when competition existed in the business world. "Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work," is one of the divine laws, but "seven days shalt thou labor-and come back after dinner and finish thy work," is one of the railroad corporation laws as applied to Railway Clerks; and the divine law can be made to predominate over the latter only through Organization. The workers build mansions and, in many cases, live in hovels or out of doors. They build railroads and walk from town to town in search of employment. They build and erect everything. They plant, they clothe and feed the world. They weave fine garments and some are compelled to wear rags, and it will ever remain thus so long as those who do the work of the world ignorantly submit and make no attempt to remedy unequal conditions. -0 The unionists of the West will be interested to learn that another concern which professes to supply professional spies, or in reality union perjurers, to employers and labor disrupters, is doing business in Winnipeg. We have the business card of Noble's Dominion Detective Agency, 42 Canada Life building, which states that "We also supply secret operatives who are mechanics, clerks or laborers, to work in factories, warehouses, stores, mines, lumber camps, etc., in order to learn all going on in regard to unions present or prospective, contemplated strikes, grievances, thefts or leaks of any kind, and all general information of value to the employer." A certain Kansas City newspaper, in commenting upon the recent strike of the Commercial Telegraphers says: "But ten operators in the Kansas City office remained loyal." Remained loyal to whom? Το one of the wealthiest corporations in the world-not to themselves, not to their famlies, not to their fellow employes. The same was said of the Tories during the days of the American Revolution-they were referred to as those "who had remained loyal.' But their very memory is held in bitter contempt after the lapse of over a century, by every American citizen. Such loyalty is a curse to mankind, and did it predominate to any appreciable extent Some time since a certain College Professor, who, by the way, has perhaps never known what an honest days' toil is, referred to the "Scab" as a Hero. We are at a loss to understand what method of reasoning he employed to arrive at this conclusionif he employed any. In the first place a "Scab" is his own enemy-a bitter enemy of his Wife and Children and of his fellow men; a curse to the World and a traitor to mankind. A "Scab" a Hero! Ah, indeed! Upon the same method of reasoning that this College Professor used, if he really used any, we might refer to Judius Iscariot as a Saint -to Benedict Arnold as a Patriot. It is hoped and believed that the Brotherhood of Railway Clerks will soon be growing as rapidly as is the Order of Railroad Telegraphers, and that it will also be getting benefits for its members as frequently and in as many ways. All that is necessary to enable the Brotherhood to accomplish the latter is to get the growth; when it has the requisite membership it will get the benefits speedily. During the first six months of this year the O. R. T. gained 7238 new members and thirty-eight new and revised schedules, which is an exceedingly good record for the first half of the year. Another good showing was made in paying Grand Lodge dues for the new term; up to about the 20th of July 15,000 members had paid up. The Brotherhood has begun to get up speed in this direction, let us crowd on the steam and not only overtake the O. R. T., but pass them; we can do it. During the past month charters have been issued to the following new lodges: Denison, Tex., No. 157. Marshalltown, Ia., No. 158. Ann Arbor, Mich., No. 159. Hopewell Junction, N. Y., No. 162. Two additional applications are in, viz: Chattanooga, Tenn., and Abilene, Texas, but the charter lists are not ready to be closed. Two other lodges have been established. but by the desire of all members concerned they were made branches of Missouri Pacific System No. 2. They are located at Coffeyville, Kans., and Jefferson City, Mo. Miscellaneous. LETTER FROM SWEDEN. Editor Railway Clerk, Kansas City, Mo., U. S. A. Dear Sir and Brother:-In receipt of the May Journal; I am sorry to say that I have neither received the April, nor the June issue. The journal arrived between 15th and 20th, but yet I have not seen the June. There is probably some fault with the distribution. I have inquired at the postoffice, but in vain. As I told you in my last letter, our society had a great many things to attend to, and I will now give you a brief description of the present situation. The Kalmar case finished unsuccessful. The investigation board, consisting of railwaymen, different grades, and a chairman, familiar with railway affairs, decided our member not guilty. Railway company appealed to arbitration; the court decided guilty with a majority of one. Company won, to be sure, but it is easy to see where the moral right is to be found. The Elmhalt case, Government railways, has not advanced any farther. The negotiations between our society and the five leading railway companies finished most successfully. An entirely new scale of wages is worked out on new grounds, viz: grouping the staff in different groups, and paying the groups in accordance with the living expenses at the different stations. This is a most happy solution of the wage question, and will surely be the very best way of