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Published Daily except Sunday
Hy Nome Mine Workers’ Union, No. 240, International Union of Mine, j
Mill and Sm elter Workers.
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Entered as second class matter March 1, 1011. a> the poet oMce at
home, * Alassa, unaw the Act of March t, 1171.
All changes In standing adverttaementa must reach this offloe at ill
o'clock each evening to Insure Insertion In the folloshng Issue.
Advertising rates mads know* os application.
"To secure to esch laborer the whole product of his labor, or as
nearly as possible, Is a worthy object of any *ood goTnrnment.”—
A brans m Lincoln
Address all Communfeatlona to Dally Nome Industrial Worker,
Bos 210 Nome, Alaska. Phoas, Black 114.
Nome, Alaska, August 20, 1017.
BY OCCUPATION S.
The most erroneous conceptions
prevail as to the occupation of the
people of the United States The
general view seems to be that the
common people are engaged in an
Independent means of gaining a live
lihood. whether as small farmers,
little business men, small manufac
turers or the like. Only in compa
ratively few sections is this true,
and it is only relatively true of any
section.
The* fact remains that the data
collected by census statistics reveal
the most important raot that the
common people today are mostly
salary or wage earners, wage earn
ers for the most part.
And if we take into consideration
the number who have their farms
mortgaged, their stores in the hands
of banks as secueities, we will dis
cover that there are relatively few
“independents" in business or farm
ing at that.
it is important that we realize the
economic texture of our population
for otherwise it will be impossible
to account for the opinions that are
being manifested from time to time
Figures collected by the govern
ment show that salaried employees
are increasing in numbers: they are
increasing in greater numbers thar
the w'rge earners. From 1899 tt
1914 they increased forty per cent
the wage earners only sixteen pel
cent.
This does not mean that then
were more salaried workers tliai
wage earners, but that the smalle:
number of the former showed a de
finitely higner ratio iuma>c.
A salaried man is usually a de
voted servant of the firm which em
ploys him. He is a man speaks or
his position, and his business, just
ar, if it possessed the same interest
for him as his employer. Very
often his is th. brains that really
keeps it going, and the employer is
a figurehoad as far as the actual
operations are concerned, if not as
far as the profit-making is con
cerned.
These salaried workers are often
more bitterly hostile to the wage
earners than the employers and
owners. They cause lots of trouble
when they discover that their posi
tion may be endangered by too many
concofsions to labor, and there is
little hope of the wage workers and
the salaried workers ever making
common cause.
Some one has recently referred
to the salaried men as the middle
men, the real middlemen in the in
dustrial scheme. That is not cor
reck. They are simply varnished
workers. Often enough their ser
vices in production are as important
any labor performed within the
plant, and thoir ideas, and their eon
caption of method have no small
part in affecting prcductivity. They
are. not. as so many hold, parasitic;
at least a good many of them could
Hot 'be done without unless the bus
iness was irreparably to 3uffer.
Jt is worth considering the line of
pay rOT dcmocration that separates
as an average the wage workers
tram the salaried man. In 1914 it
was lor the salaried man per annum
$1336 and for the wage earner
-J5S0. N
Understanding this ground work
of the masses of the people, it Is
•vorth while considering the result
upon the popular mind. *
la the first place years ago the
.ideal beiore young men was to be
come independent proprietors, ma
nufacturers, operators and co forth
same day themselves. They started
In work with that the goal of their
ambition. Even today a lot of ma
gazines and newspapers maintain
this as the height 6f the youth’s am
bition when it Is nothing of the
kind.
Nowadays the young man does
jjo’ think of going in.to business for
himself. His goal has fallen from
those elysian heights. He is now
locking for a good job with a big
corporation and looks forward to the
time when he will be factory direc
tor. sales manager, treasurer, raw
material purchaser, general auditor,
or function on some of the similarly
lofty porchco of salarydora. He may
begin as clerk in the train office and
hope eventually to be general man
ager or even President. He may
begin as teller in the bank and hope
that eventually he may bo cashier
or vice-president of the concern. He
may be surveyor for the company
and hope one dr.y to be chief en
gineer and so on ad infinitum.
He wraps himself up in the com
pany’t toga and walks with it in the
streets and lie carries its atmos
r.pliere around with him, sleeping
or awaking.
Now the man who owns his own
plans, his own bus'noss. his own
farm, and who is under no financial
obligations lo anyone, is considered,
and rightly always was considered,
an Independent man.
