LABOR VOTE POLITICS* BOGEY Lures Many Aspirants to Success or Defeat. By ERNEST McGAFFEY Ballot Cast by WHEN I was Toiler Is the One Quite a lit- Most Sought by tie boy on the Schemer my grandfather's E*p«rt Calls it farm in Ohio 1 " Monkey-Moon was startled one i "• ine ' night by a fear 6ome apparition. The cows had de layed coming home until after dark, and 1 had been sent for them. Coming home through the lane .with them I was confronted with • grewsome appearance in the Bliape of a large round head star ing at me, with wide-open mouth and shining eyes, silent, menacing, und awe-inspiring. I left the cows to their fate and ran home terror-strick en. And afterward, 1 was told that what I had seen was only a liollowed cut pumpkin, with hoies cut for eyes and mouth, and a lighted candle set in It to give the impression of a fla ming hobgoblin. The name given to this "scare-head" was "monkey-moon ehine." Well, that's what the labor vote is in politics. I am with the labor end of it, be cause from the days of the pyramids to now, the men who work mainly with their hands have had to hold up "the heaviest end of the log." As a boy I worked at a factory bench with fac tory boys; and my playmates and companions for years in baseball, foot ball, hunting, fishing, fighting, skating, and other sports were boys who were very poor. Boys who are my friends to-day. I learned what poverty really meant by my association with them, and my welcome in their homes. The poverty of the middle classes is often extremely mortifying to pride and comfort, but the poverty of the very poor is hell. And yet I say seriously, and without any possible prejudice, that the labor vote in politics, with rare exceptions, Is nothing more not less than "mon key-moonshine." True, this vote oc casionally elects a mayor in some of the cities, but these exceptions only prove the rule. And I will show you by the logic and reason of the situ ation, in America, that this is a fact. Politicians who will attempt to "demonstrate" that a candidate is eith er "strong" or "weak" by reason of the support or antagonism of this ele ment in politics are either knaves, or men who cannot see further than their own noses. It is idle to call atten tion to what has been done in Europe by the leverage of the labor vote, for the conditions there are vitally dif ferent. The question of what "is" the labor vote, how it will be cast, and how far it can be depended on, has been a will-o-the-wisp which has lured many an aspiring politician into the quagmire of disappointment and de feat. It is, in its last analysis, a negligible quantity in the voting strength; that is, a quantity to be disregarded, as it stands at present. During the period of my active par ticipation in politics I lived in a "la- I Met the Labor Element at Every Meeting. bor" ward, and, although drawing a good salary as a city official, was not credited with being one of the "pred atory capital" class. During my term on the board of loca.' improvements, when a dispute arose between the city and a branch of the labor union, and the dispute was referred to arbi tration, my name as a third arbitrator was chosen by the labor men them selves, after the city had picked out one man, and the union another; al though the dispute was directly one In which the board was concerned. What, is this labor vote of which so much is current in the newspapers, and in the speeches of the politicians? Very well, then! The labor vote, you will grant, is largely a vote of the cities and towns, particularly the man ufacturing towns: and the votes of the miners. Here you have a voting strength which includes the well-in foinied and the ignorant; the high and the low in the ranks of manual labor; the native-born American whose fore fathers fought at Bunker Hill, and the newly arrived immigrant with his first papers taken out, and who docs not yet know the language. Now then, are you going to solidify all these con flicting elements into a harmonious and compact body of voting strength? You are, are you? How are you going to do it? The prejudices of the Euro pean emigrants date back further than the times of Romulus and Remus. Racial dnd religious differences, strengthened and cemented by wars of conquest and subjugation, have been drunk in with their mother's milk. Slav, Celt, Frank, Teuton, the Latin and Saxon, how sheer the wall which divides, how deadly bitter the old grudges which still exist. Do you think to bring such conflicting opposite nat ures into a "happy family" of unified voters without taking into account all the ancient jealousies and racial and spiritual prejudices? As well attempt to "swim with fins of lead, or hew down oaks with rushes." My experience regarding the labor vote began early in the game. I met the labor element at every meeting I attended in my city. They attended political meetings where the "busi ness" men regularly "side-stepped" such affairs. They naturally looked on a speaker who addressed such meet ings, if a salaried politician, as a man who was there for the purpose of "holding his job;" and they took very little, if any, stock in his protesta tions. If the man whom he was talk ing for was one who had "made good" in their estimation, so far as fairness to labor was concerned, they agreed with the speaker in his commenda tions of such a man. Rut they did not believe that a well-dressed profes sional man could really have any in timate knowledge of their lives or their ambitions, nor entertain any genuine sympathy with them in their struggles; so that any views of the speaker in that line generally fell on barren ground. And that suggests, as a corollary, the proposition that the "uplift" of the labor element must come from the ranks of the laboring man himself. Men like Ruskin and Edward Morris in England, men like Phelps-Stokes and Ernest Crosby in America—have endeavored honestly to better condi tions for the laboring man, and have failed because of a chasm-like differ ence in environment which precluded the possibility of an intelligent and sympathetic joining of forces. The labor vote in the cities is in dustriously angled for, and is not sel dom made the means of an advance ment to office, as far as the labor vote happens to apply, of some demagogue whose sympathy for labor is wholly fictitious. The labor element is also preyed upon by treacherous members of its own class, who use their official positions in the union for their own selfish personal aims. And yet at last this element, and whatever political cohesion it can ultimately command, must depend on its own people for ad vancement. Labor's chief hope must lie in national enactments of laws, and yet labor cuts the least figure in the election of the men who goto Wash ington. Concerted opposition of labor to men who have been against it, has almost always resulted disastrous ly. The men who seek congressional honors are not yet afraid of the labor vote, except in possible instances in some large city where the district is largely a