Haiti} Nome Jln&ustrtal Worker.
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% Nome Mine Workers’ Union So ***> Wc»»»r, • ..* Miners
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"To secure to each laborer the whole product of bis labor, or a*
• early as possible. Is a worthy object of ant rood government."—
ntiranam Lincoln
Address all Communications to ilally Nome Industrial Worker,
Box 210 Nome. Alaska Phone, Black 134
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entered as secouu class matter March 1, 1311, a» the post office at
Nome, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 187*
■ 1 " •" ... ......
Nome, Alaska, March 110, 1010.
When the Clayton bill was passed,
goodness knows how many of the
leaders of the American Federation
of Labor patted thomselvos on the
back upon getting in that clause,
which is entirely untrue from an
economic point of view, to the ef
fect that labor is not a commodity
It was Quite a triumph. If any per
son could succeed in getting Con
gress to pass a declaration in a tariff
bill wherein fluid substances were
subject to 50 per cent r.d valorem
duty, to tho effect that this would
not apply to water "which was not
a fluid”, precisely the same achieve
ment would have been accomplished
as that which was done when labor
was declared to be no commodity.
And we can just content ourselves
here by saying that tho ipse dixit
of congress would no more prevent
labor economically being a commo
dity. than they could prevent water
being physically a fluid.
But in addition to patting them
solves on the back and wringing
their hands in congratulation, they
also indulged in a. little porfervid
eloquence in platform and in press
hailing this declaration as Magnt
<5harta No. 23 for Labor, freeing it
for all time from tho servile condi
tion which it had enjoyed since first
chattel slavery exlstod. It was quite
a harmless little logal assertion cost
congressmen nothing and pleased
labor mightily, and so from a strict
ly political point was well worth
while.
Comes now the city o£ Youngs
town, Ohio, ns the scene before us.
Kilter the grand jurors deliberating
upon the labor strikes, riots and
working conditions. Exit the gran i
jurors with indictments against El
bort Gary President of United
States Steel and against the United
States Steel Corporation itself.
These indictments contain counts
among others of a conspiracy to
keep down the wages of the work
ers. which no doubt were alto
gether true.
Comes then the court presided
over by Judge Anderson which de
cides that inasmuch as labor is no
commodity (see the Clayton anti
rrust act) for this reason neithe
Ovry nor the steel trust can be in
dicted for trying lu kwp down
wages.
Verily a Daniel come to judgment!
Here is a man hoists the A. F. of
I,, with their own petard, end here
is a judge delights in doing the
hoisting. Responsibility for getting
in that clause in the Clayton anti
trust bill rests with the American
Federation of Gabor. Tirelessly the
politicians who denounce politics
supported that very clause, suggest
ed and insisted upon It. And there
is no question but that it was intro
duced to protect labor organizations
from prosecution under the trust
laws. When it is availed of by the
courts to protect capital, just as
the courts made use or the Sherman
Act to control labor, the,' will be
<only following a method of proce
dure to say the least is hallowed by
ample precedent.
The courts are not illogical at all
The bitterness of this decision if it
is bitter in the taste to any one
who cannot enjoy its taste to any one
lies in the fact that it is the Amer
ican Federation ot Labor which has
beoa and Is so foolishly illogical.
Time and time again political ac
tion is denounced by Gompers and
the rest. It la no good. It is in
effective. It makes the workers lose
confidence In their labor organiza
tion. Tt la unnecessary, because it
the workers have the economic
power the laws will bo autoihatlc
, ally forced upon society and If they
haVe not the1 economic power comes
from organization, the laws will not
be enforced' any how.
Ttl'ose arguments are good and
sound. odtWptori’ tfthntt in this re*
pect Is correct- Everythlnk that can
be said In favor of political re’orruS
depends whether or not the vtorkers
have an industrial might to enforce
them, and if they have not they will
not he enforced, unloss they favor
capital directly or indirectly; di
rectly in improving the employer's
position, indirectly in soothing the
healthy discontent arises among the
workers from a continued sense ot
injustice follows from unallcviated
exploitation. But take a striking in
stance of Uompers inconsistency.