paying. The question of hours has also been properly attended to. I will just give you a brief example. Trainmen to work 260 hours a month, maximum, each hour of running considered 1 hour 16 minutes, on express trains, 1 hour 10 minutes on mixed, and 60 minutes on goods trains. If a man dies, his wages is paid out for the whole month, and one month more, to be called "funeral expenses." The negotiations lasted about 3 months, and was finished to mutual satisfaction. The moral value of these negotiations to the railways in general, will surely be as great as the economical value to the staffs concerned. The question of wages at our Government railways is also settled in a most satisfying way. As I formerly told you, the committee, slated for working out the scales, had fulfilled its work in a most disappointing manner. When the question was brought before Parliament to be settled, it was simply overhauled, and come back to the railwaymen in an almost new shape. The increases differ between 15 and 67 per cent, to different grades. Clerks' wages in different grades are increased 29, 47 and 50 per cent. The anti-strike law is to be investigated by the home minister and "representatives of the staff," (this means in reality our society), and I am sure, if ever the bill should be passed, it will be rather harmless. Our congress is passed away, but it left its marks, never to be forgotten. About 300 representatives of the branches assembled at the Labor Hall in Stockholm and formed a most splendid material for a congress. We had the pleasure to welcome Brother Nielsen, of Copenhagen, President of the Danish Railwaymen's Society; Brother Juho Gals, of Helsingfors, President of the Finnish Railwaymen's Union, and Brother Siverius, of Lahtis, late railwayman, member of the new Finnish Parliament, all as our guests during the congress. The local questions were satisfactorily settled, and it was also decided to affiliate our society with the International Transportworkers' Federation, the President of which is Brother H. Jochade, of Hamburg, Germany. I am really glad to be able to record this decision, as it will surely be most valuable to us. The proposed agreement between our society and the Swedish Railways' Employers' Union, was given back to our central committee for further investigation and amend ments, and decision postponed until next congress. The donation to the convalescent home was given in the hands of central committee for final decision and execution. The congress also decided to form a Donation and Protection Fund for members, in the same lines as the fund is built by the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants of England. $2800 were set aside, and the fund will be increased by yearly installments. I will let you know more about this when the rules of the fund are ready. The membership of our society has increased in a most satisfying way. At the beginning of 1906 we had 6263 members, at the end of same year 19,863; at present we have about 21,000. New members are com ing in every day, and we hope to reach 25,000 before the end of this year. It is true that the Parliament has settled the wage question at the Government railways, but it is fully as true that the result had not been half so good, but for the en ergetic agitation and strong pressure from our society. Now as the economical questions can be put aside, we have many other things to attend to. The provident and pension funds are in a bad state at many lines, and need amendments; and perhaps most important is the question of safety. The safety appliances are far from good, and we wil have to take this matter up at the very nearest. We need many other things, in order to improve the conditions of the railwaymen, so we have no time to rest. This for ourselves, now for you. How are you getting along? Have you finished the voting re. affiliation with the A. F. of L.? And how about your movements? Can you affiliate with the International Transportworkers' or do your statutes forbid? I should be glad to find something extracted from your yearly returns, so as to form an idea of your development and your standing versus unorganized clerks and other railwaymen of different grades. I should also be thankful for an up-to-date copy of your statutes. When you have used the printed labels with my name, please change my address from the Station to my private home, as there are better postal communications than to my working place, and it may happen that somebody could find your journal interesting, who has nothing to do with it. Not that I fear to place you, as well as your journal in the midst of day-light, but that somebody, interested in reading something from abroad, simply from pure curiosity, might keep it and forget it afterwards, for I really believe this is the case with the lost copies. Hoping to hear from you at an early date, and that your society will prosper and gain the reputation it is entitled to, I beg you to accept my most fraternal greetings for yourself, brother officers and all members of B. of R. C., and at the same time tell you that I have entirely emptied the store, and have no more to tell you for today! Yours as ever, Representing: CARL ANDERSON. Svenska Jarnvagsmannaforbundet. Swedish Railwaymen's Society. Verband Schwed scher Eisenbahner. Union Travailleurs Chemius de fer de Suede, Stockholm. My address is: 23 Humlegardsgatan, 2 tr. Stockholm. SIGNS OF PROGRESS. By the Rev. Charles Stelzle. To say that