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«<LABOR,>t
RIVALRY BETWEEN A. F. OF L. AND
I. W. W. TIES UP LUMBER INDUSTR'
Referring to conditions in the lum
ber industry in the state of Washing
ton, brought about by the strike and
the rivalry between the International
Union of Timber Workers, affiliated
with the American Federation of La
bor and the I. W. W., President E. P.
Marsh of the state federation and a
member of the Defense Council, writes
as follows in a letter to Senator Poin
dexter, regarding proposed national
legislation on the eight-hour day:
But ten per cent of the I. W. W. are
real revolutionary propagandists. The
rest of them are workmen who have
been attracted to that organization
because it was the only one, it seem
ed to them, offering any medium of
collective bargaining. There has been
in the woods no general organization
moving along A. F. of L. lines for
them to join. The I. W. W. seemed
to till their needs. The logger is a
different person than he used to be.
He formerly came to town semi-oc
casionally and blew his money in a
day or a week and returned to camp,
sullen and broke but forced to work
if he wanted to work. It is different
now. He comes to town with money in
his pocket. In the I. W. W. hall he
finds the social contact he used to find
in the saloon, without its stupifying
influence. He meets his fellows, sober
and clear eyed; it is a clearing house
of information for him; he is attracted
by the immediate program of better
ment held out before him; he does not
analyze the tenets and tactics of the
I. \V. W. sees only the industrial pro
gram held out and is caught by the
appeal to his sense of class loyalty,
the ‘‘one big union” idea; the slogan
“one for all and all for one.” He is
told that the policy of the American
Federation of Labor to compromise,
confer, negotiate is all wrong and
gets him nowhere and such exhibitions
as we have witnessed of stubbornness
on the part of the employers seems
to prove in his mind the I. W. W.
theory. I found but a small percentage
of the I. W. W. to whom I talked—
and they were men actually workers
in the industry who had gone out on
strike—knew anything ab>>ut the I. W.
W. constitution, had the faintest idea
concerning the insidious, un-American
teachings and philosophies of that or
ganization.
The problem is to make of that
eighty per cent good American work
men. turning them back into the in
dustry with a sense of loyalty to
the government and a realization of
their relation as industrial workers
to the successful prosecution of the
war. This is a struggle for suprem
ecy in the timber industry between
Two organizations, each having
the same industrial demands but as
wide apart as the poles in policy and
method of operation and sense of duty
to country on the part of all citizens.
On one hand is the American Federa
tion of Labor to which our organiza
tions belong. We believe absolutely in
negotiation, mediation and concilia
tion; in making contracts with em
ployers and holding them sacred dur
ing their life. On the other hand
stands the I. W. W., repudiating all
those methods, scoffing at trade
agreements, frankly waging war on
the capitalist system. The vast body
of men don’t reason very deep funda
mentally in the school of economics;
they want immediate, material better
ment of their working and living sur
roundings. The organization that can
produce the goods is the organizatioi
that appeals to them. If it were pos
sible for us to enter an agreemen
with the employers in the lumber in
dustry covering working condition
for a period of time, provide some sor
of machinery by which grievances an<
| disputes as they arose might be takei
I up and adjusted without any stoppag
! of industry, the I. W. W. movemen
j in this section would appear lik
| morning mist. The 1. W. W. leade
| could not hold the men in that case
: As it is the I. W. W. philosophy gain
; ground every day because this failur
' to come to an agreement bears ou
i the I. W. W. contention in the mind
j of the workers. It is folly to tal
i about breaking up the I. W. W. b
i force as it is now being considered un
| less the government can prove the oi
j ganization to be seditious and can dea
i with it as an organization at it
source. 1 say this because it is nex
to impossible to fasten any crime upo
them by which they can legally b
| held. They may intimidate men, i
[ cannot be proven; they may threate;
• to destroy crops and slow up produc
! tion generally, it cannot be proven. I:
j our four-day hearings of which I hav
spoken, we examined sixty-five wit
nesses. We had before us I. W. W
| strikers not members of that organi
zation, employers in the timber in
dustry, union officials, city and coun
ty officials, fruit and grain growers
Not a single proven case of destruc
; tion of property or actual intimidatioi
j was proven. Rumors galore but no
, actual evidence. The fact seems to b
that the I. W. W. are careful to keej
just within the law. and have thei
members pretty well under control
They have the power to irritate am
annoy but they do not actually vio
late any statute. They leave tha
to somebody else.
