Dnilg Name Industrial Mokketrs
Published Daily except Sunday 1
Nome Mine Workers* Colon. No. 240. Western Federation of Miners.
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'•To secure to each laborer the whole product of hi* labor, or as
•early as possible. Is a worthy object of any good goTernmest.
aoraham Lincoln _
Address all Communications to Dally Nome Industrial Worker,
Box tfo Nome. Alaska. Phone, Black 184
All changes In standing advertisements must re%eh this office at six
•'dock each evening to Insure Insertion In the folletMng Issue.
Advertising rates made known on application._^
entered as second class matter March 1, 1011. al the post office at
Horae, Alassa, under the Act of March 8, 1871.
Nome, Alaska, February 3, 1!>1«.
One Tear .
Mx Months.
One Month
In some quarters this winter, we
hear it said that business is dull, i
And indeed it is almost self evident t
that things might be a little more r
brisk without any harm hcln£ done
the bank accounts of our merchant l
[irinc.es. '
Well, the reason is not far to seek. 1
There is no pay roll. The gentle- f
men that purvey goods to the men <
whir operate the muck stick find <
tbat''there are no wage workers pro- <
ilucing wealth, and whose needs and <
requirements must he satisfied. '
That’s it. The wage workers are i
not in evidence and without the i
wage workers, little account as is
taKbri of them, there can be no pros
perity for any of the merchants.
Now Nome, it has to be admitted,
is well supplied with merchants in
every line. There is no shortage In
any commercial pursuit except mas
be the coal business. There’s no
scarcity of dry goods, general mer
chandise, hardware, second hand
wares, bakeries, restaurants, sa
loons, hotels. The merchants who
engage in these occupations fill the
bill. They are there with both feet
to oblige the customers who arrive
■with cash to purchase thoir de
mands.
But tlic question is whence arc
lhe orders to come from? That’s
what Nome. f.tca3, at least what
Nome business men face without any
doubt. How they face it is another
matter.
It is clear therefore that any im
provement in conditions of business
must begin first witli this question
if the absence of a pay roll.
This year that absence is very
conspicuous.
Now the winter pay roll here lias I
neen maintained for the past live
years hy men who worked all sum
mer and prospected^ all winter and
who in that prospecting struck
pay.
The banker sent out a man to
'expert” the ground. The llank
took no chances on lending whet-"
the gravel existed in the pay in sup
erfluously unprofitable quantities-.
The banker wanted a cinch. Some
times he got no cinch, but that
wasn't front trusting the workers
who prospected and made good It
-was because he trusted a lot of fou:
flushing would-l.-e : < . ' •-:• '. hose
idea of operating was to get oat n
much dirt regardless fit whether it
was! pay or not. We needn't in
stance them. Everybody. knows
them, even if most of them have
h*d to convey themselves and their
peculiar bull peddling talents to
other fields.,
•Consequently it is fair to say,
the man who turned with his wages
and went prospecting during the
winter, found a little pay was the
man who maintained a pay roll in
this camp.
He wasn’t a capitalist. He was
the agent for the capitalist. He
^'ookpd after the grocery and fuel
Jlwd wage bills. The bank and the>
gross.’1- an<J t*16 coa' man attended
to nh.fi clean-up carefully enougn,
thank .you.
Nevertheless, he maintained a
certain Mount of prosperity for
Nome. His energy and the chances
which he took enabled him to dis
cover pay streaks and after paying
royalty altogether exossive, hand
some store bills, extensive fuel ac
counts and adequate banking inter
est, he contributed to the camp's
prosperity.
But, the man originally was en
ablfed to prospect because be got
work for wages. He saved and
scrimped those wages and put them
wt the ground. Hots of others did
the same thing and good men at
that, maybe better miners and more
energetic than the man who found
at„ and they never found a color.
Bnt it was a gambler’s chance and
the winners made Nome quite a
lively burg. This winter'there !e
very. Uttle wage wording. Mayn't
there are thirty men employed.
Probably there is about that
amount.
But that number was employed (
1 one camp alone last winter ana ,
iany camps had from ten to twenty }
ten. i
And the question that the Nome ,
usiness men who have taken the
vork of boosting Nome In liana (
iave to consider is what they are ,
;oing to do about it. They can drat j
if all cut out that stuff of ln'r ting
aoital In here. Capital is not ac
epting those invitations. Wbav
apitai is looking for is a lead pipe
’nch it’s not throwing favors any
nore u< Major French's. It's look
ng after its investments, and it
ooks before it leaps. You deliver
;he goods and capital delivers the
noney. If you cannot develop
tround to deliver the goods, quit
drinking that a timid old gent like
Mr. Capital is coming up to Nome
to scatter dollars to the breezes. He
might, once in a time have money
to throw to the birds, but they are
now too well organized. This is the
day of the expert and if the expert
says no, that there Is no reason to
invest, that there is nothing in
sight so far to justify a favorable re
port. the old gent keeps his wad In
the bank and chews gum. He's
from Missouri, if you please.
