS' ASSOCIATION. 
 
 The date of organization of this association, or, as it used 
 to be called, "Hatters' Society," is unknown to any of the 
 oldest hatters living. The old hatters say they have never 
 heard of the time that it was not a trades-union. It was a 
 well-organized society in olden times ; and, in fact, up to 
 1840, all hats were made by hand. When a boy was put to 
 the trade, he had to serve so long a time at each branch of 
 the business that when out of his time he could take the fur 
 or wool and turn it out a hat. In a large number of the 
 shops, they made fur and wool-hats. These they called
 
 394 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 "costume shops," where a man would go in, and leave his 
 order for a single hat of whatever style he wanted. At this 
 time, the makers, blockers, and finishers were all in one 
 society, and the fur and wool-workers recognized each 
 others' card. The first introduction of machinery in hatting 
 was got up by Mr. Messer, one of the oldest hatters now 
 living, being now eighty-seven years of age. He got up a 
 lathe for finishing hats, and sent the papers and a model of 
 the lathe to Washington, for the purpose of obtaining letters- 
 patent on his invention. But, unfortunately for him, the 
 Patent Office was burned down, and with it the model and 
 paper. Shortly after this, the demand for hats increased, so 
 that the Taylor sizing-machine and fulling-mills took the 
 place of hand-work. A man sizing or making hats by hand 
 would average two dozen and a half per day, while a fulling- 
 mill would do twenty-four dozen, thus driving all hand- 
 made work out. Probably there is no wool-shop to-day 
 where they make hand-sized hats. There are still a few of 
 the Taylor machines used for fine vitriol-hats. 
 
 With the introduction of machinery, hand-blocking has in 
 a great measure passed away. 
 
 There is no class of workmen more zealous in upholding 
 trades-unions than hatters. The first employer that tried to 
 break up the union was James H. Prentice, of Brooklyn, in 
 1863. He fought them until he became a bankrupt. The 
 second strike of importance to the trade was in John T. 
 Waring's shop, in Yonkers, N. Y., in 1866, for prices. 
 This was a hard fight on both sides. John T. Waring suc- 
 ceeded, with the help of a number of non-union men from 
 Prentice's shop, in Brooklyn, in making his shop "foul," or 
 independent. In 1868, the independent men of Waring's 
 shop became dissatisfied at the task imposed on them for a 
 day's work ; and, when one of the men remonstrated to one 
 of the employers, he was discharged. The other men 
 about fifty finishers left the shop in 'a body. The " fair " hat- 
 ters in Baldwin & Flagg's tried to help them secure a fair 
 settlement; but some of the strikers turned traitors, and 
 Waring was again able to run his shop. About twenty-
 
 TWO IMPORTANT STRIKES. 395 
 
 five of the strikers joined the Hatters' Union, in Yonkers. 
 At that time, local societies were wholly independent. Sev- 
 eral old journeymen at Yonkers among whom were Robert 
 Savage, Patrick Curran, Thomas Davis, Thomas Daley, 
 and Thomas Nevins met, and advised the forming of a 
 national organization. 
 
 Letters were sent to all local secretaries, asking them to take 
 action on bringing all local associations under one national 
 association. All the associations were in favor of it, and on 
 the yth day of April, 1869, delegates from every "fair" shop 
 in the State met in Danbury, Conn., and organized the 
 National Association, by electing Mr. F. A. Lewis, president, 
 and D. F. Nolan, national secretary, with a supervising 
 committee as a board of arbitration. 
 
 A preamble was adopted, urging the necessity of organiza- 
 tion to elevate the trade, and to protect the workmen against 
 the encroachments of employers. The delegates pledged 
 themselves to strive " to secure to us our rights as journeymen 
 hatters, and to our employers theirs as capitalists." 
 
 The growth of the business soon caused independent or 
 "foul" shops to start up, and there was more or less antago- 
 nism between the "fair" and "foul" hatters. In 1876, an or- 
 ganization was affected among the independent men, who 
 joined the " fair " association as fast as they proved themselves 
 worthy and so desired. At the Annual Convention, in New 
 York, May 12, 1884, it was voted that every hat-shop in the 
 country be made " fair," and all under the jurisdiction of the 
 United States Wool Hat-Finishers' Association, with C. Oat- 
 man Osborne as president, and Archibald M. Taylor as 
 national secretary. This consolidation pleased the employ- 
 ers, for their interests are guarded as well as the journey- 
 men's. Two important strikes occured in 1884. Lewis 
 Tompkins, of the Dutchess Hat-Works, at Fishkill Landing, 
 found fault because his shop was made " fair," and gave his 
 men notice that he should employ only non-society men. His 
 men declined, with a few exceptions, to work on those terms, 
 and have been out ever since. The other strike, the last of 
 any importance, was in W. B. Thorn's factory, at Haverhill,
 
 396 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 Mass., on December 9, 1884. Mr. Thorn notified his fin- 
 ishers of a ten per cent, reduction, to take effect on the i5th. 
 He was then paying ten per cent, less than union prices, and 
 monthly payments. When he advanced money to his help 
 before pay-day, he charged five per cent, a month interest. 
 This trouble is still unsettled.
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 CAUSE FOR FOUNDING THE ORDER GARMENT-CUTTERS' ASSOCIATION 
 NEED OF SECRECY FIRST MEETING NAMES OF THE FOUNDERS 
 TAKING THE OBLIGATION NAME ADOPTED URIAH S. STEPHEN-S- 
 ELECTION OF OFFICERS FIRST OFFICERS PURVEYOR APPOINTED 
 FIRST ANNUAL ADDRESS OF URIAH S. STEPHENS SHIP-CARPENTERS 
 AND CALKERS JOIN THE ORDER THE FIRST TWENTY LOCALS DIS- 
 TRICT ASSEMBLY, No. i, FOUNDED GENERAL ASSEMBLY FORMED, 
 1878 OFFICERS ELECTED SECOND SESSION OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY 
 ADDRESS OF GRAND MASTER WORKMAN PROFOUND SECRECY THE 
 FIVE STARS MAKING THE NAME PUBLIC THIRD SESSION AD- 
 DRESS OF THE GRAND MASTER WORKMAN ELECTION OF T. V. Pow- 
 DERLY AS GRAND MASTER WORKMAN FOURTH SESSION ADDRESS 
 
 OF T. V. POWDERLY ABOLISH THE WAGE-SYSTEM Co-OPERATION 
 
 FIFTH SESSION SIXTH SESSION ATTEMPTS TO CREATE DIVISION 
 THE BOYCOTT BLACKLISTING BRUTAL TREATMENT DEATH OF 
 URIAH S. STEPHENS SEVENTH SESSION ADDRESS OF THE GRAND 
 MASTER WORKMAN STRIKES DISCOUNTENANCED POLITICAL ACTION 
 HUNGARIANS IN THE COKE REGIONS TRADE-MARK OR LABEL 
 ADOPTED IN 1884 NINTH SESSION PINKERTON'S DETECTIVES 
 QUESTION OF EDUCATION ADDRESS OF THE GENERAL MASTER 
 WORKMAN SPECIAL SESSION RELATIONS OF TRADES-UNIONS 
 STRIKES ARBITRATION CO-OPERATION RAPID GROWTH OF THE 
 ORDER. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, the City of Brotherly Love, the home 
 of Lippard and of the Brotherhood of the Union, has 
 the honor of being the birth-place of the Noble Order of 
 the Knights of Labor. 
 
 In 1862 or 1863, the garment-cutters of Philadelphia organ- 
 ized an association, and, desiring to obtain a charter from the 
 State, added to the usual features of such associations that of 
 co-operation. It was, practically, a trades-union, and had for 
 a time considerable influence in the trade. 
 
 After the ups and downs, failures and successes, incident to 
 such organizations, it was finally decided to dissolve and 
 
 (397)
 
 398 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 divide the fund among the members, which amounted to 
 $89.79. This action was finally taken on December 9, 
 1869. 
 
 For a year and a half prior to this time, the formation of 
 a secret society had been frequently discussed. 
 
 Every movement of the union was known to the employers, 
 and members were constantly in danger of discharge ; and, 
 hence, it was very difficult to find earnest and active members 
 who were willing to serve on committees. The attendance at 
 the meetings was necessarily very small at times, not even 
 a quorum being present to transact business. 
 
 On November 25, 1869, a committee had been appointed 
 to prepare a plan of reorganization. This committee made 
 a partial report at the meeting on the evening of December 9. 
 The report provoked much discussion, the committee favoring 
 the formation of a secret society. It was during this discussion 
 that the motion to dissolve was made and carried. 
 
 Immediately upon the dissolution of the meeting, those 
 who were in favor of forming a secret society remained. 
 Mr. James L. Wright, as president of the former associa- 
 tion, called the meeting to order, and appointed Robert C. 
 Macauley secretary, he having occupied that position in the 
 old association. 
 
 The following-named persons then agreed to form a secret 
 society: James L. Wright, Robert C. Macauley, Joseph S. 
 Kennedy, William Cook, Robert W. Keen, U. S. Stephens, 
 James M. Hilsee, David Westcott, W. H. Phillips, Washing- 
 ton Shields. 
 
 The chair then, on motion, appointed Robert W. Keen, 
 U. S. Stephens, David Westcott, Joseph S. Kennedy, James 
 M. Hilsee as a committee to prepare a secret work. Mr. 
 Wright, the chairman, and Mr. Macauley, the secretary, 
 were added to the committee. The meeting then adjourned 
 to meet at the same place, America Hose Company's 
 House, Jane street, below Seventh, on December 23, 1869. 
 
 During the interval between the time of adjournment and 
 the time fixed for the next meeting, the committee met at the 
 house of Mr. Joseph S. Kennedy, on Green street, above
 
 THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR. 
 
 399 
 
 Ninth. On December 23d, they met according to adjourn- 
 ment. No business of importance was transacted, except that 
 they resolved to meet at the house of Mr. Kennedy on De- 
 cember 28th. On that date it was announced that they had 
 secured a hall in the United States Fire-Engine House, Fourth 
 street, above Vine, for $1.50 per night. The Committee on 
 Ritual made a partial report, and the following persons being 
 present subscribed their names to the obligation : 
 
 Uriah S. Stephens, James L. Wright, Robert C. Macau- 
 ley, James M. Hilsee, William Cook, Robert W. Keen, 
 Joseph S. Kennedy. 
 
 At this meeting, upon motion of Mr. Wright, the new or- 
 ganization was named the " Knights of Labor." And, from 
 this humble beginning, in the house of a garment-cutter, within 
 sound of the old " Liberty Bell " that rang out the war against 
 the monarchical system of government, and proclaimed liberty 
 to the people, there went forth a new declaration of war 
 against the monarchical system of labor, and the proclamation 
 of a new era of liberty, of peace and plenty. 
 
 Here, in this house^ these seven men founded an organiza- 
 tion in whose power now rests, perhaps, the destinies of the 
 Republic. Under the standard that they lifted at this Christ- 
 mas season of 1869, a standard of peace and good-will to 
 all good-willing men, a peaceful army of a million workers 
 now rally. These heretofore unknown men, who stood the 
 jeers of their fellows in the early days of the organization, 
 now bear modestly the accumulating honors due their long- 
 continued years of honorable service. One of them, the 
 first Grand Master Workman, whose words were of wisdom, 
 unswerving fealty, and untiring effort, has passed away, his 
 body lies in an unmarked grave in the Odd Fellows' Ceme- 
 tery in Philadelphia, near the last resting-place of George 
 W. Lippard, the founder of the " Brotherhood of the Union." 
 Uriah S. Stephens is not forgotten. His pictured face looks 
 down from the walls of the assembly-rooms upon the thou- 
 sands who are building a monument of gratitude to his 
 memory, not in crumbling granite, but in the building of an 
 organization seeking the ends he sought, and that shall, if
 
 4OO THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 true to its- mission, witness the culmination of his hopes ; but, 
 as the heart-love of the people seeks expression by outward 
 signs, the day is not far distant when the small contributions 
 of the many shall lift a shaft ever pointing upward, on whose 
 entableted sides the people of the future shall read the story 
 of a peaceful revolution. 
 
 The next meeting convened in the new hall, on Thursday, 
 December 3Oth, Thursday having been chosen as the regu- 
 lar meeting night, from which custom Local Assembly i has 
 never departed. At this meeting, six candidates were pro- 
 posed and elected. 
 
 At the meeting of January 6, 1870, David Westcott, who was 
 present at the first meeting, subscribed to the obligation, and 
 the titles of the several offices were fixed, and five more candi- 
 dates were elected. At this meeting, Mr. Stephens took the 
 chair for the first time, Mr. Wright having served in that 
 capacity up to this date. 
 
 On January 13, 1870, the following officers were elected, 
 and took their several positions for the ensuing term : Vener- 
 able Sage, Past-Officer, James L. Wright; Master Workman, 
 U. S. Stephens; Worthy Foreman, Robert W. Keen; 
 Worthy Inspector, William Cook ; Unknown Knight, Joseph 
 S. Kennedy. On January 27th, the following additional 
 nominations were made : for Recording Secretary, John W. 
 Breen ; Financial Secretary, G. W. Cook ; Treasurer, 
 Joseph S. Kennedy. On February 3d, the office of Statisti- 
 cian was created, and Robert C. Macauley was elected to that 
 position. The officers nominated at the previous meeting 
 were elected, and took their respective stations. 
 
 The affairs of the assembly ran along smoothly, working 
 in the utmost secrecy, the name of the organization or its 
 object never being divulged. It was the habit of the assem- 
 bly to meet immediately after working-hours, a custom that 
 still prevails in some garment-cutters' assemblies at this date. 
 It was this practice that led to the establishment of the office 
 of purveyor, so that refreshments might be served to the 
 members ; and, as it was the custom of the purveyor to carry 
 a large teapot always in the same direction and on the same
 
 THE TEAPOT SOCIETY. 
 
 401 
 
 evening of the week, the assembly became known as the 
 "Teapot Society." This pot was carried to the meeting-room 
 for the purpose of preparing coffee ; for these men were not 
 addicted to the use of intoxicating liquors. 
 
 The dissolution of the old society created quite a commo- 
 tion among the garment-cutters of the city, who immediately 
 set about reorganizing their association. They were quite 
 successful, attaining a membership of seven or eight hundred. 
 Those who joined the Knights of Labor did not again join the 
 Garment-cutters' Association. A rivalry sprang up among 
 the garment-cutters ; and the reorganized association passed a 
 resolution forbidding any of its members joining any other 
 association, open or secret, of their branch of trade, under 
 pain of expulsion. Hence, when one of their number ab- 
 sented himself from the meetings and neglected to pay his 
 dues, he was suspended, and an obituary notice inserted after 
 his name in the records, "Gone to join the Teapot Society." 
 The rival association continued in existence for four years, 
 when it finally collapsed, and to-day is known as a local 
 assembly of the Knights of Labor. 
 
 The little band continued to initiate members, and from 
 time to time added to its ritual, which was not completed for 
 a long time afterwards. 
 
 The first quarterly report showed a membership of twenty- 
 eight, with the finances in a flourishing condition. 
 
 In the early part of May, 1870, public meetings of the gar- 
 ment-cutters were inaugurated, for the purpose of increasing 
 the membership, by discussing questions of interest to the 
 trade ; but the name of the new Order was carefully kept 
 secret. 
 
 These meetings had a beneficial effect, as the membership 
 at the time of the second quarterly report was forty-three, an 
 increase of fifteen ; and the finances were still in good condi- 
 tion. The third quarterly report showed an increase of nine, 
 fifty-two members then being in good standing. 
 
 On October 5, 1870, occurred the first death, that of 
 Henry A. Senning, he having died on that day, aged 35. 
 
 On December 29, 1870, the second election occurred, and 
 
 (26)
 
 4O2 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 all the officers were re-elected. The first annual report, of 
 January 5, 1871, showed a membership of sixty-nine in good 
 standing. 
 
 At the meeting of January 12, 1871, Mr. Stephens, Master 
 Workman, made the following address to the Assembly : 
 
 A cycle has ended, the first in our history, and bears its record of 
 labors and toils to the dead sea of the past. During the year God's toilers 
 have worked and wept as of yore; the brain has throbbed and the heart has 
 beat for wrongs they were powerless to right. Busy industry has struggled 
 to heap in the lap of the world's commerce the usual amount of values, 
 
 "Rich in model and design; 
 Harvest-tool and husbandry, 
 Loom and wheel, and engin'ry, 
 Secrets of the sullen mine, 
 Steel, and gold, and corn, and wine, 
 Fabric rough or fairy fine, 
 Sunny tokens of the line, 
 Polar marvels and a feast 
 Of wonders out of West and East." 
 
 And while the toiler is thus engaged in creating the world's value, how 
 fares his own interest and well-being? We answer, "Badly," for he has too 
 little time, and his faculties become too much blunted by unremitting labor 
 to analyze his condition or devise and perfect financial schemes or reforma- 
 tory measures. The hours of labor are too long, and should be shortened. I 
 recommend a universal movement to cease work at five o'clock Saturday after- 
 noon, as a beginning. There should be a greater participation in the profits 
 of labor by the industrious and intelligent laborer. In the present arrange- 
 ments of labor and capital, the condition of the employee is simply that of 
 wage-slavery, capital dictating, labor submitting; capital superior, labor 
 inferior. 
 
 This is an artificial and man-created condition, not God's arrangement and 
 order; for it degrades man and ennobles mere pelf. It demeans those who 
 live by useful labor, and, in proportion, exalts all those who eschew labor and 
 live (no matter by what pretence or respectable cheat for cheat it is) without 
 productive work. 
 
 Living by and on the labor of others is dishonest, and should be branded as 
 such. Labor and capital should treat each other as equals. 
 
 Let us hint to the world, in broad and unmistakable terms, our demands. 
 
 Where lies the fault that this condition of things exists? Mainly with our- 
 selves. Disjointed and inharmonious, no concerted action, not even much 
 mutual respect.' Prone to defer to wealth, to respect pretension and bow 
 to assumption, instead of boldly stripping it of its mask and exposing its hid- 
 eousness. 
 
 What is the remedy? Cultivate friendship among the great brotherhood of 
 toil; learn to respect industry in the person of every intelligent worker; un- 
 mask the shams of life by deference to the humble but useful craftsman ; beget
 
 MASTER WORKMAN'S ADDRESS. 
 
 43 
 
 concert of action by conciliation, confidence by just and upright conduct 
 toward each other; mutual respect by dignified deportment; and wise coun- 
 sels by what of wisdom and ability God, in his wisdom and goodness, has en- 
 dowed us with. 
 
 In our own sphere and circle much has been done in the year that is passed ; 
 much preparation before the foundation could be laid, much material to 
 be gathered. A retrospect of the year is satisfactory. Several have been 
 steadied in their situations, some have been changed to better, and many have 
 been assisted to vacancies they would not have known of. All this, and more, 
 has been done, and all has tended toward the central point of keeping the re- 
 muneration up to a satisfactory standard. Influences are at work to reduce 
 the standard. This must be watched vigilantly, and, if necessary, an effort 
 must be made to counteract the evil, by public open work, by blows in the 
 right place, that will tell and hurt; for all evils have their vulnerable points, 
 and can be reached. There is work for the ready hand and willing heart; an 
 abundant harvest awaits the reaper. 
 
 Let us be aroused. Labor's interests have suffered long enough, because 
 the interested ones have neglected to take care of them ; unwise counsels have 
 too long prevailed ; suspicion and distrust have too long kept us apart. Let 
 us reason together, and let our reasonings bear the fruit of action. 
 
 Knighthood must base its claims for labor upon higher grounds than par- 
 ticipation in the profits and emoluments and a lessening of the hours of 
 toil and fatigues of labor. These are only physical effects, and objects of a 
 grosser nature, and, although imperative, are but stepping-stcnes to a higher 
 cause, a nobler nature. The real and ultimate reasons must be based upon 
 the more exalted and divine nature of man, his high and noble capabilities 
 for good. Excess of labor and small pay stunts, and blunts, and degrades 
 those god-like faculties, until the image of God, in .which he is created and 
 intended by his great Creator to exhibit, are scarcely discernible, and igno- 
 rance boldly asserts that it does not exist. 
 
 Time will not permit us to reason out the details, or enforce them by argu- 
 ment, but we must leave their development to your own thought and investi- 
 gation. To God and your own best judgment I leave the cause. Prophecy 
 and inspiration assert the ultimate triumph of the principle. 
 
 In March, 1871, Messrs. Stephens and Breen began a 
 correspondence with the coal-miners and nail-cutters of Penn- 
 sylvania, this being the first outside work. At the begin- 
 ning of 1872, Robert C. Macauley was called to the chair, 
 as Master Workman, Mr. Stephens declining a nomination for 
 a third term. The ship-carpenters and calkers employed in 
 Cramp's ship-yard, on the Delaware, true to the traditions 
 of their craft as pioneers, organized the first local assembly, 
 outside of Assembly No. i, in 1872. Prior to this, Assembly 
 No. i had initiated some plumbers, paper-hangers, and paint- 
 ers, admitting them into the original assembly. They, how-
 
 404 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 ever, were termed "sojourners," not paying any dues nor being 
 allowed to vote. They were initiated, that they might work 
 for organization in their respective crafts ; but, up to the 
 organization of Local Assembly No. 2, attempts at organiza- 
 tion outside the original assembly were unsuccessful. After 
 Local Assembly No. 2 had been organized, the Order 
 spread rapidly, no less than twenty assemblies being or- 
 ganized in Philadelphia during that year, as follows : No. 3, 
 Shawl-weavers; No. 4, Carpet-weavers; No. 5, Riggers: 
 No. 6, Carpet-weavers ; No. 7, Stone-masons ; No. 8, 
 Bag-makers ; No. 9, Machinists and Blacksmiths ; No. ip t 
 Stone-cutters; No. n, Wool-sorters ; No. 12, Machinists 
 and Blacksmiths; No. 13, Tin-plate and Sheet-iron Work- 
 ers ; No. 14, Steel-makers; No. 15, Pattern-makers and 
 Moulders; No. 16, Shopsmiths ; No. 17, Machinists, Black- 
 smiths, and Boiler-makers ; No. 18, House-carpenters, Ship- 
 joiners, Millwrights, and Cabinet-makers ; No. 19, Bricklay- 
 ers ; No. 20, Gold-beaters. 
 
 The first local assembly to be organized outside of Phila- 
 delphia was No. 28, composed of gold-beaters of New York 
 City. The second local organized outside ,of Philadelphia 
 was No. 30, Ship-carpenters and Calkers, of Wilmington, 
 Del. The third was No. 31, of the same craft, in Camden, 
 N. J. This assembly is now known, however, as a shoe- 
 makers' assembly. 
 
 Up to this time the ritual was neither written nor printed, 
 the officers of Local Assembly No. i being compelled to 
 found new locals, and fill the offices until their own officers 
 had acquired a sufficient knowledge of the secret work to con- 
 duct the meetings. The organization spread so rapidly that 
 the Committee on Ritual was appointed Committee on the 
 Good of the Order, and to them all matters of dispute arising 
 in the local assemblies were submitted for final adjudication. 
 This committee was practically the first district assembly in 
 the Order, performing all the functions of a district assembly. 
 This work, however, became too arduous, and the committee 
 began to construct a ritual for a higher body, to be known as 
 a " district assembly."
 
 DISTRICT ASSEMBLIES. 
 
 405 
 
 A communication was sent from Local Assembly No. i to 
 the various locals then in existence, notifying them to send 
 delegates for the purpose of founding a district assembly. 
 These delegates met on Christmas Day, 1873, and founded 
 District Assembly No. i. The committee of Local Assembly 
 No. i thereupon surrendered all its powers to the district assem- 
 bly. This district assembly did not receive a charter, however, 
 until August 19, 1878, when all district assemblies formed prior 
 to that date received charters from the General Assembly. 
 The charter of District Assembly No. i is dated back to 
 Christmas Day, 1873, to legalize what had been done by that 
 body up to the foundation of the General Assembly. 
 
 The following local assemblies composed District Assembly 
 No. i at the time of its formation: No. i, Garment-cutters; 
 No. 17, Blacksmiths and Boiler-makers; No. 23, Carpet- 
 weavers; No. 31, Ship-carpenters and Calkers, Camden, 
 N. J. ; No. 53, Cigar-makers, Philadelphia; No. 64, Shoe- 
 makers, Philadelphia; No. 84; No. 116, Stove-mounters, 
 Philadelphia; No. 131, Bolt-makers, Philadelphia; No. 260, 
 Train-hands, Philadelphia; No. 262, Philadelphia. 
 
 The continued increase in membership and in the number 
 of local assemblies was such, that before the end of the year 
 1877 new district assemblies had been organized, as follows : 
 District Assembly No. 2, in New Jersey; District Assembly 
 No. 3, in Pittsburgh; District Assembly No. 4, in Reading, 
 Penn. ; District Assembly No. 5, in Charleston, S. C. ; Dis- 
 trict Assembly No. 6, in New Haven, Conn. ; District Assem- 
 bly No. 7, in Akron, O. ; District Assembly No. 8, in Pitts- 
 burgh, Penn. ; District Assembly No. 9, in West Elizabeth, 
 Penn. ; and others, to the number of at least fifteen. 
 
 Up to the beginning of the year 1878, the various branches 
 of the Order had, by tacit consent, regarded District Assembly 
 No. i as the head of authority ; and that district assembly, 
 by its officers, issued a call for a convention of delegates from 
 the several district assemblies, which was accordingly held 
 at Reading, Penn., January i, 1878, and a General Assem- 
 bly of the Order was formed, with a constitution, and three 
 salaried officers.
 
 406 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 Uriah S. Stephens was chosen temporary chairman, but 
 was called away by business before the end of the session, 
 which lasted four days, yet in his* absence he was chosen 
 Grand Master Workman. Ralph Beaumont, of Elmira, N. Y. , 
 was chosen Grand Worthy Foreman; Charles H. Litchman, 
 of Marblehead, Mass., Grand Secretary; John G. Laning, of 
 Clifton, West Va., Grand Assistant Secretary; and Thomas 
 M. Gallagher, of St. Louis, Mo., Grand Treasurer, for the 
 ensuing year. 
 
 Among the delegates to this First General Assembly was 
 T. V. Powderly, representing District Assembly 5, of Scran- 
 ton, Penn. The number of this District Assembly was after- 
 wards changed to 16. There were present, delegates from 
 seven States, representing the following trades, viz. : Gar- 
 ment-cutters, miners, shoemakers, machinists, locomotive 
 engineers, stationary engineers, glass-workers, moulders, 
 printers, coopers, blacksmiths, boiler-makers, nail-packers, 
 teachers, and carpenters. 
 
 The Declaration of Principles adopted at this convention 
 contained fifteen planks, which are the first fifteen in the 
 present Declaration of Principles. 
 
 The chairman of the Committee on Constitution, who prob- 
 ably had this in charge, was Robert Schilling, of Ohio, 
 who was president of the Labor Congress at Rochester, 
 N. Y., in 1874. The convention adopted a constitution for 
 the General Assembly, District Assemblies, and Local As- 
 semblies. 
 
 A special session of the General Assembly was called to 
 meet at Philadelphia, Penn., June 6, 1878, an emergency 
 having arisen demanding consideration. There were present 
 delegates from six States, and they were in session two days. 
 
 The next session of the General Assembly was held Janu- 
 ary 14-17, 1879, at St. Louis, Mo., at which delegates from 
 thirteen States were present. The Order had .spread into the 
 Southern States, and as far as California, 
 
 The Grand Master Workman, U. S. Stephens, referred to 
 the fact that great political elections had recently been held, 
 but no real politics had been settled. He said :
 
 G. M. w. STEPHENS' ADDRESS. 407 
 
 The few are millionaires ; the many struggle for bread. Where, if not 
 here in this Western World, shall the patriotism and statesmanship be found 
 to preserve the race from destruction ? Neither the bayonet, nor bullets from 
 Gatling-guns, can save it. Justice to all alone can do it. 
 
 Failing in that, these American governments will fail ; and over our 
 institutions the dust of ages will fall like Pompeian ashes, and we shall live 
 only in the misrepresentations of history. But your presence here gives us 
 life and hope. It means a waking up to the historical facts : that great wealth 
 means certain corruption at the fountain of law; that limited intelligence is 
 suborned to vlllany, and the best genius of our time is perverted to the base- 
 ness of unprincipled, and yet, after all, bankrupt greed. Coming, as you do, 
 from all over this continent, shows the magnitude of the awakening. It fore- 
 tells the blessing of Heaven upon those who help themselves. It secures the 
 coming " to the fore" at an early day, in industrial, commercial, political and 
 social life of those principles and legal enactments that shall secure the 
 physical well-being, the mental development and the moral elevation of man- 
 kind. 
 
 He continued : 
 
 During the year that is past, a large increase and prosperity have attended 
 our efforts to spread our already widely-extended Brotherhood, when we take 
 into consideration that the means we had at our command were so limited, 
 and the work to be accomplished scattered over a whole continent. 
 
 Concerning the amalgamation of entire callings, he said : 
 
 During the year, some trades and callings have so nearly accomplished 
 the complete organization of their entire branch all over the continent, 
 within our fraternity, that but little remains for them to do in the work. The 
 callings named are now in condition to maintain the standard of wages, and 
 the standard amount of work or production that constitutes a fair and just 
 day's work (this latter, in many trades, often entailing greater evils and engen- 
 dering more dissatisfaction and bitterness than the former), or of restoring 
 standards that have, through cutting-down, been lost, or by the adoption of 
 machinery unreasonable enlarged. 
 
 He suggested the issuing of an address to the trades asso- 
 ciations of the continent, calling their attention to the benefits 
 of amalgamation and affiliation with their great brotherhood, 
 and the evils of isolated effort or association. He con- 
 tinued : 
 
 We must show ourselves mightier than the difficulties confronting us; and, 
 when we succeed in doing that, the world will respect us, and we shall respect 
 ourselves. 
 
 He suggested that the ensuing year be especially devoted 
 to welding all labor organizations into one grand consoli-
 
 408 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 dated body, and also called attention to the importance of 
 teaching and organizing co-operation by the district as- 
 semblies. 
 
 The secretary, in his report, called attention to the neces- 
 sity of taking some action to preserve a history of the origin 
 of the Order, as from this history an address could be pre- 
 pared for the members of the Order, and be the means of 
 adding largely to the membership. 
 
 At this session, district assemblies were granted the privi- 
 lege of making the name of the Order public, upon a vote of 
 two-thirds of the delegates of the district. 
 
 Mr. Stevens was re-elected Grand Master Workman ; Mr. 
 Litchman, Grand Secretary ; James McGinness, of Ken- 
 tucky, was elected Grand Assistant Secretary ; and William 
 H. Singer, of Missouri, Grand Treasurer. 
 
 The third regular session of the General Assembly con- 
 vened at Chicago, 111., September 2, 1879, anc ^ continued in 
 session five days. 
 
 In his opening remarks at this convention, Grand Master 
 Workman Stephens said : 
 
 The entire history of the world, in every age and in every country, as un- 
 varying as the laws that govern the universe, demonstrates the fact that the 
 physical, intellectual, and moral condition of mankind is governed entirely 
 by the conditions that surround the productive toiler, and marks the progress 
 of a people, or indicates, unerringly, the downfall of a nation. This should 
 be the only criterion of a statesman, the guide of the political economist, and 
 the inspiration of the philanthropist. Sad experience assures us no relief can 
 be expected from those elevated by the polluted channels of party politics to 
 positions that should be held by patriotic and enlightened statesmen ; or the 
 stilted ignorance of political economy, as usually taught in the schools; and 
 even the philanthropist is more or less blinded by the glamour and misrepre- 
 sentations promulgated by concentrated- wealth. If ever relief is had, or 
 simple justice secured to the masses, it will have to come through the efforts 
 of themselves alone. To this fact is owing the existence of Knighthood. As 
 nature abhors a vacuum, so at the call of the strongly-felt want of a working 
 world's saviour, this brotherhood sprang into existence, and espoused the cause 
 of oppressed humanity. No other organization in existence proposes to meet 
 this great want, or directs its efforts to this mighty work. To this session all 
 eyes are turned in expectant hope, and upon it mainly depends the issue of an 
 upward trend of the toiling millions towards a higher and a better plane of 
 existence, as "God, the Father of all," intended should be the condition of 
 His children, or a downward drifting toward a fathomless abyss of pinching 
 poverty, and to the untold millions hopeless, unrequited toil and serfdom to
 
 STEPHENS FAREWELL. 
 
 409 
 
 combined wealth, the landless, disinherited life of the Eastern pariah. Let 
 us. therefore, give a calm consideration, a cool, collected wisdom, and the very 
 best efforts of our united intellect, to each measure presented, so as to perfect 
 the best methods possible for advancing the objects we desire and humanity 
 so much needs. 
 
 He again called attention to the unification and extension 
 of the labor movement. In correspondence which he had 
 with labor men, he says : 
 
 The fact appears to be established tnat all the leading minds and close 
 thinkers among the union men in all branches are ready for the consumma- 
 tion, and that nothing really beneficial can be accomplished until a complete 
 unification is had. The time has fully come when all trade and labor organi- 
 zations of every description should be united. The interest of each would be 
 greatly enhanced thereby. 
 
 He calls attention to the frequent attempts being made all 
 over the country to break down the ten-hour standard, and 
 enforce longer hours, which he claimed was done to affect the 
 eight-hour movement, to which he gave encouragement, and 
 urged active exertion and agitation to bring public sentiment 
 up to a point that would successfully carry the principle of 
 eight hours through the ballot-box. 
 
 He concluded his remarks as follows : 
 
 The moment has come to say farewell, and to surrender into the hands of 
 others the trust you have confided to me since the organization of the General 
 Assembly. May I not embrace the opportunity to say that my heart and soul 
 are bound up in the success of that which has been so ably planned, so 
 patiently cultivated, and so zealously defended. And when the closing 
 years of my life are passing away, it will cause my pulses to beat with a 
 quicker throb to recall the duties of this trust, and to reflect that perhaps, in 
 some small degree, the manner in which those duties were performed aided in 
 gaining the success which I know will surely come. 
 
 Up to this time, 700 local assemblies had been organized, 
 but only 102 reported. There were about 5,000 members in 
 good standing, according to the reports, but there was proba- 
 bly a very much larger membership. 
 
 At this session Mr. Powderly was elected Grand Master 
 Workman, Richard Griffiths, of Illinois, Grand Worthy 
 Foreman, Mr. Litchman was re-elected Grand Secretary, 
 Gilbert Rockwood, of Boston, Mass., was elected Grand
 
 4IO THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 Assistant Secretary, and Dominick Hammer, of Ohio, elected 
 Grand Treasurer. 
 
 The fourth session of the General Assembly was held at 
 Pittsburgh, Penn., September 7-11, 1880. Forty delegates 
 were present. 
 
 Grand Master Workman Powderly, in his address, said : 
 
 The quicksands which have swallowed up many a noble organization in 
 the past are many, and still exist; they are ever present, and, unfortunately, 
 keep pace with our organization. Could men learn and profit by the dread 
 experience of the past, instead of groping blindly into the future, we would 
 fare far better. 
 
 He spoke of strikes as one of the evils which beset trades- 
 unions, and which now and then come to the surface in this or- 
 ganization. He said : 
 
 We are the willing victims of an outraged system that envelopes us in the 
 midst of the ills of which we complain. We should not war with man for 
 being what tve make him, but strike powerful, telling blows at the base of the 
 system which makes the laborer the slave of his master. So long as the pres- 
 ent order of things exists, just so long will the attempt to make peace between 
 the man who sells and the man who buys labor be fruitless. 
 
 He said the only way to prevent strikes was to abolish the 
 wage-system. He further said : 
 
 This is the system which carries with it into the workshop, the mine and 
 the factory a host of evils, which, to repeat, would completely exhaust the 
 whole vocabulary of murmurings which fill the complaint-book of labor. 
 
 This is the system which, serpent-like, pushes itself along wherever those 
 bands of commercial iron and steel are laid, carrying discontent and misery in 
 its train. 
 
 This is the system which enables half-a-dozen men to sit at their tables in 
 any of our large centres of trade, and, without any thought of the welfare of 
 the country, issue the imperial mandates which direct the movements of the 
 whole industrial population of the United States. 
 
 This is the system which makes every railroad superintendent, every fac- 
 tory or mine superintendent, an autocrat, at whose nod or beck the poor 
 unrequited slave who labors must bow the head and bend the knee in humble 
 suppliance. 
 
 To point out a way to utterly destroy this system would be a pleasure to me. 
 I can only direct your attention to it, and leave the rest to your wisdom ; and 
 I firmly believe that I have pointed out the most vicious of all evils which 
 afflict labor to-day. 
 
 But are we prepared to lay siege to this bulwark of oppression? Remember 
 that for centuries it has been slowly, yet steadily, creeping onward, making,
 
 . POWDERLY'S ADDRESS, 1880. 411 
 
 each year, new and deeper inroads upon labor, until to-day it stands so well 
 established and powerful that even the staunchest heart in the ranks of labor's 
 defenders almost sinks in despair at the thought of breaking down the bar- 
 riers of fear, ignorance and superstition, to which its existence has given 
 birth. 
 
 The wage-system, at its inception, was but an experiment, and doubts were 
 entertained as to its adoption ; but the avaricious eye of the Shylock of labor 
 saw in it a weapon with which he could strike the toiler to the dust, and to-day 
 that system has so firm a hold upon us that every attempt at shaking off the 
 fetters by resorting to a strike only makes it easier for the master to say to 
 his slave, " You must -work for less -wages." 
 
 We must teach our members, then, that the remedy for the redress of the 
 wrongs we complain of does not lie in the suicidal strike; but it lies in 
 thorough, effective organization. Without organization, we cannot accom- 
 plish anything; through it, we hope to forever banish that curse of modern 
 civilization, wage-slavery. 
 
 But how? Surely not by forming an association and remaining a member; 
 not by getting every other worthy man to become a member, and remain one; 
 not by paying the dues required of us as they fall due. These are all impor- 
 tant factors in the method by which we hope to regain our independence, and 
 are vitally important; they are the elements necessary to a complete organi- 
 zation. 
 
 Organization once perfected, what must we do? I answer, study the best 
 means of putting your organization to some practical use by embarking in a 
 system of co-operation, which will eventually make every man his own 
 master, every man his own employer; a system which will give the laborer a 
 fair proportion of the products of his toil. 
 
 It is to co-operation, then, as the lever of labor's emancipation, that the eyes 
 of the workingmen and women are directed ; upon co-operation their hopes 
 are centered, and to it do I now direct your attention. I am deeply sensible 
 of the importance, of the magnitude of the undertaking in which I invite you 
 to engage. I know that it is human nature to grow cold, apathetic, and 
 finally indifferent, when engaged in that which requires deep study and per- 
 sistent effort, unattended by excitement; men are apt to believe that physical 
 force is the better way of redressing grievances, being the shorter remedy; 
 but even that requires patience and fortitude as well as strength. I need but 
 point out to you the war of the Revolution, which took nearly eight years 
 of hard fighting and persistent effort upon the part of men who fought for a 
 principle. Had these men fallen into the same error which labor has so often 
 fallen into, there would be no independence ; had they gone to their homes 
 after the battle of Bunker Hill, there would be no Bunker Hill Monument 
 erected, even though the result of that battle was encouraging. 
 
 To the subject of co-operation, then, do I invite your attention, and I liken 
 it unto the Revolutionary war. If you decide upon carrying it out at this con- 
 vention, it will be the Bunker Hill of Industrial Independence; but you must 
 also bear in mind, though the longest term allotted to man be yours to live, 
 you will not see during that term the complete triumph of your hopes. The 
 war for American Indedendence had its Bunker Hills and its Washingtons, 
 but it also had its Valley Forges and its Benedict Arnolds. The enthusiasm
 
 412 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 of the hour will avail us nothing, and co-operation requires every Washington 
 of labor to be up and doing. The laboring man needs education in this great 
 social question, and the best minds of the Order must give their precious 
 thought to this system. There is no good reason why labor cannot, through 
 co-operation, own and operate mines, factories and railroads. By co-operation 
 alone can a system of colonization be established in which men may band 
 together for the purpose of securing the greatest good to the greatest number, 
 and place the man who is willing to toil upon his own homestead. Through 
 co-operation alone can the people reclaim the land, the heritage of the Uni- 
 versal Father. Millions of acres have been stolen from the people, and while 
 we may think that that question is of no interest to us here to-day, I sincerely 
 believe that for every acre of land which God designed for man's use and 
 benefit that is stolen, another link is riveted to the chain with which the land 
 bond-lords hope to finally encircle us. A few short years ago, if the represent- 
 atives of labor had met in convention such as this is, the land question would 
 not necessarily have intruded itself upon them; but during those few short 
 years we have slept, and to-day, whether we will or not, it is thrust upon us. 
 Our Order has within its folds some of the best minds of the country; 
 and, recognizing the fact that this body of men cannot, at this session, per- 
 fect the best means of embarking in co-operative or colonization enterprises, 
 yet we can discuss this question, and frame such laws as to us seem best. 
 
 On the eight-hour law, he says : 
 
 A reduction in the hours of labor is a necessity, to which we can no longer 
 close our eyes. To the inventive genius of the mechanic and laborer are due 
 the new and varied improvements in machinery of all kinds. The man who 
 sits comfortably clipping the coupons from his bonds, never invents anything, 
 unless it be a new way to squeeze more labor out of the toiler for less money. 
 He must depend upon the man who labors for everything, including the won- 
 derful inventions in the way of improved machinery. Does the improvement 
 of any of the machines in use, or the invention of a new one, add to his 
 labors? No. On the contrary, he is enabled thereby to reap a greater profit; 
 for, if an employer, he discharges the man who invents the machine, and 
 hires a boy to run it for less money. 
 
 The wonderful machinery of to-day renders it possible for man to perform 
 tenfold more labor than a century ago. Have the hours of labor been reduced 
 accordingly? On the contrary, men are obliged to work longer in proportion 
 to-day than they did in the past. 
 
 If to the workman's brain is due these wonderful inventions, then to his 
 body should come the rest made necessary by such drains upon his mental 
 system, and the only way to give that rest is to reduce the hours of labor, and 
 every opportunity should be improved looking to that end ; but a mere re- 
 quest to lend assistance in reducing the hours of labor will not avail. Men 
 mii.-f be compelled to help themselves, and a law should be passed at this Gen- 
 eral Assembly, requiring each member to assist by voice and pen, by petition 
 and means, every honest effort looking towards the amelioration of the con- 
 dition of the wage-slave by reducing his hours of labor.
 
 CHILD-LABOR. 
 
 4*3 
 
 On the subject of child-labor, his remarks were : 
 
 Does not every thinking man tremble when he gives a moment's thought to 
 the future of this great nation ; when he considers that the children of to-day 
 will be the men who will govern the nation, or be governed by tyrants them- 
 selves? If they are to govern the nation, is it not a terrible, a sad comment- 
 ary upon our institutions, that the future governors are to-day receiving the 
 training necessary for such an undertaking in our county jails and prisons? 
 If, on the other hand, they are to be governed, what a hopeless, dreary, 
 drudging life is opened up to men, who, knowing but little of their rights, 
 will never dare to ask for them ! Either of these pictures is an unpleasant 
 one to contemplate. Our Order can be made an engine of destruction to the 
 system which drives the child of tender years into competition with its parent 
 or parents. It is our duty, then, to do something here, to-day, for the good 
 of humanity in the future, by beginning an agitation upon this question, 
 which will end in its disappearance from our country. 
 
 The Grand Secretary made an exhaustive report to the con- 
 vention, devoting considerable space to the Eight-hour law. 
 Up to this time, the Labor Tribune had published a column 
 under five stars, (***%) which meant the Knights of Labor. 
 
 The fifth session was held at Detroit, Mich., March 6-10, 
 1881. 
 
 In 1880, the Order did not increase much in membership, 
 and the desire to make its name and principles public had 
 increased. Some of the district assemblies were working 
 openly, while others worked secretly. 
 
 At this convention, Mr. Litchman declined to be a candidate 
 for the office of Grand Secretary, and Robert D. Layton, of 
 Pittsburgh, Penn., was elected. . 
 
 The next session was held in New York City, September 
 5-12, 1882. 
 
 During the preceding year, an effort had been made by 
 certain parties to create division in the ranks of the iron and 
 steel workers, with a view to their joining the Knights of 
 Labor. 
 
 The General Assembly, at this convention, deprecated any 
 efforts of this kind, and passed resolutions giving the Amal- 
 gamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers their moral 
 support, and expressed their opposition to any movement 
 tending to weaken the position assumed by the Amalgamated 
 Association.
 
 414 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 Some changes were made in the secret work of the 
 Order during this year, and considerable insubordination 
 was aroused. 
 
 Strikes had multiplied from year to year. The General 
 Master Workman, in his address, said : 
 
 One cause for the tidal-wave of strikes that has swept over our Order comes 
 from the exaggerated reports of the strength of the Order, numerically and 
 financially, given by many of our organizers. Such a course may lead men 
 into the Order, but by a path that leads them out again ; for, as soon as they 
 become convinced that they were deceived, they lose confidence in the Order. 
 
 Many misrepresentations had been made in reference to 
 the objects and name of the Order, and the General Master 
 Workman was quoted as saying that he would " vote a rifle 
 and Gatling-gun to each member of the Order." 
 
 The great boycott of the Duryea Starch Company attracted 
 considerable attention at the time, seriously affecting the 
 credit of the Grand Statistician of the Order. 
 
 The Order increased in membership. Workmen in many 
 places were blacklisted for belonging to it. Many complaints 
 were entered of* overbearing and tyrannical treatment by em- 
 ployers. Coal-diggers were said to be treated like slaves ; 
 from another place the complaint was made that workmen 
 were treated in a brutal manner ; if one became sick, he was 
 discharged. It was reported from another place that the ut- 
 most tyranny prevailed in most of the shops and factories ; that 
 efforts to organize were punished by dismissal. 
 
 We quote a few more complaints : :t Treated with harsh- 
 ness ; " " the treatment is insolent, arrogant and oppressive ; " 
 "we are treated the same as any other piece of machinery ; " 
 " frequently threatened and victimized;" "treated like dogs, 
 and have to sign an agreement not to belong to the Knights 
 of Labor, if we want to get employment ; " " employers around 
 here never concede anything without a strike ; " " horses are 
 treated better than men in this region.;" "we are forced to 
 trade at the ' pluck me' " (meaning a truck-store). 
 
 After the organization of labor in certain localities, the 
 treatment seems to have improved, one assembly reporting : 
 "The treatment was arbitrary and unjust before we were or-
 
 THE "IMPROVED ORDER." 415 
 
 ganized : now it is courteous ; " another, that " they (the em- 
 ployers) have simmered down since the Order was estab- 
 lished here," while another report was: "The treatment has 
 gradually improved since the labor agitation in Chicago 
 brought about laws in our own interests- and sanitary inspec- 
 tion in factories and dwellings." 
 
 The death of the founder and first Grand Master Work- 
 man of the Order, U. S. Stephens, was noticed by fitting 
 resolutions. 
 
 The seventh session convened at Cincinnati, O., September 
 4, 1883, and was in session eight days. 
 
 The Grand Master Workman, in his address at this conven- 
 tion, referred to the strike of the Telegraphic Brotherhood, 
 District Assembly 45 , Knights of Labor, arid said : 
 
 The failure of the strike may be attributed to the same cause as of old, a 
 lack of funds and a lack of knowledge of the principles involved ; men who 
 had large families dependent on them, and were otherwise burdened, were the 
 last to return to work, while those that were younger, and had no one to care 
 for but self, were the first to forget their allegiance to principle. 
 
 The change was made in the title of the* officers of the 
 General Assembly, from "Grand" to "General." Some 
 changes \vere made in the officers, Frederick Turner being 
 elected General Secretary, and Mr. Powderly being re-elected 
 General Master Workman. 
 
 During the preceding year, there had been formed an or- 
 ganization under the ni^e of the " Improved Order of the 
 Knights of Labor." 
 
 Referring- to this Order, General Master Workman Pow- 
 
 O 7 
 
 derly wrote for the Pittsburgh Times, of July 16, 1883, as 
 follows : 
 
 A great deal has been said of late concerning the dismemberment of the 
 Knights of Labor, and the forming of the federation of trades. The principal 
 reason given for the proposed action, summed up in a few words, is, that each 
 trade or craft in being organized for itself can more easily and successfully 
 engage in a strike. There are other arguments made use of to bolster up the 
 "federation" idea, but that appears to be the principal one; at least, it is 
 the one to which most prominence is given in the Eastern press. One thing 
 is certain : the originator of that idea was neither a Knight of Labor nor a 
 member of a trades-union, for members of these associations know that the 
 tendency of the times is to do away with strikes; that remedy has been proved
 
 416 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 by experience to be a very costly one for employer and employee. The trades- 
 union does not favor a strike ; it is regarded as a dernier resort by every 
 labor association in the land, and no good can come of the dismemberment 
 of an association, which, among other things, aims at the perfecting of a 
 system by which disputes between the laborer and capitalist can be settled 
 without resorting to so costly an experiment as the strike is acknowledged to 
 be. Why, the Knights of Labor and the various labor associations of the 
 country are in no great danger of being disbanded. I called the strike an 
 experiment, and I would have every advocate of such a measure note these 
 words. Strikes have been resorted to for centuries ; and to-day, after hun- 
 dreds of trials have been had, men cannot embark in a strike with any assur- 
 ance of success, based upon a former precedent. Every one must be decided 
 upon its own me'rits. I will never advocate a strike, unless it be a strike at 
 the ballot-box, or such a one as was proclaimed to the world by the unmis- 
 takable sound of the strikers' guns on the field of Lexington. But the neces- 
 sity for such a strike as the latter does not exist at present. The men who 
 made the name of Lexington famous in the world's history were forced to 
 adopt the bullet, because they did not possess the ballot. We have the lattery 
 and if the money of the monopolists can influence us to deposit our ballots in 
 favor of our enemies, if we cannot be depended on to go quietly to the 
 polling-booth, and summon to our aid moral courage enough to deposit a 
 little piece of paper in our own interest, how can it be expected of us to sum- 
 mon physical courage enough to do battle for our rights, as did our fathers at 
 Lexington ? And if we do go to the tented field, will not the same agency 
 that induced us to vote against ourselves, induce us to thrust our bayonets 
 into the hearts of our friends instead of our foes ? I answer, "Yes ; fora faith- 
 less citizen never made a faithful soldier." What, then, is the duty of the 
 hour? 
 
 Men may argue, from what I have said, that I believe our cause to be hope- 
 less, and, did I not have faith in the Knights of Labor, I would say, " Yes ; the 
 cause is lost." Other men entertain different opinions, and positively assert 
 that the panacea for all the ills we suffer will come through the adoption of 
 such advice as they have to offer; for instance, "Democrat" says in his letter 
 of July 4th, that, in order to secure the blessings we seek, we have only to 
 merge ourselves into the great Democratic party, and help to swell the triumph 
 of the plain people in 1884! I must be pardoned for differing with him. I 
 do not believe that it lies within the province of any party to protect the 
 many against the unjust encroachments of the moneyed few, unless the many 
 are properly instructed in the science of government. The party is the con- 
 crete man. If the individuals comprising the party are ignorant of their 
 rights, and must trust to the wisdom or discretion of the party leaders, they 
 either follow in the wake of blind leaders, or permit themselves to be blindly 
 led along by their leaders. In either case, it will not be the intelligence they 
 display, or the instructions they give that will urge their leaders forward in 
 an honest groove, and under such circumstances as these the duty of the citi- 
 zen ceases so soon as he casts his vote. Will " Democrat" assure us that if 
 each of the associations he names (the Grangers, the Knights of Labor, the 
 Amalgamated Association, and the various trades-unions) should cease to- 
 work, and " merge into the Democratic party," that they would not be obliged
 
 POLITICAL ACTION. 
 
 417 
 
 to reorganize again in a few years to protect themselves from the Democratic 
 party? Will any Republican assure members of these associations that a gen- 
 eral reorganization will not be necessary, should they merge into the Republi- 
 can party? Remember, I am not assailing parties; the party is good or bad, 
 as the majority of its members determine. Who is to blame for the misdeeds 
 of a party? The majority. Who comprise the majorities in the Democratic 
 and Republican parties? Why, "the plain people," of course. I believe 
 that there is no man so good that he will not bear watching. What is true of 
 man is true of party; and, in either case, the watchers must be educated they 
 must be actuated by one common impulse; in other words, they must be or- 
 ganized. That there are men who believe that political parties require both 
 watching and teaching, I am positive. Let me quote the words of a man 
 whose fidelity to the Democratic party cannot be questioned, but whose love 
 of justice is stronger than his regard for party. In his letter to the Constitu- 
 tional Club, of New York, Judge Jeremiah S. Black says : 
 
 "What is the remedy? No enforcement of the Constitution and laws, 
 which command what is right and prohibit what is wrong; for that cannot be 
 effected without officers that are faithful. As it is, our Governors do not gov- 
 ern, and legislators laugh in your face when you tell them of their oaths. 
 Shall we turn them out and fill their places with true men ? That is easier 
 said than done. Monopoly has methods of debauching party leaders, cheat- 
 ing voters, and deceiving the very elect, which perpetually defeat our hopes of 
 honest government. If the power of the corporations increases a little more, 
 they can put their worst rascal into the highest office as easily as Caligula's 
 horse was elected consul by the people of Rome. 
 
 "You will infer from this that I am somewhat discouraged; and it is true 
 that very recent events here in Pennsylvania have much disappointed me. 
 But that is no reason why you should despair. You have what we have not, 
 an organization to make your grievances known; and I hope that from 
 your meeting the truth will go forth to rescue and rouse up like the sound of 
 a trumpet." 
 
 It may be inferred, from the position I have taken in the foregoing lines, 
 that the mission of the Knights of Labor is to become a political party, and 
 that it is intended to take precedence of the Democratic party. The inference 
 would be wrong. The Order of the Knights of Labor is higher and grander 
 than partv. There is a nobler future before it than that which clings to its 
 existence amidst partisan rancor and strife. The Order is a friend to men 
 of all parties, and believing that the moment it assumes the role of a politi- 
 cal party its usefulness would be destroyed, it has refrained and will refrain 
 from doing so. The moment we proclaim to the world that our Order is a 
 political party, that moment the lines are drawn, and we receive no more 
 accessions to our ranks from the other existing parties, with the exception of 
 here and there a member who becomes a convert through conviction that we 
 are right. We have political parties enough. Every one of them in its early 
 days was honest and gave promise of good results ; but the moment that suc- 
 cess perched upon its banners, the vultures who feed upon spoils also perched 
 upon its body, and to a certain extent frustrated the designs of its organizers. 
 The same would be true of the Knights of Labor. One reason why political 
 parties degenerate is because the masses of the common people are not 
 
 (27)
 
 418 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 educated. We may be able to read and write, but we are not educated on the 
 economic and social questions with which we are brought in contact every 
 hour. If we were, we could more easily discern the difference between good 
 and bad legislation, and we would not be clamoring so often for the repeal of 
 bad laws. The chief aim of the Knights of Labor is to educate not only men, 
 but parties ; educate men first, that they may educate parties and govern them 
 intelligently and honestly. Ralph Waldo Emerson gave this advice before 
 leaving us. He said: 
 
 " Let us make our education brave and preventive. Politics is an after- 
 work, a poor patching. We are always a little late. The evil is done, the 
 law is past, and we begin the up-hill agitation for the repeal of that of which 
 we ought to have prevented the enacting. We shall one day learn to super- 
 sede politics by education. What we call root and branch reforms of slavery, 
 war, gambling, intemperance, is only medicating the symptoms. We must 
 begin higher, namely, in education." 
 
 "To supersede politics by education," it first becomes necessary to organ- 
 ize the masses into an association where they can be educated. Take fifty 
 men of one calling and place them in a room organized under the laws of a 
 distinct trade society, and they will discuss nothing but such matters as per- 
 tain to their trade. If they do not mingle among those of other trades, they 
 will grow indifferent to the wants of others ; they will remain in ignorance of 
 their own rights through the ignorance of the rights of others. Selfishness 
 will be the rule, and " the up-hill" agitation for the repeal of that which we 
 ought to have prevented the enacting, still stares us constantly in the face. 
 I am aware that the Knights of Labor meet with opposition from the leaders 
 of some labor organizations. They anticipate that in the event of their asso- 
 ciations becoming a part of the Knights of Labor, their occupation, like 
 Othello's, will be gone; but they entertain groundless fears. We seek the 
 co-operation of every labor society, the dissolution of none. We seek and 
 intend to enlist the services of men of every society, of every party, every 
 religion and every nation, in the crusade which we have inaugurated against 
 these twin monsters, tyranny and monopoly, and in that crusade we have 
 burned the bridges behind us ; we have stricken from our vocabulary that 
 word "fail"; we aim at establishing the complete rights of man throughout the 
 world; we take as our guide no precedent ever set by mortal man, unless it 
 be right; we tolerate no dissensions, and will have no disbanding, save as is 
 ordained by the Great Master Workman, when He calls from our ranks each 
 individual member, and bids him join that silent majority, whose votes upon 
 the questions of this world find voice only on the pages of the recorded 
 past. 
 
 The eighth session of the General Assembly was held at 
 Philadelphia, September i, 1884, and continued in session 
 eleven days. 
 
 General Master Workman Powderly referred, in his address, 
 to the growth of the Order since its inception, and said that up 
 to that day it had been sowing the seed, and that in the future
 
 HUNGARIAN WOMEN. 
 
 419 
 
 members must bend their energies to gathering in the har- 
 vest. 
 
 Speaking on the subject of political action, he severely 
 criticised the course of politicians, saying : 
 
 Nominate a man for the legislature in any of our large cities to-day, 
 and, unless he buys his way into office, he stands a good chance of being 
 defeated. 
 
 In regard to misrepresentations as to the doctrines, objects 
 and purposes of the Order, he said : 
 
 Such doings have retarded the progress of organized labor as much as the 
 opposition of capital. * * * We have had too much trouble from members 
 advancing their own ideas, or the theories of some other organization, and 
 palming them off as declarations of the Knights of Labor. 
 
 The importation of laborers under contract was commented 
 upon at some length by Mr. Powderly, at this convention. 
 His remarks were, in substance, as follows : 
 
 One of the evils of which we complain at the present day is the manner 
 in which unfortunate men and women are brought to this country under 
 a contract to work for a master for from two to five years. This is slavery in 
 its worst form. Not only does it enslave the unfortunate immigrant, but it 
 also enslaves the men and women with whom he is brought in competition on 
 our shores. 
 
 In the June previous to this convention, Mr. Powderly had 
 published a letter in the Scranton Truth, with reference to 
 the working of Hungarian women at the coke-ovens. In this 
 letter, he wrote that he had spent a good share of a week in 
 investigating the conditions and surroundings of the wage- 
 workers of that section. He had ample opportunity afforded 
 him of viewing the details. He referred incidentally to the 
 misrepresentations made to these people by the agents of 
 monopoly, and continued : 
 
 The opposition to the Hungarians in the coke regions amounts to hatred, 
 a hatred which is liable at any time to burst forth in a blaze which may 
 sweep them entirely out of that country. This antipathy is not confined to 
 the workingmen alone : it is shared in by business men and ivorkingmen alike ; 
 and they all unite in cursing the advent of the Hungarian to the coke region. 
 Last Monday, .the largest firm engaged in the manufacture of coke sent 
 a force of Hungarians down into the mines, and the men employed in the
 
 42O THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 mines immediately quit work. There was no meeting called for the purpose 
 of coming to an agreement; but just as soon as it was ascertained that a Hun- 
 garian was entrusted with a lamp, the other men employed there quit work. 
 I asked some of the men why they would not work with the Hungarians, and 
 the answer was, " We don't care whether they pay these men more wages than 
 they do us or not. It is not a question of wages. We might as well commit 
 suicide as to go into the mine with them. They don't understand the manner 
 of handling the safety-lamp, and may set off the gas at any time, and burn us 
 all to death. They don't know how to read, and cannot tell when they see the 
 danger-signs." 
 
 At the request of the men, I remained in Connellsville last Wednesday 
 night, for the purpose of visiting an assembly. Shortly after the meeting 
 opened, a message was handed in to the chairman, asking whether the doors 
 could not be thrown open to the public. The request was granted, and the 
 hall was soon filled by business men and farmers. They said that they all 
 suffered through the evils of Hungarian labor, and wished to take counsel 
 with the workingmen as to the best steps to take in removing this curse from 
 the country. They work for little or nothing, live on fare which a Chinaman 
 would not touch, and will submit to any and every indignity which may be 
 imposed on them. In a word, they are utterly devoid of the spirit necessary 
 to make them good and patriotic American citizens. 
 
 The following dav, I spoke at an outdoor meeting at the mine where the 
 strike occurred. At the meeting it was resolved to inaugurate a series of meet- 
 ings throughout the entire coke region, and enlist the sympathy of every 
 interested person in the valley. I had often heard of the employment of 
 women at the coke-ovens, but never had an opportunity of seeing it before. 
 The women are not employed by the corporations, but they accompany their 
 husbands and fathers to the ovens earlv in the mornings and assist in draw- 
 ing and forking coke. At six o'clock in the morning, I went to the coke- 
 works, and saw for myself that the stories that I had been told were not exag- 
 gerated. At one of the ovens. I saw a woman drawing the hot coke from the 
 chamber. She had no covering on her head, and very little on her person. 
 Her only attire consisted of a short, coarse chemise and a pair of cowhide 
 boots. In a freight-car close by stood another woman forking the coke as it 
 came to the car. Forking is the term used to indicate the disposition of the 
 coke when it is thrown into the car. The person who does the forking throws 
 the coke to either end of the, car as it is wheeled in. This woman stood it: 
 the Doorway, and was dressed in a coarse, loose-fitting outer garment and an 
 apron. Her person from the waist up was exposed. When she stooped over 
 to handle the coke, she caught her hair between her teeth in order to keep it 
 out of her way. Her feet were incased in a pair of heavy shoes; her legs 
 were exposed from the knees down. Her babe, which she had brought to the 
 works with her, lay in front of the car, with scarcely any covering except the 
 shadow of a wheelbarrow which was turned up in order to protect the child 
 from the rays of the sun. Many more such scenes as these met my view, 
 some of them even worse than the ones I have described. These will, how- 
 ever, suffice to give your readers an idea of -what imported contract labor 
 really means. 
 
 Before the Hungarian was imported, the task for an ordinary man was to
 
 -ef^ 
 
 , ^S$P*- ,-^stt PS^Mr^PIi 
 
 1S55P- 
 
 GENERAL EXECUTIVE BOARD, KNIGHTS OF LABOR.
 
 LABEL ADOPTED. 
 
 4 2I 
 
 draw five ovens ; but the Hungarian takes the contract for six ovens for less 
 money than the American formerly received for five. He compels his wife or 
 grown-up daughter to accompany him to the ovens in the mornings and 
 assist in the work until about noon ; after that, she may go home. 
 
 While the owner of the works does not employ the women, he is responsi- 
 ble for the crime of permitting them to work there, and should be held up to 
 public execration and scorn. 
 
 If it were possible to make good and useful citizens of these men, I would 
 never raise my voice against them. But that seems impossible. They will not 
 adopt our manners and customs, except in rare instances. I have seen nine 
 of them eight men and one woman occupying two small rooms; have 
 inquired into their mode of living, and ascertained, beyond the shadow of a 
 doubt, that the store-bill for the nine persons for the previous month was but 
 twenty-seven dollars. Show me an American who will live like that, and I 
 will show you a being who was born in vain. He may be fit to work so is a 
 mule. He may know enough to go in when it rains but that is all. I believe 
 that the claims to American citizenship should be based on intelligence, not 
 wealth. To the exile from everv land, who comes to us with the intention 'of 
 staying among us, adopting our manners and customs,- and assisting in pro- 
 tecting our institutions, I extend the open hand of welcome ; but to the creature 
 whose highest ambition is to work, work, without knowing whether he re- 
 ceives adequate compensation or not, I have no welcome, and would prevent 
 him from landing if I could. I believe that this country was intended for a race 
 of freemen, and, believing that, I will always oppose the introduction of such 
 men as are not capable of enjoying, appreciating, defending and perpetuating 
 the blessings of good government. 
 
 The increase of the Order in the preceding year was steady 
 and healthy. Statistics were presented to this convention, 
 consisting of a table of wages, a table of ages, and a table of 
 the hours of labor per day. Reports from every part of the 
 country, save two, told tales of hardships suffered by the 
 wage-workers. 
 
 A Knights of Labor trade-mark or label was adopted in 
 1884 ; but it was impossible to get it registered, owing to the 
 fact that it was impossible to designate the character of the 
 goods upon which it was to be used. 
 
 T. V. Powderly was again elected General Master Work- 
 man, Richard Griffiths was elected General Worthy Foreman, 
 and Frederick Turner re-elected General Secretary-Treas- 
 urer. The ninth regular session of the General Assembly 
 convened at Hamilton, Ont., October 5, 1885, and was in 
 session eight days. 
 
 The General Master Workman's opening address has been
 
 422 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 published within a year in the public press, and consequently 
 we give only the salient features. 
 
 He spoke of the serious disturbances in the labor world, 
 saying : 
 
 Men have grown restive under the treatment they were receiving, and have 
 struck against impositions being practiced upon them. It has become fash- 
 ionable of late to refuse to treat with workmen while they are on strike. In 
 some cases, violence was practised ; in others it was hinted at, and in others 
 roughs were bargained for to disturb the peace, in order that the militia could 
 be called out. Had the employers and employees come together, either through 
 their agents or principals, all the things that have occurred could have been 
 avoided. I am not prepared to say that the workers had justice on their side 
 in every instance; but I am positive that the introduction of the Pinkerton de- 
 tective as an agent in the settlement of disputes is entirely foreign to the letter 
 and spirit of the Constitution of our common country. The men who make 
 up the Pinkertonsaregathered in from the brothels, gambling-dens and slums 
 of our large cities, composed of creatures who are outcasts from decent so- 
 ciety. Their introduction for the purpose of settling disputes through force 
 of arms is an insult to society everywhere. The employer of labor who calls to 
 his aid a body of hired assassins and the Pinkerton thugs can be called by 
 no more appropriate name must have a poor estimate of his own abilities 
 and intelligence, when he lets such delicate and important work as the regula- 
 tion of his business with his employees out to a human brute, devoid of intel- 
 ligence, manhood, self-respect and decency. 
 
 He quoted from the Declaration of Independence as fol- 
 lows, referring to the complaints against the King of Great 
 Britain : " He kept among us in times of peace standing 
 armies without the consent of the legislature. He has affected 
 to render the military independent of and superior to the 
 civil power." 
 
 He spoke of the political power of the masses, when rightly 
 directed and of the evils of convict labor on national work. He 
 favored the incorporation of trades-unions and labor associa- 
 tions, called attention to the employment of foreign labor, 
 gave considerable attention to the question of land legislation, 
 recommended the appointment of a committee to look after 
 necessary legislation, recommended trade industry, and spoke 
 in his usual emphatic way against drunkenness- He also 
 recommended co-operative efforts. 
 
 Important legislation was enacted at this session, and gen- 
 eral lecturers appointed. As a result of this convention,
 
 GREETING TO TRADES-UNIONS. 
 
 4 2 3 
 
 George E. McNeill was appointed by Mr. Powderly to repre- 
 sent the Order at Washington, he having no authority to 
 appoint a committee. 
 
 In the winter of 1885 and spring of 1886, the Order grew 
 with unprecedented rapidity. Never in the history of the 
 world were the workingmen everywhere, of all trades and 
 callings, so aroused to the needs of organization. Local 
 assemblies were multiplied by hundreds, and thousands of men 
 were enrolling their names daily. With this influx of new 
 members, undisciplined and ignorant of the failures of the 
 past, strikes multiplied as though a contagion spread from 
 one end of the country to the other. This wonderful and 
 unnatural growth led the Executive Board to place a check 
 upon further organization, and in District 30 (Massachusetts,) 
 led even to the suspension of the initiation of new members. 
 In this last-named State, instructors were appointed to visit' 
 the local assemblies, and instruct them in the principles and 
 work of the Order. 
 
 A special session of the General Assembly was convened 
 at Cleveland, O., May 25, 1886, and was in session until June 
 3rd. At this session, a committee was appointed to look after 
 legislation, and six auxiliary members of the Executive 
 Board were elected, consisting of James E. Quinn, New 
 York, W. H. Mullen, Richmond, Va., Hugh Cavanaugh, 
 Cincinnati, O., D. R. Gibson, Hamilton, Ont., Joseph R. 
 Buchanan, Denver, Col., and Ira B. Aylesworth, Baltimore, 
 Md. Much time was consumed in discussing the relations of 
 the Order to trades-unions ; a circular address to the trades- 
 unions was adopted, and a comrqittee of five authorized to 
 confer with the trades-union organization. The circular was 
 as follows : 
 
 To the Officers and Members of all National and International Trades- 
 Unions of the United States and Canada, Greeting': 
 BROTHERS IN THE CAUSE OF LABOR : We, the Knights of Labor, in Gen- 
 eral Assembly convened, extend our heartiest greeting to all branches of 
 honorable toil, welcoming them to the most friendly union in a common 
 work. 
 
 This organization embraces within its folds all branches of honorable toil, 
 and all conditions of men, without respect to trades, occupations, sex, creed,
 
 424 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 color, or nationality. We seek to raise the level of wages, and reduce the 
 hours oflabor; to protect men and women in their occupations, in their lives 
 and limbs, and in their rights as citizens. We seek, also, to secure such 
 legislation as shall tend to prevent the unjust accumulation of wealth, to 
 restrict the power of monopolies and corporations, and to enact such wise 
 and beneficent legislation as shall promote equity and justice, looking for- 
 ward to the day when co-operation shall supersede the wage-system, and the 
 castes and classes that now divide men shall be forever abolished. 
 
 We recognize the service rendered to humanity and the cause of labor by 
 trades-union organizations; but believe that the time has come, or is fast 
 approaching, when all who earn their bread by the sweat of their brow shall 
 be enrolled under one general head, as we are controlled by one common 
 law, the law of our necessities ; and we will gladly welcome to our ranks, or 
 to protection under our banner, any organization requesting admission. 
 And to such organizations as believe that their craftsmen are better protected 
 under their present form of government, we pledge ourselves, as members 
 of the great Army of Labor, to co-operate with them in every honorable effort 
 to achieve the success which we are unitedly organized to obtain ; and to this 
 end we have appointed a special committee to confer with a like committee 
 of any national or international trades-union, which shall desire to confer 
 with us on the settlement of any difficulties that may occur between the mem- 
 bers of the several organizations. 
 
 We have received a communication from a committee of some of the Na- 
 tional and International Trades-Unions, requesting certain specific legislation 
 at our hands ; but as we believe that the object sought and stated in the pre- 
 amble to the communication above referred to, can best be accomplished by a 
 conference between a committee of this association and a committee of any 
 other organization, and as the propositions contained therein are inconsistent 
 with our dutv to our members, we therefore defer action upon said proposi- 
 tions until a conference of committees can be held. 
 
 The basis upon which we believe an agreement can be reached would nec- 
 essarily include the adoption of some plan by which all labor organizations 
 could be protected from unfair men, rrien expelled, suspended, under fine, or 
 guilty of taking places of union nen, or Knights of Labor while on strike or 
 while locked out from work; and that as far as possible a uniform standard 
 of hours of labor and wages should be adopted, so that men of any trade, 
 enrolled in our Order, and members of trades-unions may not come in con- 
 flict because of a difference in wages or hours of labor. We also believe that 
 a system of exchanging working-cards should be adopted, so that members 
 of any craft, belonging to different organizations could work in harmony 
 together, the card of anv member of this Order admitting men to work in 
 any union shop, and the card of any union man admitting him to work in 
 any Knights of Labor shop. 
 