Supposing that this strike may b
broken and the men forced to returi
to work upon the old conditions. Th<
men will go back beaten but sullei
and resentful, in a frame of mind t<
practice sabotage in all its form
and will become I. W. W.’s in fact a
well as in name. What kind of :
citizenship will we have in this crit
icalperiod in our national life am
from what kind of men must our fu
ture soldiers be drawn? It is serious
senator, and in niv opinion the ONL1
permanent solution lies in recognitioi
of labor that believes in sane, busi
ness-like methods of doing busines
with employers. There is no other wa;
i out that offers permanent hope tha
1 our industrial relations will be stabi!
ized and all our citizens united on th<
one thought of winning this war wa
whatever cost. We may preach “na
tional sacrifice” from now until th<
crack of doom but it will not appea
to men who feel deep down in thei
hearts that while we are preachinj
“democracy abroad” they are beinj
denied democracy at home. I fel
i deeply on this question because wit!
all our social and industrial faults
I love my country and know what i
means to have the German arm
triumphant.
Is it not possible to have the gov
ernment insert an eight-hour claus
in all its government contracts? Tha
would go a long way toward solvinj
the question out here temporarily a
i least and meanwhile we could b
| steadily working toward a better mu
' tual understanding with employers.
Big Industrial Interests Want Cooli
Exclusion Law Repealed
“Big Business” again has resumed
its pernicious activities with a view of
securing annulment of the Chinese ex
clusion act preliminary to importation
of coolies. The Washington Times re
ferring to this subject, says:
The existence of an organized
propaganda working for a suspension!
of the Chinese exclusion laws in this:
and other belligerent countries hav-J
ing such laws is suspected by officials
of the government. It was admitted
today that investigation may reveal a
widespread plot looking toward the
letting down of bars on the Occident
to the Chinaman.
Officials here having to do with
labor and immigration matters have
heard many reports recently of move
ments to suspend the Chinese exclu
sion laws, and there is some support
for the plan making its appeaamce.
Tlfe reasons advanced for admitting
M. M. Thompson, connected with
the Alaskan Engineering commission,
the cheap Chinese labor which f<
many years has been repelled in tl
interest of the higher-waged world]
man of the western world are th;
the withdrawal of so many men f<
military service makes it nocessai
to import more labor and that gre;
savings can be effected through tl
introduction of the Chinaman in
western and particularly America
industries.
Members of the congressional cor
mittees on immigration have receivi
requests that the Chinese exclush
laws be suspended or modified so ;
to permit Chinese labor to enter f
the period of the war, at least.
Officials here are aware that ce
tain industrial interests in the Unit
States would be willing to see Ct
nese labor come in freely in order
bring down the cost of low-grai
labor.
has arrived from Camp 86 and is
fuest at the Anchorage hotel.
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TABLOID NEWS OF THE WORLD
OF INTEREST TO THE WORKERS
Kingdon Gould, multimillionaire, fil
ed a claim for exemption from en
forced military duty on the plea of
dependents to support. He had been
passed as physically fit for duty.
On guard against the profiteers and
exploiters of woman labor, the Na
tional American Woman Suffrage as
sociation has issued an open letter to
wage earning suffragists, urging ev
ery woman who does men’s work to
demand men’s pay, as a matter both
of justice to herself and duty to her
fellow-workers.
The United Hebrew Trades, which
has nearly a quarter of a million mem
bers, at its regular meeting unani
mously voted to raise funds to fight
against having Uerkman taken to
Frisco. Already such powerful unions
as the Amalgamated Clothing Work
ers, the Joint Board of the Furriers’
union and the Joint Board of the
Cloakmakers’ union, have come for
ward with generous contributions.
The mail arriving in Anchorage on
the 19th brought the information that
115 lumber and shingle mills are oper
ating in the state of Washington on
the eight-hour basis and that there is
not likely to be a shortage of material
for either shipyards or buildings.
There are 150 “unfair” association
mills working ten hours, with a daily
output averaging 315,000 feet of lum
ber.
Labor Unions are criticized for
their persistent objection to incorp
j orating themselves and thereby as
j suming legal responsibility for their
'acts. This recalls the fact frequent
ly stated by broad-minded lawyers
that the chief cause for the failure of
justice in the courts is found in the
j complex trivialities of the rules of
procedure, and the lack of a funda
| mental code. The legal trickster is
i able to take advantage of petty tech
nicalities to discomfit the poor man
that resorts to the law. The first
| practical step toward social reform is
to restore confidence in the tribunals
j of justice and that means to take
! them out of politics.—Mining and Sci
| entific Press.
