UNIVERSITY.

H3959

VOLUME TWO.

With this issue the second volume of our magazine commences. It has passed the first year of its existence, which is said to be the most fatal, with a financial success, better perhaps, than its originators anticipated. Whatever good it may have accomplished, by putting better thoughts in men's minds, or setting them thinking in the right direction, the future can only prove; it is enough to say that we have endeavored to be on the right side. Our magazine, being the property and official organ of a body of men, mostly employed by the same corporation, and working under the same rules and regulations, is, we believe, the only publication of the kind in existence. Whether the stockholders and managing officials of the Union Pacific Railway are proud of this or not, we believe they have no cause to be ashamed of it, and their employes have just cause to be proud.

The annual convention of representatives of the locals composing our organization have seen fit to place me in position to manage and edit this, their organ; to say that I feel unequal to the task, does not fully express my feelings at this, the start. To comment on the wisdom of their selection, while they had at their command older, wiser and more experienced heads, will not help the situation any now. I can only repeat what my predecessor said at the start "I shall do my level best;" he did well and it is to our detriment that he was not

in position to remain with us in charge, but as the organization has given me an efficient corps of associates, it will be our endeavor to make up by the use of the larger force, what we have lost in the retirement of Mr. Breitenstein.

Unlike the average publication, and especially the daily press, we shall not be obliged to cater to any political party or corporation, to get the support necessary to exist; for our main support comes from that large body of men who own this publication; neither will we be obliged to follow the ideas of an editor of a daily, not a thousand miles west of the Missouri river, when he said "that in theory, a newspaper should be the leader and expressor of public opinion, but in practice, and to be a success, it

must work for the interest and express the opinions of the man that can put up the most money."

As firm believers in the fundamental principles of the Knights of Labor-"The greatest good to the greatest number"-we shall strive to follow the footsteps of our predecessor, and make the columus of this magazine assist-"to make industrial and moral worth, not wealth, the true standard of individual and national greatness." We believe that a lack of knowledge is what is keeping men from enjoying the fruits of their labor; that men who strive to make themselves more capable and efficient at the legitimate branches of trade they are engaged in, by endeavoring to improve their knowledge of

its details; that men who keep themselves posted on the questions of the hour, and study the cause and look for a remedy for the condition of things, are men who are moving in the right direction.

Men who are careless, slovenly and inefficient workmen make poor members of society, and make poor members of labor organizations; one thoughtful, reasoning man is equal to ten who never think.

By making ourselves better workmen, we improve our industrial worth; by increasing our thinking and reasoning capacity, to enable us to cope with the questions of the day, we will increase our moral worth.

With these intentions in view, we open up volume two. We ask the assistance of all thinking men, without regard to their station in life, to give us their conclusions on questions that they have thought of, and their experience in whatever industrial pursuit they may be engaged at; by so doing we shall further the first object of our order. We have no hobbys to ride, or hair-brained theories to advance; we are for war; but not that kind of war that some of our contemporaries advocate, not war to the knife, and the knife to the hilt, but a war for possession, possession of knowledge, which intellectual weapon will conquer all things.

OUR DUTY.

District 82 has held its third annual session, and the representatives have, ere this, reported back to their constituency. No radical steps have been taken to revolutionize the world, but the various questions that have arisen the past year, have had a cool, careful consideration, with the greatest good to the greatest number in view, all of which will help to evolutionize the present condition of things, which all agree are not as they should be. The best plan to prevent and remedy this, has had con

sideration, but the results to be expected depends on how well each does his or her duty. If it were possible for each member to take part in these conventions, or if it were practical to hold the meetings oftener, and thus increase the opportunities to exchange ideas, there is no doubt but what more progress could be made; but this being different, it becomes our duty to make up the difference by other means. The real objects of our annual meetings are to unify the ideas springing from the various localities, and the difficulties arising at one place may have the candid consideration of the representatives of other places, thus reducing to a minimum the possibility of the taking of inconsiderate or inopportune action that would cause an injury to the interest of the greatest number. The amount of good that we will do depends upon individual effort; organization is to unify and properly direct this effort.

When a person joins an organization, he certainly does so for a purpose-which purpose may be for good or bad-and his action implies that he unites his efforts with his fellow man for the common good, but it does not relieve him from a single duty in life, and should have a tendency to cause him to increase his energies to keep himself the equal of his fellow.

When a man finds that in a single-handed struggle with life he is being worsted, he naturally seeks assistance and finds that others are in the same condition as himself; he sees that by joining hands with others he will not only strengthen himself but will strengthen others; but should he by so doing, lessen his diligence or relax into indolence, expecting the organization to accomplish all for him, or should he expect to receive from the fruits of organization, any fold greater than in proportion as he has contributed? Labor organizations are but joint stock associations, the

stock being made up of muscle and brain, and such stock cannot be watered. The results obtained depend upon the amount of our stock and how well it is managed, and a duty involves on each shareholder to make his stock as valuable as possible.

