The

bers and between members and employers. organization will doubtless prove valuable as an educational factor, tending to make decisions and adjustments more uniform and relations all around more harmonious. F. E. Neumann, chairman of the Co-operative Printery chapel, was elected father of the big chapel, and the secretary and treasurer of No. 23 was chosen as its secretary. The meetings will be held on the first Sunday of every month, commencing with January.

The idea of business men organizing for the purpose of stamping out ruinous competition, and permitting three or four out of the membership of fifteen to have the privilege of working from “sun to sun," as the farmer would say in haying time, is really amusing. Still, is this not the condition which exists today in the Franklin club, of this city? Establishing a cost system, indeed! It is to laugh!

This, the experimental stage of the old age pension idea, has already fully and conclusively developed one fact, and that is, the flat-rate system of dues is the proper program for its prosperous perpetuation. JOSEPH LA Fleur.

PHILADELPHIA, PA.

Rep

One of the incidents connected with the recent Federal Council of Churches, held in our city, was the unusually large gathering of men at the Lyric theater on the afternoon of December 6, in response to an invitation extended by prominent labor leaders, ministers and others to hear an address by the Rev. Charles Stelzle, of New York, on the subject of "Labor's Champions." Few men are better able to handle a subject of such great importance than he, and if the deep attention paid to his remarks by the hundreds of workingmen is any criterion, our assertion is fully qualified. resentatives from some twenty-four of the many labor organizations existing in our city contributed to the swelling of the large audience. Notable among these brotherhood organizations was that of Philadelphia Typographical Union No. 2, which met at union headquarters and marched, in numbers about 150 strong, to the place of meeting. It was evidently as great a pleasure to those gentlemen who addressed the audience, and especially to the Rev. Mr. Stelzle, as it was for the intelligent body of men to sit and listen to the burning words of the speakers. The address of Mr. Stelzle was replete with wise counsel, and from which it is hoped much good may result. His address was not painted by the brush of fancy, but was heartbreathings from the life of one who rose from poverty's ranks, step by step, to the topmost rung of fame's ladder. He is recognized the world over as one of the many great orators and authors upon the most vital subjects that are engaging the attention of the world today. We sincerely hope, as we firmly believe, that this great union of church denominations, aided by the co-operation of workingmen, will eventually result in freeing the latter from the bonds of a prevailing serfdom to a higher and nobler plane of existence, when man, woman and child may be better able to enjoy those bless

ings that the Savior of the world evidenced by His life when dwelling among men as the lowly Nazarene. By unanimous vote the council, representing 18,000,000 communicants, pledged itself to the following platform:

To us it seems that the churches must standFor equal rights and complete justice for all men in all stations of life.

For the right of all men to the opportunity for self-maintenance, a right ever to be wisely and strongly safeguarded against encroachments of every kind.

For the right of workers to some protection against the hardships often resulting from the swift crisis of industrial change.

For the principle of conciliation and arbitration in industrial dissensions.

For the protection of the workers from dangerous machinery, occupational disease, injuries and mortality.

For the abolition of child labor.

For such regulation of the conditions of toil for women as shall safeguard the physical and moral health of the community.

For the suppression of the "sweating system."

For the gradual and reasonable reduction of the hours of labor to the lowest practicable point, and for that degree of leisure for all which is a condidition of the highest human life.

For a release from employment one day in seven. For a living wage as a minimum in every industry and for the highest wage that each industry can afford.

For the most equitable division of the products of industry that can ultimately be devised.

For suitable provision for the old age of the workers and for those incapacitated by injury. For the abatement of poverty.

As an aid to the crusade now making to stamp out tuberculosis, the Pennsylvania society has announced its intention of publishing a magazinethe initial number of which is promised to be issued with the advent of the new year. We are pleased to learn that John Meade, a gentleman well and favorably known in labor circles here, and, moreover, a loyal member of Typographical Union No. 2, has been invited to become a contributor to the labor columns of its pages. From the inception of this movement Mr. Meade has been a close student of the subject, and has contributed a number of articles bearing upon it that have received the favorable consideration of the public.