The total disbursements of the of
fice at Anchorage for the period Aug
ust 22 to 31 were $94,761.29. The
payment of salaries and wages
amounted to $14,913.71; to contract
ors $72,077.91; local purchases, $5,
936.67; dock claims $20.44; other ex
penditures $1,812.56.
One hundred millions more for the
Russian revolution from the United
States treasury. It pays to be a Rus
sian revolutionist. The inquisitive
Washington Times wants to know how
much of the money actually goes as
far as Russia? How much pays bills
here in the United States? Who signs
the order that pays those bills? Is il
Kerensky ? Is it Root ?
Old negro “mammies,’' many o1
| whom worked on the cotton levees
i in Dixie, are loading and unloading
freight in the New York Centra
freight yards in Cleveland, Ohio, a1
$2.60 a day. They wear red bandam
handkerchiefs about their kinky hail
and each comes to *7ork in a clear
white apron. They say the work isn’1
hard and the pay is high—for them.
: During the street car strike ir
| San Francisco a controversy sprang
| up between Mayor Rolph and the law
and order committee of the chambei
of commerce and in. one of the letters
which the mayor wrote the plutes he
had the following to say: “You are
incurably stupid and ignorant aboul
business and industry,” said the may
or. “The world is changing about yon
and you don’t know it any more thar
the czar knew what was happening tc
him and Russia until it was all over
You still believe in Napoleon’s whifl
of grapeshot.’*
Capt. John T. Sullivan, chief of the
Milwaukee, Wise., police detective bu
reau, confirms the report that the ne
gro population is rapidly increasing ir
Milwaukee. Labor union officials claiir
that there is an organized effort tc
get southern negroes into the north
ern industrial cities, and that it is
planned to fill their places in the cot
ton and i-ice fields with Chinese cool
ies.
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; PEACE OFFICERS ARE PREPAR
ED TO QUELL ANY SORT
OF DISTURBANCE NOW.
PORTLAND, Oregon, Sept. 20.—
Portland police are to be armed with
Springfield rifles, for use in quelling
riots in case ordinary police weapons
are insufficient.|
A shipment of 300 rifles of the type
formerly used by the United States
regular army, and later by the Na
tional Guard, has been brought from
American Lake. The rifles formed a
part of the cargo of the Annie Lar
sen confiscated by the government.
The president, with admirable firm
ness, fixs prices because the nation is
at war. The poor are ALWAYS at
war with poverty. May the war teach
governments to protect the poor in
their perpetual war, as well as the
prosperous in their occasional wars.
As long as this republic lasts there
should be government regulation of
the costs of life’s necessities. It will
i be a cheap war if it teaches us that
| price protection for a hundred mil
j lions is more important than profita
j ble extortion for a few.—Washington
; Times.
Shipbuilders want to make the last
cent of profit out of their ships and
the nation. Shipbuilding mechanics
want to get the best possible wages
for their labor, naturally. This is
the kind of “trouble at home” that
seems to need attention at present.
The shipowners cannot assert as the
men do justly that high cost of food
makes higher pay essential.—Wash
ington Times.
The Alabama coal owners say they
, cannot produce coal at the price fixed
by the government. Too bad. Let
j the government try what IT can do.
: Take the mines, turn out the coal,
| pay the miners well, pay the railroads
fairly, give the Alabama gentlemen a
reasonable profit, or a fair price for
the mine. “I can’t” sometimes be
comes “I can” when government
proves itself in earnest.—Washington
Times.
The roadhouse at Rapids and Don
nelly, on the Valdez-Fairbanks trail
have changed hands recently. Stone
& Son have become the owners of the
Donnelly roadhouse and Flannigan, a
former owner, has again taken over
the hostelry at Rapids.
THREE JAILED ON
SLACKER CHARGE
! RAILROAD WORKERS FROM MAT
ANUSKA ARE HOUND OVER
TO GRAND JURY.
’ rn
Throe workers at construction sta
tions on the lines of the governmenl
railroad were arrested near Matan
uska and lodged in the federal jai
here last evening by Deputy Marsha
Frank Hoffman on the charge of hav
ing failed to register under the terms
of the selective conscription law
Their names are Nicholas Nallow
Samuel Maxeoff, both Russians, anc
John Lake, a Finn.
They were arraigned for a prelim
inary hearing before United State;
Commission Leopold Dacid this after
noon and were hold on $2500 bail eact
to awit the action of the grand jury
In default of bail, they are in jail.
