Just what is to be requested of the New Haven system is not known, but those interested in the movement seem confident that satisfactory concessions will be made. During the past year the Brotherhood of Railway Clerks has been increased by about 3,000 members.-Exchange.

FROM DANBURY, CONN., NO. 21. It is not very often you hear from us, 'way down East here, but we are still doing business. We have been so busy the last few months, trying to get acquainted with the officials of the N. Y., N. H. & H. road, and have been working so hard, that we have hardly had time to do anything else. Still water runs deep, you say. Well, I should not doubt in the least that you I will find it so wth us. Thanks to our worthy brother, Artemus Ward Knapp, who is secretary of the board of adjustment on our road. With his help, and that of Parson Clifford, not to say members of the other lodges on the N. Y., N. H. & H., we are doing very nicely toward a recognition. Brother F. Bassett (Young Kisner), wouldbe general foreman and other things, threatens to stop the motive power if we don't mention him in our Journal, and put us all out of business. So don't forget, boys, always remember Brothers Knapp, Hobbs and Bassett.

Here comes the "spotter," so I will have to close, and remain, Yours fraternally, THE SCRIBE,

Card 29.

WM. J. BRYAN ON EIGHT-HOUR DAY. I believe in the eight-hour day, and I cannot understand how there can be opposition to it among the people who work less than eight hours. It has been strange to me that the opposition should come from the source it does. Why should the laboring man have an eight-hour day? Merely because he wants it? No. Because he is entitled to it. He is not a serf, he is not merely a beast of burden. He is a human being. As a rule the laboring man has a wife and he has children, and he loves his Iwife and children as well as we love our families. He is a member of society, and he has a right to the advantages of society. More than that, he is a citizen, and upon him equally with us rests the responsibility of the proper management of this government, and if you drive him from his

bed to his work, and from his work back to his bed again, what opportunity are you going to give him to enjoy the companionship of his family, to give aid and influence to society,. or to bear an honorable part in the political world? I believe, my friends, that it ought to be demanded for him as a right, for the laboring man helps to create the nation's wealth in time of peace, and he is the first to offer his life if danger comes, and that life is demanded upon the field. The Leather Workers' Journal.

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Published Monthly by Brotherhood of Railway Clerks. Wilbur Braggins, Editor-in-Chief. R. E. Fisher, Business Manager.

VOL. VII.

AN AGREEMENT WITH PERE MARQUETTE OFFICIALS SECURED.

The second actual system agreement to be secured by members of the Brotherhood of Railway Clerks was gained about two months ago, with the general superintendent of the Pere Marquette by the board of adjustment representing our membership in the employ of that company.

Though this agreement is but a verbal one at present, the general superintendent expressed regrets that the occasion was inopportune for granting them definite and marked improvements in the conditions under which they were serving the company, because of the business depression which had prevailed for nearly a year; and he assured them that just as soon as business assumed a normal status that he would give the clerks just as good an agreement as had been given to any other organization of Pere Marquette employes. Mr. Trump asked to be excused from entering into detailed discussion of the terms of the proposed contract at this time, but said that he conceded to the clerks as a right practically everything that was incorporated in the committee's draft of the proposition.

This position of Mr. Trump's is precisely in keeping with the assurance he gave to Grand President Braggins at one time and to First Vice Grand President Myers at another time. Mr. Trump is a man of his word and is one of the fairest, most consistent and broad-minded railway offi

No. 11

cials of the country. Because of this fact and his consideration for the employes of the company, they hold for him sentiments of the highest esteem and will gladly do anything that is right and within their power to promote the interests and welfare of the company. And the members of this brotherhood in the employ of that company should make special effort to improve the standard of their services to the company by rendering faithful, prompt and accurate service at all times; and thus prove to Mr. Trump and to all other railway officials of the country that organization of their clerical forces will enure to the benefit of the employers as well as to the employes concerned.

Just as soon as business has revived sufficiently to permit it Mr. Trump will enter into a definite and positive agreement with our members in the employ of his company, that will give them the benefits and improved conditions which they merit and to which they have been so long entitled. But in order to insure the securing of those benefits in full and maintaining them in effect, it is and always will be necessary to gain and maintain the most thorough organization of the clerks in the employ of that company that is possible. The reason that the engineers, firemen and trainmen throughout the country have been able to secure and maintain so greatly increased rates of pay and so much better conditions of service is because they have attained such thorough organization of their classes

of employes. Our members and the clerks throughout the country must understand and appreciate fully this fact and follow the example of the older organizations in this respect; and the sooner they do so the sooner will they begin to draw profits from their investment in the Brotherhood of Railway Clerks.

-O

WILL MR. TAFT FULFIL HIS PROMISE TO LABOR?

The citizens of the United States have elected Mr. Taft to become their next president.

Many prominent leaders of organized labor strenuously opposed Mr. Taft's election; partly because of his own past record which has at least seemingly been opposed to the interests and rights of labor or unduly prejudiced against them, but mainly because of the unmistakably adverse attitude of Mr. Taft's party toward labor's interests and rights as demonstrated by the last two Republican congresses and the Republican convention by which Mr. Taft was nominated.

During the heat of the campaign, and because of the attendant exigencies, charges and statements reflecting upon the motives and sincerity of those engaged on either side of the controversy were freely made; but the writer sincerely hopes and is willing to believe that many of those charges and counter charges would not have been made under circumstances of less urgent necessity and that, as the struggle is ended, it will now be recognized that most of those charges were not justified by the actual facts upon which they were based.

