Oklahoma Labor Unit (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Vol. 1, No. 11, Ed. 1 Saturday, August 22, 1908 Page: 1 of 8
eight pages : ill. ; page 22 x 15 in. Digitized from 35 mm. microfilm.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
1
I
' ' - '•
I
A Clean
Conservative
Independent
Non-Partisan
Newspaper for
the Homes
OKLAHOMA LABOR UNIT
"ALL IN ONE; ONE IN ALL"
THE PARAMOUNT QUESTION: LIFE. LIBERTY. THE ENJOYMENT OF THE GAINS OF OUR OWN INDUSTRY
Our Policy. .
Honest °
Legitimate
Business
Methods
Every Day
OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE OKLAHOMA STATE FEDERATION OF LABOR
VOL. 1.
OKLAHOMA CITY. OKLAHOMA. SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 1908.
NO. 11.
CHARTER DISCUSSED AT MASS MEETING
REPORTED VIOLATION OF LAWS
REGULATING EMPLOYMENT
MOTHER HEARTBROKEN
And Penniless With Children to Sup-
port Lured to Oklahoma City
By Story of Labor Agent.
Organized Labor Shows Considerable Interest in Provisions of Proposed City Charter-All Phases
Discussed in Mass Meeting Called by the Central Trades and Labor Council Wednesday
Night-Both Sides Strongly Championed bv Labor Leaders
Freely
The following news Item was called
to the attention of State Labor Com-
missioner Dougherty this week and is
being thoroughly investigated. The
late legislature, thanks to the energies
of Mr. Dougherty and the legislative
committee of the State Federation of
Labor, passed a law regulating such
cases, and making it a criminal offense
for labor agencies to lure non-resident
workmen to Oklahoma through false
statements.
"Rigorous investigation of cases
where persons are induced to come to
Oklahoma City by labor agents and
others, and then left destitute, strang-
ers without means or information that
will lead them to obtaining employ-
men, is to be made by W. F. McKee,
agent of the Provident Association.
He has several such cases on his list.
One of these cases is pathetic in the
extreme.
"A few months ago H. L. Diamond
came to Oklahoma City with his wife
and two small children. He was in-
(Continued on Page 5)
tral Trades and Labor Council last franchises. Art. 2, Sec. 17, 18, 20. because Sec. 10 of Art. 19 of the char-
Thursday night, was held In Labor Hall Page 11. See also Sec. 6. iter provides that a special election
Wednesday night, for the purpose of a 6—All revenues of franchises to be must be called by the "Mayor and
free discussion of the proposed city . submitted to referendum. See above 5. ] Board of Council" by ordinance or
charter. Seventeen locals were repre- j 7—City to have power to regulate the ; resolution, and the mayor, having no
sented and both sides of the question charges of public servicc corporations, board of council, could not call an
re earnestly championed, a number Art. 3, Sec. 20, Page 11. Also Art lt'>..election. The right of recall as pro-
of excellent
sented.
arguments being
pre- Sec. 13.
33.
Page 36.
Art IS. Sec 2. Page, vided in the charter could not be used
to recall the mayor and other officers,
The discussion was not as free and j 8—No franchise shall be granted for f0r the same reason—there would he
open as was desired because of two a longer period than twenty years. Art.lno board of council to act in conujunc-
eavesdroppers standing in the hall of 2, Sec. 17. Last two lines. 25 years. |tion with the mayor in calling an elec-
STATEMENT TO MERCHANTS.
The Labor Day Committee
sends a statement to all the
different newspapers in the
city, to be published tomorrow
morning if possible, that Mrs.
Nora I. Krogh has been award-
• ed the contract for printing
• the Labor Day Program, having
• secured it by being the highest
• bidder, her bid being $225, and
The mass meeting called by the Ceil- a.—Referendum to be applied on all A special election could not be called, like going west to get to Boston, even
if such a thing were possible. It would
be absolutely impossible to obtain the
required number of signatures to a
petition recalling an official for an of-
fense committed by one of his ap-
pointees. Oklahoma City people are
too fair-minded to knowingly make
one man suffer for another man's
crime. Uut consider that such a pe-
tition should be filled and properly
filed and accepted by the mayor and
board of council. It would be taken
into the courts and declared uncon-
stitutional. Not a single court would
declare otherwise.