Eight hour law is considered ex
tremely had agitation; clauses in
antitrust acts which declare labor
not a commodity are well worth
by the capitalist parties is excellent,
labor leglslationn promoted
while. Labor legislation promoted
by a referendum or by a working
class party is abominable.
| * That's so rotten that it’s smells to
heaven, and because Judge Ander
son has punctured the folly of it so
effectively, Gompers should write
him a letter of personal thanks,
i This declaration of the law that
labor is not a commodity io econom
ic nonsense. Not if forty million
congressmen so declared could they
alter a fact. Labor is a commodity
bought and sold in tho market, just
the same as bread and tobacco and
coffee, and sugar and meat and cloth
ing. The employer buys it, paying
so much for its use every day. He
doesn't buy the worker but he buys
what the worker provides: his labor
) power. The price varies with vary
ing circumstances. When very plen
tiful-it’s cheap as dirt, when scarce
it is extremely expensive. In this
it is just exactly the same as any
other marketable commodity.
Maybe some workers dont like the
idea that their labor power is bought
and sold like a car lond of fertilizer
or sack of coal. But liking or dis
liking does not change an element
ary fact.
A dogmatic declaration that tho
s un moved round the earth did not
sustain the geocentric theory against
; the truth that the earth moved in
its ori'it around the sun, and the
murmured fact that the eartn did
move, con*aine! absolute tmth of
which evtn punitive measures wire
powerless to prevent the conoftl
ment
Of course there is no preventing
Congress or labor executives from
! maxing any ruch declaration they
'see fit. They could if they had a
mind to, and could effect important
political ends, declare black was
white and rain was sunshiny and
heat was cold, and water was drv.
[But that would not necessarily make
| us belie'e that this was so.
; And when we face a condition and
; not a theory and behold day after
.day moon after moon workers sell
' ing their labor yower just as the
! grocer sells sugar to the highes'. kid
| dor, we cannot be prevented from
; belioving the truth.
Anyhow that declaration in the
Clayton law does no earthly good,
if an eight hour law is useless when
J labor is powerless to enforce it or
see that it is enforced, much more
ridiculous is it to be amending laws
concerning capital when capital con
trols absolutely the economic power.
What does it matter whether labor
is considered a commodly or nor:
That w}H not protect labor If perse
cution Is sought after, for they will
still be subjected to conspiracy or
other punitive codes which may ap
pear dead letters until aroused
against labor when they are as full
of force as a live wire. The very
simple proposition Is this. The
workers individually aro ' quite
powerless. They could not enact 6r
enforce a solidary rofored for them
selves as Individuals. Theta strength
cotaeS only by solidarity. Massed
action is their only hope. As the en
tire fabric Of society featir upon
labor, so a united laboring class has
society absolutely at thd mercy Of
such masked action. Apart froih any
side lsauek then, it Is a question of
economic thlibt against’ economic
might which' iti turn lira question of
organized capital against organized
labor.
Intervening spaces betwixt labor
and capital are filled with men who
have relations to one or tho other.
Sometimes more with one than the
other but thero is a grad
ual connection between the two.
But so greatly are the workers
numerlcaly superior that their com
plete organization in industrial sol
idarity would convey to them al30
unlimited power.
Now, there is nothing of the kind.
Relatively speaking only a fractional
part of the workers are organized
and a relatively smaller fraction
are forcefully and effectively orga
nized. Hence as a class they are
powerless and hence as a class they
can discover no operation of legis
lative, judicial or executive power
in the political world directed for
their benefit as contrasted with the
benefit of the employing classes.
Some people call that adjudicat
ing or legislating or administei ing
according to class interests, hut
that’s not any explanation. Society
only realizes the interests of the em
ployers. Society does not
consider the interecta of
the workers worth consideration.
Business is organized: organized
for buying and selling and making
money. Society itself is organized
along that line. The workers have
no organization. Instead most of
them identify their interests with
those with whom they have nothing
whatsoever in common. Without
economic power through lack of or
ganization, there is no earthly
reason why there should be any
manifestation of labor’s power in
the political world at all. Why
should judges who owe their posi
tions strictly to non-laboring inter
ests, who have made thoir living by
serving other than the workers, cater
to them in the least; why should le
gislators who have been taught and
trained and who do believe that
their highest function is to promote
the ends of the commercial interests
of their constituents, show the
slightest concern about labor; .why
should an executive which finds on
every side considered as the only
matters of real moment, matters
concerning employers, trouble at all
about the workers.
The fact that there should have
been many men in the Judiciary and
in the legislative r.nd executive de
partments of gove-nment ready and
anxious to treat labor with fairness
I—as there undoubtedly have been
! many—is surprising enough. That
1 they were relatively few and rela
tively seldom long in power does not
make their appearance the less strik
ing.
