recent election, on account of his former desertion.

To relate all that has been detailed to the writer of the machinations of these men and their debased tools, which went forward from this time on, would require a volume. The fiendish plots by which they managed gradually to involve hitherto honest men, one by one, in their unholy alliance, and, on the other hand, to intimidate those who opposed them, abundantly explain the hold they have managed to keep upon their prey, the long-suffering and much-abused teamsters' union. Many well-intentioned fellows were drawn almost imperceptibly over the narrow line dividing absolute rectitude from questionable dealing. Once the slightest step in the wrong direction was taken, the victim was lost. He was in their clutches, and must henceforth obey their dictates. Among the methods used against opponents were: the circulation of false accusations, charging the origin of them to others, and thus setting friend against friend; sending lying anonymous letters calculated to create distrust and jealousy between members of the reform forces; inditing threatening letters, also anonymous; hiring depraved and cowardly brutes to lie in wait on dark nights to slug from behind the men they dare not face. But the contemplation of their slimy ways is all too sickening.

It is enough to repeat that Driscoll and Young had regained a remnant of their former power; and Shea, that enigmatical combination of vacillation and bluff, weakness and shrewdness, profligacy and thrift, had changed sides again, and was now deep in the plots hatched at the "Kentucky Home, while, incidentally, his family was living in a handsome house, recently purchased, in a suburb of Boston.

From this time Shea endeavored to force strike after strike through the Joint Executive Council, but was regularly and determinedly voted down. Finding he could do nothing by constitutional means, he adopted different tactics. He commenced to take matters into his own hands.

The first illegal strike called by Shea since his election to the presidency was that against the Fuller Construction Company, in March, 1905, in the settlement of

which there was a connection, never fully explained, with the strike immediately afterward of the Lumber Drivers' Union against the Lumbermen's Association. That money changed hands in these deals there is no shadow of doubt. And here some weak-kneed individuals of the reform element were drawn in, though strenuous attempts to bribe others to assist in the plot utterly failed. Shea had journeyed to far-off Boston to find an excuse for the Fuller strike, which he explained as in sympathy with a small strike against the same company in that city. To complicate matters, the resulting strike of the Lumber Drivers' was, in itself, an honest effort for better conditions.

Shea, of course, outwardly represented the reform party; so that all the iniquities, of which these were the beginning, have, in the eyes of the public, reflected upon the whole union. But it is only in the light of the conditions under which the reform leaders were working that these events, and especially the last and greatest strike, can be properly understood.

The events of the strike against Montgomery Ward & Co. are too well known to require much comment. It should, however, be emphasized that the calling out of the men was not authorized by the Joint Executive Council. It was an illegal act of the ring, who then, by their pretext of aiding the downtrodden garment workers, so wrought upon the sympathies of the masses of union men that opposition to their high-handed procedure on the part of the cooler heads was useless. And the conduct of the strike was of necessity largely in the hands of the president, Shea, whose true character was even yet not fully known to most of the union men.

To those disposed to fix upon the whole. body of the teamsters responsibility for the unjust strike and for the reign of terror that ensued, the judgment of the grand jury may be cited. This splendid body of men, with a mass of evidence before them, the result of three months of patient, thorough investigation, submitted their report July 1. This, with one voice, was their verdict:

"We believe the present teamsters' strike to have been born in iniquity, and

that, though many honest laboring men were led to believe a so-called sympathetic strike was advisable and just, yet we feel satisfied, from abundant and reliable evidence presented to us, that a few, and very few, of the principals at the head of the teamsters' union were and are responsible for its inception and continuance, that their pockets might jingle with unholy gain."

The vicious and criminal crew that led the riots, every one familiar with the situation knows to have been made up of hired thugs and the riff-raff of a great city, with, doubtless, the dregs of the teamsters' union.