 We further believe that, upon a demand for increase of wages, or shorter 
 hours oflabor, made by either organization, a conference should be held with 
 the organized labor men employed in the establishment where the demand 
 for increase of wages or reduction of hours is contemplated, action upon a 
 proposed reduction of wages or other difficulty to be agreed upon in like 
 manner; and that, in the settlement of any difficulties between employers
 
 STRIKES. 
 
 425 
 
 and employees, the organizations represented in the establishment shall be 
 parties to the terms of settlement. 
 
 Trusting that the method proposed herein will meet with your approval, 
 and that organized labor will move forward and onward in harmony of effort 
 and of interest, we are yours fraternally. 
 
 The members of the committee recommending the above 
 circular to the General Assembly were Frank K. Foster, 
 chairman ; Henry Mente, William H. Smith, P. H. Cummins, 
 J. J. McCartney, Robert Schilling, Oliver Otis, L. L. Cona- 
 way, and George E. McNeill. 
 
 Among the cases settled by arbitration, under the auspices 
 of the Order, in 1885, was the great Dueber Watch Company 
 lockout, which lasted many months, and was finally set- 
 tled by the reinstatement of the men. The strike on the 
 Wabash system of railroads, after a large amount of corre- 
 spondence, was settled by the following agreement : 
 
 That no official should discriminate against the Knights of Labor, or ques- 
 tion the right of the employee to belong to our Order. 
 
 That all employees locked out June 16, 1885, or who came out in their sup- 
 port since that date, should be reinstated as fast as possible. 
 
 That no new person should be put to work by the officials of the company 
 until all the old employees locked out, or came out since the lockout, who 
 desire employment, are reinstated. 
 
 KNIGHTS OF LABOR STRIKES. 
 
 Reference to the chapter on the Preamble and Declaration 
 of Principles of the Knights of Labor will show that it is the 
 desire of this Order, as it is of all labor organizations, to 
 do away with strikes. They have made the principle of 
 arbitration especially prominent, not only asking of legisla- 
 tive bodies that courts of arbitration may be established, but 
 that the members themselves may seek a settlement of all 
 disputes by this means. The largest part of the time of the 
 General Executive Committee, as well as that of the district 
 and local executive boards, have been given to attempts to 
 settle disputes in this w r ay. Under the laws of the Order, 
 every possible effort must be made to avoid strikes. When 
 a grievance occurs in any establishment, it is referred to the 
 local assembly having jurisdiction ; or, where more than one
 
 426 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 assembly exists, and persons employed in the establishment 
 are members of more than one, joint boards of arbitration are 
 established, a committee of the board presents the grievance 
 to the employer, and many difficulties have been settled by 
 these local boards without the knowledge of the general pub- 
 lic. In case of the refusal of the employer to meet the com- 
 mittee, or if a satisfactory arrangement cannot be reached, 
 the case is referred to the District Executive Board ; and, in 
 case of a failure on their part, a statement of the case is pre- 
 sented to each local within the jurisdiction of the district, and 
 the members are requested to vote upon the question of 
 whether or not a strike shall be ordered. Neither the local 
 nor the district -board has the right to order a strike where 
 more than twenty-five persons are involved. If a strike is 
 ordered by a local assembly on the vote of its members, they 
 have no right to the assistance fund ; and where the district 
 orders any strike without first obtaining the sanction of the 
 General Executive Board, no assistance can be claimed out- 
 side of the district. Every effort is made to conserve the 
 strength of the Order. Many of the local district strikes 
 have been forced upon the men by attempts of the employers 
 to break up the organization by the discharge of its members. 
 
 The space for this chapter will not allow even a summary 
 of the strikes that have occurred. At certain periods strike- 
 epidemics prevail, and the organization is no more respon- 
 sible for their. breaking out than the Government is for any 
 epidemic which science fails to prevent or check. It is true 
 that the Government is responsible for the conditions which 
 furnish opportunities for epidemics and contagions. Lack of 
 sanitary laws, as well as a failure of enforcement of such laws 
 as exist, have much to do with the existence of these monster 
 evils ; but the poverty of the masses is the prime cause of 
 pestilence, as of most of the vices and crimes that afflict 
 mankind. As the Order grows in wisdom as well as in power 
 of numbers, strikes will become less frequent. 
 
 The history of some of the labor organizations prove that 
 strikes can be averted. When an employer knows that to re- 
 duce wages without first consulting with the organizations
 
 THE CO-OPERATIVE BOARD. 
 
 427 
 
 represented in his establishment may cause him such a 
 lengthened period of inaction as not only to destroy his profit, 
 but diminish the value of his plant, he will hesitate before 
 action. So, too, the employees will hesitate to enforce their 
 demands for an advance of wages, when they have a sufficient 
 knowledge of the condition of the markets, as well as of the 
 individual enterprise, and know that a strike at such a time 
 would jeopardize their own interests. 
 
 The Knights of Labor, while attempting peaceful settle- 
 ment of the inevitable difficulties under the wage-system, use 
 every effort to inculcate the principles of co-operation, and 
 give encouragement to co-operative enterprises. The Gen- 
 eral Assembly have established a co-operative board, whose 
 reports contain not only an account of the co-operative efforts 
 coming under their observation, but they also publish able and 
 earnest arguments in the direction of co-operative effort. 
 The most remarkable strikes of the Order, having occurred 
 during the present year, are fresh in the memory of the people ; 
 and, while those that have attracted the most attention like 
 the great South-western Railroad strike have proved fail- 
 ures, others have proved remarkably successful. But the 
 proudest claim that the Knights can make is in the advance of 
 wages and the improved opportunities that have been gained 
 through the numerical and moral force of the organization, 
 whether secured through the use of the boycott, as in the 
 Dueber Watch-Case Company, or by conciliation, as in the 
 case of the horse-railroad employees of Boston. 
 
 The boycott against the Dueber Watch-Case Company was 
 justified by the act of the proprietor, he having discharged 
 all the members of the Order in his employ, and refused to 
 treat with the General Executive Board. It is only just to say 
 of Mr. Dueber, that, when he finally decided to retrace his 
 steps, he was as emphatically conciliatory as he had been de- 
 terminedly aggressive. The success of the horse-car em- 
 ployees of Boston was largely due to the wisdom of the 
 president of the Metropolitan Railroad. But for his genial 
 acceptance of the situation and ready compliance to the 
 wishes of the men, every horse-car running in Boston would
 
 428 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 have been tied up. The men on this and other roads acted 
 with commendable patience ; and their thanks are due more to 
 T. C. Thompson, Master Workman, Local Assembly 2898, 
 than to any other person. The editor, as a colleague of Mr. 
 Thompson in this work, feels that historical accuracy de- 
 mands this statement ; and special attention is called to this 
 case, because an advance of wages and a reduction of hours 
 were gained without the stoppage of a car or the loss of a 
 day's work. 
 
 The local assemblies of the Knights of Labor, counted 
 by the thousands, furnish the wage-workers of the continent 
 with opportunities of association and advancement never be- 
 fore enjoyed. From Maine to California, from Canada to the 
 Gulf, in all the States and Territories, in the lumber regions 
 and in the mines, amidst the fluff of the textile industries, 
 amidst the din of the iron hammer, in workshop and store, 
 wherever men and women are congregated, in the village 
 and upon the plantation, the Knights of Labor are marching 
 on to ultimate victory.
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE CHINESE AND THE LABOR QUESTION. 
 
 CHINA THE RESERVOIR OF CHEAP LABOR CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE IN 
 CHINA THEIR HABITS AND CUSTOMS OPINIONS'OF W. W. STONE 
 CAUCASIAN AND MONGOLIAN EXPENSES OF CIVILIZATION THE Six 
 COMPANIES SEEKING THE CHEAPEST LABOR FEMALE SLAVES 
 THE CHRISTIANITY OF THE CHINESE EXEMPLIFIED THE NOBILITY 
 OF GOLD THE GATHERING PAGAN HOST CAPTURING THE TRADES 
 THE UNITED WORKMEN THE CHINESE TAXES LEGISLATION IN 
 RESPECT OF CHINESE IMMIGRATION BY CONGRESSMAN MORRILL THE 
 BUILDING OF A STATE LEGISLATIVE DISCUSSION IN CALIFORNIA, IN 
 1882 THE MONTHLY TAX ACT OF 1862 THE BURLINGAME TREA- 
 TY APPEAL TO CONGRESS THE PEOPLE OF ONE MIND TREATY 
 OF 1880 RESTRICTIVE LEGISLATION AMERICAN INTEREST IN CHINA. 
 
 CHINA is the reservoir of the cheap labor of the world. 
 Her centuries of growth have been followed by centuries 
 of reaction. Walled in by laws, customs and religion, her 
 people have crowded against each other until her civilization 
 has become stunted, her people pygmies and her women 
 slaves. With wonderful skill in handicrafts, and imitative 
 power unequalled, she has wrought no wonders and performed 
 no service to humanity. Her mountains are full of ores, un- 
 worked ; for man-power is cheaper than horse-power, and 
 machinery is practically unknown. Her economy of living 
 is but another name for starvation. Her people being unread 
 in the history of the outer world, unused to travel, and with- 
 out the inspiration of hope or the knowledge of better oppor- 
 tunities, emigration is practically a banishment. That this 
 people should flow over to the land where the highest wages 
 were paid, and the highest conditions of life were enjoyed, is 
 a wonder of the nineteenth century, if the artificial causes 
 that operated to produce this result were not known. The 
 discovery of gold in California tempted not only the mechan- 
 ics and farmers of the States and of Europe, but tempted the 
 
 (429)
 
 43O THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 avarice of the capitalists at whose bidding the Six Chinese 
 Companies were formed. Gold flowed from the mines into 
 the hands of the miners ; but also into the hands of the specu- 
 lators. Land-steals were common, not only under the old 
 Spanish land-grants, but by processes of surveying and 
 forced titles, evicting squatter and farmer ; and because of 
 the high price of food, rendering the cultivation of large 
 farms profitable, more money was to be realized by the im- 
 portation of cheap labor than from almost any other source. 
 Farm-laborers and servants were needed, and the wages of 
 mechanics were necessarily lifted to something near the earn- 
 ings of the miners. 
 
 The secret history of the Six Companies may never be 
 written ; but the accomplished fact stands out before the world 
 that these companies brought over to California hordes of 
 " cooly " laborers under contracts and conditions more baneful 
 to our civilization than the importation of the African slave. 
 The story of the mid-passage has been told ; the story of the 
 importation of the Chinese " cooly " is unwritten. 
 
 That conflicts should occur between the white miner and 
 the Chinese was but natural ; for the miner, coming from the 
 centres of civilization, had become somewhat brutalized. His 
 home was a cabin, without the refining influences of mother 
 or wife or child. But it was not until the demand for crafts- 
 men in the realms of organized industry that the contest 
 between the two races reached its highest point. From the 
 high-tide of unexampled incomes, white labor was crowded 
 down to its lowest ebb. The Chinaman could live as he lived 
 in China, while the emigrant from other lands was soon 
 brought up to American habits and customs. From the 
 crowding out of the workman, they soon found it practical 
 and possible to crowd out the employer ; for no manufacturer 
 employing white labor could compete with the Chinese em- 
 ployer having his own countrymen as employees. Their 
 habits, their language and their religion necessitated a crowd- 
 ing together until they covered street after street with their 
 workshops, gambling-saloons, houses of prostitution, tene- 
 ments and joss-houses. Every part of the building from
 
 COOLY LABORERS. 
 
 431 
 
 cellar to attic is crowded full of human life, and furniture and 
 the usual appliances of civilization are unknown. Their beds 
 are bunks, built on the sides and in the centres of the rooms ; 
 their furniture, a board table ; their cutlery, chop-sticks. They 
 make no demand for the products of other labor. These 
 habits are not only common to California, but wherever these 
 people settle in numbers. In the report of the Massachu- 
 setts Bureau of Statistics of Labor for 1871, a description is 
 given of the Chinese " cooly^" laborers employed at shoe- 
 making at North Adams, from which we quote : 
 
 We found there seventy-three men, clad in cotton cloth, with cheap Chinese 
 hats and shoes. Their dining-tables were made of pine boards, without cov- 
 ering; their chairs were wooden benches; their sleeping-places bunks on the 
 sides of the room, with thin mattresses and scant bedding. The dinner-set 
 for every six persons was a bowl for each, a platter with boiled pork and pota- 
 toes cut into bits, a tin pan filled with boiled rice, with ladle to dip it into 
 each man's bowl, and their table-cutlery a pair of chopsticks for each, what 
 tea they took being taken in the same rice-bowl. 
 
 And the Bureau asks this question : " What industrial pro- 
 duction is stimulated by such a laboring population?" and 
 then gives this answer : 
 
 The woollen and cotton-mills of Lowell and, Lawrence, of Fall River and 
 Salisbury, the cutlery-works of Shelburne Falls, the furniture-factories of 
 Essex and Worcester counties, the hat-factories of Methuen, the boot and 
 shoe-factories of Milford, the Bridgewaters and Lynn nay, more, the 
 authors and publishers, the newspapers and expressmen, the railroads, all the 
 varied industries of the Commonwealth, would be brought to ruin under such 
 a method of" breaking down the nuisance of trades-unions," the accomplish- 
 ment of which is the declared intent of this cheap and ignorant labor. 
 
 At first, the Chinamen were laughed at by some ; but they 
 were welcomed by the controlling classes. In the public 
 procession in celebration of the admission of California into 
 the Union, Chinese were a conspicuous feature. They were 
 spoken of as " our elder brothers." Their presence was 
 welcomed as affording opportunity of doing them good, and 
 influencing their native land. History had given its warning 
 of the threatened danger. Every writer conversant with the 
 habits and customs of the race, and every experiment of their 
 settlements had proved that this people were moral and spirit-
 
 432 
 
 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 ual lepers. Before the settlement of this continent, they had 
 been ordered to leave Manilla ; and such was the hatred 
 engendered by their habits that over fifty thousand of them 
 were massacred by the Spaniards within fifty years. In 1740, 
 twelve thousand were massacred by the Dutch. 
 
 [We herewith present the views of W. W. Stone, of Cali- 
 fornia.] 
 
 THE CHINESE-LABOR PROBLEM. 
 
 In considering the effect produced by the presence of 
 the Chinese in the American world of labor, writers may 
 be pardoned if they take rather extreme views. The manu- 
 facturer, as an employer, rushes to the conclusion that he is 
 obligee! \y some arbitrary power to go out in diligent search 
 of the very cheapest producing material that can, by any pos- 
 sible combination, be seized upon. The laborer, naturally, 
 per contra, views the Chinaman as a mere labor-machine, 
 devoid of intelligence, utterly destitute of ambition and reason, 
 and willingly working for the mere purpose of existence. 
 Here is an antagonism, but it is artificial, not natural. The 
 manufacturer produces for the love of gain. His masters are 
 the laboring consumers ; and the more well-to-do the master, 
 the greater the consumption. On the other hand, the con- 
 sumer patronizes, not for any regard for the manufacturer, 
 but in obedience to the law of necessities. The manufacturer, 
 therefore, is the agent or servant of the laborer, and has no 
 rights or standing over or above any other equal factor. Ex- 
 tremes here meet ; and, instead of standing on neutral ground, 
 sound results can be best attained by reasoning from the 
 stand-point of the general welfare. 
 
 It is the basic principle of this government that every citi- 
 zen has a right to enjoy and to exercise the various faculties 
 of mind, soul and body, as long as that enjoyment does not 
 infringe upon the rights of others. In the exercise of these 
 rights, a man may not store explosives in the midst of a com- 
 munity, because of the danger to others ; he may not ampu- 
 tate a sound limb, because he is liable, by so doing, to become 
 a burden on the community ; he is restricted in the use and
 
 THE SIX COMPANIES. 
 
 433 
 
 sale of poisons to mind or body ; he is morally and often 
 legally obliged to educate himself up to a proper knowledge 
 and appreciation of his rights and duties as a citizen. We 
 thus see that the purer the democracy, the nearer we approach 
 to a grand co-operative, mutually protective association. Here 
 is where the Chinese-labor question enters as a discordant ele- 
 ment. From his cradle, the Chinese serf is disciplined in the 
 doctrine of nonentity. He was born under a government 
 having a spiritual and a temporal head ; and he is, therefore, 
 mangled body and soul. His temporal government is of the 
 patriarchal type, and the sins of one of a family are visited 
 upon the heads of the remainder. 
 
 It does not require much knowledge of human nature to 
 arrive at the inevitable conclusion that an element trained in 
 such a school cannot possibly sympathize with our plan of 
 co-operation. Every item in such a training is only another 
 barrier to assimilation. Properly apply all these conditions 
 in the consideration of the labor problem, and the gravity of 
 the situation will be fully appreciated. 
 
 The manufacturer of to-day, rejecting the co-operative plan 
 of our governmental system, goes into the labor market and 
 calls for the lowest bidder. In answer to the call, the Cauca- 
 sian and the Mongolian commences to figure upon the basis 
 of living prices. The Caucasian must add to his own indi- 
 vidual needs the cost of maintaining a wife and family. 
 There is rent to pay, clothing to be provided, books to buy, 
 and, added to all this, the many little wants that arise out of 
 the conditions of a Christian civilization. The Mongolian 
 comes much closer to the wind. He is a mere servile unit in 
 one of the Six Companies. He has a merely nominal rent ; for 
 he is content with a little shelf in a barrack-structure, fashioned 
 after the forecastle of a sea-going vessel. He is not burdened 
 with the cares and expenses of family, because he is content 
 with a fractional interest in the body of a female slave ; his 
 food and clothing, imported almost entirely from his native 
 country, cost him about $7 per month. The maintenance of 
 a Caucasian family ranges from $40 to $50 per month. 
 Figuring from these bases, can it be otherwise than inevitable 
 
 (28)
 
 434 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 that Caucasian labor must go to the wall ? The uninitiated 
 declare that this in time will be righted ; that the laws of 
 trade will equalize and adjust conditions and rates, making 
 eventually a satisfactory equilibrium. It must be borne in 
 mind that the entire population of the United States is 
 50,000,000, while just outside of the portals of our Golden 
 Gate 400,000,000 Mongolians are engaged in a desperate 
 struggle for existence. The insignificant fraction of this 
 overwhelming host now swarming on the Pacific coast have 
 not gained any individuality by migration. The presidents 
 of the Six Companies know that Chinese labor is accepted, not 
 because it is better, but because it is cheaper. As fast, there- 
 fore, as the rate of wages for white labor falls, these serf- 
 owners lower their scale, always underbidding the Caucasian 
 rates. In this way the Christian, with his helpless family, is 
 jostled aside, and the pagan slave fitted in his place. 
 
 A year or so ago, the writer was talking to a well-informed 
 Chinaman on the question of American toleration. "You 
 will live to see the day," said the Chinaman, "when we shall 
 control the labor-market of the whole of this country." It is an 
 inexorable fact that this country must be either all Caucasian 
 or all Mongolian. Are w r e ready to submit to absorption? I 
 think that the patriotism and intelligence of the American 
 people rise to a higher plane. An eminent authority has said 
 that if American muscle cannot compete with Mongolian 
 labor, then the American 'must go to the ivall ! Can we 
 afford the price? To compete with success, we must cut 
 down all expenses outside of the bare items of animal exist- 
 ence. We must shut up our schools, for these institutions 
 cultivate a craving for a living above the mere animal. We 
 must close up the churches, because the Chinaman has no 
 day of rest. We must sweep away a thousand and one 
 products of Christian civilization, because Christianity, in its 
 essence, elevates mankind above the groveling instincts of the 
 animal of the field, and encourages a life of intelligence 
 and self-improvement. Surely no just student of industrial 
 economy will deny the fairness of these conclusions. The 
 conditions of the problem are justly set forth, without exagger-
 
 CONTROLLING THE TRADES. 
 
 435 
 
 ation. The cold-blooded query is, Shall the area of the 
 United States be a vast auction-block, on which labor is to be 
 offered up at lowest prices? If so, then civilization must step 
 down to give room to barbarism. To compete successfully 
 under such a system there must be an intelligent sacrifice of 
 every want above the mere animal necessity ; and, as such a 
 sacrifice carries with it a loss of mentality, there must survive 
 a class whose province would be to maintain the level. We 
 hold that the American Union is based on business principles 
 of mutual co-operation. Every individual of the firm has a 
 duty to perform in contributing to the industrial welfare, and 
 in return is- entitled to compensation on a scale that shall en- 
 able him to maintain his standing as an intelligent factor. 
 Proceeding on this basis, the manufacturer has asked for pro- 
 tection against the importation of the product of pauper-labor. 
 The request has been complied with. Now, the laborer raises 
 his voice, and asks for protection against the -pauper himself. 
 We do not ask for a sweeping restriction that shall prevent 
 the incoming of intelligent and assimilative toilers. We ask 
 this protection, not only for the same reasons urged by the 
 manufacturer, but on broader grounds. We ask protection 
 from an element that, in coming, receives, but does not give ; 
 makes, but does not use ; enjoys advantages, but does not 
 return benefits. That this antagonism is not trivial or im- 
 aginative, we have only to point to the industrial history of 
 the Pacific coast. We find the Chinaman controlling the 
 boot and shoe-trade, and yet, without exception, he sends to 
 China for his shuffling slipper. He supplies the trade with 
 cigars, and yet smokes nothing but an opium-laden pipe. He 
 entirely usurps the making of underwear, he throws thousands 
 of female washers and sewers out of employment, and, with- 
 out a thought of reciprocity, he bands with a number of his 
 fellow-countrymen and sends to China for a female slave to 
 be farmed out as a satisfaction to the vile lust of the commu- 
 nity. He is a pagan and a monarchist, and leaves behind 
 hostages for his allegiance. He cannot become either an 
 American citizen or a Christian. No Christian will sacrifice 
 his loved ones for commercial advantages ; and, therefore, par-
 
 436 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 adoxical as it may seem, tne more consistent the pagan, the 
 better the Christian ! 
 
 I do not know that I violate any confidence in narrating 
 a conversation between a so-called Chinese Christian and Mr. 
 J. G. Kennedy, ex-Superintendent of Schools, of San Jose, 
 California. A lady belonging to the San Jose Christian 
 Chinese Mission had recommended Ah Wow as an excellent 
 Christian. In course of conversation, after the introduction, 
 the question of Christianity was alluded to, Ah Wow speaking 
 of it rather slightingly. I give the rest verbatim : 
 
 MR. KENNEDY : I thought you were a Christian, Ah Wow ! 
 
 AH Wow : No ! I no such ting. I allee same Chinaman. 
 
 MR. KENNEDY : So you do not believe in Christ? 
 
 AH Wow: No, no! d Clist! I no flaid. Chinaman go mission, 
 
 gettee little jobs. Ole women play and men pleach. Velly good for China- 
 man wantee work. Plenty work, ' legion go to h 
 
 This is about the sum and substance of the Chinese creed. 
 
 Here on the Pacific coast, we may see every day the evi- 
 dences of human skill and energy in the tearing down of 
 mountains and filling up of swamps. Apply this energy to 
 the leveling of the field of labor by the introduction of an 
 element such as we have pictured ; throw open our groaning 
 Gate and let the surplus of 400,00x3,000 roll in from the over- 
 laden West, and you will have such a leveling as was experi- 
 enced when the Zuyder Zee burst over its boundaries and 
 engulfed the cities and towns of Holland, leaving nothing 
 visible above the sullen waters but an occasional church-spire 
 that stood as a mournful evidence of an engulfed civilization. 
 How much more consistent with the principles of co-operation 
 and Christianity is the system that comprehends the establish- 
 ment of a board of arbitration that shall so regulate the rate 
 of wages that the humblest citizen may not only satisfy the 
 wants of the mere animal, but that he may possess means by 
 which he may maintain the dignity of an American freeman ! 
 This leads on to the deprecatory exclamations adopted by a 
 few who are temporarily benefited in a pecuniary way by the 
 employment of Chinese labor. We sometimes hear these 
 people say : " We cannot rely upon our white help ! We-
 
 THE NOBILITY OF GOLD. 
 
 437 
 
 are compelled to use the Chinese, because we find them obedi- 
 ent, submissive, tractable, and cheap." All this was urged 
 by the Southern planter, when he drew upon Africa fora con- 
 tingent labor fund. The sturdy yeomanry who landed upon 
 Plymouth Rock, or who braved death under a hundred guises 
 in the wilds of a new world, were not the men to tamely sub- 
 mit to the imperious exactions of petty landholders, who 
 wanted labor-machines, and not men. The ignorant and sub- 
 missive son of the Dark Continent has been eagerly seized 
 upon as an available substitute. The student of American 
 history need not have pointed out to him the instructive 
 tableaux-vivants furnished in the progress of our experi- 
 ence in the use of submissive and tractable labor. The 
 Missouri Compromise, the Mexican struggle, the Kansas- 
 Nebraska warfare, and the Great Rebellion are pictures not 
 forgotten. The fact is, there is a class rapidly growing 
 up in America, who believe in the nobility of gold. This 
 class act upon the assumption that the acceptation of wage- 
 money carries with it a forfeiture of manhood or woman- 
 hood. To this class the advent of mere labor-machines is 
 a godsend. 
 
 That Chinese labor comprehends a system of slavery is a 
 fact that it is idle to deny ; and to invite immigration is only to 
 welcome a repetition of our past experience. It should be 
 understood that we have here the flower and the cream of 
 the Chinese working-world, the young, the ambitious, the 
 strong and energetic of the race ; and yet, withal, the Cauca- 
 sian rejects this infusion for the pure blood of the manly 
 American. Look at the history of the many islands of the 
 Pacific Ocean, wherein these heathen have gained permanent 
 footing ! Without exception, the progress of the invader has 
 been marked by outbursts of volcanic wrath, deluging the 
 devoted territories with fire, blood, loathsome diseases and 
 unbridled lust. We sometimes come across some short- 
 sighted writer, who, having availed himself of the services of 
 one of these servile, obsequious, and apparently self-sacrificing 
 pagans, instantly institutes a comparison between this speci- 
 men and some degraded sample of Caucasian he has chanced
 
 438 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 to meet, and concludes from this comparison that the Asiatic 
 race is the superior element in the field of labor. To such, 
 we would suggest a visit to the cities of the "more favored 
 nation." There he would find the brute slave, without the 
 the first instincts of the freeman. Our sturdy forefathers of 
 Revolutionary times never dreamed of the introduction of such 
 an element into our body politic, when they threw open the 
 ports of the country to the oppressed of the world. We of a 
 more enlightened age see this in the light of experience, and 
 view with alarm the danger of deterioration by reason of 
 non-assimilating material. It must not be taken for granted 
 that this feeling of antagonism is a short-lived or a newly- 
 awakened sentiment. When, in 1849, tne new s of the dis- 
 covery of gold startled the laboring world, there came an 
 irresistible rush from all quarters of the globe. The China- 
 man was not absent from the current. He came by twos and 
 by threes at first ; but gradually the number increased, until, 
 in 1854, tne gathering had so enlarged that the subject was 
 made a matter of official investigation by a committee of our 
 State Senate. Senators Ralston, Frey, Soule, Estelle and 
 Warner composed this committee ; and, after a thorough 
 analysis of the industrial situation, they presented a report, 
 containing a forecast that shows that the Labor Question is a 
 mathematical rather than a dogmatic problem, and as such 
 is capable of easy demonstration. Read this in the light of 
 to-day's experience, and mark the justice of the committee's 
 conclusions : 
 
 The Chinese are destructive to the best interests of the State, and dangerous 
 to its peace. They come, not as freemen, but as serfs and hirelings of a mas- 
 ter. It needs no Solomon to predict the result; disputes will take place, and 
 blood will flow, to be followed by the expulsion of a population who will be 
 driven from the State by violence instead of law. 
 
 Here is a horologue cast, not by demagogues and time- 
 servers, but by grave and reverend seignors, learned in law, 
 and living in an atmosphere far removed from idle clamor. 
 These Senators recognized the fact that free, intelligent and 
 well-remunerated labor is one of the important elements of a 
 republican government.
 
 A LABOR OASIS. 
 
 439 
 
 The greater the remuneration for labor, the better the 
 patronage from the laborer. Some of our near-sighted manu- 
 facturers could not see this. They looked around with long- 
 ing eyes for cheap labor. In 1872, a cigar firm in San 
 Francisco concluded that it was for their interest to employ 
 Chinese help. A few were taken on, and taught the mys- 
 teries of the trade. At that time, cigar-manufacturers were 
 growing rich ; dealers were doing well, and cigar-makers 
 prospered. To-day, we find 8,000 Chinamen controlling 
 the entire trade. Here, as in other branches, the manufac- 
 turer has been "hoist by his own petard," for the factory- 
 hand has assumed the role of manufacturer. It has been 
 estimated that about five millions of dollars are annually 
 sent to China by the cigar-trade alone. So independent and 
 arrogant had the Mongolian become, that, in 1885, the guild- 
 leaders ordered out the Chinese hands from a white employ- 
 er's factory, because the owner attempted to use the services 
 of a few white men. In 1870, a shoe-firm taught a few 
 Chinamen to make shoes. One after another followed. 
 "Wages for good workmen in 1870 averaged about $20 per 
 week. To-day, some 6,000 Chinese are employed in the 
 one industry, at wages ranging from $20 to $30 per month. 
 Out of 'the sixty boot and shoe-factories of the city, the 
 Chinese own forty-eight ; while of the fifty slipper-factories, 
 every one is owned by Chinamen. 
 
 It is pleasant in this desert of industry to record an oasis. 
 As I write, I hear the carpenters' hammers ringing merry 
 changes in the morning air. I look out, and see workmen 
 busily engaged in adding a story to the factory of the United 
 Workmen. The history of this company is instructive. In 
 1870, a few shoemakers, indignant at the influx of Chinese, 
 left the bench in a mixed factory, and started out in business 
 on their own account, on a co-operative plan. They were 
 paralyzed by earthquakes, benumbed by serf-competition ; but 
 they persevered. They turned out nothing but first-class 
 goods ; they starved themselves to buy all the modern im- 
 provements in the mechanical line. Public confidence was 
 gained ; and to-day the poor shoemakers of old are growing
 
 44 TIIK L.ABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 rich, with more orders than they can fill, and giving employ- 
 ment and fair remuneration to a hundred hands. 
 
 I should like here, parenthetically, as a Christian and pa- 
 triot, with all due reverence, to remark that we have even in 
 this country two classes of Christians, for whom the remainder 
 of this chapter can have no charms. I allude, 
 
 ist. To the gentlemen who claim that the Almighty created 
 human workers and human drones. 
 
 2nd. To the enthusiasts who believe that souls are embodied 
 merely for the work of salvation. To these theorists the 
 question of wages is an idle incident. I desire to call the 
 attention of patriots and humanitarians to the fact that, as 
 countries emerge from the cloud of barbarism, the condition 
 of the humble toilers rises in full proportion, the scale of wages 
 being a kind of civilometer, by which we can estimate the 
 full measure of elevation. In 1870, the Chinese commenced 
 to pay attention to the manufacture of ladies' shoes. At that 
 time, workmen were paid $18 per dozen for a department in 
 that trade. In 1872, the price fell to $15.00; in 1874, to 
 $14.00 : in 1876, to $10.00 ; in 1878, to $9.00 ; in 1880, to 
 $7.00; to-day, it is $6.00. In 1876, skilful tailors received 
 $25.00 per week; in 1878, $20.00; in 1881, $15.00, with 
 still a downward tendency. In 1872, sempstresses could make 
 from $15.00 to $20.00 per week. To-day, the entire trade of 
 underwear is absolutely under the control of the Chinese, and 
 women have been forced out of that avenue of employment. 
 This may be called a dispensation of Providence for them ; for 
 we find them appearing in the counting-house, at the printers' 
 font and on the keys of Morse's telegraphic instrument. 
 Fortunately for them, the instincts of barbarism are not in the 
 ascendancy, or they would have been relegated to the seclu- 
 sion of the hut to act in the capacity of drudge, as chattel 
 appendages in the menial retinue of lordly masters. It would 
 consume too much space to enumerate the many particulars 
 of our down-sliding. A brief summary only can be given. 
 We have 8,000 Chinamen in the cigar-trade to 600 whites ; 
 10,000 Chinese in wearing-apparel ; 8,ooolaundrymen ; 4,000 
 prostitutes, making a grand total in all branches of about
 
 THE LITTLE BROWN MAN.' 
 
 441 
 
 32,000 non-affiliating, non-consumers, paying taxes on less 
 than a million dollars on real and personal property, and 
 draining the country of $8,000,000 annually. 
 
 I am proud to be able to say that the Knights of Labor are 
 fully alive to the danger of the situation. As secretary of the 
 District Assembly of California, I called the attention of Gene- 
 ral Master Workman Powderly to our efforts here, and re- 
 ceived a reply, concluding in the following words : 
 
 The men of the West must not be allowed to fight the battle single-handed 
 and alone. The evil they complain of is no longer confined to one section of this 
 country. It is spreading, and its evil influences are being felt in all our indus- 
 trial centres, and if a desire to assist our brethren in a righteous cause is not 
 sufficient to animate us and spur us to action, then self-interest will soon 
 prompt us to bestir ourselves. The Order must act as a unit in this matter. 
 
 We frequently hear this great Republic spoken of as the 
 "Great Giant" of the Western World. We speak of the 
 Chinaman as "the little brown man." We are thus furnished 
 with materi:\l for a Gulliver romance. Our "Giant" has been 
 hitherto sleeping in conscious strength. One by one the 
 little threads of industrial degeneration have been thrown 
 around the quiescent limbs, until a cable-like bond has fas- 
 tened itself about our body politic, and we awake with a start 
 to find ourselves enmeshed in barbaric thraldom. Go down to 
 the "Chinatown " of San Francisco, and you will see a fore- 
 cast of the condition of this whole city before the close of the 
 present century, if this evil is not immediately checked. You 
 will find crime in its most hideous aspect ; disease in its most 
 loathsome form ; vice, ignorance and brutality in the most 
 disgusting shape. Here, filth and utter depravity hold high 
 carnival, with surrounding horrors beyond the possibility of 
 pen to picture. The helots of ancient times were held up to 
 symbolize purgatory ; we point out the " Chinatown " of our 
 fair city as a materialized Hell. We are too intelligent and 
 progressive a people to allow this industrial tumor to spread. 
 The great Fathers of the Revolution produced a nation of 
 freemen ; and the gallant army of veterans, gathered this year 
 in San Francisco, fought to perpetuate that birth-right. Time 
 may be required to eradicate this evil ; but I feel certain that
 
 442 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 the wisdom and patriotism of the people will to serve redeem 
 the land, so that, by the time our children shall have assumed 
 our positions in the walks of life, they will not be compelled 
 to struggle with ignorance and brutality for the mere right 
 to live. 
 
 LEGISLATION IN RESTRAINT OF CHINESE IMMIGRATION. 
 
 [The important subject of legislation upon this question is admirably treated in the follow- 
 ing contribution from the Hon. W. W. Morrow, of California. ED.] 
 
 The immigration of Chinese into the United States com- 
 menced soon after the discovery of gold in California, in 1848, 
 and was part of the large population suddenly attracted to 
 that section from all parts of the world in the hasty pursuit of 
 wealth. At first, the effect of the strange and unassimilating 
 " little brown man " in our body politic was, perhaps, not gen- 
 erally considered, for the reason, doubtless, that but few 
 people went to California in early days seeking a permanent 
 home. The difficulties, therefore, whatever they might be, 
 arising out of the presence of large numbers of Chinese in the 
 new fields of industry were, to most of the Argonauts, as tem- 
 porary as their intended stay in the country was uncertain ; 
 but as soon as it was discovered that the resources of the 
 newly-acquired territory invited permanent residence and oc- 
 cupation, and the people undertook the building of a State on 
 the principles of modern civilization, it occurred to men of in- 
 telligence that the increase of the Chinese population, to any 
 considerable extent, would certainly make it a disturbing ele- 
 ment in the industrial and social organization of the Common- 
 wealth. 
 
 As early, therefore, as 1852, we find the question of 
 Chinese immigration a subject of discussion in the Legislature 
 of California. In April of that year, the Committee on Mines 
 and Mining Interests of the Assembly presented a report, in 
 which attention was called to the evil arising from the concen- 
 tration within the limits of the State of vast numbers of the 
 Asiatic races, and of the inhabitants of the Pacific Islands, dis- 
 similar from ourselves in customs, language and education. 
 The committee stated, among many other reasons, why an in-
 
 ANTI-ALIEN LEGISLATION. 443 
 
 discriminate immigration of this class of foreigners should not 
 be permitted, that " most of them arrive here, not as freemen 
 seeking liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but are brought 
 as absolute slaves by their foreign masters, and by foreign 
 capitalists, and are held to labor under contracts which our 
 laws do not recognize, and whose penalties are revolting to 
 our sympathies." Governor Bigler also sent a special mes- 
 sage to the Legislature, in which he urged upon that body the 
 necessity for action concerning the wholesale importations 
 into this country of immigrants from the Asiatic quarter of the 
 globe. He stated that he was deeply impressed with the con- 
 viction that, in order to enhance the prosperity and to preserve 
 the tranquillity of the State, measures should be adopted to 
 check this tide of Asiatic immigration, and prevent the expor- 
 tation by them of the precious metals, which they dig up from 
 our soil without charge, and without assuming any of the obli- 
 gations imposed upon citizens. The Governor submitted two 
 propositions for the consideration of the Legislature : 
 
 ist. Such an exercise of the taxing power by the State as 
 would check indiscriminate and unlimited Asiatic immi- 
 gration. 
 
 2nd. A demand by the State of California for the prompt in- 
 terposition of Congress, by the passage of an act prohibiting 
 "coolies," shipped to California under contracts, from labor- 
 ing in the mines of the State. 
 
 The first recommendation took form in the enactment of a 
 law imposing a monthly tax of $4 upon all foreigners taking 
 gold from the mines of the State. 
 
 The first Legislature, which met at San Jose, in December, 
 1849, an d prior to the admission of the State into the Union, 
 had imposed a monthly tax of $20 upon foreigners engaged 
 in mining ; but this tax was not specially directed against the 
 Chinese. There were other foreigners swarming into the 
 State at that time, of a highly objectionable character ; and it 
 was to restrain this undesirable immigration that this law was 
 passed. The act, however, yielded but little revenue ; and, in 
 1851, it was repealed. It was substantially this law that was 
 revived in 1852, when the immigration of coolies became
 
 444 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 alarming. The reduction of the tax to $4 per month was, 
 doubtless, for the purpose of making the law effective as a 
 revenue act. This license-tax was declared constitutional 
 by the Supreme Court of California, and was continued until 
 the year 1871, when John Jackson, the sheriff and tax-col- 
 lector of Trinity County, was indicted and convicted in the 
 United States Circuit Court, sitting at San Francisco, for the 
 offense of collecting the tax from a Chinaman, contrary to the 
 provisions of the Act of Congress approved May 31, 1870. 
 The prohibition of the Federal statute against any person 
 within the jurisdiction of the United States being subjected to 
 the deprivation of any right enjoyed by white citizens, and 
 against the imposition of any different punishment, pain or 
 penalty, by reason of such person being an alien, was held to 
 operate against the foreign miners' license-tax, and its col- 
 lection was at once abandoned. 
 
 In 1855, the Legislature of California passed an act which 
 subjected all ships and masters, owners and consignees 
 thereof to a tax of $50 a head on every person imported by 
 said ships into the State, who was incapable of becoming a 
 citizen thereof or of the United States. An attempt was 
 made to collect from the owners of the ship "Stephen Bald- 
 win " this tax on two hundred and fifty Chinese passengers, 
 brought on that ship to San Francisco from Hong Kong ; but 
 the Supreme Court of the United States declared the law un- 
 constitutional on the authority of the passenger cases, decided 
 by the Supreme Court of the United States, in 1848. Mean- 
 time, the act was repealed by the Legislature of 1856. In 
 1858, the Legislature passed an act prohibiting the entry into 
 the State, or the landing at any port thereof, of persons of the 
 Chinese or Mongolian races. This act was also declared un- 
 constitutional by the Supreme Court of the State. 
 
 The next effort of the State to restrain the increasing flood 
 of Chinese immigration was the Act of April 26, 1862, im- 
 posing a Chinese police-tax of $2.50 each month upon all 
 persons of the Mongolian race of eighteen years and upwards, 
 residing in the State, except such as should take out licenses 
 to work in the mines, and excepting also those engaged in the
 
 SUPREME COURT DECISIONS. 445 
 
 production and manufacture of sugar, rice, coffee and tea. 
 The power of the State to prescribe terms upon which 
 Chinese should be permitted to reside in it was very ably dis- 
 cussed before the Supreme Court of the State upon the hear- 
 ing of a case arising under this law ; but the Supreme Court, 
 in a very elaborate opinion, decided the law unconstitutional. 
 It would be unprofitable to refer to all the measures adopted 
 by the people of California to protect themselves against the 
 evils of Chinese immigration. Accustomed to rely upon their 
 own ingenuity and will in the solution of difficulties pertain- 
 ing to their new society, the Californians undertook to legis- 
 late upon this subject with a view of discouraging an increase 
 in this class of population. They accordingly provided 
 statutes against the importation of certain objectionable classes, 
 and imposed penalties against many of the evil practices com- 
 mon to the Chinese habits of life ; but this method of pro- 
 cedure, being restricted under our form of government to police 
 regulations, the legislation proved ineffectual to restrain the 
 Chinese invasion. That the State has, however, gone to the 
 full extent of its sovereign power in this direction by constitu- 
 tional and legislative enactments, is fully attested by the large 
 number of cases brought to the Supreme Court of the United 
 States, wherein that authority is questioned as infringing upon 
 Federal jurisdiction. 
 
 An appeal was accordingly made to Congress to interpose 
 its unquestioned power and authority in this behalf. Prior to 
 1868, no right of emigration of Chinese subjects to the United 
 States existed by reason of any formal treaty stipulations with 
 China ; and, in fact, no such stipulation was necessary. The 
 country had always been open to immigration, without con- 
 dition as to the nationality of the immigrant. The generous 
 declaration that this country is the asylum for the oppressed 
 of every nation, had been sufficient for all purposes in the en- 
 couragement of foreign immigration to our shores, and it did 
 not exclude the Chinamen. In the year 1868, Mr. Burlin- 
 game negotiated a treaty with China, in which free immigra- 
 tion was for the first time established as a treaty-right. But 
 the ink with which this treaty was written was hardly dry
 
 446 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 when an unsuccessful effort was made in Congress to restrict 
 Chinese immigration. In 1870, Mr. Fitch, then a represent- 
 ative in Congress from Nevada, in a speech in the House 
 of Representatives, concerning Chinese immigration, said : 
 
 Only here can this tide be stayed. The States of the Pacific are powerless 
 to legitimately resist it. It is no act of statemanship to burn a steamer or mob 
 a Chinese factory. The Chinese who are here under existing laws and treaties, 
 are entitled to be protected in their persons and property ; and the Pacific coast 
 cannot resist the power of Federal government. We cannot offer isolated, in. 
 effectual opposition to the incoming ofthese Asiatics. We must appeal to the 
 wisdom and justice of Congress, from being over-run and devastated by these 
 Asiatic locusts ; and if we appeal as one people, without seeking to make it a 
 partisan question, we may not appeal in vain. 
 
 In 1872, 'the legislature of the State of California adopted 
 resolutions setting forth the evils of this immigration ; and, 
 through its Senators and Representatives, urged upon the 
 Federal Government the adoption of such treaty regulations 
 and legislation as should discourage its continuance. A like 
 appeal was also made in 1874. During this time, numerous 
 memorials, resolutions of public meetings and petitions, one 
 of which numbered over .sixteen thousand signatures, were 
 presented to Congress, asking for relief from the growing 
 evil. 
 
 In 1877, an address was prepared and issued by a committee 
 of the senate of the State of California, to the people of the 
 United States, upon the social, moral and political effect of 
 Chinese immigration. In this address, the whole question was 
 ably discussed, and an earnest appeal was made to the country 
 to come to the aid of the Pacific coast in its effort to secure a 
 restriction of Chinese immigration through the peaceable 
 means of legislation or treaty stipulations. 
 
 In 1878, the legislature of the State of California again 
 appealed to Congress to take action upon this vital question, 
 and recommended the modification or abrogation of the Bur- 
 lingame Treaty. 
 
 In 1879, at a general election held for State officers in Cali- 
 fornia, the question of Chinese immigration was submitted to 
 the voters of the State for an expression of sentiment as to 
 whether or not such immigration was desirable.
 
 A MIGHTY PROTEST. 447 
 
 For Chinese immigration, there were cast 883 votes ; 
 against Chinese immigration, 154,638, showing a majority 
 of I53755 against such immigration. This popular verdict 
 in favor of protecting American labor against foreign invasion 
 came alike from the employee and the employer, the laborer 
 and the capitalist, the miner and the banker. It came from 
 the school-room, the pulpit and the public press. It repre- 
 sented all classes, and for all practical purposes was the united 
 voice of the free, law-abiding, patriotic people. And it se- 
 cured attention ; for, in this same year, Congress finally passed 
 an act limiting the number of Chinese passengers that should 
 be permitted to come to the United States on any one vessel, to 
 fifteen. This bill, however, failed to receive Executive appro- 
 val, on the ground that it was in conflict with the treaty obli- 
 gations then existing between the United States and China. 
 
 A commission was thereupon appointed to proceed to China 
 and negotiate a new treaty, having in view the declared pur- 
 pose of Congress to prohibit the further influx of Chinese sub- 
 jects into this country. 
 
 The result of this action is to be found in the present treaty 
 with China, dated November 17, 1880. 
 
 From this statement, it will be seen that the opposition to 
 Chinese immigration is by no means a new sentiment on the 
 Pacific coast, and that party bias has had nothing whatever to 
 do with it. It is a question upon which the political parties 
 are agreed ; and, in every instance where popular expression 
 has been sought in the various stages of the agitation, the two 
 great parties have been united in their influence and efforts in 
 favor of peaceful and conservative methods, as distinguished 
 from violent demonstrations and lawless conduct. 
 
 The first article of the Treaty of 1880 provides as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 Whenever, in the opinion of the Government of the United States, the com- 
 ing of Chinese laborers to the United States, or their residence therein, affects 
 or threatens to affect the interests of that country, or to endanger the good 
 order of the said country, or of any locality within the territory thereof, the 
 Government of China agrees that the Government of the United States may 
 regulate, limit or suspend such coming or residence, but may not absolutely 
 prohibit it. The limitation or suspension shall be reasonable, and shall ap-
 
 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 ply only to Chinese who may go to the United States as laborers, other classes 
 not being included in the limitations. Legislation taken in regard to Chinese 
 laborers will be of such a character only as is necessary to enforce the regula- 
 tion, limitation or suspension of immigration, and immigrants shall not be 
 subject to personal maltreatment or abuse. 
 
 In accordance with this stipulation, Congress, on the 6th 
 day of May, 1882, passed an act suspending for the period of 
 ten years the coming of Chinese laborers to the United 
 States. 
 
 By its terms, the act went into effect on the 5th day of 
 August, 1882. Questions at once arose as to the status of 
 various Chinese persons, claiming the right to come into the 
 United States, under some exception or omission in the law. 
 Some of these questions came before the Executive depart- 
 ment of the Government for determination, while others 
 were taken into the United States courts for decision. Whether 
 the ruling of the departments was correct or not, it is not 
 necessary at present to inquire. It is enough to say, that, 
 under one pretext and another, Chinese laborers were per- 
 mitted to come into the United States in such numbers as to 
 excite alarm on the Pacific coast, and give the impression that 
 the Restriction Act was a failure. 
 
 This state of affairs led to the passage of. an amendatory 
 act, dated July 5, 1884, which had for its purpose the curing 
 of certain serious defects developed in the former act. The 
 anxiety of the Chinese to come to this country had become so 
 strong under the flattering inducements offered by their mas- 
 ters, that they immediately proceeded to test the provisions of 
 the amendatory act, and it became the subject of construction 
 in the departments of the government and in the United States 
 courts. The purpose of the law was again evaded in its execu- 
 tion, and large numbers of Chinamen obtained admission 
 into the country upon artful claims of prior residence, 
 transit privileges, and other pretences. 
 
 The people of the Pacific coast naturally became exasper- 
 ated over this condition of things, and demanded that some- 
 thing should be done to put a stop to this immigration. 
 Accordingly, the delegation from California in the present
 
 RESTRICTION ACT. 449 
 
 Congress made a very careful investigation- as to the practical 
 operations of the law. The Chinese restriction acts of the 
 Australian colonies, British Columbia and the Sandwich 
 Islands were examined, and information obtained as to their 
 value for the purpose intended. Amendments were there- 
 upon prepared to the present law, and submitted to persons 
 well informed as to the technical and legal deficiencies of the 
 statute. The result of this work may be found in the bill 
 introduced in the House of Representatives, in December last, 
 amending the Restriction Act. A copy of this bill was intro- 
 duced in the Senate, and referred to the Committee on Foreign 
 Relations. After very careful examination of its provisions 
 by that committee, it was reported favorably to the Senate by 
 Senator Sherman. It passed the Senate without serious 
 opposition, and in the House was referred to the Corrunittee 
 on Foreign Affairs, where it still remains. 
 
 The House bill had been referred to this committee long 
 before, where it was considered, amended and reported to the 
 House. 
 
 As amended, the bill was objectionable, and would be of 
 but little value as an amendment to the Restriction Act. The 
 original bill provides for the extension of the Restriction Act to 
 a period of twenty years ; limits the life of a return-certificate 
 issued to a departing Chinaman to two years ; perfects the 
 details of the return-certificate in the identification of the person 
 to whom it is issued, and limits the number of Chinese pas- 
 sengers that can come to the United States on any one vessel 
 to one for every fifty tons of the registered tonnage of the 
 vessel. 
 
 Such amendments to the Restriction Act would undoubtedly 
 cure many, if not all, of its serious defects. 
 
 The difficulties, however, in the way of an effectual en- 
 forcement of the present law are so numerous that the senti- 
 ment of the Pacific coast is favorable to an abrogation of so 
 much of the Burlingame Treaty as relates to the immigration 
 of Chinese subjects to the United States. If Congress would 
 provide for the abrogation of all treaty stipulations with China 
 relating to immigration, and exclude all classes except ambas- 
 
 (29)
 
 450 
 
 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 sadors and officials representing the Chinese government, the 
 question would be settled at once. 
 
 As an indication of the profound sentiment prevailing in 
 California upon this subject, it will not be inappropriate to 
 notice the petition presented to Congress, in June last, from 
 the Knights of Labor. The petition contained nearly 50,000 
 names, and was one of the most formidable documents of the 
 kind ever presented to Congress. It represented the views 
 of the people engaged in every profession, trade and calling 
 in the State, and called upon Congress to take such action, 
 either by appropriate legislation or by a change in the present 
 treaty with China, as might be deemed necessary to forever 
 prohibit the further immigration of Chinese to the United 
 States. It is difficult to understand why such urgent and 
 continued appeals for relief should go unheeded by Con- 
 gress. 
 
 But it is urged that there are commercial reasons why such 
 extreme measures should not be adopted. A careful exam- 
 ination of our relations \vith China will show, however, that 
 there are no such benefits derived from our trade with that 
 country as to warrant us in leaving our doors open to Chinese 
 immigration. 
 
 The Chinese population in the United States, according 
 to the census, was, in 1860, 34,933; 1870, 63,199; 1880, 
 105,465. Much reliance cannot be placed on the census 
 report in a matter of this kind. The experience on the 
 Pacific coast, and particularly in San Francisco, shows that 
 the usual appliances for enumeration are insufficient to deter- 
 mine, with any degree of accuracy, the population of an 
 ordinary " Chinatown." The figures above given will, how- 
 ever, do for comparison. The census of 1880 was of the date 
 of the treaty with China, providing for the restriction of immi- 
 gration. Had the purpose of this treaty been promptly and 
 effectually carried out, the number of Chinese in the United 
 States would necessarily have been less now than in 1880. 
 But what is the fact? The number is now not much less than 
 200,000, or nearly double what it was at the date of the treaty. 
 Is it any wonder that the people are restless under this state
 
 EXCLUSION OF CHINESE LABOR. 45! 
 
 of affairs? The marvel is, that they are as patient as they 
 have been. 
 
 In the face of a rapidly-increasing and absorbing competi- 
 tion in" every department of labor and every line of industry, 
 these people have said that Chinamen who are here shall be 
 protected in all their rights ; but, in the name of everything 
 that is near and dear to them, they demand that this inva- 
 sion shall cease. Is there anything extraordinary in this 
 demand? 
 
 The President has called the attention of Congress to the 
 fact "that the exclusion of Chinese labor is demanded in other 
 countries where like conditions prevail, is strongly evident in 
 the Dominion of Canada, where Chinese immigration is now 
 regulated by laws more exclusive than our own." Now, 
 what was the condition of affairs in Canada that induced its 
 parliament to pass laws more exclusive than our own? The 
 immigration has been into British Columbia, on the Pacific 
 coast, where, in 1883, the total population was 49,459, of 
 which only 4,350 were Chinese, or less than one-tenth. The 
 building of the Canadian Pacific Railway brought a large, 
 but temporary, increase of the Chinese population ; and at one 
 time (in 1885), it was estimated that there were 18,000 China- 
 men in British Columbia. The people of that section protested 
 against this immigration, and demanded it should cease, 
 whereupon the government at Ottawa passed a restriction 
 act, dated July 20, 1885, section 5 of which provides : 
 
 No vessel carrying Chinese immigrants to any port in Canada, shall 
 carry more than one such immigrant for every fifty tons of its tonnage ; and 
 the owner of any such vessel who carries any number in excess of the number 
 allowed by this section, shall be liable to a penalty of $50 for each person so 
 carried in excess. 
 
 In other sections, further penalties are provided for evasions 
 of the act, and the exclusion is perpetual, and not temporary; 
 but notwithstanding the effective terms of the act, it is an- 
 nounced that it is to be further amended, so as to enlarge its 
 penalties, and make the exclusion more rigid and certain. 
 
 The seven colonies of Australasia contain a population of a 
 little over 3,000,000 of people, with a Chinese population of
 
 452 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 less than 50,000. Some years ago, it was determined that a 
 restriction should be placed on the further immigration of 
 Chinese ; and, accordingly, laws were passed having this 
 object in view. The last statute on this subject which has 
 come under my notice limits the number of Chinese immi- 
 grants that can be carried on any one vessel to one for every 
 one hundred tons of the tonnage of the vessel. 
 
 In the Hawaiian Islands, the Chinese population increased 
 from 5,116 in 1878 to 17,937 in 1884, at which last-named 
 date the total population numbered 80,578. The process of 
 Chinese absorption had commenced, when the government 
 interposed and put a stop to the immigration. 
 
 In the face of such examples, showing the action of other 
 countries in dealing with this question, ought the Government 
 of the United States further to hesitate in this matter? The 
 situation is far more serious on the Pacific coast than is 
 generally understood, and invites the attention of the country 
 to the careful consideration of this question. The successful 
 method adopted in other countries for restricting Chinese im- 
 migration has been to limit the number that may be carried 
 on any one vessel. This was the restriction first proposed by 
 Congress ; and it would have been the law to-day, and this 
 question settled, if it had not been for the Burlingame Treaty. 
 The present treaty, however, permits a restriction of this 
 character ; and, accordingly, it is proposed that vessels shall 
 not bring to this country a greater number than one China- 
 man to every fifty tons of the tonnage of that vessel. This is 
 the present limitation in Canada, and half what it is in 
 Australasia. It cannot be said, therefore, to be unreason- 
 able. The argument is made, however, that there are 
 Americans in China whose interests would suffer from any 
 aggressive action on our part ; but, when we inquire how far 
 our American energy and enterprise have been invited in that 
 direction, we find that there are only 621 Americans in the 
 whole Chinese empire, including men, women and children, 
 and comprising in occupations missionaries, students, mer- 
 chants, mechanics, engineers, bankers and ship-owners. 
 What interests can these few adventurers have in China, as
 
 AMERICANS IN CHINA. 
 
 453 
 
 compared with the interests of 60,000,000 of people at home, 
 to preserve the peace and good order of the thousands of in- 
 dustrial communities scattered all over this land ? It is absurd 
 to seriously discuss measures for the protection of American 
 labor and American industries, and imperil the whole prin- 
 ciple under some vague impression that 621 Americans in 
 China have acquired rights that can only be preserved by a 
 submission to the tyranny and demoralization of Chinese 
 labor, habits and morals. 
 
 It is a further fact worthy of special attention, that under 
 our present treaty stipulations with China, neither the handful 
 of Americans who are now in China, nor any number who 
 may choose to go there, have any such rights as the 200,000 
 Chinese have in the United States. The Chinaman in this 
 country may go where he pleases, and trade and labor in 
 any community he likes, enjoying the same privileges as 
 our own citizens. But not so with the American in China ; 
 he is restricted in his residence and trade to certain ports, 
 called " treaty-ports," which number twenty-two in all ; 
 but only twenty ports are in fact open to foreign trade and 
 commerce. In these "treaty-ports," the Americans, like other 
 foreigners, are even there subjected to restrictions as to 
 residence, business and travel, not imposed upon Chinese 
 subjects ; and hence, it is urged, that our relations with China 
 are in no sense reciprocal or just to our own people, and we 
 ought not to hesitate in imposing whatever restrictive 
 measures may be necessary to protect our laboring classes 
 against the evils of Chinese immigration.
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE PROBLEM OF TO-DAY. 
 
 EQUITY BETWEEN MEN THE COMPLAINT OF LABOR PARTISAN STATES- 
 MANSHIP CONTRASTS " THE CITY STREETS " DESPOTISM OF THE 
 WAGE-SYSTEM THE RESPONSIBILITY WAR RELATIONS THE DUTY 
 OF GOVERNMENT A PERMANENT CLASS MORE TIME, MORE WAGES 
 THE LEARNED AND POWERFUL FROM VILLANAGE TO CO-OPERA- 
 TION CIVILIZATION is COMMON PROPERTY PRIVATE OWNERSHIP 
 AND PUBLIC INTERESTS LEVELLING-UP No BLOODY REPRISALS 
 THE ARMY OF PEACE GOD AND MAMMON THE NEW PENTECOST. 
 
 THE problem of to-day, as of yesterday and to-morrow, 
 is, how to establish equity between men. The laborer 
 who is forced to sell his day's labor to-day, or starve to- 
 morrow, is not in equitable relations with the employer, who 
 can wait to buy labor until starvation fixes the rates of wages 
 and hours of time. The labor movement is the natural effort 
 of readjustment, an ever-continued attempt of organized 
 laborers, so that they may withhold their labor until the 
 diminished interest or profit or capital of the employer shall 
 compel him to agree to such terms as shall be for the time 
 measurably equitable. These are the forceful methods of all 
 time, and may continue to develop manhood and womanhood 
 by peaceful revolution, as laborers advance their line, or may 
 cause a social earthquake, and become destructive by the or- 
 ganized repression of labor's right. Before the solution of the 
 labor problem can be reached, the nature of the complaint 
 must be understood. The author, in 1877, attempted a diag- 
 nosis of the disease, which was given to the public in the 
 form of an appeal ; and, as it voices the complaint of labor 
 to-day, it is here reproduced : 
 
 " Primarily, the responsibility for strikes and outbreaks rests 
 upon the wage-labor system, a system that encourages cun- 
 
 (454)
 
 LABOR'S COMPLAINT. 455 
 
 ning above conscience ; that robs the producer, and enriches 
 the speculator ; that makes the employer a despot, and the 
 employee a slave, a system that shortens life, engenders 
 disease, enfeebles the mind, corrupts the morals, and thus 
 propagates misery, vice and crime. 
 
 "We complain, that whereas labor produces all the wealth 
 of the world, the laborer receives only as much as will keep 
 him in the poorest condition of life to which he can be* 
 crowded down, for the shortest number of years ; that he 
 makes civilization possible, and is reduced to barbarism, 
 building houses not to own them, carriages not to ride in 
 them, growing food he may not eat, and weaving raiment 
 he may not wear ; that all of the arts and comforts that lift 
 human life above the brute are present to tantalize, and not 
 to encourage him ; that steam, electricity, chemistry and 
 productive machinery are competitors, and not co-operators, 
 with him ; that the conditions of his employment are debas- 
 ing, and not elevating, demoralizing, and not self-con- 
 trolling ; and that, whereas he is the most important factor, 
 he is treated as the least ; that his home is in the tenement- 
 houses, back-slums and alleys of the city, or the unhealthy 
 lowlands of the suburbs ; that his wife is forced from home, 
 and his children from school ; that he cannot, as a laborer, 
 hope for thanks, honors or positions of trust ; that he is prac- 
 tically debarred from representation or the public expression 
 of his complaints. When at work, he belongs to the lower 
 orders, and is continually under surveillance ; when out of 
 work, he is an outlaw, a tramp, he is a man without the 
 rights of manhood, the pariah of society, homeless, in the 
 deep significance of the term. 
 
 "The laborer's complaint is not that brains rule, or that cul- 
 ture leads, but that conscienceless cunning and miserly 
 acquisitiveness are rewarded better than constructive ability 
 or open-hearted integrity. We complain that culture busies 
 itself upon immaterial subjects, conning the olden lore, not 
 delving for the unrevealed treasures that lie embossed in 
 humanity ; that learning interests itself with the science of 
 things, and not with the science of men ; that philanthropy is
 
 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 the maudlin moan over the needs of the beasts, and a scoffer 
 at the woes of humanity ; that cats, dogs and horses are 
 better cared for than the children of the poor ; that there are 
 societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals, and none 
 to prevent cruelty to humanity. 
 
 " We complain that our rulers, statesmen and orators have 
 not attempted to engraft republican principles into our indus- 
 trial system, and have forgotten or denied its underlying 
 principles. 
 
 "We complain that statesmanship is narrow and partisan, 
 the pulpit blind and ignorant, and the press the advertising 
 channel of wealth ; that the spirit and power of our institu- 
 tions are being subverted from the high positions attempted 
 by the Fathers, by gradual limitation of the power of the 
 ballot, making elections less frequent, appointments more 
 numerous, terms of office longer, by decrease of opportunity 
 for the intelligent comprehension of the rapidly-increasing 
 political duties, by the teachings of a false and pernicious 
 system of political economy, that has no logical rule or law 
 of action, or systematic arrangement of data, a system that, 
 up to this time, has taught that the production, and not the 
 distribution, of wealth was the greatest factor in civilization. 
 
 "We complain that the courts are administrators of estates, 
 and not of justice ; that the weight of wealth, and not of tes- 
 timony, wins the case or decides the penalty. 
 
 " We complain that the jurors are chosen from the traders 
 and speculators, and not from the wage-laborers. 
 
 " We complain that the poor can be distressed by trustee- 
 processes, while the merchant and banker can be released 
 from his indebtedness by bankruptcy ; that we are wholly in 
 the hands of our employers, serfs of the mill, the workshop, 
 and the mine, subjects of the railroad kings and the cotton 
 lords, who know no divided allegiance. 
 
 "Such are a few of the complaints of labor; and, while we 
 thus suffer, fortunes are accumulated, wealth and power are 
 centralized. 
 
 "And while our masters are revelling in luxury, excelling 
 the nobility of Europe in extravagant display, aping their
 
 THE CITY STREETS. 
 
 457 
 
 manners and imitating their follies* we are becoming crowded 
 down to the level of the 'pauper' labor of the monarchical 
 countries." 
 
 These contrasts of conditions have aroused not only the 
 angry hate of the desperate poor, the saddened thought of the 
 philosopher and philanthropist, but have furnished a theme for 
 the poet's pen * : 
 
 A city of palaces ! Yes, that 's true ; 
 
 A city of palaces built for trade ; 
 Look down from this street what a splendid view 
 
 Of the temples where fabulous gains are made. 
 Just glance at the wealth of a single pile, 
 
 The marble pillars, the miles of glass, 
 The carving and cornice in gaudy style, 
 
 The massive show of the polished brass ; 
 And think of the acres of inner floors, 
 
 Where the wealth of the world is spread for sale ; 
 Why, the treasures enclosed by those ponderous doors 
 
 Are rich as an Eastern fairy tale. 
 Pass on to the next, it is still the same ; 
 
 Another Aladdin the scene repeats ; 
 The silks are unrolled and the jewels flame 
 
 For leagues and leagues of the city streets. 
 
 Now turn away from the teeming town, 
 
 And pass to the homes of the merchant kings; 
 Wide squares, where the stately porches frown, 
 
 Where the flowers are bright, and the fountain sings. 
 Look up at the lights in that brilliant room, 
 
 With its chandelier of a hundred flames. 
 See the carpeted street where the ladies come, 
 
 Whose husbands have millions, or famous names; 
 For whom are jewels and silks : behold, 
 
 On those exquisite bosoms and throats they burn ; 
 Art challenges Nature in color, and gold, 
 
 And gracious presence at every turn. 
 So the winters fly past in a joyous rout, 
 
 And the summers bring marvellous cool retreats : 
 These are civilized wonders we ' re finding out, 
 
 As we walk through the beautiful city streets. 
 
 A city of palaces, hush, not quite ! 
 
 A.city where palaces are, is best; 
 No need to speak of what's out of sight; 
 
 Let us take what is pleasant, and leave the rest; 
 
 * " The City Streets," by John Boyle O'Reilly.
 
 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 The men of the city who travel and write, 
 
 Whose fame and credit are known abroad, 
 The people who move in the ranks polite, 
 
 The cultured women, whom all applaud. 
 It is true, there are only ten thousand here; 
 
 But the other half-million are vulgar clod, 
 And a soul well-bred is eternally dear 
 
 It counts so much more on the books of God. 
 The others have use in their place, no doubt; 
 
 But why speak of a class one never meets? 
 They are gloomy things to be talked about, 
 
 Those common lives of the city streets. 
 
 Well, then, if you will, let us look at both; 
 
 Let us weigh the pleasure against the pain, 
 The gentleman's smile against the bar-room oath, 
 
 The luminous square with the tenement lane. 
 Look round you now : 't is another sphere, 
 
 Of thin-clad women, and grimy men ; 
 There are over ten thousand huddled here, 
 
 Where a hundred would live of the upper ten. 
 Take care of that child : here, look at her face, 
 
 A baby who carries a baby-brother ; 
 They must learn to be helpers in this poor place, 
 
 And the infant must often nurse the mother. 
 Come up those stairs where the babies went ; 
 
 Five flights the little one climbed in the dark; 
 There are a dozen of homes in the steep ascent, 
 
 And homes that are filled with children. Hark! 
 Did you hear that laugh with its manly tones, 
 
 And the joyous rings of the baby voice? 
 ' T is the father who gathers his little ones, 
 
 The nurse and her brother, and all rejoice. 
 Yes : human nature is much the same, 
 
 When you come to the heart and count its beats; 
 The workman is proud of his home's dear name 
 
 As the richest man in the city streets. 
 
 'T is civilization, so they say, 
 
 And it cannot be changed for the weakness of men. 
 Take care, take care; 'tis a desperate way 
 
 To goad the wolf to the end of his den. 
 Take heed with your civilization, ye, 
 
 On your pyramids built of quivering hearts ; 
 There are stages, like Paris in '93, 
 
 Where the commonest men play most terrible parts. 
 Your statutes may crush, but they cannot kill 
 
 The patient sense of a natural right;
 
 THE CITY STREETS. 459 
 
 It may slowly move, but the people's will, 
 
 Like the ocean o'er Holland, is always in sight. 
 We have churches enough, and they do their best, 
 
 But there's little of Christ in our week-day laws; 
 The Gospel is taught, but the gain is test; 
 
 We punish the sin, while we cherish the cause. 
 Not gold, but souls, should be first in an age 
 
 That bows its head at the Sacred Word : 
 Yet our laws are blind to a starving wage, 
 
 While guarding the owners sweat-wrung hoard. 
 "It is not our fault," say the rich ones. No : 
 
 'Tis the fault of a system, old and strong; 
 But men are the judges of systems; so 
 
 The cure will come if we own the wrong. 
 It will come in peace if the Christ-word lead ; 
 
 It will sweep in storm if it be denied ; 
 The right to bring justice is always decreed; 
 
 And on every hand are the warnings cried. 
 Take heed with your progress. Its feet have trod 
 
 On the souls it slew with its own pollutions; 
 Submission is good, but the order of God 
 
 May flame the torch of the revolutions. 
 Beware with your classes. Men are men, 
 
 And a cry in the night is a fearful teacher; 
 When it reaches the hearts of the masses, then 
 
 They need but a sword for a judge and a preacher. 
 Take heed, for your Juggernaut pushes hard; 
 
 God holds the doom Irhat its day completes ; 
 It will dawn like a fire when the track is barred 
 
 By a barricade in the city streets. 
 
 These extremes of wealth and poverty are threatening the 
 existence of the government. In the light of these facts, we 
 declare that there is an inevitable and irresistible conflict be- 
 tween the wage-system of labor and the republican system 
 of government, the wage-laborer attempting to save the 
 government, and the capitalist class ignorantly attempting 
 to subvert it. 
 
 The strike of the trainmen on the Baltimore & Ohio Rail- 
 road was the serving of a notice upon the people of this 
 nation that wages could not be further reduced, a protest 
 against robbery, a rebellion against starvation. The trainmen 
 were under despotic control. To leave their employ was to 
 become tramps, outlaws ; to submit was to starve in serfdom. 
 They knew that the power of the railroad oligarchy exceeded
 
 460 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 and superseded that of the national and State governments. 
 The railroad president is a railroad king, whose whim is law. 
 He collects tithes by reducing wages as remorselessly as the 
 Shah of Persia or the Sultan of Turkey, and, like them, is not 
 amenable to any human power. He can discharge (banish) 
 any employee without cause. He can prevent laborers 
 from following their usual vocations. He can withhold their 
 lawful wages. He can delay trial on a suit at law, and post- 
 pone judgment indefinitely. He can control legislative 
 bodies, dictate legislation, subsidize the press, and corrupt 
 the moral sense of the community. He can fix the price of 
 freights, and thus command the food and fuel-supplies of the 
 nation. In his right hand he holds the government ; in his left 
 hand, the people. And this is called law and order, from 
 which there is no appeal. It is war, war against the divine 
 rights of humanity ; war against the principles of our govern- 
 ment. There is no mutuality of interests, no co-operative union 
 of labor and capital. It is the iron heel of a soulless mo- 
 nopoly, crushing the manhood out of sovereign citizens. 
 
 The subjects of this power, overworked, underpaid, under- 
 fed, and uneducated, are asked to be wiser than the states- 
 manship and culture of the nineteenth century. 
 
 In this war between the master and his vassal, property was 
 destroyed, and men were prevented from taking the places of 
 the strikers. Whoever is responsible for the cause is respon- 
 sible for the effect. Men respect property only as it repre- 
 sents the public good, and hate it whenever it becomes typical 
 of wrong and oppression. The crown, the Bastile, the slave 
 auction-block and the lash earned the hate of those who de- 
 stroyed them. 
 
 The bell that calls the weary, half-paid worker from his 
 needed rest, taunts him with each resounding stroke. The 
 machinery that renders his skill and time of less value to 
 himself and more to his master, becomes the hated instrument 
 of torture ; its monotonous hum keeping time to his groans and 
 curses. The mill, the mine, the foundry and the round-house 
 stand like giants, ever ready to swallow up his substance. 
 With such feelings constantly present in the hearts of the
 
 A STANDING THREAT. 461 
 
 laborers, unused to thought, disciplined only to act, what won- 
 der that violence should spread like an epidemic from station 
 to station, from mine to mine, and from factory to factory. 
 What wonder that in this war life was destroyed ? The man 
 who, for his class, dares death for freedom's sake, must needs 
 look upon the man who takes his place as giving aid and 
 comfort to the enemy. It is war, and cries of "peace, peace," 
 when there is no peace, will only lull the thoughtless into 
 treacherous sleep. 
 