Civil Service Commission.
The civil service commission as
provided in this proposed charter, is
no more than a mere figurehead. The
appointments will be made by the
board of council without a single re-
striction. The only qualification for
a member of the commission as pro-
vided is that he shall be a "resident of
the city and men known to be devoted
to the civil service." This is extremely
vague. It is not necessary that he
shall have worked under civil service
rules, or even ever have read any such
rules. He may be devoted to the rules
by hearing some friends talk about
them. But after all, it isn't really
necessary that he should ever have
heard of such a thing, for the board
the Rasbach hotel, which is just across
the areaway from the hall, as It was
not desired that wrong impressions of
organized labor's stand on the charter
should be circulated Indiscriminately
throughout the city, and the eavesdrop-
pers could not be identified.
9—Fellow servant law to be applica- [ ,jon to fill the vacancies,
ble to city employes. j
See constitution section 250 Bunn's.
10—Civil service to applied to police |
and fire departments. Art. 5, Sec. 1, 2,
3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Page 15-16.
11.—Eight hours to constitute a day
Officials Will Be Appointed.
Should the supreme court decide
that all city offices are vacated by the
adoption of the charter, then we are
up against the worst proposition of
all—that of having our city officers
appointed by the governor. There is
not a loyal citizen in Oklahoma City
that would tamely submit to our chief
executive and his board of council be-
ing appointed by an outsider, whether
he be a democrat, republican, social-
Those present who were openly in j on all public work, done directly or in-
favor of the charter were M. J. Wil-j directly by the city. Art. 2. Sec. 21,
liams, J. A. Markwell, and M. R. Pow-. Page 11.
ell, while those opposed were W. A. 12—Municipal court with juvenile
Nash, Frank Kenyon, J. A. Lungstrum department. Art. 4, Sec. 17, 18. Page 15.
and O. A. Smith, William Prahl dis- 13—Free employment agency to be
cussing the charter from a neutral maintained by the city. Art 2. Sec. 19, ^ ^ ^
standpoint. would probably include power for this,181 ur pul'' Un rned clt
The line of argument of those fa- .In the Board of Council. Thug in ^ ^
rorlng the adoption of the charter was | H._A11 n0m|,lati0„s to be made by L maUer what ]lhas„ of the ca8e vou
the Tact that the demands of organ-1 non-partisan primaries, and the names | consl(Jer oklahoma Ciyt becomes a
city without a government. Even con-
sidering the safest side—that of the
appointment of the mayor and council
ized labor were incorporated in the j ()f candidates shall be presented to i
charter. All the references were out*!the primaries by petition of at least
lined, but allowed to stand for them-j 100 qualified electors. (Prohibited.
, by the governor, no business could be
safely transacted without a question of'of council makes all appointments
i its legality. No contracts could be
selves without bringing any of the le- j Constitution would not permit.
gal phases into question. j Sec. 47.)
The principal contentions against the j 15_A„ sesslons of the freeholders!
charter, from an organized labor stand and their committees shall b<-' onen I i * i 11 \ i it
etna ineir commmees sii.ui De open ma(jet no bonds could be sold, no busi
point was the fact that undei the pro- an(j public Thev were Council See . . . , , ... , . ,
. .. ~ rii/i-. puuut I iiey weie. council, ace | negg of any ^ n(j done until a decision
posed Civil Service Commission Okla- A t g , *
,, . „ oh™, * had been rendered by the supreme
homa City would be an open shop, |
. . , ,, , ,, court. Is there any question, then, but
which would bar all union men, while. • *
.. , , f__, „ii airiiiori ^ A Smith) that labor would suffer?
under the present system all skilled x
. , . , - .. I feel no hesitancy in saying that it Th„ R_cf R„-,cnn
labor in the city is in the hands of the ■' J b The Best Reason.
unions; and also, section 15 of Article,155 firni belief that no """Interested | As t0 the charter ltselfi there l3
2 which gives the city power to de- ,,erson can carefllll>" rea<1 the "ro" one reason, and the best reason, why
clare as vagrants any person withoutj ^dJ!_h*rter and then conscientiously ; organIzed labor should rel)Udlate the
' charter even though there were no
RESOLUTIONS ON
RATE LEGISLATION
WRONGLY REPORTED BY NEWS-
PAPER OF OKLAHOMA CITY.
