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ciples, and the neglect of the obligations
they inculcate, bring 'public disorder fiercely
to the surface as a natural retribution.

Capital has thus far sat erect upon his
throne; every political party bends the
knee in humble homage to his power.

the press of the country, without regard to
party, cease to threaten and browbeat la-
bor; such a course may tantalize but do no
good. Let it, on the contrary, discuss the
grievances of labor, which will give some
assurance that the wrong may be righted.
Then shall order be restored-that order
which is begotten of confidence in common
justice.
JUSTICE.

THERE'S NO SUCH WORD AS FAIL.
MESSRS. EDITORS: To the will of a man

The concentration of capital begets general poverty, and poverty is the greatest of all incentives to crime. Poverty debases man and destroys his pride of character: when this is gone he is adapted for a críminal, however bad. To poverty the man surrenders his honor, the woman her chas-possessed of the common reasoning powers tity, and under its influence the whole mass of the community sinks into social degradation. Labor must be lifted up if our system of government is to last. It is utterly impossible that a debased people can continue to govern themselves; and, for such a calamity, is the presence of a few unwieldy millionaires an equivalent?

Though not in so short a paper as this, there is small difficulty in proving that the unnecessary and unnatural depression of wages is the real source of the common misfortune that oppresses this country, and the greed of capital is the first and last cause. The simplest reason can see it.

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with which the great mass of mankind are endowed, it is seldom that any obstacle to its execution presents itself which is not quickly and energetically surmounted. No barrier to the consummation of his wellmatured plans can present a front huge enough to cause him for an instant to hesitate, or to desist from prosecuting unto the end his own purposes

If we will a thing, it must come to pass, though time and treasure be expended in profusion to accomplish our ends

Destiny is often reproached for dealing harshly with men, while it is themselves who have caused their own defeat, and scattered to the four winds the fulfillment of their own designs. We often attribute to the machinations of an incomprehensible Providence the failure of some contemplated action, which should have been accomplished by the energies of our own will. It is from the want of a persevering mind, of firmness of purpose, of rigidity of determination and strength of action, that our hopes are blasted and our enterprises are overthrown, and not from the interposition of an unmerciful and unrelenting fate. It may be true that destiny guides our course; but it is equally as true that in nine cases

The poor railroad brakeman comes home with his monthly pay, and hands it over to his wife, in whose economy he has implicit trust, and says: "Mary, it isn't much, but they say it is going to be less next month." "Less next month, John?" Yes, they are going to take off ten per cent. more." "Why, John, what is that for?" "Well, Mary, they say the road is not paying." Mary meditates for some time and commences again: "John, don't you remember reading about all the money Mr. Vanderbilt had when he died, and didn't he make it all by the railroad?" "Yes, so they say." "And there is Mr. S-, he has mil-out of ten we guide our destiny. lions, too, and Mr. they are all very Napoleon Bonaparte has been styled “the man of destiny';" but was it destiny or the execution of his own will which raised him to the exalted position which he occupied in the French Empire, in the hearts of the French people, and in the eyes of the world? We believe it was brought about by the mighty plans conceived in his masterly mind, and executed by the energies of his sleepless spirit.

rich, aren't they?" "Yes, indeed, they
are." "Well, now, John, if they can make
such piles of money out of the railroad,
how is it that they can't give you enough to
feed and clothe your little family for all
your work? How does it pay them so much
and it can't pay you enough to live?"

This may be taken as imaginary, but it is
real for all that. Your correspondent
writes from no gilt-edged experience. Let

It was only by the aid of a determined

mind that Hernando Cortes was enabled to infuse into the breasts of his followers the belief that they should finally be the victors, while surrounded upon all sides by innumerable hosts of Aztec warriors, who thronged the great valley of the Mexican capital, while the faithful priests incessantly beat the great drum of their war-god, making its terrific roll resound among the fastnesses of the distant mountain sides, summoning other hosts to the horrible scene of bloodshed, desolation and death; while their luckless comrades who had fallen into the hands of their blood-thirsty enemies were uttering their hideous death-shrieks upon the Aztec altar, and their flesh was being consumed by the sacrificial fires. But the Spaniard had unbounded faith in the strength of his own arm and the invincibility of his miniature army. To him there was no such word as "fail," and he could

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in the Northern States. After he left the employ of the C. P. R. R., he went to the officers of the road, trying to slander and traduce the character of all members of this Division; but owing to a superior judgment on the part of the officers, who saw at a glance, what kind of a rogue he was, he was debarred from future employment of this Company. This is a poor country for such scamps as Cedarberg to come to, for they are short-lived, and our advice to all such evil disposed individuals is, remain quietly at home.