Doubtless indeed there are quartz
and other propositions which will
pay development and* make Nome
famous. The Industrial Worker
does not pretend to be an expert.
But we do say that every single
proposition must first be opened up
by someone, before capital will cross
the street to talk about it, to pause
a moment to think about it, or do
a damn tiling about it.
In every camp it was the worker
who set out and labored and wage
worked and then prospected and
dug up the mazuma who opened up
the field for the exploitation by ca
pital. Many times the workers were
backed by business men many times
they were backed by their own sav
ings. But it began with the muck
stick man. The man who was on the
pay roll was the man who did thq
work.
And it cannot be imagined by th'3
most vivid imagination that Nome
is going to be any different. It’s
the man who is employed here and
who lives here who will save the
camp—who will more surely save it
for the business man than for him
self, or than the business man for
himself.
It's enough to give a man a pain
to hear talk of boosting this and
boosting that, and to think that by
spreading out a lot of salve and
peddling a lot of bull, capital wiT:
be induced to buy something for
nothing. It is laughable almost to
find business men who ought to
know better, think that the sharks
who have and hold the money are
going to let go before a lot of bull
would not start a common sucker
biting. The camp must have some
thing behind it to boost and capital
isn't looking for tundra scenery nor
timber claims among the willows.
Rocks are mighty plenty all over the
world, and if capital was out for
the buying of stone, It would invest
closer home than in Alaska.
It’s a fact therefore that coming
down to brass tacks, the riian who
has got to b$ helped along, boosted
at every step, given the best jobs
and the best pay is the Alaskan
v'orker. It’s upon- him that the
future depends, and it's pot upon
the hog wash that may be peddled
out as instructive boosting litera
ture. .
Now what are the facts concern
ing the Alaskan workers. There's
no place in the world that they
find it so hard to get work as
around Nome. Even a local dredg
ing company owned by Nomeites
apd upheld by Nome business men
will hunt forty-eight hours for t
checbaco before giving a sourdough
Noineite , a. Job. Jhattp the tr*|^U
Year after year many a man whost
labor has maintained your dances
and your social functions, and youi
tall games, and your card parties
•/our earn:vals and your dog races
has to mush every spring far afield
to get a Job. He cannot get one In
Nome. They dont want him. Nor
is it in evidence that the business
men want him. The hotel keeper
and the salooniot and the grocer
say “I Know a man”. And straight
away he hunts up some cheap twd
by four walloper from the cent belt
outside, and sends him out to the
job at half or throe quarters the
going wages.
We know such cases; know
dozens of them and we know good
men and true year after year hav
ing to mush across the tundra chas
ing mosquitoes to the Inmachuk or
to the Kobuk, hunting work while
the chechacoes who work for small
wages and dont cars a cent about
organization, get the jobs arouau
Nome with the aid of a number ot
businessmen.
It takes a mighty lot of boosting,
people, to overcome that condition.
Hot air wont fry potatoes. Ana
fine words wont’ butter parsnips.
So although peddling is carried on
along most efficient lines, it is to
be barren of results until the man
with the number two who lives
right here, and who prospects year
after year, receives more atten
tion.
\YThi!e the gents with the concept
of making the wilderness blossom
with profit like the rose tree in a
fairy garden, are having their
lamps glimmed to a personage in
New York who is famous for his
wad, they are overlooking the mar
who does things right at home.
While they are dreaming of the
promoters with an angel smile ana
the gift of the gab that would
tempt the most wary, the camp
lingers in the slough of despond and
they wonder why.
The Industrial Worker- herewith
shows why. God helps those who
help themselves. We don't know
whether that’s true or not. It's
declared to be the case by men who
ought to know. But it is a cincn
that it is by beginning right amogg
the workers of Alaska that the foun
1 datlon of this country’s prosperitj
can be found.
Now it does no good to fill this
camp up to choking fullness with t
1 iot of men looking for work. That !
been done year after year and th<
' camp played to lose at that garni
1 every time. What does do good li
3 to see that the men here get thi
1 work and get it at top wages. The'
tlie camp will look after itsttlf ail'
the commercialites qgn devote mor
’ time to adding up their bank ac
1 count than at present they, havi
' j any reason to do. It will look afte
Itself winter time as well as summer
time, and there will be no com
plaints that times are dull.
Look after the pennies and thi
pounds will take care of themselves.
That’s an'old country copy boo*
heading, but it was made in Amer
ica. It’s right; and it’s of more
extensive applicatiou*than merely to
the strict financial theory which it
expounds. It applies to the upbuild
ing of the cities. For their prosper
ity depends upon the men who are
paid wages and not upon the sala
ried stiffs who wear white collars
and cater to their wants upon an
abstraction basis.
It is easily seen that now is the
time when it behoves people to take
stock in actual conditions. It’s
wiser far to take such stock than
damn the times because they are
dull as ditch water and every store ]
isn’t a mint.