CONVENTION'S ACTION
Misconstrued by Those Who Read the
Reports and Many Requests for
Correction are Received.
' {employment. With such a provision as
vote for it,
any other person getting out a ''' this, it is pointed out, in case of a! rhere are provisions in it that ^111 'other reasons. Organized labor is re-
program is an imposter. * strike by any union that would throw *nirt Oklahoma City commercially and s,l0nsit>le fqr the nation-wide demand
JOAN VON ELM. * (he men out of employment for more,imlustrially' and organized labor f for a^ct election of public officials.
L. C .HUEY. •>, than a day, each and every man will|shoulc* be ^ust as deeply inter08tP(l hi j Right now we are waging a deter-
H. J. MILLER. ♦ be arrested and confined as a vagrant,pk°se two elements as in the econon ic nijn(.(| ;m,i v«•]•>' persistent war for the
Committee. ❖ or any person seeking employment (ele,llent *or we cannot prosper | direct election of United States sena-
* within the city may be confined as a dividually unless our city prospers j tQrs an(j SUpreme court judges. So
commercially. 'strong has been our demand that at
Conditions should Prevent Adoption. leagt twQ national J)artieg have adopted
But, even though the charter wer<>jp]anks in their national platforms de-
perfect in every detail, there is ajc]arjng f0r such elections. The pro-
Ap-
protect the interest of the party to j tjle charter
* •> ♦> •> •> •> ❖ •> * * * v v v v I vagrant. This would serve to deprive
I the unions of their strongest weapon
The above resolution was adopted against oppression—the strike.
at the meeting of the Labor Day rphe fon0Wing arguments by J. A.
Committee Tuesday night in order to Markwell for, and O. A. Smith against! condition that should prevent it even ; j,0sed charter provides for the
are all that could be ob- being submitted to the people at this I poiNTMENT OF ALL OFFICER
There has been considerable mis-
construction placed on the action
taken by the State Federation of La-
bor at their Ardmore convention in
regard to a resolution introduced re-
garding railroad rate legislation.
The Oklahoman of July 29th con-
tain ed front'page scare-head article
marked "Special from Ardmore,"
stating that a bitter fight had been
launched by the Introduction *>f la
resolution by the delegate from the
Locomotive Engineers declaring
against further rate legislation by the
Oklahoma legislature. This dispatch
was entirely misleading and was called
to the attention of the convention and
immediate action taken.
The resolution as presented, which
was handed into the convention by
W. S. Blessing, chairman of the Lo-
comotive Engineers, was against leg-
islation that would reduce freight rates
in Oklahoma below those of Kansas,
Arkansas, Missouri and Texas, Brother
W. T. Fields, who is an ex-president
of the Locomotive Engineers, ex-
plained tn the convention that the
railroad men of Oklahoma are de-
cidedely in favor of rate legislation
where It Is not discriminative; that
nearly all rates in Oklahoma were too
high and should be reduced, and that
the railroad men are heartily in favor
sioners might safely be placed in the!0p HUch reduction, but that they asked
hands of the mayor and council, the convention and legislature of the
rules and appointments should be left ^tate to protect the railroad men in-
entirely in the hands of the commis- HOfar as to see that the rates of Ok-
sioners and removed as far as possible lahoma were made proportional to
from political influence. In its pres- those of surrounding states, and that
ent proposed form the proviso of this indiscriminate legislation In such mat-
section Is a veritable Bill Murray jters worked to disadvantage of the
joker. Under this proviso there is a employes of the railroads.
tool by which the council, through a j The resolutions as handed into the
power of elimination, may select the resolutions committee were not re-
civil service appointees with no re- ported back to the convention by that
gard to any rules that might be laid committee, and, in fact, so far as can
down by the board. With this proviso be learned, there was no discussion
effective the board of council has un- of the resolution in the committee, so
restricted power, regardless of all com- that the "bitter fight" which the Ok-
mission rules, to discriminate against lahoman dug up was all a myth,
any person or class they may desire, I When Henry M. Walker called the
anyway. While I believe that the se-
lection of the civil service commis-
and the applicant has no recourse
Eight-Hour Work Day.