In the midst of the strike came the elections, by the local unions, of delegates to the International Convention to be held at Philadelphia in August. And at that exciting time the issue which later became all-absorbing, the reëlection or defeat of Shea, was in general not clearly seen or squarely drawn. In many of the largest locals the opposition to Shea and all he stands for was so great that it was taken for granted their delegates would vote against him. In others the delegates were so instructed. In only one or two locals were the delegates instructed for Shea. Here stuffed ballot boxes, wholesale "repeaters," and other unscrupulous methods played a prominent part. Instances might be multiplied, but a single example will give some idea of the means ployed. In the Store Drivers' Union, Local No. 715, a large majority of the twenty-six delegates were elected on the anti-Shea ticket. The business being apparently over, very many of the delegates had left the hall, when the Shea supporters passed a motion instructing for him. From this time until the convention no means were left untried to "reach" the delegates.

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At the Philadelphia convention last August, only 126 out of 516 locals in good standing were represented. Many, notably the San Francisco unions, were unable to defray the great cost of sending delegates. The teamsters of that city stand solidly against the graft methods, but were able to send but few delegates at an expense of $400 per man. The graft leaders, on the contrary, were able to see that their delegates were on hand. And by this time many of the large Chi

cago delegation had, in one way or another, been "reached." With all these advantages on his side, Shea was reëlected by the narrow plurality of 8 votes out of 250 cast. E. L. Turley, the veteran reform secretary-treasurer, sacrificed his own interests in the bitter fight against Shea, and was defeated in a close contest by Thos. L. Hughes. After the election of Shea, many of the reform men left for their homes in disgust.

At the opening of a morning session, and before many of the delegates had reached the hall, the Shea party sprang a resolution endorsing the strike, and in the most shameless way it was gavelled through. A viva voce vote was taken, and Shea, as chairman, immediately declared the resolution carried. The reform delegates, confident they had defeated it by a large majority, demanded a roll-call. This was refused. An appeal from the decision was called for, but this, also, the chair denied. These high-handed and illegal proceedings are all recorded in the official daily minutes of the convention. Such was the manner in which Shea and his strike were "endorsed" and he retained his office.

When the Chicago delegates returned, they were met with a storm of protest as they appeared in the various locals whose trust they had betrayed. The protest has not yet died down, and few of these men will be given further opportunity for treachery. Sentiment is now so strong against the leaders of the ring that neither Shea nor Young can obtain a hearing in some of the meetings of the unions; Hugh McGee, another of them, has repeatedly been hooted down, while many more of the once powerful Driscoll-Young lieutenants are now utterly discredited. And here it may be mentioned that though, in the telegraphic accounts at the opening of the recent convention of the American Federation of Labor, more or less prominence was given to the name of Shea and his absurd aspirations, as a matter of fact Shea was a cipher at that gathering. It is said that at the sessions he scarcely dared to open his mouth, and that his talking was all on the outsidefor publication.

To all who are looking to see a thorough reformation in the administration of the affairs of the teamsters' organization —

and there are many large interests in Chicago to which, even from a purely business standpoint, the outcome means much -the most hopeful sign is found in the prevailing sentiment among the mass of union men. It is now estimated by men closely in touch with the situation that fully eighty per cent of the rank and file among the teamsters are opposed to the methods that brought about the recent strike, and are ready to fight Shea and his following. This estimate has lately been verified by actual test. Teamsters on the street and on the wagon box have been approached quietly for this purpose; and out of large numbers spoken to at various times, only here and there can be found a man who will champion the leaders of the ring. Repeated experiments made with much care and labor have shown little variation in results. What is still more encouraging, a large proportion of the advocates of reform are thoroughly in earnest. The words of many of them must have made the ears of the graft leaders tingle.

The great fight will come in the late spring and early summer, when the various locals will again elect delegates to the International Convention. And this time there will be but one issue: the continuance of the gang or its complete overthrow. The attack will be chiefly concentrated against Shea. For his downfall will mean practically an end to the machinations of Driscoll and Young, to whom the rest have served as mere puppets.