because there is today three times as much social unrest as there was twenty-five years ago, therefore social conditions are three times as deplorable, would be absurd. No one would insist that the present uprising among the Russian peasantry indicates that conditions in that country are worse than, they were when the common people were too thoroughly under subjection to protest, no matter what their condition. The world is growing better. Crime seems blacker because there's more white to set it off. The present social unrest is one of the most hopeful signs of the times. It is made possible because of what has already been achieved, social conditions in New York City, for instance, were worse one hundred years ago than they are today. There were never so many agencies at work in our cities to purify them. For years the Church and the labor unions have been raising the standard of living among working people each in its sphere. Only the pessimist sees the eddy in the stream, which seems to indicate a backward course. The flood in the midst of the stream shows the real tendency. RAILWAY CLERKS. General Meeting of All Lodges In This Vicinity in Syracuse. Local Lodge No. 87, Brotherhood of Railway Clerks, attended a general meeting of all lodges between this city and Syracuse at the latter point Sunday afternoon, the representatives from this city being over eighty strong. Members were present from lodges at Niagara Falls, Buffalo, Rochester, Geneva, Syracuse, Oneida, Utica and Albany. Over 150 members of the phenomenally growing Brotherhood were in attendance on what proved to be the most enthusiastic general meeting in the history of the organization. From the tone of the addresses made at the meeting it is evident that the Brotherhood of Railway Clerks will at an early day have enrolled as members 95 per cent of clerks employed on New York Central lines between this city and New York. Only two lodges were unrepresented, Williamsport and Weehawken, but their absence was satisfactorily explained by letters containing glowing accounts of the growth of their respective lodges, the percentage of membership in both instances running over the 85 per cent mark. It was decided at the meeting to hold a Brotherhood of Railway Clerks' field day at Altro park some day next month. It is expected that large delegations will come from all the points enumerated above and the committee having the affair in charge will utilize every effort having the slightest tendency to make the outing a pronounced success. At the regular semi-monthly meeting of the local lodge last night at its rooms in Laventall building, nineteen applications for membership were received and favorably acted upon. The total membership to date is 160, but with the initiation of the above and the large number who have expressed a desire for membership, it is expected that on September 1 at the latest the roster of this representative labor body will contain the names of two hundred New York Central clerical employees.-Albany TimesUnion. Railway Clerks' Outing. The Brotherhood of Railway Clerks' day at Altro park August 21, promises to prove the banner outing event of the season from both an attendance and attraction viewpoint. To date nearly 3,000 tickets have been sold, and as the members of the local lodge are working as a unit in furtherance of the outing's success, lovely Altro will beyond all question entertain a record breaking throng August 21. Assurances have been received from all the lodges between Albany and Buffalo that large delegations will attend the event, and it is also expected that President Braggins and other national officers of the Brotherhood will lend their welcome presence. No other body of railway toilers have made such a notable advance in organization in such a short period as the railway clerks, and as this is their initial outing it is to be sincerely hoped that the legion of friends of the boys will turn out in record-breaking numbers and thereby make the Brotherhood of Railway Clerks' day at Altro, August 21, a rouser.— Albany Times-Union. Railway Clerks' Outing. In The semi-monthly meeting of Lodge 87, Brotherhood Railway Clerks, was held at their rooms in Laventall building Monday evening and was largely attended by mem bers of the organization and visitors. addition to considerable routine business, a committee was appointed to take charge of the large delegations which will participate in the monster outing of the clerks at Altro Park August 21st, and for which event over 3,000 tickets have been sold to date. Reports from the Hudson River division of the Central indicate that the Brotherhood is. making splendid progress in adding to the membership of the various lodges between Poughkeepsie and the metropolis. Capital City Lodge No. 117, composed exclusively of D. & H. employes, will attend the Brotherhood field day at Altro in a body and have enthusiastically decided to do everything they possibly can to make the initial pleasuring of their sister lodge a pronounced sucAt the next meeting of the lodge at least twenty new members will be added to the roster. All along the line of the New York Central a spirit of enthusiasm prevails and from the number added to the membership of the various lodges between New York and Buffalo, it is expected that by October 1 at least 90 per cent of New York Central clerical employes will be affiliated with the Brotherhood of Railway Clerks.Albany Times-Union, August 7. cess. RAILWAY