The appointment of Samuel B. Donnelly, of New York, to the office of public printer at the government printery at Washington, D. C., will be regarded with favor by the craft of the entire country. Mr. Donnelly, it will be remembered, very acceptably filled the office of president of the International Typographical Union some years ago, and his appointment to the position above named we regard as a wise one on the part of the appointing power.

President Gompers, of the American Federation of Labor, during a recent allusion to the excellencies of the Printers Home at Colorado Springs, is quoted as saying that in his opinion "It is the most remarkable building of its kind in the country." He might truthfully have added-in the world.

Organizer J. P. Bowen, who recently toured the eastern end of Pennsylvania in the interest of the International Union, contributed quite a newsy letter to the Trades Union News, of this city. He

referred, among other things, to the conditions of the craft in the cities of York and Hanover, which certainly do not seem to be as encouraging as they might be. It seems to us that the printer boys out in that section will have to arouse from their lethargy if they have any desire to better their condition as "shining lights" in this age of industrial

progress.

Typographical Union No. 2, through its officials, is pushing the cause of the label in a way that may be called "going some." In addition to the employment of a corps of personal workers, whose duty is to visit business men and explain to them the benefits of the use of the label, we notice that the advertising of some of our union papers is being drawn upon as a further aid in pushing along the label campaign. All right, gentlemen, be not weary in well doing.

William J. Dunworth, aged 36 years, and a member of No. 2, met with a tragic death on the evening of November 21. While crossing a street intersection he was run over by a brewery team and received injuries that caused his death within thirty minutes after admission to an hospital.

Quite a number of members of No. 2 have left Philadelphia and taken up their abode, for a time at least, in Washington, D. C.

For the first time in the history of Philadelphia, a Sunday afternoon newspaper was printed and issued in our city, December 13. It is published by the Evening Times Company, whose dany enterprise is proving quite a success. It remains to be seen whether the new paper will earn for itself a useful and prosperous career.

WILLIAM F. KNOTT.

WASHINGTON, PA.

A new publication has made its appearance in the valley, that of the Friday Evening Call, it being the work of G. H. Thomas, the former editor of the Charleroi Mail. The journal is a weekly publication, furnishing the news of the entire valley. It is also a semi-literary magazine. The main office is in Monessen.

All the appeals and envelops of the Marianna Mine Relief Fund Association of this county bear the union label. The printing to be done is of a voluminous nature.

George Feathlin, a member of No. 456, is now manager of the Finleyville (Pa.) Exponent, a weekly publication.

The Union Label show, given under the direction of C. J. McMorrow, of Boston, Mass., an organizer of the International Boot and Shoe Workers' Union, in this city December 3, was a success. The impression left upon the big audience present was that the union label will now be more in demand at Washington, Pa.

F. H. Judson, member of No. 456, at our last meeting was endorsed for borough tax collector. He is the present incumbent. No. 456 makes it a rule to look after any member who ventures into politics.

W. H. ("Billy") Herbert, formerly of Walla Walla, Wash., and other Pacific coast points, is

now foreman of the Canonsburg Notes. He has many friends at Anaconda, Mont., and in Bradford, Pa., who will be pleased to hear of his suc

cess.

Walter O'Day, late of Detroit, is the new foreman of the Morning Record. Robert Burns, late president of East Liverpool (Ohio) Union, is now in the Record's adroom.

T. L. Lewis, president of the United Mine Workers of America, was a visitor to Washington last month. He tells with much pleasure of his trip to the Printers Home at Colorado Springs, and his association with President Lynch.

Now that the Donora-Webster bridge is open, it "throws open" a big field "to be closed" by the International Typographical Union.

WILLIAM C. BLACK.

ST. JOSEPH, MO.

Pursuant to custom, the membership of No. 40 never forgets their patron saint, Benjamin Franklin, and for January 18 (his birthday falling on Sunday, January 17) a grand ball is being arranged by the convention committee, aided by a committee of ten from the union. Prinz's new dancing academy has been secured, which is one of the largest and finest in the country, and this year's event will far surpass all previous efforts on account of it being our golden jubilee ball. Just forty-nine years ago, January 1, 1860, the first annual ball was held in Patee hall, which is now occupied by one of the largest union-made overall factories in the country. W. B. Churchill, the only surviving charter member of No. 40, has in his possession the dance program which was used on this occasion, and opposite each dance some printer phrase was used, such as "Virginia Reel-Long Primer," etc., all the way down the line, with "Old Dan Tucker" as "30." Mr. Churchill says the affair was a grand success both financially and socially, the only thing to mar the occasion occuring in the "wee sma' hours," when some of the printers imbibed too much of the "hard cider," which had a tendency to shorten the dance before daylight.