His independence will color the
complexion of the national thought
n~ matter how powerful may be
conflicting interests And indeed it
is worth noting that it has powei
fully affected the national thought
in America during the nineteenth
century.
Foreign critics have observed
coniderable difference in the Amer
ican mode of thought and American
idealism within the past fifty or six
ty years. It has net Tieen so obvi
ous to Americans themselves be
cause they have been living through
the change.
And Indeed r.t first sight one can
obierve that the entire situation eco
nomically speaking has undergone a
r
-i in t in u Uo cii; .nge.
Tin t change is due of course to
ilu* advent of the great corporation.
It came with the trust. And today
it is practically solidified. It is
marked by an ultra conservatism
md an ultra respect for money, for
position, for privilege, for ascend
ancy.
It is found in the Press. It is ty
pified in such weeklies as Leslie’s
ant1 in such dailies as the Sun and
the Tribune and the like. Every re
form to this conception is a greatci
ibuse than the evil it would remove.
Essentially it is an employers view
point, but its also an average sala
ried earner's view point, whose view
point is always an intensified form
of things from the employer's poinl
of view.
Moreover the fact that the day ii
gone by for the small independenl
man of business. in industry ant
other pursuits, merely means that
there being more salaried men, then
must also be a greater national sub
servienev. The very first thing tht
salaried earner must do if he woult
make good is to eliminate his owt
opinion and cultivate that of fh<
concern which employs him. H<
must be as far his own individuality
is concerned dead to all intenti
and purposes. He must live wholly
for the company that employs hin
He can have no opinion of his own
He must have that »f his bos3. Thi
man who would suit himself is no
likely to suit his employer and foi
that reason he must be a menta
eunuch, ready to do and say ant
think as he will b; told.
It is unquestionably inevltr.bh
with such increasing numbers o
these, and with such inereasinj
prises offered for the success of sued
as these in the form of tremendou:
salaries, they would seriously, pro
foundly affect the national thought
the national soul and the nationa
spirit. .
It is ridiculous to think that sucl
as theoc will be men of the saim
mold of soul as those who wouli
speak their minds, regardless of thi
consequences. It Is ridiculous t(
•onceivo that such as theoe would
be of the s:\mc fearless spirit as
those who insisted upon expressing |
themselves and their opinions no |
matter what was their fate.'
Such as these need neither a free
press, free speech nor free assembly.
Nay. they regard these things as ine
vitably evil, because they are likely
to react upon the interests which
they are paid to uphold.
Men otteu wonder why the pro
gressive party collapsed the way it
did. Now the progressive party was
not Roosevelt. The progressive j
party was the reaction against this
corporation dominance in evidence
as much in the activities of salaried
workers as in the operations of the
owners themselves. The progress
ive party represented that protest.
And it was in those places strongest
where there existed a considerable
number of independent farmers
and independent business men.
Those places were fow and far
between. A couple of sections in
the west ar.d in thcs> places where!
the wage earner made common j
cause with them, instead of with
socialist party politicians.
But with the supremacy of the
business interests it was simply in
evitable that through the salaried
garners there would have been a re
action. And this reaction has be
come marked in the ready disinte
gration through such mental ero
sion as the salaried workers could
apply to the general trend of
things in this country. In the ea3t
where the salaried earners predotai
sate thjs reaction was most
marked. losing its accentuation
when the middle west was reached
to become less and less marked in
the west except in those isolated in
dustrial centers of importance
where the number of salaried man
is again in evidence.
The increase in the salaries paid
on an average is very significant,
and it is so significant and import
ant that in the movement to revert
to a more economical mode of life,
the government addresses itselt
without mistake primarily to them.
They are really well to do. Prob
ably better than if they were in
business for themselves. Few small
business men and a less proportion
of small manufacturers make it
stick. They are easily crushed be
fore they reach a point where they
can defy every one. The number ot
highly salaried men in the United
States is increasing and the number
who enjoy large incomes from serv
ice to others is really very large.
They are secure in their positions.
They have brains to let and do rent
them, and they are neallv powerful
factors in the production and distri
bution of things in society. Hence
they are satisfied. They can wear
good clothers. they have pretty
houses. autos and wage work
ing servants. They can even invest
a slendar balance in other compa
nies. They can insure their mes
and they ere a good part of the
Why worry
About wash day
THAT’S OUK BUSINESS.
Satisfaction Guaranteed.