About thirty-six men of foreigi
birth have been arrested in the An
chorage district as alleged offenders
of the draft law. Only few of thes(
have been able to give bail, which i:
in practically every case has been fix
ed at $2500.
i
MISS M. HOLLIDAY
WINS OUTSIDE TRIP
JUDGES ANNOUNCE RESULT OP
CONTEST CONDUCTED BY
MINT GRILL.
Mrs. M. Holliday, who is employee
| at the postoffiee here, was declarer
the winner of the outside-trip contesl
S that for some time past has been con
j ducted by the Mint Grill. This an
I nouncement was made this afternoor
| by E. V. Stevens, Robert Loudermilcl'
and S. J. Cole, the judges of the con
| test.
| Mrs. Holliday polled 6,275 votes
Ballots polled by other contestants
were: Mrs. Ethel Lampson, 1,828:
j Mrs. W. Murray, 468; Miss Haze
Britton, 454; Miss Jean Feldman, 449;
Mrs. Bud Whitney, 273.
When the registration books closet
at Seward two hundred and twenty
names of men eligible for military
service had been enrolled.
No slackers will be found at Aul
Bay as first reported as all the mei
there have registered for the select
ive draft. They did not register a
Auk Bay but all their names appea
on the list at Tee Harbor.
I
Mi Tfl TEST
ALL CLASSES
FRANCIS NEYLAN, OF CALIFOR
NIA, SAYS COUNTRY MUST
SOLVE GIGANTIC PROBLEMS
BETTER WAGES FOR LABOR.
Heads of Political, Commercial and
Industrial Organizations Are on
Trial and Must Meet Exacting Con
ditions to Serve Country.
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 19.—Po
litical, commercial and industrial lead
ers throughout the United States are
on trial facing the most gigantic prob
lem which ever confronted the repub
lic, John Francis Neylan, former
; ■ chairman of the California state board
’ of control, told an assemblage cf labo:
leader? here.
In part this is due to the increased
cost of the necessities of life brought
about by the food speculator and the
| failure of the increase in wages to
; keep pace with the advance, he said.
Upon these political, commercial
l and industrial leaders rest the respon
| sibility of a just solution. Mr. Ne.v
. Ian asserted, which is so necessai-y to
| a proper conduct of the part of the
,! United States in the struggle to sup
, j press selfish and autocratic power.
“While the European nations have
| been reaching the new understanding
i through the bitter experience of war,”
j Mr. Neylan said, “we in the United
| States stand little ahead of where we
; were three years ago.
Must Learn Our Lesson,
j “But within the next twelve months
we are going to learn our lesson, as
all other nations have learned or we
are going to face serious internal trou
bles which will hamper and defeat our
purpose in the war.
“Throughout the United States our
political, commercial and industrial
leaders are on trial. During the last
few months there has seemingly been
a cunning determination upon the
part of alleged commercial leaders to
attribute every industrial disturbance
to the agitation of the Industrial
i Workers of the World propagandist.
! and thereby hurt the cause of the
| striker in public opinion. The major
ity of industrial disturbances, I believe
have been due to other well-defined
! causes.
“With the mounting cost of the ne
; cessities of life due to the manipula
tion of food supplies by the speculat
ors we have seen the purchasing pow
er of the dollar decline until the work
er had the alternative of supinely fac
ing abject want or through his respon
sible organization securing an in
crease in wages.
Patriotic Duty to Starve.
“Some of our conservative leaders
would have us believe that it was the
patriotic duty of the worker to starve
and perform the operation with dig
nity. They have much to leam, and
unless they do learn they will wake
up a year hence to find themselves as
ignoi-ant of present-day progress as
Rip Van Winkle.
11 “The man who denies to peaceful
working men the right to organize for
his own protection and to achieve the
benefits of collective bargaining puts
a premium on anarchy, and renders
1 service to the I. W. W. that no ten
paid propagandists of that organiza
; tion could render.
“ “There could be no better illustra
; tion of the stupid handling of a labor
dispute than we have here in Sar.
Francisco at the present time. The
I well-meaning and personally amiable
manager of a public utility, not only
denies to the employes of the corpora
tion a living^ wage, but goes further
I and denies them their right to organ
| ize for their own protection.”
STRONG OBJECTION TO
CONSCRIPTION REMOVED
The action of the president in in
; structing draft boards to exempt all
married men if there was any proba
: bility of the wife having to become a
i wage earner has removed one of the
strongest objections to the conscrip
tion law.