And although some call it knock
ing, when the other fellow is out
with what he calls a boost, foundea
upon some non-intelllgent mysteri
ous policy which it is supposed, or
conjectured, or imagined, or be
lieved, or fancied, or thought that
in response to such boosting with
out an actual survey of the facts,
the gold will come flowing hither
wards like manna upon the Isra
elites in the desert, it’s best to
know where you’re at. ^
But it’s not to be done. If pros
perity, which means prosperity for
the business man only as a genera,
rule and it is in this sense thai
this paper Is this time using it, if
prosperity we say, is to shine with
its mellow and golden refulgence
upon the vendors of divers and
sundry profit-making merchan list,
they will hkve to think more about
the conditions which prevail as far
as the workers are concerned* than
any imaginary attraction they can
pound their brains about for far
distant capital. A working popula
tion winter and summer with f,ood
working conditions is what the camp
! needs. That’s the only restorative
! too it does need; and it’s the only
way that the conditions will improve
1 so that there will be not so much
complaint heard that the camp’s on
the bum.
This is straight talk to the busi
. nessmen. As for the workers they
need none. They do their share and
• when the jobs arc no longer in
, sight they do as they have done be
• fore, take up their bed ai d walk
Besides considering everything by
[ and large, the working man can
; about figure it out that the only
day he beats the game is the day
: he gets three squares and does not
• work.
fi ‘fi'RfiifiKSaiSfiBiifiaiifiSSfilRfilKfiiKfi******
The Talk of the Smoking \
Public '
CENTROPOL/S
VEGA DEL RAY
Cigars.
YORKEY’S smoioe.shop
NOME INDUSTRIAL WORKER
is prepared to handle
all kinds of
..j
i
i
i
i
i
«
i
JOB PRINTING
Let us figure on your
work. Call up Black
134 or call at .
uniyr i a:. *'
tv A
IE HIM. WiR OFFICE
NOTICE
We have been appointed agents
for the
Dodge Automobile
The popular, fuUy*equipped>
pleasure car that satisfies all;
ALASKA LIGHTERAGE 8 GOM'L SO.
iireiiroBiaaaaiMiw^^ tnafamaiHBmiismfXHnmmaBKi
*mivvmimjvffirmrii(!Rtvii&smfiRf& fujfuvwniuwMiuvmffnrmmtnmfm
Cheap John Store
FOR GENT’S FURNISHINGS
FLANNEL SHIRTS WE HAVE A LARGE VARIETY TO
SELECT FROM.. A COMPLETE STOCK OF GENERAL MER
CHANDISE, TENTS, TARPAMNS. CANVAS, ALL SIZES.
HIPPERS, EURECA AND V. S. RUBBERS & SHOE PACKS.
WE CARRY THE SIWASH SOCKS.
SEE CHEAP JOHNS STORE. BEFORE BUYING. OUR
t-• : j. .0 .isall adt ba-imt
PRICES ABE ALWAYS THE IyOWtiST ITV TOWN.
Kent Transfer Co.
GeneraI Transfer & Freighting
QoaI & Qi±
Phone Main 139.
FOR FELT SHOES, ARCTIC'S, MOCCASINS, GERMAN SOX,
SHEEP SKIN SOX, AND EVERYTHING IN WARM FOOTWEAR
MURPHY HAS THE GOODS
*
TARPAULINS AND SLED COVERS MADE TO ORDER.
PHIL WIIIBPHY
AKTIC SPRING
&
i
WATER
Always at your Service.
Prompt delivery— Blizzard or
Shine at usual Kates 18
Buckets $1.00. 50c. a Barrel.
A. D. POTEET.
Phone Red 128.
INDEPENDENT
MEAT MARKET
Wholesale and Retail Dealer
in Beef, Pork, Mutton, Veal,
Ham, Bacon Poultry and Fish
Game in Season. All fresh
Stock. No old or damaged.
W. H. Webb prop. Phone M.15
A FEW SPECIALS
ON OUR BARGAIN COUNTER THIS WEEK.
PEERLESS BORAX COAP, iburs for.25c.
TEA GARDEN DRIPS, per can.50c.
YAKIMA DRIED PEACHES. per pkgs.10c,
CAULIFLOWER, per can.25c.
UNEEDA BISCUITS, 4 pkgs. for.25c.
SODA CRACKERS, family site per pkgs.35c.
MOLLER’S GROCERY
PHONE MAIN M c HU FRONT $£RKBT
• a
ABB YOU HBKUfi A PAIHSS?
it im tt USUI W inrattv*
rates tit a* tsAastBaJ Worker tm
fukMtmUem et wMostlsn thereto.
Betas ysur lyiWtvi malices ta IN
1*4 sstrill Warker. j
. ,f* ,, n #e- ^ t - •' *« ’ A
WE CAN M Q,' f '
Ear Orat class wack sod |cm|t
delivery ph me Malawi apdtfm
Pcoylc'i Steam laiia^y will e>
aai get your laundry.* ,
W. 1. wn HHWW Prop.
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can thb nws magr. uni
BO WOKXKIi.