It is a sad condition of things when one part of society must band together to protect their rights from the encroachment of another part, when neighbor must guard against neighbor, but such is the condition of mankind to-day, and there is a cause for it, and it is the duty of all to find the cause and remove it, and it is not necessary to look in strange or out of the way places for the cause, for the mind of man is his ruler, and thus the cause must lay very close at home. That selfish propensity, which we all inherit to a greater or less degree, that desire to get more than we produce, to gain the advantage of others; that propensity which makes Goulds and Vanderbilts and "sharp business men" lays with every man to a greater extent than many of us are willing to admit. The "land question," the "finance question" and the "wage question" will never be settled so long as "every man for himself" is kept the rule.

Therefore it is the duty of every man who is deprived of his rights, who wishes to regain them, and to see justice done to others, to study the economic questions of the day, that he may know what his rights are; to study all subjects that will increase his industrial and moral worth, that he may be able to jealously guard and maintain the rights thus gained.

As the slave owners feared the introduction of schools among their chattles, so does the master of the wage-worker fear an increase of knowledge among the masses, knowing well that as knowledge increases their rule wanes, hence their opposition to the shortening

of the hours of labor, as they undoubtedly feel that the workers are learning too fast now, with the small amount of time they have at their command, and in this respect they are assisted by many of the workers themselves. But the time that is at every man's command, if properly used, can be made of more value to him than the dollars and cents paid him by his master, and the man who will not use this time, who will not think, who will not try to improve himself, cannot expect to fast regain his true position in the world. He must remain where he is, and in doing so retard the advancement of others. But let no man be guilty of this. Let us all do our duty as we should, and the results will fast appear.

ARBITRATION.

In this issue we publish the text of a bill introduced by Senator Harkison, in the General Assembly of Colorado, for an act to establish a system of arbitration. Heretofore when differences have arisen between employer and employes, and a strike or other labor disturbance has been the result; from pulpit, press and the general public the cry has been "Why don't they arbitrate ?" and the blame has generally been charged to the workers, when if the truth was more generally known the other side would have had the blame, for organized labor is and always has been ready to abide by the decisions of an equitably chosen, disinterested third party, and organized labor of Colorado now puts itself on record by demanding that an equitable system of arbitration be established by law.

A similar bill has been introduced in the legislatures of Idaho and Nebraska, and what is true in this state regarding the wish for a system of arbitration, holds true in those states.

This bill may not be as perfect as is desirable, but it is a move in the

right direction. But the corporation tools in our legislature have signified their intention to fight this bill; why have their masters so directed them? Who, that desires to do only that which is just and right, has anything to fear from arbitration; is not the man who thus trembles nine times out of ten in the wrong? Does not objections to arbitration signify that the one making the objections does not intend to do what is right? It certainly does and it matters not be he employer or employe. There is an objection that some raise against the arbitrating of differences between employer and employed; that is, that there is no practical means of enforcing the decisions of arbitrators, whereby the workmen can be compelled to abide by the decision. Is not this untrue? Is there not an unwritten statute that stands over every man who depends on his daily work to live and to see those depending upon him live, that statute that compels men to endure every hardship, every abuse or privation; and is not this law imperative? It certainly is and requires no officers to put it in force either. There is also another force that will enforce any decision and that is public opinion, as there are but few who dare oppose this. Public opinion is the supreme court of arbitration, and the decisions of the lower court has great influence in this higher decision, provided that it has been furnished with all the facts in the case, which has not been always done in the past, and accounts for the exceptions to the general rule. Objections have been raised that to give all the right to submit their greivances to arbitration will bring chaos and be to the detriment of proper discipline among large bodies of men; but courts of arbitration cannot exist without organization any more than our common courts which are founded within the organization of society, and as organization is

guided by intelligence, this objection certainly has but little ground to stand upon and a thorough trial will prove whether the good to be expected has been over estimated or not.

THOMAS NEASHAM.

Thomas Neasham, whose portrait we publish in this issue as our frontispiece, and who for the third time has been unanimously elected Master Workman of District 82, is a man who has always been found in the ranks of labor fighting for justice and right.

He was born in the north of England, February 6th, 1841, and when but six years of age he was put to work in the collieries of his native town, and from that time he never had an opportunity to attend school. But having a natural desire to learn, he used every means at his command to acquire knowledge; and so well has he succeeded that in historical and practical knowledge he will compare with any of his more favored fellows.

He was a prominent and active member of the labor organizations of England and an active promoter of co-operation from his youth. He served an apprenticeship as boiler-maker and followed that trade for a number of years, but left it on account of its affecting his hearing.

On account of having taken such active parts in the labor movements of England he was blacklisted by the employers of labor throughout Great Britain, and thus being unable to secure employment, he emigrated with his wife and only daughter living to the to the United States six years ago and after many reverses finally settled in Denver. The daughter died soon after he reached this country.

A short time after he reached Denver the labor disturbances of the spring of 1884 commenced in the West, and again he came to the front as an advocate of equity and