CLERKS WANT REVISIONS. After an all-day session in the Hendricks block members of the Board of Adjustment of the Brotherhood of Railway Clerks of the New York Central Railroad between New York and Buffalo, including the West Shore Railroad, stated that only matters of an informal nature for the mutual good of employer and employee were discussed. It was said last night that the board had talked over ways and means of getting in harmony with the company in the matter of a new wage and hour schedule. The plan is to get a more satisfactory equalization, pay for overtime and shorter hours. There were 150 Clerks at the meeting. J. A. Shields of Oneida presided. Albany sent a delegation of seventy-five and the other places represented were Utica, Oneida, Geneva, Rochester, Syracuse, Buffalo and Niagara Falls. Letters were received from members of the Brotherhood in Weehawken and Williamsport. The next meeting of the board will be held here August 25, and it is expected that Grand President Wilbur Braggins of Kansas City will be present. It was said that a spirit of enthusiasm prevailed and that the organization was. THE POISON OF PRIVILEGE. Oklahoma City, Okla., June 27.-Following a banquet given him by Missourians, Joseph Folk, governor of Missouri, appeared before a crowd of 3,000 persons at the chautauqua tonight in a lecture on "Purity in Politics." He said in part: We are in the midst of the period of American history in which the people's rights are to be defended and observed as they never have been before. There are some who see danger to our institutions in the agitations resulting from the exposures of wrongdoing in official and business life. I do not share this view. To my mind the hope for the perpetuity of this government by the people was never brighter than now. The fact that this awakening has come at a time of great prosperity shows that it does not proceed from a spirit of discontent, but springs from the moral sense of the people. It is simply a determination to stamp out the things that dishonor in public life and the things that oppress in private life; a firm resolve that government shall be representative of the good, not of the bad. After All of the Grafters. The energies of this public consciencehave been extended from the domain of the public wrongdoer to that of the private wrongdoer and probing into the carrying on of grafters of every kind. It is not railrcads the people complain of, but the breaches of trust by those running the railroads; the people understand these things and know that while some railroad people and some bankers are crooked just as some public officials are crooked, it does not follow that all railroad men or all bankers and public officials are without honor. The people are discriminating between the good and the bad. This movement against graft is not a crusade against public or private wealth, but against the abuses whereby some obtain great wealth. It is a demand for common honesty in public life and private business. No man who is carrying on an honest business need fear from the arousing of the conscience of the people against wrong. The distinguishing characteristic of this crusade for higher ideals is the conservatism of the people. They do not oppose riches honestly acquired, but they do object to special privileges out of which tainted riches grow. They encourage legitimate industry and are not unfriendly to the corporations that obey the laws; but they demand that corporations, even the greatest, obey the law like anyone else. Not Socialism, He Says. The agitation against illgotten gains does not mean a rapid Socialism or the destruction of the vested rights of anyone. The corporation magnate must respect the law that governs the conduct of the corporation as he asks others to respect the law that protects the property of the corporation. This government does not rest either upon the idle rich or the idle poor, but upon the energy and patriotism of the middle classes. This is the class that suffers under the reign of the special privileges. Men may acquire wealth by any form of lawlessness or graft, but it is the wealth of the buccaneer and the pirate and not that obtained through natural means. The elimination of special privilege is the great question before the people of this country. The railroad rebate special privilege, the tariff so arranged as to give special privilege and create monopoly, the special privilege always to be found at the bottom of every graft.. In the story of the arrest of President Finley of the Southern railway at Asheville, N. C., and his immediate release on a writ issued by Judge Pritchard of the Federal court, there is this illuminating paragraph: When the police officer called at the hotel for Mr. Finley the latter was eating breakfast and requested that he be allowed to finish his meal. His request was granted. In the meantime Mr. Finley's private secretary got into communication with Judge Pritchard, who cut his own breakfast short, came downtown and issued the writ which was served just as the march to the police court began. As a rule judges, especially those of the higher courts, do not proceed with undignified haste or unseemly zeal. That sort of thing is left to the lawyers on behalf of their clients. A judge should conserve his mental alertness by due consideration for his digestion. He should eat his meals with at least as much deliberation as is allowed a petitioner seeking his services.-Kansas City Times. |