The convention committee is now down to business, meeting every week, and completing arrangements for the entertainment of the International convention next August. It is the desire of the committee to have the program of entertainment published before the election of delegates in May, so as to put more enthusiasm in the race for those who wish to come. The badge committee is working on an appropriate design for the occasion. F. O. Martin, the chairman, has surely something on his mind, and we would not be surprised to see the committee select a solid gold badge for the coming golden jubilee convention.

Business seems to be picking up all over the country, and advertisements are coming in regu larly for the souvenir, which the committee will make the most elaborate piece of art ever issued by a local organization.

The convention committee is receiving letters

from all over the country telling us the 1909 convention will be the largest in the history of the organization, and upon these suggestions we are putting forth every effort to make those who come feel at home. THE JOURNAL Correspondents are doing much toward boosting the next meeting; so keep it up, boys, and we will "show you" next August.

We are glad to see the rivalry for the 1910 convention. Minneapolis is not a quitter, and the coast cities claim they are going to give it a race. Oakland, on the west coast, says it has never had the honor of entertaining, and big George Tracy told us in Boston that he would like to live long enough to see just one convention on the Pacific coast; then Atlantic City, on the eastern coast, claims to be the only convention city, and as everybody knows the reputation of Atlantic City for a resort it will be a strong factor in the race. But the three cities named must keep a lookout for the boys from the south-Atlanta, Ga.-for when they put on their armor and begin shouting for their city they will make the others sit up and take notice.

Reuben B. Van Volkenburg, who was admitted to the Union Printers Home December 5, died in that institution on the 9th. "Van," as he was familiarly called, was in good spirits when he left and said that he would be with us next August when the convention meets. "Van" was one of the well-known local printers. He became a member of Typographical Union No. 40 in 1880, and for nearly thirty years had worked in the various cities along the river and in the vicinity of St. Joseph. He was born in Hamilton, Caldwell county, Missouri, in 1860; served as a soldier in Cuba, and was a member of the camp of Spanish-American veterans. This organization had charge of the funeral services at Colorado Springs. J. E. MURPHY.

GALVESTON, TEXAS.

The last meeting of No. 28 was devoted almost entirely to the consideration, in committee of the whole, of a revision of the constitution, by-laws and scale of prices of the union. Final action is expected to be had at the January meeting. Work is reported fair to good at the various job offices and adrooms of the newspapers, but there are more than enough printers to fill all demands. Mergenthaler operators report a fair run of work, but an overplus of subs. In fact, while work is fair, the town is overstocked with printers of all kinds.

A stock company was recently formed and incorporated to publish a new daily, morning and evening, at Houston. Its capital stock is $500,000. First reports said it would be republican in politics, but later reports are that it will be independent. It is scheduled to start early in January, and typos have begun to flock to Houston from all sections in hope of catching on. The overflow from that city to Galveston is the cause of the surplus of printers here. The Houston Labor Journal says there were practically enough printers in Houston to man the paper before the influx began

in that city. As a result, for months to come south Texas promises to be a bad place for typographical tourists.