From every present indication the position of the reformers in the coming fight will have the following important advantages over those held by them in previous conventions: The great issue will be more clearly defined; the men on both sides and what they stand for will be better known and understood; the great honest party will be in a stronger majority; that majority will be better organized, and, it is to be hoped, in more deadly earnest than ever before. And one other consideration: With a realization of how much of the success and failure of the past has been due to clever politics on the part of the corrupt minority, the reformers will not lose sight of this ele

ment in the contest. Just what their tactics will be can not now be foretold, but it is certain they are on the alert.

Elections of local officers are now going forward in the various Chicago unions, and, in spite of the notorious political methods of the ring and the difficulty in getting out anything like the full strength of the honest vote, the return of clean men for the bulk of the offices seems assured. In the big Truck Drivers' Union, six thousand strong, the largest teamsters' local in the country, President Hugh McGee, the only out-and-out representative of the ring, will not even dare to run for reëlection. The leading candidates for this office, known as "the biggest snap in the labor unions of Chicago," are Jerry McCarthy and Daniel Furman. Both opposed Shea at the last convention; and whichever of them is successful, will be a candidate against Shea for the presidency of the Brotherhood. The Ice Wagon Drivers, another of the big locals, will reëlect their present anti-ring officers practically without opposition. However, while these local elections promise to result in a manner satisfactory on the whole to the reformers, they will not furnish any very direct or certain indication of the outcome of the coming great struggle. For the issues in the present Chicago elections are many and various, based largely upon personalities and local considerations. The real lining up of the forces on the great national issue will come later. It will be a Shea and anti-Shea fight, and the reformers confidently expect to elect and instruct the great majority of the Chicago delegates.

And, when it is remembered that Chicago, with an aggregate membership of 30,000 out of a total of 58,000 in the International Union, is the great battleground upon which the fight for clean, honest unionism is being fought out, and that the great locals of New York and San Francisco are practically a unit against the ring, the hope of the reformers seems justified that Shea and the graft system will be buried beneath an avalanche of ballots at the annual convention of 1906.

Election Reform in Small Cities By H. O. Stechhan

TIP

NIPTON, Indiana, is the original cleanelection city in Indiana, and has enjoyed a novel campaign of anti-boodling, anti-treating and anti-grafting which sets an important precedent for future municipal elections. The Democratic and Republican candidates, their respective committees and 110 leading citizens supporting each ticket pledged themselves to a campaign of this sort for the purpose of purifying conditions, and as the result of the outcome, an era of good-feeling prevails between partisans such as never has been experienced in the city before.

The candidates for mayor were Noah Marker, Republican, and Seneca E. Young, Democrat. The latter was victorious. In spite of his defeat, Marker endorses the compact for eliminating the unworthy influences from municipal politics and says: "I believe we have laid the foundation here for clean elections both in the city and county, and that if there were any weak points in the compact that held us this time, they will be strengthened in the future. There is a disposition among many on both sides of the fence to enter such a compact to regulate the next county election. I commend the idea to other communities. is a good thing for the candidates. It saves them money. It saves them from being besieged by grafters. It prevents bitterness from creeping into the campaign and puts all participants in a frame of mind to accept the result cheerfully even if victory does not come their way."

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Tipton is pleased with the experiment. and believes that it has solved the problem for eliminating corruption from politics. Of course, it means that the candidates must be high-minded men whose purpose is to achieve civic righteousness. Both parties authorized uniform assessments in

the compact. They were mayor, $60, treasurer, $60; clerk, $30; councilmen, $10. Although Tipton is a small town of about five thousand population, candidates in years gone by have spent from $600 to $3,000 for offices that do not begin to pay that much salary during the whole term. During the campaign just ended, it is said that none of the candidates used any of the saloons, or even gave away cigars, so that it was a clean fight in every sense of the word.