 The laborer and capitalist are living in war relations ; and 
 the sooner this fact is acknowledged, the better for the adjust- 
 ment of differences. 
 
 The mob can be put down for a while ; but the spirit of hate 
 that now centres upori the great monopolies will soon extend 
 to the government that acts as their protector. 
 
 Men love the government under which they can .enjoy the 
 largest prosperity, and hate that under which they are being 
 crowded back into barbarism. 
 
 The existence of a million tramps is a standing threat 
 against the stability of our institutions. They are the unor- 
 ganized militia of incipient rebellion ; and the attempt to sup- 
 press them by violent measures will fail in the nineteenth as 
 well as it did in the sixteenth century. 
 
 The demand for a stronger government is the demand of 
 deadened consciences and enfeebled brains. Strength will 
 not be found in a standing army ; for, when our internal 
 commerce and manufactures are protected by armed men, the 
 Republic is dead. "Righteousness alone exalteth a nation." 
 
 The crisis that we are rapidly approaching is not local. No 
 Mason and Dixon's line, no color-tests divide North, South, 
 East and West ; wherever laborers congregate, whether in 
 the factories of New England, or the sunless mines of Penn- 
 sylvania, one chord of sympathy unites them all. 
 
 No demagogue's cant of race or creed will hold them from 
 their purpose to be free. In that coming time, woman will 
 teach her children the lesson of her hate and wrong. Already 
 a generation has arisen, schooled in the great moral agitation 
 for public good.
 
 462 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 Justice demands that those who earn shall receive ; that no 
 one has a right to add cost without adding value. 
 
 Recognizing that the steps toward the attaining of the end 
 must be slow, we demand, first, legislative interference between 
 capital and labor ; restraining capital in its usurpations, and 
 enlarging the boundaries of labor's opportunity. 
 
 The Constitution of the United States demands that each of 
 the sovereign States shall have a republican form of govern- 
 ment. A greater power than that of the State has arisen "a 
 State within a State," a power that is quietly yet quickly 
 sapping the foundations of the majority-rule. The law of 
 self-protection is greater than constitutions, and legislative 
 bodies are bound to interfere to protect the sovereign citizen 
 against the insidious inroads of the usurping power. 
 
 Monarchal governments rest upon the ability of the ruler 
 to maintain order by physical force. Republican institutions 
 are sustained by the ability of the people to rule. The gov- 
 ernment has the right, and is bound in self-defence to protect 
 the ability of the people to rule. It has the right to interfere 
 against any organized or unorganized power that imperils or 
 impairs this ability. Upon no other argument can the free- 
 school system be maintained, institutions of learning, of 
 science, and art be endowed by the State or exempt from taxa- 
 tion. It is the policy of the government to protect, not only 
 her domain from monarchal interference, as set forth in the 
 Monroe doctrine, but to protect her citizens from the influence 
 of cheap labor and over-work. For cheap labor means a 
 cheap people, and dear labor a dear people. The foundation 
 of the Republic is equality. 
 
 The cheap laborer is an irresponsible agent ; the dear 
 laborer, an independent citizen. The Mason and Dixon line 
 was the attempted wall of defence against the cheapest 
 laborer in the world (the chattel-slave). The protective 
 tariff was the pretended wall of defence against the com- 
 petition of the monarchal serf (European wage-slave). The 
 cotton oligarchy South, and their tools, defied the theory and 
 policy of the government, by making the boundary-line of 
 slavery (cheap labor) of no effect. The cotton oligarchy
 
 "THE LORDS OF THE LOOM." 463 
 
 North (lords of the loom) defeated the purpose of the Gov- 
 ernment to protect the laborers, and made the tariff a wall of 
 protection U> invested wealth, without giving ample protection 
 to invested time and skill. 
 
 They placed a tariff upon things, the product of New Eng- 
 land cheap labor, thus commanding their own price for home 
 production ; and, by forcing an unnatural immigration of 
 cheap laborers to our shores, commanded the wages of home- 
 producers ; bringing the condition of labor in this country 
 nearer to that of the lowest and most neglected classes of 
 Europe, thus amassing princely fortunes, and creating in 
 our midst a vassal or permanent wage-labor class. 
 
 Chattel-slavery died at its own hand, the suicide of seces- 
 sion. The cotton-lords and their tools have increased produc- 
 tive capacity, and decreased distributive ability, until it has 
 met with the natural stagnation that foreshadows death. 
 
 The equilibrium between production and consumption must 
 be adjusted ; and that can only be attained by the better distri- 
 bution of wealth in the process of production. 
 
 The demand of labor is fo"r more wages and more time, 
 more wages to obtain more comforts, and more time wherein 
 to enjoy them. 
 
 The measure that will soonest lift the laborer to a higher 
 level of manhood, and will at the same time tend to the em- 
 ployment of more laborers, will inaugurate a less spasmodic 
 system of industry, and will set more "idlers to working, and 
 more workers to thinking," is a reduction of the hours of 
 labor, a measure that is based on sound economic prin- 
 ciples, as well as sustained by the most humane considera- 
 tions. 
 
 We demand that the policy of the government shall be de- 
 clared as against cheap labor, and that all encouragement and 
 aid shall be withheld from all forms of monopoly that en- 
 danger the ability of the people to rule. 
 
 The statesmanship of the nation and the world is sum- 
 moned to the solution of this problem. The theory that 
 mental force has any diviner right to rob and oppress than 
 brute force is false. Labor will not step down another inch
 
 464 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 without revolting. Concessions must come from those who 
 have. 
 
 The labor movement appeals to the learned and powerful to 
 waste no further time in the conceits of an unwield} r culture. 
 Take lessons in humility, and be wise in time. Civilization, 
 in its onward march, forces concessions from those who have. 
 The Magna Charta was the concession of the power that 
 made all powerful. Art, science and machinery, when made 
 to serve all the people, will accomplish miracles that the 
 power of kings cannot evoke. The movement pleads for the 
 protection of all the past achievements of labor. Through 
 the system of wage-labor, humanity is marching from villan- 
 age toward co-operation. If its progress is aided by timely 
 concession, its steps shall keep time with law and order. But 
 if stubborn power resists its progress, history will repeat 
 itself. The product of the world is man, not classes, 
 humanity, not race. 
 
 Civilization is measured, not by the wealth, power or cul- 
 ture of the few, but by the quantity and quality of the op- 
 portunities possessed by the many. Civilization is common 
 property. The institutions that enable the many to read and 
 write and speak their native language amply and correctly 
 are communistic institutions, inasmuch as the results are com- 
 mon property, even when the buildings are under private 
 ownership. So, to-day, the advantages of transportation of 
 persons or commodities by steam or the transmission of intel- 
 ligence by electricity are of common benefit in the saving of 
 time to all. The demand for their common or public owner- 
 ship is based on the theory and fact that private ownership 
 gives private control over vast public interests. 
 
 Economic equity demands the elimination of waste as a 
 great step in the direction of the abolition of the poverty of 
 the world. Whoever makes it possible to travel one thousand 
 miles at an expense of ten days' where it formerly cost thirty 
 days' wages, has conferred a benefit on the public ; but to pay 
 $200,000,000 to the organizer of this benefit is an extrava- 
 gance the public cannot afford. 
 
 Under the present system of wages for laborers, and profits
 
 SOCIAL UPHEAVALS. 465 
 
 upon labor for capitalists, the natural tendency is toward the 
 establishment of permanent classes ; the wage-receiving class 
 becoming more and more permanent, and hence less and less 
 hopeful and intelligent, continually forced to be smaller con- 
 sumers of products, until their condition forces the reaction of 
 bloody revolution, or degrades them to the " cooly " level. The 
 theory and fact of the constant change of classes is based and 
 founded on the accidents of fortune rather than upon scientific 
 development. Panics in trade, stagnation in industries, stock 
 and all other gambling, intemperance, extravagance and im- 
 becility of children, wars, convulsions of nature, and, to a 
 certain extent, fires and strikes, all act as ministers of change 
 from class to class. Social as well as physical upheavals 
 always change the order of classes. The negro, in rising 
 from his chains, overturned private ownership in the black 
 man's public and political rights ; and, in that overturning, the 
 class of masters was changed. 
 
 The statement that the rich man of to-day may be the poor 
 man of to-morrow, and that the poor man's children may be 
 the employers of the rich man's progeny, is a confession that 
 bankrupts, failures, panics, industrial stagnation, speculation, 
 gambling, and wars are the proper methods by which wealth 
 should be redistributed. As the labor problem is a question 
 of civilization, and the movement of the laborers toward 
 equity is not that individuals should be thereby made rich, 
 while the many are made poor, but that wealth should be dis- 
 tributed in the process of production. The demand of the 
 laborer is for a change of conditions ; and the solution of the 
 problem will show that the extremes of wealth and poverty 
 are curses, not benefits. The thoughtless opponent of the 
 labor movement flies at once to the conclusion that the satis- 
 fying of the demands of the laborers would necessitate level- 
 ing down instead of leveling up. They say, "If all men 
 are wealthy, there would be no motive for labor." The 
 changes which will be wrought in the future in the leveling- 
 up process will reveal the wonderful change of motives. 
 The motives of the chattel-slave are buried with his chains ; 
 new ambitions are aroused, new hopes give strength to new 
 
 (30)
 
 466 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 demands ; education, culture and opportunity are ever beck- 
 oning to new energy. The wage-worker is, by the law of 
 necessity, an eye-servant, as a rule, perhaps, rendering 
 grudgingly his services ; when he becomes an employer or 
 co-operator, he works as never before. As the laborer re- 
 ceives more and more for his earnings, abolishing the need of 
 overseers and middle-men, as well as the further use of 
 capitalists and speculators, as worse than useless factors in 
 society, more and more labor-saving machinery will be intro- 
 duced, the hours of labor being continually decreased, and 
 the buildings devoted to work so improved that labor shall 
 become a blessing instead of a curse, a pleasure instead of a 
 pain. Instead of, as now, the poor, ignorant, physically 
 and mentally, and sometimes morally, deformed, unskilled 
 worker leaving the stifling^ sunless room of the crowded 
 tenement, or the cabin of the unsanitary lowlands, by early 
 morning-light, to eke out, at the risk of health and limb, and 
 perhaps life, the mere pittance that shall give him the poorest 
 food and poorest shelter, and none of the advantages of 
 civilization (excepting that of the poison-draught which 
 science has developed to his destruction) , instead of this, the 
 now-dawning day shall witness a well-built, fully equipped 
 manhood, using the morning hours in the duties and pleasures 
 of the sunlit-home ; taking his morning bath before his morn- 
 ing work, reading his morning paper in the well-equipped 
 reading-room of the manufactory, or, if perchance, handling 
 the cruder tools of a harder and less-skilled occupation, he 
 shall have the stimulant of being equally honorable and 
 equally remunerative with the more easy methods of gaining 
 a livelihood. With the hours of work reduced to the mini- 
 mum, the profits of his work increased to the maximum, he 
 will be a man upon whom the honors and duties of civiliza- 
 tion can safely rest. The new revolution that shall bring 
 about these changes shall evolve the dude out of existence ; 
 the rot of a false-named culture shall be of the past. The 
 pretended fear that this will make all men alike in ambitions 
 and tastes, is born of ignorance and cowardice. Varieties 
 multiply under the best cultivation. The common weeds
 
 PHYSICAL TRANSFORMATION. 467 
 
 may look alike, but the plants and flowers are of endless 
 variety. It is the very poorest men and races who look alike, 
 think alike, and act alike, whose thoughts and actions are 
 controlled by one instead of the many. The physical trans- 
 formation of races under the influences and opportunities of 
 republican institutions is marked, and can be read of all 
 men. The poor, over-wrought worker of the Old World, 
 stunted in growth, with marked physical characteristics of 
 expression, and of almost physical deformity, and made a 
 subject because of this, to caricature and ridicule, finds under 
 our institutions such opportunities of development as shall 
 cause his children to be born, not only under better opportuni- 
 ties, but under better physical conditions, until the wonderful 
 transformation of a generation shall witness the glistening eye, 
 the well-formed mouth and chin, as the result of the change 
 in habits, thoughts and actions, consequent upon his environ- 
 ment. A retired capitalist once informed the writer that the 
 labor movement would develop the beauty of the race. He 
 might have added, "the beauty of the world." 
 
 The real problem of to-day is, the true and practicable steps 
 by which equity between men can be administered ? As the 
 sick man, struggling with disease caused by the violation of 
 the laws of nature, grasps for remedies and seeks immediate 
 recovery from his self-inflicted ills, so the system which is 
 corrupting mankind to-day cries out for instantaneous cure. 
 As common sense in medicine has developed the fact that 
 pure air, pure water, sunlight, and careful attention to the 
 laws of hygiene are the best remedies in many instances, so 
 the labor movement needs to-day the light of a most thorough 
 and unprejudiced investigation. It calls for the purest 
 thought, the purest men and women ; it calls for the healthy 
 exercise of the noblest sentiments ; it calls for treatment 
 commensurate with its importance. While nature calls for 
 natural remedies, the angry clamor and fear of some monopo- 
 lists, and of desperate, unthinking men, calls for blood, 
 forgetting all past history, and all logical deduction from 
 causes. The hanging of seven anarchists, at Chicago, after a 
 hasty trial and conviction, will not remedy the evil nor wash
 
 468 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 out the stain of anarchy with the blood of men hastily con- 
 demned. The organized labor movement of the age looks 
 to no red-handed or bloody reprisals of its wrongs. To-day, 
 the disciplined ranks of all divisions of the Grand Army of 
 Labor march to the music of liberty and law. The flag they 
 carry is the white flag of pure, enduring peace ; and as long 
 as they can freely gather in their union-halls and assembly- 
 chambers to discuss with freedom the questions of the day, 
 so long as the press is free and speech remains untrammeled, 
 organization unforbidden, and our moral, social and political 
 influence remains intact, he is an enemy to the labor move- 
 ment who seeks to hasten the liberation of the poor by the 
 force of dynamite or of arms. The danger comes, not from 
 labor associations, from their methods or their measures, 
 from strikes or boycotts, but from the concentrated power of 
 those who, holding the supplies of life, the opportunities of 
 labor, command such conditions as the price ol employment 
 as shall turn the manly effort of the present into the cowardly 
 method of other climes. When men cannot speak, they will 
 think ; when they cannot act publicly, they will act secretly. 
 The hope of the peaceful solution of the problem of to-day 
 rests in the Christianizing influence of our free institutions. 
 The Pilgrim leaven still works, true to the fundamental 
 principles of the great Leader of men, who walked the earth 
 "with not where to lay His head," despised by the wealthy, 
 hated by the powerful, and beloved by the poor. The in- 
 fluence of the teachings of the carpenter's Son still tends to 
 counteract the bad influences of Mammon. In this movement 
 of the laborers toward equity, we will find a new revelation 
 of the old Gospel. When the Golden Rule of Christ shall 
 measure the relations of men in all their duties towards 
 their fellows, in factory and workshop, in the mine, in the 
 field, in commerce, everywhere the challenge will go forth as 
 never before, "Choose ye this day whom ye will serve, God, 
 or Mammon." Though the Mammon-worshippers may cry, 
 " Crucify ! Crucify !" the promise of the prophet and the poet 
 shall be fulfilled, and the glad evangel of the Christmas 
 morn shall sound again in the glad ears of all ; and peace on
 
 THE NEW PENTECOST. 469 
 
 earth shall prevail, not by the subjugation of man to man, or 
 intellect to superstition, but by the free acceptance of the Gos- 
 pel that all men are of one blood. Then the new Pentecost 
 will come, when every man shall have according to his 
 needs.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE HOURS OF LABOR. 
 
 LESS HOURS OF LABOR FOR THE EMPLOYED MEANS MORE HOURS OF WORK 
 FOR THE UNEMPLOYED THE LABORER'S RIGHT TO SELL His TIME AT 
 THE HIGHEST PRICES RAPID PRODUCTION EVILS OF MONOTONOUS 
 LABOR OBJECTIONS TO THE EIGHT-HOUR SYSTEM ANSWERED 
 THE MARKET FOR THE PRODUCTS OF LABOR DEPENDENT UPON THE 
 CONDITION OF THE MASSES THE EARNINGS OF LABOR DEPENDENT 
 UPON THE HABITS AND CUSTOMS OF THE PEOPLE THE BEST MARKET 
 WHERE THE SHORTEST WORK-DAY PREVAILS STRIKES LEGISLA- 
 TION FREEDOM OF CONTRACT DEMAND AND SUPPLY PROFITS 
 AND WAGES AFFECTED BY LESS HOURS OF LABOR THE UPLIFTING 
 INFLUENCE OF LEISURE. 
 
 MEN who are compelled to sell their labor, very naturally 
 desire to sell the smallest portion of their time for the 
 largest possible price. They are merchants of their time. It 
 is their only available capital. They feel that, if they flood 
 the market, that is, sell more hours of labor than the market 
 requires, stagnation will follow. 
 
 The growth of population, greatly enhanced by artificially 
 stimulated emigration from the long-hour and cheap-labor 
 countries of Europe, tends to crowd the streets with unem- 
 ployed men. Men out of work will underbid the men at 
 work, and so wages are affected and sometimes governed, not 
 by the value of the service rendered in time or skill, but by 
 the number of the unemployed. 
 
 The instincts of the wage-workers are wiser than the phi- 
 losophy of the schools. The demand for less hours of labor 
 for the employed means more hours of work for the now 
 unemployed. It is the demand for a better distribution of 
 work, as well as a demand for an increase of value on each 
 hour's service. The rapidity of production consequent upon 
 the introduction of labor-saving machinery has made an hour 
 of time more valuable to the world than ten hours were twenty- 
 
 (47o)
 
 OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 4.71 
 
 five years ago. The intelligent wage-worker recognizes this 
 fact ; and, feeling that as the demand for hand-skill is being di- 
 minished, and opportunity of advancement continually lessened, 
 he turns to his only remedy, a refusal to oversell the market. 
 
 The fact that men who ask for less hours often ask for in- 
 creased wages at the same time, is because they have prized 
 the value of their time at a higher rate than formerly. 
 
 The objections to the reductions of the hours of labor now 
 made are of the same character as the objections that were 
 raised to the shortening of the day's work to ten hours of labor. 
 Among these objections may be named the objection that a 
 reduction of hours would necessarily reduce the wages of the 
 employees, and thus tend to injure the very persons who are 
 making the demand ; second, that the reduction of the hours 
 of labor would tend to an increase of intemperance, vice and 
 crime ; that it would tend to discourage enterprise and increase 
 the cost of production ; that it would lessen the profit upon 
 capital invested ; that capital would seek investment in those 
 localities where the longer work-day existed ; that it would 
 encourage foreign competition. 
 
 On an examination of these objections, it will be found 
 that some of them- are self-contradictory. If wages are re- 
 duced, as a consequence of a reduction of the length of the 
 work-day, then certainly the cost of the product could not be 
 enhanced, because the price per hour would remain the same, 
 and certainly the product of one hour in eight would not be 
 less, but in some cases would be greater than the product of 
 one hour in ten. It will be still further agreed, that to produce 
 the same amount of product as is now demanded, one-fifth 
 more employees would be required, thus creating or awaken- 
 ing a new market of consumers. 
 
 This statement of the inevitable consequences of the reduc- 
 tion of hours, without an increase of wages, shows conclusively 
 that the wages would be increased ; for the .employment of 
 more men to produce the same amount of product would 
 necessarily quicken the demand in the labor-market. Les- 
 sening the number of unemployed would give the employed 
 the opportunity to demand more wages.
 
 472 
 
 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 To the claim that less hours of labor means less wages to 
 the employee, we point to all past experience as the answer. 
 The history of the labor movement shows that, from 1832 to 
 1853, a reduction of three hours per day had been made in 
 many of the employments, and that this considerable reduc- 
 tion of one hour every six and a half years was followed by 
 an increased purchasing power of the day's labor. The 
 experience in this country is the same as that in England. 
 For, while the workingmen were commencing the agitation in 
 the council chamber of Boston, Mass., in 1832, the same 
 agitation had reached the Parliament of Great Britain ; for it 
 was in that year that Michael T. Sadler introduced the ten- 
 hour bill, and by his enthusiasm and energy calling into the 
 advocacy of this measure the Earl of Shaftsbury, John Field- 
 ing, and William Cobbett, who were supported by Lord 
 Macaulay, the Bishops of Manchester and Oxford, and Earls 
 of Ellsmere and Fersham. 
 
 Experience has not only proved in England that wages 
 were not reduced, but were advanced, so that more than 
 twice as much flour could be purchased by a day's work in 
 1850 than could be purchased in 1804. 
 
 The oft-repeated statement, that less hours of labor means 
 less wages, is historically untrue and theoretically unsound, 
 and is based upon a false theory of the law governing wages. 
 If wages were regulated by the number of hours of work, then 
 among those classes or communities where the day's work was 
 longest, wages would be highest, and where a day's work was 
 shortest wages would be lowest. The reverse is true. Civ- 
 ilization follows the line of less hours of daily work ; and 
 civilization simply means, materially, the highest purchasing 
 power of a day's labor. 
 
 The great governing law of wages rests upon the habits of 
 thought and feeling, customs and manners of the masses. 
 Where the level of thought is purely physical or animal, 
 groveling with the swine it feeds, occupied in discussing the 
 fighting merits of game-cocks or men, and where the custom 
 exists of working at all hours possible, occupying the hours 
 of holidays and other periods of rest in filth and drunkenness,
 
 SHORTER HOURS DEMANDED. 473 
 
 there wages will be paid to the level that will enable the 
 laborers to enjoy themselves in their own low condition. To 
 disturb this class of men from their sottish contentment by an 
 agitation for more wages or less hours, is to lift them up in the 
 level of their manhood to thoughts of better things, and to an 
 organized demand for the same. 
 
 The school-taught American boy, compelled by the customs 
 of his village to be neatly dressed, and competent to hold his 
 own with his fellows in matters of literary attainment, will 
 not rest satisfied with wages that compel him to forego the 
 appetites that the school-room created. His wages must give 
 him opportunities of association, of travel, of reading ; and 
 these are among the most expensive habits incident to a 
 shorter work-day, as is evidenced by the fact that the lyceum, 
 debating-school, lecture-room and library received its impetus 
 when the hours of labor were reduced to ten. The mammoth 
 and wonderful circulation which the daily papers of the large 
 cities have obtained is due to the fact that the common people 
 are considering the questions of public moment. The fact 
 that space is given to sports and to crime, and to those things 
 which appeal more to the physical man, is not so much due to 
 the demand of the working people for this kind of reading as 
 to the fact that a large portion of the community not wage- 
 workers are interested pecuniarily in these games, and to 
 the existence of a large criminal gambling class, as well as 
 to the fact, as far as athletic games are concerned, that in all 
 periods of time physical sports have been looked upon as a 
 proper physical recreation ; and those who cannot enjoy 
 themselves by participation enjoy, at least, the pleasure of 
 reading accounts of them. 
 
 James Hole says : " Inferior habits of living are as much 
 the cause as they are the result of low wages ; " and John 
 Stewart Mill says : " No remedies for low wages have the 
 smallest chance of being efficacious, which do not operate on 
 and through the minds or habits of the people." Reducing 
 the hours of labor acts more directly on the habits and 
 thoughts of the people than any other measure heretofore 
 proposed.
 
 474 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 It is true that those who have acquired bad habits under the 
 old system are in danger of continuing them through the mo- 
 mentum already gained ; but the fact that the larger propor- 
 tion of the working classes are as measurably correct, and that 
 opportunities heretofore given have been opportunities im- 
 proved, and that leisure operates upon the home, stimulating 
 home influences for good, lessening the hours of household 
 drudgery, and giving the husband and wife opportunities of 
 improvement heretofore unknown, is evidence that less hours 
 of wage-service yield more hours for individual and public 
 good. The claim that to lessen the hours of work would 
 tend to increase intemperance, vice and crime is answered bv 
 the undeniable fact, as testified to by men of large experience 
 and observation, who unite in their testimony that the intem- 
 perate and the vicious habits in England and America the 
 drunken Monday, as well as the debauched Sunday have 
 been partially remedied, and that the halls of meeting and 
 reading-rooms have multiplied by the thousand wherever the 
 short work-day has been generally introduced. 
 
 The claim of the manufacturer and capitalist, that this sys- 
 tem would tend to lessen the profits upon the capital invested, 
 is well made. The inevitable tendency is in the direction of 
 reduced profits, and the hope of the future rests upon these 
 two facts : that while profit upon capital is being diminished, 
 profit upon labor is being increased, and the capitalist and 
 the middle-man classes are being ground to powder between 
 this upper and nether millstone of progressive civilization. 
 It is said that, if profits are reduced, capital will not seek in- 
 vestment, and hence enterprise will be checked. Capital is 
 soon consumed when not recuperated by interests, rents or 
 profits. It will be forced to accept such percentage as the 
 civilization of the times will permit it to have ; and the inse- 
 curity of the capital itself, when invested in speculative and 
 gambling enterprises, will always tend to force the conserva- 
 tive possessor to seek safe investment, however small the 
 rate of interest. 
 
 The demand of our time is for the rapid production of 
 things. The stage-coach is superseded by the steam-engine,
 
 SUPPLY AND DEMAND. 475 
 
 and steam gives way to electricity. The price of the product 
 of the manufacturer is governed largely by the quantity it is 
 possible for him to produce in a given time. Not many years 
 ago, the manufacturer who turned out a few score of cases 
 of shoes a week was considered fortunate; but to-day, more 
 shoes are turned out in a day by our manufacturers than were 
 turned out in a month, or many months, thirty years ago. An 
 investigation of the causes for this rapid production brings us 
 back again to the wage-question. The larger the demand, 
 the larger the means of supply. The demand determines the 
 amount, the market determines the demand, the condition of 
 the people determines the market, and the rate of wages 
 determines the condition of the people. High wages under 
 short hours mean that a large share of the products of wealth 
 are being distributed among the earners of wealth ; and capi- 
 tal will be forced, finally, to consider the question of offering 
 to the laborer a genuine partnership, in which the elements 
 of common risk and common profit shall enter. The indi- 
 vidual employer, when forced to meet this question of reduced 
 hours, looks naturally and properly to his own immediate 
 profit ; but, to be successful in the future of our manufacturing 
 industries, he must consider the man, not only as a producer, 
 but a consumer. To reduce wages is to turn civilization 
 backwards ; to advance wages is to lift civilization to a 
 higher level. 
 
 The argument which has the most powerful influence 
 against the demand for less hours of toil is, that to grant 
 this demand would necessarily increase the cost of produc- 
 tion. The elements of cost in any enterprise are, first, the 
 ruling rate of interest upon the money invested, the price 
 of the raw material, the cost of labor, and the cost of placing 
 the goods upon the market. We have seen that the cost of 
 the article is regulated more by the number of the article de- 
 manded that is, by the condition of the market than from 
 any other cause ; that to make one chair would cost, first of 
 all, more than to make one of a thousand chairs, and so of 
 all other products of hand or machine-labor. Labor-saving 
 machinery is never introduced until it pays ; and it never pays
 
 476 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 until wages "have advanced to that point that it is cheaper to 
 have the work performed by machinery than by hand. 
 High wages, then, invite more and more machinery, de- 
 mand more and more goods, call for more rapid produc- 
 tion, lessen profits, and increase the purchasing power of 
 labor. That this will ultimately revolutionize the whole 
 system of employers and employees, is as inevitable as it is 
 desirable ; and no man will be necessarily rendered uncom- 
 fortable because of the fact that the many may have been 
 rendered more comfortable. The extremes existing in society 
 will be abolished, and with these extremes the curses and 
 crimes incident to poverty and extreme wealth will disappear. 
 If the world is too poor to provide mausoleums worth from 
 $100,000 to $250,000 for dead capitalists, neither civiliza- 
 tion nor the decaying bones of the departed monopolist will 
 suffer. If the fewer cannot make their semi-annual trips for 
 extravagant display in foreign countries, the many will be 
 able to make trips of recreation and of observation to their 
 benefit, and the general advancement of society. 
 
 The claim that the stimulant to labor would be overcome, 
 if getting a living were made easier, is not sustained by experi- 
 ence. Men who think they can retire on fifty thousand dol- 
 lars, when they attain that sum, are more anxious to double 
 the amount; and contentment in one's position is unknown, 
 except among the most degraded and depraved. Men will 
 be stimulated but by higher motives ; and stimulated, not so 
 much from the desire of individual aggregations as for public 
 aggregations, because he and all others will be benefited 
 therein. The demand for public parks in our great cities, 
 although, perhaps, fostered in a measure by speculators and 
 contractors, has its firm footing upon the common impulse 
 for opportunities for public possessions for general enjoy- 
 ment. 
 
 Of the evils of over-work, or of the " long-hour system," 
 as well as of the moral, educational and physical influences 
 of a shorter work-day, much has been said and written. The 
 space allotted to this chapter can only permit a reference to 
 the history of the movement, as evidence that the working
 
 COLD LUNCHES. 
 
 477 
 
 people themselves have continually pointed out the physical 
 a-nd moral degradation of over-work, and have exemplified 
 the benefits of leisure. 
 
 In the days before the introduction of labor-saving machin- 
 ery to any extent, every craftsman became a skilled workman 
 in a sense that is now but little understood ; each workman 
 turning out a completed article ; and the work upon these dif- 
 ferent parts called .into requisition not only different muscles 
 of the body, but different faculties of the mind, form, shape 
 and color, as well as something of the imaginative and poetical 
 nature of man, in giving finish to the constructive whole. 
 The visitor to the workshop or shoe-shop of forty years ago 
 would witness the craftsman turning over in his hand, and look- 
 ing with something of pride and admiration at the finished 
 work of the hand and brain. 
 
 The reduction of the hours of labor to eight will tend very 
 much to remedy the evil effects of the present system of the 
 division of labor. Less hours of application to the produc- 
 tion of a fractional part of a product will give more hours to 
 the development of those muscles of the body in the self-em- 
 ployment at the home, and more time for the development of 
 the moral and mental qualities through opportunities of civili- 
 zation, observation and association. 
 
 Under the present system, in many places, and espe-, 
 cially in the large cities, the hours of labor are practically 
 from twelve to thirteen per day. Forty years ago, the 
 laborer lived near his workshop or factory ; now, the 
 enhanced cost of land forces the laborer to the extremities 
 of the city, or the suburbs, and to-day many a skilled work- 
 man, working ten hours per day in the shop, is forced to 
 eat his breakfast at half-past five in the morning, that he may 
 reach his work at seven. He is compelled also to take with 
 him a cold lunch for the mid-day meal, or buy his dinner at 
 a convenient restaurant, the former course being the most 
 prevalent ; he returns from his work, arriving at home at 
 seven, or half-past, in the evening, exhausted physically by 
 his work and the lack of a hearty warm mid-day meal, as well 
 as by a much too early breakfast, demoralized mentally by
 
 478 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 his constant application to the repeated operation of but few 
 faculties. To take two hours off his working-time would 
 then leave his hours of labor, or hours occupied in the neces- 
 sity of earning a living, over ten ; but would enable him, in 
 many cases, to remove his family still further away from his 
 work, into more healthful surroundings, and to resort to steam 
 facilities for travel. 
 
 Two methods have been attempted to secure this boon for 
 labor : one, the strike ; the other, legislation. Strange as it 
 may seem, the strike has won the most in this direction. It 
 was the organized movement in Australia that won the eight- 
 hour system for the trades there. It was the strike of the 
 ship-builders and calkers, and of the building-trades, that 
 won the ten-hour day ; and, certainly, it was the strike which 
 forced public attention to the consideration of the question 
 and directed to the advocacy of this measure men outside of 
 the wage-earning classes. Factory operatives, and others of 
 the most helpless classes, those who have been ground down 
 by factory discipline and corporate greed, where the largest 
 number of children and women are employed, and where 
 every effort has been made and is being made to drive in- 
 telligent laborers out of the industry, to be supplanted by 
 the cheapest foreign element, for them legislation is a 
 necessity. But when these women and children, without 
 votes and without wealth or influence, ask for legislation, 
 they are met by the so-called political economists, whose theo- 
 ries agree with their pecuniary interests, with the statement 
 that such legislation would destroy the great right of freedom 
 of contract. 
 
 FREEDOM OF CONTRACT. 
 
 It is the old, old story of those who oppose legislative 
 interference against pecuniary interests. The criminal and 
 vicious classes ask not to be interfered with. Rumsellers 
 oppose interference, either by license or prohibition ; they say 
 the people have the right to drink, or to let it alone. The 
 builders of the great tenement-houses, whose imperfect walls 
 threaten human life, doubtless object to the legislative inter-
 
 FREEDOM OF CONTRACT. 
 
 479 
 
 ference which provides inspectors of public buildings, and 
 forces them to build the walls of a certain thickness, and to 
 make the structure safe. So, too, when this same greed 
 crowds hundreds of families into crowded rooms, damp cel- 
 lars and leaky attics, where neither sunlight nor pure air can 
 penetrate, these owners, doubtless, object to legislative inter- 
 ference, that in the name of public safety and public health 
 requires the fulfillment of certain prescribed sanitary condi- 
 tions. Hackmen cannot have the freedom of contract to 
 charge the passenger who arrives at the railway-station such 
 price as the driver may dictate ; the maximum amount he 
 shall receive for the carriage of passengers is fixed by law. 
 The butchers and bone-boilers, the managers of obnoxious 
 trades, and proprietors of establishments devoted to the manu- 
 facture of explosives, do not have the freedom to contract to 
 manufacture where they will, but must be assigned by gov- 
 ernment officials, or obtain permission, before they can locate 
 their factories. 
 
 Legislative bodies have the right to interfere, as they shall 
 judge to be for the good and welfare of the Commonwealth, 
 not as shall serve the good of the few, but of the many. 
 
 A contract supposes tiuo parties, one with something to 
 sell, and one wishing to buy. Whatever tends to put one of 
 these parties under the power of the other, destroys the free- 
 dom of the act. Under the wage-system, no congregated 
 form of labor is conducted on the theory of freedom of con- 
 tract. At a recent hearing before a legislative body, the 
 treasurer of a large manufactory was asked if he ever con- 
 sulted with his help in reference to the matter of wages. His 
 answer was, "Do you suppose I run my establishment on the 
 town-meeting plan?" In other words, he confessed, as all 
 employers confess, that they do not propose to allow any 
 freedom of contract as between them and their employees. 
 The contract, so-called, is an agreement that the employer 
 or corporation shall name all of the conditions to the bargain. 
 The only opportunities for the nearest approach to the free- 
 dom of contract, is when a powerful labor organization has 
 practically obtained a monopoly of their craft, that is, that
 
 480 ' THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 a manufacturer cannot employ help, unless they are members 
 of the Union. In this case, the manufacturer and the repre- 
 sentatives of the employees meet on equal terms, provided 
 that the organization is strong enough to remain from work 
 for such a length of time as shall so diminish the capital in- 
 vested in the enterprise as to cause bankruptcy. No one is 
 better acquainted with these facts than the distinguished 
 representative of the non-interference political economists, 
 who, failing to find a remedy for the evils that affect man- 
 kind, has gone back to the propositions advanced by a dis- 
 tinguished Englishman in the last century, that the people 
 "must be educated to live cheaper," and has followed the 
 example of Sir Frederick Eden, in giying to the world 
 receipts showing how to cook shin-bone soup. The remedy 
 will not come through making people live cheaper, but by 
 making them live dearer. Shin-bone soup may prove nutri- 
 tious, and would be found beneficial as a diet to the apo- 
 plectically inclined, but would not answer as a sustenance for 
 those who by their labor produce the wealth of the world. 
 
 The old cry of the partnership between labor and capital 
 has finally awakened in the minds of the silent partners in the 
 concern a demand for an examination of accounts, as w r ell as 
 a more equitable division of the profits. Heretofore, the 
 laborer, having no right of free contract, sold his labor at 
 such terms and for such time as the proprietor or employer 
 should fix ; and if, at any time, the laborer asked for higher 
 remuneration, he was informed that the interests of the enter- 
 prise would not permit an advance, and that, as one of the 
 partners in the labor and capital combination, he must waive 
 any right to increased payment, lest he should hazard the 
 existence of the enterprise. 
 
 Another so-called "argument" against either legislation or 
 strikes for shorter hours of labor is based on the "demand and 
 supply" theory. 
 
 It is true, that if laborers are plenty, and opportunities of 
 labor few, and the laborers are compelled to sell their labor 
 or starve, then wages will fall to the level of the barest ex' 
 istence upon which the poorest of their number can live ; and
 
 MASTKR AND SLAVK. .|8l 
 
 if laborers are scarce, and opportunities of labor plenty, 
 wages would be naturally advanced ; but it will be noted, 
 that the reduction of wages, in the first instance, is due to the 
 fact of the inability of the worker to sustain himself until the 
 opportunities for labor are improved. If a merchant or 
 manufacturer finds that his merchandise is not salable, he 
 does not necessarily continue in multiplying the product ; nor 
 does he force his product upon the market at the declining 
 price, or sell it at all, excepting under the same conditions 
 that the laborer sells his labor, fear of bankruptcy. Under 
 that fear, he may sell the product at much less than cost, as 
 the least of the two evils ; as the laborer will sell his labor for 
 a mere loaf of bread for himself and family, if that is the best 
 he can obtain. 
 
 Mr. Ira Steward, who gave great thought and considera- 
 tion to this question, and who was, perhaps, the deepest 
 thinker which it has produced, used these words, in referring 
 to the law of supply and demand : "The employer is the 
 master, and the employee is the slave, of this law." The 
 organization of laborers will free the laborer from these 
 slavish conditions. He will deal with his commodity, 
 selling as much of it, or withholding it, according to the 
 market ; and, as capitalists have heretofore imported cheap 
 laborers to take the place of the higher-paid, so labor will 
 restrict the importation of cheap labor, and thereby inaugu- 
 rate a protective tariff, which will protect the wages of the 
 laborer, as it now protects the profits of the capitalists. 
 
 The eight-hour movement is the movement of the laborer 
 toward higher wages or higher profit on his investment of 
 time. When a man invests his past accumulations in any 
 enterprise, he not only seeks the security of his investment, 
 but such remuneration for his services as shall permit him to 
 live according to the custom of his class, and in addition to 
 this payment for services, a payment for the investment in the 
 shape of interests or profits, such interests or profits to cover 
 not only the necessary growth of the enterprise, but its insur- 
 ance against loss by fire, or against loss by any stagnation of 
 industry or financial panic that may arise. Under the present 
 
 (30
 
 482 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 system, he is justified in taking all these precautions ; but the 
 laborer is compelled under the wage-system to sell his com- 
 modity to-day, or not sell it at all. A day's opportunity to labor 
 lost is never regained, and the laborer is forced to sell his skill 
 and time without any reference to the security of his investment. 
 He may jeopardize his health, his limbs or his life ; the margin 
 of his wages will not cover these elements of risk, nor will it 
 guarantee provision against the stagnation of industry, fires, 
 panics or the failure of his immediate employer. Neither has 
 he any provision by which he can provide for himself or 
 family, in case of the ordinary casualties of life, or when he is 
 unable to labor. The eight-hour movement seeks to remedy 
 this by giving to the laborer under the wage-system, first, the 
 advantages now possessed by the capitalist until the profits 
 upon his labor now obtained by the employer and middle-man 
 shall so diminish and his own increase, that finally the profit 
 upon labor shall cease, and co-operative labor be inaugurated 
 in the place of wage-labor. 
 
 The great uplifting influences of leisure are manifest every- 
 where. The busy man, devoting no time to the obtaining of 
 a broad knowledge of the things of this life, or of the physi- 
 cal, mental or moral laws of our being, or of the universe, 
 is but a narrow man ; and, however much he may accumulate 
 wealth, he will still be looked upon by the cultured wealthy as 
 a boor, unfit for their society. The reduction of the hours of 
 labor is placing the lever of civilization under the humblest 
 man, and lifting him up to the enjoyment of all the opportunities 
 of civilization, making him a better man in this world and in 
 the world to come.
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES OF THE K. OF L. 
 
 UNJUST ACCUMULATIONS MORAL WORTH OF THE INDIVIDUAL FOXCRAFT 
 ONE GREAT SOLIDARITY NATURAL LAW OF DEVELOPMENT 
 THE DEMAND FOR LEISURE NATURAL WEALTH NATIONALIZATION 
 OF LAND GIVING AWAY EMPIRES PUBLIC OWNERSHIP OF RAIL- 
 ROADS CONSPIRACY AND BOYCOTTING CHIEF-JUSTICE SHAW'S DE- 
 CISION EMPLOYERS' LIABILITY LAW ABOLITION OF THE CONTRACT 
 SYSTEM ARBITRATION CONVICT LABOR GRADUATED INCOME 
 TAX FINANCE NATIONAL BANKS AND BANKERS PROHIBITION OF 
 THE IMPORTATION OF FOREIGN LABOR ARTIFICIALLY STIMULATED 
 EMIGRATION CO-OPERATION THE OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE. 
 
 CIVILIZATION is but another name for progress in the 
 direction of the better distribution of the material com- 
 forts and ipental and moral opportunities of mankind. What- 
 ever tends to assist in the equitable adjustment of the relations 
 of laborers and capitalists tends to the public good. The 
 Preamble to the Constitution, or Declaration of Principles of 
 the Knights of Labor, which was adopted at the first session of 
 the General Assembly, in 1878, seeks these results ; and it is 
 the embodiment of the measures formulated by experience and 
 observation of the organized labor movement from 1825 to the 
 present time. It is the same in scope, and nearly the same 
 in language, as that adopted by the National Labor Congress 
 of 1874, as gi yen m Chapter X. 
 
 This Preamble demands, not the division of past accumula- 
 tions, however unjustly accumulated, but rather that measures 
 be provided for the distribution of products and opportunities 
 in the future, by and through the wage-system, until the 
 moral and social wisdom and the increased wealth of the 
 masses shall ultimate in co-operation. 
 
 An examination of the Preamble in detail shows a desire to 
 check unjust accumulation and the power for evil of aggre- 
 gated wealth by perfectly legitimate means. Building up 
 
 (483)
 
 484 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 from a firm foundation of the moral worth of the individual, it 
 enlarges gradually and symmetrically, first in the direction of 
 material wants, better wages or a more equitable share of 
 the wealth created ; then reaching out toward the intellectual 
 and social opportunities which come from less hours of em- 
 ployment for gain, and more time for the employment of their 
 faculties for the greater gain of their moral and mental 
 growth. It cannot be gain-said that as material wealth in- 
 creases, the share of each should increase, and that the ten- 
 dency toward the aggregation of wealth into the hands of those 
 whose faculties of absorption have been unduly stimulated, 
 furnishes a power to the few, which makes the possessor a 
 dangerous factor to society. 
 
 Men wholly developed in all the attributes of manhood can 
 not become accumulators. It is only toward those possessing 
 special qualifications of management, of speculation and of 
 foxcraft that the flow of accumulated wealth centres. That 
 these giants of the industrial system have served as treasurers 
 of the common fund, and that their services under the com- 
 petitive system have been of value in the development of vast 
 enterprises, will not be denied ; but that they are unduly paid 
 and unjustly rewarded, is generally conceded. Vanderbilt's 
 two hundred millions of dollars were not the result of his 
 executive ability, but the result of the conditions existing in 
 consequence of the distribution of wealth which had already 
 been accomplished. The system of railroads which rendered 
 it possible to carry a barrel of flour from the West to the East 
 for seventy cents was possible because of the population upon 
 the line and at the termination of these railways, over whose 
 power of demand and consumption he had not been the con- 
 trolling factor. He found the demand, the steam-power and 
 the railway service already inaugurated. The principles of 
 the Knights of Labor makes no war upon Vanderbilts, but 
 upon the system which makes Vanderbilts possible. 
 
 The Knights of Labor believe that a thorough investiga- 
 tion of the conditions now existing will develop methods out 
 of which the results achieved by Vanderbilts can be attained 
 without the depression of the many, and the rich rewarding of
 
 JUST MEASURE OF CIVILIZATION. 485 
 
 the few. None of these mammoth enterprises were possible, 
 even to these giant organizers, but for the standard of living 
 which had been attained through our free political and edu- 
 cational systems and the higher moral attainments of our 
 people, as well as the great help rendered them by legislative 
 enactments or legislative interference with the operations of 
 natural law. 
 
 This preamble well says, that " The alarming development 
 and'aggressiveness of great capitalists and corporations, un- 
 less checked, will inevitably lead to the pauperization and 
 hopeless degradation of the toiling masses." The demand of 
 the Knights is, then, that this development shall be checked, 
 not only because of the danger to our institutions from the 
 power of these great monopolists and monopolies, but because 
 of the pauperization and degradation of the workers in conse- 
 quence thereof. The method of checking and remedying 
 this evil is, first, the organization of all laborers into one 
 great solidarity, and the direction of their united efforts 
 toward the measures that shall, by peaceful processes, evolve 
 the working classes out of their present condition in the wage- 
 system into a co-operative system. This organization does 
 not profess to be a political party, nor does it propose to 
 organize a political party ; but, nevertheless, it proposes to 
 exercise the right of suffrage in the direction of obtaining 
 such legislation as shall assist the natural law of develop- 
 ment. It is true that the demands are revolutionary, as it 
 is the purpose of the Order to establish a new and true 
 standard of individual and national greatness. 
 
 To-day the possession of wealth is the great factor that is 
 recognized as the standard of power, and, too often, of worth. 
 The Knights of Labor seek to make industrial and moral 
 worth the standard, giving honor to those who work in any 
 of the fields of labor, whether of the hand or of the brain, 
 and relegating the possession of wealth back to its true 
 position. 
 
 The first step in the direction of this change " is to secure to 
 the workers the full enjoyment of the wealth they create, 
 sufficient leisure in which to develop their intellectual, moral
 
 486 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 and social faculties, all of the benefits of recreation, and 
 pleasures of association ; in a word, to enable them to share 
 in the gains and honors of advancing civilization." To ascer- 
 tain as nearly as possible how much of the wealth of the 
 world is created by labor, as well as to expose the true con- 
 dition of the workers, it desires the establishment of bureaus 
 of labor statistics. 
 
 Natural wealth, although at present in the hands of indi- 
 vidual proprietors, was originally common property, and was 
 first obtained by physical power, by robbery or fraud. The 
 driving of the native from the land of his fathers, the com- 
 mon property of all, to make way for a newer and grander 
 civilization, cannot be justified if these possessions are to re- 
 main in the hands of the individual proprietors, and not as the 
 common property of all. If the natives were driven away 
 from their possessions in the name of civilization, then in that 
 name their possessions should be common property. 
 
 The first step in the immediate direction of the possession 
 of wealth by its producers, is by the conferring of sufficient 
 leisure upon the masses for their development. The argu- 
 ment to sustain this claim is contained in another chapter. In 
 this place we can only add, that this demand is the ever-rally- 
 ing cry of organized labor everywhere. The demand for 
 legislative interference in the direction of shortening the hours 
 of labor has stamped itself upon the statute-books of all civil- 
 ized nations. It is not merely a coincident of history, that, 
 to the demand for shorter hours of labor, or more leisure, is 
 added the demand that the public lands be reserved for actual 
 settlers. In the history of the movement in this country, these 
 two great measures 'have kept step together. The early 
 leaders of the labor movement, before the great West was 
 opened up to civilization, and when our public lands were 
 public empires, greater in extent than the whole of continental 
 Europe, foresaw the dangers that threatened the Republic 
 through the powers of speculators, corporations and un- 
 scrupulous legislators, and sought to remedy the evil. Since 
 their day, we have witnessed the giving away of empires from 
 the public land to aid and assist corporation enterprises and
 
 LABOR'S DEMANDS. 487 
 
 individual efforts ; we have witnessed systems of stock-water- 
 ing and bribery, the corruption of public offices and courts of 
 justice of these same mammoths of capital. Hence, the 
 Knights of Labor demand the reservation of all lands not 
 already disposed of, and the reclaiming of such as can be 
 legally reclaimed. 
 
 The great common public have given away their inheri- 
 tance to railroad corporations ; and the acts of Congress, in 
 thus conferring these great estates on individual enterprises, 
 have been justified under the supposition that the public would 
 thereby be benefited by bringing the Atlantic and Pacific 
 coasts into closer relations with each other. We have no 
 desire to dispute the cjaim that the building of these great 
 roads has worked a public benefit ; but, as the government 
 furnished the land and the credit or capital necessary for the 
 enterprise, we know of no good reason why the property and 
 the profits, if any, should be divided among the few patrons 
 of the Government, the railroad magnates ; nor do we 
 know of any reason why this profit and property should 
 not be possessed by the government, its creator. The 
 argument, that the people are not competent to select the 
 managers of these vast enterprises, comes with poor grace 
 from the classes who have controlled the legislative functions 
 of the government since its foundation. But few wage- 
 workers or wage-earners, by hand or brain, have ever been 
 called into these important positions ; and it is a sad confes- 
 sion for wealth and culture to make that they dare not trust 
 their own classes in the administration of internal commerce. 
 That the Post-office Department has been conducted measur- 
 ably safe and prompt, and thorough and cheap, is evidence 
 that other steps may be taken in the same direction. This 
 preamble also demands the abrogation of all laws that do not 
 bear equally upon capital and labor, and the removal of un- 
 just technicalities, delays and discriminations in the adminis- 
 trations of justice. All well-meaning people sustain this 
 demand of the organization ; but the question comes : Do 
 the laws that we have tend to bear equally upon capital 
 and labor? And the answer to this query would in itself
 
 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 necessitate a chapter; for the vast tomes in the National 
 and State capitols show that the great bulk of legislation 
 has been directly in the nterest of capita or investment ; 
 and it must be acknowledged that legislation has been 
 founded upon the theory that, "if you protect capital, capi- 
 tal will protect labor." For the past half-century, the statute- 
 books are but the records of the demands of capital for the 
 advancement of proprietary interests. Tariffs have been es- 
 tablished, subsidies granted, and special privileges accorded, 
 that individual stockholders might have the fullest opportu- 
 nities of accumulation. The burdens thus imposed upon the 
 common people have been borne by them ; for they are the 
 tax-payers, paying interest and taxes on all things consumed 
 by them, as well as furnishing the incomes of all middle-men, 
 and by the defense of property in time of war. Many of the 
 laws thus enacted bear heavily upon the laborer ; and the 
 Knights of Labor, as an organized expression of the will 
 of the people, demand their abrogation. So, too, in the 
 administration of law or the judiciary of the Republic. The 
 courts are open to the humblest ; but the power of capital 
 comes to the court-room, in spite (if need be) of judge and 
 jury, and makes the administration of justice impracticable 
 and often impossible. Delays in trials, inability, because of 
 poverty, to procure witnesses and learned counsel, make it 
 often better for the poor man to suffer " the ills he has rather 
 than to fly to others he knows not of." 
 
 Recent decisions of judges upon the question of conspiracy 
 and boycotting are new revelations of an old fact, that the 
 interpretation of law rests largely upon the public sentiment 
 of the wealthy part of the community. The Dred-Scott deci- 
 sion was declared infamous by those who were lifted to the 
 level of the spirit of our institutions ; yet, nevertheless, that 
 decision was a confession that the controlling classes were 
 under the subtle influence of the slave-power. The continued 
 peaceful agitation of the slavery question, uninterrupted by war, 
 would have rendered such a decision impossible ; so, too, the 
 attempts now made to prevent the working people from using 
 the great power of the boycott will be found to be in contra-
 
 LEGALITY OF THE BOYCOTT. 489 
 
 diction, not only of individual, but of constitutional rights. 
 A man has not only the right to buy where he pleases, but he 
 has the right to advise another man to buy or not to buy of 
 friend or enemy ; and whether the exercise of the boycott is 
 judicious or injudicious, justifiable or unjustifiable in certain 
 instances, the innate right of man to the privilege of exercis- 
 ing his moral power and social influence in the direction of 
 trade, or to withhold trade, cannot be safely denied. 
 
 Chief-Justice Shaw, in his decision of the celebrated case 
 of the Common-wealth vs. Hunt et als., as given on page 95, 
 says : "Associations may be entered into, the object of which 
 is to adopt measures that may have a tendency to impoverish 
 another, thus to diminish his gain or profits, and yet so far 
 from being criminal or unlawful, the object may be highly 
 meritorious and public-spirited." 
 
 The denunciation of the boycott comes with ill grace from 
 a class who have ever exercised the infamous power of the 
 blacklist against their workmen for no palpable cause. The 
 history of the labor movement is a continued chapter of the 
 boycotting of members of committees and leaders of labor 
 organizations. T. V. Powderly, the General Master Work- 
 man of the Knights of Labor, was thus blacklisted. As a 
 rule, the efforts to crush the life out of trades-unions and 
 other associations have produced the opposite result. Men 
 and women, thus driven from their homes, have been the 
 unpaid messengers of the Gospel of organized efforts. The 
 great Order of the Knights of Labor was founded largely 
 because of the employers' system of boycotting. 
 
 Many of the measures of relief included in the preamble 
 have already so far commended themselves to the public as to 
 have forced legislative acquiescence in some of the States. 
 Among these measures may be mentioned laws providing 
 for the life and safety of those engaged in mining, manufac- 
 turing and building industries. Factory and mine-inspectors 
 have been appointed, and protection against fire and against 
 accidents by uncovered belting and dangerous machinery 
 has been provided. Trades-unions have been incorporated, 
 weekly payments in lawful money have beer gained for the
 
 49 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 employees of corporations in the State of Massachusetts, and 
 must soon be conceded by all employers of labor. The 
 truck, or "pluck-me" system of payment, still prevalent in 
 many States and Territories, and especially among miners, 
 has secured legislative attention, and must soon give way to 
 the frequent payment of wages in lawful money. The old- 
 time system of payment, in goods instead of in cash, is a relic 
 of the chattel-system. 
 
 The demand for an employers' liability law will still con- 
 tinue to trouble the legislators, and should trouble them, that 
 the scandal may no longer continue that a man is pensioned 
 for wounds received in the destruction of property and life, 
 but must be pauperized when receiving injuries in the peace- 
 ful pursuits of life. 
 
 The preamble demands the abolition of the contract system 
 on National, State, and municipal works. Under the contract 
 system, two monster evils have come into existence : one, the 
 mammoth robbery of the treasury ; the other, the mammoth 
 robbery of the workers. This system, as conducted on the 
 aqueduct-works of New York city, and exposed by the New 
 York Sun, render argument useless, when we know that this 
 is not an individual instance of the oppression of the poor 
 by the contract system, but is only one of the numberless 
 instances of the same iniquitous system. 
 
 The demand for laws providing for arbitration between em- 
 ployers and employees has been conceded in some instances, 
 as will be seen by referring to the Chapter on Legislation ; but 
 the value of this system of settling disputes between the two 
 classes is very much weakened, not by the decisions of the 
 arbitrators, but from the many failures of the employing class 
 to keep faith with their employees. 
 
 Constant approaches are being made in the direction of 
 prohibition of the employment of children under fifteen years 
 of age in the workshops, mercantile establishments, mines and 
 factories. But this movement is altogether too slow. Children 
 are being employed at eight years of age and upwards in 
 the workshops, mines and factories. In some States, the law 
 fixes the limit of years at ten, some at eleven and twelve.
 
 HEARTLESS TASK-MASTERS. 
 
 491 
 
 And yet these little ones are found in our manufacturing 
 centres as well as in the mining and coke regions, dragging 
 their weary bodies to unwelcome work in unseasonable hours, 
 in heat and cold, denied.the pleasures of the play-ground and 
 the benefits of the school-room, robbed of all the educational 
 influences of home, rendered desperate and ungovernable, and 
 made old before their time. The Knights of Labor, worthy 
 of the loftiest chivalry of the nineteenth century, demand 
 that this shall not be, but that the place for the child is at the 
 home, in the school-room, and upon the play-ground, and that 
 when the child enters the mill as a child to help eke out the 
 miserable pittance of the family earnings, he or she enters as 
 a competitor against the older brother and the father, reduc- 
 ing their wages so that the grand total of the family earnings 
 shall be but bare enough for the family's existence. Civiliza- 
 tion is drunk with greed, when it drags the child from the en- 
 joyment of childhood, and makes him a bread-earner, when he 
 should be merely a bread-eater. The republican institutions 
 are not safe under such conditions. In the days of old, when 
 the child worked with the father and the mother on the farm 
 or the homestead in the healthful pursuits of agriculture, men 
 and women could be grown worthy of the age. But factory 
 discipline, however kindly it may be administered, is not the 
 discipline for childhood. We are demanding that the disci- 
 pline of the school-room shall be relaxed for the younger chil- 
 dren, and that the hours of school-time shall be reduced. 
 The Knights of Labor demand for the children of the 
 unfortunate all that shall be demanded for the most for- 
 tunate. 
 
 The hiring out of convict labor, and the whole system of 
 convict labor, needs remedy. The preamble emphatically 
 demands the prohibition of the hiring-out system, and this 
 prohibition is demanded in the name of justice to labor. The 
 convict is restrained from liberty as a punishment for criminal 
 acts done, and as a restraint or prote9tion against his opportu- 
 nity of committing other crimes. That the health and discipline 
 of the convict demands his employment, no one denies ; but 
 all organized laborers protest emphatically against his enter-
 
 49 2 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 ing the market as a competitor with them. The convict is a 
 slave, the slave of the government, and his labor is slave- 
 labor ; he having no control over the price or quantity, or his 
 freedom of action. The defence of the present system, on 
 the plea that the product of this labor is such a small amount 
 as not to become a factor in the wage-market has little force. 
 Ira Steward once said that wages, like water, always seek the 
 lowest outlet. If a case of convict-made shoes can be sold 
 for twenty-five per cent, less than free-made shoes, the convict- 
 made shoes tend to the reduction of the selling-price of the 
 free-made article, if of nearly the same quality. Organized 
 labor does not attempt to prohibit labor in the prisons and 
 other correctional institutions ; it only asks that this labor 
 shall be organized in such a way as not to become a competi- 
 tor. Therefore, they demand the abolition of the contract or 
 hiring-out system. The convict may well be employed at 
 hand labor in the manufacture of such products as are needed 
 in the correctional, reformatory, and charitable institutions ; 
 by being compelled to work without the use of labor-saving 
 machinery, they become better accustomed to the handling of 
 tools. They would then become more interested in their work ; 
 above all, they would be released from the enervating and 
 demoralizing tendencies of monotonous labor. The free 
 workman engaged upon machinery, constantly repeating his 
 part of the work, suffers morally and physically, but is re- 
 lieved somewhat from the evil effects of the system by the 
 social intercourse, and by the opportunities of leisure and 
 change of scene. Monotonous labor within prison-walls is in 
 itself a punishment greater than should be inflicted upon any 
 man. The statistics of convict-life give evidence of the need 
 of a reform that goes to the root of the difficulty. That they 
 are not graduated first-class mechanics or first-class men is 
 not a surprise. As a rule, they graduate poor mechanics as 
 well as poor men. The measures hereinbefore enumerated 
 as a part of the preamble under consideration have been uni- 
 formly demanded by all branches of organized toil. The 
 next demand is of a more radical nature, although finding 
 many advocates outside of the wage-labor class.
 
 THE QUESTION OF TAXATION. 493 
 
 The question of taxation is one that constantly demands the 
 attention of all organized bodies of men. The question of 
 "What shall be taxed, and how much?" sometimes creates, 
 sometimes divides, and sometimes destroys parties. If gov- 
 ernments have any rights, they have the right to tax prop- 
 erty to any extent that their necessities may require. 
 Policy demands that this tax shall not be such a burden 
 upon enterprise as to compel stagnation. The theory of 
 taxation has been largely in the direction of obtaining the 
 revenue of the government from those articles of least impor- 
 tance to the community at large. It is safer to tax the sur- 
 pluses than the necessities of society. Wines, spirits, cigars 
 and other luxuries are taxed on the theory that civilization 
 can continue without their consumption. Upon this theory 
 and fact, the Knights of Labor ask that a graduated income 
 tax be levied ; in other words, they ask that the surpluses of 
 past accumulations be taxed out of existence ; that small 
 enterprises and property-holders be practically exempt, while 
 the mammoth fortunes from the investment of incomes be 
 taxed in increasing ratio to their amounts. This is considered 
 by some as agrarian legislation ; and yet, as will be noted, 
 it is not the taxation of a necessity, but the taxation of a kind 
 of luxury that threatens the existence of the Republic, the 
 luxury of a monopoly. 
 
 The Knights of Labor, in common with the old National 
 Labor party, deal not only with the question of industrial 
 reform, but place two planks in their platform of principles 
 bearing upon the question of finance. This work has been 
 devoted wholly to the consideration of the question of the 
 industrial movement and industrial reform. The question 
 of finance in itself has found many powerful writers of pro- 
 nounced views. The space of this article will not warrant any 
 discussion of the merits of the different systems. The de- 
 mand of the Knights in this direction is patriotic, and mea- 
 surably practicable. National banks and bankers have little 
 favor with the Knights of Labor. The present system of 
 filtering the national currency through the national-bank 
 sieve to the profit of the banker, and the loss to the people,
 
 494 
 
 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 has few friends in this organization. They demand " a na- 
 tional monetary-system, in which the circulating medium, 
 in necessary quantity, shall issue direct to the people, without 
 the intervention of banks, and that all the national issue shall 
 be full legal-tender in payment of all debts, public and pri- 
 vate, and that the government shall not guarantee or recog- 
 nize any private banks of credit, or any banking corporations, 
 that interest-bearing bonds, bills of credit or notes shall not 
 be issued by the government, and that when any emergency 
 shall arise, shall issue a non-interest-bearing money." As the 
 national banks are founded upon the national debt, wisdom 
 demands, and statesmanship should provide, some method by 
 which the bills and coin should serve their purpose without 
 giving power to chartered corporations to interfere with the 
 control of the currency, or to receive undue payment for any 
 service rendered. It is not expected that the people can re- 
 ceive printed national legal-tender notes for the asking. But 
 that some system can be devised, better than the present, and 
 more in accord with our republican institutions, is believed by 
 many, not only within, but without the organization. 
 
 That the demand for the prohibition of the importation of 
 foreign labor under contract is a just one, is now con- 
 fessed ; but, though " confession " may be " good for the 
 soul," the reiteration of the sentiments against this impor- 
 tation will not restrain unscrupulous contractors and employers 
 from bringing into the country, from the most pauperized and 
 degraded of the human race, laborers contracted for under 
 misrepresentation of facts and conditions, and bringing them 
 here as enemies to our high-wage civilization. This requires 
 not only legislation, but enforcement; and such enforcement 
 as shall absolutely protect the American wage-worker from 
 this danger. And it is even a question if legislation will not 
 be demanded by other than wage-workers to prohibit, for a 
 time at least, the importation of the cheaper class of laborers, 
 whether under a contract or not. If protective tariffs can be 
 advocated as a means to uphold the wages of American 
 labor, whether truly made or not, labor and all lovers of re- 
 publican institutions have the right to demand that this artifi-
 
 LEADERS OF THE KNIGHTS.
 
 SHALL CORPORATIONS CONTROL GOVERNMENT? 495 
 
 cially stimulated immigration, largely consequent upon the 
 misrepresentations of the protectionists themselves, shall be 
 absolutely prohibited. The defence of such a course must 
 be founded upon the right of self-protection belonging to 
 classes and communities and governments. To enact such 
 legislation is a confession of the failure of our statesmen to 
 anticipate societary effects from societary causes. As the 
 physical man is strengthened by what is digested rather than 
 by that which is consumed and undigested, so nations grow 
 in strength as fast as the immigration from other lands is 
 assimilated to the native institutions. The necessity for im- 
 mediate attention to the prohibition of Chinese labor is set 
 forth in the chapter devoted to that subject. As the first sen- 
 tence of the preamble calls attention to the alarmkig develop- 
 ment and aggressiveness of great capitalists and corporations, 
 so the last demand upon the government refers to the same 
 question, and demands of the government the. possession, by 
 purchase under the right of eminent domain, of telegraphs, 
 telephones and railroads. 
 
 In the days of the struggles of the abolitionists, propositions 
 were made for the purchase of the slaves by the government, 
 and then their emancipation ; so now the Knights of Labor, 
 witnessing, as we have described, the power of these corpora- 
 tions over the government, and over their employees, equalled 
 only by the power of the Czar, propose their purchase, not 
 their seizure, but their purchase and control ; and the ques- 
 tion will soon force itself upon the republican citizens in this 
 form : "Shall these great corporations control the government, 
 or shall they be controlled by the government?" The terrible 
 condition of servitude into which the employees of these vast 
 enterprises have been forced, and the endangering of the 
 public peace, caused by the natural and proper unrest of the 
 wage-workers, as well as the danger to traffic and the 
 numberless industries dependent upon uninterrupted trans- 
 portation and communication, is the warning-cry that justice 
 must be done to the poorest, and that this justice cannot be 
 expected under the present system of greed. The control of 
 railroads, telephones and telegraphs, and their operation by
 
 496 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 the government, is as feasible, and will prove to be as bene- 
 ficial, as the present post-office system, which, perfect as it is, 
 needs enlargement in the direction of making them safe 
 deposits, as is the system in England. 
 
 In addition to the demands made upon the State and 
 National governments, hereinbefore enumerated, this organi- 
 zation proposes to its members to associate their own labors 
 for the establishment of co-operative institutions, believing 
 that through experiments in this direction, and that by re- 
 duced profits upon labor and increased remuneration to 
 labor, consequent upon advancing civilization, that the co- 
 operative system will supersede the wage-system. They 
 also pledge themselves to secure for both sexes equal pay 
 for equal work, and supplement their demand for legisla- 
 tion in the direction of less hours of labor by instructing their 
 members to prepare for a general refusal to work for more 
 than eight hours per day. 
 
 This preamble, which commences with the warning-cry 
 against the power for evil of great corporations and 
 capitalists, concludes by holding out the olive branch of 
 peace, desiring that no unnecessary antagonisms may be 
 created, using the power of organization not to force, but to 
 "persuade employers to agree to arbitrate all differences 
 which may arise between them and their employees, in 
 order that the bonds of sympathy between them may be 
 strengthened, and strikes may be unnecessary."
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 ARBITRATION. 
 
 DISASTROUS STRIKES LOSSES AND CONSEQUENCES THEREOF DEALING 
 WITH HUMAN BEINGS WORKMEN FAVORING ARBITRATION EMPLOY- 
 ERS IGNORING THE HUMANITIES OF LIFE DISCUSSING DIFFERENCES 
 OPINIONS OF GEORGE ODGER, PROFESSOR S. WATERHOUSE, PROFESSOR 
 J. B. CLARK, PROFESSOR HENRY C. ADAMS, PROFESSOR E. J. JAMES, 
 JOHN JARRETT, D. H. DONELLY, CONSEILS DBS PRUD'HOMMES ARBI- 
 TRATION ix BELGIUM, AUSTRIA, AND GREAT BRITAIN, AND IN THE 
 UNITED STATES ARBITRATION LAW OF THE LAST CONGRESS THE: 
 LABOR PARLIAMENT ORGANIZATION ESSENTIAL TO ARBITRATION. 
 
 " Come now, let us reason together." Isa. \ : 18. 
 
 A FEW months ago, dense clouds lowered upon the fields 
 of industry. Disastrous strikes then prevailed through- 
 out the South-west, threatening at one time to involve the 
 entire railroad system of the United States, a misfortune 
 which was alone prevented by the good judgment and firm- 
 ness of the leaders of the Knights of Labor and Locomotive 
 Engineers ; while, during the same period, other strikes were 
 pending, involving thousands and thousands of workingmen 
 in various factories and workshops. These have all passed 
 away, and to-day witnesses comparative peace throughout 
 the length and breadth of the land. At such a time, it is 
 peculiarly opportune to appeal to the intelligence of the coun- 
 try, workingmen and employers alike, to devise some 
 better plan of adjusting differences than by strikes on the 
 one hand and lockouts on the other, with their concomitant 
 train of disaster, ruin, and frequently crime. 
 
 The losses sustained by workmen and employers, together 
 with incidental injuries to the people at large, in the disastrous 
 conflicts of the last few years, would present a frightful spec- 
 tacle of the absolute waste of hundreds of millions of dollars. 
 For while the loss of the strikers from their enforced idleness, 
 
 (497) (32)
 
 498 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 and the loss to employers from injury to property and the 
 unproductiveness of their investments, amounts to millions 
 of dollars, the greater loss is borne by the entire country from 
 the loss of the wealth produced by employed labor, from the 
 increased cost of all articles involved in the controversy, and, 
 in case of a railroad strike, from the increased cost of fuel 
 arid food to the people, from the difficulty and delay in ob- 
 taining supplies ; resulting, also, in the enforced closing of 
 workshops and factories, through the inability of employers 
 to obtain necessary materials, thus swelling the ranks of 
 those thrown out of employment by additional thousands, 
 who are in such cases the unfortunate victims of a contro- 
 versy in which they are not directly interested. 
 
 These reasons justify every citizen in carefully studying the 
 question of the relations of capital and labor, and endeavoring 
 to bring them together as friends and allies by guaranteeing 
 that peace and prosperity which flows from continued in- 
 dustry. Is it not the part of every good citizen in all disputes 
 to advise their fellow-men, whether workmen or capitalists, 
 to come together and reason like men? to meet at the same 
 table for a mutual interchange of views, an honest and 
 frank statement of his grievances by the workman, and an 
 equally manly and honorable consideration, and, when neces- 
 sary, concession by the capitalist ? 
 
 Employers must understand by this time that, in dealing 
 with human beings, they cannot successfully apply the rule 
 that the only thing necessary to be considered, when en- 
 gaging in any enterprise, is to ascertain how great they can 
 make their profits, and how low they can make the wages. 
 If the promptings of humanity will not induce them to act 
 fairly and honorably by their workmen, the disastrous experi- 
 ences of strikes should by this time, at least, have been 
 sufficient to convince them that from a purely selfish stand- 
 point they can accomplish far more and achieve greater suc- 
 cess by pursuing such a course as will prevent strikes, and 
 enlist the sympathy of the workman in the success of his 
 employer, adopting the humane maxim, to "live and let 
 live."
 
 ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION. 499 
 
 Workmen, as' a rule, have always favored arbitration, and 
 the submission of their differences to an impartial tribunal ; 
 and history shows that, in almost every instance where they 
 have succeeded in obtaining an impartial hearing of their 
 grievances, they have loyally and honorably abided by the 
 result. Employers, as a rule, have been slow in recognizing 
 the right of workingmen to even a hearing, ignoring the 
 humanities of life, and placing workmen on the same footing 
 with their merchandise. Such a position, whenever a dispute 
 occurs, has invariably resulted in a conflict, for the reason 
 that workingmen will not submit to being ignored by an en- 
 terprise in which they believe that their labor and genius 
 are as much the mainsprings of its success as the capital 
 invested. 
 
 It is the same old story, repeated with slight variations, since 
 civilization began, of the weak fighting the strong. In many 
 cases, the weak may win by persistence in suffering; but, in 
 the meantime, men and women will go hungry, and children 
 will cry for bread. This continual clashing, involving so 
 much suffering and loss of money, is unavoidable, unless both 
 parties seek for and adopt a better system of adjusting differ- 
 ences. That such a system can be found in arbitration, based 
 on principles of equity between employer and workman, has 
 been amply shown in individual shops, and in whole com- 
 munities in the Old World. So far as it has been tried in this 
 country, it has proved far superior to any other method of 
 settling differences. In no other way can the correlative in- 
 terests of both labor and capital be so effectively guarded. 
 
 The principle of appealing to facts and reason, instead of 
 to brute force, is rational, and at once commends itself to the 
 judgment of every right-minded man. When workmen and 
 employers meet together and discuss their differences and try 
 to adjust them, they give evidence of the nobler qualities of 
 their manhood. 
 