Now that the campaign is over and things political are settling down, it may not be amiss for an unprejudiced observer to make a few remarks anent trade unions and politics. After years of observation and study, I have reached the conclusion that a national labor party is impracticable.. From the foundation of the government to the present time a few political topics have separated the great parties of the country, and these are so intermixed with questions on which labor takes positions on both sides that it will be impossible to embrace them in a party policy that can secure the support of all the laboring classes. Briefly, the tariff is a question on which men will disagree as long as the government exists. State's rights and a strong central government are also questions upon which laboring men will fail to agree. The currency question has taxed the wisest heads of nations for ages, but no man has yet been produced who can present a measure that will secure the sanction of all the laboring people. The question of subsidies to steamships or railroads is not viewed from the same standpoint by all the members of any trade union. The first three of these questions are bound to enter into the political principles of every national party on one side or the other, and as a consequence the vast majority of the laboring people will cast their votes with the party which they believe expresses their opinions on these subjects, irrespective of whether the candidates selected to carry out the principles of the party are in favor of the workingman or not. Even if a national labor ticket were in the field, with only such principles in the platform as all laboring people could agree upon, and other issues relegated to the rear for the time, it would be found that the labor candidates would be obliged to state their convictions on the tariff, state's rights and centralization and the currency, and many laborers whose views were antagonized in these respects by the candidate would cast their votes for the candidate of the party whose views on these subjects coincided with their own. I am not claiming that laboring men should take no interest in politics or that union men should not endeavor to have legislation beneficial to labor passed; but I do hold that it would be better for labor to confine its efforts to congressional or legislative districts and to state, county and municipal offices than to attempt to control national parties. Labor can frequently secure the nomination of candidates favorable to its views in one or perhaps both the old parties, and thus secure the election of its friends. on purely labor policies, aside from the great dividing principles of parties trying to secure the conduct of the national government. During my fifty years' connection with typographical unions it has been the policy of the unions to taboo politics in their meetings, and all political discussions have been checked as entirely out of order. There is no disposition to curtail liberty of speech, but politics has done more to stir up and disrupt labor organizations than any other one thing. There are

plenty of places outside the halls of trade unions for men to express their political opinions, and meetings of workingmen outside their unions for such a purpose are to be encouraged rather than censured. When quite a young man an old and successful journalist gave me this advice, which holds good at the present time: "Young man, if you ever own a newspaper, avoid political and religious debates in its columns. They inevitably lead to irritation and resentment that tend only to evil and to loss by the publisher. On most any other topic you can allow debate, but taboo these two subjects." I have found the advice good through years of observation. R. B. SPANGler.

BUTTE, MONT.

Yes, Butte is yet on the map, and No. 126 will be represented in old Jo-Town.

Speaking of the Missouri river pirates, Jack Cross is here, and he doesn't look a day older than he did on the banks of the Big Muddy.

Otto Zeising, the hunter par excellence of Montana printers, got his full quota of game in the Wise river country this season. He and the Steubenville Kid have a bungalow, and their venison roasts are the envy of the bunch.

The attempt in Washington recently by Deer Lodge valley farmers to have the federal government enjoin the Washoe smelters at Anaconda, where the ores from the richest hill on earth are treated, from operating, has had its effect upon advertisers; hence the printer man finds himself with much less work than formerly in this bailiwick. R. HATHAWAY.

PENSACOLA, FLA.

The communication from President Lynch regarding the Christmas donation to the Home was discussed at the December meeting of No. 293, and it was decided to let each chapel make a separate donation. The writer thinks this fund is for a worthy cause, and is of the opinion that this union will make a contribution.

Work in this city has been good, particularly before the holidays, owing to the immense Christmas editions that are issued each year by the local newspapers.

Organizer Parsons was in the city some weeks ago, and did much good work, although the desired effect of his visit has not as yet come to a climax. He endeavored to get the White Printing Company back in the fold, but it is still running a non-union shop. This company has been out now for more than a year.

J. V. Varity and J. D. McKay, with cards from Mobile Union, and W. F. Proctor, with a Beaumont (Texas) card, are in the city.

Fifty thousand members in 1909! That's easy. St. Joe next year, but don't forget our up-todate southern city, Atlanta, in 1910. Come south; you can not be better treated elsewhere. The south is noted for its hospitality, and I am willing to leave it to Bodenhamer and Smith, of Atlanta, to do the rest. R. N. LINDSEY.

WASHINGTON, D. C.

