The Oklahoma Labor Unit (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Vol. 7, No. 33, Ed. 1 Saturday, February 6, 1915 Page: 2 of 4
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THE OKLAHOMA LABOR UNIT
THE OKLAHOMA LABOR UNIT
LABOR UNIT PUBLISHING COMPANY, OWNERS.
A clean, conservative, Independent, non partisan ihvss-
paper in the interest of the Laboring People.
Published Every Saturday.
C. C. Zeigler, Managing Editor.
Address all communications to The Oklahoma Labor Unit,
223 State National Hank, Oklahoma City.
Telephone Walnut 2389.
Correspondence from Local Unions, and Contributions
from Union Men solicited.
GOMPERS NEARLY
CAUGHT IN LIRE
IS
Subscribers will confer a great favor If they will promptly
notify the Business Office of any failure or irreg-
ularity in the delivery of their paper.
Entered at the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, postofflce as
second class mail, under the act of March 3, 187!).
SI'HSCHII'TION—(Payable in AdvanoeJI.
One Year
Six Months 50
Three Months ^
Regular contract and flat rates for advertising on appli-
cation.
AMONG GUESTS OF CHICAGO
HOTEL WHEN COMPELLED
TO HURRY FROM BUILDING
Chicago, 111.. Feb. 3.—President
.1 >
CONSERVAAION OF UNION ENERGY.
"We"employ the word "conservation" 1n its scientific
sense of gathering up and utilizing. The conservation of
union energy, then, means the utilization of every oppor-
tunity, the bringing into requisition of every force so as
to make them contribute to the advancement of the cause
of unionism.
Neglected opportunities, wasted energies and division
of forces account for the slow progress of our cause.
Trades unionism should be the central figure and fact in
all of our activities. It ought to be first in the hearts nad
alniB of wage earners. If the men of labor make the union
play second ilddle to almost everything else they can ex-
pect it to bring only meager returns. But if they give
it first place it will bring to them all that men ought to
desire of earthly good.
The foundations of the labor movement are broad and
deep enough to take in nearly every Interest in life. By
extending the principles of co-operation almost everything
can be brought under the union regime. Just think what
a wide field can be opened up to union enterprise. In
the department of insurance, which is now being barely
touched by the unions, there Is wide room for action.
Co-operative production and distribution Is another almost
boundless field. Why not enter in any possess the land?
There are too many leaks through which the resources
of the workingmen filter. Stop these leaks and the Amer-
ican workers w'ill soon have all they need, not alone the
necessaries of life, but an abundance of the luxuries aB
well. Why should they pour out their lives in productive
toll and retain so little for their own comfort?
The problem is an economic one which must be
wrought out In the brain of intelligent wage earners. It
is not fundamentally a question of wageB and hours, nnd
we have spent entirely too must time ahd attention on that
feature of our undertaking. When we force wages up
the fellows who live by their wits adroitly force the cost of
living up, so that little relative gain is made by the
workers.
What we want is not so much more wages, but a
greater share of what we produce. In many cases a day's
wage will buy less now than it would twenty years ago.
Where then is the advantage?
But when the producers begin to give serious and in-
telligent thought to the leaks and set about a systematic
conservation of their energies then we will hear less about
wages and hours nnd more about how much of the fruits
of our labors shall remain in the hands of the men, and
women who make the wealth of the world.
bring them not merely a bare existence, but the meanB of
existing as becomes citizens of a great nation in the most
advanced day of civilization.
ThiB Is not Impossible, neither is it visionary.
The nation has unlimited resources.
Suys the Encyclopedia Britannica: "If the natural re-
sources of the American continent were fully developed, it
would afTord sustenance to 3,600,000,000 of inhabitants."
If this vast number were all placed In the state of
Texas there would be but 21 to the acre.