 Strikes and lockouts are characteristics of the Feudal Age, 
 when might was right, and every dispute was settled by a 
 resort to force. Arbitration will be characteristic of the age 
 of reason and law.
 
 5OO THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 George Odger, in 1866, at a large meeting in Sheffield, 
 England, expressed the opinion "that strikes were in the 
 social world what wars were to the political world : they 
 became crimes, unless they were prompted by absolute neces- 
 sity." When men of labor and capital meet together as men 
 of business should meet, and discuss their differences in a 
 friendly spirit, the chances are that they will reach an ami- 
 cable settlement. Their success runs in parallel lines. Their 
 interests are identical. Labor is capital, and capital is labor. 
 They suggest the remedy for the conflict, the remedy that 
 civilized nations are now substituting for war ; the influence 
 of reason and voluntary arbitration of labor's troubles and 
 capital's claims trusting to the enlightened public opinion to 
 sustain their awards. Arbitration means education, and edu- 
 cation means a proper maintenance of just principles. Edu- 
 cation, arbitration and humanity are the triple link which 
 will unite labor and capital. 
 
 The utterances of prominent men on the subject of arbitra- 
 tion, which I append, are evidence that the demand for arbi- 
 tration must be conceded. 
 
 Professor S. Waterhouse, of the Washington University, 
 St. Louis, says of arbitration, that 
 
 It would settle disputes by the awards of reason, allay the unfriendly- 
 feelings which now exist between workmen and their employers, save the 
 time and money which are now wasted by the arbitrary closing of manufac- 
 tories or the ill-advised withdrawal of operatives, and prevent the scenes of 
 violence and outrage which so often disgrace strikes. 
 
 Professor J. B. Clark, Smith College, Northampton, Mass., 
 says : 
 
 Arbitration is, in itself, an appeal to equity, and a departure from the com- 
 petitive principle. 
 
 Professor Henry C. Adams, Lecturer on Political Economy 
 in the University of Michigan and Cornell University, says : 
 
 Arbitration is not the missing coupling between labor and capital, but it is 
 the thing for which, at the present time, it is practical that workingmen should 
 strive. Its establishment is the first step towards the overthrow of the wages 
 system.
 
 OPINIONS OF EMINENT MEN. 5OI 
 
 Professor E. J. James, of the University of Pennsylvania 
 (Philadelphia), says: 
 
 Arbitration has the great advantage of subjecting the acts of the parties to 
 it to the efficient and powerful control of an energetic public opinion. It 
 recognizes indirectly what is too often overlooked, that the interests at stake 
 are not merely those of the laborer and employer, but also those of the com- 
 munity at large. The latter has such a great stake in the contest that it can- 
 not afford to stand idly by, and permit the former to disturb society to its 
 foundations, and destroy in their struggle the very conditions of sound 
 economic progress. 
 
 P. H. Donnelly, Esq., Secretary of the Illinois Miners* 
 Protective Association, says : 
 
 Arbitration means a stop to those prolonged and ruinous struggles between 
 employers and employees, a shaking of hands across the bloody chasm. 
 
 Fred Woodrow says : 
 
 To-day there is no question, even in national politics, so vital in its import 
 or so grand in its issues as this self-same idea of arbitration. It is at the causes 
 of strikes and lockouts as an axe at the root of a tree, and a knife at a cancer. 
 Of its adoption there is no doubt, though its details and methods may be mat- 
 ters of experience and time. It has its enemies, as had the act of eman- 
 cipation. 
 
 John Jarrett, Esq., Secretary of the American Tinned-Plate 
 Association, says : 
 
 I know of no better remedy, in the adjustment of all differences that may 
 arise between employers and employees, than arbitration and conciliation. 
 
 Hon. E. R. Hutchins, Commissioner of Labor Statistics, 
 State of Iowa, says : 
 
 Wherever it is tried honestly, it is successful. 
 
 This is true in this and in the old countries. But it must be 
 honest. It must be entered into with sincerity on the part of 
 both sides, and its results must be as binding as any law 
 upon a statute-book. 
 
 Hon. Joel B. McCamant, Chief of Bureau of Industrial 
 Statistics, State of Pennsylvania, says: 
 
 Arbitration, in my opinion, is the only reasonable coupling between labor 
 and capital.
 
 5O2 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 Hon. Oscar Kochtitzky, Commissioner of Bureau of Labor 
 Statistics and Inspection, of Missouri, says: 
 
 A Board of Arbitration, composed of persons capable to judge clearly 
 between right and wrong, possessing in every respect the confidence of the 
 community, and who are not directly interested in the dispute to be settled, 
 would, in nearly every case, present a plan of settlement acceptable to both 
 parties. Any proposition made by a board so composed would be supported 
 by the moral force of public opinion ; and the refusal by either party to the 
 dispute to accept the plan of settlement proposed could only be fatal to the 
 interests of the party so refusing. 
 
 Industrial arbitration originated in France, in 1806, when 
 the first Napoleon, at the request of the workingmen of 
 Lyons, caused the creation, by law, of boards of arbitration 
 and conciliation. These, with but slight changes, have con- 
 tinued until the present time under the title of "Conseils des 
 Prud'hommes." They are judicial tribunals, established at the 
 important trade-centres of that country, and are composed of 
 an equal number of employers and workingmen, each class 
 electing its own representatives, and the president and vice- 
 president are named by the government. Their authority 
 extends to all questions that can arise in the workshop 
 between the employer and his workmen, and also between 
 the workmen and apprentices or foreman. Arbitration is 
 compulsory upon the application of either party, and the 
 decisions of the board can be enforced the same as those 
 of other courts of law. There are now about one hundred 
 and fifty such councils established in France, and of the many 
 thousands of cases brought before these courts it is claimed 
 that ninety-five per cent, have been settled. The influence 
 of these councils in removing causes of difference, and pre- 
 venting disputes, has been of incalculable benefit, and greatly 
 contributed to the industrial prosperity of France. 
 
 In Belgium, the French system is adopted, and under the 
 same name, with the exception that the Belgian " Conseils 
 des Prud'hommes" have a criminal jurisdiction, which has 
 seriously impeded their usefulness. 
 
 In Austria, in 1859, arbitration courts were established in 
 every important town and district. The jurisdiction of the 
 arbitration courts extends to the usual subjects of dispute be-
 
 FRUITS OF CONCILIATION. 503 
 
 tween employers and workmen, and their awards have the 
 force and effect of judgments of courts of law. 
 
 In Great Britain, a law similar in its character to that of 
 France was placed on the statute-books in 1824 ; but its com- 
 pulsory features were so obnoxious to both employers and 
 workingmen that very little was made of its provisions. A 
 similar fate befell two subsequent enactments. 
 
 In 1860, Mr. Mundella, a member of one of the largest 
 hosiery firms in England, conceived and put in practical 
 operation the first attempted voluntary arbitration in Eng- 
 land. The trade with which he was identified had been 
 severely injured by strikes and lockouts. He brought 
 about a conference between the employers and workmen, 
 which resulted in the institution of the " Board of Arbitra- 
 tion and Conciliation in the Cloth and Hosiery Trade." Ten 
 years later, Mr. Mundella, reviewing his work, stated that 
 
 Strikes are at an end. Levies to sustain them are unknown, and one shil- 
 ling a year from each member suffices to pay the expenses. That he had 
 inspected a balance-sheet of a trades-union of 10,300 men, and found the 
 expenditures for thirteen months to amount to less than 100. The success 
 of this Board of Arbitration, known as "the Nottingham Board of Arbitra- 
 tion and Conciliation," attracted public attention, and workingmen and em- 
 ployers hailed with enthusiasm this application of new principles to industry. 
 Three years later, it was adopted by the building-trades (Wolverhampton 
 system), and at a late period by the iron trade (North of England system) ; it 
 also extended to the pottery and other industries. 
 
 The following statements will furnish conclusive evidence 
 of the benefits arising from the application of this princi- 
 ple : 
 
 For thirty years, strikes have been almost unknown in the 
 pottery trade. Since 1869, when the " Board of Arbitration and 
 Conciliation for the Manufactured Iron Trade for the North 
 of England" was established, it has proved a blessing to em- 
 ployers and workmen. Strikes are unknown ; whereas prior 
 to that time, that district was in a continual state of anarchy, 
 resulting from the social struggles of labor and capital, fre- 
 quently causing destruction of property and loss of human 
 life. In an address by Frederick Harrison before the Trades- 
 union Congress, at Nottingham, in October, 1883, he stated
 
 504 THE LABOR MOVEMKNT. 
 
 that ninety-nine per cent, of those societies' expenditures were 
 for benevolent and provident purposes, and only one per cent. 
 for strikes, showing the great value of trades-unions in pre- 
 venting trade disputes. The almost unanimous voice of the 
 trades-unions of England, which to-day number over 800,000 
 members, is for arbitration in industrial pursuits. And it is a 
 fact, in the history of arbitration, that the first steps toward 
 the adoption of this method were inaugurated by the trades- 
 unions. 
 
 In the United States, the growth of the principle of the 
 application of arbitration as a means of settling disputes be- 
 tween employers and workmen is due mainly to the efforts 
 of this same organization, which has at all times strongly 
 favored arbitration. Over twenty years ago, arbitration be- 
 came one of the demands of the Trades-union Congress. The 
 Knights of Labor, who constitute to-day the greatest labor- 
 union in the country, have embodied in their platform the fol- 
 lowing, among other aims : 
 
 22. "To persuade employers to agree to arbitrate all differ- 
 ences which may arise between them and their employees, in 
 order that the bonds of sympathy between them may be 
 strengthened, and that strikes may be rendered unneces- 
 sary." 
 
 In 1883, legal arbitration was first presented in this country. 
 In that year, the Wallace Act was passed by the Pennsylvania 
 Legislature, and is the first piece of legislation in this country 
 practically indorsing the principle of voluntary arbitration. 
 In Ohio, a law was enacted in February, 1885, to "authorize 
 the creation and to provide for the operation of tribunals of 
 voluntary arbitration, to adjust industrial disputes between 
 employers and employed." In Massachusetts, Iowa, New 
 York and New Jersey, bills for the creation of arbitration 
 boards have either become laws or are now pending. 
 
 The House of Representatives of the Congress of the 
 United States passed a so-called "labor-arbitration bill," at 
 the present session, which is now pending in the Senate. 
 Every reader of this article understands the narrow field to 
 which the Federal Constitution restricts Congress, and that
 
 LABOR ARBITRATION BILL OF CONGRESS. 505 
 
 many of the most important industries, employing millions of 
 our citizens, are beyond the reach of the power of legislation 
 vested in Congress. 
 
 The narrow orbit within which Congress is compelled to 
 revolve appears from the first section of this bill, which reads 
 as follows : 
 
 That whenever differences or controversies arise between railroad compa- 
 nies engaged in the transportation of property or passengers between two or 
 more States of the United States, between a Territory and State, within the 
 Territories of the United States, or within the District of Columbia, and the 
 employees of said railroad companies, which differences or controversies may 
 hinder, impede, obstruct, interrupt or affect such transportation of property 
 or passengers, if upon the written proposition of either party to the contro- 
 versy to submit their differences to arbitration, the other party shall accept 
 the proposition, then and in such event, the railroad company is hereby 
 authorized to select and appoint one person; and such employee, or em- 
 ployees, as the case may be, to select and appoint another person, and the 
 two persons thus selected and appointed to select a third person, all three 
 of whom shall be citizens of the United States, and wholly impartial and dis- 
 interested in respect to such differences or controversies. And the three 
 persons thus selected and appointed shall be, and thev are hereby, created and 
 constituted a board of arbitration, with the duties, powers and privileges 
 hereinafter set forth. 
 
 It is evident from this section that the occasions for appeal 
 to this species of arbitration must, in the nature of things, be 
 few ; that the subjects embraced are limited in number, and 
 that the system of arbitration intended to be established is 
 absolutely voluntary ; inasmuch as both parties to the differ- 
 ences or controversies must concur before the tribunal can 
 begin to exist. 
 
 That it is wholly intended to rely upon moral means to 
 enforce the awards rendered under the act, is manifest from 
 the concluding paragraph of the third section, which reads as 
 follows : 
 
 And after concluding its investigation, said board (of arbitration) shall 
 publicly announce its award, which, with the findings of facts upon which it 
 is based, shall be reduced to writing, and signed bv the arbitrators concurring 
 therein, and, together with the testimony taken in the case, shall be filed with 
 the Commissioner of Labor of the United States, who shall make such award 
 public as soon as the same shall have been received by him.
 
 506 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 Another section of the bill provides that the entire expense 
 of an arbitration conducted under this bill shall be paid by 
 the United States, provided such expense does not exceed one 
 thousand dollars. 
 
 The bill is pre-eminently conservative, and devoid of all 
 legal enforcements. It passed the House by a vote of 195 to 
 29, and manifests the good-will of the majority of the House 
 of Representatives toward the class of laboring men intended 
 to be included within its provisions, and is an evidence that 
 the National Legislature is no longer indifferent to their 
 cause. 
 
 The disadvantages under which the wage-earner is placed 
 in the struggle for subsistence is well understood. One of the 
 first steps to be taken to remove these disadvantages is to 
 place labor, in cases of contest, on equal terms with capital. 
 This can be greatly promoted by the aid of the State and 
 Federal governments. Establish by legislative authority tri- 
 bunals of arbitration and boards of conciliation, and useful 
 progress will be made in the right direction. 
 
 Combination, union and harmony are power. In the Middle 
 Ages, the societies of tradesmen, by combination and concert 
 of action, overcame the robber-baron and the feudal lord, and 
 wrested from them their rights long denied. Mechanical in- 
 dustry was essentially of a democratic character ; and between 
 it and the feudal system there was an "irrepressible conflict." 
 Small bodies of organized mechanics existed as early as the 
 twelfth century. Labor is the working man's capital. Let 
 him combine it by organization. The small beginnings of 
 the twelfth century have grown to enormous proportions in the 
 nineteenth. We have witnessed its growth in this country. 
 But look abroad. The Labor Parliament (or Trades-union 
 Congress) held in England, in 1876, represented 113 societies 
 and 557,488 members. The same convention held at Lei- 
 cester, in 1877, represented 112 societies and 691,089 
 members. 
 
 Every intelligent man knows that some disease lurks in 
 the body politic, when, as now, in a short life-time, a single 
 individual can accumulate a fortune of a hundred millions.
 
 THE WORLD'S BENEFACTORS. 507 
 
 This disease should be cured. The laboring man, mechanic 
 or farmer has furnished, in times past, the great world- 
 teachers and benefactors. 
 
 If the labor organizations shall succeed in establishing 
 peaceful methods of solving, not only now to prevent strikes 
 and lockouts, but how to prevent the growth of monster mo- 
 nopolies of wealth on the one hand, and monster deformity of 
 poverty on the other, then will history speak of them as 
 among the most beneficent instances of justice.
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 CO-OPERATION. 
 
 OPINIONS' OF JOHN STUART MILL AND GEORGE JACOB HOLYOAKE ANTIOJJITY 
 OF Co-OPERATVE FORMS PROFIT SHARING IN AGRICULTURE REORGAN- 
 IZING SOCIETY ROCHDALE PIONEERS PROFIT-SHARING IN FRANCE 
 CO-OPERATIVE CREDIT IN GERMANY, RUSSIA AND ITALY RAW- 
 MATERIAL SUPPLIES SOCIETIES CO-OPERATION IN AMERICA, IN 1830 
 NEW ENGLAND PROTECTIVE UNION THE GRANGER MOVEMENT 
 SOVEREIGNS OF INDUSTRY INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY OF PHILADELPHIA 
 AND TRENTON CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY CO-OPERATIVE CREDIT IN 
 THE UNITED STATES CO-OPERATIVE PRODUCTIVE ENTERPRISES 
 OFFICIAL STATISTICS CO-OPERATIVE COAL-MINING TENDENCIES OF 
 CO-OPERATIVE EXPERIMENTS FIRST AMERICAN ATTEMPTS AT PROFIT- 
 SHARING MORE WEALTH DIVIDED INTEREST AND FAITH NET 
 PROFIT PLANS OF DIVISION OF PROFIT THE CHIEF DEFECT 
 THE IMMEDIATE NEED INDUSTRIAL FEDERATION COMPETITION 
 CO-OPERATION AND SOCIALISM THE DUTY OF THE STATE JUST 
 LEGISLATION AND THE CONTROL OF MONOPOLIES IN THE HANDS OF 
 VOTERS. 
 
 ONE of the purposes of the Knights of Labor, as set forth 
 in the preamble of their constitution, is: "To establish co- 
 operative institutions, such as will tend to supersede the wage- 
 system by the introduction of a co-operative industrial system." 
 This statement contains the true co-operative idea. Co-opera- 
 tion is industrial reorganization. At present, the chief efforts of 
 organized labor are directed toward securing amelioration of 
 the wage-system. Arbitration, a shorter working-day, restric- 
 tion of the labor of children and married women, are the imme- 
 diate demands. Beyond these a majority of workingmen have 
 as yet no definite plan, save, as they hope, by limiting the 
 competition for employment, to get better wages. The leaders 
 of the co-operative movement go farther, and attack the pres- 
 ent basis of distribution ; it is better not to say the wage-system, 
 because the regular payment of stipulated wages, at frequent 
 intervals, is a necessary feature of any practicable co-operation. 
 
 (508)
 
 MEANING OF CO-OPERATION. 509 
 
 They assert that the arrangement by which profits are dis- 
 tributed, solely on the basis of capital, while labor, having 
 no control of the means of production, is bought at the lowest 
 market-rates, is wrong. They claim that labor, including 
 brain-labor, should receive its wages at market-rates, and 
 capital its interest at market-rates, and that whatever profit 
 then remains should be divided among all parties having any- 
 thing to do with the product, from the workers to the con- 
 sumers. John Stuart Mill said : 
 
 Co-operation is where the whole of the produce is divided. What is wanted 
 is that the whole working class shall partake of the profits of labor. 
 
 And George Jacob Holyoake's definition of co-opera- 
 tion is : 
 
 Co-operation is a scheme by which profits can be obtained by concert, and 
 divided by consent, including with the producers the indigent consumer. 
 The original and defensible purpose of co-operation is the better distribution 
 of wealth throughout the whole community, including the consumer. Co- 
 operation to benefit the capitalist at the expense of the workman, or to benefit 
 the workman at the expense of the consumer, still maintains a virtual con- 
 spiracy against the purchasing public. Such co-operation leaves the third 
 and larger class unprotected and unbenefited, save indirectly or temporarily. 
 
 This scheme is nowhere completely realized as yet. Dis- 
 tributive co-operation divides the profits of retail trade among 
 consumers. Co-operative banks and building associations 
 divide the profits of the money-lender and the landlord among 
 home-owners. The industrial arrangements variously known 
 as productive co-operation, profit-sharing and industrial part- 
 nership, distribute the profits of production among workers 
 in proportion to their services. While all these last-named 
 arrangements are co-operative in principle and profit-sharing 
 in practice, and all are therefore in a broad sense industrial 
 partnerships, it is convenient to distinguish by these terms 
 three different types of co-operation, according as one or an- 
 other feature predominates. In productive co-operation, then, 
 the workers own the business and choose the managers, who 
 are responsible and accountable. In the usual forms of sim- 
 ple profit-sharing, the business is owned by a firm or cor- 
 poration, in which the workmen, or the majority of them, at
 
 5IO THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 least, are not legal partners or stockholders, but are allowed 
 a dividend, or bonus, from the profits. The perfect industrial 
 partnership is a more complex organization, uniting the busi- 
 ness talent, enterprise and resources of one or two chief part- 
 ners, holding a controlling interest, with the fidelity and in- 
 dustry of interested workmen, who not only receive a dividend 
 on their labor, but are encouraged also to become stockhold- 
 ers, and thereby to share in the dividend to capital and in the 
 control of the business. Profit-sharing concerns, when they 
 develop in a natural way, without interference or mishap, 
 tend to become industrial partnerships. Co-operative com- 
 panies would undoubtedly do the same, but 'for the limitation 
 of individual stockholding, which prevents any one mem- 
 ber or minority of members from acquiring a controlling 
 interest. 
 
 Most of the co-operative producing companies in this coun- 
 try and abroad are but imperfectly co-operative in actual 
 organization and practice. The workmen organize as a joint- 
 stock company or corporation, paying in their capital, and 
 electing a treasurer, clerk and directors, who elect a presi- 
 dent and other executive officers. The management hires 
 and discharges help, giving preference to stockholders, but 
 not usually under any obligation to retain an incompetent 
 man because he is a stockholder. The workers are paid 
 wages at regular intervals, just as if they had no ownership 
 in the concern, and at the -end of the year receive the profits, 
 if any, in the form of dividends. Where the co-operative idea 
 is strictly carried out, only a part of the profits is divided as 
 a dividend on capital. Another part is divided as a dividend 
 on labor, and apportioned among the workmen, according to 
 their wages, or the number of days each has worked. A third 
 part is divided as a dividend on purchases, the chief cus- 
 tomer, in this case, being a co-operative store, which is a stock- 
 holder in the producing company. When the entire profit is 
 divided on the shares of capital, the company is still in a de- 
 gree co-operative, inasmuch as the workers own the capital, 
 usually in nearly equal amounts. The profit contains an 
 increment created by the superior zeal of the working owners
 
 CO-OPERATION IN ENGLAND. 511 
 
 as self-employers ; and the dividend each receives under these 
 conditions must be approximately proportional to his services. 
 
 Co-operative and fraternal forms of industrial association 
 are as ancient as society itself. The joint undivided family, 
 from which grew craft-guilds and brotherhoods, and the 
 village communities, from which sprang the English parish 
 and the New England town, were to a great degree com- 
 munistic in their industrial affairs. From time immemorial, 
 profit-sharing has existed in agriculture and fisheries, and 
 it is probably older than the wage-system as a method 
 of rewarding labor. The earliest industrial institutions 
 of the New World were largely co-operative in principle 
 and practice. But the forms and applications of co-operation 
 that we are here concerned with, had their origin in that 
 quickening of humanitarian thought and zeal which was 
 started by the speculations of St. Simon and Fourier, in France, 
 and Robert Owen, in England. They are the tangible re- 
 sults of the united efforts of those who looked forward to a 
 speedy reconstruction of society as a whole, and of many 
 others w r ho cherished no such dreams, but had faith, none- 
 theless, that something could be done by personal effort and 
 voluntary association to ameliorate the condition of labor. 
 The different plans have been developed, and have flourished 
 best in as many different countries, each proving to be spe- 
 cially adapted to certain social conditions and types of char- 
 acter. The co-operative association and training of workmen 
 in production and distribution, without the intervention of the 
 employing capitalist, has been carried farthest in England. 
 Profit-sharing, as a voluntary concession by employing 
 capitalists, has had its best development in France, and co- 
 operative credit has succeeded best in Germany and the 
 United States. 
 
 Of the more than three hundred co-operative societies 
 started in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, between 
 1820 and 1830, when faith in the possibility of reorganizing 
 society was strong, some were thoroughly communistic, 
 dividing profits equally among members, without regard to 
 capital invested or value of services. Others divided on
 
 512 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 capital only. Nearly all were short-lived ; and it was not till 
 1844 that the idea which was to afford to distributive co- 
 operation a substantial basis and ensure its growth that of 
 dividing profits in proportion to purchases was successfully 
 worked out by the Rochdale Pioneers. From that time on, 
 the movement had able business direction, and the sympathetic 
 aid of such leaders of opinion as Charles Kingsley, Frederick 
 D. Maurice and Thomas Hughes ; and, during the last twenty 
 years, British workingmen co-operators have done a business 
 of 250,000,000, on which they have made a profit of 20,- 
 000,000. Methods have been reduced to system, and a secure 
 foundation obtained in statute-law. On the Continent, both 
 distributive and productive co-operation have been extend- 
 ing, and at present seventy productive societies in France 
 have a membership of 4,920, and a capital of about 5,000,000 
 francs. 
 
 Meanwhile, profit-sharing by the employer with w r age- 
 earning employees, first successfully attempted in 1831., by 
 Vandeleur, on his estate in Ireland, and then tried in France, 
 where it found favorable conditions, by the Parisian house- 
 painter, Leclaire, in 1842, and by the Paris and Orleans Rail- 
 way Company, in 1844, has been so steadily growing in favor 
 that at the close of 1885, there were ninety-eight profit-sharing 
 houses on the Continent, of which forty-nine were in France 
 and twelve in Switzerland. Some convert the dividends to 
 labor into shares of stock ; and in the two most perfectly 
 organized industrial partnerships in the world, those of 
 the Maison-Leclaire and M. Godin's Familistere, at Guise, 
 not only may the workers become, through their profits, share- 
 holders, but shareholding workmen may become directors 
 and managers, the way being open for the humblest worker, 
 if he has ability and character, to rise to the highest place. 
 
 The earlier forms of co-operation revealed the need of co- 
 operative credit ; and this was organized by Dr. Schulze, at 
 Delitzsch, in Germany, in 1850. The Schulze-Delitzsch 
 credit-unions, now known by the simpler name of people's 
 banks, which he founded, enable the poorest persons not only 
 to save, but to borrow small sums on such security as wages.
 
 CO-OPERATION IN NEW ENGLAND. 513 
 
 due, merchandise, or chattels, or to secure any other common 
 banking service. They have multiplied rapidly in Germany, 
 Russia and Italy, and have accomplished an immense amount 
 of good, enabling the workman or small tradesman to buy 
 tools or enlarge his business without ruinous resort to Shy- 
 locks and p a v/n -brokers. There were 1,965 of these banks 
 in Germany in 1884, 879 of which reported loans amounting 
 to 1,516,952,618 marks. Dr. Schulze also founded the raw- 
 material supply societies, which enable handicraftsmen to 
 buy material at wholesale rates. These, with the co-opera- 
 tive magazines, o* selling-houses, another class of societies 
 peculiar to Germany, do much to enable independent pro- 
 ducers on a small scale to maintain themselves in competition 
 with large manufacturing establishments. 
 
 This glance at the progress of co-operation in Europe 
 shows us the antecedents of co-operation in America, and 
 affords a basis of comparison for estimating American results. 
 As early as 1830, co-operation began to engage the attention 
 of the workingmen in New England, and isolated experi- 
 ments in co-operative distribution were here and there made. 
 Most of them were short-lived, and even the record of their 
 names seems to be now beyond recovery. The New England 
 Association of Farmers and Mechanics discussed the subject at 
 Boston, in 1831, and appointed a committee to investigate it; 
 but no report was ever made. A decade of feeble attempts 
 and failures followed; and then, in 1845, a year after the 
 successful organization of the Rochdale Pioneers in England, 
 a dozen members of the Workingmen's Protective Union 
 opened a store, consisting of a box of soap and half a chest of 
 tea, in a room over the Boylston Market, at Boston. In less 
 than five years, the union had built up an annual trade of 
 $500,000. Its organization consisted of a central-supply 
 agency and local divisions or branches. The name was 
 changed, in 1849, to tne New England Protective Union. 
 Growth and prosperity continued until 1853, when the union 
 was ruptured by a personal controversy. It was then doing 
 a business of probably $2,000,000, or more a year, 165 ot its 
 403 divisions reporting sales of $1,696,825 for 1852. The 
 
 (33)
 
 514 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 new branch called itself the American Protective Union. For 
 a few years, it did an annual business of $1,000,000 to $i,- 
 500,000. The older branch did almost as well. But by 1859 
 decline set in, and the outbreak of the war brought an end to 
 both branches as general organizations. Some of the local 
 divisions survived, and are still in existence. One of these, 
 the Natick Protective Union, with a capital at present of 
 $6,000, and carrying a stock worth $6,000 to $7,000, is 
 twenty-five years old, and prosperous. 
 
 During the ten war-years, no general society for co-opera- 
 tive distribution was in existence ; but local societies continued 
 to multiply. Thirty-six stores in ten States were counted in 
 1866; a wholesale store at Boston was projected, and a con- 
 ference of New York and Massachusetts stores was talked of. 
 In that year, there was a marked revival of co-operative inter- 
 est, and a rapid multiplication of co-operative undertakings 
 began, which has continued to the present time. In Massa- 
 chusetts, they were given the benefit of a general law, under 
 which seven or more persons could become an incorporated 
 association, enjoying all the powers and privileges, and sub- 
 ject to all the duties and liabilities of corporations in general, 
 except that no member could have more than one vote, nor 
 hold shares amounting to more than $1,000, and that the 
 maximum capital-stock was fixed at $50,000. This limit was 
 extended in 1879 to $100,000. 
 
 In 1867, the great Granger movement began, and the 
 Patrons of Husbandry quickly became an organization of 
 national extent. The secretary of the National Grange re- 
 ported, in November, 1875, 24,290 local granges, with a 
 membership of 763,263. A year later, the Order owned or 
 controlled twenty-two warehouses for storing goods, thirty- 
 two grain-elevators, and five steamboat or packet-lines. Its 
 co-operative methods were of an imperfect kind at first, the 
 local granges being a sort of purchasing-clubs, employing 
 general agents to buy and ship goods in quantity, at a liberal 
 discount. This plan worked well at first, but later led to 
 heavy losses, and the Rochdale system was afterwards quite 
 generally adopted. The greatest success of granger co-op-
 
 GRANGERS, SOVEREIGNS OF INDUSTRY, ETC. 515 
 
 eration has been in Texas, where the Patrons have a State 
 co-operative association, with a wholesale agency, and one 
 hundred and fifty stores. 
 
 The Sovereigns of Industry, founded at Worcester, Mass., 
 in January, 1874, ^Y William H. Earle, as a secret order, 
 with co-operation as one of its principal objects, had a phe- 
 nomenally rapid growth for a few years, and then as rapidly 
 went to pieces. Councils' were formed in eighteen States 
 within forty days. The Rochdale plan was generally fol- 
 lowed in the Sovereigns' stores. These were most numerous 
 in New England, and the largest ones were in Springfield 
 and Worcester, Mass. In the former city, the Sovereigns' 
 block was erected at a cost of $35,000, and the store did a 
 business in one year of $110,000. The Order failed in 1880; 
 but numerous stores in Massachusetts and other States con- 
 tinue to perpetuate its name. 
 
 The greatest successes in co-operative distribution have 
 been in cities and towns of Massachusetts, New Jersey and 
 Pennsylvania. In the former State, there are twenty-five or 
 more stores, each having a capital stock ranging from $1,000 
 to $15,000, $2,000 to $5,000 being the usual amount. The 
 Industrial Co-operative Society, of Philadelphia, has over 2,000 
 members, who are mill-operatives, $21,000 capital-stock, and 
 annual sales of $250,000. The Trenton Co-operative Soci- 
 ety, of Trenton, N. J., with 200 members and annual sales 
 of $15,000, is organized on a model basis, the division of 
 profits including interest on capital and a dividend to the 
 labor employed, as well as to customers. A granger store 
 and bank at Olathe, Kan., started ten years ago, has a capital 
 of $40,916, has made sales in nine and a half years to Janu- 
 ary i, 1886, of $1,706,110, and, after paying to stockholders 
 ten per cent, on capital, has divided $99,278.83 in dividends. 
 At present, the Knights of Labor are the active organizers of 
 co-operative effort ; and, while there are no statistics of the 
 number, trade and profitableness of distributive co-operation 
 in the country at large, it is probable that there is not a State, 
 and perhaps not a Territory, in which successful stores may 
 not be found.
 
 5l6 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 Co-operative credit in the United States dates from 1831, 
 when the Oxford Provident Building Association was founded 
 at Frankfort, near Philadelphia. To-day, there are nearly 
 two thousand such associations in Pennsylvania ; and the 
 saying that they have created for workingmen in and around 
 Philadelphia a hundred thousand homes, tells very nearly the 
 literal truth. Within ten years, they have been multiplying 
 under various names in other States, especially in Massachu- 
 setts, New Jersey, Ohio and Illinois ; and it is safe to estimate 
 the total number at not less than 4,000, with a membership of 
 more than 500,000, and an aggregate capital of $1,000,000,- 
 ooo. The plan is substantially the same in all, and may be 
 understood from a summary of the excellent Massachusetts 
 law for their incorporation, enacted in 1877. They were then 
 called co-operative saving-fund and loan associations ; but 
 the name was changed, in 1883, to co-operative banks. The 
 membership must comprise at least twenty-five persons. The 
 capital is limited to $1,000,000; and no member may hold 
 more than twenty-five shares of the par value of $200, or 
 have more than one vote. The shares are sold, to members 
 only, in series, to be paid for by installments. On each share 
 that he buys, the purchaser must make a monthly payment of 
 one dollar, until the sum of these payments, plus the profits 
 accruing on the share, amount to its nominal value, $200. 
 The time varies from eight to ten years. The money in this 
 way accumulated is loaned, from time to time, to members, 
 the loans being made at auction, to the bidders of the highest 
 rates of interest. Loans must be secured by real estate 
 mortgage, and by the borrower's shares as collateral. No 
 member has more than one vote. 
 
 By means of the co-operative bank, its members may be- 
 come house-owners in a few years, through monthly pay- 
 ments, little, if any, greater than they would pay for rent. 
 With the strongest inducements to save, they are encouraged 
 to -save in the easiest way, by regular installments of 
 moderate amount. As borrowers, they can obtain small 
 sums as readily, and on as favorable terms, as large ones. 
 There is ample time for payment, and the debt is all the while
 
 CO-OPERATION IN THE WEST. 517 
 
 undergoing extinction. In some States, there have been 
 heavy losses through bad management ; but in Massachusetts, 
 these banks are subject to the inspection of the savings-bank 
 commissioner, and their shares are as safe as any investment 
 can be. The advantages of this free State oversight may be 
 inferred from the fact that in California the co-operative 
 building associations find it worth while to employ expert 
 accountants, at their own expense, to examine their books, 
 and prepare elaborate statements for the stockholders. The 
 Pennsylvania associations are allowed to invest in" real estate 
 and engage in building operations, and some of them find it 
 advantageous to do so when the demand for loans is slight. 
 Some of the Western associations have enjoyed remarkable 
 prosperity. The Quincy Building and Homestead Associa- 
 tion, of Illinois, has 5,750 shares in force, on which the 
 annual profit is thirteen per cent. , and in twelve years it has 
 paid out $70,930.64 in profits on matured stock and with- 
 drawn shares. 
 
 Productive co-operation is co-operation in its most difficult 
 form, and its development has been correspondingly slow ; 
 yet it has been substantial. In such industries as iron-found- 
 ing, wood-working, boot and shoe-making, glass-making, 
 hat and cigar-making, production by associated workmen is 
 well established in the United States. The earliest co-opera- 
 tive productive enterprise of which we have any record was 
 that of the Boston Tailors' Associative Union, of 1849, which 
 divided profits among its members in proportion to the labor 
 they performed. It did not long survive. Scarcely anything 
 was done until after the war, when the Iron-moulders' Inter- 
 national Union became interested in the subject, through the 
 efforts of its founder, William H. Sylvis, who made a report 
 in 1864, urging the advantages of co-operative foundries. 
 Several foundries were soon after started, in accordance with 
 his ideas, three or four of which are yet in existence. The 
 oldest is the Troy Co-operative Stove Works, established in 
 April, 1866. This was, for a time, a true co-operative com- 
 pany. No member had ever more than one vote, and all 
 earnings in excess of ten per cent, were divided on the basis
 
 518 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 of labor. The co-operative features have disappeared, and it 
 has become a stock-company, with thirty shareholders. In 
 1867 were started the co-operative foundries at Rochester, 
 N. Y., Cleveland, O., and Somerset, Mass. All the em- 
 ployees of the former, at first, were stockholders, and profits 
 in excess of twelve per cent, were divided according to the 
 earnings of labor ; but, after a few years, the initial dividend 
 on capital was advanced to seventeen and a half per cent., 
 then to twenty-five per cent., and before long the bonus to 
 labor was discontinued altogether. Now, not more than one- 
 fifth of the employees are stockholders. The Somerset 
 foundry, which had been a failure in private hands, was 
 bought by a company of working moulders, who brought it 
 up to a high degree of prosperity. Profits are paid on capital 
 only, but other co-operative features have been retained. By 
 the law of the State, no member can hold stock in excess of 
 $1,000, or have more than one vote ; and the by-laws give a 
 preference to stockholders and their sons in employment and 
 apprenticeship, and require members wishing to sell their 
 shares to offer them first to the company. There are success- 
 ful co-operative foundries of later establishment at Cincinnati 
 and St. Louis. 
 
 Though most of the co-operative producing companies in 
 the United States are so imperfectly co-operative, being little 
 more than joint-stock associations of workmen, they are, none- 
 theless, as such, of no little importance in the growth of 
 co-operative methods ; for they are affording to their members 
 the training and business experience which co-operation will 
 demand. The history of nearly every one is the record of a 
 brave struggle to accumulate a sufficient working capital and 
 an assured credit. Yet these obstacles have not only been 
 overcome in scattering individual instances, but in some 
 places by considerable groups of co-operative undertakings. 
 Conspicuous among such are the co-operative enterprises at 
 St. Louis, Minneapolis, and Stoneham, Mass. 
 
 At St. Louis, besides the foundry already mentioned, there 
 are four prosperous wood- working and furniture companies. 
 The oldest, the Mechanics' Planing-Mill Company, was
 
 VARIOUS CO-OPERATIVE ENTERPRISES. 519 
 
 founded in 1874. The nominal capital was $50,000, but 
 there were only $10,000 paid in and available. The members 
 accepted the smallest cash payment for their labor that they 
 could live on, and took the balance due them in certificates 
 of stock. At one time, the company had not credit enough to 
 buy ten feet of belting, and in the second year the works were 
 totally destroyed by fire, at a loss of $8,000. But in 1884, the 
 capital-stock was all paid up, and a surplus of $35,000 had 
 been accumulated; and the shares, of the par value of $500, 
 are now held at $1,000. The Furniture Workers' Associ- 
 ation, started in 1878, with almost no capital, has accumu- 
 lated one by funding a percentage of wages, and has become 
 prosperous. This company is, to a considerable degree, truly 
 co-operative, no person being permitted to own more than 
 twenty of the twenty-five dollar shares, and pains being taken 
 to keep the stock in the hands of working *nembers. The 
 Central Furniture Company, organized in 1881, has a paid-up 
 capital-stock of $30,000 ; and the Mechanics' Furniture 
 Association, incorporated in 1885, has a capital-stock of 
 $25,000, one-half paid up. The former accumulated its 
 capital largely from its earnings, dividing one year a stock 
 dividend of thirty-five per cent., and another year twenty per 
 cent., and the latter withholds ten per cent, of wages, and de- 
 clares stock dividends. 
 
 Among the coopers of Minneapolis, American co-operative 
 production has attained its highest success. There are seven 
 co-operative shops, employing four hundred and fifty work- 
 men, most of whom are stockholders, and doing a business 
 of $1,000,000 a year. The oldest, the Co-operative Barrel 
 Association, \vas organized in the fall of 1874, with a capital- 
 stock of $15,000. Each member paid fifteen dollars at first, 
 and a weekly assessment of five dollars until the whole 
 amount was paid in. The second was organized in 1877, the 
 third in 1880, and the fourth and fifth in 1881. The largest 
 has a capital-stock of $75,000. All are purely co-operative 
 in plan and operation. All the stock is held by actual work- 
 men, and each stockholder has but one vote. Capital re- 
 ceives only a fixed rate of interest, and profits are divided
 
 52O THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 among the workers according to their wages. The men are 
 described as "a mixed multitude of Swedes, Norwegians, 
 Irish, Germans, Italians and Americans ; yet they consult 
 dispassionately, vote fairly, submit without hesitation, work 
 faithfully, choose their best men always, obey implicitly, and 
 have unlimited faith in co-operative effort." Before they be- 
 came co-operators, they had a bad reputation on the score of 
 sobriety and order ; they now stand high in the estimation of 
 the community as good citizens. 
 
 The four co-operative boot and shoe companies at Stone- 
 ham, Mass., are co-operative only to the extent that each 
 stockholder can own but $1,000 of the capital-stock, and have 
 but one vote ; but as stock associations of workingmen pro- 
 ducers, they have been remarkably successful. The Stone- 
 ham Co-operative Shoe Company was organized in 1872, by 
 men temporarily unemployed, who subscribed a capital-stock 
 of $10,000, which was increased to $15,000 in 1880, and to 
 $20,000 in 1881. Its stockholders are of all nationalities, and 
 have always worked together harmoniously. The value of its 
 annual product is $150,000; and its dividends, from 1879 * 
 1884 inclusive, were seventeen, fifteen, fifteen, twenty-one, 
 twenty and six per cent. The Middlesex Co-operative Boot 
 and Shoe Company, organized in 1875, with a capital-stock of 
 $10,000, increased in 1883 to $15,000, has paid dividends of 
 ten per cent, in 1880 and 1881, twenty per cent in 1882 and 
 1884, and twenty-five per cent, in 1883. The shares of both 
 these companies have been transferred at $400, the par value 
 being $250. The value of the annual product of the Middle- 
 sex is $90,000. The American Co-operative Boot and Shoe 
 Company was organized in 1882, with a capital of $10,000, 
 which was increased to $20,000 in 1883, and to $30,000 in 
 1884. It does a business of $50,000 a year. There is not 
 much mixture of nationalities among stockholders, and stock 
 is regarded as an investment merely, giving no claim to any 
 other advantage. The Franklin Co-operative Boot and Shoe 
 Company dates from 1883, has a capital stock of $20,000, and 
 does a business of $50,000 a year. It started with $7,000 
 paid in. In this company, stockholders have the first right to
 
 PROFIT-SHARING IN MASSACHUSETTS. 521 
 
 employment, and the expectation is that they will be given 
 employment when possible. These four shops gave employ- 
 ment in 1885 to 185 workers, of whom 97 were stockholders. 
 One hundred and four of the employees were females, and 
 twenty-five of the female employees were stockholders. 
 
 Massachusetts is the only State which has yet published 
 official statistics of the co-operative production within its 
 territory. These were included in the report on "Profit- 
 Sharing," prepared by the present writer for the Seventeenth 
 Annual Report of the Bureau of Statistics of Labor. From 
 1867 to 1875, fifteen co-operative manufacturing companies 
 were organized in that State, and only three of them are still 
 in existence. Five of the defunct companies were boot and 
 shoe-manufacturers, and of these three were at Lynn. The 
 other two were at North Adams and Truro. The other seven 
 extinct companies were cigar-manufacturers, six at Westfield 
 and one at Springfield. At Lynn and Westfield, therefore, 
 co-operative production has been a failure. Insufficient capi- 
 tal and disagreements among the members were the chief 
 causes of disaster. In the ten years, 1875 to J 885, thirteen 
 more companies were organized, six of which were short- 
 lived. These were two cigar companies at Westfield, two 
 boot and shoe companies at Marlborough, a furniture com- 
 pany at Orange, and a hardware company at Greenfield. 
 There were left ten companies in operation in 1885, besides 
 two or three small printing and publishing companies. The 
 five besides the Somerset foundry and the four Stoneham shoe 
 companies, were the Kingston Co-operative Foundry at King- 
 ston, the Leonard Co-operative Foundry at Taunton, the East 
 Templeton Co-operative Chair Company, the Athol Co-oper- 
 ative Furniture Company, and the Wakefield Co-operative 
 Shoe Company. The ten had an aggregate capital-stock of 
 $191,900, an annual business of $605,000, and gave employ- 
 ment to 264 men and 83 women, of whom 186 men and 26 
 women were stockholders. The average dividend of the ten 
 companies for ten years had been four and six-tenths per 
 cent. ; but there had been in two cases heavy losses by fire, 
 and two companies had so recently started that no dividend
 
 522 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 had been declared. The Knights of Labor have recently 
 established co-operative shoe companies at Lynn and 
 Spencer. 
 
 Among the scattering enterprises in productive co-opera- 
 tion may be mentioned the Flint-Glass Works, at Beaver Falls, 
 Penn., established in 1879, which have paid large dividends; 
 the Co-operative Iron-Moulders, at Nashua, N. H. ; the hat- 
 makers, at South Norwalk, Conn. ; Co-operative Granite 
 works, at South Ryegate, Vt., and Quincy, Mass. ; Co-opera- 
 tive Carpenters, at Decatur, 111. ; Expressmen, at Detroit; a 
 co-operative coal-mining company, at Peoria, 111. ; a nail mill 
 at Carmi, 111. ; and co-operative manufacturing companies at 
 Easton, Penn., and Richmond, Va. The Kentucky Railroad 
 Tobacco Company, at Covington, Ky., is unique in its 
 method of dividing profits, and claims to be the only factory 
 in the United States that recognizes the equality of labor and 
 capital. Each workman is supposed to represent a labor- 
 capital, on which his wages, at the current rates of the 
 vicinity, are a six per cent, dividend. If his wages are $9 a 
 week, he represents a labor-capital of $7,500 ; since $7,500 at 
 six per cent, would yield $450, his actual wages being $468. 
 Each workman, then, is paid his wages weekly. Money- 
 capital, in like manner, receives six per cent, interest. If, 
 after making these payments, any surplus profit remains, it is 
 divided -pro rata on the money and labor-capital. Thus the 
 man whose wages are $468 a year, will have his dividend 
 computed on his $7,500 of labor-capital, not on his $468 of 
 wages. It will be seen that the dividend to labor is much 
 larger in proportion to the dividend to capital, under this plan, 
 than it is when computed as a percentage on wages. Every 
 stockholder in this company is required to be a worker, and 
 every worker to be a Knight of Labor. 
 
 A comparison of records shows that a large percentage of 
 co-operative enterprises have been started by men temporarily 
 out of employment, and in the midst of dull times. This fact 
 accounts for many of the discouragements they have had to 
 contend with, and for many failures. When employment is 
 abundant and wages good, men are satisfied with their lot.
 
 IMPORTANCE OF CO-OPERATIVE CREDIT. 523 
 
 They think of co-operation when reverses come ; and it is 
 then that co-operation is exceedingly difficult to establish. 
 Another cause of failure has been the lack of sufficient capi- 
 tal, and a third one the failure to pay wages regularly, at 
 frequent intervals. Men 'immediately dependent on the fruits 
 of their labor cannot wait to an indefinite future for an uncer- 
 tain and indeterminate profit. It is true that several highly 
 successful companies, starting with little, have accumulated 
 capital by regularly withholding a percentage of wages. But, 
 when this has been successfully done, it has been done under a 
 perfectly definite arrangement, faithfully lived up to. The 
 wages to be paid have been paid regularly, and the percent- 
 age to be deducted, as regularly withheld. The vital impor- 
 tance of sufficient capital in co-operative production led Dr. 
 Schulze to entertain the belief that the firm establishment of 
 co-operative credit was the first thing to be looked after. 
 Undoubtedly, the two are destined to aid each other. 
 
 There has been a decided tendency to drop the co-operative 
 features, and degenerate into a mere stock association. Up 
 to a certain point, the subordination of the labor relation to 
 the stockholder relation seems to be necessary ; but this ought 
 not to go to the extreme of eliminating co-operation altogether, 
 and it need not. In Massachusetts, the law under which the 
 companies are incorporated prevents the complete over-riding 
 of the individual by the capitalist, by limiting the amount of 
 the capital-stock that any member can own, and allowing to 
 each stockholder but one vote. Probably, before true co- 
 operation can be firmly established in productive industry, it 
 will be necessary to include in the law of incorporation a pro- 
 vision that the division of profits shall be, in part, on the basis 
 of labor. 
 
 The men who have succeeded in co-operation have been 
 men of superior character and energy, of good business 
 sense, willing to defer to each other, and to trust large 
 powers of management to their directors, under responsi- 
 bility, and as ready to obey orders as to help make them. 
 The best thing about co-operative production, in its present 
 stage of development, is its educative value. It is teaching
 
 5 2 4 
 
 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 men to regard the problems of labor and production in the 
 right way, training them in prudence, economy and business 
 affairs, and disciplining them in mutual action for a common 
 end. 
 
 Where co-operation initiated and controlled by workmen 
 fails, co-operation initiated and controlled by capitalist em- 
 ployers finds its great opportunity. We need not linger over 
 the simple forms of profit-sharing familiar in the fisheries and 
 in agriculture, in which a share of profits is substituted for 
 wages, but will glance briefly at what has been done in such 
 highly organized industries as manufacturing, in profit-shar- 
 ing as supplementary to the wage-system. It is not very 
 much, only a beginning has been made ; but it is an encour- 
 aging beginning, showing that there are great possibilities in 
 this method of identifying the interests of capital and labor. 
 
 The first American attempts of this kind appear to have 
 been those of A. S. Cameron & Co., manufacturers of steam- 
 pumping machinery, at New York, and Brewster & Co., 
 carriage-builders, in the same city. A. S. Cameron & Co. 
 began to divide profits with their employees in July, 1869, and 
 continued the practice with marked success for eight years, 
 when it came to an end by Mr. Cameron's death. The method 
 of division was to set aside annually ten per cent, of the com- 
 pany's net profit, as a dividend to labor, which was divided 
 among the men on the basis of their wages. The bonus was 
 four and a half per cent, of the total wages each year, and it 
 did not operate to reduce wages. It had a salutary effect on 
 the men, morally and economically, and on the success of 
 the firm. The industrial partnership formed by Brewster & 
 Co. with their employees, in 1869, was like the Cameron 
 arrangement in the division of profits, save that the divi- 
 dend to labor was ten per cent, of gross profits, there being 
 no deduction first of any salary or interest on capital for 
 any member of the firm. The employees were also given 
 representation in a general board of governors, and in boards 
 of control for the several departments of the work. The for- 
 mer had power to make all rules and regulations for the shop, 
 and to hear and investigate complaints. The boards of con-
 
 EDUCATIVE VALUE OF CO-OPERATION. 525 
 
 trol enforced the regulations made by the board of governors. 
 This arrangement gave entire satisfaction during the two and 
 a half years of its continuance. It came to an end through 
 the excited action of the employees in joining the eight-hour 
 strike, when they had it in their own power, through their 
 board of governors, to make eight hours their working-day, 
 if they had chosen. They forfeited a dividend of $ii,ooo 
 and $8,000 in wages. 
 
 An experiment begun at Peacedale, R. I., in 1878, by the 
 Peacedale Manufacturing Company, has been a remarkably 
 interesting one, as showing the educative power of the profit- 
 sharing arrangement. This firm, manufacturing shawls, coat- 
 ings, cassimeres, and other woolen fabrics, employs about four 
 hundred and fifty persons, men, women and children, of 
 all nationalities. It has had no serious labor trouble in twenty- 
 five years. No salaries are paid to the officers, who are the 
 principal stockholders ; and, after a fair dividend, is paid on 
 capital, the remaining profit is divided with the employees, and 
 distributed on the basis of wages. The bonus has not been 
 large at any time, owing to the depressed state of the woolen 
 manufacture since profit-sharing was commenced, and some 
 years there has been no bonus ; yet the effect of the arrange- 
 ment, as the firm testifies, has been to develop diligence, 
 care-taking, fidelity and interest in the general welfare to 
 a remarkable degree. The case strikingly exemplifies the 
 whole theory of profit-sharing. The bonus is not a gift, taken 
 from the employer's share of the product, to be added to that 
 of the employee, but it is paid out of additional wealth, 
 created by increased industry and saving, and the more perfect 
 co-operation between labor and management. 
 
 Lister Brothers, manufacturers of agricultural chemicals, 
 at Newark, N. J., divided $15,000 of their profits among 
 their 500 employees, in 1882. They made the mistake of 
 dividing by classes, without reference to individual worth, as 
 measured by wages ; and the inevitable consequences of mis- 
 understandings and jealousies terminated the experiment. 
 The Pillsbury Flour-mills, at Minneapolis, have been dividing 
 profits with employees for four years, with such excellent
 
 526 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 results that a member of the firm says that the arrangement 
 will not be willingly discontinued, so far as the firm is con- 
 cerned. To participate, an employee must have worked for 
 the firm five years. Three years ago $25,000, two years 
 ago $25,000, and last September $32,000, were divided among 
 upward of 100 of the 1,100 hands. The five-year limit is 
 now bringing in a large additional number of participants. 
 The dividends to labor have been twenty-five- to forty per 
 cent, of wages. 
 
 The Century Company, of New York, and the Staats- 
 Zeitung Company, are profit-sharing publishing companies. 
 In the former, the heads of departments and their principal 
 assistants own stock of the corporation to a limited extent ; 
 and, in addition, the dividend on certain other shares of the 
 capital-stock, after interest on the cost has been deducted, is 
 divided among all employees of the company, in proportion 
 to their salaries. Mr. Roswell Smith, the principal capital- 
 ist, limits his ownership to three-fifths of the stock ; so that, 
 in general terms, it may be said that capital owns three-fifths 
 of the Century Company, and labor two-fifths, except that 
 all the capital employed is represented by active workers, 
 there being no outside investors. The Staats-Zeitung has, 
 for several years, shared profits with its employees, at the rate 
 of ten per cent, on their salaries. As much as $20,000 has 
 been distributed in this labor-dividend in one year. The 
 paper has been very successful in securing continuity and 
 fidelity of service. 
 
 In no case of true profit-sharing are wages ever reduced to 
 meet the dividend to labor. These American attempts have 
 shown that the dividend is earned by the increased interest 
 and efficiency of the employees. The arrangement benefits 
 all. More wealth can be divided, for more is produced to 
 divide. It is a potent educative influence, bringing employer 
 and employee into such humane relations as can never exist 
 when one is a mere buyer of the physical and moral powers 
 of the other, considered as merely so much merchandise. 
 
 Interest and faith in the plan are rapidly growing, and 
 within a year as many as ten or twelve large firms and cor-
 
 THE BEST STIMULANT TO AMBITION. 527 
 
 porations, in various parts of the country, have adopted it. 
 The most noteworthy of these- is the New England Granite 
 Works, of Hartford, Conn., and Westerly, R. I. The ar- 
 rangement there is to divide the net profits remaining . after 
 wages, interest and all other necessary expenses have been 
 paid, into three parts, one-third to be set aside as a reserve 
 against loss and depreciation, the other two-thirds to be dis- 
 tributed -pro rata on capital and labor. 
 
 If the net profit were $25,000, the capital employed 
 $100,000, and the entire amount paid for labor during the 
 year $150,000, the guarantee-fund would be $8,333.33, tne 
 dividend to capital two-fifths bf the remainder, or $6,666.67, 
 and the dividend to labor three-fifths, or $10,000. The divi- 
 dend to labor is distributed -pro rata on wages among* the 
 men, salaried officers, contractors and men discharged for 
 cause not participating. Wages are fixed by mutual agree- 
 ment or by arbitration, and the employees have a voice in 
 choosing the auditor to examine the accounts, and certify that 
 the profits have been fairly determined. Mr. J. G. Batterson, 
 president of the company, says that, with the results of a long 
 experience before him, he is convinced that the payment of 
 fixed wages to a large number of men carries with it no 
 inspiring motive to the attainment of a high standard of ex- 
 cellence, either as to quantity or quality of production ; and 
 he believes thoroughly in the efficiency of individual interest 
 as the only available stimulant to natural ambition. He also 
 makes the exceedingly important statement, that it is his pur- 
 pose to claim no more for capital than is sufficient to hold it 
 in the business, giving the balance to labor. This is a direct 
 reversal of the common rule of the industrial world, to buy 
 labor at the lowest competitive rates, and give the balance to 
 capital. 
 
 Ara Cushman & Co., shoe-manufacturers at Auburn, Me., 
 after paying interest on capital and other expenses, divide the 
 remaining profit between labor and capital in proportion to 
 the amount of capital and the annual value of labor. Three 
 representatives of the employees who are allowed a confiden- 
 tial knowledge of the business, confer with the firm in regard
 
 528 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 to details of the plan. Employees are encouraged to convert 
 their dividends into shares of stock. The firm of Rogers, 
 Peet & Co., clothiers, at New York, convert an unspecified 
 percentage of their net profit into a labor-dividend. The 
 Union Mining Company, at Mt. Savage, Md., pays to labor 
 a dividend equal to ten per cent, of the dividend paid to stock- 
 holders. Welshaus & McEwan, of Omaha, Neb., allow ten 
 per cent, to capital, and divide any remaining profit equally 
 between capital and labor. The N. O. Nelson Manufactur- 
 ing Company, of St. Louis, and the Hoffman & Billings 
 Manufacturing Company, of Milwaukee, allow seven per 
 cent, to capital, and divide the remaining profits equally 
 between capital and labor. 
 
 The variety of plans of division shows the experimental 
 nature of all these attempts, and reveals the total lack of 
 agreement as to what is the most equitable basis. Neverthe- 
 less, there are a few business principles of profit-sharing that 
 may be considered established. The first condition of suc- 
 cess is, that the employer shall have full faith in the system, 
 and not be impatient for quick and showy results. The identi- 
 fication of interests aimed at cannot be achieved in a day or a 
 year ; it must be a process of growth. The ideas and senti- 
 ments that years of antagonism between labor and capital 
 have generated, have all to be remoulded ; and that means a 
 long course of educative work, under conditions of friendli- 
 ness and confidence. The second condition is, that the abso- 
 lute confidence of the employees must be secured and held. 
 It may not be thought best to make them all acquainted with 
 every detail of the business ; but they must be allowed to know, 
 through a committee or auditor chosen by themselves, that 
 everything is as represented. If the confidence of the em- 
 ployees is held, the question, What will happen when there 
 are no profits to divide ? will answer itself. When they know 
 that the employer is doing the best he can by them, they will 
 submit to loss and sacrifice without complaint. 
 
 The chief defect of American plans of profit-sharing so far, 
 is, that they are not systematic and constructive enough. 
 They offer an immediate reward for increased diligence, but
 
 FRENCH METHOD OF PROFIT-SHARING. 529 
 
 fail to build for the future. In this respect, the prevalent 
 French method of converting the labor-dividend into an accu- 
 mulating fund, is better. The dividend that each individual 
 receives from year to year is small ; but, capitalized from year 
 to year, it would become a handsome fund. But the logical 
 carrying-out of profit-sharing really requires the conversion 
 of the annual bonus into certificates of stock. The worker 
 would then become a full legal partner in the company. He 
 would receive increasing dividends on his increasing stock, 
 as well as on his labor, and every year his interest in the 
 business would be growing larger. This arrangement, more- 
 over, would fully meet the objection of those who claim that 
 profit-sharing should be offset by loss-sharing. As a stock- 
 holder, the worker would, of course, share in any loss in- 
 curred, and he could afford to. The new Massachusetts 
 law, enabling corporations to designate and set aside a cer- 
 tain portion of their stock as employees' stock, offers an 
 excellent opportunity for trying a thorough-going plan of 
 industrial partnership. 
 
 The immediate need of American co-operation is a central 
 organization, like the Central Co-operative Board of England, 
 and something corresponding to the English Co-operative Con- 
 gress. Co-operators and profit-sharing companies are work- 
 ing with little reference to each other, and with little knowledge 
 of each other's methods and results. Central organization 
 would speedily reduce the results of experience to something; 
 like system, and enable new co-operative undertakings to> 
 avoid causes of failure. A promising effort to bring this about 
 is now being made by the Sociologic Society of America, 
 an organization aiming to further the development -of a civili- 
 zation based on co-operation instead of competition. 
 
 With a central organization established, a movement to- 
 ward industrial federation, which is the co-ordination of 
 co-operation, and its goal, would begin. Short of this, the 
 highest purpose of co-operation, which, as was said at the 
 outset, is industrial re-organization, with the preservation of 
 what is best in the competitive system without its evils, can- 
 not be achieved. 
 
 (34)
 
 53 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 Competition fosters invention and enterprise, and tends to 
 reduce the price of goods to the cost of production. This is 
 a good when the degradation of labor is not an element in the 
 reduction of cost. But this degradation unrestricted com- 
 petition often produces ; and it results, also, in enormous 
 wastes of wealth. The unnecessary paralleling of rail- 
 roads in the United States, according to Professor Richard 
 T. Ely, has consumed capital enough to provide a comfort- 
 able house for every family in the United States that does not 
 already own one. The federation of co-operative enterprise 
 offers a way for placing goods with consumers at the lowest 
 cost consistent with the liberal reward and gradual uplifting 
 of labor, and without unnecessary duplication of plant, risk, 
 superintendence and work. All these conditions would be 
 fulfilled, if a group of co-operative stores, giving their patrons 
 the profits of distribution, took all the products of a group of 
 farms, manufactories, etc., under agreement that the stores 
 should have the goods at the lowest prices consistent with the 
 payment of certain specified dividends on capital and labor. 
 Undivided profits, accumulated by stores, might or might not, 
 constitute the capital of the manufactories ; the arrangement 
 could be the same in either case. In England, federation has 
 been attempted on an altogether inadequate and inflexible 
 plan, with the unfortunate result of dividing co-operators 
 into antagonistic parties of "federalists" and "individualists." 
 The " federalists " would have all productive establishments 
 owned by the stores in their corporate capacity, individual 
 stockholding being disallowed, the stores to have the goods 
 at actual cost, labor getting nothing beyond wages, except 
 through the store dividends on purchases. No such narrow 
 system will ever prevail widely. A federal co-operation capa- 
 ble of universal extension must be a broad scheme, with a 
 place in it for the store, the individual stockholder and the 
 profit-sharing capitalist employer ; a " bottom " price for the 
 purchasing co-operative store, and dividends for the customer, 
 stockholder and worker. It must be also progressive, all the 
 while expanding and building for the future by carrying out 
 the sound advice of M. Godin, to capitalize and maintain
 
 HOW TO REALIZE CO-OPERATION. 53! 
 
 undivided a portion of the profits, so as to have at all times 
 the resources for developing new opportunities, and providing 
 employment for labor that might otherwise seek it in vain. 
 
 Co-operation differs from socialism in its reliance on the 
 vitality, adaptability and growing power of voluntary asso- 
 ciation. It does not ask the State to take possession of all 
 capital, and manage all industry, and order all men in their 
 industrial life as it orders regiments of soldiers. If the worker 
 got more wealth under a socialistic system than he does under 
 such employers as he serves now, which is not probable, he 
 would at least not be more free. There are those who favor 
 socialism, because they despair of the possibility of improving 
 social arrangements by any other means. William Morris, 
 the English poet-socialist, who has long been a profit-sharing 
 employer, holds that, short of socialism, co-operation stands 
 no chance against a crushing competition. This is to over- 
 look the vitally important truth, that there are monstrous evils 
 associated with competition at present, which have grown up 
 through the shameful neglect of the government to fulfill its 
 primary functions of protecting equal rights and enforcing 
 justice. The privileged corporations and monopolies, which 
 exact tribute of all industry, are the creatures of government, 
 and should be brought by government within proper limits of 
 privilege and action. If this were done, and certain other 
 wrongs, as those connected with unjust land-laws, were reme- 
 died, there would be no need of revolution and State social- 
 ism for the realization of the co-operative ideals. The remedy 
 is through wise legislation and honest administration, and it 
 is in the hands of voters.
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION. 
 
 INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION A FACTOR IN THE INDUSTRIAL PROBLEM OUT- 
 LINE OF GENERAL SYSTEM OF INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION I. KINDER- 
 GARTEN : FOUNDATION OF SYSTEM II. THE PUBLIC SCHOOL : DRAWING ; 
 MODELING; SEWING; ELEMENTS OF SCIENCE; SCHOOL WORKSHOP; 
 EXPERIMENTS IN III. EVENING CLASSES: EUROPEAN EXPERIMENTS; 
 AMERICAN EXPERIMENTS IV. TRADE SCHOOLS: SCHOOLS FOUNDED 
 BY PRIVATE PHILANTHROPY; BY BUSINESS HOUSES AND COMMUNI- 
 TIES; BY THE STATE V. HIGHER TECHNICAL SCHOOLS VI. POLY- 
 TECHNIC SCHOOLS, IN EUROPE AND AMERICA VII. HIGH SCHOOLS OF 
 INDUSTRIAL ART VIII. A CENTRAL MODEL SCHOOL OF INDUSTRIAL 
 SCIENCE AND ART IX. INDUSTRIAL MUSEUMS : SOUTH KENSINGTON 
 MUSEUM, ETC. X. COST OF SUCH A SYSTEM OF INDUSTRIAL EDUCA- 
 TION. 
 
 EDUCATION is a factor, and a very important one, in 
 the equation of a higher industrial order. Of the va- 
 rious aspects of education in its bearings upon the labor prob- 
 lem, the most urgent is that which is known as an industrial 
 education, the instruction and the training which develop 
 directly the dispositions, the knowledge and the powers which 
 make the successful handicraftsman. Accepting the fact that 
 our country urgently needs such a system, and that other coun- 
 tries have proven its practicability, let me try to sketch the 
 outlines of a true industrial education, illustrating the subject 
 from the experiments made in Europe and in our own country, 
 and thus indicating the progress made in this direction. 
 
 I. THE KINDERGARTEN. The foundations of industrial 
 education are of the utmost importance to the superstructure. 
 The kindergarten forms a most wise system for culturing the 
 dispositions and knowledge and powers which lay the foun- 
 dation for industrial' skill. The natural instinct of childhood 
 to busy itself with doing something, its spontaneous impulse 
 to be making something, is in the kindergarten utilized for 
 the purpose of education. Pricking forms of geometrical 
 figures and of familiar objects on paper, weaving wooden 
 strips into varied designs, folding paper into pretty toys and 
 
 (532)
 
 THE KINDERGARTEN. 533 
 
 ornaments, plaiting variegated strips of paper into ingenious 
 and attractive shapes, modeling in clay, these, with other 
 kindred exercises, " pretty plays," as they all seem, constitute a 
 most real education by and for work. By means of these 
 occupations, the eye is trained to quickness of perception and 
 accuracy of observation, the hand to deftness of touch and 
 skill of workmanship, such as the child may win ; the sense 
 of the beautiful is inspired, the judgments exercised and 
 strengthened, originality is stimulated by often leaving the 
 children to fashion their own designs, while habits of industry 
 are inwrought upon the most plastic period of life, and the 
 child is accustomed to find his interest and delight in work, 
 and to feel its dignity and nobleness. 
 
 As to how far the kindergarten fulfills practically such ex- 
 pectations, let Miss Blow testify, who should know whereof 
 she speaks, since she was at the head of the kindergarten de- 
 partment of the public-school system of St. Louis for several 
 years : 
 
 In the Des Peres Kindergarten, predestined engineers have built bridges 
 as remarkable in conception, as clever in execution; little mathematicians 
 have discovered, rather than learned, all the simple relations of numbers; 
 tiny fingers have guided the pencil to trace beautiful decorative designs, and 
 soft clay has been fashioned into flowers, fruits and animals, by the dextrous 
 hands of embryo sculptors. 
 
 The National Teachers' Association, in convention at Sara- 
 toga, last summer, expressed the hope that " the time is near at 
 hand when public sentiment and legislative enactment will 
 incorporate the kindergarten into our public-school system." 
 
 The kindergarten is already being adopted as the sub- 
 primary department of our public-school system in a few of 
 our cities. St. Louis was the pioneer in this direction ; and 
 to Miss Blow's able and enthusiastic labors we owe the splen- 
 did pattern set by this city, with its thirty-three kindergartens, 
 gathering 5,000 children under its beautiful culture. The 
 expenses of these kindergartens are provided from the school 
 taxation. Philadelphia has a sub-primary school society, 
 incorporated in 1881. In 1885, it had twenty-nine free kin- 
 dergartens under its care, enrolling a thousand pupils. The 
 expenses of the society amounted to nearly $11,000, for which
 
 534 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 the city of Philadelphia appropriated $7,500. In Boston, the 
 splendid liberality and far-seeing wisdom of one lady has 
 provided some twenty free kindergartens. San Francisco 
 has a kindergarten association, which carries on a number of 
 free kindergartens ; and, in various cities, churches and phil- 
 anthropic societies support local kindergartens. 
 
 II. THE PUBLIC SCHOOL. Upon the kindergarten, as 
 the foundation of industrial training, there must be reared in 
 the public-school system the next stone in the superstructure 
 of manual training. Of course, it is out of the question for 
 the" public schools to undertake to turn out carpenters or other 
 craftsmen. Experience, however, shows that a proper pro- 
 portion of manual training furthers mental training ; that to 
 a true education of the head an education of the hand is 
 essential. 
 
 The following branches would seem to be entirely practical 
 in the public schools, and eminently serviceable to the cause 
 of industrial education : 
 
 Drawing. Drawing, freehand and mechanical, chiefly 
 with relation to industry, industrial drawing, as it has well 
 been called, should plainly constitute an integral part of our 
 system. In many forms of scientific industry, it is of great 
 importance to every workman. In all forms of artistic in- 
 dustry, it is absolutely essential. In all handicrafts, it proves 
 eminently useful. The value of drawing, as a foundation of 
 industrial training, is clearly recognized by all who have 
 studied the subject. 
 
 Philadelphia claims to have made the first experiment of 
 a branch-school of industrial art in connection with its public- 
 school system. Boston appears to have been the first to 
 introduce the elements of drawing into the public schools 
 generally. In most of our cities and large towns, drawing is 
 now taught as a part of the course. The results attained are 
 sometimes very striking. I visited lately one of our ward- 
 schools in New York, in which the specimens of drawing 
 shown greatly surprised me. The Royal Commissioners on 
 Technical Instruction reported that they were "of opinion 
 that sound instruction in the rudiments of drawing should be
 
 DRAWING AND MODELING. 535 
 
 incorporated with writing, in all primary schools, both for 
 girls and boys."* 
 
 Massachusetts has led off in our country in making draw- 
 ing compulsory. We have now twenty-one cities, each having 
 a population of from 50,000 upwards, representing schools 
 with an average daily attendance of 386,200 pupils, and fifty- 
 eight cities having a population between 10,000 and 50,000, 
 with an attendance of 116,000 pupils, wherein drawing is 
 compulsory. The use of industrial drawing is rapidly spread- 
 ing through our public schools. 
 
 Modeling. Modeling is of great value in industrial educa- 
 tion. All that has been said of drawing holds true of model- 
 ing ; while it is to be added that the latter work, dealing with 
 plastic material, has certain beneficial influences of its own. 
 The child is busied in shaping a thing, and not merely in 
 making a picture of a thing. The sense of touch is educated. 
 The average child finds greater interest in modeling an ob- 
 ject than in drawing any form. There is a realism in the 
 work of the miniature sculptor which the embryo artist does 
 not find. The Royal Commissioners reported that they were 
 " of opinion that more attention than has hitherto been devoted 
 to it should be directed to the subject of modeling in the 
 elementary school. * * Modeling is an exercise of great 
 
 importance to the future workman, and its rudiments can well 
 be taken up, as in Continental schools, at the earliest age."* 
 Modeling is slowly coming into use in our schools. 
 
 Sewing. Sewing can readily be taught in our public 
 schools. For a long time, it has been taught in the so-called 
 industrial schools connected with our churches and charitable 
 organizations, the practical experience of workers amongst 
 the poor having taught them the necessity of training the 
 girls under their care in this simple feminine craft, since a 
 large proportion of women earn their livelihood by some use 
 of the needle. The trouble with the charitable work in this 
 line has been that the instruction given has been largely 
 superficial and unsystematic. Only the elements of needle- 
 
 * Second Report of the Royal CommissioneVs on Technical Instruction. 
 Vol. I., pp. 519-520.
 
 536 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 work have been taught, and these in far from a businesslike 
 manner. What is needful is that a well -graded system of 
 instruction shall be carried out, and thorough training be 
 given through all the stages. Several cities have already 
 introduced instruction and training in sewing, among them 
 Baltimore, Newark, Boston, Providence and Philadelphia. 
 In Baltimore, one afternoon each week is devoted to instruc- 
 tion in sewing, knitting, embroidery and kindred useful 
 branches. In the public schools of Boston, two hours a week 
 are set aside for instruction in sewing. 
 