Jean de Nazimoff, chamberlain to the emperor of Russia, and vice-director of the imperial printing office at St. Petersburg, accompanied by his secretary, Anatole Issaeff, a Russian engineer, made an inspection of the government printing office recently. The czar's government has appropriated $1,000,000 for the installation of modern machinery and methods in the Russian printing office, and these officials have been sent to investigate the American printing office. President Frank A. Kidd, chief of the editorial and proofreading section, escorted the distinguished visitors through his department and explained its workings. They remarked that the manner in which copy and proofs were handled was superior to any they had seen. M. Nazimoff gave hearty approval of the practicability of the office proofreader examinations, which were explained, and announced that as nearly as possible the editorial and proofreading section would be used as a model in the Russian plant. The typesetting, typecasting and bindery machines and press divisions were also investigated. The Russian office is not to be as large as Uncle Sam's printing office, but the methods and machinery in use here will be copied.

Among recent promotions in the government printing office is that of Harry B. Goodrell to be foreman of the Congressional Record proofroom. Mr. Goodrell is a trustee of Columbia Union, represented it at the Detroit convention of 1899, was much in evidence as a Washington "boomer" at Cincinnati in 1902, and met nearly everybody who came to the International convention held in this city in 1903.

President Kidd, of Columbia Union, has been named as a member of the committee which will have in charge the arrangements for the inauguration of President Taft on March 4 next. An inauguration is one of the great events of life in Washington, and I do not recall an occasion in the past when a representative of organized labor was honored with a position on the inaugural committee. It is a wise and proper move, and I hope all future inaugural committee chairmen will continue the custom.

Miss L. R. Taylor, who represented Cincinnati at the Atlanta session of the International, and who is the author of the present six-day law of our craft, is now a resident of the capital and an employe of the Post composing room. Miss Taylor has many bright ideas of things pertaining to the printing profession (along with a high intelligence on all lines), and could easily give some mighty good pointers to many so-called "leaders" in the trade union movement. "The six-day law," she said to me, "should be construed for subs the same as regulars, and, above all, it should be construed uniformly. It should mean the same in New York as it does in Chicago, or Boston, or Pittsburg, or Washington."

Mr. Munsey is giving Washington a new kind of paper for this locality. His Times now comes out on Sunday afternoon instead of Sunday morning, as formerly. "It is not a feature edition," he says,

"but a newspaper like that of the other six days of the week." At the present it is any one's guess as to whether or not the innovation will prove popular.

The new manual of style recently put in the hands of the workers at the government printing office has now been in use long enough to show its great usefulness and decided adaptability to the work of that vast establishment. It contains nearly a hundred octavo pages, and the copies in use by the readers are of flexible leather binding, interleaved with ruled blank sheets for writing in new matter, and provided with two or three signatures of stubs to accommodate instruction sheets on special works. The book is replete not only with intelligent and well-arranged guides for doing the work peculiar to the printery, but also contains much valuable information of a general nature for printers, proofreaders and authors. The committee having the work in charge (appointed by former Public Printer Leech last summer) was composed of John A. Huston, chairman; C. E. Young, vicechairman; Marion E. Bullock, recorder; H. N. Boernstein, C. E. Etchberger, Edward A. Huse, Charles Stutsman, A. E. Riddle, Daniel A. Gillin and Jason Waterman. They are all experts, and an excellent job was the result of their labors.

Timothy Donahue, for years foreman of the Philadelphia Call, and one of the Quaker City's best known printers, is now one of Uncle Sam's printers. He is manipulating a monotype.

A decided pleasure was mine recently in meeting J. Herbert Skinner, general secretary of the Typographical Association of Great Britain, and John Wadsworth, general secretary of the Yorkshire Miners' Association. These gentlemen were the fraternal delegates from the British Trades Council to the convention of the American Federation of Labor lately in session at Denver, and paid the nation's capital a visit before returning to England. Mr. Wadsworth (who, by the way, occupies a seat in the British House of Commons) was accompanied by his wife, and the party all seemed much pleased with Washington, and I can truthfully assure them that many Washingtonians were much pleased at making their acquaintance.

The Knights of Momus (generally known as the "Knockers"), Washington's renowned printer organization, will hold its annual banquet at the Arlington hotel on the evening of January 17.