LOOK OUT FOR HIM. MESSRS. EDITORS: There is a person by name of J. Cedarberg, traveling about the country, claiming to be a member of the Brotherhood, and belonging to Lone Star Division, No. 139. He was employed last on the Truckee division of the C. P. R. R., and to the Brothers of this Division he also stated that he belonged to Division 139. But he not having anything to verify his statements, this Division corresponded with Division 139 and received an answer, the substance of which is as follows:

Div. 158, Wadsworth, Nev.

407

MESSRS. EDITORS: The press and politicians-in order to do business-discuss loud and long upon the causes of the depression in all branches of industry.

The system of banking by which capitalists can draw interest upon their deposit with the U. S. Treasury, and then loan their funds, so procured, at a large rate of interest, without taxation, would tend to ruin, as the business community are thereby compelled to pay both interest on the loan and the deposit.

The removal of the rigorous alien laws, flooding the country with European paupers, was the beginning of the era of sharp competition in wages. But chiefly, and most disastrous, was the mismanagement of railroad companies, which terminated in a panic, and which led to the policy of reducing the numbers and wages of employes.

These were at once lost to the market, and the tradesmen were compelled to force sales and stop buying, and then the large dealers and manufacturers, in their turn, reduced numbers and wages of their employes, still further reducing the number of the purchasers of goods, and consequently the manufacture and shipping of goods. If the wagemen should work for There never was such a man as J. Cedar- nothing, there could be no manufactured berg that belonged to this Division; but goods sold to them; and so, too, when they there was an engineer employed here in work for a sum next to nothing, they can 1875, on the Houston & Texas Central, who purchase only the coarse necessities of a was discharged for drunkenness and other bare existence, and the wheels of industry unbecoming conduct, and he went and drew are still in proportion to the rates paid his pay clandestinely, left all his bills un- wagemen; and the workingmen, the tradespaid, and left his family destitute, and men and the manufacturers are alike interstrangers made up a sum sufficient to de-ested that the laborer should have wages as fray her expenses home to her own folks, well as work.

It is a stereotyped argument that wagemen have a right to vacate their positions, have a right to induce others to decline to fill their places, but not to compel any to stop work, and to prevent others from selling their labor at any price they choose, The laws of several States make it a penal crime to vacate a position at a time when it would be damaging to the public convenience, and refer to the employes of railroad, telegraph and gas companies; and these States make it dangerous for one person to incite others to strike. The common interest demands that a person shall be prevented from practicing cruelty upon animals. Men are prevented from burning and squandering their own property, and for similar reasons it is a duty, in the highest sense, to prevent a person from wasting his labor, or from selling it at a sum less than an equivalent for the service rendered: ; as, by so doing, the person tends to become a pauper in old age, and the interests of the many are injured to enrich the undeserving few, and the practice would result in placing the race in bondage.

obtain an audience with the king when it was desired to make a petition.

From that remote period to the present age the sacred and secular history is full of incidents of revolt against oppression, unjust, low and perverse systems of governing; and the revolutionist is applauded.

*

MASON CITY, July 2, 1877.

MESSRS. EDITORS: It is quite a while since I have talked with the readers of the JOURNAL, yet the acquaintance existing between us and the interest I feel in them is kept up by the constant reading of the droppings of the pens of others. I am always glad to read communications from engineers and their wives; it shows, through all the danger and weary toil that is attached to their occupation, that their minds are elevated, and when called upon to act in social life, they are fitted for the occasion. They have improved the talent that God gave them, and not laid it by without using, to return to Him with no increase.