 Science. The rudimentary elements of scientific knowl- 
 edge bearing upon industry could be given in our public 
 schools. The children need to get peeps into the marvels of 
 nature, which open everywhere beneath the common products 
 of mill and factory and workshop. How greatly life would 
 grow in interest, and what zest the daily tasks would yield, 
 were there any such training from childhood upward ! Hosts 
 of /nen are doing mechanical tasks which open to them no 
 springs of pleasure ; whereas they might find in those labors 
 a bubbling-up of the waters which make life beautiful in the 
 commonest surroundings. Once started upon the track of 
 observation and thought in connection with the daily work, 
 a bright lad would push on unaided and educate himself 
 through his tasks, while many a time lighting upon the trail 
 which leads up to some great discovery. As a mere matter 
 of doing his work well, every \vorkingman would be aided 
 by some knowledge of the processes amid which he is busied 
 daily. Such simple elementary instruction in science could 
 readily be embodied in our public schools, in a manner to bear 
 directly or indirectly upon the industrial life. The average 
 boy ought to pass out from the public school with a good 
 knowledge of the rudimentary principles of the sciences 
 which underlie our great industries. A thorough grasp of 
 any of these sciences, of course, can only be obtained in more 
 advanced schools or colleges. 
 
 Workshop. The workshop should be connected with the 
 school in some wav. There is an education to be effected in 
 
 / 
 
 the use of tools. a science and an art of handiwork to be
 
 THE SCHOOL AND WORKSHOP. 537 
 
 mastered. The Russian system has scientifically graded 
 exercises in the use of tools. 
 
 One very important advantage of such a connection of the 
 workshop and the school would be that the boys who look 
 forward to manual labor would have the opportunity of trying 
 their hand in different lines of work, thus finding out their 
 natural tastes and aptitudes. This would prevent the serious 
 mistakes so often made in the choice of a trade, diminishing 
 the number of incompetent hands in each craft, and adding to 
 the general wealth of the people. 
 
 Experiments in School Workshops. Experiments have 
 been made in this direction quite extensively, apart from 
 State initiative. The Washington University, St. Louis, was 
 one of the first institutions in the country to lead off in blend- 
 ing the workshop with the school-room. Without attempting 
 to teach any trade, it provides training in carpentry, black- 
 smithing and turning. 
 
 The Commercial Club, of Chicago, has lately illustrated 
 very happily the power of our great business associations to 
 foster the cause of industrial education. As an outgrowth of 
 a discussion upon industrial education, the Manual Training 
 School, of Chicago, is now in a prosperous existence, housed 
 in an admirable building, having ample appointments for its 
 work, at a cost of $100,000. This school is open for boys 
 of fourteen years of age, who have passed through the gram- 
 mar schools. Its course of study comprises mathematics and 
 some of the literary branches of the ordinary high school, 
 together with drawing, freehand and mechanical, carpentry, 
 joinery and turnery, pattern making, modeling and casting, 
 forging, machine-shop work and the study of enginery, in- 
 cluding the management of steam-engines and boilers. 
 
 Two of the most valuable private experiments in this direc- 
 tion in our country are comparatively late essays, each being 
 the result of a carefully worked out theory of education on the 
 part of an enthusiast ; each also aiming to lead children on 
 from the point where the kindergarten leaves them. The 
 Grammercy Park Tool-House is an adjunct to a fashionable 
 New York school. Its founder, Mr. Von Taube, is an
 
 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 enthusiast upon the question of blending manual training with 
 general education. The school-course comprises, in addition 
 to the usual literary department, a tool-house, in which in- 
 struction in the principles and training in the methods of wood- 
 work, metal-work, printing, applied chemistry and general 
 workshop practice is given. 
 
 The Workingman's School, founded and sustained by the 
 Society for Ethical Culture, of New York, presents a peculi- 
 arly interesting attempt to shape a complete system of educa- 
 tion for children, in which general intellectual cultivation 
 shall be allied with manual training. The foundation of the 
 school is a free kindergarten. The school proper assigns 
 four hours weekly to instruction in the use of tools. As the 
 softest wood is too hard for the delicate fingers of children 
 of seven years old, clay is used in the earlier series of lessons ; 
 for which a complete series of patterns have been devised, 
 in reproducing which the children are familiarized with vari- 
 ous mathematical forms, and are taught the fundamental 
 principles of geometry. With the work of the second school- 
 year, object-lessons are given, in which all the forms hitherto 
 taught appear in the most various combinations. When the 
 children have reached the age of nine, and have already 
 worked for two years, it is assumed that they possess enough 
 strength and skill to work in wood, and to manage a simple 
 saw. With unbarked wood as a material, and a saw, knife, 
 hammer, nails and a little glue as tools, the children make 
 photograph-frames, match-boxes, savings-boxes, four-footed 
 garden furniture, etc. When the pupil has attained his 
 eleventh year, and entered his fifth school-year, he is given a 
 scroll-saw to work in wood, and, later on, also, to work in 
 zinc. Here, for the first time, the pupil learns to work after 
 a drawing, which drawing must be thoroughly understood. 
 He is then led on to design patterns, which, of course, tends 
 to develop the imagination. The simplest house and kitchen 
 utensils are manufactured, such as pot-covers, spoons, 
 frying-pans, strainers, pots, salt-cellars, etc. The carpenter's 
 bench becomes the pupil's true work-table, while various 
 planes, drills, saws, constitute the necessary tools. Articles
 
 THE SCHOOL WORKSHOP. 
 
 539 
 
 manufactured at first are limited to the most simple household 
 utensils ; but the pupils speedily advance to more complicated 
 work. When this branch has been thoroughly pursued for 
 the period of two years, carving and turning offer very few 
 difficulties to the worker. The last stage in the system, as 
 at present developed, consists of instruction in turning and in 
 the locksmith's craft. 
 
 The Workshop in the Public School. What, then, has 
 the State done in this line? The State's action, in some 
 parts of Europe, has been very statesmanlike. The Royal 
 Commissioners state that the "system of school workshops, 
 inaugurated by the Austrian Government, is probably the 
 most complete in Europe, and the results so far appear to be 
 most encouraging." Austria has already one hundred Fach- 
 Schule. These schools sometimes develop into what are 
 practically trade-schools. The Innsbruck school provides 
 class-rooms for freehand drawing, geometrical and mechanical 
 and modeling ; a physical cabinet and a rudimentary 
 school museum. The modeling-school has a graded series 
 of studies for those who are looking forward to metal-work, 
 and a similar graduated series of stages is employed in the 
 carving-shop. There are about two hundred students in the 
 school. These State schools are periodically visited by a 
 staff' of inspectors, who report to the minister. The articles 
 made in the school workshops are sent to Vienna for sale in 
 a special show-room that has been opened. 
 
 In our own country, a number of essays have been made 
 toward combining the workshop and the school, notably 
 in Gloucester, Boston (Mass.), Hoboken, Montclair (N. J.), 
 New Haven, Jamestown (N. Y.), Philadelphia, Baltimore, 
 Toledo, Peru and Moline (111.). The courses of instruction 
 provided in these cities are as follows : Hoboken provides 
 industrial drawing, clay-modeling and sewing ; Montclair, 
 sewing, embroidery, carpentry and wood-carving ; Moline, 
 industrial drawing and carpentry ; Peru, carpentry, use of 
 wood-working tools, object and mechanical drawing, clay- 
 modeling and casting in plaster, needle-work and plain sew- 
 ing. Jamestown has established a very carefully graded
 
 540 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 course of industrial work, kindergarten-work, sewing, em- 
 broidery, crocheting, cooking, cutting and fitting, printing, 
 carpentry, industrial drawing and design, typewriting, short- 
 hand and microscopy. Toledo, Baltimore, Philadelphia and 
 Boston have established manual training-schools in connection 
 with their public-school system. Philadelphia, in addition 
 to its kindergarten sub-primaries, teaches sewing thoroughly 
 through all grades, and then provides the Industrial Art- 
 School, which supplies instruction in freehand drawing and 
 designing, modeling in clay, wood-carving, carpentry and 
 joinery, and metal-work, and the Manual Training-school, 
 which adds wood-turning, pattern-making, forging, bench- 
 work and fitting, proper care and use of tools, and study of 
 the steam-engine, including the management and care of 
 steam-engines and boilers. 
 
 III. EVENING CLASSES. For a long time to come, there 
 will remain in large numbers those whose existence compels 
 as early a resort to work as possible. Children of this class 
 will drop attendance upon the school as soon as the law 
 allows. During the years that must elapse before a thorough 
 system of manual training shall be engrafted upon our public 
 schools, there will be pouring forth from them each year hosts 
 of lads who have had either no training at all, industrially, 
 or only a very slight amount thereof. These lads will need 
 some .means of supplementing the defects of the present 
 school-course. Their needs will demand some instrumen- 
 tality for developing industrial education beyond the point 
 which the public school can reach. The high school can 
 take up the incomplete courses in industrial education, and 
 lead them on higher, as it should, by all means, do. But 
 only exceptional youths go into high schools, those, upon 
 the whole, who are looking forward to some professional or 
 semi-professional career. The bulk of our boys and girls 
 will not go beyond the grammar grades. What, then, can 
 be done for this majority of our youths, with reference to 
 their higher education in scientific, artistic and practical in- 
 dustry ? The answer is being given in the evening schools. 
 In the Old World, they are successfully supplementing the
 
 FRANKLIN AND COOPER INSTITUTES. 541 
 
 instruction and training of the elementary schools ; and in 
 our own land they have been making encouraging experi- 
 ments toward the same end. 
 
 As to what is being done in this line in Europe, let the 
 English " Blue-Book " speak : - 
 
 There are also in all large towns in France, and to a more limited extent in 
 other countries, numerous evening conferences and cours, on almost every 
 subject of interest in art, science and literature, which workmen have the 
 opportunity of attending, as they are entirely gratuitous. Amongst these, 
 the most remarkable are the lectures given by eminent men at the Conserva- 
 toire des Arts et Metiers, of Paris. Most of these institutions are of the nature 
 of lectures rather than of classes for practical instruction. There are, how- 
 ever, in many places, excellent and numerously attended evening and Sunday 
 technical classes, more especially in Belgium and Austria; and there can be 
 no doubt that the instruction thus given is already exerting a considerable 
 influence on the capacity and intelligence of the workmen, and that this in- 
 fluence will be increasingly felt in the future. 
 
 For instruction in drawing, as applied mainly to decorative work in France, 
 and to both constructive and decorative work in Belgium, the opportunities 
 are excellent. The crowded schools of drawing, modeling, carving and 
 painting, maintained at the expense of the municipalities of Paris, Lyons, 
 Brussels, and other cities, absolutely gratuitous, and open to all comers, 
 well lighted, furnished with the best models, and under the care of teachers 
 full of enthusiasm, stimulate those manufactures and crafts in which the fine 
 arts play a prominent part, to a degree which is without parallel in this 
 country. 
 
 In our own country, as usual, the lead has been taken by 
 private philanthropy. We have had, for many years, most 
 valuable provisions for evening-work in some of our leading 
 cities. The Franklin Institute, in Philadelphia, founded in 
 1824, has, during sixty years, provided evening-classes, 
 securing instruction in drawing on three evenings in each 
 week. A progressive course, covering mechanical, archi- 
 tectural and topographical drawing, both freehand and 
 instrumental, has been laid out, reaching through a period of 
 three years. Special classes in machine-drawing have been 
 lately started. The institute also provides courses of lectures 
 on subjects connected with the callings of its members, 
 geology, the rise and progress of manufactures, the micro- 
 scope and its wonders, engineering, mechanics, chemistry, 
 astronomy, machine-design and construction, silk and its
 
 542 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 culture, photography, etc. The institute has a valuable 
 library, containing upwards of 15,000 volumes, which is said 
 to embrace one of the most valuable collections in the country 
 upon science and art. There is a membership of 2,000. Its 
 income is $15,000 per annum, largely from invested funds. 
 Another excellent Philadelphia institution of a similar nature 
 is the Spring Garden Institute. 
 
 One of the best-known institutions in the country is the 
 Cooper Union, for the advancement of science and art. Its 
 instruction consists of a free library and reading-room, free 
 lectures during the winter, an evening-school of science, and 
 an evening-school of art. There are also, in addition, a day- 
 school of art for women, a school of art for amateurs, a school 
 for wood-engraving, and a school for telegraphy. The 
 evening-school of science embraces fifteen classes, develop- 
 ing the ordinary common-school education in the direction of 
 mathematics, mechanics, engineering and chemistry. The 
 night-school of art embraces classes in drawing, rudimental, 
 mechanical, architectural, form and figure, perspective and 
 ornamental, decorative designing, and modeling in clay. 
 Lectures to the classes are also given. The science-classes 
 were attended in 1882 by nearly a thousand students, and the 
 art-classes in the same year by upwards of twelve hundred 
 students. This institute, as everyone knows, is the princely 
 benefaction of Mr. Peter Cooper. The Mechanics' Institute, 
 of Cincinnati, established in 1829, has similar aims, and pur- 
 sues similar methods. It sustains a reading-room, courses 
 of lectures, evening drawing-schools, evening-classes in 
 geometry and mathematics, and in elementary physics and 
 mechanics, lectures, and meetings for the discussion of 
 questions in science. Such institutions indicate the natural 
 tendency of general industrial education to reach out into 
 more specific technical training, a training which will fit 
 pupils for practical success in special crafts and trades. 
 
 The Women's Institute of Technical Design, New York ; 
 the Society for Decorative Art, New York ; the Young Wo- 
 men's Christian Association, New York, and other similar 
 associations, present interesting experiments towards sup-
 
 INDUSTRIAL TRAINING-SCHOOLS. 543 
 
 plying the need of advanced industrial training for young 
 women. 
 
 These private philanthropies have had a sufficient length of 
 life, and have secured sufficient results to call for the State's 
 action in this direction. The State has, some time since, 
 moved tentatively towards the taking up of evening instruc- 
 tion. Night-schools of one kind and another have been for 
 many years a recognized branch of the work of our boards of 
 education in many cities. For the most part, however, these 
 night-schools have aimed at supplementing the work of the 
 day-schools foi a lower class of children than these schools 
 reached, the waifs of our great cities. The instruction 
 offered has, therefore, been rather of the nature of a rudiment- 
 ary general education than of an advanced industrial educa- 
 tion. In a number of instances, however, night-schools have 
 been provided for this need which we are now considering, 
 and their result has been fairly encouraging. 
 
 In two of the evening-schools of St. Louis, in which there 
 is an average attendance of about 200, the branches taught 
 are such as form an elementary polytechnic course of studies. 
 Boston had six evening drawing-schools in 1880, with an 
 average attendance of about 300. The instruction that it 
 offered gave a choice of four courses, freehand design, 
 machine-drawing, building construction and ship-building. 
 Worcester reports evening drawing-schools, consisting of 
 beginners and advanced classes in both freehand and instru- 
 mental drawing, the students being, for the most part, 
 young men and women engaged in mechanical or artistic 
 callings, or in teaching. 
 
 IV. TRADE-SCHOOLS. When all such general instruction 
 and training has been secured, there will still remain the need 
 of yet more specific technical education, for the best success 
 of individual handicraftsmen and for the general prosperity 
 of an industrial people. Trades must be thoroughly taught, 
 at once as to the principles involved and the methods used 
 in them. Trade-schools may be supplied in many ways. 
 Workingmen themselves, when they have awakened to the 
 importance of such schools, may provide them. As the old-
 
 544 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 time guilds supplied such trade-training, so our modern trades- 
 unions might supply it, partially, at least. They have among 
 them the men who are competent to act as instructors in such 
 trade-schools. The means also need not be lacking, as such 
 schools could be made, from the start, either partially or 
 wholly self-sustaining. By founding such schools themselves, 
 our unions would secure the control of the supply for their 
 several trades, and thus would win a power far superior to 
 that which they now possess. There are, however, as yet 
 very few indications that workingmen are awakening to the 
 importance of such action. An association of clockmakers in 
 Paris provides for the technical training of apprentices ; and 
 a plumbers' union in our own country arranges for the 
 instruction of lads who are looking forward to becoming 
 plumbers; but there are not many examples of this wise 
 action discernible. 
 
 Trade-Schools Founded by Private Philanthropy. Pri- 
 vate philanthropy has already moved to supply such schools, 
 especially in our own land. 
 
 The Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, Hamp- 
 ton, Va., is a practical demonstration of the possibility of 
 combining general education with industrial training, carried 
 to a point of thorough technical mastery. It owes its foun- 
 dation to the large-minded and large-hearted idea of Gen- 
 eral Armstrong, who, when his duties in the War of the Re- 
 bellion were ended, looked about him for the next great work 
 to be done for the country, and singled out the education of 
 the race just emancipated in the South as his mission. The 
 problem was that of giving the blacks a general education, 
 and of training them in habits of work, while teaching them 
 the mastery of trades in which self-support might be won. 
 From this germ-thought there has slowly grown the splendid 
 institution which, by the shores of the Hampton Roads, prac- 
 tically solves the problem of industrial education. In this 
 school, Negroes and Indians of both sexes are well grounded 
 in a general education, and effectively trained in various 
 crafts. Students are admitted between fourteen and twenty- 
 five years of age. The time devoted each day to manual
 
 PRIVATE PHILANTHROPY. 
 
 545 
 
 work is arranged according to occupations. Those engaged 
 in farming are employed either half-time or wholly for four 
 days, with two whole days for their studies. The depart- 
 ments cover farming, wheel-wrighting, saw-mill and wood- 
 working, engineering, the work of the machine-shop, knitting, 
 printing, shoe-making, carpentry, turning, harness-making, 
 sewing, tailoring, cooking and household-work. The work 
 of these various shops is made to contribute substantially to 
 the support of the institution, thus insuring sufficiently good 
 workmanship to command a market for the products of the 
 institution. Pretty much all the work required for maintain- 
 ing and adding to the institute is done on the ground by 
 the students. The school numbers about one thousand 
 officers and students. The success of the work in the general 
 development of manhood and womanhood is best indicated 
 by the constantly increasing demand for its graduates as 
 teachers ; thus effectively and practically disproving the 
 prejudice that so much training of the hand interferes with 
 the best training of the head. The support of the school is 
 provided for in part by grants from the State of Virginia, but 
 chiefly by the philanthropic contributions of its Northern 
 friends, filled out by the income from the trade-shops of the 
 institution. 
 
 One notable feature of the schools is the fact that the 
 youths who are found indisposed to more purely intellectual 
 studies have their energies turned into practical channels. 
 The greater part of their training is made industrial. 
 
 Of trade-schools pure and simple, the New York Trade- 
 School presents a fine illustration. This was founded five 
 years ago, by the wise philanthropy of Colonel R. T. Auch- 
 muty. His aim was to secure, through day and evening- 
 classes, thorough instruction in the principles, and as thor- 
 ough practice in the methods, of some of the more important 
 trades ; and, while not making the school a charity, to put 
 the cost of its education at a figure low enough to enable any 
 average young man to avail himself of its advantages. Even- 
 ing instruction is offered in plumbing, gas-fitting, brick-laying, 
 plastering, stone-cutting, fresco-painting, wood-carving and 
 
 (35)
 
 546 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 carpentry. Day-classes are open for instruction in plumbing, 
 brick-laying and wood-carving. The instruction is at once 
 scientific and practical. Skilled workmen in the various 
 trades are the instructors. The school-shops provide every 
 facility for the work carried on in them. The full course in 
 plumbing and gas-fitting, for example, which includes the 
 day-school and evening-classes, reaches over three months, 
 and can be had for $35.00. The evening-school in carpen- 
 try, which has three sessions a week, from October 25th to 
 April 6th, charges $15.00 for the full course. The attend- 
 ance of the schools has steadily increased from 30 in the 
 first year to 88 in the second, 207 in the third, 298 in the 
 fourth, and 304 in the fifth year. The results, according 
 to the latest report of the school, "have proved the success 
 of what was at first an experiment in industrial education. 
 Many young men who came to the schools without knowing 
 how to work are now skilled mechanics, receiving high 
 wages." Perhaps the best testimony to the success of the 
 school is the changed attitude of some of the trades-unions 
 towards it. How widespread a want is met by such a school 
 is sufficiently indicated by the fact that its students have come 
 not only from surrounding towns, but from distant States. 
 No one fact could more strikingly illustrate the appreciation 
 shown towards this school than the statement of the founder 
 of the school, that, at the end of five years, it can be said 
 that " there has not been a bit of wanton injury done to the 
 building or its tools, not even a pencil-mark on the walls." 
 Mr. Auchmuty speaks in private with the greatest satisfaction 
 of the practical success of the work. He says : " I have now 
 a record of many young men, who, to use the expression of 
 more than one of them, owe their success in life to the 
 school." 
 
 Trade-Schools Founded by Business Houses and Commu- 
 nities. In nearly all the great industrial centres of Great 
 Britain, London, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool, Old- 
 ham, Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield, Keighley, Sheffield, 
 Nottingham, Birmingham, etc., more or less flourishing 
 schools of science and art, of various grades, together with
 
 TRADE-SCHOOLS IN ENGLAND. 
 
 547 
 
 many art and science-classes exist ; some of these schools 
 developing into genuine' trade-schools. Such, for example, 
 are the schools established by Sir W. Armstrong, at Elswick, 
 by the London & Northwestern Railway Co., at Crewe, and 
 those of Messrs. Mather & Platt, Salford, in connection with 
 their engineering works. This latter serves as a specimen 
 of these schools. It is a private technical evening-school, 
 established and supported by the firm for the benefit of their 
 apprentices. The drawings are of work actually in progress 
 in the establishment. The teacher lectures upon them, ex- 
 plains them, and makes calculations concerning them ; and 
 the boys, the next day, at the works, see the very things 
 which they have been hearing about in the shop. Everything 
 required, patterns and models, is here shown in full size. 
 The teachers are the draughtsmen in the establishment. The 
 boys are not allowed to copy drawings, everything being 
 drawn on a different scale from a flat copy. The heads of 
 this establishment consider that this school has been "an 
 incalculable advantage." 
 
 The Bradford Technical College is an illustration of wise 
 action on the part of an industrial town. Its foundation was 
 the result of the public sentiment in the business community of 
 Bradford, as to the necessity of greater technical knowledge 
 in the various industries on which the prosperity of the dis- 
 trict depends. The college was founded to secure such in- 
 struction in the principles underlying these industries. It has 
 developed into departments for pure art, designing, weaving, 
 chemistry and dyeing, mechanical engineering, and the 
 sciences connected with the building and other mechanical 
 trades. There are mechanical and dyeing laboratories, 
 weaving-shops, and mechanical workshops. There is also 
 a handsome lecture-hall, capable of holding six hundred per- 
 sons, and a large museum for textiles, raw materials, natural 
 objects, etc., and, finally, a large, well-furnished reading- 
 room. The art department is under the charge of Mr. Wal- 
 ter Smith, well known to us in our country as the art-director 
 of the State Schools of Massachusetts and of the Normal Art 
 College, in Boston. The textile department covers in-
 
 54$ THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 struction in the manufacture of textile fabrics of every de- 
 scription, including the nature and properties of the raw 
 material, and the application of design to woven fabrics. 
 Few weaving-schools in any country are so well equipped 
 with all the best appliances of instruction, or so largely at- 
 tended. Nearly three hundred students attend these classes. 
 The majority of those who come in the evening are working- 
 men or over-lookers, while the day-classes are attended by 
 the sons of manufacturers. In the chemical and dyeing de- 
 partments, students are grounded in the principles of chemis- 
 try, which they apply to the investigation of the properties 
 and uses of the various dyeing materials, by analysis and 
 by practical experiments. In the engineering and machine 
 departments, the theory of the class-room is united with the 
 practical experience of the bench, laths and forge. It is 
 questionable whether there is any school-workshop in any 
 country so say the Royal Commissioners as well fitted up 
 with modern mechanical tools and appliances. In the gen- 
 eral science department, there are classes in practical, plane 
 and solid geometry, mathematics, physics, chemistry, steam> 
 applied mechanics and machine instruction. The especial 
 feature of the college is the day-school, in which there are 
 one hundred and thirty pupils, whose ages vary from twelve 
 to seventeen. This department acts as a feeder to the col- 
 lege, preparing the students for the technical classes. The 
 curriculum of the school covers : (i.) a general course, in- 
 cluding English, mathematics, mechanics, chemistry, physics, 
 drawing (freehand, model and geometrical), and machine 
 instruction ; (2.) a technical course, in which the pupil may 
 select a line of study from the following branches : mechan- 
 ical engineering, art, pattern-making, designing, weaving 
 and dyeing ; (3.) languages, including French, German and 
 Latin. The pupils who are studying technological subjects 
 receive one or two lessons a week from the various specialists, 
 and spend, in addition, several hours each week in the weav- 
 ing-shops, workshops, dye-houses or art-rooms, as the case 
 may be. An important feature in connection with the day- 
 school is the scholarship scheme, whereby, from a fund sub-
 
 TRADE-SCHOOLS IN FRANCE AND GERMANY. 549 
 
 scribed by manufacturers, merchants and others, about sixty 
 boys of the artisan population are taken from the elementary 
 schools of the town, by competition, and receive two years' 
 instruction in the school, free of charge. All the instructors 
 in the college and school are of recognized eminence in their 
 departments. In the several departments, there are altogether 
 nearly nine hundred students. 
 
 On the Continent, there are many similar institutions. One 
 of the best illustrations of private sagacity in this respect is 
 the Ecole professtonnale, of the printing establishment under 
 the management of Messieurs Chaix et Cie. This school was 
 founded by the heads of the establishment, to train skilled 
 workmen for that establishment. The foundation of the school 
 is laid in a special primary course, for those whose previous 
 schooling had been insufficient. Upon this foundation, there 
 is laid a technical course, which covers grammar and compo- 
 sition, reading proofs and correcting for the press, the study 
 of different kinds of types and engraving, and the reading and 
 composing of English, German, Latin and Greek, in the 
 latter case, from a purely typographical point of view, with- 
 out any attempt to understand or translate. Finally, it com- 
 pletes a supplementary course, which includes the history of 
 printing, simple notions of economics, a little mechanics and 
 physics and chemistry. In the latter field, the materials dealt 
 with in the business are specially considered, such as acids, 
 oxides, oils, carbons, soda, etc. This school has some thirty 
 apprentices connected with it. The apprenticeship lasts four 
 years. 
 
 In Germany, we find schools for miners and for workers 
 in iron and steel, founded or maintained by business associa- 
 tions. In several of the more important industrial centres 
 of the Continent, there exists societies, such as the Societes 
 industrielles, of Mulhouse, Rheims and Amiens : the Societe 
 d ' cnseignement professionnel du Rhone, which has its head 
 quarters at Lyons ; and the Niederoesterreichischer Gewerbe- 
 Verein, of Austria. These associations are supported mainly 
 by the merchants and manufacturers of the district to which 
 their operations are restricted. They are also further aided
 
 55 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 from the municipalities, and sometimes from the State. The 
 society in Lyons has established numerous evening-classes for 
 elementary and technical instruction. The South Austrian 
 Trade Society, which has its central office in Vienna, has 
 organized technical day and evening-schools for operatives of 
 every grade. These have now passed under State control, 
 and receive subventions from the government. Chemnitz, 
 in Saxony, has achieved an enviable reputation for its large- 
 minded and large-hearted public spirit in connection with 
 industrial education ; and the results have been full of encour- 
 agement, Chemnitz having been rapidly built up, in conse- 
 quence of these schools. Crefield is another town which has 
 followed a similar policy, with similar results. 
 
 Our country furnishes some examples of the same wise 
 policy on the part of individual employers and business corpo- 
 rations, though, as yet, we have scarcely any parallel case 
 of a municipality devoting itself to statesmanlike measures 
 on behalf of industrial education. The establishment founded 
 by Mr. Richard M. Hoe, so widely known through the coun- 
 try, has sought a high degree of skill and intelligence and 
 of conscientious work, such as is not easily secured in these 
 days of nominal apprenticeships. It has need of men who, 
 beginning early, purpose to devote their whole lives to the 
 acquisition of technical skill, and to its broadening by a liberal 
 intellectual training. Two or three hundred boys are required 
 in the establishment. These have been carefully selected with 
 reference to their capacity and dispositions. As soon as 
 secured, the firm begins to educate them. It provides an 
 evening-school, where the common-school education is sup- 
 plemented, with special reference to the practical needs of 
 life. Everything is provided by the firm, rooms, teachers, 
 books and materials ; but attendance is compulsory. The 
 boys are chiefly trained in mathematics and mechanical draw- 
 ing. Each boy's special capacity or tendency is considered 
 in determining his particular course. If he has a gift for 
 mechanical drawing, it is specially cultivated to fit him for 
 work in the designing department ; and thus with other facul- 
 ties; the aim being so to train each lad that he shall have a
 
 SCHOOLS SUPPORTED BY THE STATE. 551 
 
 chance to make the most out of himself, and thus the most 
 for the firm. Advancement is made wholly upon merit, no 
 time being fixed for continuing in any stage of work. A 
 practical application of the principles inculcated in the night- 
 school is secured in the work of the establishment by day. 
 As most of the boys live far from the factory, the firm pro- 
 vides them with a plain, plentiful and wholesome supper. 
 
 The Carriage-builders' National Association has established 
 a technical school for carriage-mechanics, which was opened 
 in the fall of 1880. .It is located at 214 East Thirty-fourth 
 street, in connection with the Metropolitan Museum of Art- 
 Schools. Three evening-lessons are given each week. In 
 addition to the class-instruction, it provides lectures upon 
 mechanical topics, a technical library and museum. It gives 
 students who have shown special aptitude and application a 
 printed certificate, a sort of diploma, which must be in- 
 valuable as a security of work. Its pupils have come from 
 a wide area, from Ohio, Kentucky, Iowa, Massachusetts 
 and Canada, and have represented the various departments 
 of work in the industry. The tuition-fee is placed at the 
 nominal rate of five dollars for the season. 
 
 Trade-Schools Founded or Supported by the State. Paris 
 has thirteen technical schools, which turn out young men 
 possessing sufficient knowledge of a trade, both theoretical 
 and practical, to enable them to earn their livelihood. Pupils 
 must be thirteen years old, and must pass an examination in 
 order to enter. The period of training extends over three 
 years. During the first twelve months, the pupil remains a 
 certain time in each of the different workshops representing 
 the respective branches of trade. Thus an insight is obtained 
 into each craft, and the disposition of the student is devel- 
 oped, while his abilities are being educated. Four hours a 
 day are spent in the different classes, where French, English, 
 history, grammar, chemistry, geography, drawing, etc., are 
 taught. In the first division only four hours daily are de- 
 voted to manual labor in the workshops, and two hours to 
 books. The schools have half a dozen shops, under the su- 
 perintendence of able, technical men. There is a modeling-
 
 55 2 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 room, a blacksmith-shop, a fitting-room, wood and metal- 
 turneries, and several carpenters' and joiners' shops, where 
 every branch of these trades can be learned. It is proposed 
 to open a practical college in each arrondisscmcnt , and work- 
 shops are to be attached to each of the municipal schools. 
 France has developed complete apprenticeship schools, as 
 notably those of La Villette, in Paris, and Havre. The 
 National Government and various municipal authorities have 
 combined in founding these schools in different towns of 
 France. The government commission, appointed in 1881, 
 has drawn up a programme for handicraft-schools through 
 the country. 
 
 Objections have been raised against such apprenticeship- 
 schools by practical men in England ; but the French appear 
 to be, upon the whole, satisfied with the progress that has been 
 made through them. 
 
 In our own country, there is not a single trade-school for the 
 rank and file of labor which owes its existence to any munici- 
 pal or State government, or to the National Government. Con- 
 gress has indeed made large land-grants in aid of industrial 
 education ; but, whatever may have been its intentions, these 
 grants have practically resulted in building up agricultural 
 schools and schools for higher technical training in a few 
 semi-professional lines. This has been quite natural, under 
 the circumstances, since agriculture and engineering have 
 been the most imperative necessities of our new country ; but, 
 nonetheless the fact remains that we have not a single State 
 trade-school for the average workingman. 
 
 V. HIGHER TECHNICAL SCHOOLS FOR FOREMEN AND MAN- 
 AGERS. A higher grade of technical schools for the training 
 of lads fitted to become foremen, becomes a necessity in the 
 development of industrial education. Europe has recognized 
 this need, and taken steps to meet it. 
 
 France made experiments in this direction some time ago ; 
 but these experiments amounted to little until their reorgani- 
 zation within the last generation. Among the good examples 
 of schools for foremen are those of Winterthur, in Switzerland, 
 Chemnitz, in Saxonv', and Komotau, in Austria, and the Ecolc
 
 SECONDARY TECHNICAL SCHOOLS. 553 
 
 des Mines, at St. Etienne. The theoretic instruction in these 
 schools is similar in character and also in grade to that of the 
 great polytechnic schools. Great attention is paid in them to 
 practical instruction in laboratories and workshops, which is 
 not always the case in the polytechnic schools. A begin- 
 ning has been made in Prussia toward the establishment of 
 such secondary technical schools. The Industrie Schulcn, in 
 Bavaria, corresponds to this second grade of technical high 
 schools, giving both theoretical and practical instruction in 
 some cases, the latter being highly specialized, as a prepar- 
 ation either for direct entrance on an industrial career or 
 for further study in the polytechnic school. France is es- 
 tablishing technical schools of this type all through the 
 country, a good example of which is found in the school at 
 Rheims. 
 
 This school was established in 1875, as the result of the 
 investigation of a municipal commission, composed of the 
 leading business men of the city, concerning the need of 
 higher industrial education. The school is housed in a build- 
 ing which has cost $120,000. Boys enter at about thirteen, and 
 continue for three years. During the first two years, all the 
 pupils pass through the same course of theoretical and practi- 
 cal instruction. In the third year, boys are divided into sec- 
 tions, according to the aptitude displayed by them during 
 the previous years. The classification is made according to 
 the different pursuits carried on in Rheims and the neigh- 
 borhood, manufactures, mechanics, commerce, agricul- 
 ture, etc. 
 
 The workshops and laboratories are large, airy and well- 
 lighted ; and their character will be sufficiently indicated by a 
 description of one of the workshops. 
 
 The weaving and spinning-sheds contain a carding-engine, a drawing- 
 frame, a spinning-frame with forty spindles, a warping-machine, nine small 
 pattern-weaving looms, four jacquard looms, a punching and card-cutting 
 machine, and four power-looms, each of a different type, and of the most 
 recent construction. In this department, the student is able, practically, to 
 apply his theoretical instruction to the production of the various textile manu- 
 factures of Rheims. He can, in fact, spin and weave the wool he has him- 
 self washed, carded, dyed and prepared; and can, moreover, practice each
 
 554 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 operation in the school with similar plant to that which he would find in the 
 regular factory. This department is provided with a large collection of woven 
 fabrics and samples of raw materials. 
 
 The school also provides thorough instruction in drawing, 
 and, yet further, has an admirable school-museum. It has 
 about two hundred pupils, and has a large number of free 
 studentships. 
 
 The schools of which the Rheims school is a type lead up 
 to the Ecole des Arts et Metiers, at Chalons-sur-Marne, or 
 the Ecole Centrale, or the Ecole Poly technique. Such tech- 
 nical high schools for foremen are practically provided in 
 some parts of England, in the schools of art and science 
 which have of late grown into such large proportions in cer- 
 tain industrial centres, of which examples have already 
 been given in other connections. 
 
 VI. POLYTECHNIC SCHOOLS. There will still remain the 
 need of yet higher technical schools, for the instruction and 
 training of those who expect to become heads of industrial 
 establishments, superintendents, managers, etc., and for the 
 education of men for the professional branches of business, 
 industrial chemistry, engineering, etc. 
 
 Such colleges have existed for some time in Europe, in 
 the well-known Poly technique Schools, to which she owes so 
 much of her industrial prosperity. 
 
 As already indicated, greater provision has been made for 
 such higher technical training in our country than for any 
 other department of industrial education. We have begun 
 at the top instead of at the bottom, and have put a roof on 
 a structure that has no foundation. 
 
 The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, in 
 addition to teaching mining, mechanical and civil-engineer- 
 ing, provides instruction in the mechanic arts to students 
 who come from the ordinary public schools at sixteen years 
 of age, and secures them a two years' course in technical 
 training. This institution, one of the most completely ap- 
 pointed in the country, offers for this class of students courses 
 in machine-construction, pattern-making, moulding, forging, 
 etc. But as the fees are $200 per annum, the average work-
 
 HIGH SCHOOLS OF ART. 
 
 555 
 
 ingman's son is practically shut out from the benefits of this 
 admirable institution. The Worcester Free School confines 
 its education principally to 'the theory and practice of me- 
 chanical engineering. 
 
 The Stevens Institute, of Hoboken, was founded by Mr. 
 E. A. Stevens, as an institution for thorough technical and 
 scientific training in mechanical engineering, in which it 
 stands very high. The Cornell University provides, in addi- 
 tion to a general liberal education, technical schools in 
 agriculture, mechanic arts, civil engineering and mining 
 engineering. The mechanic arts are taught experimentally, 
 by the aid of a brass and iron-foundry, blacksmith-shop and 
 shops for pattern-making. Purdue University, Indiana, sup- 
 plies another excellent illustration of a high school of indus- 
 trial education, as does the Kansas University. 
 
 VII. HIGH SCHOOLS OF INDUSTRIAL ART. So many 
 industries really enter the field of applied art, that it is be- 
 coming increasingly necessary to foster a higher development 
 of artistic tastes and powers than the lower-grade schools can 
 secure . Every country is feeling the need of increasing the 
 supply of industrial artists. , 
 
 The provision made for this need, in the great art-schools 
 of Europe, is comparatively familiar to us in this country ; 
 and, as space is shrinking, no detailed reference to it will 
 here be made. We are naturally backward in this respect. 
 Such high schools of art can only be expected to arise in 
 sufficient numbers as our general system of education increas- 
 ingly emphasizes industrial art. We have, however, a few 
 such schools already; as, e. g., the Philadelphia School of 
 Design for Women, the Normal Art-School of Massachusetts, 
 in Boston, the Fine-Art School connected with the Gallery of 
 Fine Arts, in Boston, and the Metropolitan School of Art, in 
 New York. 
 
 The constant tendency in these schools is for pupils of any 
 ability to become ambitious of turning out artists, of whom 
 there is already quite an ample supply, of one sort and 
 another, in the country. These schools should keep strenu- 
 ouslv before them that nobler aim, with reference to the
 
 556 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 country at large, of imbuing the artisan with the spirit of the 
 artist. 
 
 VIII. A CENTRAL MODEL-SCHOOL OF INDUSTRIAL SCIENCE 
 AND ART. What is needed, over and above such scattered 
 local efforts, is a largely conceived and thoroughly planned 
 and amply endov/ed system for stimulating and guiding the 
 scientific and artistic departments of industrial education in 
 their higher stages. As already indicated, the Continental 
 States direct, from a central ministry, their systems of indus- 
 trial education, thus securing the thoroughness which other- 
 wise might be lacking. What needs to be done, and what it 
 is possible to do, is best seen in the case of the South Ken- 
 sington Museum, of England. 
 
 This famous institution, as every one knows, was the out- 
 growth of the first World's Fair, in London. That interna- 
 tional exhibition revealed so clearly the inferiority of England 
 in all artistic industries as to lead to this attempt to educate 
 the nation's workers. It includes a vast national industrial 
 museum, central schools for scientific and artistic instruction, 
 and local branches in various towns, through which it guides 
 the industrial education of England. The results of this wise 
 action, in one generation, have been astonishing. Whereas, 
 in 1851, England had found herself at the bottom of the list 
 of nations engaged in art-manufactures, as soon thereafter as 
 1867, in the Paris Exhibition, she found herself in the fore- 
 most rank, having in some lines distanced the most artistic 
 nations. 
 
 There is no question that the chief factor in this astonishing 
 change was the influence of the South Kensington Museum. 
 Professor Dresser is the authority for the statement that 
 
 Our art-schools and this museum have exerted a more and more powerful 
 influence over the manufacturers, the designers and the native buyers of our 
 productions; and the result has been such as to cause the late Emperor of the 
 French to say, after the International Exhibition of Paris, in 1867, that \vhile 
 the French had made little progress during the ten preceding years, the 
 advancement of the English in art, as applied to industries, had been so rapid 
 that England must be regarded as a dangerous rival. 
 
 How such an industrial revolution could be brought about 
 by the founding of one national institution, let the following
 
 INDUSTRIAL MUSEUMS. 557 
 
 facts as to its progress tell. In 1851, there were nineteen 
 schools of art in the United Kingdom ; now there are over 
 one thousand schools of art and art-classes, and of a much 
 higher standard of success than in 1851, while industrial 
 drawing is now taught in the national schools. 
 
 IX. INDUSTRIAL MUSEUMS. Such a large and thorough 
 system of industrial education needs to have provided the 
 adjunct of industrial museums. The need of such museums 
 is obvious. Seeing is understanding, as well as believing. 
 Description never makes the clear-cut impression that the 
 sight of an object and the handling of it creates. The tools 
 and machinery used in an industry should be somewhere open 
 to examination ; the materials used in that industry should 
 be arranged in the order of their use, and the articles pro- 
 duced in the various stages of production should be on exhi- 
 bition ; while models for the young student and workman 
 should be conveniently accessible. Mr. William Morris is as 
 capable of giving an able and authoritative judgment upon 
 this matter as any living man, and he testified before the 
 Royal Commissioners that he considered it an absolute neces- 
 sity that there should be a collection of examples of the manu- 
 factures of each district, accessible in that district ; and not 
 only specimens of that special manufacture, but selections of 
 beautiful objects in other manufactures, which the workman 
 might thus study. In his judgment each locality should, 
 therefore, establish its own museum. In addition to this, he 
 regarded it as necessary that there should be a great central 
 museum, to which visits could be made, and wherein some 
 thorough study could be carried on by workmen from differ- 
 ent parts of the country, a museum which should really 
 furnish all needful illustrations in the various departments of 
 scientific and industrial art. 
 
 The South Kensington Museum well illustrates what such 
 a great central national museum should be : 
 
 The collections at South Kensington Museum now comprise: (i.) Objects 
 of ornamental art, as applied to manufactures ; (2.) The National Art Library ; 
 (3.) British pictures, sculptures and engravings; (4.) The Educational 
 Library, with appliances and models; (5.) Materials and models for building
 
 558 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 and construction ; (6.) Substances used for food ; (7.) Reproduction bj means 
 of casting, electrotype, and photography, of objects displaying the art-manu- 
 factures of all nations ; (8.) Naval models. 
 
 The Museum of Ornamental Art comprises upwards of 
 20,000 objects. The National Art Library contains about 
 33,000 volumes. The Collection of British Pictures now 
 numbers 585 oil-paintings, and 1,005 water-color drawings, 
 specimens of the best British masters, nearly all contributed 
 by private individuals for the advancement of the public art- 
 education of this country. The Department of Sculpture is 
 very large and valuable, and consists chiefly of decorative 
 sculpture of the Renaissance period, in marble, stone and 
 terra-cotta, including numerous specimens of glazed terra- 
 cotta of the fifteenth century, known as Delia Robbia ware. 
 The Educational Collection has now, by means of voluntary 
 contributions of the publishers of educational works, and by 
 the aid of the State, become a very important branch of 
 the South Kensington Museum; seeing that its library con- 
 tains upwards of 20,000 volumes of educational books, while 
 the collection of models and appliances for educational pur- 
 poses numbers some thousands of specimens. The Depart- 
 ment of Materials for Building and Construction comprises 
 samples of building-stones, cements, terra-cottas, brick fire- 
 proof floors, ornamental tiles, enameled slate, specimens of 
 woods for construction, etc. 
 
 As an evidence of the popular appreciation of this museum, 
 one fact will suffice. The attendance at the museum increased 
 from 104,832 in 1854 to 914,127 in 1874. In three years, be- 
 tween 1869 and 1874, * ne attendance averaged over 1,000,000 
 per annum.* 
 
 A fine example of the local industrial museum is found in 
 quaint old Nuremberg. Edinburgh has also a fine science 
 and art museum. The Industrial Society of Mulhouse has 
 established such a local museum, and the leading manufactu- 
 rers of the place testify that it has exerted a most beneficial 
 
 * The above statements are drawn from the " Memorandum on the Formation 
 of the South Kensington Museum," by P. Cunliffe Owen, British Commis- 
 sioner to the Centennial Exhibition, Philadelphia, 1876.
 
 COST OF INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION. 
 
 559 
 
 influence upon the industry of the district. Some go so far as 
 to say that they cannot see how the trade can prosper without 
 it. To the designer, it is a constant source of instruction, 
 his library. It cultivates and raises the taste of the working- 
 man, sharpens the wits of the manufacturer, and is a constant 
 register of the relative progress of the competing countries. 
 It gives invaluable assistance in such lines as the application 
 of historic styles to current wants. 
 
 In our own country, the only serious attempt at providing 
 for this need in any local centre of industry grew out of the 
 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. The beautiful Memo- 
 rial Hall, then erected, was subsequently set aside as an in- 
 dustrial art-museum, under the auspices of the Pennsylvania 
 Museum and School of Industrial Art. The museum is, 
 however, but poorly supplied with objects, and seems to 
 languish for want of any real interest on the part of the city 
 or the State. The foundations have not as yet been laid 
 for our future National Museum of Industrial Art. 
 
 Such museums should themselves form a graduated series. 
 There should be small school-museums attached to our public 
 schools, each city having a central museum, from which the 
 different ward-schools could be supplied by loan collections. 
 Around these museums the industries of each great city might 
 gather ; each industry having its own department. The vari- 
 ous States should then have their central museums, and the 
 National Government its museum for the common country. 
 
 X. COST OF SUCH A SYSTEM OF INDUSTRIAL EDUCA- 
 TION. The chief difficulty in the way of such an elaborate 
 system of industrial education is, of course, its immense expen- 
 siveness. It is obvious, without entering into any detail, that 
 for the development of such a large system, vast sums of 
 money will have to be expended ; yet this should not stand in 
 the way of such a beneficent reform. Chemnitz, in Saxony, 
 which has developed, perhaps, more extensively than almost 
 any other Continental town a local system of industrial edu- 
 cation, is taxed more heavily than any city o/ Germany, with 
 one exception ; yet the burden is cheerfully borne, because 
 the people have learned the pecuniary value of their system
 
 560 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 of industrial training. Situated amid great natural resources, 
 its life was sluggish and its prosperity scant, until the foun- 
 dations of this system were laid. Now it teems with schools 
 of industry, in which weaving, architecture, agriculture, me- 
 chanical arts and miscellaneous crafts are thoroughly taught, 
 each one contributing directly to build up the town. It flour- 
 ishes upon this basis of wise outlay for educational purposes. 
 The manufacturing cities of other countries are discovering 
 that their specialties are being produced cheaply and artisti- 
 cally in Chemnitz. Already Nottingham has yielded to it 
 the front rank in the production and sale of gloves. Taxa- 
 tion for pauperism, disease and crime is reduced proportion- 
 ately to the increase of taxation for education ; and the citi- 
 zens, upon the whole, believe that they make by the exchange. 
 We have only need in this country to examine the statistics of 
 public taxation and of private charity, necessitated by our 
 problems of pauperism and vice and crime, to realize that 
 such an outlay as would be necessitated for a thorough system 
 of industrial education would be most economical. It is a 
 notorious fact that a large portion of our criminals are gener- 
 ally uneducated, and that a still larger portion of them have 
 lacked any adequate training whereby they could secure their 
 self-support. Dr. Wines reported that in Baden, while only 
 four per cent, of prisoners are unable to read when received, 
 fifty per cent, have not learned a trade. Such a system 
 would also develop the resources of the country in a manner 
 transcending our present imagination ; and, in the aggregate 
 wealth thus created, the expenditures for industrial education 
 would be amply compensated. A nation which, while pay- 
 ing off its national debt in a manner absolutely unprecedented 
 in history, is yet accumulating a surplus revenue which its 
 statesmen ( ?) do not know how to use, cannot well plead 
 poverty as the excuse for not laying the foundation of a 
 system of industrial education commensurate with its destined 
 greatness. Better far such a system of fortification than the- 
 most elaborate coast defences.
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 THE LAND QUESTION. 
 
 MAGNITUDE OF THE QUESTION FIRST PRINCIPLES THE LAND-OWNER 
 
 THE ABSOLUTE MASTER OF MEN WHO MUST LIVE ON HIS LAND THE 
 
 ORDER OF NATURE INVERTED EQUAL RIGHTS TO THE USE OF THE 
 EARTH SELFISHNESS, THE EVIL GENIUS OF MAN THE IRISH PEOPLE 
 FORCED TO BEG PERMISSION TO TILL THE SOIL APPROPRIATION OF 
 THE CHURCH-LANDS LAND IN ITSELF HAS No VALUE THE GREAT 
 CAUSE OF THE UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH No HOPE FOR 
 THE LABORER, so LONG AS PRIVATE PROPERTY IN LAND EXISTS 
 NOTHING MYSTERIOUS ABOUT THE LABOR QUESTION THE DIFFICULTY 
 IN FINDING EMPLOYMENT NATURE OFFERS FREELY TO LABOR 
 NATURAL MEANS OF EMPLOYMENT MONOPOLIZED SPECULATION IN 
 THE BOUNTIES OF NATURE. 
 
 BENEATH all the great social questions of our time lies 
 one of primary and universal importance, the question 
 of the rights of men to the use of the earth. 
 
 The magnitude of the pecuniary interests involved, the 
 fact that the influential classes in all communities where pri- 
 vate property in land exists are interested in its maintenance , 
 lead to a disposition to ignore or belittle the land question : 
 but it is impossible to give any satisfactory explanation of the 
 most important social phenomena without reference to it ; and 
 the growing unrest of the masses of all civilized countries, 
 under conditions which they feel to be galling and unjust, 
 must at length lead them, as the only way of securing the 
 rights of labor, to turn to the land question. 
 
 To see that the land question does involve the problem of 
 the equitable distribution of wealth ; that it lies at the root of 
 all the vexed social questions of our time, and is, indeed, but 
 another name for the great labor question in all its phases, 
 it is only needful to revert to first principles, and to consider 
 the relations between men and the planet they inhabit. 
 
 We find ourselves 'on the surface of a sphere, circling 
 
 (561) (36)
 
 562 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 through immeasurable space. Beneath our feet, the diameter 
 of the planet extends for eight thousand miles ; above our 
 heads night reveals countless points of light, which science 
 tells us are suns, that blaze billions of miles away. In this 
 inconceivably vast universe, we are confined to the surface of 
 our sphere, as the mariner in mid-ocean is confined to the 
 deck of his ship. We are limited to that line where the ex- 
 terior of the planet meets the atmospheric envelope that sur- 
 rounds it. We may look beyond, but cannot pass. We are not 
 denizens of one element, like the fish ; but while our bodies 
 must be upheld by one element, they must be laved in another. 
 We live on the earth, and in the air. In the search for min- 
 erals men are able to descend for a few thousand feet into the 
 earth's crust, provided communication with the surface be 
 kept open, and air thus supplied; and in balloons men have 
 ascended to like distances above the surface ; but on a globe of 
 thirty-five feet diameter, this range would be represented by the 
 thickness of a sheet of paper. And though it is thus possible 
 for man to ascend for a few thousand feet above the surface, 
 or to descend for a few thousand feet below it, it is only on 
 the surface of the earth that he can habitually live and supply 
 his wants ; nor can he do this on all parts of the surface of 
 the globe, but only on that smaller part, which we call land, 
 as distinguished from the water, while considerable parts even 
 of the land are uninhabitable by him. 
 
 By constructing vessels of materials obtained from land, 
 and provisioning them with the produce of land, it is true 
 that man is able to traverse the fluid-surface of the globe ; yet 
 he is none the less dependent upon land. If the land of the 
 globe were again to be submerged, human life could not long 
 be maintained on the best-appointed ships. 
 
 Man, in short, is a land-animal. Physically considered, 
 he is as much a product of land as is the tree. His body, 
 composed of materials drawn from land, can only be main- 
 tained by nutriment furnished by land ; and all the processes 
 by which he secures food, clothing and shelter consist but in 
 the working up of land or the products of land. Labor is 
 possible only on condition of access to land, and all human
 
 THE ORDER OF NATURE INVERTED. 563 
 
 production is but the union of land and labor, the trans- 
 portation or transformation of previously existing matter into 
 places or forms suited to the satisfaction of man's needs. 
 
 Land, being thus indispensable to man, the most important 
 of social adjustments is that which fixes the relations between 
 men with regard to that element. Where all are accorded 
 equal rights to the use of the earth, no one needs ask' 
 another to give him employment, and no one can stand in 
 fear of being deprived of the opportunity to make, a living. 
 In such a community, there could be no " labor question." 
 There could be neither degrading poverty nor demoralizing 
 wealth. And the personal independence arising from such a 
 condition of equality, in respect to the ability to get a living, 
 must give character to all social and political institutions. 
 
 On the other hand, inequality of privilege in the use of the 
 earth must beget inequality of wealth and power, must 
 divide men into those who can command and those who are 
 forced to serve. The rewards which nature yields to labor no 
 longer go to the laborers in proportion to industry and skill ; 
 but a privileged class are enabled to live without labor by 
 compelling a disinherited class to give up some part of their 
 earnings for permission to live and work. Thus the order of 
 nature is inverted, those who do no work become rich, 
 and " workingman " becomes synonymous, with "poor man." 
 Material progress tends to monstrous wealth on one side, and 
 abject poverty on the other ; and society is differentiated into 
 masters and servants, rulers and ruled. 
 
 If one man were permitted to claim the land of the world 
 as his individual property, he would be the absolute master 
 of all humanity. All the rest of mankind could live only by 
 his permission, and under such conditions as he chose to pre- 
 scribe. So, if one man be permitted to treat as his own the 
 land of any country, he becomes the absolute sovereign of 
 its people. Or, if the land of a country be made the property 
 of a class, a ruling aristocracy is created, who soon begin to 
 regard themselves, and to be regarded, as of nobler blood and 
 superior rights. That " God will think twice before he damns 
 people of quality," is the natural feeling of those who are
 
 564 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 taught to believe that the land on which all must live is legiti- 
 mately their private property. 
 
 Here is the explanation of the main facts of human history. 
 In the land question, we find the great key to the differences 
 of political, social, industrial, and even religious development, 
 the reason of the growth of monarchies and aristocracies, of 
 'the degradation of base and servile classes, the cause of wars 
 and tumults and social conflicts. The equality of men is not 
 a dream of latter-day visionaries. It is the order of nature. 
 Men come into the world of like shape, with like members 
 and like wants ; and the differences of physical and mental 
 power among them are but individual variations from a com- 
 mon standard, which, comparatively small in normal human- 
 ity, are largely, if not entirely, offset by compensations. And 
 nature treats all men with strict impartiality. She will give 
 to the noble no more readily than to the serf. Fire will burn, 
 and water w r ill drown, the king as surely as the peasant. The 
 sun shines and the rain falls on the just and the unjust alike. 
 The first perceptions of man are always those of human 
 equality. 
 
 " When Adam delved and Eve span, 
 Who was then the gentleman?" 
 
 The man of gentle or noble blood, the man entitled to 
 reap without sowing, to consume while others produce, to com- 
 mand while others obey, never could exist where the equal 
 rights of men to the use of the earth were acknowledged. He 
 is the product of a system that makes the land on which a 
 whole people must live, the property of a portion of their 
 number. For they who thus become earth-owners are en- 
 abled to levy a toll for the use of nature's bounty, to prescribe 
 terms on which alone other men can live. They become the 
 land-lords, or land-gods of these other men, beings who 
 deem themselves of superior mould, and who look down upon 
 their fellows as born to a life of toil for their pleasure. 
 
 "He that will not work, neither shall he eat." This is the 
 decree of nature, that with every human mouth brings two 
 human hands into the world, and ordains that human wants 
 shall only be satisfied by labor. But that selfishness which
 
 SELFISHNESS, THE EVIL GENIUS OF MAN. 565 
 
 is the evil genius of man, has always prompted the strong 
 and cunning to endeavor to escape the necessity of laboring 
 by compelling their fellows to do their work for them. Of 
 the devices to this end, the two most important have been 
 that of making property of men, and that of making property 
 of land. Chattel-slavery, however, is but a rude and primi- 
 tive method of systematically robbing labor, profitable only 
 in countries of sparse population, or when it is desired to re- 
 move the laborers to another place. Where the population 
 is dense enough, the easier and more convenient way of 
 enslaving a whole people and of more conveniently appro- 
 priating their labor, is to appropriate their lands, since they 
 can in this way be compelled to yield their labor or its pro- 
 duce in return for the mere privilege of living. Thus the 
 Norman Conqueror did not distribute the people of England 
 among his freebooters : he distributed English land. Thus, 
 the adventurers who, at subsequent times, passed over into 
 Ireland, did not seek to enslave the Irish people, but to secure 
 Irish land. Once masters of Irish land, the Irish people were 
 forced to beg permission to till it for them ; and, instead of 
 having to chase runaway slaves, they had, in the power of 
 eviction, a means of coercion by which they could extract 
 from the laborer all he could possibly give. 
 
 The natural perception of mankind is that of the equality 
 of rights to the use of the earth ; and it is probable that pri- 
 vate property in land, like chattel-slavery, has nowhere origi- 
 nated save in war and conquest. But when this means of 
 appropriating labor once obtains a footing, it becomes a 
 potent means for the enslavement, by the cunning of men of 
 their own blood. This process, of which the history of an- 
 cient Rome gives us a complete example, has been going on 
 in England and Scotland for some centuries, in the appropri- 
 ation of the church-lands, the changing into individual prop- 
 erty of the land held on feudal rents by tenants of the State, 
 the enclosure of commons, the conversion of the tribal hold- 
 ings of Highland clans into individual property of the chiefs, 
 and the substitution of large proprietors for small freeholders. 
 It is going on to-day in the United States, in the fencing in of
 
 566 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 the public domain, and the steady relative decrease of the 
 land-owning class. That a man can draw an income of so 
 many thousands of dollars from the ownership of American 
 soil, means that so many American citizens must yield up to 
 him the produce of their labor, are virtually his slaves. 
 
 Land in itself has no value, and can yield no revenue, for 
 land is only the passive factor in production. Labor is the 
 active factor, by whose exertion upon land all wealth is pro- 
 duced. The owner of the richest land could get no revenue 
 from his ownership ; all that he could get from it would 
 be what his own labor produced, until some one else was 
 willing to pay him for the privilege of living on it, or work- 
 ing it. The moment this becomes the case, the moment 
 others will consent to give the land-owner a portion of the 
 produce of their labor for the privilege of using his land, his 
 ownership will yield him a revenue independent of his own 
 labor, a revenue derived from the labor of others. Thus 
 land acquires a value, a value which increases just as the 
 growth of population and improvement increases the amount 
 of the labor-produce which permission to live on or work land 
 will command. 
 
 Where population increases, or is expected to increase, the 
 growth of the selling-value of land, however, may to some 
 extent precede the growth of the power of obtaining revenue 
 from its ownership, for the same reason that in the days of 
 slavery, a negro child had a value before it could work, and, 
 as the proverb ran, "A nigger's worth a hundred dollars as 
 soon as he hollers." So, around growing cities, and in coun- 
 tries where population is rapidly increasing, land is held and 
 sold at prices higher than the owner could now obtain for its 
 use. But as in the case of the value of a slave-child, this 
 speculative value of land arises from expectation of the reve- 
 nue which it will in future yield, the basis of all land- 
 values, actual or prospective, being the amount of labor or 
 labor-produce which its owner may obtain without labor on 
 his part by permitting others to use his land. This, it is to 
 be observed, is invariably true, as true in the case of the 
 little piece of land owned by the man who uses it himself,
 
 CAUSE OF UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OK WEALTH. 567 
 
 and whose income is derived from his labor upon it, as in the 
 case of the great proprietor, whose income is derived from the 
 labor of those whom he permits to use his land. For, so long 
 as the owner can only get an income from his land by using 
 it himself, the land has no value. It is only when, if he were 
 to stop using it himself, he could, by selling it or renting it, 
 get the produce of other people's labor, that land has a value. 
 The value of land, where land is made private property, al- 
 ways means, therefore, the ability of the non-producer to live 
 upon the producer, the power, actual or prospective, of the 
 land-owner to compel labor to pay him toll. 
 
 Increase of land-values, where land has been made private 
 property, means simply that a larger and larger amount of 
 the produce of labor goes to non-producers ; that labor must 
 pay more' and more for being permitted the use of natural 
 facilities indispensable to its exertion. For though the giving 
 of labor, or the produce of labor, for the use of land has the 
 semblance of an exchange, the transaction is in reality on 
 the one side an appropriation, and on the other the payment, 
 of a tribute. It is precisely such a transaction as that in 
 which the fisherman is required to give up fish, which he has 
 taken at the cost of labor and privation, in return for the 
 privilege of using the ocean. 
 
 Here we have the great cause of that unequal distribution of 
 wealth, which is apparent throughout the civilized world, and 
 which increases with material progress. Low wages, pau- 
 perism, laborers who cannot find employment, goods which 
 cannot be sold ; a marvelous increase in the power of supply- 
 ing human needs, yet great masses of human beings suffer- 
 ing from want ; poverty seeming to spring from the very 
 excess of production ; monstrous fortunes accumulating in 
 the hands of a few, while among the many the struggle for 
 existence grows harder and more bitter, just as the discovery 
 of better methods and the invention of better machinery make 
 easier the production of the things necessary for the main- 
 tenance of existence, all these phenomena, with all their 
 social, political and moral consequences, spring from one 
 fundamental maladjustment universal throughout the civilized
 
 568 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 world, from a primary wrong, which destroys equality by 
 dividing men into two classes : those who own the world as 
 their private property, and those who, having no legal right 
 to the use of the world, must buy the privilege of living and 
 of working. 
 
 It is not in the relations of labor and capital ; it is not in the 
 greed of employers or the shiftlessness or intemperance of 
 workingmen ; it is not in interest, or currency, or profits, or 
 in monopolies, such as those of railways and telegraphs, nor 
 yet even in public debts, or the waste of standing armies, it 
 is not in any nor in all of these things that an explanation 
 can be found of the fact that the workingman is everywhere 
 the poor man. 
 
 All these are effects, or at most secondary causes. Given 
 a country where there were no railroads, no government, 
 no machinery, no currency, no capital ; where there were no 
 employers and employed, but where each worker obtained 
 subsistence from nature as directly as do the birds ; yet if the 
 land of such a country were treated as throughout the civilized 
 world land is treated, and were made the private property of 
 but a part of the people, should we not see essentially the 
 came phenomena that to-day we see in the most highly civil- 
 ized societies, non-producers enjoying the fruits of labor, 
 and producers in poverty ; men, possessed only of the power 
 to labor, compelled, in return for permission to exercise it, 
 to give up the larger part of all they produce, retaining 
 for themselves only enough to support life? Why, if the 
 very birds could so far pervert their instincts as to treat the 
 earth as the private property of some birds, so that others 
 did not dare to peck fruit, or catch worms, or build nests, 
 without purchasing permission of some feathered earth-owner, 
 should we not see among birds just what we see among men, 
 a few fat and lazy birds, deeming it beneath them to 
 catch a worm or carry a straw, sitting amid great piles of 
 wasting food, painfully gathered and brought to them by mis- 
 erable, winged wretches, half-starved amid abundance? 
 
 Or, on the other hand, imagine civilized society in its 
 highest development, with all wrongs abolished, save the
 
 AN IDEAL STATE OF SOCIETY. 569 
 
 primary wrong involved in private property in land. Let 
 there be no standing armies, no public debts, no wars nor pre- 
 parations for war. Let the railroads be run under the most 
 perfect system, and with sole regard to the interests of the 
 public ; let the wasteful "protective" tariffs, which beget mono- 
 polies and hamper the trade of the world, be swept away ; let 
 perfect purity obtain in politics, and governments be carried 
 on with absolute honesty and at the minimum of expense. 
 Imagine, if you please, all taxes abolished, and public ex- 
 penses met by the contributions of public-spirited citizens. 
 Imagine employers to share their gains equally with their 
 workmen, and co-operation so general that it should do away 
 with the middle-man's profits ; let there be a perfect currency ; 
 and imagine, if that be imaginable, all interest abolished. Im- 
 agine everybody prudent and honest, the craving for liquor 
 a forgotten taste, and the making of intoxicating beverages a 
 lost art. Yet if private property in land be retained, if one 
 set of men must still pay another set of men for the use of the 
 planet, what would be the gain to the mere laborer? All 
 these social improvements would, by diminishing waste, add 
 to the wealth of society. But all the other classes that prey 
 upon labor being eliminated, the result would be that the 
 land-owners could get all the more of this wealth. Good 
 government, cheap railroad- fares, free trade, a perfect cur- 
 rency, the abolition of the profits of middle-men, temperance 
 and thrift, would not enable men to live without land or to 
 work without a place to work on, and something to work up. 
 And, this being the case, all these improvements could make 
 no improvement in the condition of the masses. Laborers of 
 more than ordinary skill or ability might, as now, get more 
 than a bare living ; but men of only ordinary abilities and 
 skill, possessed only of the power to labor, and with nothing 
 to use that power upon, must still, by the inevitable law of 
 competition, be driven to give up all their labor could produce 
 above a bare living, for the sake of getting permission to live 
 at all. 
 
 This impossibility of relieving poverty and securing an 
 equitable distribution of wealth, while the land on which all
 
 57 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 must live is made the private property of some, arises from 
 the very constitution of man, from the fact that he is a land- 
 animal, who must live on and from land, if he lives at all. 
 This being the case, there is no possible reform, no possible 
 improvement, no possible discovery or invention, which can 
 permanently raise the lowest class of society above the verge 
 of starvation, so long as private property in land exists. The 
 failure of the great improvements and discoveries and inven- 
 tions of the nineteenth century to eradicate want ; the fact 
 that poverty seems to deepen with material progress ; that 
 the most wonderful multiplications of the productive power 
 of labor seem, instead of lightening the toil of the laboring 
 class, to compel even women and children to work ; and that, 
 amid the greatest accumulations of wealth, human beings die 
 of starvation, does not arise from the fact that these inventions 
 and discoveries and improvements have not yet gone far 
 enough, but from that fundamental law of his being, which 
 makes it impossible for man to live, save on and from land, 
 from that fundamental limitation of his power which makes 
 it impossible for him to create something out of nothing, and 
 restricts all his production to the utilization of the pre-existing 
 matter and force of the universe. 
 
 And in this absolute dependence of labor upon land, we 
 may see the explanation of the paradox that poverty seems to 
 spring from the very excess of the production of wealth, and 
 that the increase which improved processes and inventions 
 give to the productive power of labor make the mere laborer 
 more helpless. For it is manifest that, were invention and 
 discovery to go so far as to dispense with labor in the pro- 
 duction of wealth, all the wealth that they could desire could 
 be obtained by land-owners without the employment of labor, 
 and that mere laborers would become but cumberers of the 
 land-lord's ground, and could only escape starvation as pau- 
 pers, supported by his bounty. This is the direction in which 
 labor-saving discovery and invention must tend, wherever 
 land is private property. And thus it is, that want seems to 
 arise from the very " over-production " of things that satisfy 
 want, and that as the productive power of labor increases,
 
 TIII; "HOUSE OF HAVE." 571 
 
 the struggle for existence becomes more bitter, and the num- 
 ber of men for whom there seems to be no place and no need 
 in this world becomes larger and larger. 
 
 That what is called the labor question is simply another 
 name for the land question ; that all the ills which labor 
 suffers spring from the appropriation as private property of 
 the element without which labor is useless, becomes evident 
 upon any honest attempt to trace these ills to their source. 
 The trouble with most of the clergymen-, and professors, and 
 dilettante philanthropists, who are now directing so much 
 attention to the labor question, is, that they are not honest. 
 They are making believe to look for what they really do not 
 want to find ; they are pretending to seek the remedy of a 
 great wrong, with a predetermination to avoid any conclusion 
 which would offend "vested interests," or disturb the "House 
 of Have." They deliberately turn away from the only road 
 which could lead to the explanation they profess to desire, 
 and as a remedy for the most widespread and gigantic evils 
 have nothing better to propose than some canting injunction 
 that everybody should be good ; some exhortation to employ- 
 ers to be kind, and to \vorkingmen to be industrious, tem- 
 perate, and, above all, contented; some two-penny scheme of 
 co-operation or " profit-sharing." There is nothing mysterious 
 about the labor question. The cause of the terrible competi- 
 tion in the labor-market which cuts down wages to the point 
 'of bare subsistence, when not restrained by the combinations 
 of workmen, and of all the manifold evils to which this leads, 
 is simply that all the men who want work cannot find work, 
 and that there is at all times a great number, and in times of 
 commercial depression a very great number, who are anxious 
 to earn a living, but cannot get the opportunity. 
 
 Now, whence arises this difficulty of finding employment, 
 this seeming excess of the supply of labor over the demand 
 for labor? With every pair of hands that come into the 
 world, does there not come one mouth ? Is there not demand 
 enough for labor in the wants of those whose power to labor 
 is going to waste, because they can find no use for it? Too 
 little demand for labor ! when even of those at work so many
 
 572 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 are under-fed, under-clothed, and not half-sheltered ; when 
 the great majority of men in all civilized countries are 
 harassed by wants they are unable to supply ! 
 
 If there are more men seeking employment than can find 
 employers, what is to hinder these men from employing them- 
 selves? Did the first man have to hunt around for some one 
 to hire him before he could go to work ? Who was there to 
 hire Robinson Crusoe? Yet did he lack employment? Did 
 the settlers of this country, or the men who ever since have 
 been pushing out into the wilderness, have to get themselves 
 employers before they could make homes and earn a 
 living ? 
 
 The only indispensable condition to the employment of labor 
 is LAND. Capital in all its forms, wealth in all its forms, 
 is but the produce of labor exerted upon land. Give labor 
 the use of land, and all things that man can bring into being 
 can be produced. If, therefore, labor is going to waste ; if men 
 willing to work to supply their needs cannot find opportunity 
 to do so, and must engage in a cut-throat competition with each 
 other for the wages of some employer, it is solely because 
 they cannot avail themselves of the natural opportunities for 
 making their labor available. 
 
 But this is due to no lack of natural opportunities. In the 
 most densely-peopled country of the civilized world, there are 
 natural resources which would suffice for many times the 
 population. In our own vast country, we have hardly begun 
 to scratch the surface of nature's store-house. Around every 
 city there are vacant lots, on which labor might find employ- 
 ment in building houses for an over-crowded population. 
 There are millions and millions of unused acres, on which 
 men who are becoming tramps might make themselves homes. 
 There is clay and timber and iron and coal, of which no use 
 is made. Of our agricultural land, that which is cultivated 
 is but an insignificant part of what remains to cultivate. If 
 labor cannot find employment for itself, it is not because of 
 the failure of nature to offer opportunities for its employment. 
 It is simply because we have allowed these opportunities to 
 be seized and held by men who cannot use them themselves,
 
 SOLUTION OF THE LABOR QUESTION. 573 
 
 and will not allow others to use them, because we permit 
 what nature offers freely to labor to be used as a means to 
 extort blackmail from labor. Here is the one great cause of 
 unemployed labor, of depressed trade, of the competition 
 which everywhere tends to force wages down to the starva- 
 tion point, and of widespread poverty, conjoined with the 
 most enormous powers of producing wealth. 
 
 The natural means of employment monopolized, men who 
 have nothing but the power to labor are driven into a cut- 
 throat competition with their fellows to obtain from some 
 other human creature the "leave to toil." Compelled to stint, 
 unable with the produce of their own labor to purchase the 
 produce of other's labor, goods that cannot be sold accumu- 
 late in warehouses while thousands suffer from want. 
 