John J. Ottinger, late of the Post editorial staff, is now occupying a similar position on the new Evening Tribune, of Des Moines, Iowa. If bright writers are appreciated in the west, Mr. Ottinger will score a hit in his new field. He stands well to the fore as a newspaper paragrapher, besides being a talented and productive writer in other lines. In the death of Rev. Dr. Kent, which occurred here a few days ago, a splendid soul passed on. As pastor of the People's church he was a true tribune of the people. His illness was very brief, and his death was a shock as well as a sore grief to thousands of people here. His long life was filled with good deeds and helpful acts to his fellow creatures. Arrivals for the month were: H. S. Fleming, J. W. DeVries, T. C. P. Willis, J. C. Kavanaugh, A.

M. Rutherford, Thomas W. James, E. T. Rigg, L. W. Dorr, jr., B. J. Foy, Frank H. Padgett, W. A. Magers, S. G. Cason, J. H. Smith, K. M. Gitt, J. Fred Roxbrough, J. N. Reilly, C. K. Duce, Baltimore, Md.; W. A. Stewart, Annapolis, Md.; Clay Jones, San Francisco, Cal.; J. E. Angell, Chris. J. Ward, J. T. Geraci, L. T. Gehrmann, Chicago, Ill.; J. L. McCoy, J. G. Hickok, Roanoke, Va.; W. R. Mowen, Hagerstown, Md.; C. C. Ferguson, Greenville, Pa.; H. S. Styron, Wilmington, N. C.; Guy McGreer, Oklahoma City, Okla.; J. J. Doyle, J. H. Cannon, F. A. Cannon, Boston, Mass.; O. R. Gilbert, Albany, N. Y.; R. E. George, Atlanta, Ga.; J. E. McDonald, El Paso, Texas; H. T. Miller, Connellsville, Pa.; K. T. Whitney, Detroit, Mich.; Harry Bradley, R. H. Warren, J. J. O'Neill, J. M. V. Regan, G. L. Carney, C. W. Davidson, C. A. Howlett, J. K. Lacock, W. G. White, Fred S. Walker, James O. Macallister, P. E. Sardo, New York; W. S. O'Brien, Lexington, Ky.; J. B. Nesbitt, Des Moines, Iowa; Stanley Gilbert, Dayton, Ohio; James Pearson, Richmond, Va.; A. P. Hochstein, Jacksonville, Fla.; W. C. Pershing, E. H. Witmer, E. G. Warner, Pittsburg, Pa.; W. A. Copeland, Fort Wayne, Ind.; E. S. Moorhead, S. M. Morgan, G. W. Williams, H. T. Rigg, J. J. McCoy, D. W. Williams, C. T. Gratz, R. W. Congdon, Thomas W. Kemp, George L. Eichhorn, B. H. Oakley, Frank Bates, Philadelphia, Pa.; B. B. Beck, Trenton, N. J.; W. H. Aldrich, Worcester, Mass.; A. F. Laufer, E. J. Heaton, Indianapolis, Ind.; A. A. Baumgartner, Buffalo, N. Y.; Irving W. Hitchcock, Erie, Pa.; A. A. Morton, Newport News, Va.; P. S. Cunningham, Newark, N. J.; Harry E. Faust, DuBois, Pa.; J. F. Small, Elmira, N. Y.; S. S. Price, St. Augustine, Fla.; J. A. Gillis, North Adams, Mass. The departures were: Thomas McConkey, C. T. Minott, R. M. Pennington, H. F. Williams, F. L. Connor, William Glaessel, F. S. Atchison, James V. Clery, J. J. Ottinger, George W. Harvel, Thomas J. Kelly, J. W. Bamberger. Honorable withdrawal cards were deposited by J. H. W. Thrush, J. L. Thompson, James P. Mowbray, F. M. Roller. An honorable withdrawal card was issued to J. W. Saunders.

W. N. BROCKWELL.

HUTCHINSON, KAN.

Two new members were initiated at the last meeting. No. 243 is steadily increasing its membership and is now the third largest union in the

state.

The Great Bend Tribune recently installed a new model No. 5 linotype.

The inmates of the Kansas state reformatory, located here, have recently begun the publication of a monthly paper. They have a small plant at the institution. So far none of the local subs are showing up for work.

The Daily Gazette has recently installed a new duplex press, adding much to the appearance of the

paper.

Some of the brain storms appearing in the daily papers the past several months from the pen of the mighty Post were really amusing. Most of