NEVER MIND THE KNOCKER.

Go ahead and make your play;
Never mind the knocker.
He is in every worker's way;
Never mind the knocker.
Everyone who seeks to shine,
If successful, he'll malign;
'Tis of fame a certain sign-
Never mind the knocker.

If you have a task to do,

Never mind the knocker. Have your nerve and see it through; Never mind the knocker. When your labor has been done You may know that you have won, If the pounding is begun—

Never mind the knocker.

He strikes only those who climb;
Never mind the knocker.
'Tis success he deems a crime;
Never mind the knocker.

If he hammers at your name, Then be sure you're in the game; 'Tis a species of acclaim;

Never mind the knocker.

His low aim affirms his caste,
Never mind the knocker.
Fiercest storms most quickly pass,
Never mind the knocker.
When the knocker's course is run,
When his jeers and scoffs are done,
He'll be cursed by everyone;
Never mind the knocker.

-American Musician.

CONSOLIDATION.

I am delighted to see the boys taking up 'the question of consolidation, as it is through such interchanges of opinion that we learn what is the most desirable course to pursue, and the letters which have so far been written for and against the idea are intensely interesting, and some excellent points are made. The brothers who are so utterly opposed to consolidation are composed of good mettle, and you can see the fighting blood of manliness showing itself in every letter, and such men are the ones who would need no watching in battle or when trouble confronted them; but when we are fighting the battles of wage-earners striving for common rights, we also need men who, with the olive branch in hand,

will lay the foundation of an organization which will embrace all railroad brotherhoods, an organization which, by virtue of its power, would be the most absolute assurance of peace, as no corporation would dare take issue with an aggregation which would involve the rights of half a million of organized workingmen.

To the words of the brother of No. 71 that, "it would look different to the brother from No. 212 if he was behind the scoop," I would answer: No, brother, this question is vastly broader than the scoop which we manipulate; it is of greater proportions than the cab; it is a part of the great labor problem, "the greatest problem before the people of the world" today.

For illustration, let us suppose that a vote was taken to consolidate the two Enginemen's Brotherhoods, and the vote should stand a tie, and Mr. Harriman of the S. P. was to decide it; does any one doubt how he would decide? Why? Simply because he knows very well that it would be much easier to handle a battalion than to go up against a solid phalanx. This alone should show us the necessity for closer relations. Let us line up our forces. We all know that the enemy will rush for a break in the ranks where, sometimes, it wavers and halts before an impregnable point. Let us close up the gap.

I will always vote for closer affiliations among railroad organizations; yes, I will go one better, I will say workingmen of the world, all countries, should unite. There is nothing to lose but our undesirable conditions, and we have a world to gain. With brotherly love to all and malico towards none, I am,

Fraternally,

T. H. LYNCH, Lodge No. 212. -Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen's Magazine, January, 1908.

THE BROW-BEATING EMPLOYER. Orison Swett Marden, in Success Magazine. There are certain plants and trees which kill the chances of every other growing thing in their neighborhood. They so poison the soil and the air that everything about them is stunted, starved, blighted.

Some employers so poison their environment that even the most capable employes cannot prosper under them. Their atmosphere is so suffocating, so depressing, that those about them feel restrained, repressed,

suppressed. They cannot act naturally in their presence or do themselves justice. They feel nervous and ill at ease.

I have known of employes who worked for years in such an atmosphere without getting ahead. They thought it was lack of ability that kept them down, but when they changed their positions and got into a congenial environment, they advanced rapidly. They exapnded like tropical plants which had been stunted for a time in an arctic climate, but which flourished when taken back to their native soil.

Many employers seem to have a perfect genius for dampening the enthusiasm and spontaneity of their employes, who shrivel and shrink every time they come near them. It is impossible to be at one's best in their presence. They destroy individuality, hope and courage. They make it very hard for their employes to take an interest in their welfare, because they belittle them, scold them, and take the heart out of them, all the time.

I have seen stenographers, clerks, and other employes in business houses, scolded and hounded, criticised and nagged, until they completely lost hope and courage, and became mere automatons. They had been bullied and browbeaten so long that they had lost confidence in themselves, and with it their ambition. They had come to take it for granted that they were the stupid, dull, careless ignoramuses they had been pictured by a cross, crabbed employer, who had used them as kicking posts, objects on which to vent his spleen.

WAGES STAY UP ON THE Q. & C. Wages of railroad men connected with the Cincinnati Southern and other Southern roads comprising the Southern Railway system will not be cut 10 per cent, as was threatened last spring.

Definite announcement of this decision comes from President W. W. Finley.

"In view of the demonstrated greater efficiency of labor and its resulting benefits to the companies, and in the hope that business conditions will show an early improvement, an understanding has been reached to the effect that negotiations with employes are postponed to October 1, at which time they may be resumed, at the option of the companies," says Finley.

This is a victory for organized labor.Cincinnati Post.

Make good.

"MAKE GOOD."

Cut out "if," "could" and "should,"
And start in to saw wood.
You can still have the best
Things in life, like the rest
Of the men who've achieved
Just because they've believed
In themselves. You're deceived
If you think fortune comes
With a rattle of drums
And a fanfare of state
To hand yours on a plate.
That isn't the way
That she visits today.

You must get out and rustle and bustle and hustle;

You need all your muscle, for you've got to tussle,

Plunge into the fight,
Hit to left and to right,
And keep crashing and smashing.
Don't let up with your striking
Till things meet your liking.
For God's sake, stop bawling-
Instead, do some mauling.
It makes the world bitter
To look at a quitter;
Fate scowls when she sees
A grownup on his knees.
A man with his health
Is a mine jammed with wealth
Full of unexplored lodes.
Why, the freckle-backed toads
Have the sense to keep jumping-
And here you are frumping.
Come, now, strike your gait-
It isn't too late,

There's no such thing as fate.
Drop that fool talk of "luck."
Get a grip on your pluck,
And buck.
Begin

ious that the statements which I make shall be absolutely verified, especially with regard to the attitude of labor toward the saloon proposition.