 There is but one way of solving the labor question, of pre- 
 venting monstrous injustice in the distribution of wealth, and 
 substituting just and wholesome social conditions for those 
 which it is now becoming clear must, if unchecked, lead us 
 to anarchy ; and that is by securing to all men their inaliena- 
 ble right to live and to work. This can only be done by 
 abolishing the private ownership of land, and making the 
 land of a country the common property of the whole people. 
 The doing of this does not involve any denial of legitimate 
 property-rights, any lessening of the incentive to build, im- 
 prove or cultivate ; any interference with that security of pos- 
 session which is necessary to all the higher uses of land. 
 It is only necessary to treat land as the common heritage of 
 the whole people, and individual possessors as tenants of the 
 community, paying a -just rent for any peculiar privileges 
 they enjoy. And the easy method of accomplishing this is 
 to abolish all the taxes which now oppress labor and hamper 
 production, and by means of a tax, not upon land, but upon 
 the value of land, to collect for common uses that "unearned 
 increment" which now goes to land-owners. Were this 
 done, it would become unprofitable for any one to hold land 
 that he was not putting to use, and the city-lots, the mines, 
 the unused fields, that are now held on speculation would 
 necessarily be thrown open to those who wished to use them.
 
 574 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 Thus speculation in the bounties of nature would be de- 
 stroyed, production would be relieved of all burdens, and that 
 value which attaches to land by reason, not of the exertion or 
 improvements of individuals, but by the growth and progress 
 of society, would constitute a great fund from which all pub- 
 lic expenses could be met. 
 
 How this simple yet far-reaching reform would secure the 
 farmer his homestead, and give the tenement-dweller a spot 
 he could call his own ; how it would relieve the dreariness of 
 country life and the congestion of over-crowded cities ; how 
 it would simplify government and purify politics ; how it 
 would equalize the distribution of wealth and enormously in- 
 crease production, I have shown in detail in my books, but 
 cannot dwell upon in the space allotted to me here. But who- 
 ever will heed the general principles I have here endeavored 
 to point out, must see that in the divorce which our laws 
 make between men and the natural element from which the 
 means of life must be drawn, lies the cause of that monstrous 
 injustice which piles up wealth in the hands of non-producers, 
 and makes labor a suppliant for the very " leave to toil ; " and 
 that, at whatever cost, to conform our treatment of land to 
 the dictates of justice is the only way in which our civilization 
 can escape such wrecking disasters as have overwhelmed civ- 
 ilizations that preceded it. 
 
 There is in this world no necessity for poverty, and for the 
 vice and crime that springs from it. That so much of human 
 life is a bitter struggle for mere existence, is man's fault, not 
 God's. The powers with which man has been gifted, the 
 potentialities which exist in nature, are sufficient to give to 
 the very humblest all the real advantages that the richest 
 can now enjoy, to make possible a social state in which men 
 should no more vex themselves about the satisfaction of mate*, 
 rial needs than do the lilies of the field. But the Creator has 
 annexed to his gifts the inexorable condition that we shall 
 deal justty with our fellows. A system which denies their 
 birth-right to the children who come into the world involves 
 a crime which must bring its punishment. 
 
 HENRY GEORGE.
 
 CALIFORNIA LABOR LEADERS.
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 THE ARMY OF UNEMPLOYED. 
 
 THE CINCINNATI RIOTS LABOR-SAVING MACHINERY LESS HOURS OF 
 TOIL STATISTICS FLESH-AND-BLOOD MEN REMEDIES RECOMMEND- 
 ED THE SIN OF CHEAPNESS Too MUCH WHEAT. 
 
 I 
 
 N January, 1884, the following paragraph appeared in one 
 of the daily papers : 
 
 It is estimated, that at the present time, one million and a half of men are 
 out of employment in the United States ; it is safe to predict that, if oppor- 
 tunities were offered to these men to drop into useful occupations, a large 
 majority would not avail themselves of them. 
 
 Since then, the number of the unemployed must have in- 
 creased ; for nearly every day we read such items as this : 
 
 The worsted-mill connected with the Bigelow Carpet-Mills, which employs 
 about three hundred hands, shut down this morning, for three weeks. This, 
 with the five per cent, cut-down at the Lancaster Gingham-Mills, where two 
 thousand five hundred hands are employed, which also went into effect this 
 morning, makes Clinton's business outlook decidedly poor. 
 
 In the two years ending December i, 1884, those employed 
 in and around the coal-mines worked but a little over half- 
 time, and for the length of time that they were not at work, 
 they must be counted in with the unemployed. If the figures 
 above quoted were correct in January, it is safe to assume 
 that at present, the number will not fall short of 2,000,000. 
 The census of 1880 shows that the number of persons engaged 
 in gainful occupations was 17,392,099. Of this number 
 3,837,112 were engaged in manufacturing, mechanical and 
 mining pursuits, while 5,183,099 gained a livelihood as labor- 
 ers (agricultural and otherwise). Thus, in 1880, we had, in 
 the United States, between laborers, mechanics, miners and 
 those engaged in manufacturing establishments, 9,020,211 
 persons. 
 
 (575)
 
 576 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 From a personal experience, I am led to believe that the 
 greater portion of those who are now out of employment 
 comes from occupations that go to make up the 9,020,211. 
 It is safe to assume, that the 2,000,000 unemployed persons 
 are discontented with their lot ; and, not only are they dis- 
 contented, but those who labor at the same occupations that 
 they previously followed, have every reason to be dissatisfied 
 also. With so many men and women seeking employment, 
 the tendency of wages must be downward. It does not fol- 
 low, because men are out of employment, that such articles 
 as their fellow-workmen produce should decrease in value, or 
 that the profit on the manufactured article, accruing to the 
 owners of the establishment in which they work, should be 
 any less ; on the contrary, the expectation is, that diminished 
 production will increase the price of the manufactured article, 
 or at least prevent its depreciation when thrown on the market. 
 Notwithstanding the reduction in the expenses of the mining 
 company, we pay the same price for coal that we paid a year 
 ago. It matters not that the carpet-mills "suspend three 
 hundred hands," the price of carpeting remains unchanged. 
 The gingham-mills and the cotton and woolen-mills may 
 reduce the wages of employes five and ten per cent., yet the 
 price of gingham and calico continues as before. Whether 
 the manufactured article commands the same price in the 
 market or not, the employer, knowing that he can secure an 
 abundance of help, reduces the wages of his employees. 
 Those who are out of employment are no longer producers, 
 and they certainly are not consumers, to any increased extent. 
 The wages of those employed having been reduced, their 
 powers of consumption are limited. The merchant, whose 
 shelves are stocked with goods, becomes discontented, when 
 he views the rows of men and women that stand in front of 
 his store, peering with hungry-looking eyes through his win- 
 dows at the goods so temptingly held to view, willing and' 
 anxious to buy these goods, but deprived of the means, 
 through enforced idleness or inadequate compensation for 
 services rendered. Ask the business man what the cause of 
 the depression is, and he, parrot-like, will say, " It is all regu-
 
 THE "LAW" OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND. 577 
 
 lated by the law of supply and demand." A moment's reflec- 
 tion would show him that the law of supply and demand, 
 like all other laws, is open to different constructions. On his 
 shelves is a supply of goods ; outside of his window is a de- 
 mand for these goods, a demand that is at all times equal to 
 the supply. Why is it, that the demand does not reach forth 
 and secure the supply? The answer comes, "Because the 
 medium of exchange is lacking ; because labor is too cheap 
 and plenty, and money too dear and scarce." That a deep- 
 rooted feeling of discontent prevades the masses, none can 
 deny ; that there is a just cause for it, must be admitted. The 
 old cry, "These agitators are stirring up a feeling of dissatis- 
 faction among workingmen, and they should be suppressed," 
 will not avail now. Every thinking person knows that the 
 agitator did not throw two millions of men out of employ- 
 ment. The man that reads such paragraphs as this, will not 
 lay the blame of it at the door of the agitator : 
 
 Mrs. Sarah Jane Geary, an Englishwoman, residing in this city, committed 
 suicide, a few days since. Her husband is a miner, and, owing to the frequent 
 suspensions of business in the mines during the past winter, his meager earn- 
 ings were insufficient to support the family. The fact preyed on Mrs. Geary's 
 mind, and she resolved to end her life, that her children might receive her 
 share of the food ; otherwise, they would go hungry. 
 
 The Cincinnati riots, that occurred less than one year ago, 
 were not brought about through the agitation of the labor- 
 leader. If the demand for " the removal of unjust techni- 
 calities, delays and discriminations in the administration of 
 justice," had been listened to when first made by the Knights 
 of Labor, Cincinnati would have been spared sorrow and dis- 
 grace, and her " prominent citizens " would not have ha'd to 
 lead a mob, in order to open the eyes of the country to the 
 manner in which her courts were throttled, and virtue and 
 truth were trampled upon in her temples of justice. That the 
 army of the discontented is gathering fresh recruits day by 
 day, is true ; and if this army should become so large, that, 
 driven to desperation, it should one day arise in its wrath, 
 and grapple with its real or fancied enemy, the responsibility 
 for that act must fall upon the heads of those who could have 
 
 (37)
 
 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 averted the blow, but who turned a deaf ear to the supplica- 
 tion of suffering humanity, and gave the screw of oppression 
 an extra turn, because they had the power. Workingmen's 
 organizations are doing all they can to avert the blow ; but if 
 that day dawns upon us, it will be chargeable directly o men 
 who taunt others with unequal earnings, and distort the truth, 
 as was done in an interview recently had with Mr. William 
 H. Vanderbilt : - 
 
 One of the troubles in this country, just now, is the relation of wages to 
 the cost of production. A skilled workman, in almost every branch of busi- 
 ness, gets every day money enough to buy a barrel of flour. I don't refer to 
 ordinary laborers, but to men skilled at their trades. The man who makes 
 the article receives as much wages, in many instances, as the article is worth 
 when it is finished. This is not exactly fair, in my opinion, and must be 
 adjusted. Until wages bear a truer relation to production, there can be no 
 real prosperity in the country 
 
 I have seen no denial of the above, and take it for granted 
 that it is a correct report. Mr. Vanderbilt starts out well 
 enough ; but he is in error when he says that " a skilled work- 
 man, in almost every branch of business, gets money enough 
 every day to buy a barrel of flour." I know of no business 
 in the United States, in which a skilled mechanic, working 
 regularly at his trade day by day, gets money enough for his 
 day's labor to buy a barrel of flour. That they earn the 
 price of a barrel of flour, I do not deny ; but that they get it, 
 is not true. It may be that Mr. Vanderbilt refers to superin- 
 tendents, foremen or contractors ; for they are the only ones 
 that receive such wages. The average wages paid to the 
 skilled mechanic will not exceed $2.50 a day. I know of 
 but few branches of business in which men can command 
 that price. The wages of skilled mechanics are on the de- 
 cline, while the price of flour remains unchanged, from $5-75 
 to $8.50 a barrel. If Mr. Vanderbilt will demonstrate how 
 one can purchase a six-dollar barrel of flour for two dollars 
 and a half, he will have solved a very difficult problem for 
 the workingman. It is not the labor of the skilled mechanic 
 alone that must be taken into account, in computing the cost 
 of the manufactured article ; the average price paid to labor
 
 STATISTICS OF WAGES. 579 
 
 in the establishment should be the standard, if a standard of 
 wages is required. An examination of the last census report 
 shows that the number of manufacturing establishments in 
 the United States was 253,852, and the amount of capital 
 invested was $2,790,272,606; the average number of hands 
 employed was 2,732,595 ; the value of the raw material was 
 $3,396,823,549; while the product of the manufactured arti- 
 cles was $5,369,579,191. Deduct the sum paid for the raw 
 material from the product of the manufactured article, and 
 we have $1,972,745,642. This sum represents the difference 
 between the price paid for the article when in a raw state 
 and that received for it when manufactured. It is evident 
 that something more than interest on money invested was 
 required to give this additional value to the material. That 
 something was the labor of the hands referred to. The total 
 amount paid in wages, to the employees of these establish- 
 ments, was $947953>795' Deducting this amount from the 
 $1,972,745,642, we have left $1,024,791,847. This sum 
 goes to the manufacturer. It is estimated by some that the 
 amount paid for raw material includes taxes, insurances, 
 salaries and repairs ; but, in the absence of reliable statistics, 
 I am not prepared to prove that such is the case. By adding 
 the sum paid for raw material to the amount of capital in- 
 vested, we have $6,187,096,155, the total investment of the 
 manufacturer. From this sum we have, pitted against every 
 one of the 2,732,595 employees, a fraction over $2,264. 
 While the average yearly earnings of each employee were 
 $720, he received in wages but a fraction over $346, or a 
 trifle over one dollar a day for every working-day in the year. 
 Subtract the wages of the employee from his earnings, and 
 we have left $374. The employee receives an average of 
 $346 a year for his labor, while his employer receives $374 
 on an investment of $2,264. Instead of basing the cost of 
 the manufactured article on the wages given to the highest- 
 priced skilled mechanic, it should be based on the average 
 wage paid to the men in these establishments. It thus 
 appears that a barrel of flour costs several days' labor. 
 It may be said that many of the employees of the manu-
 
 580 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 facturing establishments are minors, and consequently cannot 
 perform as great an amount of labor as a corresponding num- 
 ber of adults. That argument might have had some weight 
 years ago, but now it is fruitless. The age and strength of 
 the workman are no longer regarded as factors in the field 
 of production ; it is the skill of the operator in managing a 
 labor-saving machine that is held to be the most essential. 
 It is true that a child can operate a machine as successfully 
 as a man, and that muscle is no longer a requisite in accom- 
 plishing results. It is also true that less time is required to- 
 perform a given amount of labor than heretofore. This being 
 the case, the plea for shorter hours is not unreasonable. Ben- 
 jamin Franklin said, one hundred years ago, that " if the 
 workers of the world would labor but four hours each day, 
 they could produce enough in that length of time to supply 
 the wants of mankind." While it is 'true that the means of 
 supplying the wants of man have increased as if by magic r 
 yet man has acquired no new wants ; he is merely enabled to 
 gratify his needs more fully. If it were true in Franklin's 
 time that four hours of toil each day would prove sufficient 
 to minister to the necessities of the world's inhabitants, the 
 argument certainly has lost none of its force since then. At 
 that rime, it took the sailing-vessel three months to cross the 
 ocean ; the stage-coach made its thirty or forty miles a day ; 
 the electric wire was not dreamed of; and the letter that trav- 
 eled but little faster than the stage-coach was the quickest 
 medium of communication. 
 
 It required six days' labor at the hands of the machinist,, 
 with hammer, chisel and file to perfect a certain piece of 
 machinery at the beginning of this century. The machinist 
 of the present day can finish a better job in six hours, with 
 the aid of a labor-saving machine. In a yarn-mill in Phila- 
 delphia, the proprietor says that improved machinery has 
 caused a displacement of fifty per cent, of the former em- 
 ployees within five years, and that one person, with the aid 
 of improved machinery, can perform the work that it took 
 upward of one hundred carders and spinners to do with the 
 tools and implements in use at the beginning of this century.
 
 LABOR-SAVING MACHINERY. 581 
 
 In Massachusetts, it has been estimated that 318,768 men, 
 women and children do, with improved machinery, the work 
 that it would require 1,912,468 men to perform, if improved 
 machinery were not in use. To insure safety on a passenger- 
 train, it is no longer necessary to have a brakeman at each 
 end of the car ; the automatic air-brake does the work, while 
 one brakeman can shout, " All right here ! " for the whole 
 train. The employee that has had a limb cut off in a collision, 
 must beg for bread or turn the crank of a hand-organ, and 
 gather his pennies under the legend, " Please assist a poor 
 soldier, who lost his leg at Gettysburg." He is no longer" 
 stationed, flag in hand, at the switch ; the automatic lever 
 directs the course of the train, and renders the one-legged 
 switchman unnecessary. It is said that the iron-moulder 
 recently invented is capable of performing as much labor 
 as three skilled workmen ; while the following dispatch to 
 a Philadelphia paper, from Mahanoy City, shows what is 
 being done in the mines : 
 
 For the past three years the reduction in wages has been systematic and 
 steady. When one of the officials of one of the great companies was inter- 
 viewed on the matter, he replied that the advance in labor-saving machinery 
 had lightened the labor of the men. A miner at one of the Reading collieries 
 says that some months ago he expended a large sum for a patent drill, which 
 enabled him to do five times the usual amount of work. He was employed in 
 driving a gangway, the price paid being $ioayard; but at the end of the 
 week, when the officials saw the amount of work he had done, the rate was 
 reduced to $4,50 a yard. 
 
 Take the iron-moulder as an illustration. Three flesh-and- 
 blood men, who require shelter, clothing, recreation and so- 
 cial intercourse, who must eat or starve, who must pay taxes 
 to support the State, and whose bodies can be taken to de- 
 fend the State, in case of invasion or rebellion ; one iron man, 
 who does not feel, sleep, eat or drink, who never tires and 
 never rests. Three flesh-and-blood men, who have children 
 depending upon them for bread ; one iron man, who has no 
 family to support ; and the three men whom he has displaced, 
 must continue to support families, or enlist in that ever- 
 increasing army of tramps. Heat, steam, electricity, labor- 
 saving machines pay no taxes, municipal or national; the
 
 582 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 men thrown out of employment, through the introduction of 
 these agents, are deprived of the means of contributing to 
 the support of the State, and an extra burden is shifted to the 
 shoulders of those that continue to work. The existence of 
 such a state of affairs gives evidence that the introduction 
 of machinery, from which the many should derive an advan- 
 tage, is being used for the benefit of a few, who already 
 feel the blow given to trade, through the displacement of so 
 many consumers. 
 
 A great many remedies are recommended for the ills that I 
 'speak of. Let me deal \vith what seems to be the most unim- 
 portant, the reduction of the hours of labor to eight a day. 
 Men, women and children are working from ten to eighteen 
 hours a day, and two million men have nothing to do. If 
 four men, following a given occupation, at which they work 
 ten hours a day, would rest from their labors two hours each 
 day, the two hours taken from the labor of each, if added 
 together, would give the tramp that stands looking on, an 
 opportunity of stepping into a position at eight hours a day. 
 It is said that a vast majority of those who are idle would 
 not work, if they had work to do. That statement is un- 
 true ; but let us admit that five hundred thousand of the two 
 million idle men would not work, and we still have a million 
 and a half who are anxious and willing to work. If but six 
 million of the seventeen million producers will abstain from 
 working ten, fifteen, and eighteen hours a day, and work but 
 eight, the one million and a half of idle men that are willing 
 to work, can again take their places in the ranks of the 
 world's producers. Need it be said, that a million and a half 
 of new hats will be needed ; that a corresponding number of 
 pairs of shoes, suits of clothing, and a hundred other things 
 will be required ; that the wants of these men and their fami- 
 lies will be supplied ; that shelves will be emptied of their 
 goods, and that the money expended will again go into cir- 
 culation. It would entail hardship on some branches of busi- 
 ness, to require men employed in them to work eight hours 
 a day. Miners and those working by contract could not 
 very well adopt the eight-hour plan, without lengthening
 
 THE SIN OF CHEAPNESS. 583 
 
 their hours of labor. Before giving the matter a second 
 thought, many of these men look upon the eight-hour agita- 
 tion as of no consequence to them. If a mechanic is thrown 
 out of employment, and cannot find anything to do at his 
 trade, he turns toward the first place where an opportunity 
 for work is presented. If he is re-enforced by two million 
 idle men, the number that apply at the mouth of the mine, 
 or seek to secure contracts at lower figures, becomes quite 
 large ; and the miner and contract-man grumble, because so 
 many men are crowding in upon them in quest of work. 
 Every new applicant for work in the mine makes it possible 
 for the boss to let his contract to a lower bidder ; therefore, it 
 is clearly to the interest of the miner to assist in reducing the 
 hours of labor in the shop, mill and factory, to the end that 
 the idle millions may be gathered in from the streets to self- 
 sustaining positions. 
 
 The eight-hour system, to be of value to the masses, must 
 be put in operation all over the country ; for the manufacturers 
 of one State cannot successfully compete with those of other 
 States, if they run their establishments but eight hours, while 
 others operate theirs ten or twelve hours a day. The move- 
 ment should be national, and should have the hearty co-oper- 
 ation of all men. 
 
 A Scottish clergyman, Dr. Donald Macleod, in a sermon 
 on " The Sin of Cheapness," says that " the craving for cheap- 
 ness and hunting after bargains, is not only economically 
 false, but a cause of great suffering to thousands of men, 
 women and children." If men worked shorter hours, they 
 would learn that when a man begins to look for cheap bar- 
 gains, he strikes a blow at trade everywhere. The employer 
 looks for a better bargain in labor, and reduces his force or 
 hires cheaper men. His employee must practice enforced 
 economy, which is no saving ; he drives sharper bargains for 
 articles manufactured by others ; he cannot purchase so good 
 an article, or in such quantities, as before ; and the effect is 
 felt where these articles are made, taking the shape of a re- 
 duction, either in the working force or in the wages. When 
 the President of the United States issued his Thanksgiving
 
 584 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 proclamation, in 1884, there were millions of men and women 
 in want of bread, notwithstanding " the abundant harvests 
 and continued prosperity which God hath vouchsafed to this 
 na'tion ; " and the cry, not of thanksgiving, went up from mil- 
 lions of farmers, of " Too much wheat !" Doubting as to the 
 exact meaning of the Creator in growing so much wheat, they 
 invoked the aid of such institutions as the Chicago Board of 
 Trade, in the hope of thwarting the will of God, by corner- 
 ing wheat. These men invoked blessings on their Thanks- 
 giving dinners, and thanked God for the turkey, while they 
 hoarded the wheat away from those who asked for bread. 
 
 Give men shorter hours in which to labor, and you give 
 them more time to study, and learn why bread is so scarce, 
 while wheat is so plenty. You give them more time in which 
 to learn that millions of acres of American soil are controlled 
 by alien landlords, that have no interest in America but to 
 draw a revenue from it. You give them time to learn that 
 America belongs to Americans, native and naturalized, and 
 that the landlord who drives his tenant from the Old World 
 must not be permitted to exact tribute from him when he set- 
 tles in our country. T. V. POWDERLY.
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 THE LABOR MOVEMENT IN CANADA. 
 
 EARLY SETTLERS IN CANADA FIRST LABOR ORGANIZATIONS A TYPO- 
 GRAPHICAL UNION FEELING BETWEEN RACES FIRST PRINTERS' 
 UNION OTHER TRADE ORGANIZATIONS FIRST PRINTERS' STRIKE 
 THE UNION VICTORIOUS A BITTER CONTEST A TRADES COUNCIL 
 ITS CANDIDATE ELECTED ZEAL OF TORONTO WORKINGMEN A 
 TRADES CONGRESS CANADIAN LABOR UNION FORMED FAVORABLE 
 LABOR LEGISLATION THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR APPEAR THEIR 
 RAPID GROWTH ADVANTAGES OF COMBINATION SUCCESSFUL CO- 
 OPERATION. 
 
 UP to 1800, Canada was, comparatively, a terra incog- 
 nita, except to a few. While the Province of Quebec 
 was peopled by the descendants of its early French conquer- 
 ors and masters, excepting, perhaps, the cities of Quebec and 
 Montreal, and a scattered colony here and there throughout 
 the eastern townships on the borders of the United States, 
 where a sprinkling of English-speaking people were to be 
 found, only the northern banks of the St. Lawrence and the 
 lakes Huron and Erie on the eastern and southern boundary 
 of Ontario had an English-speaking population. In many 
 instances these settlements were long distances apart, and the 
 only means of travel was by water in the summer season, 
 and in the winter by sleighs on the ice. In the Province of 
 Quebec the bitterness engendered by difference of race, and 
 which found vent in many a local and violent struggle, had 
 its effect in preventing for a long time that cohesion of ele- 
 ments in the ranks of those who worked for w r ages. The 
 rebellion of 1837, and the subsequent burning of the Parlia- 
 ment House in Montreal, years afterwards, tended in no 
 small degree to intensify this feeling between the races, and 
 to its continuance for many years afterwards. 
 
 Despite all this, however, labor organizations had begun 
 their work in Lower Canada, as the Province of Quebec was 
 
 (585)
 
 586 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 then called ; for as early as 1834, and, perhaps, before that 
 period, the shoemakers were holding their meetings regularly 
 in the city of Montreal, and at the same time and to that 
 extent, at least, serving as a model for, as well as in a degree 
 educating, their less fortunate brothers in other callings in 
 the directions in which every calling or trade has, at irregu- 
 lar intervals, drifted since that time. There is no reason to 
 believe that this old and often sorely-tried organization has 
 ever, for a moment, ceased from that time until the present 
 moment to exist in Canada ; and to-day it is one of the most 
 conservative as well as one of the most wealthy labor organi- 
 zations of an international character in the Dominion. 
 
 Contrary to the general idea prevalent in Canada, to the 
 French-speaking artisans of the Province of Quebec belongs 
 the credit of originating in Canada the formation of labor 
 "circles " or unions ; for we find that as far back as 1827 the 
 printers in the city of Quebec had a local Union, the scope of 
 which embraced, besides the regulation of wages and the care 
 of its members while incapacitated from pursuing their call- 
 ing through illness, the delivery of lectures, reading of essays, 
 and the holding of entertainments of a musical character. 
 The Union was merged into the National Typographical 
 Union at Cincinnati, in 1852, and that again in the Interna- 
 tional Typographical Union, at Albany, in 1869. 
 
 It has been an unfortunate and too common habit, not yet 
 altogether forgotten, on the part of English-speaking trades- 
 unionists to reflect in no flattering terms upon the manhood 
 of French-Canadian artisans and workmen generally. But 
 ample experience has conclusively proven that where these 
 people have had extended to them that cordiality and frater- 
 nal treatment to which as men they were of right entitled, 
 then were they found second to none in battling for justice 
 and right. Before being severely critical as to our fellow- 
 workingmen of French extraction, as to their want of knowl- 
 edge as to what may be and is expected at their hands, when 
 they find themselves away from their homes and among 
 English-speaking people, it should be remembered that their 
 means of learning of current events in the labor world are very
 
 CANADIAN PRINTERS' UNIONS. =587 
 
 circumscribed and limited; as, outside of the cities of Quebec 
 and Montreal, there are comparatively few, if any, daily 
 newspapers published in that Province in the French lan- 
 guage. If trades-unions in the Province of Quebec have not 
 been as successful in the past as in other sections of the 
 Dominion, it is primarily because of want of tact and judg- 
 ment on the part of the English-speaking section in attempt- 
 ing, in every instance, to have everything their own way, 
 despite the fact of being almost always in a minority. 
 
 In Upper Canada, now Ontario, as in Lower Canada, 
 we find that the Knights of St. Crispin and printers are the 
 oldest as to organization, for at the present time Toronto 
 Typographical Union No. 91 is in possession of the minute 
 books of the Printers' Union or Society of "Little York," the 
 name by which Toronto was known prior to its incorporation 
 as a city under its present title some fifty-three years ago. 
 The printers of Toronto were the first in Canada to affiliate 
 with the International Typographical Union, their charter 
 number being No. 91 of that body. They were followed by 
 Ottawa, No. 102; Hamilton, No. 129; Halifax, N. S., No. 
 130; London, Ont., No. 133; Jacques Cartier, Montreal, 
 No. 145 ; Quebec, No. 159 (French) ; Quebec, No. 160 
 (English), Quebec; Montreal, No. 176, Montreal; and later 
 still by those of St. Catherine's and Kingston, in Ontario. 
 To the printers of Canada belongs the principal credit in all 
 that has been done in the direction of organizing and edu- 
 cating the artisan classes of that country. Notwithstanding 
 this fact, however, it is not to be overlooked that other trades 
 were none the less active in the work ; for we find the stone 
 masons, the bricklayers and the blacksmiths each organized, 
 at least at Ottawa, in 1868-9, and it may be previously, in 
 Toronto. During the years mentioned, and for many years 
 afterwards, hosts of men were employed directly as well as 
 indirectly in providing materials for, or in the erection of the 
 Dominion Parliamentary and Departmental buildings then be- 
 ing under construction in that city. It is needless to remark 
 that during the many years so many men were congregated at 
 one place, and having to deal with contractors of the usual
 
 588 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 character engaged in such heavy undertakings, more than 
 one " difficulty " arose ; but they usually terminated in favor of 
 the workers ; for even if their organizations were not as com- 
 pact and as well versed in the necessity and advantages of 
 cohesion and unity as at the present day, yet the population 
 from which to supply their places when on strike was not so 
 numerous, nor was the skilled labor market subject to the 
 periodical congestion to be witnessed at a later period. 
 
 In the early part of 1866, the first steps were taken by the 
 printers, at Ottawa, to organize themselves into a Union. 
 They met on a Sunday afternoon in a private school-room, 
 the free use of which was kindly granted for the occasion by 
 an old and respected school teacher, whose son was a printer 
 and had served in Colonel Ellsworth's famous Zouaves in the 
 early days of the United States Civil War. Officers were 
 elected -pro tern., and steps were taken to secure a charter 
 under the National Union. On the following Monday morn- 
 ing it was announced in some of the printing-offices that the 
 proprietors had determined to raise the current rate of wages 
 one dollar per week. Up to this time wages, such as they 
 were, for each man made his own bargain, were paid in 
 such manner and at such times as suited the convenience or the 
 whim of the employer. " Store orders " on advertisers were 
 tendered more often than ready money, and the consequence 
 to the worker was that, besides being often obliged to purchase 
 goods he was in no need of, he was unblushingly " plucked " 
 by the store-keeper. There was no allowance made for over- 
 time, and it was surprising how much of it was exacted. 
 From thenceforward a marked improvement in the life of the 
 printer in that city evinced itself, although the first president 
 elected, a Mr. Bradford, and some of the others who 
 took an active part in the formation of the Union, " found their 
 vocation gone," and had to depart for "pastures new." In 
 1870, the then government printing contractor made the first 
 direct assault on this original Union, No. 102. He imported 
 printers from England, but most of them refused to work 
 against the strikers, who were "out" because he tried to 
 employ non-union men, and he ultimately succumbed. In
 
 OTTAWA TRADES COUNCIL. 
 
 1873 the same contractor attempted a reduction of wages, 
 which caused a fight of many weeks. The strikers received 
 financial aid from all over the country. The contractor again 
 imported many men from England. The government itself 
 aided the contractor in many ways. But very few of the new 
 men, on learning how matters stood, would take the place of 
 the strikers. The contractor was unable to comply with the 
 terms of his contract, and it was given to McLean, Rogers 
 & Co., who still hold it. Mr. Rogers, of the firm, was 
 Secretary of the Union during the troubles, and has always 
 kept his office a "union" one. 
 
 In this year, 1873, also, owing to the rapid increase in the 
 formation of local trades-unions, a Trades Council was organ- 
 ized in Ottawa, which was of more than passing importance 
 to the cause of labor in Canada in after years ; because, 
 being at the seat of the Dominion Government, it was in a 
 position to exercise its functions not only in matters affecting 
 local interests, but also in pressing upon members of Parlia- 
 ment the desires and the views of like and other labor bodies 
 wherever situate throughout Canada. One of the first sub- 
 jects that engaged this Trades Council after its organization 
 was the necessity existing for direct labor representation in 
 both Dominion and Provincial Parliaments, and it was 
 resolved to seize the first opportunity to make the attempt 
 in Ottawa. This came sooner than anticipated, but the 
 Trades Council was equal to the occasion. The Legislature 
 of Ontario having previously repealed the "Property Quali- 
 fication" clause in the law governing or respecting candidates 
 for election to that body, and a vacancy arising in the repre- 
 sentation of that city in the Provincial Legislature, the then 
 President of the Trades Council was selected and put in 
 nomination as the workingmen's candidate as an Independ- 
 ent, and under the express instruction that under no consid- 
 eration was he to pledge himself to either of the existing 
 political parties. This unlooked-for and unexpected action 
 on the part of "mere workingmen" was more than a sur- 
 prise to the old-time political manipulators, as well as to the 
 "shoddy aristocracy" of the Fexleral capital. An active
 
 59 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 campaign was entered upon. One political party had its 
 nominee in the field previous to the nomination by the Trades 
 Council. The opposite party offered conditional support to 
 the labor candidate. This was promptly declined. But, 
 despite this, the party making the offer voted unconditionally 
 for the labor candidate, and he was elected by a large major- 
 ity. He was re-elected ki 1874, despite the fact that, having 
 breathing-time to recover from the surprise and result of the 
 previous contest, both political parties put strong and experi- 
 enced campaigners in the field. In the elections of 1879, he 
 declined to accept a party nomination, and was defeated, not 
 by any defection of former supporters, but by their removal 
 to other fields of labor. His career as a legislator was very 
 creditable, and much favorable labor legislation now in force 
 is due to his efforts. 
 
 While the workingmen of Ottawa were thus engaged, their 
 brothers in Toronto and Hamilton were by no means idle. 
 The latter city sent a workingman to the House of Commons, 
 who rendered efficient service to the cause of organized labor. 
 He failed of re-election by reason of not having met the 
 wishes of all his constituents, who did not understand the 
 obstacles in the way of their particular representative. 
 
 To the workingmen of Toronto is mainly due the solidity 
 and permanence of labor organisations in Canada. In this 
 city, in 1872, these organizations first determined on a nine- 
 hours day. The effort was only partially successful, but it led 
 to a new era of labor reform through the whole country. By 
 previous arrangement, the Typographical Union led the van 
 in this movement. Organization by the laborers led to coun- 
 ter organization among the employers. The latter invoked 
 the aid of the Government, and caused the arrest of leading 
 members of the Typographical .Union on the charge of con- 
 spiracy. Without following the extremely interesting details 
 of this contest, conducted on each side with great skill and 
 vigor, suffice it to say that ultimately the prosecutions were 
 dropped, and the Union gained the nine-hours day. No 
 other Union fought for or gained like concessions at that time, 
 although to-day many labor organizations enjoy like hours,
 
 CANADIAN LABOR UNION ORGAMZKI). 591 
 
 while the stone-cutters work but eight. Despite all attacks on 
 them, the Bricklayers' and Iron-moulders' International Unions 
 of Canada are in a flourishing condition. Nor have purely 
 local Unions, such as the Operative Tailors, the Painters, the 
 Stone-masons, the Builders' Laborers, the Plasterers, and the 
 Lathers, in Ontario, as well as ship laborers in the city of 
 Quebec, in the Province of the same name, ever been found 
 wanting in their efforts when called on to assist one another, 
 or to insist upon their rights as freemen and citizens. 
 
 As an outcome of the agitations throughout the province of 
 Ontario during the previous few years, and to which great 
 stimulus was given by the printers' strikes at Ottawa and 
 Toronto, already referred to, Toronto Trades Assembly called 
 a convention of organized labor bodies throughout the 
 country to meet in Toronto, September 23, 1883. Although 
 the existence and principles of the Knights of Labor were not 
 even known by this convention, yet it arrived at the same 
 conclusions on many questions as the Knights had already 
 reached, showing how the spirit of education and thought was 
 abroad to a far greater extent than was dreamed of by either 
 party, even at that time. This convention sat for three days, 
 and may be credited with being the first step taken in Canada 
 to give light and direction, as well as oneness of aim to the 
 Trades Unions of Canada. The bodies represented were : 
 Toronto Trades Assembly, Amalgamated Engineers, 
 Toronto; Coopers No. 13, of Ontario, St. Catharine's; 
 Coopers No. 8, of Seaforth ; Iron Moulders No. 26, of 
 Hamilton ; Coopers No. 17, of Ontario, Bowmanville ; Typo- 
 graphical Union No. 91, of Toronto ; Bakers Union, Toronto ; 
 Knights of St. Crispin, St. Catharine's; Knights of St. 
 Crispin 315, Toronto; Knights of St. Crispin 159, Toronto; 
 Iron Moulders 189, Cobourg ; Coopers No. 3, of Ontario, 
 Toronto ; Amalgamated Carpenters and Joiners, London ; 
 Bricklayers and Masons, Toronto ; Knights of St. Crispin, 212, 
 Hamilton; Machinists and Blacksmiths No. i, of Ontario, 
 Toronto ; Bricklayers and Masons, Ottawa ; Tailors, Ottawa ; 
 Carpenters and Joiners, Ottawa ; Typographical Union No. 
 102, Ottawa ; Tailors, St. Catharine's ; Operative Tailors, To-
 
 592 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 ronto ; Free Stone Cutters, Ottawa ; 'Longshoremen, Toronto ; 
 Limestone Cutters, Ottawa ; Painters, Toronto ; Machinists 
 and Blacksmiths No. 2, Hamilton; Knights of St. Crispin 
 242, London ; Amalgamated Engineers, Hamilton, and Iron 
 Moulders Union No. 28, of Toronto. Mr. J. W. Carter, 
 President of the Toronto Trades Assembly, voiced the spirit 
 and views of the Canadian labor reformers of 1873 in his ad- 
 dress on the formal opening of the convention. He alluded 
 to the significance of such a convention ; said the interests of 
 labor must be taken hold of by the workingmen ; urged the 
 identity of interest of Capital and Labor ; and advocated laws 
 that should make no distinction of man as man. He said the 
 necessity of establishing a Canadian Labor Union was beyond 
 doubt, and showed how the workingmen by organization 
 could secure representation in legislation. In accordance 
 with his suggestions, the convention resolved itself into the 
 "Canadian Labor Union," electing J. W. Carter, of Toronto, 
 as its first President; D. J. O'Donoghue, of Ottawa, Vice- 
 President, and J. Hewitt, of Toronto, Secretary. A consti- 
 tution was adopted, the preamble of which indicated in no un- 
 certain language the motives actuating its founders, and 
 which was in the following language : 
 
 Whereas, the workingmen of the Dominion of Canada, in common with; 
 the intelligent producers of the world, feel the necessity of co-operate and 
 harmonious action to secure their mutual interests, just compensation for 
 their toil, and such limitation of the hours of labor as may tend to promote 
 their physical and intellectual well-being, and believing that the causes which 
 have operated in the past to the detriment of labor may nearly always be 
 traced to the want of proper organization in the various branches of industry ; 
 
 Therefore, to unite the energies of all classes of labor in the Dominion of 
 Canada, for the purpose of guarding their inherent rights, we, the represent- 
 atives of the workingmen of the Dominion of Canada, in convention assem- 
 bled, do hereby enact and adopt the following constitution. 
 
 The committees on "Hours of Labor," "Arbitration," 
 " Organization," " Prison Contract Labor," "Cheap and 
 Imported Labor," "Labor Bureau" and "Legislation," 
 made reports, which were adopted, showing that the pioneers 
 and veterans in the labor cause in Canada in 1873 and of 
 years before had given more than passing attention to these
 
 LABOR IN POLITICS. 
 
 593 
 
 problems, which are not yet solved ; that their views were 
 abreast of the most advanced of that time ; and that they 
 were such as would be acceptable to the leading labor re- 
 formers of to-day. 
 
 On the fourth, fifth and sixth of August, 1874, tne next 
 sessions of the Canada Labor Union were held in a large 
 committee room in the House of Commons of the Dominion 
 at Ottawa ; and in 1875, at the city of St. Catharine's, on the 
 third, fourth and fifth of August of that year. On both occa- 
 sions the work inaugurated at the meeting held in Toronto in 
 1873 was furthered and elaborated with vigor, many charters 
 being issued to subordinate and newly organized bodies under 
 the seal of the central body. The executive had worked un- 
 tiringly and with vigor in bringing to the attention of the 
 Legislatures the questions determined on ; and in 1874, being 
 meanwhile elected to the Provincial Legislature, Mr. D. J. 
 O'Donoghue introduced and had passed the bill entitled "A.n 
 Act establishing Liens in favor of Mechanics, Machinists, 
 Laborers and others;" in 1877, "An Act to amend the Act 
 respecting Master and Servant;" and, again, in 1878, "An 
 Act to amend the Mechanics' Lien Act, 1874;" "An Act 
 exempting $25 of a workingman's wages from garnishee;"' 
 and contributed during his term to the enactment of other 
 laws beneficial to wage-earners. During these years was 
 continued a vigorous and healthy agitation in all labor centres 
 and in the House of Commons in favor of, or against, such 
 legislation as had been indicated as beneficial or otherwise by 
 the several sessions of the Canada Labor Union. 
 
 In 1873, the criminal law was amended so as not to render 
 trades-unionists liable in certain cases as conspirators ; and 
 in 1876, the Masters' and Servants' Act was so amended that 
 breaches of contract under it were no longer criminal, but 
 merely breaches of civil contract. Owing principally to 
 stagnation of business, the Canada Labor Union practically 
 ceased to exist as a body after its session at St. Catherine's, 
 in 1875. 
 
 In 1876 came the strike of the locomotive engineers, fol- 
 lowed by legislation providing that passenger and mail trains
 
 594 THE LABOR MOVEMENT, 
 
 must make their through journey without a strike by the 
 employees. In 1882 came the act to establish a Bureau of 
 Industries, of which Mr. Archibald Blue, a journalist of ex- 
 perience, ability and untiring energy, was made secretary. 
 His reports have already become a valuable aid in determin- 
 ing many important labor questions. In 1881 the twenty- 
 ninth annual session of the International Typographical 
 Union was held in Toronto. The trades-assembly there had 
 ceased to exist ; but as a result of this meeting, a trades and 
 labor council sprang into existence, which has had great in- 
 fluence for labor reform ever since. It summoned a Labor 
 Congress in December, 1883, which was very successful. 
 Mr. Charles March was its permanent chairman. 
 
 In the fall of 1881 the first local assembly of the Knights 
 of Labor in Canada was organized in Hamilton, the cere- 
 mony being performed in the basement of the Canada Life 
 Assurance Building, then in process of construction. Others 
 began their existence in that city in comparatively rapid 
 succession thereafter. The first assembly still exists as a 
 Painters' Assembly. At a subsequent period, District Assem- 
 bly No. 60 was formed in the city of Hamilton, with dele- 
 gates from some twenty-five local bodies of the Order. Ham- 
 ilton was not destined to monopolize the existence of Knights 
 of Labor for a lengthy period, however, for on August 27th 
 of the following year the telegraphers of Toronto were or- 
 ganized as a local assembly of the Order, under the title of 
 "Morse No. 2163." This was the first assembly organized 
 at this date in any part of Canada outside of Hamilton. 
 About five weeks afterwards the factory shoemakers, Local 
 Assembly 2211, were organized ; and these were followed in 
 the spring of 1883 by the organization of the first " mixed " 
 Local, being No. 2305, which in after days, although small 
 in its membership, under many difficulties upheld the banner 
 of that Order, when its very existence in Toronto was in 
 doubt. 
 
 During the great strike of the telegraphers against the 
 Western Union, which began on July 19, 1883, almost every 
 telegrapher in Canada was found within their ranks, and they
 
 INFLUENCE OF THE KNIGHTS IN CANADA. 595 
 
 did all that was possible to secure a successful termination of 
 the contest. To offset the defeat of this strike, the leaders 
 of Mixed Local Assembly No. 2305, of Toronto, which num- 
 bered only about twenty members, introduced public lectures 
 on the principles of the Order. Captain Richard F. Trevel- 
 lick, of Detroit, was first invited. His first audience num- 
 bered only twenty persons. His effort bore abundant fruit, 
 however, and his audiences since have always been very 
 large. General Master Workman Powderly followed Cap- 
 tain Trevellick, and his reception was never surpassed by 
 that of any public personage in that city, many Canadians of 
 note being on the platform with him. Then came a turn in 
 the tide, and assemblies sprang up in a marvelous degree 
 everywhere in Ontario. There are now no less than six dis- 
 trict assemblies in Canada; that of Toronto, No. 125, having 
 representatives from some forty local assemblies. The Order 
 has ever been watchful for the interests of Labor. In 1884, it 
 not only prevented the passage of an obnoxious life insur- 
 ance bill, but secured an amendment making legal the cheap 
 insurance schemes of the labor bodies in Canada, and that 
 its provisions should not apply to bodies doing an insurance 
 business solely within their membership. Mr. D. J. O'Don- 
 oghue, representing the Knights of Labor, and Mr. J. W. 
 Carter, representing the Sons of England, were especially* 
 instrumental in securing this legislation. The anxiety to 
 have direct representation in both Houses is heightened by 
 the fact that while constantly improving labor-saving machin- 
 ery, both in factory, workshop and farm, is rapidly forcing 
 host of willing hands into idleness, hundreds of thousands of 
 dollars of the public moneys of the country are being annu- 
 ally voted and devoted to the." assisting" and encouragement 
 of the immigration of British paupers and indigents into 
 Canada. The Dominion Parliament alone, at its last session, 
 voted $300,000 for this purpose, despite the vehement remon- 
 strances of the various labor bodies within the Dominion. 
 Without trenching upon the domain of political party policies 
 in Canada, it may be said that that country presents the 
 anomaly of highly protecting home manufactures and at the
 
 596 THE LABOR MOVEMENT. 
 
 same time handicapping home labor by actually expending 
 immense sums of public money in promoting an influx of 
 foreign labor to still further hamper the chances of employ- 
 ment for its own people in the labor market. There is 
 scarcely a doubt but that with unity and tact on the part of 
 trades-unionists and Knights of Labor, a radical change in 
 this and other equally important directions can and will be 
 secured in the near future in the Dominion of Canada. 
 
 Nor is Co-operation, both productive and distributive, being 
 neglected, since the existence of the Knights of Labor has 
 become a fixed fact in Canada. Toronto has its co-operative 
 manufacturing and distributing bakery and general grocery 
 store, and its weekly Labor Record newspaper; Woodstock 
 has its match-making and lumber-dressing manufactory ; and 
 the thriving town of Chatham has just applied for incorpora- 
 tion under Provincial law for its baking and biscuit manufac- 
 tory. And so this good work will continue doubtless. It is 
 the firm impression of every true labor reformer in Canada 
 that as peaceable agitation and general education progress, 
 the Dominion will not be found second to any country in the 
 world in the good work of remedying the disadvantages 
 under which its wage-earning classes labor, and in securing 
 that ultimate justice for all, which should be the sole aim of 
 every form of government.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 CIGAR-MAKERS' INTERNATIONAL UNION. 
 
 THE history of the Cigar-makers' International Union forms an integral 
 part of the general labor movement. In the earlier stages of its development, 
 numerous mistakes were inevitable. Its growth was of a spontaneous char- 
 acter. From the shop-meeting it developed by successive stages into a union, 
 local in its character; and, finally, it culminated in the National and Inter- 
 national Unions. 
 
 The first Cigar-makers' Union was organized on May 5, 1851, in Baltimore, 
 Md., at that time one of the leading centres in the cigar-trade. In order to 
 counteract the influence of the union, one Tom Little, cigar-manufacturer, 
 imported a large number of cigar-makers from Bremen, Germany. 
 
 Between 1852 and 1853, the cigar-makers employed in Mark Sharkey's shop, 
 New York city, numbering between sixty and seventy, organized a union. 
 The chief promoters of the organization consisted of English and German 
 cigar-makers. Shortly after this, a strike occurred in South Brooklyn, against 
 a reduction of wages on a California cigar. It resulted in a failure. The 
 various nationalities represented in the union did not harmonize. Suspicion 
 and ill-feeling prevented the growth of the organization. Only 160 out of 
 800 belonged to the union, which, after six months, ceased to exist. 
 
 In 1859, another union was organized, in consequence of a strike in Tom 
 Little's shop, said Little having migrated from Baltimore to New York city. 
 The grievances were of a general nature. The union numbered 250 members, 
 and lasted ten months. It was the means of preventing several reductions, 
 thereby demonstrating its usefulness. Internal dissensions, arising from a 
 diversity of opinion in regard to representation in the board of management, 
 brought about the dissolution of the union. The dues were a shilling a 
 week. 
 
 Prior to this, in 1854, the cigar-makers of Troy, Syracuse, Rochester, Utica, 
 Albany and Auburn decided in their shop-meetings to call a State convention, 
 which was held in Syracuse, N. Y., on May 10 and n, 1854. The object of 
 the convention was to establish a uniform bill of prices in the State of New 
 York, and to regulate the apprentice system. Mr. John G. Woodruff, of Troy, 
 presided, and Mr. Theodore Fitzgerald, of Syracuse, acted as secretary. The 
 cigar-manufacturers from Syracuse and surrounding towns were present, and 
 took part in the deliberations. The convention lasted two days ; but no per- 
 manent organization was formed. Nevertheless, the prices established were 
 
 597
 
 598 APPENDIX. 
 
 generally adhered to. " Scabs" were held in such abhorrence that they could 
 not show themselves in fair s"hops. 
 
 In 1855, a large strike occurred in Suffield, Conn., for an increase of wages. 
 A meeting was held, in which five hundred cigar-makers from Suffield and 
 surrounding towns participated. The strike lasted between six and seven 
 weeks, and was financially supported by the cigar-makers of New York, 
 Albany, Syracuse, Troy, Westfield, Springfield and Fredenhills. The major- 
 ity of the strikers left in quest of employment. The strike was finally settled 
 by a compromise. In 1860 and the following years, the cigar-makers organ- 
 ized local unions spontaneously all over the country, and the necessity of a 
 closer combination was generally felt among the workers. A preliminary 
 conference was held in the city of Philadelphia, in 1863; and, on June 21, 1864, 
 the National Union was organized in the city of New York. 
 
 The delegates to the convention, numbering twenty-three, represented 
 local unions in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Connecticut, 
 Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Michigan. Mr. Thomas Harrock, of Suffield, 
 Conn., was elected temporary chairman, and Mr. Charles Baker, of Phila- 
 delphia, secretary. 
 
 The following resolutions, explaining the objects of the convention, were 
 adopted : 
 
 " Believing that the time has arrived whereby the more perfect union of all 
 local unions with one grand national union, the object sought to be obtained, 
 viz. : the welfare of the cigar-makers as workingmen,can be better attained by 
 being under one head. Therefore, we, the delegates assembled in New York 
 city, June 21, 1864, adopt the following resolutions : 
 
 " Resolved, That we, the cigar-makers' unions throughout the United 
 States, do hereby unite ourselvec by forming a national union, for the better 
 protection of our trade, and for the advancement of our craft in general, and 
 under such laws as adopted by this body, and adopted by two-thirds of local 
 unions. 
 
 " Resolved, That our first object should be to unite the good cause, and 
 earnestly request all unions to organize to aid us in so doing, and extend the 
 right hand of fellowship to them. 
 
 " Resolved, That we earnestly request all cigar-makers to immediately 
 organize themselves into unions, and when they are not in sufficient numbers 
 to sustain themselves as a union, it shall be their duty to join the union near- 
 est to them, in the county or district irt which they work. 
 
 "Resolved, That no cigar-maker coming from any city, county or district, 
 who is not a member of a union, if any exists, from whence he came, be 
 allowed to become a member of the union where he has come to obtain em- 
 ployment, or be allowed to work in said city, county or district, until he has 
 been admitted as a member in the place from whence he came. 
 
 " Resolved, That we discountenance the practice of any unions allowing 
 its members to work in a shop or manufactory that employs no union men 
 working for them out of the shop or manufactory. 
 
 " Resolved, That any cigar-maker having a card from any union acknowl- 
 edging the authority of the National Union, may, by depositing this card, 
 become a member free of charge, provided he has not violated the laws of 
 said union."
 
 APPENDIX. 599 
 
 The following officers were elected for the ensuing term : President, A. 
 Zeitler, Albany; Vice-President. D. W. Donaghy, Philadelphia; English 
 Recording Secretary, S. W. Holmes, Newark, N. J. ; German Recording Sec- 
 retary, A. Dans, Cincinnati ; Corresponding Secretary, Charles Baker, Phila- 
 delphia; Treasurer, J. Bronk, Boston. One of the grievances of cigar-makers 
 was the restrictions imposed upon them by the permit-system in the revenue 
 laws, which was condemned by strong and sarcastic resolutions. 
 
 The objects of the National Union are thus stated in the first constitution : 
 "To facilitate the thorough organization of the trade it represents for the 
 mutual benefit and protection ; to secure co-operation whenever it may be 
 required, and to decide all differences that may arise between local unions." 
 The Second Convention of the National Union was held at Cleveland, Ohio, 
 on September 5, 1865. The local unions were represented by twenty-four dele- 
 gates. The secretary in his report said that, since the first convention, the 
 National Union had an increase of five unions; that a number of local unions 
 decreased in membership, because a large number of members had enlisted 
 in the army to battle for the country. A great many had laid down their lives 
 on the altar of patriotism, among them, Andrew J. Zeitler, president of the 
 National Cigar-makers' Union. The receipts were $191.05; expenditures, 
 $237.67 ; deficiency, $46.62. The aggregate membership of the National 
 Union was 984. A special committee reported the indictment of a number 
 of members of the local union of Syracuse, under the conspiracy laws of the 
 State of New York. The committee said: "The National Union takes a 
 wider view of the contest than the mere local interest and safety of the Syra- 
 cuse union, and feels that the whole craft is endangered; that for the bosses 
 of Syracuse to succeed would make the associating together, for protective 
 purposes, both profitless and dangerous." The convention pledged itself to 
 sustain those members before the court. It recommended that the members 
 should subscribe for the following labor papers : The Wor king-man' 's Advocate, 
 of Chicago; Fincher 1 sTra.de Review, of Philadelphia; Detroit Daily Union, 
 and the Daily Press, of St. Louis. The following article, characteristic of its 
 time, was engrafted in the constitution: "No person shall be eligible to 
 membership in this union, unless he be a white male of the age of eighteen 
 years, and has served an apprenticeship of not less than three years." L. C. 
 Walker, of Baltimore, was elected president, and Charles Baker, of Philadel- 
 phia, secretary and treasurer. 
 
 The Third Annual Convention of the National Union convened on Septem- 
 ber 4, 1866, at Baltimore. The unions were represented by twenty-nine dele- 
 gates and thirteen proxies. The following is quoted from the president's 
 report: "The first question that presented itself, after the last convention, 
 was, How to provide for unions on strike? The absence of all laws upon the 
 subject by which we should be governed, was seriously felt at the start. A 
 protracted and lengthy correspondence between the secretary and myself en- 
 sued, but nothing definite was arrived at. Finally, the secretary deemed it his 
 duty to visit me for consultation ; the result was the adoption of the present 
 system of voluntary contributions. Under the circumstances, this was thought 
 to be the most effectual mode of accomplishing the desired object." The sec- 
 retary of the National Union, Mr. Baker, reported that, since the last conven- 
 tion, thirty-seven new unions organized, four disbanded, leaving in good
 
 6OO APPENDIX. 
 
 standing sixty-two unions. Five unions engaged in strikes against reduction 
 of wages, and other causes, of which three were successful. The assistance 
 rendered in aid of these strikes amounted to $2,618.09. The receipts for 
 the management of the organization from capitation-tax, and charter-fees, 
 amounted to $531.30; the expenditures, $483.83; leaving a balance in treas- 
 ury of $47.47. The election of officers resulted in the re-election of Mr. L. C. 
 Walker as president, and Charles Baker as secretary. A resolution was 
 adopted directing the officers to communicate with the cigar-makers' unions 
 of Great Britain and other countries, for the purpose of preventing unfair 
 men to join the unions in the United States at the regular initiation-fee, with- 
 out the payment of fine. The question of obnoxious revenue laws and " per- 
 mit "-system, came up for discussion, and resolutions were adopted declaring 
 that the only fair way of taxing tobacco was upon the leaf, so that the whole 
 consumption of tobacco will pay equal revenue, and be a sure means of pre- 
 venting fraud; that, if the tax could not be levied on the leaf, the laws be 
 amended so that the different grades of smoking-tobacco would pay a tax 
 nearly equal to that levied on cigars per pound ; that a specific tax would be 
 next fairest; that the " permit and account system," was obnoxious and de- 
 grading. A resolution was also adopted in favor of eight hours as a legal 
 day's work. 
 
 The Fourth Annual Convention was held in Buffalo, September 2, 1867, 
 and forty-two delegates were present. 
 
 Mr. John J. Junio, of Syracuse, was elected president, and Mr. Charles 
 Baker, of Philadelphia, secretary-treasurer. 
 
 The name of National Cigar-makers' Union was changed to Cigar-makers' 
 International Union of America. 
 
 The convention also took ground in regard to the general agitation for 
 shorter hours of labor, by adopting the following resolution : 
 
 "WHEREAS, The workingmen of the country are, at the present time, advo- 
 cating an eight-hour law system ; therefore, be it 
 
 " Resolved, That this National Union approves of their efforts in contending 
 for their rights as workingmen, hoping they will be successful without deduc- 
 tion of wages." 
 
 The Buffalo Gazette, published by Mr. Kernaham, president of the Trades- 
 Association and Eight-hour League, was adopted as the official organ of the 
 Cigar-makers' International Union of America. 
 
 The following labor papers were recommended to the craft : Workingmatfs 
 Advocate, of Chicago; Boston Voice, Pinchers Welcome, of Philadelphia; 
 Trov Herald, Baltimore Laborer, Westliche Post (Post of the West), of St. 
 Louis, and Detroit Union. 
 
 The words "male" and "white," to be eligible for membership, were 
 stricken out from the constitution, and the words "practical cigar-maker" 
 inserted in their place. 
 
 The German cigar-makers of New York and Brooklyn, organized in inde- 
 pendent societies, were permitted to organize separate unions under the ban- 
 ner of the International Union, by applying for charters, etc. 
 
 The Committee on Officers' Reports stated that the expenditures for strikes 
 during the fiscal year amounted to $1,506.15. 
 
 A resolution was adopted demanding again from Congress the repeal of
 
 APPENDIX. 6OI 
 
 the obnoxious law now enforced, compelling cigar-makers to take out a per- 
 mit to work at their legitimate business, knowing the same to be contrary to 
 a republican form of government. 
 
 The subsequent three conventions were held at Cincinnati, Chicago and 
 Syracuse. At the latter place, a special convention was held. In the call 
 for the same, signed by Fred Blend, president, and Elias Smith, secretary, 
 the object is stated as follows : 
 
 "To take into consideration the past strikes, and to bring about a final set- 
 tlement of the same ; to complete arrangements for future strikes ; to take 
 more active measures toward assisting the interest of co-operation ; to 
 take into consideration the present revenue laws ; and to protest against the 
 importation of coolies. 
 
 Two large, protracted strikes and lockouts, which took place between 
 1869-1870 in New York city and Cincinnati, necessitating heavy assess- 
 ments, endangered the International Union, which had then reached its 
 highest numerical growth preceding the industrial panic of 1873. 
 
 In 1870, the organization had seven strikes, of which only two were success- 
 ful, the expenditures amounted to $43,017.00. 
 
 The two large lockouts brought the International Union into a financial 
 embarrassment, being unable to fulfil its obligations in the payment of the 
 regular strike-benefit. Worthless checks were issued to members in lieu of 
 cash. 
 
 This was one of the causes that led to the dissolution of unions, and to the 
 suspension of a large number of members. In 1869, the membership of 
 the International Union was 5,800; in 1873, it had decreased to 3,771. Be- 
 sides this, the absence of benevolent features was largely felt in a lack of 
 cohesion among the members. 
 
 The fight of the unions against the introduction of the moulds, ending 
 disastrously, also assisted in the disintegration of the unions. 
 
 From 1871 to 1875, inclusive, there were 78 strikes; 66 of which were un- 
 successful, and 12 successful. These cost an expenditure of $24,242.08. 
 Sixty-four of these strikes were against a reduction of wages. 
 
 At the convention at Detroit, Mich., in 1873, the following endowment 
 plan was adopted : 
 
 SECTION i. In case of the death of a member of a local union in good 
 standing, the officers of the union to which the deceased has belonged shall 
 notify the International Secretary, within ten days thereafter, of such death ; 
 said notification to bear the seal of the union, and be accompanied by a certi- 
 ficate of the attending physician or health-officers. 
 
 SECT. 2. Immediately upon receiving such notification, properly attested, 
 it shall be the duty of the International Secretary to order each union to 
 forward, within twenty days, to the union where such death has occurred, 
 the sum of ten cents per member in good standing, for the benefit of the 
 widow, orphan or nearest dependent relative; provided, that in all cases 
 where the deceased leaves no widow, orphan or dependent relative, this sec- 
 tion shall remain inoperative. 
 
 This endowment plan was supposed to be a substitute for the loaning sys- 
 tem to traveling members, which was abolished by the convention. 
 
 The abolishing of the loaning system, a system of support to the traveling
 
 6O2 APPENDIX. 
 
 fraternity, was a mistake. Its provisions should have been modified on 
 a sound basis, by which dishonesty could have been checked, and the unem- 
 ployed in quest of employment retained in the union. 
 
 The convention also adopted a system of arbitration as a means of prevent- 
 ing needless strikes. 
 
 The disastrous effect which the industrial panic of 1873 had upon the or- 
 ganization is best illustrated in the biennial report of President William J. 
 Cannon, at the Paterson Convention, held in September, 1875 : 
 
 "The panic, with all its attending evils, came upon us like a whirlwind, 
 carrying destruction and desolation in its path, making fearful havoc and 
 ghastly inroads into the prosperous and happy homes of the working people, 
 effectually closing every avenue of prosperity and every channel of industry. 
 It required no foresight to see that the effect on our trade would be disas- 
 trous, and that unless wise and judicious councils prevailed among the mem- 
 bers of our local organizations, they would embark upon a series of ruinous 
 strikes, which would not only end in their own destruction, but also in the 
 dissolution of the International Union. 
 
 "I issued a circular urging the unions to use discretion in acting upon 
 proposed reductions, and to weigh well chances of success against the almost 
 certainty of defeat before launching into a strike. The response came in the 
 shape of applications for strike-benefits from Paterson, Richmond, Cincin- 
 nati, St. Lo'uis and Westfield. These were followed by other applications in 
 rapid succession, nearly every mail bringing to my notice either an antici- 
 pated reduction or an inaugurated strike. 
 
 "It became evident to me that the ability of the International Union to 
 stand adversity as it had prosperity was about to be put to a severe test. 
 Feeling the impossibility of making a successful resistance, I advised to 
 avoid strikes. In a few cases, this advice was adopted ; but the great major- 
 ity claimed as good a right to strike and receive support as any other union, 
 and when they did not receive the support promptly, would return to their 
 work, and the union disband. In this manner, our membership has been 
 largely reduced, as well as the number of our unions, while of those which 
 remain many are weak, only awaiting their death-blow in the form of a re- 
 duction or a special assessment of a few cents weekly." 
 
 The endowment plan, adopted at a previous convention, proved to be 
 a failure, because the members refused to pay the assessments, and it was 
 repealed by a vote of the unions. 
 
 The International Secretary, E. J. Cox, reported that, on September 30, 
 1873, there were in good standing 84 unions, with a membership of 3,771. 
 On the 3oth of September, 1884, there were 54 unions, with a reported mem- 
 bership of 2,167, showing a decrease in unions of 36, and in membership of 
 1,604. 
 
 Only eleven delegates met at the Paterson Convention. Two important 
 resolutions were adopted, one authorizing the president to publish monthly 
 the Cigar-makers' Official Journal, the other allowing bunch-breakers and 
 rollers to become members. The offices of secretary, treasurer and president 
 were combined in one persoi). Mr. George Hurst, of West Suffield, Conn., 
 was elected to the position. 
 
 The recognition of bunch-breaking and rolling, in localities where the sys-
 
 APPENDIX. 603 
 
 tern was fully established, caused a great deal of dissension. Several unions, 
 where that system was unknown, seceded, and divided the funds ; others 
 maintained independent local unions. 
 
 Between 1875 ar >d I 8?7. the International Union was in the most critical con- 
 dition. Members had deserted the ranks, and unions dissolved. Confidence, 
 so essential to the success of a trades organization, was completely destroyed. 
 To see a traveling member in possession of a card was a rarity. 
 
 In 1876, there were nine strikes against reduction of wages, which termi- 
 nated unsuccessfully. Expenditures, $582.20. 
 
 In September, 1877, the convention of the International Union met at Ro- 
 chester. It was composed of seven delegates, representing 17 local unions and 
 a membership of 1,016. This was the lowest point the International Union 
 had reached since its organization. The New York delegate was instructed 
 to introduce out-of-work, sick and traveling-benefits ; but was Entirely unsuc- 
 cessful in convincing the majority of the utility of these benevolent fea- 
 tures. Mr. A. Strasser, of New York city, was elected president. After 
 balloting twenty times, he received four votes out of. seven. 
 
 Fortunately for the organization, there was a slight revival of trade in 
 some of the large centres of the cigar industry. The cigar-makers, having 
 been cut in their wages to the minimum point during the period of depres- 
 sion grasped at the slightest opportunity for an advance of wages. 
 
 The tenement-house system, the curse of the trade, had assumed gigantic 
 proportions ; nearly four-fifths of the cigars made in New York city were 
 made in tenement-houses. 
 
 In the month of August, 1877, a strike occurred in the shop of Frederick 
 DeBarry, New York city, for an increase of wages. In the months of Septem- 
 ber and October, the strike extended to all leading factories and tenement- 
 houses, resisted by a powerful combination of 32 manufacturers. Over 7,000 
 men and women were affected. It followed close upon the gigantic railroad 
 strike. The strike, although not entirely successful, was a great lesson to 
 the cigar-makers. It clearly demonstrated the necessity of organization and 
 the building-up of a reserve fund. During the strike, which lasted 107 days, 
 over 1,000 families, making cigars in their tenements, were dispossessed from 
 their homes by the sheriff. The total cost of the strike was $48,476.39. 
 
 The reason that the expenses of a strike involving so many thousand persons 
 were so low, was due to the fact that the Relief Committee supplied the needy 
 ones with bread, beef and other necessaries of life, which they purchased at 
 wholesale prices. Over i ,000 loaves of bread, each weighing three pounds, and 
 2,500 pounds of meat were distributed every day. The heroic struggle of the 
 raw recruits engaged in the fight created enthusiasm among the cigar-makers 
 all over the country. Unions sprang up in every direction, and before the 
 strike had ended, local unions had doubled in number. In New York city 
 alone, over 7,000 enrolled in the various unions, of whom, after the struggle 
 was over, only 131 remained true to their colors. 
 
 The next convention of the International was held at Buffalo, in 1879. The 
 credentials of 1 1 delegates were approved. The president reported a net in- 
 crease of 18 unions since the last convention, while the membership increased 
 from 1,016 to 1,250. 
 
 The president recommended, in his biennial report, the federation of trades-
 
 604 APPENDIX. 
 
 unions for the purpose of uniting all trade and labor-unions of America into 
 one grand body; the enforcement of the eight-hour law for all government 
 employees; the employment of a general organizer; the continuation of the 
 agitation against tenement-house cigar-factories ; the prohibition of child- 
 labor and enforcement of the school-laws; the regulation of female labor; 
 the prohibition of contract convict-labor; the prohibition of the importation 
 of coolies, and the abolition of the truck system; the introduction of benevo- 
 lent features ; the equalization of funds, and the adoption of equal dues and 
 initiation-fees. 
 
 The convention adopted the loaning system for the support of the traveling 
 fraternity, equal dues and initiation-fees for all members, and the equalization 
 of funds. The strike-laws were modified in conformity with the experience 
 of the past, and a sinking-fund of $2.00 per member was embodied in the 
 constitution. . The president's salary was $250.00 per annum. Mr. A. 
 Strasser, of New York, was re-elected. The adoption of these new features 
 had a remarkable influence upon the organization ; it helped to strengthen 
 the revival of unionism in all parts of the country. 
 
 The next convention was held in 1880, at Chicago, 111., represented by 32 
 delegates. The president reported an increase of 38 unions in one year, and 
 an increase in membership of 3,159. In his reference to the necessity of con- 
 necting additional benevolent features with the organization, the president 
 said : " I do not know of any cigar-maker opposed to additional benefits. 
 The strongest and most powerful trades-unions of the civilized world are those 
 which secure to the members the greatest amount of protection, not only 
 during strikes, but when sick, out of work, in search of employment, and 
 almost in every other station of life where our own resources are insufficient, 
 and we have to depend upon others." 
 
 Regarding strikes, the president recommended not to recognize any appli- 
 cations for an increase of wages until the coming spring, and to make " haste 
 slowly." 
 
 In 1880, there were sixteen strikes, five for an increase of wages, one against 
 the truck system, six against reduction, and the rest for maintenance of the 
 union. Of these sixteen strikes, nine were successful, five lost, and two com- 
 promised; the expenditures were $6,315.93. The convention adopted, after a 
 prolonged and heated debate, the sick and death-benefit features, and empow- 
 ered the president to appoint an organizer, at an expense not to exceed $300.00 
 per annum. The union label, known as the blue label^ was also adopted. 
 Mr. A. Strasser, of New York, was unanimously re-elected as president. 
 
 The next convention, known as the Fourteenth Annual Session, was held 
 in September, iSSi, at Cleveland, Ohio. It consisted of 53 delegates. The 
 president reported, in his annual address, an increase of 52 unions, and 8,300 
 members. 
 
 In 1881, there were 69 strikes, of which 49 were for an increase of wages, 10 
 against reductions, 10 against the truck system, and other causes. Of these 
 strikes, 57 were successful, and 12 lost. The expenditures amounted to 
 $21,058.08. In regard to the evils of making cigars in tenement-houses, the 
 president made the following statement: 
 
 " Eight years have elapsed since the system was first exposed in public 
 meetings, and the board of health requested to recognize them as a public
 
 APPENDIX. 605 
 
 nuisance, dangerous to the health and morals of the occupants. The white- 
 washing report of the board was published in the Workingman's Advocate, 
 then the official journal of the Cigar-makers' International Union. The agi- 
 tation was continued, and carried to the Senate of the United States. In the 
 month of February, 1879, the Senate Committee on Finance adopted a bill to 
 abolish the evil. It was carried through the committee of the whole, by an 
 unanimous vote, in a division of the Senate by a vote of 27 to 4, but ulti- 
 mately defeated by a vote of 35 to 25. Defeated in the Senate of the United 
 States, the bill was introduced as a sanitary measure in the Legislature of the 
 State of New York, during the winter of 1880. It was carried through the 
 committee, but defeated in the committee of the whole, by a vote of 49 to 40. 
 The bill was again introduced in the Legislature, and defeated by a vote of 
 45 t 45. This is a brief history of the agitation to the fall of 1881." 
 
 The convention again adopted a resolution prohibiting local unions from 
 striking for an increase of wages from November i, 1881, till April i, 1882. 
 The sinking-fund was raised from $2.00 to $3.50. 
 
 The following section regulating the hours of labor was embodied in the 
 constitution : " Every local union shall have the power to regulate the hours 
 of labor, in its respective locality; but in no case shall they exceed ten per 
 day." 
 
 Shortly after that convention commenced an internal conflict in New York 
 city, known as the secession of the so-called progressive cigar-makers, led by 
 men that were only a short time in the country, and not acquainted with the 
 peculiar course of the American labor movement. 
 
 The conflict in the ranks of the cigar-makers almost destroyed the useful- 
 ness of the organization in New York city. It is a dark episode in the history 
 of the craft. 
 
 The next convention was held at Toronto, Ont, in September, 1883. The 
 credentials of 88 delegates were approved. 
 
 The biennial report of the president showed an increase of 59 unions, and an 
 increase of 1,291 in membership. A comparison with past years showed 
 the following growth : 
 
 September, 1877 17 local unions. 
 
 1879 35 " 
 
 " 1880 ,. . 74 " 
 
 " 1881 126 " 
 
 1883 .....'.. 185 " 
 
 The managing expenses for two years, including eight million labels, 
 twenty-four issues of the journal, and five supplements, amounted to 
 $16,566.70. From the president's report, the following is quoted on 
 strikes : 
 
 " We do not court them, nor do we favor them. They should not be re- 
 sorted to until all peaceable means have been tried and exhausted. To go 
 out on strike without cool and calm deliberation, where all chances are care- 
 fully taken into consideration, is neither heroic nor worthy of imitation. The 
 object of every well-regulated union is to check and to discourage frequent 
 difficulties ; to secure an advance of wages whenever the condition of trade is 
 favorable, without the expedient of a strike.
 