If we cut these figures In two In the middle, they
would still make America capable of supporting 1,800,000.-. ^ Qf Amerlcan Federation
000, which Is 200,000,000 more than the present population Qf Ubor cam(i near bp)nf, B fire v)c.
of the globe. here today when the Kaiserhoff
The solution of the problem of unemployment lies in jj0(ei caught on fire.
applying the idle people to the development of the idle Gompers Uad just (Opened a
natural resources. 'conference with five other labor lead-
We have the people. We have the resources. era in a room on the sixth floor when j
Hut— ■ M*88 Mary Murphy, a switchboard girl,
Well, we haven't learned as a nation the true purpose who remained at her post, telephoned
. , the alarm to every room. President
of government. i_ . , . . , . .
tiompers hurried out, leaving his bag
gage, and hastened to telegraph rela-1
Employers, as a rule, are organized for obstruction tiv<,8 jn Washington of his safety. \
There is, for example, the National Association of Manu labor leaders all escaped in an I
facturers, embracing 4,000 individual employers who rep elevator.
resent a capital of about $10,000,000,000. Its constructive The flames were extinguished with-
program consists of such attractive Items as "unalterable nut having spread to adjoining build-
antagonism to the closed shop, opposition to eight-hour ings.
bills, and, with mold emphasis hostility "to any and all i
anti-injunction bills, of whatever kind. And yet these
same employers have the unmitigated gall to assume pat
riotic virtues, which they do not and can never possess.
so long as the chase of the almighty dollar is the controll-
ing incentive to their activities in business.
Thrift Talks
By Chas. M. Bosworth, Cashier of the
Tradesmen's State Bank.
BRINGING UP NINE CHILDREN.
j RA
MmMMMMMM
RANDOM SHOTS
BY THE RAMBLER
Mr. Wilson may be able to control Congress, but he
can't make his grandson quiet down at 10:00 p. m.
Many people are not worrying a bit over flour at $9.00
per barrel, as they are confident they can get it on credit.
We olTer a reward for any union man who has gotten
forty acres and a mule for supporting any political party.
Everybody is looking at the map of Europe at this
time. Renew your subscription to the Unit and get three j
maps, one of them the latest published of the old country. "There is but one thing women can
showing all the cities and other data In the war zone. !(j0 now an(j that is to choose food stuffs
J carefully, cook them to the best ad-
j vantage and disseminate their knowl-
edge of right eating and living among
those who are not so well informed."
—Henrietta D. Grauel.
| A mother who is bringing up a fam-
| ily of nine children in these times
j ought to know a good deal about how
io manage, and her experience should
be of value to others, even to those
w ith much smaller families.
There is such a family in a Minne-
sota city (there are seven girls and
two boys, ranging in age from four
to twenty-four.) The mother gives
some facts about her domestic ar-
rangements which are very interest-
ing. They are summarized as fol-
lows:
FOOD—Saving is considered to be
j largely wise buying. So there is no
hand-to-mouth ordering in this fam-
ily. A cement-walled and floored cold
storage room in the cellar makes pos-
sible the purchase of thirty bushels
of potatoes when they are cheapest.
Proportionate quantities of cabbages,
beets, turnips, carrots, celery, etc.,
are also bought and stored at the
proper time. Flour and sugar are
bought by the hundred pounds or bar-
rel, vinegar and molasses by the gal-
lon, eggs by the crate.
A small vegjetable garden contrib-
utes somewhat to reduce the cost of
living in the summer, while extensive
The people who condemn the sending of money to Bel-1 canning operations carry the war on
into the winter. This fall thirty-two
cans of tomatoes were "put up" and
many feet of shelving in the cellar
Things come to the man that waits. Yes, but they
come more quickly anfl rightly to the fellow that hustles.
Some of these days trades unionism will wake up and
begin to realize Its wonderful possibilities. Then what?
The 17,485th statement as to who is responsible for the
war Is almost as interesting as the Congressional Record.
The army might not be able to repel an invasion, but
It puts a lot of money in circulation around the various
military posts.
So long as the workers can be divided on other issues
trade unionism cannot come to a realization of its hopes.