The eight-hour work-day clause, Sec.
attention of the convention to the
dispatch in the Oklahoman, with the
declaration that it was very misrepre-
time, and if there is any class of
people that should be interested in
this condition it is organized labor.
The time for holding the primaries for
nominating candidates for city of-
whom the contract for advertising tajned for this week, but other argu-
space on the Official Labor Day Pro- ments will be given next week. This
gram was awarded. ' paper will be glad to publish any ar-
Any person soliciting advertising ^ gUment for or against the charter that
for a Labor Day Program will be in members of organized labor may desire
possession of credentials under seal tQ 8Ubmjt in writing, the only require fices—August 4—has passed without
of the Central Trades and Labor I ment being that they shall be signed the primaries having been held. The
Council, showing that they are author-. the writer. J mayor, having refused to call a spec-Lj^t government is national, state, quires these officers, as well as all
ized to solicit advertising for Mrs. Organized labor is not taking the in-, ial election for officers, has been up-1 (.ounty or municipal, and whenever we other employes, to work eight hours
Krogh in connection with this official Merest in the proposed charter that the held by the supreme court. The pro- .^all so far forget ourselves as to vote per day, but limits them to eight
program, and no other person or com- j qliestion demands. This class is in the posed charter is to be voted upon Sep- fop any Qther forrns of government we hours per day. This proviso, as well
mittee is authorized to call upon the large majority in Oklahoma City and tember 2, unless other provision is ' repudiating one of our elemental as that providing "large salaries,"
RS ex- 21 of Art. 2, is very satisfactory and anting, particularly on account or the
, * a. mi,n manner in which it had been made a
cept the mayor and councilmen. Would covers every department. I he .isser-
that provide representative govern- tion has been made that the charter
ment? Not by any means nor under provides a large salary for the mayor
any circumstances. If there is any and councilmen without defining the
one thing that the higher teachings number of hours they shall work daily,
of organized labor stands for it is which could be reduced at will by the
"government by the people," whether office-holder. The above section re-
merchants in connection with any wij| be the class most affected by the
other program. ! terms of this charter. It should be care-
Some committee, the personnel of fUlly studied without prejudice and if
which could not be learned, has called g0od for organized labor should be
upon some of the merchants of the adopted, and if bad, rejected.
city, no doubt with the intention of •
advising them of the action of the
Labor Day Committee, but their ex-1
planation had a confusing effect, lead-
ing many of the merchants to believe
that there are several Labor Day ad
vertising mediums in the field.
In view of the above, The
made. If the charter is approved by J principles,
the vote of the people, the first pro- j
position we are up against is the fact |
that there is no provisoin in the char-1
ter provisions of the state constitu-
should be endorsed by organized labor,
Have We What We Demanded? "nd we wiU be the last to complain
Several members of organized la- °' big salaries. A salary may be too
bor have declared that "everything or- large for the man, but no salary was
ganlzed labor demanded has been in
ever paid that is too large for the
nor to confirm or veto the charter
within any fixed time, and there is no
provision in the proposed charter that
will dispose of the matter. Every one
knows that our present governor is not
well-disposed toward Oklahoma City
anyway, and would hardly inconven-
ience himself to expedite the settling
of conditions here, unless the fact that
t *1 .1 r he would have the appointing of our
;n cnuvpnir form will 1.—Initiative and referendum Is im i
regular issue in souvenir to -icitv officers would be an inducement.
not contain the Labor Da/ Program. 'plied in the constitution of the state of - _ _
or any part of it, the program being : Oklahoma. Art. 2. Sec. 19. page 10-11.
the exclusive property of Mrs. Krogh, I See Sections 13, 14. 15, 16. See Sec. 5.
who has secured all rights. This 2. —The right of recall. Art. 17.