The first and wholly unjustifiable charge that was uttered was to the effect that the leaders of organized labor had promised to "deliver the labor vote to the Democratic party." This charge was wholly untrue; and it is necessary to advance but one reason to convincingly establish this fact, viz., NO SUCH PROMISE WAS NECCESSARY NOR REQUIRED. But this charge not only instigated and justified the making of counter charges in defense, but absolutely compelled having recourse to such action.

Another statement that has been misleadingly made is that the leaders of organized labor have adopted new policies and tactics and are trying to take the or

ganizations into politics. The errors in this declaration, according to the implied and intended interpretation, are threefold; the first is that organized labor has not taken political action in the past, the second that it should not do so in the future and the third that the leaders are trying to permanently attach it to one political party. A greater fallacy than the last was never expressed nor entertained; the leaders of organized labor have always been in the past, are now and always will be in the future strictly non-partisan in undertaking to secure concerted political action by its members; unless they are finally forced into adopting that course because of the proven inability to gain and maintain labor's just rights through nonpartisan political action. This applies to the actual leaders of organized labor and not to occasional instances where members clothed with minor and temporary authority have foolishly or knavishly adopted a contrary policy. No man could or can attain to a position as leader of an orgnization of wage-workers and hold it for any length of time and be governed in his actions by any other motive and policy than those strictly faithful and strictly non-partisan. And the very fact that the foremost leaders of organized labor who frankly and unequivocally advocated concerted and definite political action, in this election, have for many years occupied the most prominent positions in labor circles is proof positive that they have been and are both strictly faithful and strictly non-partisan. The first and second errors in the statement are obvious; for though labor organizations have been strenuously endeavoring to keep from taking concerted political action they nevertheless have always been doing so to a greater or lesser extent; and because of the secret political action in the past and the now open, undisguised and uncensured political action on the part of the opponents of labor organizations the latter will be forced into taking concerted political action in the future or be forced out of existence.

Why is it right that the employers of labor may organize and take concerted political action inimical to the interests and rights of labor, yet wrong for the latter to organize and take concerted political action for its own protection? None will

now dispute that it is necessary and legally and morally right for labor to organize; yet labor is not only being denied the free exercise of that legal right, but where it is organized it is being prevented by adverse laws, as interpreted, from attaining the rights sought through organized effort. And if the existing laws will not protect labor in the free and full exercise of its rights and the law-makers refuse to enact laws that will do so, as they have done and are doing, how is labor to gain its rights and protection thereof unless it goes into politics and elects law-makers who will enact the right kind of laws?

If through organization wage-workers are not permitted to gain the benefits which they seek and to which they are entitled it is useless effort and expense to organize and labor organizations will soon disappear; and what will happen to labor in that event the present members of labor organizations and those friendly thereto will do well to realize and consider before it is too late.

The leaders of labor who frankly and squarely opposed the election of Mr. Taft and advocated the election of Mr. Bryan have rendered labor most valuable service thereby; and for which they are entitled to and should receive the commendation and sincere gratitude of all true friends of labor. By that action Mr. Taft's past attitude toward labor has been held up to public scrutiny, analysis and criticism; and this ante-election plight impelled Mr. Taft to publish a declaration as to his future policy in regard to labor which, though extremely guarded in construction and vaguely indefinite in the main, places him on record as being in sympathy with labor's cause and pledges him to do all that he consistently can to promote its interests, now that he is elected. In der that the readers of this article may judge for themselves as to the merits of Mr. Taft's pledge and to give it wider publicity and record, it is reproduced below just as it was published.

or

Will Mr. Taft carefully observe and conform to the spirit as well as the letter of his pledge? If he does he will soon find that he has no more earnest, honest and zealous supporters than the leaders of organized labor who opposed his election;

Buffalo, Nov. 1.-William H. Taft caused this statement to be issued here tonight as coming from him:

"It was brought to Mr. Taft's attention today that a number of labor leaders who have no sympathy with Mr. Gompers in his attempt to commit the entire vote of labor to the Democratic pary were nevertheless in great concern lest the defeat of Mr. Bryan and Mr. Gompers, which now seems certain, would lead to reprisals on the part of the new administration under Mr. Taft and to a refusal on his part to continue the good work for labor which had been done by Mr. Roosevelt and at his instance by a Republican Congress. In the statement tonight Mr. Taft said:

"I have been honored by Mr. Roosevelt in the last four years by being called in to assist as an advisor in respect to all the executive and legislative measures pro. jected in his administration in the interest of labor and I have had a very deep sympathy with all that has been done. There are other measures in the interest of labor that ought to be adopted. The 16-hour bill ough probably to be amended. The compensation for government employes act ought to be enlarged and liberalized with a view to making the government liable in the same way as a private employer for the injury of its workmen suffered while in its employ. It is the legitimate and approved practice of labor organizations to propose legislation of this kind to the executive for recommendation and to Congress for action and it will be a pleasant duty on my part, if I am elected, as I expect to be, to consider all such labor proposals and to urge upon Congress those measures approved in the Republican platform as well as such others as commend themselves to my judgment and my desire to aid labor.

To Enlarge Labor Unions.

""The functions of the commissioner of labor may very well be enlarged to make the bureau more useful to the cause of labor and all proposals in that direction will meet my hearty concurrence. The bitterness and injustice of the attacks