BOSTON
STEAM LAUNDRY
444 Front St. Phone Main 53
country’s prosperity. They have no «
sympathy whatever with the fellow
workers who aro pr.id in wages, for
their snobbery is by no means the
least of the blessed faculties which
have been case hardened by their
environment. While they will hardly
recognize Jones the lathe man in
the street, they would walk through
a blizzard and a gale to get a
pleasant smile from old Gottede
racks, the owner of the majority
stock in thoir company. They de
nounce Smith who rushes the grow
ler. while they personally pack
home old man Mazuma who comes
out of the Club with a thirty-third
degree jag. To think that this con
dition. in general throughout salary
dom docs not affect tho spirit of
the nation is lo think fundament
ally wrong.
What then is the manifest correc
tive in this really natural develop- «
ment? What then will mantain
the original free spirit af America
intact in the face of the compelling
suDsorviency duo to industrial pre
dominance of the certain few? The
answer is most obvious. The reme
dy is at hand and it is so manifect
and so obvious that it seems un
necessary to mention it. It is the
labor organization and labor so
lidarity.
Labor has refused to emasculate
its mind in the interests of service.
It maintains the right to free
speech, free assembly and a Tree
press. It refuses to down it3 own
independent thought however may
be its dependent position for the
sake of a job. And thi3 is really
the hope of democracy In this day
and ago.
While others have boon making
their own and the interests of the
economically great identical, Labor
han refused to merge, knowing that
such mergence of its own
interests with the interests '
of the employers meant submerg
ence of all independence. And al
though as dollars go, the benefit
has all been to the salaried work
ers, the result in the long run will
be that labor will rescue those as
well as the root from the slough of
despond in the abolition of rJl
classes when an industrial demo
cracy will bring that about. The
safety of the nation as well as the
| world lies in a fearless and united
labor organization.
M. PASCOFF.
LADIES & GENTS TAILOR.
I Your Clothes Cleaned, Pressed and
Repaired.
SUITS MADE TO ORDER from
select fabrics and trimmings. i
ALL WORK GUARANTEED.
Cor. Lane’s Way and Front Street.
CITY BATH HOUSE
has the largest
and only fl feet
Bath Tubs In Nome.
BOARD OF TRADE
Restaurant
and
LUNCH ROOM
George Modini,
Proprietor
TO THE PUBLIC
Commencing Today,
AUGUST 11,
The Price of Bread will
be 10c. a loaf straight.
Other Goods raise in
price in proportion.
Signed:
North Pole Bakery
, Anvil Bakery
Nome Bakery
Arctic Bakery
ALASKA STEAMSHIP CO.
S. S. VICTORIA
LEAVE SEATTLE: LEAVE NOME:
Via Seward, Valdfz and Cordova
Without Additional Charge.
SEPTEMBER 2 SEPTEMBER 14.
OCTOBER 6. OCTOBER 22.
SAILING SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.
R. A. Carroll, Agent, Nome
From Seattle
August 18th.
SEPTEMBER 28. SEPTEMBER 15.
OCTOBER 25. OCTOBER 18.
RIGHT RESERVED TO CHANGE THIS SCHEDULE.
PACIFIC STEAMSHIP CO.
ALASKA L. & C. CO. F. J. O'CONNOR.
AGENTS Commercial Agent.
At Dock. Front St. and Steadman Are.
From Nome
August31th.
/
Charles L. Ross
Milling, Lumber, Contractor
HAVING TAKEN OVER THE FREIGHTING & TRANSFER
BUSINESS OF W. STEIGEL MAIER AND OF I.EO KENT,
FREIGHT ORDERS AND TRANSFER CONTRACTS WILL RE
CEIVE PROMPT ATTENTION.
3RD AND B STREET. PHONE BLACK 162.
S. S. Standard
Sails every SIX DAYS to
DIME AND WAY POINTS
weather permitting
' #
From Snake River.
CHAS WECKMAN.
INDEPENDENT
MEAT MARKET
W. H. Webb prop. Phone M.1S
CHANGE IN COAL PRICES.
On Aug. 10th, Wellington Coal will be $23.00 i>er ton In yard.
On and after September 25th, Wellington Coal will be $25.00 pr
ton in yard. Briquets will continue at $18.00 per ton in yard.
We aie experiencing great difficulty in securing anthracite
coal for winter use and cannot guarantee having any quantity
on hand.
Alaska Lighterage Comercial Co.
-‘Tr-rtrrrrrri-n~
THE-NOME INDUSTRIAL WORKER
is prepared to handle
all kinds of
JOB PRINTING
Let us figure on your
work. Call up Black
1134 or call at
THE INDUSTRIAL WORKER OFFICE
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