My feelings toward the engineer and his The plea that all wrongs can be righted family are somewhat akin to the family tie, at the ballot-box finds its objectors, who although my acquaintance with them is believe that the ballot is a machine that can very limited, as we have always lived in be manipulated, and a majority of hun- places where it called but few railroad famdreds of thousands counted out. They look ilies to live. My home is on the western upon combinations among the railroads for prairie and has been for the past six years; the regulation of rates and wages, and the previous to that time I had always lived in capturing of legislative bodies. They see the beautiful State of Ohio; and when I the lawyers and physicians combine to first came to this State, everything being establish and maintain rates of charges for so different, I felt as if I could not stay far their service, and the baker and milkmen away from friends so fondly loved, and all working in unison and dictating prices, the home I ever knew. It was a trial alwhile every effort is made to disorganize most too great for me; still God came to the combinations of wagemen, and their my assistance, giving me that help through apostate clergy denounce the efforts at self-prayer which I so much needed to overprotection, and place all strikers, from come a selfish heart, so as to live for the whatever cause, in the list of criminals- good of others and not myself. He has forgetful of the fact that the brickmakers of Egypt were incited to defy the authority of the oppressor by God Himself, who played fast and loose with the government that tolerated injustice. And the injustice which maddened the meek and patient Moses, so that he killed the taskmaster, was no greater than that committed by soulless corporations to-day, for they received wages, had cattle and flocks of their own, and dwelt in their own houses, and could

blessed me more than I could ask, and I now know when God blesses our homes we can live to be useful and happy.

I would love to say something on the subject of temperance, but it seems as though everything has been said that can be; still, when I look around me and see the trouble and disgrace that is being brought upon innocent families by the excessive drinking of those who should so carefully guard and protect them, I feel as if more could be

said and done to help those who are bound down, as it were, with an iron chain, entirely unable to go out in the world to do the good they are so well fitted to do: wives, sons and daughters who would be an ornament to society, were it not that they are kept in utter seclusion, by the disgrace and poverty that is heaped upon them by those who should be an honor to them and society.

I have been thinking would it not be as well to stop coaxing those who are so stubborn and self-willed, they will not yield to the pleadings of the better part of the community, and the prayers and tears of a helpless wife and children; only leave them awhile to themselves and God, and lift these most worthy families up out of their helplessness and grief, place them in society where they are so well fitted to belong, and I think in a short time the head of the family would follow, leaving behind all his evil associates, his taste and desire for drink, and become a man among men, be a leader and protector to those whom God has entrusted to his care.

Society is so ready to say, I know nothing of her only that her husband is a drunkard. When, at the same time, that drunkard's wife is possessed of the finest feeling and the most noble nature; but all are buried in oblivion, as she, in her great love for her children, is toiling day by day to instil into their minds her many noble qualities, that "they may rise up and call her blessed."

There are many such cases, sisters; let us seek them out, giving them a helping hand and a word of encouragement, and I think we, as well as all good society, will receive more real benefit from it than we would praying in and around saloons all our lives. Let us not say that because we are not men, there is nothing for us to do.

The Bournal.

CLEVELAND, SEPTEMBER, 1877.

LETTER TO THE NEW YORK HER
ALD BY P. M. ARTHUR, G. C. E.,
UPON THE OBJECTS OF THE BRO-
TERHOOD AND THE REMEDY FOR
STRIKES.

Each one of us has an influence, greater or less, and often times greater than we ourselves have any thought of; and it becomes us to see to it that it is exerted in the cause of truth. It is not that which is done in public that has the most lasting effect, but the silent influence which convinces without seeking display. Let us work where we can do good and God will take care of the drinking man.

WIFE OF A MEMBER OF Div. 73.

[REPUBLISHED BY REQUEST.]

CLEVELAND, OHIO, July 30, 1877.

To the Editor of the Herald:

I desire through the columns of your widely circulated paper to define the position of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, and express my views on the recent strikes and correct a statement that appeared in your issue of July 25, which places the organization in a false light before the public; and that we may be properly understood we submit the article in full, and assert that so far as it relates to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers it is false:

"The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers came into notice at Rochester, N. Y., somewhere about 1865. The organization poses, and contained a provision in its conwas originally formed for benevolent purstitution and obligations enforcing sobriety on the part of its members. A quarterly journal of the Brotherhood was issued in 1868 from the press of the Illuminati at Rochester, announcing the purposes of the Brotherhood, and containing indorsements elicited by the "temperance clause," from various railway presidents and superintendents. In fact, many of these corporations encouraged in a marked manner the formation of subdivisions and lodges along their lines. The organization spread very rapidly, and, catching the spirit of the Iron Moulders, or rather the International Metal Workers' Union, fostered by the English right wing of the trade unions in the National Labor League, which was the

66

Long Strike" of 1872, it became a brotherhood of strikers. Chief Engineer Arthur, the head of the Brotherhood, is regarded have a childlike faith in his ability to counby his followers as an authority. They teract all the movements of Messrs. Vanderbilt and Scott, and will obey his every dictum promptly and unquestionably.