Unite, workers, unite.
glum may not be so anxious to help out home chaities as
to buy a 1915 automobile.
LIVING NEAR THE MILL.
Interesting and helpful conferences have taken place
between John D. Rockefeller, Jr., and labor leaders, fol-
lowing the recent investigation of.Colorado strike troubles.
A better understanding is promised. This leads many
newspapers to remark very justly that much industrial
friction could be avoided if capital and labor could come
Into closer personal contact.
The idea has grown up among many wealthy manu
facturers and their families, that a factory town is not
a good place for their residence. They prefer a city where
there is more high society. The mill town, with its
streaming crowds of alien and often bitter faces seems
obnoxious. Thereby they quarrel with their own bread
and butter.
In the old days, the manufacturer worked at the bench
beside his men. If his trade grew, he still knew his men
personally. He belonged to the same lire company and
benefit society. His wife did charitable work among un-
fortunate employees.
If there was friction a delegation was welcome to call
at the office. They might start in angry, but concessions
would almost always be made.
Today a great many mill owners never listen per
sonally to the story of the life of their employees. That
story sounds very differently when heard at second hand.
Success in business depends on co-operation of em-
ployees. That co-operation can not be had by proxy or
secured by letter or telephone.
Manufacturing towns are not necessarily bad towns
to live in. There is as much human sympathy there as
anywhere else. Under good leadership they can be well
governed. John II. Rockefeller, Jr.. may not be able to
go to Colorado and live among his miners, but nearly all
factory owners would promote their own success by living
in the same town wth their plants .
It looks as If the people along the Mexican border who
are anxious to get hit had got to journey a considerable
distance inside the line now.
"The cause of labor moves not all."
movement at intervals of a few years and you will see
that it is moving splendidly.
groans under the weight of tier after
tier of glass jars of peaches, plums,
pears, currants and jellies. This fam-
ily could withstand a siege ot several
months, but good food, cleanliness,
Observe the ] early hours and general care have pre
The people who insist that this country is not pre-
pared for war probably never saw the state militia officers
in all their gold lace at a dance.
There is a general disposition to help the unemployed
by directing them to the railroad yards, where they can
steal a ride on to the next town.
NOT CHARITY, BUT EMPLOYMENT.
Unemployment ts the extremity of Inequality.
An ant'B nest and the summit of Mt. Raldy are not as
far apart as the man "willing to work nnd unable to find
work," and the capitalist drawing profits from a thriving
Industry.
The strength of a nation lies In the number of people
satisfactorily employed.
To the extent that unemployment exists to that ex-
tent is national weakness.
It is through the medium of employment that the
masses become possessed of the means of life and ad-
vancement.
If employment is withheld, then the means of life and
advancement are withheld.
Charity cannot be considered.
It is not only utterly inadequate, but an insult to hu-
manity.
What the unemployed want is work—work that will
A glance will not show you that the sun is moving
across the heavens; but wait a few hours and you wil
see. Just so of the labor movement.
Keep on saying it: The wage earnerB will get re
vented any such necessity, for the
family has never been quarrantined
by the health authorities.
CLOTHING—Buying in quantities
is the rule here also. When It's time
to buy shoes and rubbers, Paterfam-
ilies musters a squad of six or eight
'children and marches them to the shoe
dealer, who is glad to give a liberal
discount on such a sale. With a pre-
ponderance of girls it is not strange
that most of the dresses and hats are
made at home, especially since sev-
eral of the girls have, perforce, be-
come adepts with the needle and scis-
sors. They watch the bargain sales
and also the fashion hints in the news-
papers. End-of-season remnants pro
turns from the labor movement in almost exact proportion!^ gQod materlal cheap for next sea-
as they put time, money and devotion into it,
It seems stange that faithful political workers are so
often neglected, when they can always be given a job
investigating the question of economy in the public serv-
ice.
There are many people who would be glad to con-
tribute to the Belgians or the earthquake sufferers, were
it not necessary to save money to buy gasoline next
spring.