There were fundamental differences between the two parties, and as a result of the elimination of the usual means for influencing voters, they were left free to make their choice as between the men and what they really stood for. Mr. Young was elected mayor for the fourth time, as his administration has been satisfactory to the people. The chairmen of the Democratic and Republican parties each gave their opponent a clean bill. Although several things occurred that excited suspicion, they are not charged against the candidates or the signers of the compact, but rather attributed to individuals who were overzealous in behalf of their favorites and who did not fully understand the spirit of the campaign. Election day was the quietest in years and the vote fell off somewhat, probably because floaters and disinterested citizens who did not care enough to come to the polls on their own account were not urged to go or driven there in party wagons.

The most unique feature of the whole contest was the fact that all of the candidates who were in Tipton met at the courthouse on election day and remained with their opponents until the polls had been closed, thus preventing electioneering. The candidates enjoyed the day together playing cards, talking and reading. In another part of the courthouse the grand jury was in session all day, in order to take immediate action on any violations

of the election laws that might be reported. None were brought in, however, in spite of the close watch that was kept.

The compact permitted each committee to raise $200 for legitimate expenses of the campaign, such as hall rent for meetings, printing and advertising, and pay for the poll takers. The Republicans almost exhausted their fund, while the Democrats only spent about $100, and the remainder will be returned to the candidates. The slightest rumors of irregularities at the polls have been laid before the grand jury for investigation, but no indictments were returned, so that it will be able to give the election a clean bill. That the "Tipton plan" is a success can not be questioned, as it demonstrates conclusively that if men will, they can differ politically and then permit the voters to choose between them without resorting to unclean, unfair and dishonest methods. It shows that the wave of reform sweeping over the country is a reality.

A School for Railway Apprentices By Cy Warman

F.

IF you want to elevate the stage you

must elevate the actor. You can't improve the service until you have improved the servant, the individual. That seems to be the theory of many of our railway mechanical superintendents.

There are those who hold that in medicine, law and literature the young man is the master, but it can hardly be true of the mechanic of to-day. The old fellows used to learn the business before setting themselves up as machinists, but recently there has developed on this side of the Atlantic a disposition to desert. The moment an apprentice can talk glibly and juggle his tools he wants to be a real machinist and swear at the helper. By deserting when he has served but half his time, straining the truth a little and applying, he can secure a place with another company, join the union, which will place him beside an expert machinist and demand for him full pay. The union will do better. It will demand of the expert, ultimately, that he do no more work than the new man who is not a machinist at all, but an apprentice, can perform.

It is easy to see that such a system sets the young man up in his profession be

fore his time, but with a double handicap. First, he does not understand his business; second, he has started out by misrepresenting himself, by deserting his old and deceiving his new employer, and by depending upon the union to hold his job, which, if he had served his time and had the stuff in him, he could hold much better and longer alone.

This pernicious practice has tended to lower the standard in America, and it was to put a stop to it that Mr. W. D. Robb, superintendent of motive power on the Grand Trunk Railway System, determined to indenture his apprentices. While this action seems to have been justified upon the simple principle of selfdefense, it is in the end of greater advantage to the apprentices than to the company. And beyond the direct interest of the employers and the employed, it is justified upon the broader ground of protection to the public.

The lay reader may imagine that the roundhouse machinist has little or nothing to do with the running of trains, and yet he may detect a cracked frame or a broken axle which, if neglected, might wreck the Limited. He may fail to repair properly a break with equally dangerous results. In fact, it is of the first importance that every employee understand his work, for this makes for safety and efficiency in the service.

So, we may say, it was to raise the standard of efficiency, to improve the service, especially upon the Grand Trunk System, that the management, after careful consideration, determined to invoke the law to bind a boy to finish his apprenticeship before applying elsewhere for employment as a machinist. This system. of indenturing apprentices has been in operation on the Grand Trunk only two years, but the results have been beyond the most sanguine expectations.

The boys are taken on usually between the ages of fourteen and eighteen years. A percentage is kept off the daily rate, and this, together with a bonus, is paid to each boy at the completion of his apprenticeship.

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Before entering the service the boys. have to pass examination on reading, writing, spelling and arithmetic, also physical examination. In addition they have to pass written and oral examina