Edition will contain only Pages 39-40
(By J. A. Markwell.)
In substantiation of the statement
I that everything asked of the Free-
holders to be placed in the proposed |
I city charter has been placed therein,
Labor with the exception of the Free Employ-
Unit wishes to make a further state i ment Bureau, which is provided for by
ment: That the Souvenir Edition of! the state, the following statement with
The Labor Unit, which will be our references is given.
1.-
tion, and no law requiring the gover-1 corporated the propoged charter- job, according to the tenets of or
mployment bureau), ganized labor, which are right.
Souvenir
Will Result in Choas.
The adoption of the charter by a
vote of the people, considering that
it will be affirmed by the governor at
special contributions by labor leaders
Contract system abolished on all once, brings on a condition of absolute
of national and state repute, and a public work in which the ciyt is inter-
special line of advertising. It will be 1 ested, and immediate purchase of pav-
printed in very attractive souvenir ing equipment. Art. 18, Sec. 9, Page 41.
form, and will not only go to our regu- Art. 18, Sec. 34, Pages 44-45.
lar subscribers, but will be distributed ! 4.—Public ownership of public utili-
o thousands on Labor Day. Read the ties. Art. 16, Sec. 21. Art. 2, Sec. 19.
Souvenir notice on the eighth page. (Art. 18. Sec. 1.)
chaos. We will no longer have a
city or council, though we will have
a mayor, clerk, auditor, and all other
elective officers, because they were
elected by the city at large. The
councilmen would not hold over be-
cause they were not elected at large.
(except the free
That may be true, but if you would Board of Education.
demand an apple, would you be satis- J3y the terms of the charter, if this
ified with one that is decayed? It is charter is adopted ve have ten mem-
not so much a question of whether or i,er8 0f the board of education filling
| not the captions of our demands have t,ut f|ve offices. This again brings on
i been Incorporated in the charter, as confusion, which will reign for two
whether or not the matter under those . parse unless the governor is called
captions is satisfactory. upon to appoint the members.
Initiative and Referendum. The provisions of this artioie are
The Initiative and referendum a3 very complete and should be endorsed,
I provided in the proposed charter is but for one oversight. But that over-
satisfactory, but the recall is a farce, sight is a vital one. Sec. 27 provides
It does not apply at all to appointed that a treasurer shall be appointed at
officers, either directly or indirectly, the first meeting of the board, but it
does not provide for the manner of
this appointment, nor does it provide
that the treasurer shall be a member
feature story. O. A. Smith explained
to the convention that it was hardly
possible that the Oklahoman intended
to discredit the actions of the conven-
tion, but had been misled by the cor-
respondent, and would no doubt be
willing to give the convention the ad-
vantage of displaying resolutions re-
futing the original story as prom-
inently as they had displayed the or-
iginal story. Resolutions refuting the
story and setting out the actual tenor
or the railroad rate resolutions were
presented to the convention and re-
ferred to the press committe for pub-
lication, with Instructions to make a
special request of the Oklahoman to
give the correct report as much prom-
inence as was given to the original
story. The matter was presented to
the Oklahoman correspondent with full
explanation and request to so print,
and the positive declaration of the
correspondent that our wishes would
be carried out the letter was accepted
by the committee as definite.
The Oklahoman, however, failed to
give the corrected story the same
(Continued on Page 6)
Recall.
It has been said by those arguing
in favor of the charter that the recall
applies to the appointed officers be-
cause if an appointed officer commits
an offense the head of the department
can be recalled. That Is a great deal
of the board. This fact should be con- |
sidered in connection with Sec. 28, in |
which it is provided that "Such treas- I
(Continued on Page 5)
LABOR DAY QUEEN ❖
STANDING. *
•>
Miss Eva Dunn 2,513
Miss Bessie Mobley 1,153. .❖
Miss Lillie Walter 1,027 ❖
, .
❖ v ❖ O
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Oklahoma Labor Unit (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Vol. 1, No. 11, Ed. 1 Saturday, August 22, 1908, newspaper, August 22, 1908; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc106671/m1/1/: accessed April 26, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.