It will be greatly appreciated if the readers of this journal will send me information concerning this subject, answering as fully as they can the following questions:

First: To the best of your knowledge, what percentage of the workingmen in your shop are total abstainers?

Second: To the best of your knowledge, what percentage of the workingmen in your shop frequent the saloon?

Third: What is the general attitude of the membership in your craft toward the saloon question?

Fourth: What is the chief attraction of the saloon to the workingmen?

Fifth: Have you any suggestions to make as to a substitute for the saloon?

Sixth: Has the central body in your city passed any resolutions with regard to holding its meetings in the rear, or over saloons?

Seventh: Has the central body in your city passed any resolutions with regard to the use of intoxicating liquors by its members in and about the meeting place?

Eighth: In the matter of securing employment, to what extent does the use or non-use of intoxicants, or the patronage of the saloon, have any influence in securing a position?

Ninth: To what extent have employers in your craft prohibited the use of intoxicants by those in their employ?

If there are any other facts with reference to this subject, or if you have any personal suggestions to make, I shall greatly appreciate your co-operation in giving me the benefit of your thought and experience.

I am seeking to get information on both sides of this question, and shall be glad to have you give a frank expression of your opinion concerning it. Address me at 156 Fifth avenue, New York.

ized under one head or another for their own protection in the matter of wages, hours of service, etc., and such organizations are constantly spreading to other branches of the service.

Whatever may have been the sentiment in the past, there is today no opposition on the part of railroad managers to labor organizations, if properly and consistently conducted. They are the outgrowth of changed conditions and indicate the growing tendency toward co-operation and team work.

Recognizing these conditions, why should not the entire railroad fraternity regardless of class or position, organize for the proper protection of their own and their employers' interests?

Is there anything improper or impractical in our co-operating with our employers in such a way that we can be kept advised as a body of the dangers that confront them from time to time, and use our influence individually and collectively to prevent their being unjustly treated? Would not such an organization wield a powerful and proper influence in many ways?

I hope to see the day when capital and labor will be so closely allied that action of this kind will be the rule rather than the exception.

In conclusion, we must not overlook the personal equation that enters into all business propositions, and while we cannot all be at the top we can all try and get as near to it as possible.

I heard a quotation some time ago that expresses it pretty well:

"The have-beens they are many, The would-be's more by far, The going-to-be's are legion,

But how few are those-that-are." Let us all try and be in the class of those last mentioned. The fewer there are the more select will be the company-Rock Island Employes' Magazine.

LABORS RIGHT TO COMBINE. Fifteen years ago Robert G. Ingersoll in one of his most eloquent speeches, made a dramatic plea for workingmen to combine that they might secure control of the executive, legislative and judicial departments.

"Capital," said Ingersoll, "has always claimed, and still claims, the right to com

bine. Manufacturers meet and determine prices even in spite of the great law of supply and demand. Have the laborers the same right to consult and combine? The rich meet in the bank, club house or parlor. Workingmen when they combine gather in the street. All the organized forces of society are against them. Capital has the army and navy, the legislature, the judicial and executive departments. When the rich combine it is for the purpose of 'exchanging ideas.' When the poor combine it is a conspiracy. If they act in concert, if they really do something, it is a 'mob.' If they defend themselves it is treason.

"How is it the rich can control the departments of government? In this coun

try the political power is equally divided among men. There are certainly more poor than rich. Why should the rich control? Why should not the laborers combine for the purpose of controlling the exexutive, the legislative and judicial departments? Will they ever find how powerful they are?

"A cry comes from the oppressed, the hungry, from the despised, from men who despair and from women who weep. There are times when mendicants become revolutionists-when a rag becomes a banner under which the noblest and the bravest battle for right."

out labor, to wear out litigants, to beat down small competitors, to master the market, to evade taxes, to get the free use of public property? Nothing but the curb of organized society can confine them to their own grist and keep them from grinding into dividends the stamina of children, the health of women, the lives of men, the purity of the ballot, the honor of public servants, and the supremacy of the law.

BRYAN ON FAVOR-SEEKING CORPORATIONS.

The greatest of all evils-and it is the fruitful source of almost all the other evilsis the domination of politics by the favorseeking corporations. By dominating poli. tics they dominate the government, national and state. Shall the government be administered in the interest of the whole people, by unpurchaseable and incorruptible representatives of the people, or shall the favor-seeking corporations control the elections, raise their representatives to power, and through these exploit the country?— From the speech of William J. Bryan in his Chicago address last Thursday night.-K. C. Star.

TOO ROUGH.

A traveler in the dining car of a railroad had ordered fried eggs for breakfast. "Can't give y' fried aigs, boss," the negro waiter informed him, "lessen yo' want to wait till we stop."

"Why, how is that?"

"Well, de cook he says de road's SO rough dat ebery time he tries to fry aigs dey scrambles."—Life.

"The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen has just discovered that someone has been soliciting funds, alleged to be for the purpose of defraying expenses of delegates to the convention of our order in Columbus this year. Such collectors are frauds, as the order is not receiving funds for expenses in that manner." J. J. Bullock.

NOTICE.

Please announce in the Clerk that wallet belonging to me was lost or stolen, and among other things it contained membership cards 815, Crescent City 54, and No. 85, Sherman 78.

J. B. INNERARITY.