 606 APPENDIX. 
 
 "A revision of our strike-laws is of the utmost importance. The Interna- 
 tional Union must be enabled to check strikes in time of necessity, restrict 
 and regulate the power of local unions in the inauguration of the same. The 
 welfare of the entire organization is sometimes endangered by a single strike. 
 During the last two years, the number of difficulties has no parallel in the 
 history of the organization. The expenditures were enormous, involving a 
 large portion of our income. We have expended $77,203.47. I can safely say 
 that, outside of regular assessments, over $40,000 have been contributed vol- 
 untarily. Within the last two years, the International Union approved 194 
 strikes. They were inaugurated for the following causes : Ninety-seven for an 
 increase of wages, fifty-two against reductions, and forty-five for various other 
 causes. Of these, 135 were successful, 47 lost, and 12 undecided. I have 
 endeavored to make a careful calculation, from the monthly reports re- 
 turned, of the amount gained in wages through these strikes, within a period 
 of four years, and have come to the conclusion that it amounts at present to 
 $150,000 per month, or $1,800,000 per annum. It is hard to estimate what 
 has been gained by preventing reductions of wages ; but I do not think that 
 it will fall much below $500,000 per year." 
 
 In regard to the hours of labor, the president made the following state- 
 ment : 
 
 "A large number of trades organizations have agreed 'that the reduction 
 of the hours of labor is a cardinal principle of the labor movement. In the 
 past, the building trades have led in this direction. The time has come when 
 all trades must prepare for some reduction of the working-time. I recom- 
 mend that steps be taken toward the adoption of the nine-hour system. From 
 the reports returned by local unions, I notice that, in a good many places, the 
 hours of labor do not exceed fifty-four per week. It would, therefore, be an 
 easy step to make them uniform. The following .table is copied from the 
 monthly reports of local unions, and shows the average weekly working hours 
 in the several localities : 
 
 13 local unions make report of working 60 hours per week. 
 
 i " " " " " 59 " 
 
 22 " " " " " " 58 " 
 
 32 " " " " " " 57 " " " 
 
 18 " " " " " " 56 " 
 
 26 " " " " " " 55 " 
 
 12 " " " " 54 " " " 
 
 i " " " " " " 53 " 
 
 10 " " " " " " 52 " 
 
 3 " " " " " " 5i " 
 8 " " " " " " 50 " 
 
 " The fact that the reduction of the hours of labor has been followed by an 
 increase of wages, and through natural causes higher wages must follow a 
 further reduction, is a sufficient answer to all objections." 
 
 The president also recommended that legislative interference of our law- 
 making bodies be invoked for the purpose of prohibiting the employment of
 
 APPENDIX. 607 
 
 child-labor under fourteen years of age, and to prevent women from being 
 employed more than eight hours. 
 
 On the important question of supporting the unemployed, the president 
 made the following remarks in his biennial report : 
 
 " The protective and benevolent features of the union should be enlaiged 
 bv the adoption of an act of work-benefit. A member of the union, who is 
 out of work for a long period, is in danger of soon being out of the union. 
 If the number of the unemployed is large, demoralization steps in, and it 
 becomes difficult to maintain the rate of wages. The fear that this benefit 
 would encourage idleness among those who have but little ambition, has but 
 little foundation, as the sum given would be so small and so guarded with 
 conditions that the shiftless would soon be found out." 
 
 The president's decision in the New York trouble was indorsed, and the 
 secession of the Progressives condemned by the convention. Mr. A. Strasser, 
 of New York city, was re-elected, receiving 69 votes out of 87. The conven- 
 tion resolved to appoint a permanent organizer. In regard to the forms of 
 labor, the following resolution was adopted : 
 
 " WHEREAS we know that a reduction of the hours of labor furnishes em- 
 plovment to a larger number of men, we therefore recommend the considera- 
 tion of this question to all members of the Cigar-makers' International 
 Union, and urge them to use all their energy in effecting the reduction of the 
 hours of labor to eight per day." 
 
 The convention increased the sick-benefit from $4.00 to $5.00 per week, and 
 the death-benefit from $30.00 to $40.00 per member. 
 
 CALIFORNIA AND COLORADO. 
 
 The history of the movement in the Eastern, Middle and Western States is 
 given in the fourth and fifth chapters of the book. At the present writing, 
 the Knights of Labor have the greatest membership of any organization, and 
 perhaps greater than all other organizations. 
 
 In the South, trades-unions have existed among the free white mechanics, 
 tracing back to about 1850 or 1845, the earliest days of the movement. 
 The Knights of Labor are entitled to the credit of having accomplished more 
 in the organization of the colored people than all other labor organizations. 
 The history of the labor movement in the South would require a most 
 exhaustive investigation, and might well fill a book. 
 
 The State of California, having specially to deal with the problem of Chi- 
 nese labor, has demanded the sympathies as well as the attention of the 
 labor organizations East. In another place, we devote considerable space to 
 the Chinese question, and here give what little can be gathered of the organ- 
 ized effort in that State, furnished by E. Burdette Haskell, and supplement it 
 by statements on the development of the question in Colorado, by J. R. Bu- 
 chanan, member of the auxiliary Executive Board of the Knights of Labor.
 
 608 APPENDIX. 
 
 THE LABOR MOVEMENT IN CALIFORNIA. 
 
 In California, of all places in the world, labor has probably had the hardest 
 struggle to organize; and it will have in the future an equally hard task to 
 accomplish its emancipation. The State was settled by a cosmopolitan popu- 
 lation, and race jealousies and divisions consequently here flourish in excess. 
 The main idea of the immigrants was to get money as soon as possible, and 
 by any means. Thus the dollar is more of a god in California than in any 
 other State. The early settlers were mainly of the reckless, criminal, improvi- 
 dent class of adventurers and a train of scheming camp-followers. This first 
 class has nearly all died off. Their children, being deprived of proper school- 
 ing when young, are now deprived of proper labor by the presence of Chinese. 
 They are, consequently, idle and discontented. The second class of immi- 
 grants grabbed all of the lands and city property, and now hold it and enjoy 
 its fruits; they will not go into new enterprises, and they will not let go of 
 the land, so that it may be made available for use by others. The result is 
 stagnation in business. The want of moral training and education of any 
 kind makes the population peculiarly corrupt and unscrupulous ; and the 
 labor organizations swarm with spies and jobbers. 
 
 The early history of labor movements on this coast is one of vicissitudes. 
 The first recorded attempt at union in this city was made by the ship-carpen- 
 ters, in 1856. This union was eminently successful, in fact, too successful. 
 Its dissolution was not less singular than its success ; for its treasury became 
 so plethoric that discussion among its members as to how the funds should 
 be disposed of led to a disruption. In 1857, the journeymen tailors organized 
 and elected officers. The union disbanded after three meetings. In 1863, the 
 tailors again organized, their grievance being that they were not paid for extra 
 work. The formation of the union was almost immediately followed by a 
 strike against the amount of fancy-work put upon the coats of the period. 
 The strike lasted several weeks, and was successful. The union died soon 
 afterward. It was revived in 1873. Without a strike, the hours of labor were 
 reduced from eleven to ten, and the organization was in a fair way to pros- 
 perity and longevity ; but the action of its members precipitated several strikes, 
 and the union at last dwindled away and died. 
 
 The first amalgamation of trades-unions took place about 1863, John M. 
 Days leading the movement. A year later fourteen trades were represented 
 in it, and the year following that it had six. It died during the struggle for 
 an eight-hour law. In 1857, an eight-hour law went into effect in Australia, 
 and was reported to be a success. The news, upon reaching this coast, caused 
 a very general desire among workingmen for a decrease in the hours of labor. 
 At this time, labor-saving machinery was making itself felt. A remedy for 
 the resulting evil was seen in a reduction of hours, and it became a political 
 war-cry. In 1865, it influenced the cltty election for members of the Legisla- 
 ture, and at the succeeding election eight hours for a day's labor became a 
 law. In September, 1865, the ship-calkers adopted eight hours, and the ship- 
 carpenters followed. The Trades-Council sent its president to Sacramento, in 
 the interest of the movement, and he secured the appointment of a joint 
 committee favorable to the eight-hour bill. It passed the Lower House by
 
 APPENDIX. 609 
 
 64 ayes to 6 noes, and in the Senate was referred to a committee. It was 
 attacked by the press. In January, 1867, the Senate defeated the bill by 15 
 ayes to 17 noes. 
 
 In 1866, a nine-hour movement was started ; but the mechanics did not re- 
 gard it favorably, and after a little agitation it fell through. Early in 1867, 
 the eight-hour fight was renewed in earnest. An eight-hour league was 
 organized, the unions formed the Mechanics' State Council. In it were rep- 
 resented the following unions : House-carpenters', lathers', brick-layers', stone- 
 cutters', ship-joiners', gas-fitters', and laborers. The number of members is not 
 known now. This organization advocated eight hours. Both parties adopted 
 an eight-hour plank. On June 3d. the Mechanics' State Council paraded. On 
 February 21, 1868, an eight-hour law was passed. 
 
 The passage of this bill was enthusiastically celebrated in San Francisco. 
 Laws were passed to protect the wages of labor. The labor-men then relaxed 
 their efforts, and these laws were soon evaded by having men work by the 
 hour instead of by the day. Thus the eight-hour law never conferred a parti- 
 cle of benefit on the mechanic. The labor organizations soon dwindled away, 
 and in three years only the brick-layers and plasterers remained organized. 
 In 1874, the tailors made an attempt to federate the trades of San Francisco. 
 Six unions met, but the federation soon fell to pieces. The brick-layers kept 
 up their union, and observed the eight-hour law, until 1875, when a capitalist 
 combination broke them up. The plasterers held out on eight hours until 
 1877, when their union succumbed in a strike for higher wages. When the 
 labor agitations commenced, another attempt was made to amalgamate, and 
 about fourteen unions were got together, having about 1,500 members. This 
 federation died after the fall elections. 
 
 In 1877, the anti-Chinese agitation reached its culmination in the Kearney 
 movement. Prior to appearing as a leader, Kearney had been on the side of 
 capital and low wages. He attempted to gain admission to the Workingmen's 
 party of the United States, was black-balled, and then started the " Working- 
 men's and Labor Union Party," making his headquarters on the Sand Lots. 
 Much of his success was due to T. H. Bates and H. L. Knight, two of his 
 lieutenants. 
 
 A convention was held in Humboldt Hall, January 24, 1878, which adopted 
 the Workingmen's Party platform and constitution, the chief planks of which 
 were anti-Chinese. Kearney was president, and Knight secretary of the party, 
 which went actively to work through the city. Their outrages on the public 
 peace called into being a " Safety Committee." Kearney was arrested several 
 times for the violence of his language. Finally, his displays of physical cow- 
 ardice utterly broke his hold, and he was hooted and jeered when he appeared 
 on the Sand Lots. He was never in any respect a representative of labor, 
 nor was his party. 
 
 In the early stages of the " Workingmen's Party," a federation of trades- 
 unions was formed under the title of the "Trades-Assembly." The most 
 notable of its performances was an ineffectual attempt to form a co-operative 
 furniture factory. In April, 1882, the Trades-Assembly called a State Conven- 
 tion, in which were represented delegates from the trades-unions of Nevada 
 and Oregon, and steps were taken against the Chinese. The means employed 
 was the formation of a " League of Deliverance," which made considerable
 
 6lO APPENDIX. 
 
 noise during its brief career, but accomplished nothing, and died out soon 
 after its birth, side by side with the trades-assembly. 
 
 After the demise of the League of Deliverance, trades-unionism in San 
 Francisco remained dormant until the early part of 1885. Early in that year, 
 the International began to openly show itself as an encourager of trades or- 
 ganization and federation. On the i6th of March, a general convention of 
 trades assembled at Irish-American Hall, and after three days' session launched 
 "The Central Labor Union," which, however, succumbed to the vigorous 
 attack of the politicians in the various unions. The Iron-moulders' Union 
 was, however, more fortunate. They succeeded in perfecting a sub-federation 
 of the iron trades, May n, 1885, which still exists. The iron federation was 
 but a preliminary step to a general federation of the trades and labor organi- 
 zations of the Pacific coast. The coast seamen were the first after the iron- 
 men to come to the front prominently. On the night of March 6, 1885, a 
 party of coasting seamen gathered around a lumber-pile on Folsom-street 
 wharf, and by the light of a friendly street-lamp formed a union. In the one 
 year of its existence, it has gained ground until it now has a membership of 
 over 3,000, with branches in Port Townsend, Eureka and San Pedro, cover- 
 ing the line of the entire coast. Its union has done much good in furnishing 
 better board and rooms, by securing higher wages, and by acting as an 
 agency where vessel-owners can get good men. 
 
 In the latter part of 1884, several cigar-makers, who were members of the 
 Cigar-makers' Association of the Pacific Coast, withdrew from that organiza- 
 tion, and formed themselves into a branch of the International Cigar-makers' 
 Union of America. The reason for this action was that the constitution and 
 by-laws of the association did not permit any of its members to work in a 
 factory where Chinese were employed. The union has been very successful, 
 has materially displaced Chinese control of the cigar-making business, and 
 has eight hundred members. Several unions are now in operation through 
 the State. 
 
 Last December, the Knights of Labor called a convention for the purpose 
 of giving expression to the views of workingmen on the question of convict- 
 labor and the Chinese; calling upon those renting property to Chinese to 
 evict their tenants, and also demanded an enforcement of the laws as set 
 down in the State Constitution. Several of the organizations which had sent 
 delegates to the convention were displeased, and withdrew them. The iron 
 trades, the Cigar-makers' Union, and other prominent organizations re- 
 mained, however, and after passing a number of pertinent resolutions formed 
 a plan for the federation of the trades and labor organizations of the Pacific 
 coast In the convention, the following were represented : Blacksmiths' 
 Union, Boiler-makers' League, Sailing- Vessels' Cooks' and Waiters', Carpen- 
 ters' and Joiners' Union No. 36, of Oakland; Local Assembly No. 855, of Sac- 
 ramento; Lathers' Union, Local Assembly 1760, of San Francisco; Express 
 Union, of San Francisco; Tinners' Union, of San Francisco; Local Assem- 
 bly 1390, of San Francisco; Amalgamated Society of Engineers, of San 
 Francisco; Steamship Protective Association, of California; United Order 
 of Mechanics, of Vallejo; Boatmen's Protective Union, of San Francisco; 
 Pavers' Union, of San Francisco ; Iron-moulders' Union No. 164, of San Fran- 
 cisco; Independent Order of Associated Plasterers', Carpenters', and Joiners',
 
 APPENDIX. 6ll 
 
 No. 22, of San Francisco; Furniture-makers' Union, Draymen and Team- 
 sters' Union, Marine Engineers', Carpenters' and Joiners' Union, No. 58, of 
 Los Angeles ; Journeymen Boot and Shoemakers, of San Francisco ; Local 
 Assembly 1573, of San Francisco; Knights of Labor, 2999, of San Francisco; 
 Knights of Labor, 3337, of San Francisco; Mechanics' Union, Storey County, 
 Nevada; Typographical Union, of San Francisco, No. 21; Knights of La- 
 bor, 1580, of San Francisco; Saddle-treemakers, of San Francisco; Wood- 
 carvers, of San Francisco ; Knights of Labor, No. 2383 ; Musicians' Protective 
 Union; Pacific Coast Association of Stationary Engineers; Penryn Stone- 
 cutters; S. S. Firemen's Protective Association; Stone-cutters' Union, of San 
 Francisco; Tailors' Protective and Benevolent Union, of San Francisco; 
 White Cooks and Waiters, of San Francisco; Machinists' Union, of Cali- 
 fornia; Federated Council of Iron Trades, Knights of Labor, 2861, of San 
 Francisco ; International Cigar-makers of America, No. 228, of San Fran- 
 cisco; Iron Laborers' Protective Association, of San Francisco; Carpenters 
 and Joiners, of Alameda; Marine Carpenters, of San Francisco; Pacific Coast 
 Seamen's Association; Clerks' Assembly, No. 3651, Knights of Labor; 
 Bakers' Workmen Union; Boot and Shoemakers* "White-Labor" Union; 
 Pacific Coast Division International Workingmen's Association; Under-wear 
 Factory of M. J. Flavin, Stockton Branch of Pacific Coast Division Interna- 
 tional Workingmen's Association, Socialistic Labor Party, Coast Seamen's 
 Union, Metal-roofers, Eureka Branch of the Coast Seamen's Union; of the 
 Pacific Coast; International Workmen, Plumbers' Union, Coopers' Union, 
 Pattern-makers' White Cigar-makers' Association; of the Pacific Coast; 
 Wharf-builders' Protective Association, Los Angeles Trades-Council, Local 
 Assembly 855, Knights of Labor, of Sacramento. 
 
 The Federation of Trades, when formed, included nearly all of the above. 
 The following were elected officers: Frank Roney, president; Patrick 
 McGreal, vice-president; T. W. Parkin, recording secretary; G. F. Wenzel, 
 financial secretary; E. McKinley, corresponding secretary; W. C. Owen, 
 statistical secretary; P. F. Murphy, treasurer; Committee on Organization, 
 B. G. Haskell, P. Ross Martin, W. C. Owen, P. McGreal, L. N. Ahrens, 
 H. W. Hutton; Edward Anderson, sergeant-at-arms; Finance Committee, 
 M. Schneider, George Bayless, J. H. Ranons; Committee on Credentials, 
 D. J. McCarthy, D. Chisholm, J. M. Clark; Committee on Reports, George 
 Bayless, J. McDermott, E. McKinley. 
 
 After the adoption of a constitution, the Federation went ahead with its 
 business. Since its organization, it has been very active in organizing local 
 unions, and has taken an active and highly successful part in several move- 
 ments. 
 
 THE LABOR QUESTION IN COLORADO. 
 
 Until within six or seven years, organized labor in Colorado and adjacent 
 Territories has not amounted to much. The first organization in Colorado 
 was Typographical Union No. 49, of Denver, chartered June 3, 1860. Now 
 all the trades in Denver and in the principal towns of the State and Terri-
 
 612 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 tories are organized. Denver has a trades-assembly, in which the unions are 
 represented by delegates. In Leadville, Cheyenne, Ogden, Salt Lake, etc., 
 the workers are principally organized in assemblies of the Knights of Labor. 
 There was no important contest of labor and capital in that region until the 
 great miners' strike in Leadville, iSSo. This was caused by an attempt to 
 reduce the wages of the miners from $4.00 and $6.00 per day to a uniform 
 price of $3.00. The miners were organized into what was publicly known as 
 the Miners' Union, but which were the Knights of Labor in their old, secret 
 style. A majority of the 4,000 or 5,000 employees of the mines were in this 
 organization. It decided to strike, after attempting to settle by arbitration. 
 Some "scabs" were secured, but only a small force remained in the mines, 
 and most of them were entirely shut down. The union, after getting most 
 of those at work to leave, found the mines guarded by armed men, who, in 
 some instances, fired on the union men. Excitement ran high. Both sides 
 made public procession. A " Safety Committee of One Hundred, "as it called 
 itself, issued peremptory orders that certain leaders of the strike leave town. 
 Only three obeyed. Influenced by misrepresentations, Governor Pitkin pro- 
 claimed martial law in Leadville, although he afterward said that the only 
 disorderly element he could find there was that opposing the Miners' Union. 
 The miners were beaten in the end; and it subsequently transpired that the 
 whole affair was a stock-jobbing scheme, worked up by the owners of the 
 property. 
 
 The next important event in labor circles in this region was the strike 
 of the Union Pacific Railway employees, May i, 1884, against a reduction 
 of wages. The men organized, the shops were closed, and freight trains 
 stopped. Assemblies of Knights of Labor were formed. Denver was made 
 headquarters, and committees and organizers were sent all over the road. In 
 three days, the company withdrew its order, and business was resumed. The 
 men continued to organize. In August, a reduction was attempted by cut- 
 ting a few at a time. Again work was suspended. A committee was sent to 
 the company headquarters, and on the second day the reduction was with- 
 drawn. A plan of concilation between the men and the company was then 
 agreed upon, which is still in operation, and no serious trouble has since 
 resulted. 
 
 In October, 1884, the coal-miners of Colorado, Wyoming and Utah organ- 
 ized at the various camps into assemblies of the Knights of Labor, formed a 
 central organization, and with some of the operators created what they called 
 a " Conciliation Board," for the purpose of settling differences as to wages, 
 weights and screens, which had arisen at nearly all the mines. Failing to 
 settle, a strike was ordered at most of the mines, and a bitter struggle began, 
 the hardest fight being with the Colorado Coal & Iron Co. " Scab" were 
 brought from the East and South, and worked under guards, families were 
 turned out of company-houses, and a great deal of bad blood was shown. 
 The trouble lasted through two months ; but it finally died out. The strikers 
 won in some places and lost in others, the principal defeat being by the Colo- 
 rado Coal & Iron Co. But the central organization of miners and the Con- 
 ciliation Board were demolished ; and now the miners look out for their interests 
 locally, through their assemblies. Just at the close, on May 5, 1885, was in- 
 augurated the celebrated Rio Grande strike. The Rio Grande Railroad Com-
 
 APPENDIX. 613 
 
 pany, then in the hands of a receiver, began to discharge and otherwise 
 discriminate against members of the Knights of Labor. Six men were un- 
 justly discharged from the Denver shops, and the superintendent refused to 
 reinstate or bring definite charges "against them. It was decided to strike 
 against this tyrannical action, although against the wish of a great many, 
 who feared a contest with a road in the hands of the United States courts. 
 The contest was one of the bitterest ever known in labor annals. Deputy 
 United States marshals abounded, and the men were not allowed to go near the 
 trainmen to persuade them not to work. Dynamite was placed on the track, 
 and engines were blown up, but no lives were lost. Men were sent to jail for 
 months for asking trainmen to leave the trains. The court decided that em- 
 ployees refusing to obey the order to keep off the company's ground, the com- 
 pany being in the hands of a receiver, were guilty of contempt of court, and 
 men were imprisoned on this charge. Later developments go to show that 
 the placing of dynamite on the tracks, and similar outrages, were done by 
 deputies, who were drawing $5 per day, and who wanted the excitement con- 
 tinued. The strike was finally lost for lack of funds. 
 
 THE NATIONAL GRANGE OF THE PATRONS 
 OF HUSBANDRY. 
 
 It is a remarkable coincidence, that the number of founders of the Grange 
 was the same as of the Knights of Labor. From a union of ideas and efforts, 
 by seven earnest men in each case, has sprung a great organization that 
 covers the whole country. So far as known, also, six of the original founders 
 are now living, another coincidence with the founders of the Knights of 
 Labor. 
 
 In January, 1866, Mr. O. H. Kelley, a clerk under the National Commis- 
 sioner of Agriculture, was sent through the South, returning to Washington, 
 April 21. He was impressed with the disorganization of the farmers of that 
 section, and, after much thought, came to the conclusion that they should be 
 organized into a secret league, devoted to their interests. He consulted Mr. 
 J. R. Thompson, an officer in the Treasury Department, and Mr. William M. 
 Ireland, chief clerk in the finance division of the Post-Office Department, to 
 which Mr. Kelley had been transferred. Both of them were Masons, and they 
 cordially indorsed the ideas of Mr. Kelley. Finding the need of the opinions 
 of a practical agriculturist, they invited Mr. William Saunders, superintendent 
 of the gardens and grounds of the Department of Agriculture, to join them. 
 He consented. Wanting further advice, they invited Rev. John Trimble, of 
 the Treasury Department, to criticise their labors. After a season, Rev. A. 
 B. Grosh, then a clerk in the Agricultural Department, and Mr. F. M. Mc- 
 Dowell, of Wayne, N. Y., were induced to labor with the other five; and 
 these seven constituted the immortal founders of the Patrons of Husbandry. 
 For nearly two years, they labored in preparing a scheme of organization, 
 based on a ritual of four degrees each, for men and women. Having formed 
 a constitution adapted to this ritual to govern them, they met, December 4,
 
 614 APPENDIX. 
 
 1867, in the little brown building on the corner of Four-and-a-half street and 
 Missouri avenue, and then and there constituted themselves as the National 
 Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry, with Saunders as master, Thompson 
 as lecturer, Ireland as treasurer and Kelley as secretary. The other offices 
 were left vacant. For four years they labored zealously. Kelley resigned his 
 clerkship and went, with neither scrip nor money, among the unknown 
 farmers of the Northwest, to spread the Order. His only letter of credit was 
 a sort of "To Whom it May Concern" epistle. He organized a grange at 
 Harrisburg, Penn., one at Fredonia, N. Y., one at Columbus, O., and perhaps 
 one or two others on his way to Northern Minnesota. His expenses were 
 met by the $15 charter-fee of the granges he organized, and occasional pit- 
 tances from his friends in Washington. 
 
 For four years this septuary brotherhood met frequently, and formally once 
 a year as a National Grange. A quorum was not always present. At the 
 Third Annual Session, Worthy Master Saunders delivered his inaugural, with 
 Secretary Kelley as his sole auditory. When he finished, he asked leave to 
 print in the next day's papers, which was granted. 
 
 The constitution required that every subordinate grange should be composed 
 of not less than rtine men and four women ; and that fifteen such granges might 
 ask for organization as a State grange. The first State grange was organized 
 in Minnesota, February 23, 1869. By the Fifth Annual Session of the National 
 Grange, January 3, 1872, about 200 granges had been organized ; and during 
 1872, 1,074 were organized, abqut half of which were in Iowa and South Caro- 
 lina. In 1873, 8,668 subordinate granges were organized, and 11,941 in 1874. 
 Then came the attempt at t co-operation and arbitration. The organization 
 flourished marvelously. But lack of discipline, jealousy and envy soon 
 wrought great injury. Politicians and other designing men began to get con- 
 trol of the granges. One grange was organized by forty-five bank-presidents, 
 wholesale dealers, speculators, etc., in New York, and represented probably 
 as many million dollars. In such ways was the foundation of the Order 
 sapped. Reduced prcei^ secured for members of the granges from manu- 
 facturers under "confidential" pledges, were revealed, and damaged both 
 sides. However, the prices remained reduced to a large extent. A perfect 
 system of crop-reports was also adopted. Co-operative stores were estab- 
 lished, which save large sums annually to their customers. 
 
 The Journal of Proceedings of the Nineteenth Annual Session, held at Bos- 
 ton, November 11-20, 1885, makes a pamphlet of 230 pages. It shows that 
 the National Grange has about $50,000 in its treasury, and that since 1882 its 
 receipts have more than met expenses. During 1885, 90 original charters 
 were issued, divided among 23 States; and 150 dormant granges were reor- 
 ganized between September i, 1884, and September i, 1885. 
 
 SOCIALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 The industrial movement in this country is represented by the Trades- 
 unions and Knights of Labor. In addition to this, there is a special move- 
 ment, in which many labor organizations heartily sympathize, that makes
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 finance the prominent issue. This, of course, assumes the political form. 
 The movement grew out of the National Labor Congress immediately after 
 the war. 
 
 In the early chapters of the history, we have given some account of the 
 growth of Socialism. It was not until at the close of the war, that the pres- 
 ent form of this movement became manifest. At present, we have the Social- 
 istic Labor Party, the International Working-people's Association and the 
 International Workingmen's Association. The Socialistic Labor Party at 
 one time organized under the name of the Workingmen's Party of the United 
 States. Its principles and measures are largely those now indorsed by the 
 Knights of Labor. This association had no affiliation with the anarchists. 
 Anarchy means individualism, and it has gone to rot. Socialism means the 
 introduction of democracy or republicanism in the economic as well as the po- 
 litical relations of men. Socialism makes no war upon capital; but its object 
 is to demand the abolition of the control of the natural resources or natural 
 wealth of the world by individuals or corporations. They believe in the 
 national reservation of the land, control of the railroads, telephones, tele- 
 graphs, mines, and, finally, of all industries by the government. 
 
 The conservative leaders of the socialistic movement in America are largely 
 the disciples of Carl Marx, and are at perfect harmony with the trades-unions. 
 Some of them became refugees from Germany, immediately after the revolu- 
 tions of 1848. One of the best representatives of this movement is Mr. F. A. 
 Sorga, of Hoboken, New Jersey, a man of education and deep discernment. 
 He is of a retiring, modest disposition, and seldom associated publicly with 
 the movement. He has accomplished a great deal in the distribution of the 
 literature of the movement. One of the first societies to promulgate socialism 
 was the Turnverein. Resolutions adopted by them show their hearty sympa- 
 thy with the labor movement. They have proved their love for our country 
 and its institutions, not only on the battle-field as soldiers, but in the civil 
 walks of life as citizens. The International Working-peoples' Association 
 favor the destruction of the existing class-rule, the establishment of the co- 
 operative organizations of production, exchange of equivalent products with- 
 out profit, regulation of all public affairs by free contracts. Members of this 
 organization are divided in their opinions, some of them inclining to the 
 socialistic, and some of them to the anarchist opinion. The papers published 
 in the interest of this organization are largely anarchist, and the anarchists 
 themselves seem to be divided into two classes : those who believe in violent 
 denunciation and agitation, and those who believe in violent action. As a 
 rule, it is not safe to judge any organization by the papers conducted under 
 individual control, like Der FreJteit, Most's New York paper, or the Alarm, 
 formerly edited by A. R. Parsons, which generally express the individual 
 opinions of the writer. 
 
 The Inquirer, of Denver, Col., which is claimed as an advocate of this 
 organization, is an ably conducted and moderately radical sheet. It favors 
 the Knights of Labor, Trades-union organizations, and all legitimate means 
 of the solution of the labor problem ; and, while condemning violence, claims 
 the advantage of the liberty of speech and of action, and utters manful pro- 
 tests against the evils of the wage-system. 
 
 The International Workingmen's Association is also largely socialistic.
 
 (5i6 APPENDIX. 
 
 They claim that the first duty is to educate the masses, prepare for the coming 
 days of the revolution, and to so direct that there may be secured, as a result, 
 a system of co-operation which will insure justice to all. In some of the 
 larger cities, communistic societies exist, composed largely of French refu- 
 gees and French citizens. Among the members of these societies, we find, as 
 in the case of the Internationalists, both socialists and anarchists. The So- 
 cialistic party, as a rule, look to the establishment of a political party, and the 
 control of the government, political and economical, by the wage-labor class. 
 Their measures are similar to those advocated by other labor organizations. 
 It can be said of the International and Socialistic propaganda that its speakers 
 and writers are fluent in language, persistent in effort and determined in 
 purpose.
 
 BIOGRAPHY. 
 
 [IN sketching the biographies of those who are or have been prominent leaders in the labor 
 movement, only the barest outlines can be given. These outlines could well be filled in with 
 Interesting incident or instructive anecdote; but space forbids.] 
 
 ARTHUR, PETER M., was born in Scotland, about fifty-five years ago, and came to America 
 when ten years of age, going to live on the farm of an uncle in New York; at the age of 
 seventeen, he removed to Schenectady, N. Y., where, with money he had saved, he pur- 
 chased a horse and wagon, and started a small jobbing business ; when he was about 
 eighteen years old, he got employment as wiper in an engine-house of the New York & 
 Central Railroad, at Schenectady; he rose speedily to be fireman, and then engineer; he 
 was early attracted to the organization of his craft, and in February, iS74,.was chosen to its 
 highest office; since that date, he has been annually re-elected to the office of Chief En. 
 gineer of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers ; his official headquarters, and conse- 
 quently his residence, are at Cleveland, O. ; his policy of using all conciliatory means in the 
 settlement of difficulties, before resorting to strikes, has brought him into wideand favorable 
 notice everywhere; under his administration, there have been but few serious strikes, and 
 these occurred mostly in the early part of his incumbency; he possesses, in an unusual 
 degree, the confidence of the order over which he presides ; his public addresses have 
 become noted for their vigor of language and plain-speaking. 
 
 BAILEY, \V. H. Is a Canadian, and a native of Hamilton, Ontario; Mr. Bailey has done the 
 cause good service, and is highly esteemed by his associates for the qualities that make up 
 :i straightforward and manly character. 
 
 BARRY, JAMES H., of San Francisco, is about 30 years old; is an eloquent and convincing 
 orator and brilliant \vriter ; editor and proprietor of Weekly Star, a Labor organ ; was 
 member of State Legislature a few years ago, and made an excellent record as an advocate 
 of Labor and Reform. 
 
 BARRY, THOMAS B. Born, July 17, 1852,. at Cohoes, N. Y. ; in 1860 went to work in knitting, 
 mill, hours being from 5 A. M. to 6.30 P. M. ; wages, $6.00 per month ; first joined Carders' 
 Union in 1867, which lived but a short time; in 1867 left knitting-mills to learn axe-polishing, 
 but as company wanted six months' work for nothing, helped axe-makers instead; in 1869 
 effort was made to organize the trade, without success'; for his share in strikes was black- 
 listed by Manufacturers' Association, preventing him from getting work, and causing much 
 distress to himself and family; directed the strike for ten hours in Saginaw Valley, from 
 eleven and a half to twelve in saw-mills, and from fourteen to eighteen in lumber camps; 
 xvas arrested five times for leading strikes ; put under $30,000 bail, and sued by a lumber 
 king for $10,000 damages ; acquitted in one criminal suit, four still pending; in civil suit, 
 judgment of $2.90 against him, but was appealed, and is now in supreme court. The 
 strike was a success. 
 
 BUCHANAN, JOSEPH R. Born in Hannibal, Marion County, Mo., December 6, 1851; educated 
 in grammar pay-schools till 13; began earning his living; educated himself further, espe- 
 cially for business ; at 19, kept books for large grain commission-house in Illinois ; clerked 
 until 1875; learned printing business; in 1876, edited and managed The Republican, daily, 
 Louisiana, Pike county, Mo.; worked as printer and reporter on local papers in 1877 and 
 
 6l 7
 
 6l8 BIOGRAPHY. 
 
 1878; went to Denver, November. 1878; compiled biographies of Colorado (1878) Legisla- 
 ture; managing editor of the Democrat, and business-manager six months of the Daily 
 Republican, which succeeded the Democrat ; joint-owner of a job office; in 1879 made hon. 
 orary member of Typographical Union No. 49, and went to Leadville and worked at the 
 case until the spring of iSSo; was discharged for sympathizing with striking miners; 
 returned to Denver in iSSi, and worked at the case; in 1882, delegate to International Typo- 
 graphical Union, at St. Louis; started Labor Enquirer, December 16, 188.2, with S. II. 
 Laverty; soon bought him out; joined Knights of Labor as charter member of Labor 
 Assembly 2327, December, 1882; organized the Union Pacific Railroad men in 1884, and 
 settled strikes in May and August, on friendly terms, still continuing; delegate to General 
 Assembly, at Philadelphia, 1884; then chosen member of General Executive Board; not a 
 candidate for^e-election; chosen assistant member at Cleveland. 
 
 CARLTON, ALBERT A., was born in Lynn, Mass., in 1847; at the age of ten vears he began 
 work in a shoe-shop, to add to the income of his father's family ; he worked at his trade 
 until July 16, 1865, when at the age of 17, he enlisted for the war ; after meritorious ser- 
 vices in the army, he returned to Lynn, and entered the shops as a shoe-cutter; he displayed 
 an early interest in labor organizations, and was a member of the first cutters' unions, also 
 of the Knights of St. Crispin ; he was prominently identified with the Lynn Workingmen's 
 Association, whose purposes were political; in 1877 he joined the Knights of Labor, as a 
 member of Local Assembly 1715; he at once displayed ability as an organizer, and was 
 chosen Master Workman of the district at its first session, an office from which he retired 
 at Lowell, January 19, 1886, having rendered brilliant services as an organizer of the Order; 
 on his retirement he was presented with a gold watch and chain as a testimonial; he was 
 elected delegate to the General Assembly at Detroit, 1879, but was unable to attend, owing 
 to the lack of funds in the treasury; he served in General Assemblies at Cincinnati, Phila- 
 delphia, Hamilton, Cleveland and Richmond; January, iSS6, his conspicuous ability as a 
 public speaker, gained him an appointment at the hands of the Executive Board as general 
 lecturer for the Order; in this latter position he has traveled far and wide, and delivered a 
 large number of speeches. 
 
 CLINE, ISAAC. Born at Winslow, N. J., January 12, 1835; when young, worked in window- 
 glass factory; in early life, lived in Cincinnati, Millville, N. J., Winslow, Pittsburgh, and 
 Croton, Penn.; in 1852, came again to Pittsburgh; apprenticed to learn blowing window- 
 glass ; went to Wheeling; again to Pittsburgh, where he joined first window-glass workers' 
 organization, May, 1858 ; to Croton, in 1859, where he worked till May, 1861 ; formed a com- 
 pany of volunteers, joined looth Pennsylvania, remained in service till July 27, 1865, serving 
 with honorable distinction; became identified with Window-glass Blowers' Union in 1872; 
 president of Artsman's Association; in iSSi, chosen president of Local Assembly 300, and 
 held place ever since; in 1884, helped organize window-glass workers of Europe, and 
 form Universal Federation of Window-glass Workers, being its first president. 
 
 COOK, WILLIAM. Born in Philadelphia, March 4, 1822; his grandfather on the maternal side 
 was a Swede, and on the paternal side, English; attended the public schools until fifteen; 
 apprenticed to the tailor's trade, serving six years ; joined the Garment-cutters' Association 
 in 1865; has been Worthy Foreman of his local for the past twelve years; his average 
 attendance is the best in the local, being absent on an average from but four meetings a year. 
 
 GRAIN, WILLIAM H., of Cuero, Texas, was born at Galveston, Texas, November 25, 1848 ; gradu- 
 ated at Saint Francis Xavier's College, New York city, July i, 1867, and received the degree 
 of A- M several years afterwards ; studied law in the office of Stockdale & Proctor, Indian- 
 ola, and was admitted to practice in February, 1871 ; has practised law since that time ; was 
 elected a State Senator on the Democratic ticket in February, 1876 ; was elected as the Demo- 
 cratic candidate for district-attorney of the Twenty-third Judicial District of Texas in 
 November, 1872; and was elected to the Forty-ninth Congress as a Democrat. 
 
 DALEY, EDWARD L. Born in Danvers, Mass., October 6, 1855; educated in common schools 
 until eleven; admitted to Holten high school in Danvers; graduated there at thirteen; 
 apprenticed at shoemaker's trade, and worked at that, especially lasting, ever since; was 
 member of Knights of St. Crispin in Danvers and Lynn; one of the sixteen who founded
 
 BIOGRAPHY. 619 
 
 Lasters' Protective Union in Lynn, in 1879, which was named by him ; was its first secre- 
 tary, and member of its Advisory Board its first two years ; was chosen general secretary 
 of Lasters' Protective Union of New England in April, 1885 ; unanimously re-elected in 
 1886; author of petition to Legislature of 1885 to abolish convict-labor; was among first to 
 organize Lasters' Protective Unions in shoe-towns of Maine and New Hampshire; mem* 
 ber of Local Assembly 715, Knights of Labor, since its organization. 
 
 DOUGLAS, WILLIAM L., shoe-manufacturer, of Brockton, Mass., was born in Plymouth, 
 Mass., August 22, 1845, and was educated in his native place. He was a member of the 
 Brockton Common Council in 1881 and 1882; and was a member of the House in 1882 and 
 1883, serving on the Committee on Towns the first year, and on the Finance Committee in 
 1883; member of Massachusetts Senate, 1886. 
 
 DYER, JOSIAH B., was born at Village of Cross, parish of Luxillian, county of Cornwall, 
 England, January 5, 1843 ; joined Operative Stone-masons' Society, of England and Wales, . 
 when between seventeen and eighteen years old ; learned stone-cutting on granite, freestone 
 and limestone ; before coming to this country worked for John Freeman & Sons, of Penryn, 
 Cornwall, for about eight years ; landed at Castle Garden, in March, 1871 ; worked at Fall 
 River, Dix Island, East Cambridge, Boston, Graniteville, Mass., Ayer Junction, Lowell, 
 etc.; he was elected Secretary of Granite-cutters' Union, November, 1878, to fill unexpired 
 term of T. H. Murch ; his brother, J. Edward Dyer, was General Secretary of the O. S. M. 
 Society, of England and Wales, for about eleven years, and dying in office, the union 
 erected a monument to his memory in Sheffield; he was born in a trades-union family, 
 father and brothers being all union men; he was one of the charter members of the first 
 Local Assembly of the Knights of Labor organized in Boston; as Secretary of the Granite- 
 cutters' Union, he was removed, with headquarters of union, from Rockland to Boston, 
 from Boston to Westerly, R. I., from Westerly, to Quincy, Mass., from Quincy to Phila- 
 delphia. 
 
 FARQUHAR, JOHN M., of Buffalo, was born near Ayr, Scotland, April 17, 1832; was educated 
 at Ayr Academy; has been for thirty-three years a printer, editor, or publisher; is now a 
 manufacturer of lubricants ; was president of the National Typographical Union two terms, 
 1860-62; enlisted in the Union Army as a private in the Eighty-ninth Illinois Infantry, rose 
 to the rank of major, and served as judge-advocate and as inspector on the staff's of Generals 
 Willich, Beatty, and Wood in the Fourth Army Corps; participated in all the battles of the 
 former Twentieth (McCook's) and Fourth Army Corps, excepting Missionary Ridge; never 
 held civic office until elected to the Forty-ninth Congress as a Republican. 
 
 FORAN, MARTIN AMBROSE, of Cleveland, was born at Choconut, Susquehanna County, Penn., 
 November n, 1844; received a public-school and collegiate education; spent two terms in 
 Saint Joseph's College, Susquehanna, Penn.; taught school three years; served in the 
 Fourth Pennsylvania Cavalry from April, 1864, to July, 1865, as private; is a cooper by 
 trade; was a member of the Constitutional Convention of Ohio, 1873; is a lawyer by pro- 
 fession, having been admitted, 1874, in the District Court of Cincinnati; was prosecuting 
 attorney for the city of Cleveland, from April, 1875, to April, 1877; was elected to the 
 Forty -eighth Congress, and was re-elected to the Forty-ninth Congress as a Democrat. 
 
 FOSTER, FRANK K., was born in Palmer (Thorndike), Mass., December 18, 1855; was edu- 
 cated in common schools and at Monson Academy ; learned the printer's trade at the office 
 of the Churchman, Hartford, Conn., afterwards working as compositor in various cities; 
 his first connection with the labor movement was as a member of the Hartford Typographi- 
 cal Union, of which he was secretary; he came to Boston in iSSo, and was president of the 
 Cambridge Typographical Union, from which body he went as a delegate to the Interna- 
 tional Union, at St. Louis; by the latter body he was chosen delegate to the Federation of 
 Trades Convention, at Cleveland, O. ; he was delegate to this same body, in 1883, repre- 
 senting the Boston Central Trades and Labor Union, and was* chosen secretary; first 
 joined the Knights of Labor as a member of Local Assemby 2006, and was elected delegate 
 to Convention of District 30, June, 1882; elected Secretary of District 30,1883; delegate to 
 General Assembly, at Cincinnati, 1883; elected chairman of the Executive Board of the 
 General Assembly at that session ; he has served as delegate to General Assemblies at Phila-
 
 62O BIOGRAPHY. 
 
 delphia, Hamilton, Clevchuul and Richmond; has been a member of Executive Board of 
 District No. 30 ever since its existence; September 30, 1886, nominated for Lieutentant. 
 Governor of Massachusetts, by the Democratic Convention, at Worcester; founder and 
 present editor of Haverhill (Mass.) Daily and Weekly Laborer. 
 
 FOSTER, WILLIAM H., secretary of the Federation of Trades, was born in Liverpool, Eng. 
 land, May 3, 1847; taught school when but fifteen; went to learn the printing business, 
 July i, 1862, at Porta Down, county Armagh, Ireland, serving four years; finished his 
 trade in Berylyton Steaip Printing Works, Liverpool ; became a journeyman, July i, 1869; 
 joined Liverpool Typographical Society as apprentice member; soon as had finished ap- 
 prenticeship secured situation in Buxton, Derbyshire; came to America early in October, 
 1873; stayed in Philadelphia four or five weeks; went to Cincinnati; worked on Gazette 
 till the celebrated lockout on July 18, 1874; went to Philadelphia soon after; in June, 1877, 
 went to Cincinnati Enquirer ; in 1878, elected president of Typographical Union No. 3 and 
 secretary of Trades-Assembly, in formation of which he was a moving spirit; here ac- 
 quired the title of the " Original Boycotter " ; was leader in the successful efforts to make 
 the Enquirer, Sun, Gazette and Commercial union offices; February 14, 1880, with Patrick 
 Caulfield, started the Exponent, one of the pioneer labor papers; about this time elected 
 delegate to the Twenty -eighth Session of the International Typographical Union; was 
 chairman on committee on amalgamated unions, etc., whose action finally culminated in 
 the first Trades-union Convention, at Pittsburgh, in November, 1 88 1, when he represented 
 the Cincinnati Trades-assembly , elected secretary of the convention, which selected for the 
 title of the new organization, " Federation of Trades and Labor Unions of the United 
 States and Canada"; was secretary two years; at convention in Washington, 1885, was 
 again elected secretary; in 1883, went to Philadelphia Evening' Call, began active warfare 
 against the non-union papers of that city ; elected president of Typographical Union No. 2, 
 in April, 1884; was delegate from No. 2 to preliminary meeting of Central Labor Union, of 
 which body he has been secretary ever since.. 
 
 GEORGE, HENRY. Born September 2, 1839, in Philadelphia, of an old Pennsylvania family; 
 educated in public schools until thirteen; classmate of Rev. R. Heber Newton; office 
 boy in commercial house two years; went to sea; visited every part of the globe; returned 
 to Philadelphia after two years; was printer short time; went to sea again; wenttoCali- 
 forniaand British Columbia; became compositor in San Francisco; in 1867 became a re- 
 porter; in five months became manager of the paper; in iS6S, visited New York ; interested 
 in social question; wrote " Our Land and Our Land Policy"; in 1870, became editor of 
 Sacramento paper; removed for opposing Pacific Railroad Company; started San Fran- 
 cisco Daily Post, originally Republican; joined Democrats in 1872; represented California 
 in convention that nominated Greeley; began writing " Progress and Poverty "in 1877; 
 finished in 1879; in 1880, removed to New York; since then has visited England, Ireland 
 and Scotland ; spoke on land question all over the Kingdom ; is author of several books on 
 social problems, which have been translated in many languages, and given him wide repu- 
 tation; has also written much of leading American and English magazines. 
 
 HAVKS, JOHN W. Born in Philadelphia, December 26, 1854; when nine, was taken to Europe 
 by parents, and remained several years; upon return, through financial reverses of family, 
 went to work as brakeman on Pennsylvania railroad; served for eight years; settled in 
 New Brunswick, N, J.; still lives there; in 1878, while on duty, was thrown on track, 
 and train passed over his right arm, necessitating amputation; compelled to seek other 
 employment, became a telegraph operator; in 1883, was delegate to the Chicago Telegraph, 
 ers' Convention, which ordered the great strike, in which he took a prominent part; upon 
 failure of strike, went into grocery business ; now owns two large stores in New Bruns. 
 wick ; is one of the most prominent Knights of Labor in New Jersey, and his connection 
 with the Order dates back to 1874; in 1879, he, with the assistance of several others, called 
 the first New Jersey Congress, and has since been its president twice. 
 
 HILSKB, JAMES MADISON. Born in the old <'Dock" ward, now fifth, Philadelphia, Octo. 
 ber 2, 1821; attended private schools until nearly sixteen; then worked for his father, a 
 tailor; is of the sixth generation of Anierican stock which came originally from England; 
 was member of the volunteer (hose) fire company from twenty-one until the disbandment
 
 BIOGRAPHY. 621 
 
 of the volunteer fire department; the annals of the fire department of Philadelphia con- 
 tain accounts of his daring- feats in saving life and property; Mr. Ililsee is a bachelor; was 
 one of the founders of the Garment-cutters' Association, and an active member in it until its 
 dissolution; is an active member of his Knights of Labor assembly, and devotes much 
 time and attention to the progress of the Order in the Quaker City. 
 
 HOWARD, ROBERT. Born in Northwich, Cheshire, Eng., of Irish parents, 1844 or l ^S< a * 
 eight, set to learn piecing in a Macclesfield silk-mill; removed to Bollington, where he 
 got work as a piecer ; moved to Stockport, where he got work as a bobbin-boy, being then 
 but ten years old; at fifteen he became a spinner; at twenty -five, president of the Spinners' 
 Union; declined offer as overseer, because he could not do the domineering required; 
 prominent in the agitation for nine hours in textile industries ; by conciliatory advice 
 averted many strikes; in 1873, he came to Fall River; worked three years as spinner in the 
 Flint Mill ; in 1878, chosen secretary of the Fall River Spinners' Association ; in 1879, 
 chosen its permanent secretary; in iSSo, chosen to the State House of Representatives, 
 receiving the nomination of both parties, where he was foremost among the supporters of 
 labor legislation ; declined a renomination ; in 1882, his friends in England sent him 
 a splendid testimonial, to show their appreciation of his services ; began the agitation, in 
 Rhode Island, in 1883, for ten hours for women and children ; prevailed on Governor 
 Bourne to recommend such legislation, which was enacted in 1885 ; also advocated ten hours 
 before the Maine Legislative Labor Committee; has frequently advocated labor reform 
 measures before Massachusetts legislative committees ; in 1885, chosen to State Senate 
 from Second Bristol District as a Democrat; also became associate editor of Wade's Fibre 
 and Fabric; from 1881 to 1885, he was treasurer of the Federation of Trades and Labor 
 Unions of the United States and Canada; was once secretary of the National Cotton, 
 spinners' Association; in May, 1885, the Cotton-spinners' Union of Fall River formed an 
 assembly of the Knights of Labor, unanimously adopted his name and chose him as secre- 
 t tary. Mr. Howard, although a leader in labor matters, has always commanded the respect 
 of both sides to an unusual degree. 
 
 JARRETT, JOHN. Born January 27, 1843, at Elbow Vale, Monmouthshire, Eng., of Welsh par- 
 entage ; left an orphan at twelve ; put to work in iron-mill ; at eighteen, came to America ; 
 went to Duncanville, Blair County, Penn.; worked as puddler four years; in November, 
 1865, went to Lochiel Mill, near Harrisburg; joined Puddlers' Union ; in 1867 went to Eng. 
 land to settle property affairs ; remained there four years ; worked at his trade ; became head 
 of Workingmen's Union, and won strike against reduction of wages ; such a victory re- 
 markable against the odds ; in 1872 returned to America ; joined Sons of Vulcan ; chosen a 
 vice-president in 1873 ; was prominent in organizing Amalgamated Association ; chosen a 
 vice-president and trustee; in 1879, chosen president to fill vacancy; in iSSi , chairman of 
 Federation of Trades ; re-elected president of Amalgamated Association for three terms, 
 retiring in October, 1883; chosen secretary of American Tinned-Plate Association, which 
 office he now holds. 
 
 JONES, FRANK W., of Lynn, Mass., is foreman in a shoe-factory; was born in Stoughton, 
 Mass., August 20, 1855, and was educated in the public schools ; a member of the House the 
 past two years ; he served on the Committee on Election-Laws the first year, and on the 
 Committee on Public Charitable Institutions the second; member of Massachusetts Sen- 
 ate, 1866. 
 
 KEEN, ROBERT WILLIAMSON. Born in the old district of Spring Garden, April 8, 1832; traces 
 ancestry back to 1638, to old Swedish settlers, before Penn's time; name then spelt "Kyn"; 
 served apprenticeship to his father, a tailor ; worked as journeyman until the war ; enlisted 
 for three-months' service in tyie Twenty-second Pennsylvania; re-enlisted in the Ninety-ninth 
 Pennsylvania for three years ; was wounded severely at the battle of Fredericksburg, De- 
 cember 13, 1862, but soon recovering, again took the field; was mustered out at the expira- 
 tion of his term of service; is a member of Curry Post, No. 18, G. A. R. ; joined the Gar- 
 ment-cutters' Association in 1867; at formation of first local assembly Knights of Labor he 
 was chosen Worthy Foreman. 
 
 KENNEDY, JOSEPH SMITH. Born in Philadelphia, February i, 1821, of American parents; 
 his great-great-grandfather was Scotch; his grandmother was one of the numerous families
 
 622 BIOGRAPHY. 
 
 of Smiths of Chester County; educated at private school until fifteen; at sixteen appren- 
 ticed to a tailor; served five years; joined the Garment-cutters' Association two or three 
 months after its formation, and was treasurer for some years, and until its dissolution ; held 
 the office of treasurer at the formation of the Knig-hts of Labor, and was also elected 
 Unknown Knight, retaining his office as treasurer until 1879. 
 
 LAWLER, FRANK, of Chicago, was born at Rochester, N. Y., June 25, 1842; attended a public 
 school until thirteen years of age, when, owing to a serious accident which befell his 
 father, he was compelled to leave school and seek employment in a brick-yard, where he 
 continued to labor for two years ; was news-agent on railroads for three years ; learned the 
 trade of ship-builder, was elected president of the Ship-carpenters' and Ship-calkers' Asso- 
 ciation, and took an active part in organizing trade and labor unions; became agent for 
 The Work in g man's Adr'ocaie, a newspaper; was appointed, upon the request of the trade 
 and labor organizations, to a position in the Chicago post-office, which he held from 1869 to 
 1877; was elected a member of the Chicago City Council from the eighth ward in April, 
 1876, and was re-elected in 1878, iSSo, 1882 and 1884; engaged in business in 1878 at Chicago 
 as a liquor merchant, and was elected to the Forty-ninth Congress as a Democrat. 
 
 LEFFINGWELL, SAMUEL LANGDALE. Born at Chillicothe, Ohio, of English and Scotch de- 
 scent; was early apprenticed to a printer, and has always followed that trade; in July, 1850, 
 he became a member of the Cincinnati Typographical Union, and has held important offices 
 in printers' unions; in February, 1852, formed such a union at Columbus, Ohio; in 1856, 
 was made president of the Cincinnati Typographical Union ; in July, president of the one 
 at Columbus; in July, 1875, joined the Knights of Labor, at Indianapolis; was commis- 
 sioned organizer, and has organized more than a score of assemblies ; represented Indian- 
 apolis Trades-Assembly, at first session of Federal Congress of Trade and Labor Unions; 
 in 1882, was president of the Congress at Cleveland; has been delegate to several important 
 sessions of General Assembly Knights of Labor; in September, 1885, organized Indiana 
 State Federation Trade and Labor Unions ; chosen president twice ; established several 
 labor papers, including the former organ of the International Typographical Union ; in 
 August, 1847, enlisted for the Mexican War, and served to its close; in August, 1861, was 
 commissioned major in the Thirty-first Ohio; at battle of Mills Springs, transferred to 
 Forty-fifth; major in Eighty-seventh; made prisoner at Harper's Ferry, September 15, 1862; 
 paroled; mustered out, 1863; commanded a regiment in Southern Ohio to repel John Morgan; 
 February, 1864 enlisted as private in First Ohio Cavalry; at battles of Decatur, Rome, 
 Kenesaw, Marietta, Atlanta; January, 1865, assigned to special duty at Sherman's head- 
 quarters; honorably discharged, June n, 1865. 
 
 LOVERING, HENRY B., of Lynn, was born at Portsmouth, N. H., April 5, 1841; was educated 
 in the common schools of Lynn, and has since been connected with Lynn's great industry, 
 the manufacture of shoes; was representative to the State Legislature in 1872 and 1874; 
 was assessor In 1879 and iSSo; was Mayor of Lynn in iSSi and 1882; was elected to the 
 Forty-ninth Congress as a Democrat, supported by the People's Party. 
 
 MACAULEY, ROBERT CALVIN. Born in County Antrim, Ire., February 2, 1840; at age of nine 
 removed to Philadelphia; had strong tastes for mathematics and wonderful memory; 
 before leaving Ireland could repeat large portions of the Bible and Burns' poems ; reached 
 Philadelphia, September 2, 1849; was placed at Nixon-street School; at eleven was appren- 
 ticed to a tailor, whom he shortly left because of his drunkenness; worked with other 
 tailors for three years ; at twenty-one started in business ; was soon after married ; in 1865, 
 joined the Brotherhood of the Union; in 1866, giving up business, became a foreman, and 
 joined Garment-cutters' Association ; was chosen its secretary in 1867, and held the office 
 until its dissolution; about this time joined the Knights of Pythias; was first secretary of 
 Knights of Labor; became partner with Mr. Stephens, as R. C. Macauley & Co., 1128 
 Market street, which in time became the headquarters of the Knights of Labor; was chosen 
 Master Workman in 1871, succeeding Mr. Stephens; in his administration first Assembly 
 outside of original one was formed, Ship-carpenters and Calkers, No. 2; gave up business 
 and became foreman in wholesale clothing-house. 
 
 MAGCIRE, JAMES G., native Californian, 35 years of age ; commenced life as a farmer boy, soon 
 forsook the furrow for the anvil ; at early age secured a school, and commenced the double
 
 BIOGRAPHY. 623 
 
 task of teaching others, while studying law for himself; removed to San Francisco on being 
 admitted to practice at the bar, and in a short time secured a lucrative practice; chosen 
 judge of the Superior Court, which place he now holds; his papers on the Land Reform 
 C^uestion, published in the Weekly Star, have been widely read, and pronounced an able 
 exposition of the subject. 
 
 McB RIDE, JOHN. Born of humble parentage, in Wayne County, O., July 25, 1854; moved to 
 Massillon, 1859; at nine commenced work in a coal mine; at sixteen joined Miners' Union; 
 in 1883, by unanimous vote, elected its president, and again in 1884, 1885 and 1886; in 1881, 
 nominated by the Democrats of Stark County for representative, defeated by only sixty- 
 three votes ; in 1883, again a candidate, elected by nearly seven hundred majority ; again 
 elected in 1885; in legislature recognized as one of the leaders on the Democratic side; in 
 legislation favored the farmers; author of bill which gave first appropriation to Gettysburg 
 Memorial Fund; in 1886, Democratic candidate for secretary of State. 
 
 McGAW, HOMER L. Born at Bethlehem, O., April 8, 1845; in 1853, entered a country rinting 
 office as " devil " ; at this early age he joined in a strike, which was a success ; after leaving 
 the army, went through college on the money he had saved in the army and working in 
 coal-mines, printing offices, etc., graduating second in his class; became an accountant in 
 Pittsburgh ; before twenty -one was made cashier of the East Liberty Savings Bank, of that 
 city; in 1868, he organized the book-keepers and salesmen of the city into a union, but it 
 failed; the lessons of the panic of 1873 caused him, with others of similar views, to open 
 correspondence with Eastern labor leaders, among whom was Uriah S. Stephens, founder 
 of the Knights of Labor; one of the first assemblies of Knights was soon after organized 
 in Mr. McGaw's printing office; chosen Master Workman of District Assembly 3, in Janu- 
 ary, 1884, holding the office one year, during which time all troubles were settled satisfac- 
 torily to all concerned, without collecting or expending a cent for strikes ; chosen General 
 Insurance Secretary of the Order in 1883, and has been re-elected by acclamation at every 
 succeeding session; he has built up within the Order an assessment insurance association, 
 which has cost its members about a cent a day for an indemnity of $500, and nearly $35,000 
 has already been paid by it to widows and orphans; retained by the Trades-Assembly 
 of Western Pennsylvania to secure the repeal of the obnoxious conspiracy laws of the 
 State. 
 
 McGuiRE, PETER J. Born in New York city, July 6, 1852, of Irish parents; educated in 
 public schools; studied evenings in Cooper Institute and evening high school; took high 
 rank ia all; in 1867, apprenticed to wood-joiner; in 1872, joined Union of his trade; has 
 been very active in labor interests all his life, and very influential, being delegate repeatedly 
 to important conventions; in iSSo, secured passage of important labor bills in Missouri 
 Legislature; organized labor bureau of that State; became Greenbacker in 1876, and 
 stumped Missouri with great success in iSSo; in August, iSSi, organized Brotherhood of 
 Carpenters and Joiners; in spring of iSSi, arrested for conspiracy in labor troubles, refused 
 release on half million offered bail ; finally acquitted after seven hours' trial ; drafted call 
 for convention that formed Federation of Trades; delegate to International Workingmen's 
 Congress in Switzerland, iSSi ; studied labor movement in Europe; helped Central Labor 
 Union of New York; secured adoption of "Labor's Holiday"; since August, iSSi, Gen- 
 eral Secretary of Brotherhood of Carpenters; re-elected for next two years; extricated it 
 from debt, and put it on sound financial basis ; has lectured in every State in Union, Canada, 
 Nova Scotia and New Brunswick; addressed over 2,100 meetings; worked at his trade in 
 nearly a score of cities, and always busy in cause of labor; in May, 1886, chosen secretary 
 of National and International Trades-unions, and secretary of its standing committee; 
 these are some of the principal points in his very active connection with labor interests. 
 
 McNEiLL, GEORGE E., was born in Amesbury, Mass., August 4, 1836; his father, John Mc- 
 Neill, was one of the first to unite with his neighbor, John G. Whittier, in the anti-slavery 
 movement; he worked as a bov in the woolen-mills of his native town at the time of the 
 great strike in 1851 ; about this time he learned the shoemaker's trade; settled in Boston in 
 1856; joined the Sons of Temperance, and filled the highest offices ; he was a member of the 
 grand Eight-hour League, and founded the Workingmen's Institute; he was appointed 
 first Deputy of the Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics of Labor, under General H. K.
 
 624 
 
 BIOGRAPHY. 
 
 Oliver, serving until May, 1873; for eight years he was President of the Eight-hour 
 League, also State Secretary of the Sovereigns of Industry, and President of the Inter- 
 national Labor Union, of America, in which latter capacity he addressed public meetings 
 in many States of the Union ; in Chicago he addressed over 13,000 people, the labor socie- 
 ties having challenged Joseph Cook to meet him in debate ; he was connected as editor and 
 associate editor with the New York Labor Standard, Fall River Labor Standard, Pater- 
 son Labor Standard and Paterson Home Journal ; he has attended many labor congresses 
 and conventions in various parts of the country ; as a member of the School Committee of 
 Cambridge, Mass., succeeded in establishing free evening drawing-schools ; he was ap- 
 pointed Treasurer of District 30, Knights of Labor, May, 1884 ; was elected to that position 
 in January, 1885, and was subsequently made District Secretary -Treasurer ; re-elected unani- 
 mously in January, 1886; resigned at the July session, 1886, receiving the thanks of the 
 District Convention, appropriately engrossed on parchment, in consideration of his valua- 
 ble services; he has been successful as an arbitrator of differences between employers 
 and employees, notably in the great horse-car strike in Boston ; in 1886, represented the 
 Knights of Labor before committees of Congress in the winter and early spring of 1886. 
 
 MORROW, WILLIAM W., of San Francisco, was born near Milton, Wayne County, Ind., July 
 15, 1843; removed with his parents to Illinois in 1845, and settled in Adams County; went 
 to California in 1850; received a common-school education, supplemented by private tuition 
 in special branches ; in the spring of 1862, joined a party which discovered gold-placers on 
 the headwaters of the John Day River, in Oregon ; engaged in mining for a season ; returned 
 East in January, 1863, intending to pursue a course of studies in some Eastern college; but 
 the active operations of the government in the war of the Rebellion drew him to Washing- 
 ton, where he was appointed to a position in the office of the Secretary of the Treasury ; 
 served in the National Rifles, a military organization raised in the District of Columbia; 
 appointed Special Agent of the Treasury Department in January, 1865, and placed in charge 
 of a large shipment of treasure to California; employed during the next four years in con- 
 fidential positions under the Secretary of the Treasury; studied law, was admitted to the bar 
 in 1869, and has since been engaged in the practice of his profession ; Assistant United 
 States Attorney for California from 1870 to 1874; Chairman of the Republican State Central 
 Committee of California from 1879 to 1882; Attorney for the State Board of Harbor Com-, 
 missioners from iSSoto 1883; Chairman of the California Delegation to the National Re- 
 publican Convention at Chicago in 1884, and was elected to the Forty-ninth Congress as a 
 Republican. 
 
 O'NEILL, JOHN J., of St. Louis, was born June 25, 1846, of Irish parents ; received a com- 
 mon-school education ; was in the Government civil service during the war, and was after- 
 wards engaged in manufacturing pursuits; was elected to the State Legislature from St. 
 Louis in 1872, and re-elected in 1874 and 1876; was nominated for Congress in 1878 by the 
 Workingmen's Party, but withdrew ; was elected to the Municipal Assembly of St. Louis 
 in 1879, and re-elected in iS8i ; was elected to the Forty -eighth Congress, and was re-elected 
 to the Forty-ninth Congress as a Democrat. 
 
 PASCOE, DAVID M., born in Philadelphia, October 26, 1859; educated in public schools; at fif- 
 teen apprenticed to J. B. Lippincott & Company, publishers; served five years; remained 
 journeyman until November, 1884, when he assumed control of the Tocsin, the labor paper 
 of the Quaker City, which he still retains ; at twenty-one, joined Typographical Union 
 No. 2; in iSSi, trouble being imminent over an increase in prices, it was deemed expedient to 
 select a conservative committee to meet the employers, Mr. Pascoe was chosen, and the 
 result was an amicable adjustment of the threatened rupture; at the Pittsburgh session of 
 the International Typographical Union, the delegates from No. 2 reported five newspapers 
 unionized within a year, a creditable showing, brought about more through the conserva- 
 tive manner In which Mr. Pascoe and his co-laborers had acted towards the proprietors than 
 any other reason; in April, 1884, elected secretary of local union; re-elected in 1885; in 
 >SS6, declined a third term ; delegate to convention of International Union at Pittsburgh, and 
 chairman of his delegation ; youngest man ever selected by the Philadelphia Union as its 
 delegate to the central body; elected secretary -treasurer ; is an active member of the Central 
 Labor Union, also of Local Assembly 3879 (printers), Knights of Labor, which he organ- 
 ized; during the strike in the carpet trade, in the winter of 1884-5, he stood '" the shadow of 
 the penitentiary for his fearless advocacy of the cause of the carpet-weavers.
 
 BIOGRAPHY. 625 
 
 POWDERLY, TERENCE 'ViNCENT. Born at Carhondale, Penn., January 24, 1849, f Irish paren- 
 tage; had seven brothers and four sisters, being the eleventh child; attended school six 
 years; at thirteen became a switch tender for D. &H.C. Co.; at seventeen entered its 
 machine-shop; in 1869 went to Scranton shops of D. L. & W. R. R. Co.; in 1870 joined 
 Machinists' and Blacksmiths' National Union; soon became its president; began studying 
 the labor problem; in 1872 was married ; trades-unions too narrow for him; in November, 
 1874, joined Local Assembly No. 88, Knights of Labor ; soon induced all his union to join 
 the Knights, and they organized Local Assembly No. 222, November, 1876; in 1876 a dis- 
 trict assembly was organized, and he chosen secretary; in January, 1879, chosen General 
 Worthy Foreman ; in September, 1879, chosen Master Workman, which office he has held 
 ever since; in 1878 was chosen Mayor of Scranton, also in 1880 and 1882, declining a nomi- 
 nation in 1884; has practically reorganized the Knights of Labor; has given his whole time 
 and talents to their cause for several years, having spoken for the Order all over the United 
 States and Canada; has been prominent in the Irish Land-League movement here, being 
 chosen second vice-president in 1883. 
 
 SKEFFINGTON, HENRY J. Born March 5, 1858, at Marysvillc, Yuba County, Cal., of Irish 
 parents ; soon after removed to Philadelphia,.where has lived nearly ever since ; educated 
 in Catholic schools ; at thirteen was sent to Portage City, Wis., to study for priest's orders ; 
 after one year returned to Philadelphia; after being apprenticed to several trades, learned 
 trade of shoemaking, and has followed it ever since; reduction of wages caused hands to 
 join Knights of Labor ; he was too young to join, although desiring to, being only fifteen ; 
 joined Shoemakers' Local Assembly, No. 64, in winter of 1878 ; was soon advanced from 
 subordinate offices to be Master Workman by unanimous vote; while in that office, success- 
 fully resisted reduction of wages, and helped women employees to regain a large reduction ; 
 these women subsequently founded first local assembly of women in the Order, being Gar- 
 field Assembly, No. 1684; largely by his efforts, shoemakers got charters as "locals" of 
 their own ; in spring of 1884, organized the body Brussels carpet-weavers, the first local 
 of that trade in Philadelphia; November 15, 1884, two thousand ingrain carpet-weavers 
 voted a strike against reduction of wages; in three weeks, Mr. Skeffington had them all 
 members of Knights of Labor; in January, 1885, was sent to New York to organize shoe- 
 makers, which was done by six -weeks of hard work ; for over three years worked hard 
 and successfully toward national organization of his craft, finally securely founding, June, 
 1884, National Executive Council of Shoe and Leather-workers of America, Knights of 
 Labor; has been delegate repeatedly to important conventions. 
 
 STEPHENS, URIAH SMITH. Born, August 3, 1821, near Cape May, N.J. Paternal grandfather 
 killed in the Revolution; maternal ancestry, Q^uakers; educated for Baptist ministry; 
 compelled to learn a trade; became a tailoj?; of studious and methodical habits; after 
 serving apprenticeship as tailor, taught school in New Jersey; in 1845 removed to Philadel- 
 ' phia; in 1853 went to West Indies, Central America and California; in 1858 returned to 
 Philadelphia; was cordial supporter of Fremont, in 1856, and of Lincoln, in 1860; about 
 1863 joined Garment-cutters' Association; when it dissolved, December 9, 1869, with six 
 others, he founded the Knights of Labor; January 6, 1870, was chosen first Master Work- 
 man of General Assembly No. i ; December 28, 1871, was chosen statistician; in 1873 was 
 chosen first District Master Workman of District Assembly No. i ; was instrumental in 
 forming nearly every local assembly up to 1876, when health began to fail; January i, 1878, 
 was chosen first Grand Master Workman of the General Assembly ; was recording sec- 
 retary of his local assembly at his -decease; was member of Masonic, Odd Fellows' and 
 Knights of Pythias lodges, also; they were invited, through the press, to attend his funeral, 
 but no labor organizations were so remembered ; was buried in Mount Peace Cemetery, 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 SWINTON, JOHN. Born in Illinois, December, 1830; early learned printer's trade; moved to 
 New York about 1850; studied medicine and law; chief of editorial staff of Times from 1860 
 through the war, and till Raymond's death in 1869; then with Horace Greeley on the Tri- 
 bune, until about 1874; then chief of staff of the Sun, until 1883, when he resigned to start 
 "John Swinton's Paper." In the Spring of 1874 became active champion of workingmen ; 
 that fall nominated with great enthusiasm by them for mayor, but polled only two hundred 
 votes ; has taken active part as public speaker, writer and worker, in all the movements of
 
 626 BIOGRAPHY. 
 
 labor in New York since 1874, speaking at hundreds of meetings there, and all over the 
 country; was very active in the railroad strike year of 1877, and presided at the great Toinp- 
 kins Square demonstration ; for the last few years has given up everything and sacrificed 
 everything for the cause of labor. 
 
 TARSNEY, TIMOTHY E., of East Saginaw, was born at Ransom, Hillsdale County, Mich., 
 February 4, 1849; was educated at the common schools; served seven years as a marine 
 engineer, meantime reading law; entered the Law Department of Michigan University, in 
 1870, and graduated in the class of 1872; was justice of the peace, 1873 and 1874; was City 
 Attorney in 1875-78, when he resigned, serving as ex-officio member of the board of super- 
 visors at the same time, and was elected to the Forty-ninth Congress as a Democrat. 
 