That labor should be a commodity,
despite assertions to the contrary
may be a regrettable fact. But it’s
no use repining about it. And cer
tainly the way to change that con
dition of things is not by denying
an olyious fact. There is no reason
why labor power should be a com
modity at all. We owe many things
to labor power that was not bought
and sold, but contributed with a zest
unequalled to the benefit of society
at large". There is no reason why
labor power and its use should 1 ot
be a mutual interchange in society
for the mutual welfore of the var
ious individuals in society.
We live by labor. We enjoy live
because of labor. We prolong our
existence on account of labor. The
labor of others is as necessary to us
as the air we breathe and as our
labor is necessary to others. The
man who would live by, for and
with himself is worse off than his
1 savage ancestor. The various things
that we take pleasure in, that we
enjoy at the table or in the home
from a pipe of tobacco to a grapho
phone is the result of social labor.
And the real question is not whether
or not the law can by denying it
change a certain economic facN but |
whether or not human beings who
have the power if they only use it,
! will change that condition by substi
tuting another and better social sy
stem where commodities will -not
be the positive factors therein.
NOTICE OF FORFEITURE.
To William Maroton your heirs,
executors, assigns or personal re
presentatives.
You are hereby notified that i
have expended in labor and im
provements the sum of one hundred
dollars during the year 1915 on the
Paystreak Junior fraction, a placer
mining claim situated on the right
limit first tier bench off No. 3 above
Discovery Bourbon creek, and re
corded and more fully described In
Volume 125 at page 45 in the Re
cords of the Cape Nome Mining and
Recording district, Second Divison,
Territory of Alaska.
The above amount has been ex
pended in order to hold said claim
j under the provisi ns of the law con
I corning annual labor upon mining
i claims, being tho amount required
! to hold said claim.
| And you are further notified tlia'
(if within ninety days after the last
abdication of this notice you fall
to contribute your proportion of
said expenditure, your interest in
said claim will becomo tho proprety
of the undersigned your co-owner
under section 232 4 Revised Statu
I tes of the United States
HILMA CARLSON.
Co-Owner.
\ By C. J. Carlson, Attorney-in-fact.
I Date of First publ., Jan. 0, 1916.
! Date of Last publ., April 6, 1916.
wfififaaaRjaaaaB^^ ‘fmfira»afHaR«Kfi* *************
THE WOMAN WHO
CARES
SHOULD SEE OUR WINDOW DISPLAY OP
MARVELOUS COLD CREAM
and all the other
STANDARD COLD CREAMS
To be had in the best
MARKETS OP THE WORLD
the most complete line in Alaska at
HILLS PHARMACY
We Deliver The Goods.
*************
WMeraiyaiarat********?******^
NO TICE
We have been appointed agents
for the
Dodge Automobile
The popular, fully-equipped,
pleasure car that satisfies all
ALASKA LIGHTERAGE A COIL GO.
FOR YOUR
HATS, SHOES,
MEDDUICOTT AND COOPERS UNDERWEAR AND GREEN
HOOD SHIRTS
AT CHEAP JOHN’S STORE.
OUR PRICES ARE THE LOWEST IN TOWN.
Cheap John Store
Kent Transfer Oo.
.■
General Transfer & Freighting
Qoal & QM
Phone Main 139.
For Summit and Greenhood
Shirts, Midlicott and Stady Un
derwear and Sox, the best ever
fi
sold for the money.
MURPHY WAS THE COOPS
PHIL HHIIBPHY
ARTIC SPRING
WATER
Always at your Service.
Prompt delivery— Blizzard or
Shine at usual Rates 16
Buckets $1.00. SOc. a Barrel.
A. D. POTEET.
Phone Red 128.
INDEPENDENT
MEAT MARKET
Wholesale and Retail Dealer
in Beef, Pork, Motion, Veal,
Ham, Bacon Poultry and Fish
Game in Season. All fresh
Stock. No old or damaged.
W. H. Webb prop. Phone M.1B
A FEW SPECIALS
ON OUR BARGAIN COUNTER THIS WEEK.
QUAIL BRAND, BERRIES, Gal. Cans, 65c. p«r can.
QUAIL BRAND PEACHES, Gal. Cans, 45c. per can.
QUAIL BRAND APRICOTS Gal. Cans, 45c. per can.
QUAIL BRAND, RHUBARB Gal. Cans, 40c. per can.
SEA PORT PEACHES .$4.00 per case.
FORCE.8 Pkgs. for $1.00.
SHEEDED WHEAT BISCUITS.8 Pkgs. tor $1.00.
MOLLER’S GROCERY
PHONE MAIN M , 111 fBON* STREET
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