After advocating the Peace movement before the Cur-
rent Events Club, some women come home and light on
the Old Man because he didn't leave his rubbers on the
piazza.
The question is asked what has become of the boy
who used to spend all his spare time winter evenings saw-
ing wood for the family stove? He has grown up and has
a son of his own who has gone down to the club to play
pool.
Some one has asked what has become of the boy who
used to raise chickens and thereby help to pay for his
clothes. Well, evidently, he has grown up to manhood,
and is puzzling over how he is to pay the bill for his
son's dress suit.
Dr. Young, one of Oklahoma County's representatives
in the present legislature says that he has always been
for labor's demands but on account of the fact that they
have taken issue with him for holding on to two jobs con-
trary to the law, that he will now vote against them on
every measure they are asking for. Some representative,
isn't he?
By taking advantage of our most liberal offer on page
4 of this Issue it is possible to renew your subscription to
the Unit without cost. Read it.
son's dresses. All cleaning and dye
ing is likewise done at home.
THE HOME—There is a mixture of
Scotch, French and German in this
family's ancestry, so it is not surpris-
ing that the home is owned. They
rented part of a "duplex" at first
Then bought It and made the rent
money from the other part help pay
for the property. Later the husband
and father, who is a building contrac
tor. built a home in a part of the city
more desirable for bringing up chit
dren.
THE BANK—Of course, the nn
ances of this family are largely han-
dled through a checking account,
while most of the children have their
own savings accounts or a little metal
bank at home. It goes without say-
ing that they will be thrifty and suc-
cessful. They could not be otherwise
wfth the wise example, precept and
training impressed upon them con
stantly.
The Folly.
Manager Tull's booking agent has
been busy during the past few days
in the interest of the best vaudeville
obtainable for the patrons of the Folly.
The new bill for the latter part of
the week is strictly Wghclass vaude-
ville. The program embraces the fol-
lowing high-class acts: The Aerial
Kesters, comedy aerial and cradle
novelty; Macy and Richards. Blnglng
and dancing; Ferro and West, black-
face comedians; Harris and Harris,
acrobatic novelty. In addition, there
is six reels of positively the best fea-
ture and comedy pictures ever shown
in Oklahoma City.
Renew
Your
Subscription
A Chance to do so
nntil March 1st, al-
most free of charge
At the beginning of the year 1914 we started
out to double our subscription list, and to our
great satisfaction not only doubled it, but in three
months' time, or by the first of March, had in-
creased it over 400 per cent.
To do this we were compelled to pay com-
missions, car fare and other expenses to the ex-
tent that we found in the end that we were but
little ahead from a financial standpoint.
Nevertheless, we want to renew every one of
our old subscribers and obtain as many more
new ones at the same time if it is possible, and we
believe that it is.
This year, instead of paying out money for
traveling expenses and for commissions, we are
going to offer an inducement to every subscriber
that is worth more of itself than the price we ask
for the two. Until March 1st we will give to all
who renew their subscription—at $1.00 for a year
—a three-piece hanger wall map, consisting of
one of the United States, one of Europe and one
of the State of Oklahoma. These maps are 30x36
inches and are up to the minute in every par-
ticular. The map of Europe showing the position
of the contending forces in the war zone. The
map of the United States being the latest pub-
lished, and showing all railroads, etc. The map
of Oklahoma being the very latest, showing the
Township, County and District lines, etc.
These maps are worth $1.50 alone and have
sold all over the State of Oklahoma for that price
and more, and you now have a chance to get them
and The Unit for the small price of $1.00.
This offer good only
until March 1st, 1915
This offer should be taken advantage of by
all whose subscriptions expire between now and
the first day of March, as all delinquent subscrip-
tions will be discontinued at that time.
The
Oklahoma
Labor
Unit
f N
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Zeigler, C. C. The Oklahoma Labor Unit (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Vol. 7, No. 33, Ed. 1 Saturday, February 6, 1915, newspaper, February 6, 1915; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc157236/m1/2/: accessed March 19, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.