 TREVELLICK, RICHARD F. Born, May 2, 1830, at Saint Mary's, one of the Scilly Islands, Eng- 
 land; early went to sea; from fifteen to twenty apprentice in a ship-yard; at twenty again 
 went to sea, visiting Africa, India and China; in 1852 helped organize Eight -hour League, 
 at Auckland, New Zealand; in 1857 joined eight-hour movement at Melbourne; in 1855 
 ntered service of Pacific Mail Steamship Company at Panama; again went to sea; em- 
 ployed by United States in building docks and steamboats in Gulf of Mexico; elected 
 president of Ship-carpenters' and Calkers' Union; successfully agitated for nine hours; 
 again atsea; in 1862 foreman of Marine Railway, New York; went to Detroit ; president of 
 Ship-carpenters' and Calkers' Union, No. 4; in 1865, president of Ship-carpenters' and 
 Calkers' International Union; discharged and blacklisted for connection with labor 
 reform; organized trades-assembly; chosen president; chosen delegate to International 
 Labor Congress in Europe ; chosen president of National Labor Union, 1871-73- in 1874-5 
 helped form Greenback party ; in 1876 delegate to National Greenback convention and presi- 
 dent of State Greenback convention; in iSSo, presided over National Greenback convention 
 also at Michigan State convention ; was one of twelve founders, at Louisville, of National 
 
 ' Labor Union and Industrial Brotherhood ; is honorary member of seven trades-unions. 
 
 TURNER, FREDERICK. Born in England in 1846; came to this country at 10; educated in 
 schools of Philadelphia; graduated from its high school; learned the trade of gold-beating, 
 which he worked before his duties as Secretary-Treasurer of the Knights of Labor became 
 too burdensome; in 1873 he organized forty of his fellow gold-beaters as Local Assembly 
 20, and afterwards organized Local Assembly 28, the first in New York; chosen secretary- 
 treasurer of the organization ; tvvice^e-elected one of the general Executive Board. 
 
 WEAVER, J. B., of Bloomfield, was born in Dayton, O., June 12, 1833; had a common-school 
 education in his boyhood ; graduated at the Law School of the Ohio University, at Cin- 
 cinnati, in 1854; is a lawyer by profession, and one of the editors of the lotva Tribune, 
 published at Desmoines, la.; was elected District Attorney of the Second Judicial Dis- 
 trict of Iowa, in 1866, and served four years; was appointed by President Johnson 
 assessor of internal revenue for the first district of Iowa, in 1867, and served six years ; 
 was elected to the Forty-sixth Congress ; was nominated in 1880, at Chicago, by the Na- 
 tional Party, as their candidate for President of the United States, and received about 
 350,000 votes ; was elected to the Forty-ninth Congress by the Nationals and Democrats, 
 having been nominated and supported by both, receiving 16,684 votes, against 16,617 v tes 
 for Campbell, Republican. 
 
 WEIHE, WILLIAM. Born January 21, 1845, in Baldwin, Penn.; when a boy moved to Pitts- 
 burgh ; about 1860 began working in bar-iron mill ; afterward became a boiler worker ; re- 
 mained at that business until iSSo ; joined Sons of Vulcan ; filled several local offices ; in 
 1878 chosen member of Permanent Executive Committee ; in 1879 chosen Trustee of Amal- 
 gamated Association, and succeeded President Jarrett, when he resigned ; was re-elected in 
 1884 ; has served several terms on school board ; in 1882 chosen as member of State Assem- 
 bly by Workingmen and Democrats. 
 
 WILKINSON, JOSEPH, Secretary of the Journeymen Tailors' National Union, was born in Ire- 
 land, March 23, 1856; he left school at the age of twelve to learn the tailor's trade in his 
 native place; he arrived in the United States in 1872, and since then has been actively en- 
 gaged in the labor movement in New York city; with J. P. McDonnell, of the Paterson
 
 BIOGRAPHY. 627 
 
 Labor Standard, Adolph Strasscr and others, he founded the Amalgamated Trade and 
 Labor Union, of New York city, and actively agitated for the enactment of beneficial labor 
 legislation in New York State, such as the establishment of a Bureau of Labor Statistics, 
 the abolition of prison convict-contract labor, reduction of the hours of labor, and the aboli_ 
 tion of the manufacture of cigars in tenement-houses ; the latter measure after being passed 
 was decided unconstitutional by the Court of Appeals. When the call was issued in 1884 
 for :i Convention of the Journeymen Tailors of the United States, in Chicago, he was elected 
 by an almost unanimous vote to represent the New York union; in the convention he was 
 prevailed upon to accept the secretaryship of the National Union, and was unanimously re- 
 elected at the convention held in Baltimore, in August, 1885 ; though busily engaged in the 
 labor movement, he still found time to improve his mind by study ; he attended the evening 
 high school in New York for three successive winters, and also belonged to the literary 
 class attached to the Cooper Union, where he acquired a readiness in debate and eloquence 
 of speech ; he still works at his trade. 
 
 BRIGHT, JAMES LENDRIW. Born in County Tyrone, Ire., April 6, 1816, of Scotch. Irish an- 
 cestry; family soon removed to St. John, N. B., and to Philadelphia, when he was in his 
 eleventh year; early education in Mt. Vernon grammar school and in private academy of 
 Charles Mead; was early apprenticed to George W. Farr, tailor; served over six years; 
 at his majority became member of Tailors' Benevolent Society; in 1847 begun in business 
 in Frankfort, near Philadelphia, whither he removed in 1848; in 1854 became manager of 
 large clothing-house; in 1862 helped organize Garment-cutters' Association; was its presi- 
 dent many years, and when it dissolved; was very active in labor matters at this period, 
 traveling much and forming many lodges, and paying most 'of his expenses; in 1878 had 
 54,000 votes as Greenback-Labor candidate for State treasurer, and 82,000 votes for Secre- 
 tary of Internal affairs, by same parties ; was chosen first Venerable Sage of Local Assem. 
 bly No. i, Knights of Labor; afterwards Master Workman ; always an earnest and ready- 
 advocate of the Order. 
 
 O'DoNOGHUE, DANIEL J. Born in County Kerry, Ire. .August i, 1844; removed with parents 
 in 1852 to Bytown, Can., which subsequently became Ottawa; at thirteen apprenticed him- 
 self to printer; remained there for following nine years; also was active member of St. 
 Patrick's Literary Association, and of a volunteer fire company ; joined volunteer militia 
 rifle company and studied military tactics; refused to take oath of allegiance to Queen 
 Victoria when Fenian movement arose, holding the order so to do an unjustifiable insult 
 to Irish loyalty; removed to Buffalo, N. Y., soon after, and obtained situation on Com- 
 mercial Advertiser ; joined Typographical Union; spent a few weeks in Ottawa in May 
 and June, and set on foot measures culminating in formation of a Typographical Union ; 
 worked in Chicago and Memphis for balance of year; then in New Orleans and Mobile, 
 returning to Ottawa in following August; for next ten years worked at trade; helped form 
 many local trades-unions ; was several times president or secretary of local trades- 
 councils ; was first vice-president of Canada Labor Union, formed at Toronto, 1868-9; 
 many times president of Ottawa Typographical Union; in 1874, chosen by workingmen of 
 Ottawa to the Provincial Legislature to fill vacancy; in 1875, re-elected for the term of four 
 years; was originator and advocate of many important labor measures, which became 
 law ; in 1879, removed to Guelph, unable to get work at trade in Ottawa on account of his 
 trades-union sentiments ; after eighteen months removed to Toronto, where now resides ; in 
 188}, joined Knights of Labor; represented them at the Hamilton and Cleveland Conven- 
 tions; in 188.2, represented Toronto Typographical Union No. 91 ; since then Labor Assem- 
 bly No. 2305, of which he was financial secretary for two years ; is now Secretary of Legis- 
 lative Committee of Trades and Labor Council ; also employed in Ontario Bureau of 
 Industries and Statistics ; has been newspaper reporter, editor and publisher, and cot - 
 tributor to labor journals and various widely circulating newspapers of England.
 
 STATISTICAL DIAGRAMS 
 
 THE GROWTH OF TRADES-UNIONISM IN THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 DISPLACEMENT OF MANUAL LABOR BY MACHINERY, COST 
 
 OF LIVING AND RATES OF WAGES, AND OTHER 
 
 PHASES OF THE LABOR PROBLEM. 
 
 Prepared expressly for " The Labor Movement" 
 
 BY CHAS. F. PIDGIN, 
 
 CHIEF CLERK MASSACHUSETTS BUREAU OF STATISTICS OF LABOR. 
 
 EVERY science or art needs a definition a short, easily 'remembered 
 one. No more graphic or comprehensive one can be supplied for 
 statistics than history -written in figures. Since 1869, when the first 
 bureau of statistics of labor was established, the history of the labor move- 
 ment has certainly been written in figures, collected by the National and 
 the various State bureaus, by city, State and National committees of investi- 
 gation, by labor organizations, and by the individual efforts of persons in- 
 terested in social and economic advancement. 
 
 The historian who uses figures has an advantage over the one who relies 
 upon words alone ; his readers can grasp in a one-page statistical table what 
 ten pages of words would fail to express as plainly. Now, the artist has 
 come to the aid of the statistical historian with colored maps, charts, and 
 diagrams. Language, of course, will never lose its power to convey thought 
 from mind to minds, but in statistical presentations the statistical table or 
 diagram supplies the statement and argument, while words are used but for 
 description or explanation. 
 
 The aim has been, in the following diagrams, to present some salient labor 
 statistics in the most crystallized form. These tables have been prepared with 
 the greatest care from the latest official statistics. They are closely in line 
 with the 'subject of the Labor Movement, and are intended to illustrate both 
 the history and the problem of which the book treats. Many of the subjects 
 are such as have never before been the object of the engraver's art, such as 
 those dealing with the causes and results of Strikes and Lockouts, the growth 
 of Trades Unionism, and kindred topics. And yet these are of vital interest 
 in connection with the present movement. The tables showing comparative 
 wages, cost of living, the displacement of muscular labor by machinery, and 
 the profits of employers and employees, teem with living interest, and are 
 closely related to the general labor problem. The diagrams have all been 
 prepared with scientific accuracy from official statistics, and the artist has been 
 mathematically correct in reducing the original pen-and-ink sketches to the 
 size of the printed page. 
 
 (628)
 
 TRADES-UNIONISM IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 NUMBER OF SOCIETIES. 
 
 THE TARIFF QUESTION. 1885. 
 
 TOTAL IMPORTS. 
 
 z 
 
 D 
 
 3' 
 
 8L 5 
 w *. 
 
 o 13 
 
 = m 
 
 a Z 
 o D 
 
 33 
 
 m
 
 DISPLACEMENT OF MUSCULAR LABOR BY 
 MACHINERY. 
 
 PROPORTION DISPLACED BY MACHINERY. 
 Agricultural Implements . 
 
 PROPORTION NOW EMPLOYED. 
 
 s. small , 
 
 Boots and shoes 
 
 Shoe sewing 
 
 Heel trimming 
 
 McKay machine work . . . 
 
 Heel nailing 
 
 Bottom finishing 
 
 Brick 
 
 Fire-brick 
 
 Brooms .......... 
 
 Carriages 
 
 Carpeting* 
 
 Cotton goods 
 
 Furniture 
 
 Flour 
 
 Glass jars 
 
 Hats (stiff) 
 
 Hats (medium) 
 
 Hat cutting 
 
 Leather, morocco 
 
 Leather, patent 
 
 Lumber (staves) 
 
 Machines and machinery 
 Metals and metallic goods . 
 
 Brass finishing 
 
 Pig iron 
 
 Steel 
 
 Tin ware (all kinds) .... 
 
 Tin Cans 
 
 Lead pails (tin) 
 Bread boxes (tin) . . 
 Mining, coal ... 
 Mining phosphate . . . . 
 Musical insts. ( woodwork ) . 
 Musical insts.(soundii>g bds.), 
 
 Paper .... 
 
 Paper, wall 
 
 Pottery (low grades) . . 
 
 Railroad supplies . . . 
 
 Railroad cars (parts of ) . . 
 Rubber boots and shoes . . 
 
 Saws 
 
 Shipbuilding . . 
 
 .Silk goods 
 
 Silk winding ... 
 
 Silk weaving 
 
 Soap 
 
 Tobacco . 
 
 Trunks ... 
 
 Wine 
 
 Wooden ware 
 
 Wool carding 
 
 Wool spinning 
 
 Wool weaving
 
 COMPARATIVE PRICES 
 IN THE UNITED STATES AND GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 Board and lodging . . . 
 
 COMPARISON OF DAILY WAGES IN THE UNITED STATES 
 1830 AND I860. 
 
 Ship and boat builders . . 
 
 Shoemakers 
 
 Tanners and curriers . . . 
 
 Wooden goods makers . . 
 
 Woollen mill operatives . )
 
 COST OF LIVING 
 IN THE UNITED STATES AND GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 I 
 
 * Basis of yearly expenditure in tin- 1'nitcd States $"50; in Croat Britain, $500. 
 
 III.' I'nited Staff 
 Great liritai 
 
 Great Britain 
 
 Tin- I 'nit.'d states 
 
 The I'nited States 
 
 A=ll.4!)% due to higher rent*. 
 13= 5.80% higher cost of luiug. 
 
 STANDARD OF LIVING IN THE UNITED STATES AND 
 GREAT BR1TAI 
 
 The Tniled States. . . 
 Great Brita 
 
 COMPARATIVE PRICES IN THE UNITED STATES: 
 
 186( 
 
 Dry goods .... 
 
 Food preparations (raisins 
 added) ...... 1 
 
 1 
 
 Letter paper 
 
 Spices and condiment
 
 PROFITS: BY INDUSTRIES. 
 
 Relations of Stock Used, Wages Paid, Interest and Expenses, and 
 
 Net Profit. 
 
 Artisans' tools 
 
 limits 
 
 Building trades .... 
 
 Carpetings 
 
 Carriages and wagons . . 
 
 Clothing 
 
 Cotton goods ..... 
 Dye W,.rks and bleacheries 
 
 Furniture 
 
 Leather 
 
 Machines and machinery . 
 Metals and metallic goods 
 Musical instruments . . . 
 
 Paper 
 
 Printing and publishing . 
 Rubber and clastic goods . 
 
 Stone 
 
 Straw goods 
 
 Tobacco . 
 
 Wooden goods 
 
 Woollen goods 
 
 Worsted goods 
 
 PROFITS: BY INDIVIDUALS. 
 
 Relation of the Yearly Earnings of Employe, and the Yearly Net 
 Profit per Employe. 
 
 Boots and shoes 
 
 Leather 
 
 Machines and machinery . . 
 Musical instruments ... 
 Artisans' tools ...... 
 
 Straw goods 
 
 Wooden goods ...... 
 
 Furniture 
 
 Tobacco 
 
 Metals and metallic goods 
 
 Building trades 
 
 Worsted goods 
 
 Carriages and wagons . . . 
 
 Cotton goods 
 
 Carpetings 
 
 Clothing 
 
 Stone 
 
 Rubber and elastic goods . . 
 Printing anil publishing . . 
 
 Paper 
 
 Woollen goods 
 
 Dye works and bleacheries . 
 
 CAUSES OF STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS IN THE UNITED 
 STATES. 
 
 Rates of wages 
 
 Payment of wages .... 
 
 Hours of labor 
 
 Adminis't'n & methods of w'k, 
 Trades-unionism . . 
 
 
 Not given . 
 
 RESULTS OF STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS IN THE UNITED 
 STATES. 
 
 Lost . 
 Won 
 Compromised 
 
 KeMilt not giv.
 
 COMPARATIVE WAGES: 
 THE UNITED STATES AND GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 Agricultural Implement* . | 
 Art in tool* .....) 
 Boot* and hoe ... 
 
 THE UNIT 
 
 GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 Liquors : mnlt and distilled, 
 Machines and Machinery . 
 Mrtal and metallic good* . 
 
 Wonted goods
 
 COMPARATIVE TABLE OF THE EARNINGS OF LABOR AXD 
 CAPITAL INVESTED IN MANUFACTURES, 1880, 1870. 
 
 
 iSS 
 
 0. 
 
 IM 
 
 f 
 
 K~ 
 
 1870 
 
 
 j 
 4-i 
 
 STATE. 
 
 PERSONS 
 EMPLOYED. 
 
 AVERAGE 
 WAOKS. 
 
 SI 
 
 W 
 
 1 
 
 PH 
 
 PERSONS 
 EMPLOYED. 
 
 AVERAGE 
 WAGES. 
 
 g| 
 
 ^- 
 
 y 
 
 Alabama .... 
 Arizona 
 
 10,017 
 2 2O 
 
 $249.67 
 
 we. 3.6 
 
 .26 
 .46 
 
 8,248 
 84 
 
 $270.12 
 <J42.6s 
 
 56 
 
 . IQ 
 
 Arkansas .... 
 California .... 
 Colorado 
 
 4.557 
 43-693 
 
 C.O74 
 
 203.06 
 
 482.13 
 4^6. ii 
 
 .48 
 36 
 
 72 
 
 3,206 
 25,392 
 876 
 
 2IO.2I 
 5I7.35 
 
 cii.66 
 
 79 
 
 45 
 
 .2C 
 
 Connecticut. . . 
 Dakota 
 
 112,915 
 
 868 
 
 386.14 
 
 7QO.QS 
 
 33 
 .66 
 
 89,523 
 gi 
 
 435-49 
 
 231.03 
 
 37 
 64. 
 
 Delaware .... 
 District of Columbia . 
 Florida 
 
 12,638 
 7,146 
 
 5.CO4 
 
 337-66 
 
 548.92 
 
 2?6.QO 
 
 .21 
 .46 
 .38 
 
 9,710 
 
 4,685 
 
 2,74Q 
 
 380.34 
 426.80 
 3^0.08 
 
 .26 
 
 50 
 80 
 
 Georgia 
 
 24,86? 
 
 211.78 
 
 .34 
 
 17,871 
 
 27I.O8 
 
 re 
 
 Idaho 
 
 188 
 
 3CI.3C 
 
 .c7 
 
 26 C 
 
 424. 04 
 
 31 
 
 Illinois 
 
 144,727 
 
 3.06.80 
 
 .47 
 
 
 374.70 
 
 48 
 
 
 6o,'Cs8 
 
 31^.72 
 
 .3Q 
 
 ^8,8^2 
 
 3I2.O8 
 
 C2 
 
 Iowa 
 
 28,372 
 
 3.42.8O 
 
 37 
 
 2C.O33 
 
 27<C. 36 
 
 .C3 
 
 Kansas 
 
 12,072 
 
 33O.Q3 
 
 .48 
 
 6,71:4 
 
 352.01 
 
 OJ 
 
 .76 
 
 Kentucky .... 
 Louisiana .... 
 Maine. ... 
 Maryland .... 
 Massachusetts . . . 
 Michigan .... 
 Minnesota .... 
 Mississippi .... 
 Missouri . 
 
 37,39* 
 12,167 
 
 52,954 
 74>945 
 352,255 
 77,601 
 
 21,247 
 
 5,827 
 Cti ooc 
 
 317.10 
 358.37 
 
 257-25 
 252.25 
 364.21 
 326.17 
 
 405.37 
 204.67 
 370 86 
 
 36 
 47 
 3o 
 36 
 38 
 34 
 38 
 
 35 
 .41 
 
 30,636 
 30,071 
 49,180 
 44,860 
 279,380 
 63,694 
 11,290 
 
 5,841 
 
 6C,7CJ. 
 
 308.28 
 
 152.75 
 
 290.40 
 
 283.73 
 422.54 
 332.92 
 358.97 
 
 264.92 
 
 47c.i8 
 
 53 
 39 
 39 
 52 
 43 
 .40 
 
 43 
 49 
 
 74. 
 
 Montana .... 
 
 c78 
 
 r r T . 48 
 
 .r6 
 
 7OI 
 
 ?2Q.O2 
 
 44. 
 
 Nebraska 
 Nevada .... 
 
 4,793 
 
 c77 
 
 363.49 
 8OO 3? 
 
 54 
 . ?o 
 
 2,665 
 
 2,81:0 
 
 536.55 
 
 877.77 
 
 J* 
 
 .64 
 
 .TQ 
 
 New Hampshire . 
 New Jersey .... 
 New Mexico 
 New York .... 
 North Carolina 
 Ohio .... 
 
 48,831 
 126,038 
 
 557 
 527,533 
 18,109 
 187 600 
 
 305-43 
 373-56 
 392-69 
 
 357-55 
 i5i-34 
 
 34,1 T,S 
 
 30 
 .40 
 
 .42 
 39 
 3i 
 
 .37 
 
 40,783 
 75,552 
 427 
 351,803 
 13,622 
 
 137. IO2 
 
 338.94 
 432.13 
 391.29 
 404.96 
 
 i6i.n 
 JC7.66 
 
 35 
 
 .42 
 
 30 
 5i 
 49 
 
 44. 
 
 Oregon .... 
 
 3373 
 
 
 . C2 
 
 2,884 
 
 388.40 
 
 ?1 
 
 Pennsylvania . 
 Rhode Island . 
 South Carolina 
 Tennessee .... 
 Texas 
 
 387,072 
 62,878 
 12,128 
 
 22,445 
 
 1 2. 1 CO 
 
 372.16 
 
 339-63 
 233.86 
 234.60 
 
 274. 04 
 
 3 
 32 
 
 35 
 39 
 
 .47 
 
 319,487 
 49,417 
 8,141 
 19,412 
 
 7.Q27 
 
 400.57 
 
 39!-65 
 189.62 
 
 278.21 
 
 22C.C3 
 
 39 
 .28 
 
 45 
 58 
 61 
 
 Utah 
 
 2.4QC 
 
 344.23 
 
 .34 
 
 I.C-J4 
 
 2C7.73 
 
 .ro 
 
 Vermont 
 
 I7-C4O 
 
 3OO. 14 
 
 .34 
 
 28,686 
 
 2l8.37 
 
 .24 
 
 Virginia 
 
 40. 1 8-1 
 
 180.30 
 
 .43 
 
 26,074 
 
 190.66 
 
 -4O 
 
 Washington 
 West Virginia . .' . 
 Wisconsin .... 
 Wyoming Territory . 
 
 1,147 
 H>3" 
 57,109 
 
 391 
 
 464.01 
 301.44 
 
 329-45 
 480.30 
 
 23 
 
 33 
 32 
 30 
 
 1,026 
 ",772 
 
 43>9!o 
 
 505 
 
 560.36 
 
 367-I5 
 309.19 
 692.38 
 
 44 
 
 47 
 .42 
 
 15 
 
 Totals .... 
 
 -,738,915 
 
 $346.10 
 
 36 
 
 2,053,996 
 
 $377-59 
 
 45
 
 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 RELATIVE NUMBER OF CHILDREN AND OLD PERSONS ENGAGED. 
 
 STATE. 
 
 TOTAL 
 NUMBER 
 
 MALES 
 
 FEMALES 
 
 60 YEARS 
 
 AND 
 
 TOTAL OF 
 NON-PRO- 
 
 TOTAL OF 
 PRODUCTIVE 
 
 
 ENGAGED. 
 
 jo TO 15. 
 
 10 TO 15. 
 
 OVER. 
 
 DUCTIVE 
 AGE. 
 
 AGE. 
 
 Alabama .... 
 
 380,630 
 
 53*854 
 
 20,608 
 
 26,929 
 
 101,491 
 
 279^39 
 
 
 34.7C 
 
 80 
 
 
 82 
 
 171 
 
 32C4. 
 
 Arkansas 
 
 'TOJ 
 
 216,655 
 
 09 
 26,118 
 
 6,138 
 
 8,902 
 
 41,158 
 
 1* OT 
 
 175,507 
 
 California . . . 
 
 79*396 
 
 1,128 
 
 30 
 
 4,958 
 
 6,n6 
 
 73,280 
 
 Colorado .... 
 
 13*539 
 
 335 
 
 6 
 
 563 
 
 904 
 
 12,635 
 
 Connecticut 
 
 44,026 
 
 1,214 
 
 3 
 
 8,H5 
 
 9,332 
 
 34,684 
 
 Dakota .... 
 
 28,508 
 
 570 
 
 12 
 
 1,029 
 
 1,611 
 
 26,897 
 
 Delaware . . . 
 
 17,849 
 
 1,634 
 
 36 
 
 1,711 
 
 3*38o 
 
 13,469 
 
 Dist. of Columbia 
 
 1,464 
 
 ii 
 
 
 126 
 
 137 
 
 1,327 
 
 
 CS 771 
 
 & ir\ 
 
 2,68o 
 
 A T77 
 
 12. CO2 
 
 46,229 
 
 
 O U '/O A 
 
 J.T> 2O4. 
 
 0' UJ V9 
 c6 fine 
 
 2C 008 
 
 T',* / J 
 27.604. 
 
 * * O w '*' 
 IIO.7O7 
 
 721 8o7 
 
 Idaho 
 
 ^}VW. 
 
 > 8c8 
 
 o u ' u yj 
 
 CO 
 
 jt^J0 
 
 *4 i~^~"t 
 132 
 
 * ***>%} * 
 
 182 
 
 j^ 1 * U V/ 
 7 676 
 
 Illinois .... 
 
 O) <J 1 -' 
 
 436,371 
 
 i u 
 . 27,998 
 
 310 
 
 27,750 
 
 56,058 
 
 3/w 
 
 380,313 
 
 Indiana .... 
 
 331*240 
 
 25,413 
 
 253 
 
 24,063 
 
 49,729 
 
 28l,5II 
 
 Iowa 
 
 7O7, C.C.7 
 
 I C 2TO 
 
 [69 
 
 IQ.Q77 
 
 7C,2C6 
 
 2o8,7OI 
 
 Kansas .... 
 
 O vy J ' J O / 
 
 206,080 
 
 A j >* 1W 
 
 11,781 
 
 83 
 
 *y*yi i 
 
 9, 2 74 
 
 OJ* v 
 
 21,138 
 
 ^'y^'t O 
 184,942 
 
 Kentucky 
 
 3 20 *57 * 
 
 30,141 
 
 885 
 
 22,132 
 
 53,158 
 
 267,413 
 
 Louisiana 
 
 205,306 
 
 20,041; 
 
 16,416 
 
 18,572 
 
 55,023 
 
 150,283 
 
 Maine .... 
 
 82,130 
 
 1,968 
 
 10 
 
 15,499 
 
 ^,467 
 
 64,663 
 
 Maryland . . . 
 
 90,927 
 
 5,5io 
 
 256 
 
 8,593 
 
 14,359 
 
 76,568 
 
 Massachusetts . . 
 
 64*973 
 
 1,229 
 
 IO 
 
 13*403 
 
 14,642 
 
 50,331 
 
 Michigan 
 
 240,319 
 
 7*185 
 
 76 
 
 22,044 
 
 29*305 
 
 2II,OI4 
 
 Minnesota 
 
 131*535 
 
 3*669 
 
 48 
 
 8,971 
 
 12,688 
 
 118,847 
 
 Mississippi . 
 
 339*938 
 
 29,300 
 
 15,449 
 
 20,541 
 
 65,290 
 
 274,648 
 
 Missouri .... 
 
 355*297 
 
 24.043 
 
 255 
 
 22,672 
 
 46,970 
 
 308,327 
 
 Montana .... 
 
 45I5 
 
 51 
 
 2 
 
 97 
 
 150 
 
 4,365 
 
 Nebraska 
 
 90*507 
 
 3> 2 33 
 
 Si 
 
 4*050 
 
 7,365 
 
 83*H 2 
 
 Nevada .... 
 
 4,180 
 
 37 
 
 I 
 
 151 
 
 189 
 
 3,991 
 
 New Hampshire . 
 
 44,490 
 
 1,012 
 
 4 
 
 9, '39 
 
 Jo. 1 55 
 
 34,335 
 
 New Jersey . . . 
 
 59*214 
 
 1,878 
 
 6 
 
 7,481 
 
 9,365 
 
 49,849 
 
 New Mexico 
 
 14,139 
 
 926 
 
 9 
 
 986 
 
 1,921 
 
 12,218 
 
 New York . . . 
 
 377.460 
 
 9,027 
 
 78 
 
 52*534 
 
 61,639 
 
 3i5,72i 
 
 North Carolina 
 
 360,937 
 
 47,329 
 
 12,227 
 
 28,971 
 
 88,527 
 
 272,410 
 
 Ohio 
 
 7Q7,4.Q C 
 
 17,7-70 
 
 QO 
 
 40,287 
 
 58,106 
 
 770,780 
 
 Oregon .... 
 
 Jji 'TiO 
 27,091 
 
 */ >/-y 
 637 
 
 yw 
 
 5 
 
 *f *-'!*''-'/ 
 
 1,836 
 
 2,478 
 
 jOy^J^f 
 24,613 
 
 Pennsylvania . 
 
 301,112 
 
 16,041 
 
 105 
 
 34*607 
 
 50,753 
 
 250,359 
 
 Rhode Island . . 
 
 10,945 
 
 192 
 
 i 
 
 1,941 
 
 2,134 
 
 8,811 
 
 South Carolina 
 
 294,602 
 
 27*453 
 
 16,602 
 
 21,683 
 
 55,738 
 
 238,864 
 
 Tennessee 
 
 294>i53 
 
 36,338 
 
 5,728 
 
 21,819 
 
 63,875 
 
 230,278 
 
 Texas * . . 
 
 7 CO 717 
 
 7 T CQ2 
 
 7.4.8? 
 
 17 767 
 
 c6 84.0 
 
 7O2.4.77 
 
 Utah 
 
 ojy'o* / 
 
 14. CCO 
 
 o'oy-' 
 
 I 7CI 
 
 / >T U J 
 
 17 
 
 * / , / u o 
 CO7 
 
 O ^ I --'T-*- / 
 
 I.87C 
 
 O'-'^'T/ / 
 
 I2,67< 
 
 Vermont .... 
 
 *T'JJ" 
 
 55,251 
 
 ''OJ 1 
 
 1,670 
 
 * / 
 IO 
 
 3W 
 9,055 
 
 i , <J /O 
 
 io,735 
 
 . v / j 
 
 44,516 
 
 Virginia .... 
 
 254,099 
 
 22,601 
 
 3,370 
 
 25,132 
 
 5 I , I 3 
 
 202,996 
 
 Washington . . 
 
 12,781 
 
 225 
 
 5 
 
 555 
 
 785 
 
 H,996 
 
 West Virginia . 
 
 107,578 
 
 7*944 
 
 195 
 
 8,767 
 
 16,906 
 
 9O,662 
 
 Wisconsin 
 
 195,901 
 
 6,743 
 
 200 
 
 20,395 
 
 27,338 
 
 168,563 
 
 Wyoming Territory 
 
 1,639 
 
 19 
 
 - 
 
 40 
 
 59 
 
 1,580 
 
 Totals . . . 
 
 7,670,493 
 
 584,867 
 
 135,862 
 
 625,711 
 
 1,246440 
 
 6,424,053
 
 PROFESSIONAL. 
 
 RELATIVE NUMBER OF CHILDREN AND OLD PERSONS ENGAGED. 
 
 STATE. 
 
 TOTAL 
 NUMBER 
 
 MALES 
 
 FEMALES 
 
 60 YEARS 
 
 AND 
 
 TOTAL OF 
 NON-PRO- 
 
 TOTAL OF 
 PRODUCTIVE 
 
 
 ENGAGED. 
 
 IO TO 1(J. 
 
 IO TO 15. 
 
 OVER. 
 
 DUCTIVE 
 AGE. 
 
 AGE. 
 
 Alabama 
 
 72,211 
 
 9>9 T 3 
 
 4.477 
 
 3,872 
 
 18,262 
 
 53,849 
 
 Arizona .... 
 
 8,210 
 
 102 
 
 !7 
 
 70 
 
 189 
 
 8,021 
 
 Arkansas 
 
 23,466 
 
 L963 
 
 1,238 
 
 1,476 
 
 4,677 
 
 18,789 
 
 California . . . 
 
 i2i,43S 
 
 1,252 
 
 793 
 
 3'52I 
 
 5,866 
 
 "5,569 
 
 Colorado . . . 
 Connecticut . . 
 
 24,813 
 51,296 
 
 240 
 
 443 
 
 155 
 
 854 
 
 384 
 
 3- I 97 
 
 679 
 4.294 
 
 24.134 
 47,002 
 
 Dakota .... 
 
 14,016 
 
 107 
 
 164 
 
 J 47 
 
 418 
 
 I3.59 8 
 
 Delaware . . . 
 
 17,616 
 
 610 
 
 629 
 
 1,112 
 
 2,351 
 
 15,265 
 
 Dist. of Columbia 
 
 39*975 
 
 288 
 
 544 
 
 1.854 
 
 2,686 
 
 37,289 
 
 Florida .... 
 
 i7 ; 9 2 3 
 
 603 
 
 582 
 
 986 
 
 3,171 
 
 i5,75 2 
 
 Georgia .... 
 
 IO4 26Q 
 
 7 208 
 
 51 Tl 
 
 . -^ . 
 
 _ _ _ ^ 
 
 Qfi Q~A 
 
 
 
 /' z y 
 
 i**3 
 
 4'974 
 
 1 7>395 
 
 oO,oy^ 
 
 Idaho .... 
 
 3,861 
 
 33 
 
 1? 
 
 62 
 
 112 
 
 3,749 
 
 Illinois .... 
 
 229,467 
 
 4'3io 
 
 5.050 
 
 7.951 
 
 17,3" 
 
 212,156 
 
 Indiana .... 
 
 137,281 
 
 4.717 
 
 2,954 
 
 4.659 
 
 ",330 
 
 i 25, 95 : 
 
 Iowa 
 
 TO7 O"22 
 
 1,667 
 
 ? TrW 
 
 3T ^7 f 
 
 *T f-\tf-<L 
 
 /iA 8/-\7 
 
 
 1U O'VJ^ 
 
 
 ^,197 
 
 1*75 
 
 7.039 
 
 90,093 
 
 Kansas .... 
 
 53.507 
 
 996 
 
 1,112 
 
 !.45 
 
 3.5*3 
 
 49.994 
 
 Kentucky . . . 
 
 104,239 
 
 4,649 
 
 4.069 
 
 3.7'5 
 
 12,433 
 
 91,806 
 
 Louisiana 
 
 98,111 
 
 3.637 
 
 3.450 
 
 5,286 
 
 I2 ,373 
 
 85,738 
 
 Maine .... 
 
 47*4" 
 
 620 
 
 580 
 
 3, I0 3 
 
 4'33 
 
 43,108 
 
 Maryland . . . 
 
 98'934 
 
 2,893 
 
 3.358 
 
 4.425 
 
 10,676 
 
 87,278 
 
 Massachusetts . . 
 
 170,160 
 
 1,293 
 
 1,605 
 
 10,866 
 
 13,364 
 
 156,796 
 
 Michigan . . . 
 
 H3.249 
 
 2,160 
 
 2,914 
 
 4,487 
 
 s 
 
 9,56i 
 
 133,688 
 
 Minnesota . . . 
 
 59.452 
 
 775 
 
 L353 
 
 1,322 
 
 3,450 
 
 56,002 
 
 Mississippi . . . 
 
 49,448 
 
 2,688 
 
 1,990 
 
 2,770 
 
 7,448 
 
 42,000 
 
 Missouri .... 
 
 148,588 
 
 4.302 
 
 3.755 
 
 4,611 
 
 12,968 
 
 135,620 
 
 Montana 
 
 6,954 
 
 40 
 
 22 
 
 56 
 
 118 
 
 6,836 
 
 Nebraska . . . 
 
 28,746 
 
 404 
 
 634 
 
 47 
 
 1,508 
 
 27,238 
 
 Nevada .... 
 
 io.373 
 
 53 
 
 38 
 
 J 59 
 
 250 
 
 10,123 
 
 New Hampshire . 
 
 28,206 
 
 253 
 
 345 
 
 1,804 
 
 2,402 
 
 25,804 
 
 New Jersey . 
 New Mexico . . 
 
 110,722 
 19,042 
 
 1,988 
 971 
 
 823 
 208 
 
 5.635 
 960 
 
 8,446 
 2,i39 
 
 102,276 
 16,903 
 
 New York . . . 
 
 537.897 
 
 8,932 
 
 10,254 
 
 24,286 
 
 43,472 
 
 494.425 
 
 North Carolina 
 
 69,321 
 
 6,757 
 
 5,962 
 
 3.76o 
 
 16,479 
 
 52,842 
 
 Ohio 
 
 2 CO 771 
 
 c 662 
 
 5,220 
 
 IO 2O2 
 
 21,084 
 
 229,287 
 
 Oregon .... 
 
 'j % - / 'j/ x 
 16,645 
 
 0' "- 
 
 182 
 
 93 
 
 427 
 
 702 
 
 15,943 
 
 Pennsylvania . . 
 
 446,713 
 
 15,110 
 
 ",569 
 
 21,376 
 
 48,055 
 
 398,658 
 
 Rhode Island . . 
 
 24,657 
 
 241 
 
 212 
 
 1,452 
 
 1,905 
 
 22,75 2 
 
 South Carolina 
 
 64,246 
 
 3.704 
 
 3,220 
 
 3.353 
 
 10,277 
 
 53,969 
 
 Tennessee 
 
 94,107 
 
 6,950 
 
 4.125 
 
 4,216 
 
 15,291 
 
 78,816 
 
 Texas 
 
 O7.c6l 
 
 4,612 
 
 9 264. 
 
 3JOJ. 
 
 1 1 77O 
 
 86,191 
 
 Utah 
 
 yj O wi 
 1 1,144. 
 
 T~" 
 
 6o7 
 
 ^,*.VJ^- 
 
 247 
 
 'ty-r 
 
 77.6 
 
 x * 'O/ 
 1,280 
 
 0,864 
 
 Vermont .... 
 
 . TT 
 28,174 
 
 yt 
 406 
 
 ^T/ 
 
 875 
 
 JJ W 
 
 1.752 
 
 3,033 
 
 yl^^T 
 
 25,141 
 
 Virginia .... 
 
 146,664 
 
 9'997 
 
 7,898 
 
 8,232 
 
 26,127 
 
 120,537 
 
 Washington 
 
 6,640 
 
 59 
 
 47 
 
 133 
 
 239 
 
 6,401 
 
 West Virginia . . 
 
 31,680 
 
 1,249 
 
 i, 006 
 
 1,444 
 
 3,699 
 
 27,981 
 
 Wisconsin . 
 
 97.494 
 
 1,706 
 
 2,763 
 
 4,087 
 
 8,556 
 
 88,938 
 
 Wyoming Territory 
 
 4,011 
 
 33 
 
 25 
 
 30 
 
 88 
 
 3,923 
 
 Totals . . . 
 
 4,074,238 
 
 '27,565 
 
 107,830 
 
 176,692 
 
 412,087 
 
 3,662,151
 
 TRADE AND TRANSPORTATION. 
 
 KKI.ATIVK NUMBER OF CHILDREN AND OLD PERSONS ENGAGED. 
 
 STATE. 
 
 TOTAL 
 NUMBER 
 
 MALES 
 
 FEMALES 
 
 60 YEARS 
 
 AND 
 
 TOTAL OF 
 NON-PRO- 
 
 TOTAL OK 
 PRODUCTIVE 
 
 
 ENGAGED. 
 
 10 TO 15. 
 
 10 TO 15. 
 
 OVER. 
 
 DUCTIVE 
 AGE. 
 
 AGE. 
 
 Alabama .... 
 
 16,953 
 
 378 
 
 II 
 
 665 
 
 1,054 
 
 15,899 
 
 Arizona .... 
 
 3252 
 
 5 
 
 - 
 
 21 
 
 26 
 
 3,226 
 
 Arkansas . . 
 
 9> 2 33 
 
 81 
 
 I 
 
 203 
 
 285 
 
 8,948 
 
 California 
 
 S7-39 2 
 
 429 
 
 27 
 
 i,379 
 
 1,835 
 
 55,457 
 
 Colorado .... 
 
 I5.49 1 
 
 IOO 
 
 2 
 
 152 
 
 254 
 
 I5,i37 
 
 Connecticut 
 
 29,920 
 
 39i 
 
 70 
 
 i,i54 
 
 1,615 
 
 ^8,305 
 
 Dakota .... 
 
 6,219 
 
 30 
 
 2 
 
 39 
 
 71 
 
 6,148 
 
 Delaware . . . 
 
 4.967 
 
 59 
 
 2 
 
 255 
 
 316 
 
 4,651 
 
 Dist. of Columbia 
 
 9,848 
 
 197 
 
 18 
 
 268 
 
 483 
 
 9,365 
 
 Florida .... 
 
 6,446 
 
 80 
 
 - 
 
 202 
 
 282 
 
 6,164 
 
 Georgia .... 
 
 25,222 
 
 4i 
 
 14 
 
 675 
 
 730 
 
 24.492 
 
 Idaho 
 
 1, 327 
 
 
 
 15 
 
 22 
 
 I.72C 
 
 Illinois .... 
 
 ,*} / 
 128,372 
 
 i,564 
 
 179 
 
 2,677 
 
 4,420 
 
 'O J 
 
 123,952 
 
 Indiana .... 
 
 56,432 
 
 648 
 
 19 
 
 1,639 
 
 2,206 
 
 53,136 
 
 Iowa 
 
 CQ, 872 
 
 3 TO 
 
 16 
 
 I.IIQ 
 
 1,46? 
 
 4O.J.O7 
 
 Kansas . 7 
 
 j->,u/ - 
 26,379 
 
 JO" 
 I 7 6 
 
 8 
 
 A , A AV/ 
 
 346 
 
 'T J 
 530 
 
 T^7 T w / 
 
 25.749 
 
 Kentucky 
 
 33,563 
 
 499 
 
 18 
 
 988 
 
 1,505 
 
 32,058 
 
 Louisiana 
 
 29,130 
 
 522 
 
 21 
 
 L3I5 
 
 1,858 
 
 27,272 
 
 Maine 
 
 29,790 
 
 179 
 
 12 
 
 1,412 
 
 I,6l3 
 
 28,177 
 
 Maryland 
 
 49, 2 34 
 
 797 
 
 75 
 
 1,578 
 
 2,450 
 
 46,784 
 
 Massachusetts . 
 
 H5,376 
 
 I.I93 
 
 175 
 
 1,487 
 
 2,855 
 
 112,521 
 
 Michigan . . . 
 
 54.723 
 
 500 
 
 56 
 
 1,466 
 
 2,022 
 
 52,701 
 
 Minnesota . . . 
 
 24.349 
 
 208 
 
 6 
 
 355 
 
 569 
 
 23,78o 
 
 Mississippi . 
 
 12,975 
 
 154 
 
 2 
 
 366 
 
 522 
 
 12,453 
 
 Missouri .... 
 
 79.300 
 
 i,i37 
 
 59 
 
 i,343 
 
 2,539 
 
 76,761 
 
 Montana .... 
 
 2,766 
 
 3 
 
 
 15 
 
 18 
 
 2,758 
 
 Nebraska 
 
 15,106 
 
 87 
 
 2 
 
 146 
 
 235 
 
 14,871 
 
 
 4 A Art 
 
 1 1 
 
 
 CO 
 
 61 
 
 4 ^88 
 
 New Hampshire . 
 
 'tT-y 
 11,735 
 
 7i 
 
 7 
 
 y 
 
 521 
 
 599 
 
 *no (J<J 
 11,136 
 
 New Jersey . . . 
 
 66,382 
 
 978 
 
 132 
 
 2,181 
 
 3,29! 
 
 63,091 
 
 New Mexico 
 
 3.264 
 
 30 
 
 i 
 
 50 
 
 81 
 
 3.103 
 
 New York . 
 
 339.419 
 
 6,856 
 
 93r 
 
 10,295 
 
 18,082 
 
 321,337 
 
 North Carolina 
 
 15,966 
 
 306 
 
 tr 
 
 603 
 
 920 
 
 15,046 
 
 Ohio 
 
 IO4.,7IC 
 
 i,y8<; 
 
 146 
 
 A Idft 
 
 6 iTJ 
 
 08 018 
 
 Oregon .... 
 
 *-^"T'J*J 
 
 6,149 
 
 x 'f U O 
 
 52 
 
 i t* 
 
 i 
 
 TOT** 
 
 126 
 
 '1*1 1 
 
 179 
 
 V/l^jVV^Io' 
 
 5,97 
 
 Pennsylvania . 
 
 179.965 
 
 3,418 
 
 386 
 
 6,643 
 
 10,447 
 
 169,518 
 
 Rhode Island . 
 
 15,217 
 
 214 
 
 15 
 
 633 
 
 862 
 
 14.255 
 
 South Carolina . 
 
 13.556 
 
 183 
 
 8 
 
 441 
 
 632 
 
 12,924 
 
 Tennessee . 
 
 23,228 
 
 361 
 
 7 
 
 687 
 
 I >55 
 
 22,173 
 
 Texas 
 
 7.4, QOQ 
 
 4.6s 
 
 
 661 
 
 1. 177 
 
 72,776 
 
 Utah 
 
 OT' y^;/ 
 4..I4Q 
 
 T**0 
 
 86 
 
 / 
 
 1C, 
 
 IOI 
 
 *'* JJ 
 2O2 
 
 O ' / / 
 
 9.04.7 
 
 Vermont .... 
 
 *t , A TV 
 
 8,945 
 
 80 
 
 *j 
 3 
 
 410 
 
 493 
 
 O'VT/ 
 
 8,462 
 
 Virginia .... 
 
 30,418 
 
 374 
 
 13 
 
 1,06^ 
 
 1,442 
 
 28,976 
 
 Washington 
 
 3,405 
 
 15 
 
 
 36 
 
 51 
 
 3.354 
 
 West Virginia . . 
 
 10,653 
 
 122 
 
 9 
 
 329 
 
 460 
 
 io,593 
 
 Wisconsin 
 
 37.55 
 
 4 6 3 
 
 60 
 
 i>H5 
 
 1,668 
 
 35,882 
 
 Wyoming Territory 
 
 1,545 
 
 13 
 
 - 
 
 10 
 
 23 
 
 1,522 
 
 Totals . . . 
 
 1,810,256 
 
 26,078 
 
 2,547 
 
 54.6n 
 
 83,236 
 
 1,727,020
 
 MANUFACTURES, MECHANICAL AND MINING. 
 
 RELATIVE NUMBER OF CHILDREN AND OLD PERSONS ENGAGED. 
 
 STATE. 
 
 TOTAL 
 NUMBER 
 ENGAGED. 
 
 MALES 
 10 TO 15. 
 
 FEMALES 
 10 TO 15. 
 
 60 YEARS 
 
 AND 
 
 OVER. 
 
 TOTAL OF 
 NON-PRO- 
 DUCTIVE 
 AGE. 
 
 TOTAL OF 
 PRODUCTIVE 
 AGE. 
 
 Alabama .... 
 
 22,996 
 7,374 
 
 773 
 
 q 
 
 394 
 7 
 
 1,536 
 
 >je 
 
 2,703 
 
 87 
 
 20,293 
 
 T 287 
 
 Arkansas . . . 
 California . . . 
 Colorado . . . 
 Connecticut . . 
 Dakota .... 
 Delaware . . . 
 Dist. of Columbia 
 Florida .... 
 Georgia .... 
 Idaho 
 
 ",338 
 118,282 
 47,408 
 116,091. 
 9,101 
 14,148 
 
 15,337 
 8,436 
 36,167 
 6.C72 
 
 J 
 
 621 
 140 
 
 3,755 
 7 
 401 
 
 121 
 2OO 
 
 895 
 II 
 
 39 
 
 I9 i 
 
 3,083 
 i 
 
 i73 
 32 
 50 
 659 
 
 529 
 3,78l 
 523 
 
 4,479 
 103 
 665 
 563 
 450 
 i,793 
 106 
 
 706 
 
 4,495 
 671 
 ",237 
 in 
 1,239 
 716 
 700 
 3,347 
 
 1 17 
 
 10,632 
 "3,787 
 46,737 
 104,854 
 8,990 
 12,009 
 14,621 
 7,736 
 32,820 
 
 Illinois .... 
 Indiana .... 
 Iowa 
 
 205,570 
 
 110,127 
 60,041 
 
 3,228 
 1,850 
 
 62 c 
 
 *>557 
 324 
 So 
 
 6,394 
 4>5H 
 
 2,928 
 
 11,179 
 
 6,688 
 
 7.677 
 
 194,39! 
 103,439 
 
 66 308 
 
 Kansas .... 
 Kentucky . . l 
 Louisiana . . . 
 Maine .... 
 Maryland 
 Massachusetts . . 
 Michigan . . . 
 Minnesota . . . 
 Mississippi . . . 
 Missouri .... 
 Montana .... 
 Nebraska . . . 
 Nevada .... 
 
 36,819 
 61,481 
 30,681 
 
 72,662 
 
 85,337 
 370,265 
 
 130,913 
 39,789 
 13,145 
 109,774 
 
 8,022 
 18,255 
 13,231 
 
 272 
 1,354 
 478 
 1,320 
 1,921 
 8,59i 
 i,765 
 309 
 1 88 
 2,180 
 6 
 
 9 8 
 
 *9 
 415 
 154 
 1,045 
 1,017 
 
 7,272 
 433 
 97 
 
 121 
 
 694 
 I 
 
 13 
 
 3 
 
 1,091 
 2,647 
 2,109 
 3,658 
 3,888 
 
 13,973 
 4,490 
 
 1,033 
 785 
 3,3oi 
 no 
 409 
 162 
 
 1,382 
 4,416 
 2,741 
 6,023 
 6,826 
 29,836 
 6,688 
 
 i,439 
 1,094 
 
 6,i75 
 117 
 
 5H 
 
 17-? 
 
 34,937 
 67,065 
 27,940 
 66,639 
 78,5" 
 34i,429 
 124,225 
 
 38,350 
 13,051 
 103,599 
 7,905 
 i7,74r 
 11 o\8 
 
 New Hampshire . 
 New Jersey 
 New 'Mexico . . 
 New York 
 North Carolina 
 Ohio 
 
 58,038 
 160,561 
 
 4,377 
 629,869 
 
 33,963 
 
 2-12. 2Q4 
 
 i>257 
 5>"3 
 18 
 
 i3,7i9 
 1,231 
 6,106 
 
 i,353 
 3,377 
 34 
 10,899 
 
 779 
 
 I.7QC 
 
 2,397 
 5,639 
 97 
 
 22,856 
 2,492 
 
 I I,OI I 
 
 5,007 
 14,129 
 149 
 
 47,474 
 4,502 
 
 17 OI2 
 
 53,030 
 146,432 
 4,228 
 
 582,395 
 29,461 
 
 12J. 782 
 
 Oregon .... 
 Pennsylvania . . 
 Rhode Island . 
 South Carolina 
 Tennessee . . . 
 Texas ..... 
 
 17,458 
 528,277 
 66,IOO 
 19,698 
 36,082 
 70,346 
 
 95 
 19,326 
 
 2,957 
 425 
 643 
 
 26C 
 
 4 
 6,486 
 
 2,576 
 283 
 196 
 
 34. 
 
 395 
 i9> 10 5 
 i,977 
 L39 1 
 2,015 
 
 I,O7Q 
 
 494 
 44>9 J 7 
 7,5io 
 2,099 
 2,854 
 1,978 
 
 16,964 
 483,360 
 58,650 
 
 17,599 
 33,228 
 28,968 
 
 Utah 
 
 IO,2I2 
 
 1^8 
 
 32 
 
 t7S 
 
 728 
 
 9.484 
 
 Vermont .... 
 Virginia .... 
 Washington 
 West Virginia . 
 Wisconsin . . . 
 Wyoming Territory 
 
 26,214 
 63,059 
 7,2 9 6 
 26,288 
 86,510 
 1,689 
 
 442 
 1,769 
 
 38 
 
 527 
 1,328 
 
 2 
 
 166 
 
 577 
 
 32 
 425 
 
 1, 680 
 
 3,943 
 142 
 
 1,231 
 3,504 
 16 
 
 2,288 
 6,289 
 182 
 1,790 
 
 5,357 
 18 
 
 23,926 
 56,770 
 
 7>"4 
 24,498 
 
 80,953 
 1,671 
 
 Totals . . . 
 
 3,837,"2 
 
 86,677 
 
 46,930 
 
 147,503 
 
 281,110 
 
 3,556,002
 
 GRAND TOTALS FOR UNITED STATES. 
 
 
 TOTAL 
 NUMBER 
 ENGAGED, 
 
 MALES 
 
 10 TO 1J. 
 
 FEMALES 
 10 TO 15. 
 
 60 YEARS 
 
 AND 
 
 OVER. 
 
 TOTAL OF 
 NON-PRO- 
 DUCTIVE 
 AGE. 
 
 TOTAL OK 
 PRODUCTIVE 
 AGE. 
 
 Agriculture . . . 
 
 7,670,493 
 
 584,867 
 
 135,862 
 
 625,711 
 
 1 .246,440 
 
 6.424,053 
 
 Professional . . 
 
 4,074,238 
 
 127,565 
 
 107,830 
 
 176,692 
 
 412,087 
 
 3,662,151 
 
 Trades and Trans- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 portation . 
 
 1,810,256 
 
 26,078 
 
 2,547 
 
 54>6ii 
 
 83,236 
 
 1,727,020 
 
 Manufactures, Me- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 chanical and 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Mining . 
 
 3,837,"2 
 
 86,677 
 
 46,930 
 
 H7,503 
 
 281,110 
 
 3,556,002 
 
 Grand Totals . . 
 
 17,392,099 
 
 825,187 
 
 293,169 
 
 1x304,517 
 
 2^22,873 
 
 15,369,226
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Adams, Samuel, 70. 
 
 Amalgamated Association of Iron and 
 Steel-workers of the U. S., 268, 281. 
 
 Arthur, Peter M., chosen Grand Chief 
 Brotherhood of Locomotive Engi- 
 neers, 322 ; see also biographical ap- 
 pendix, 605. 
 
 Associated Brotherhood of Iron and 
 Steel Nail-heaters, 277. 
 
 Axe-makers, unions of, 364. 
 
 American Miners' Association, 246. 
 
 Arbitration, State laws relating to, 179; 
 chapter by Congressman O'Neill, 497. 
 
 Alleghany, mass meeting at, 103. 
 
 Awl (newspaper), 96. 
 
 Advocate, Workingmen's, 98. 
 
 Artisan, New England (newspaper), 
 78. 
 
 Anglo-Saxons, laborers among, 5. 
 
 Agriculture, see tables. 
 
 Apprentices, law abolished in Eng- 
 land (1814), 43. 
 
 Bailey, Wm. H. ; see biographical ap- 
 pendix, 605 ; connection with miners, 
 362. 
 
 Bakers, National Union of Journey- 
 men, 366. 
 
 Banks, Nathaniel P., elected to legis- 
 lature, 1 20. 
 
 Barbers, unions of, 373. 
 
 Barry, Thomas B., 361; see also bio- 
 graphical appendix, 605. 
 
 Bell, Old Mechanics', 345. 
 
 Bishop, Joseph, 285. 
 
 Blacksmiths' Union, 122; in Canada, 
 
 587. 
 
 Boiler-makers, 369. 
 
 Brakemen, Brotherhood of R. R., 326. 
 Brick-layers and Masons' International 
 
 Union, 370, in Canada, 587. 
 
 Brockton strike (1885), 209, 
 
 Brook Farm, 91. 
 
 Brotherhood of the Union, 399. 
 
 Building Trades, 331 ; New York strike, 
 
 H3- 
 
 Butler, Benjamin F., elected to legis- 
 lature, 1 20. 
 
 Boston Tailors' Associative Union, 
 
 5i7- 
 
 Bessemer process, 308. 
 
 Baltimore and Ohio R. R. strike, 312. 
 
 Brentano, labors of, 2. 
 
 Baltimore, trades-unions of, 87, 
 
 Bee, Weekly, 98. 
 
 Blue, Archibald, 594. 
 
 Chinese and the labor question, 429. 
 
 Cigar-makers' International Union, po- 
 sition and development of the move- 
 ment, 127; for full history, see ap- 
 pendix, 585-604. 
 
 Claflin, William, 120. 
 
 Cluer, John C., 105, 115. 
 
 Coal-miners' unions, 241. 
 
 Columbia Charitable Association, 71. 
 
 Community life, 7 2 - 
 
 Congress, First Industrial, 104; Second 
 Industrial, 109 ; National Labor, 135, 
 
 136, 137- 
 
 Conway, M. F., adddress of, 184. 
 
 Conductors, Order of Railway, 329. 
 
 Conspiracy case, Journeymen Boot- 
 makers of Boston,92 ; Thompsonville, 
 Conn., case, 82; New York tailor's 
 fine, 84. 
 
 Cook, William, one of the Founders 
 of Knights of Labor, 398 ; see also 
 biographical appendix, 606. 
 
 Co-operation, history of, in United 
 States, 508; Origin in United States, 
 99; in Europe, 59. 
 
 (639)
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Crispin Movement, 196; Organized at 
 
 Milwaukee, 135. 
 Calhoun, John C., 79. 
 Carlyle, Thomas, 65. 
 Carpenters' and Joiners' Amalgamated 
 
 Society, 354 ; Brotherhood of, 355. 
 Channing, William H., 91. 
 Charlemagne, labor-laws of, 24. 
 Christian Labor Union, of Boston, 146, 
 
 149. 
 Children, labor laws relating to, 173- 
 
 175- 
 
 Cleanliness and safety of shops, 177. 
 
 Clay, Cassius M., 105. 
 
 Cabotsville Chronicle, 99. 
 
 Chronotype, 99. 
 
 Commercial, Daily, 98. 
 
 Central labor unions, the parent as- 
 sembly, 83. 
 
 Charitable Mechanics' Association, of 
 Boston, 85. 
 
 Carpenters, notable resolutions of 
 (1835), 85. 
 
 Cordwainers' Society, 86. 
 
 Convict labor, protest at Utica,N.Y., 82. 
 
 Child labor, hours of, 52; in France, 
 Russia, Switzerland, 55 ; in Ger- 
 many, 56. 
 
 California, labor movement in, 596. 
 
 Colorado, labor movement in, 599. 
 
 Canada, labor movement in, 585. 
 
 Daley, Edward L., 205; see also bio- 
 graphical appendix, 606. 
 
 Dana, Charles A., 91. 
 
 Dana, Richard H., 334. 
 
 Dyer, Josiah B., 380; see also bio- 
 graphical appendix, 607. 
 
 Drawing in public schools, 534. 
 
 Daggs, founder of shoe business at 
 Lynn (1634), 193. 
 
 Eight-hour movement, first impetus 
 during the war, 124; Grand Eight- 
 hour League, 125; resolutions in 
 Congress, 130; Boston League or- 
 ganized, 139. 
 
 Elizabeth, Queen of England, poor- 
 law of, 15. 
 
 Engineers' Amalgamated Association, 
 
 373- 
 
 Europe, uprising of Labor in, 114. 
 
 Equal-Rights Advocate, 99. 
 
 Eagle, Ohio (newspaper), 98. 
 
 Earnings of labor, see tables. 
 
 Ellsworth's Zouaves, 588. 
 
 Fall River strikes, 215; convention, 
 221. 
 
 Farmers', Mechanics' and Working- 
 men's New England Association, 79. 
 
 Federation of organized trades and 
 labor unions of the U. S. and 
 Canada, 169. 
 
 Female Labor Reform Association of 
 Lowell, 104. 
 
 Firemen, Brotherhood of Locomotive, 
 
 324- 
 
 Foot-board, Brotherhood of, 315. 
 Ford, Ebenezer, 75. 
 Foster, Frank K., report of, 169; see 
 
 also biographical appendix, 607, 
 Furniture - workers, International 
 
 Union of, 376. 
 Factory laws in England, 49. 
 Factory Girls' Friend, 98. 
 Factory strike, a typical, 119. 
 Fire escapes, laws regulating, 175. 
 Garment-cutters' Association, organ- 
 ized, 125. 
 Glass-blowers, organizations and 
 
 strikes, 362 ; Improved Druggists' 
 
 Ware, League of, 374. 
 Granite Cutters' National Union, 379. 
 Grant, President, proclamation of, 131. 
 Greeley, Horace, 91 ; defines slavery, 
 
 108; lecture to printers, 117. 
 Guilds of crafts, early beginnings of, 27. 
 Greece, labor conditions in, 3. 
 Glass-blowers' organizations, 362. 
 Granger movement, 514. 
 Hat-finishers, 388; wool-hat finishers, 
 
 393- 
 
 Henry Third of France, attitude to- 
 ward guilds of, 40. 
 
 Hintchcliff, John, 247. 
 
 Hilsee, J. M., one of the Founders of 
 Knights of Labor; see also bio- 
 graphical appendix, 607. 
 
 Hoar, E. Rockwood, decision of, 132. 
 
 Holyoake, George Jacobs, 73.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Horse-car Drivers, Benevolent Assd- 
 ciation of, 127. 
 
 Horse Railroad men, 383. 
 
 Humphries, Miles S., 272. 
 
 High Schools of industrial art, 555. 
 
 Horse-shoers' unions, 363. 
 
 Humphreys, Miles S. , head of iron 
 workers, 272. 
 
 Hours of labor in England, 50. 
 
 Harbinger (newspaper), 98. 
 
 Hocking Valley strike, 261. 
 
 Iron and Steel Roll Hands' Union, 279. 
 
 Iron-moulders' Union, 363. 
 
 Iron-workers, Association of, 268. 
 
 International Workingmen's Associa- 
 tion, 141. 
 
 Iron-workers, early organizations and 
 strikes, 269; strikes and lockouts, 
 307- 
 
 Iron-moulders, 363. 
 
 Jarrett, John, 285. 
 
 Johnson, Governor of Penn., 270. 
 
 Jones, Rev. Jesse H., connection with 
 Christian Labor Union, 146. 
 
 Jones, Thomas P., 278. 
 
 Jones, D. R., and the coal-miners, 252. 
 
 Keen, Robert W., one of the Founders 
 of the K. of L., 398; see also bio- 
 graphical appendix, 609. 
 
 Kennedy, Joseph S., one of the Found- 
 ers of the K. of L. ; see also bio- 
 graphical appendix, 609. 
 
 Knights of Labor, history of, 397; 
 founders of, 398 ; strikes of, 425 ; 
 declaration of principles of, for 1883; 
 in Canada, 594. 
 
 Kindergarten schools, 532. 
 
 Kirtland, Philip, 193. 
 
 Lasters' Protective Union, 203. 
 
 Legislation, recent labor in Europe, 
 45 ; sketch of the United States, 172. 
 
 Lien law, agitation for, 75. 
 
 Locomotive Engineers, formation of 
 Brotherhood of, 319. 
 
 Ludlow, J. M. , 64. 
 
 Lloyd, Thomas, 247. 
 
 Legal hours of labor, 174. 
 
 Laborers' Union Association, 103. 
 
 Literature of labor (1838-51), 96. 
 
 Literary institutes formed by working- 
 men, 90. 
 
 Labor unions, efforts at consolidation 
 of early, 82. 
 
 Liability of employers, German Federal 
 law of, 58. 
 
 Labor laws of Canada, 593. 
 
 Macauley, Robert C., one of the Found- 
 ers of the Knights of Labor, 398; 
 see also biographical appendix, 610. 
 
 Machinists' and Blacksmiths' Union, 
 122. 
 
 Magoun, Thatcher, relations to ship- 
 builders, 333. 
 
 Massillon Miners' Association, 248. 
 
 McKay, Gordon, inventor of stitching 
 machines, 195. 
 
 McLaughlin, Hugh, 276. 
 
 McNeill, George E., speech at Fall 
 River, 226; President International 
 Labor Union of America, 231; ora- 
 tor of the day at Chicago, 163 ; see 
 also biographical appendix, 611. 
 
 Mechanical labor, history of, 21. 
 
 Miners, American Association of, 247. 
 
 Miscellaneous trades, 361. 
 
 Morrow, W. W., on restraint of Chinese 
 immigration, 442. 
 
 Manufactures, mechanical and mining, 
 see tables. 
 
 Museums, industrial, 557. 
 
 Middlesex Co-operative Shoe Co., 520. 
 
 Modeling as related to industrial art, 
 
 535- 
 
 Metal-Avorkers' national unions, 363. 
 
 Mechanics' Bell, 345. 
 
 Mechanics' Mirror, 99. 
 
 Mechanic, New England (newspaper), 
 101. 
 
 Massachusetts Labor Bureau, report 
 of, 142. 
 
 McDonnell, J. P., a martyr to the 
 cause, 164. 
 
 Miners, laws for protection of, 178. 
 
 Miners, first organization of coal, 243. 
 
 Miners' and Laborers' Benevolent As- 
 sociation, 249. 
 
 Miners' National Record, 250. 
 
 Miners and the K. of L., 251.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Molly Maguires, 264. 
 
 Montreal, Parliament House, 585. 
 
 MacLean, Roger & Co., Parliamentary 
 printers, 589. 
 
 New London Convention (1831), 77. 
 
 New prleans, Central Trades and 
 Labor Assembly of, 167. 
 
 Newspapers, first labor, 77. 
 
 New England Workingmen's conven- 
 tion, 106. 
 
 Northern Star (newspaper), no. 
 
 Norman Conquest, effect on laborer 
 of, 7. 
 
 National Teachers' Association, 533. 
 
 Ottawa, workingmen of, 590. 
 
 O'Donoghue, D. J., 592. 
 
 Oliver, Gen. H. K., report on factory 
 children, 129; chief of Mass. Bureau 
 Labor Statistics, 137. 
 
 Owen, Robert Dale, 72, 77. 
 
 Painters' unions, 386. 
 
 Phelps, Elizabeth Stuart, description 
 of Pemberton Mills disaster, 122. 
 
 Phillips, Wendell, 113. 
 
 Plasterers, organizations of, 363. 
 
 Plumbers, organizations of, 363. 
 
 Provincial legislatures, 589. 
 
 Patrons of husbandry, 601. 
 
 Professions, see table. 
 
 Piano-makers, 363. 
 
 People's Press, 99. 
 
 Pittsburg mass meeting, 103. 
 
 Pinkerton's detectives, 264. 
 
 Plymouth, starting-point of labor 
 movement, 67. 
 
 Powderly, T. V., elected Grand Master 
 Workman, 409; addresses of, 411, 
 412, 413, 4i5> 419 ; see also biographi- 
 cal appendix, 613. 
 
 Printers and their unions, 183. 
 
 Philadelphia rules, 211. 
 
 Parochial settlement, law of, 17. 
 
 People's Journal, 99. 
 
 Parliament, Dominion, 595. 
 
 Quebec, Province of, 585. 
 
 Quincy Building and Homestead As- 
 sociation, 517- 
 
 Railroad organizations, 312; strikes of 
 1857, 155- 
 
 Rantoul, Robert, defense of journey- 
 men boot-makers arraigned for con- 
 spiracy, 92. 
 
 Rogers, Edward H., 69, 128. 
 
 Robinson, W. D., first Grand Chief 
 Brotherhood of Locomotive Engi- 
 neers, 314. 
 
 Rebellion, war of, effect on labor, 124. 
 
 Rogers, Thorold, 2. 
 
 Rome, labor conditions in, 2. 
 
 Schilling, Robert, address of, to Labor 
 Congress, 150. 
 
 Shaw, Chief-Justice, decision in con- 
 spiracy case, 94. 
 
 Ship-builders, 331. 
 
 Shipwrights' and Calkers' Association, 
 
 79- 
 
 Shoemakers in the movement, 192. 
 
 Siney, John, organizing coal-miners, 
 241. 
 
 Skeffington, Henry J. ; see biographi- 
 cal appendix, 613. 
 
 Slack, Charles W., 78. 
 
 Smith, Adam, ideas on labor, 43. 
 
 Smith, Gerritt, candidate for the presi- 
 dency, 166. 
 
 Socialism, birth of American, 91 ; in 
 America, 602. 
 
 Sons of Vulcan, 268, 271. 
 
 Spinners' unions, 225. . 
 
 Stanton, Elizabeth Cady, admitted to 
 Labor Congress, 138. 
 
 Stephens, Uriah S., addresses of, 402, 
 406, 408; farewell speech of, 409; 
 see also biographical appendix, 613. 
 
 Stereotypers, Association of, 389. 
 
 Stetson, John, ship-builder, 348. 
 
 Steward, Ira, resolution of, 143, 144. 
 
 Stone, W. W. , on Chinese labor, 332. 
 
 Strikes, first in America, 71; Chesa- 
 peake and Ohio Canal employees, 74; 
 in Philadelphia for 10 hours, 86; of 
 'longshoremen of N. Y., 87; Ames- 
 bury and Salisbury, Mass., mill op- 
 eratives, 118; great demonstration in 
 N. Y. (1862), 143 ; great R. R. strikes, 
 155; general prevalence of (1866), 
 107 ; at Fall River, and other mill- 
 towns, see chapter on Textile Trades ;
 
 INDEX. 
 
 in iron industries, 106; locomotive 
 engineers in Canada, 593. 
 
 Supreme Mechanical Order of the Sun, 
 125. 
 
 Swinton, John, appeal to legislature of 
 N. Y., 148. 
 
 Switchmen, Association of, 328. 
 
 Sewing in schools, 535. 
 
 Sciences in industrial education, 536. 
 
 Sovereigns of Industry, 515. 
 
 Schoenberg, labors of, 2. 
 
 Spirit of the Age (newspaper), 98. 
 
 Spirit of Liberty, 99. 
 
 Shoemakers and the K. of L., 196. 
 
 Tailors, early unions of, 71 ; Journey- 
 men National Union, 389; Ten-hour 
 agitation of, 79; Pittsburgh meeting, 
 103. 
 
 Telegraphers' National Union, 390. 
 
 Textile Trades, 214. 
 
 Trevellick, Richard, delegate to Eu- 
 rope, 136, 341 ; see also biographical 
 appendix, 614. 
 
 Typographical Union, International, 
 
 183. 
 
 Tribune, N. Y., 98-112. 
 Tribune, Chicago, 136. 
 Trades-unions, development of in 
 European Countries, 61 ; in Canada, 
 
 59i- 
 Ten-hour movement, by ship-builders 
 
 and calkers, 74; strikes to enforce, 
 
 So; granted on ship work, 84; 
 
 enacted into law in some States, 115. 
 Truck system of paying wages, laws 
 
 regulating, 49. 
 
 Tariff commission, 392. 
 
 Third Avenue strike of 1885, 384. 
 
 Teapot Society, 401. 
 
 Troy Co-operative Stone Workers, 517. 
 
 Trade Schools, 543. 
 
 Trade and Transportation ; see tables. 
 
 United Nailers, 281. 
 
 Voice, Daily Evening, 127. 
 
 Villages, Amesbury, 119. 
 
 Voice of Industry (newspaper), 96. 
 
 Warren, Josiah, 73 ; scheme of money ; 
 see illustration and appendix. 
 
 Weaver, Daniel, address to coal- 
 miners, 244. 
 
 Weihe, William, 295; see also bio- 
 graphical appendix, 614. 
 
 Whittier, John G., 97. 
 
 Wilson, Henry, elected to legislature, 
 1 20. 
 
 Winthrop, Gov. of Mass., attitude to. 
 wards trades of, 332. 
 
 Wood-carvers' Association, 392. 
 
 Workingmen's Association, New Eng- 
 land, 99. 
 
 Wright, Elizur, 115. 
 
 Wright, Frances, 76. 
 
 Wright, James L., one of the Founders 
 of the Knights of Labor, 398; see 
 also biographical appendix, 615. 
 
 Window-glass blowers, 362. 
 
 Workingmen's ticket (1838), 75. 
 
 Weekly payments, 233. 
 
 Young American, 99. 
 
 Yankee girls in cotton mills, 74, 88, 
 105.
 
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