It is significant that certain army
! officers and other promoters of war
I used this argument against such ex
j emption: “These women can take tjie
places of workers sent to the front,
and thus aid in supporting other de
pendents."
Many boards were certifying heads
of families where it was shown the
l wife had formerly been a wage earner,
- presuming that from that fact she
r was still able to support herself. On
the other hand, where it was shown
the wife had not been a wage earner
: before marriage, the husband was ex
i empted. This was manifestly unfair,
- since it exempted the men of the well
t to-do classes and drafted the workers,
r The new order changes the whole mat
ter and removes a vicious favoritism.
MANY SALES MADE
OF ACRE TRACIS
ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-NINE
ACRES NEAR ANCHORAGE
ARE BOUGHT IN LAST YEAR.
One hundred and fifty nine acres, in
one, two and five acre tracts in the
immediate vicinity of Anchorage have
been sold by the Alaskan Engineering
commission in the last twelve months
F'ully two thirds of this acreage is
either under cultivation or the ground
has been cleared and prepared for
planting next spring.
The land and industrial department
of the Alaskan Engineering commis
sion has been gathering data concern
ing these small tracts, and it bears sufe
the statement of Andrew Christensen,
head of the department that a major
ity of the purchasers are home build
ers and plan to make ther livelihood
from the products of the soil.
“With all of the acre tracts under
cultivation and supporting families,”
said Mr. Christensen, “with the coal
fields producing huge quantities of
fuel, with the Matanuska valley set
tled with homesteaders and with the
near-by mining districts reasonably
well developed, there can be no ques
tion but that the future of Anchorage
is assured.”
THEATRE OWNER VISITS
STATES ON BUSINESS
Captain A. E. Lathrop was an out
going passenger *>n the steamer Al
aska last night for Valdez, Cordova
and Seattle. He expects to return to
Anchorage on the last sailing of the
Mariposa in October. Captain Lath
rop will inspect the new moving pic
ture building he is erecting at Valdez.
He wlil also visit Cordova on busi
ness in relation to his moving picture
theatre there.
Captain Lathrop will spend several
weeks in Seattle on important busi
ness connected with the Willow Creek
Development company of which he is
a stock holder and director. During his
stay in Seattle he will superintend the
mill test of 500 pounds of the compa
ny’s ore and decide upon the make of
the mill to be installed on the proper
ty.
MAGAZINE HAS FINE
ARTICLES OX ANCHORAGE
»<* _
The August number of Alaska, the
magazine published at Juneau by Sid
ney I). Charles, has arrived in An
chorage and is a most excellent issue.
Much space is devoted by the editor
to Anchorage and sourrounding dis
trict, and every line in the magazine,
while adhering strictly to facts, is a
boost for the north.
Among the noteworthy articles in
the August number are: “Railway
Construction in Alaska,” by William
C. Edes*; “Industrial Development on
the Government Railway,” by Andrew
Christensen; “Markets of the World
Open to Alaska,” by Dr. K. A. Kyvig.
A large number of these magazines
have been received by Loussac’s drug
stores where they are on sale.
FARMER GETS $1.25;
CONSUMER PAYS $5
HUNTINGTON, W. Va.—In a bas
ket of peaches a local grocer purchas
ed from a commission merchant he
found interesting information. In
the basket was a note from a Texas
girl explaining that her father had
sold the peaches for $1.25 a bushel
and asking the ultimate consumer to
j write and tell her how much he paid
| for them.
The merchant bought the peaches
j from the commission dealer at $3.25~
j a basket and retailed them for $5.
—
Carl Hirst, prospector and trapper
of the Slate creek country has been
under the charge of Dr. Council in
Cordova for some time as the result
of rather rough treatment accorded
him by a huge brown bear which at
tacked him in the interior country.
Hirst and two others were traveling
along the watershed of the Robinson,
river about two hundred miles from
the trail and making slow time be
cause of the soft condition of the
road. Hirst was in the rear, when
without and warning a big brown
bear pounced upon him and started to
chew his head. His partners were at
tracted by the noise and hastened to
the scene where one of them fired at
the animal causing it to release Hirst
and make for the new opponent. Hirst
sat up and in spite of his condition
dispatched several bullets. It took six
shoots to kill the bear. Hirst was in
the saddle three days before taking
the train.
According to the Juneau Dispatch
the war department has granted per
mission to the Territorial Road com
mission for the First division to
dredge the Gastineau bar, and the
work will start immediately. It is es
timated the work will cost about $20,
000. :<