"Since the Brotherhood changed its organization from a benevolent and temperance society to a trade union, they have adopted a new ritual and instituted a number of degrees modeled upon the degrees of a blue

lodge of Masons. The third, or highest de-er's property, or defrauds any one, or engree is conferred upon engineers and con- gages in the traffic of intoxicating liquors, ductors, no others being eligible. The sec

ond degree is confined to firemen and he is subject to expulsion.
baggage masters, and the third to switch
tenders and brakemen.

In December, 1867, we formed an insurance association, which pays to the widow or heirs of a deceased member the sum of $3,000, providing there are sufficient members to collect that amount, at $1 each, less three per cent. for collection. There has been a slight decrease in the membership

"The dues are about $1.00 per month, from these $3,000,000 have been accumulated. This money has never been drawn upon heretofore, but held for use in case of a general strike throughout the United States, which has long been contemplated. When strikes have been made along the line of some particular road, ex- owing to the conduct of Frank Abbott, tra assessments have been made upon mem-late General Secretary and Treasurer, in bers, of from $3 to $25 each, to sustain the appropriating the funds of the association strikers. In relation to the Pennsylvania for self-aggrandizement instead of paying Railway, the engineers claim that even since the reduction in wages they receive much better pay than their fellows employed by the other trunk lines east and west. The average pay on other lines to engineers is $70 per month, while the same class of employes on the Pennsylvania road earn as high as $128 per month. Again, the ten per cent. reduction does not apply to those receiving $30 per month or less Those who were paid $2 are now paid $1.80 per day, and those paid $3 before now get $2.70."

The Brotherhood was formed in the city of Detroit, Mich., in August, 1863, under the name of the "Grand National Division Brotherhood of the Foot Board," and the following year, at the Convention held in Indianapolis, was reorganized and called the "Grand International Division Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers." The objects of the association are the same now as they were when the institution was formed. Our motto is "Sobriety, Truth, Justice and Morality." Our rule, "Do unto others as ye would they should do unto you, and so fulfil the law."

it to the widows and orphans, as the laws of the association direct; and he has attempted to justify himself by stating in the Port Jervis Union that he agreed to loan about eight thousand dollars of the funds of the association on bond and mortgage on property in Sullivan county, N. Y., expecting it would be approved by the directors, but they refusing to do so he was unable to return the money at once. The whole statement is a fabrication. He never offered the association any mortgages. He had no more right to loan the money of the association than he had to enter a bank and abstract the contents of the safe. We paid him a salary of $1,300 per year to transact the business, and it was his duty to forward the money to those to whom it was due as soon as he received it. I have digressed a little to make this statement and correct the misrepresentations made by Mr. Abbott. We have paid nearly one million dollars to the insured, and disbursed to the needy out of our hard earnings $50,000. We have reclaimed the fallen, reformed the drunkard and furnished the public and railroad companies with a better, more skilled and trustworthy class of engineers than they had previous to the inception of the Brotherhood.

In January, 1866, we commenced the publication of a monthly journal to be devoted exclusively to the interests of locomotive engineers, which has at the present time a circulation of 13,000. It contains a list of the names of those expelled and the cause therefor. No person can become a member The only change made in our policy of except he is twenty-one years of age, can adjusting differences between the comparead and write, and is a man of good moral nies and their engineers during the past character, temperate in his habits, and a thirteen years, is when the Grand Chief locomotive engineer in good standing, and fails in his efforts to effect a settlement. Inhas had experience as such one year. Ev- stead of submitting the grievances to all ery member has obligated himself to so the sub-divisions, they are submitted to a conduct himself as to secure the confidence committee, composed of thirteen members, and esteem of his employers. If a member who are elected annually, and selected for wilfully or maliciously injures his employ- their known ability and judgment, and in

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