labor district. But ordi narily, as has been shown in several late instances, the labor fights on members of congress have been fail ures. And right here I wish to call at tention to a subtle undercurrent of politics which comes in when these "labor" fights are inaugurated. The timid and conservative voters of a party which may have the support of labor against an opposition candidate are very apt to shift their votes and "plump" them for tho. opposition can didate just because they fear the ef fect of a possible labor victory; or a victory where labor might claim to have been the means of winning. Curi ous, isn't it? But this has been proved so often lliat it is almost axiomatic. Labor has not yet gained the confi dence of the conservative or the timid business element, and they would rather have its enmity than its sup port. The future of the labor vote would seem to be most advantageous where it attached itself to the "right party," where it stood no show of electing its own representative. Which party? Either of the two dominant parties that puts up a candidate who represents honestly a "square deal" to all men. Sometimes this may be one party, sometimes another. "Prin ciples. not men," used to be the old war-whoop. It isn't worth its salt as a maxim. The best set of principles in the world can be ignored by any man who wishes to disregard them. The worst platform a political party ever wrote can be shelved by a man who has the nerve to do it. Men, not principles, should be the bugle-call. And things are trending that way. The labor vote in the cities is popu larly supposed to favor the Demo cratic party. Well, at a recent presi dential election, every ward in my city except possibly one, went one way; the most awful land-slide in the city's political history. Wards which were counted on for thousands in favor of the Democratic ticket went the other way. And labor wards "didn't do a thing" to the Democratic ticket. And after the election our down-town organization held a meet ing. And "Hilly" Brennan, shrewd politician, and brainy, opened the ball with some such remarks as these: "I'm glad to see so many smiling faces here to-day. I want to congrat ulate this organization and the coun try on the victory we have won. The Republicans put up a Democrat, and the Democrats put up a Republican, and the Democrat won." Applause. Intelligent labor wants nothing more than a "square deal." Convince them that a man is for them, and they wHI vote for him But ignorant and prejudiced labor, like ignorant and prejudiced human nature in whaterer CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 1908. groove, cannot be brought to see !ta own interests against its prejudices. Ignorance is a force which cannot b« intelligently applied. The leverage of the labor vote will not be a vital force in this country until the bulk of its forces get nearer together in the way of a dismissal of racial, religious and social differences. An engineer getting a salary of S2OO or $250 a month— does he consider the "section-hand" or "track-walker" who gets out of his way as his equal? A man who gets maybe S3O or S4O a month, and handles a pick or shovel! I don't say that he doesn't, but does he? Is that average human nature? Another thing that helps suppress the strength of the labor vote as to a free expression is the bread-and-but ter question, the "full-dinner pail" ar gument. Can you blame men for giv ing into this cry? I don't! Suppose the head of a factory or plant says he will have to "shut down" if a cer tain man isn't elected. The employe may reason to himself: "It doesn't Ran Home Terror-Stricken. make any difference to me who's elected, but if this plant shuts down I lose my job. If I lose my job I'm on the street." To expect him to "as sert the God-given right of the fran chise," as some orators put it, is to expect him to ignore the rule that "self-preservation is the first law of nature." You can't hand that "poppy cock" to a man with a wife and fam ily depending on him for their exist ence. I don't mean for their comfort, I mean literally for their existence. A certain judge in our city was up for re-election. He had hit labor's head every time it appeared before him. He had earned the title of the "Injunction Judge." He was a re spected and reputable citizen, a man of blameless private life. But he did not decide in favor of labor unions. I am not impugning his motives nor his integrity. And the supreme court af firmed his decisions. Our party made extraordinary ef forts to beat this man. Circulars call ing attention to his decisions were cir culated among the laboring element. The labor unions had representatives among every class and race calling attention to these decisions, and his attitude toward the labor unions. Good speakers, wltl out in any way stooping to abuse or unfairness, showed the la bor element that this particular jur ist, if re-elected, could reasonably be expected to drive a nail into labor's coffin every time he had an opportu nity. There was no difficulty in the way of labor "plumping" its solid vote against this particular candidate, for all that was necessary was to put a cross In the ring in front of the oppo sition candidate. Day in and day out, week in and week out the campaign was steadily waged against this man. It was not simply because of his party: nor be cause his decisions had sent men to cells for what they believed was exer cising the right to privileges guaran teed them by the state constitution and the constitution of the United States. These men may have ex ceeded their rights. The supreme court of tfie state said they did. Let it go at that! Rut he was a candidate we wanted to beat, and his adversary was an entirely reputable lawyer, standing as high in the estimation of the com munity as our antagonist. The day of election came and the judge we were trying to defeat, with the aid of the labor vote in addition to our own strength, was triumphant ly elected. The "labor" vote did not materialize. It was voted, all right, for the registration did not disclose any great array of "stay-at-homes." But the labor vote did not throw its strength against the man who had so often decided against it in his court room. If labor had gone solidly against him, no possible defection from our s' jt party ranks would have saved him, for the labor vote, so far as numbers was concerned, would have overwhelmed him. There are two sides to this granting of injunctions, you know. Both great parties are now getting out state plat forms protesting against the abuse of this power. But suppose we say, for the sake of argument purely, that this judge was absolutely right in every de cision that he made. Even if this were admitted (which I deny) he was a judge whom labor had every reason in the world to wish to retire to pri vate life. Take it from me, with my sympathy always with the labor element as an entirety (because it has the hardest row to hoe), that the "labor vote" and all this piffle about the "labor vote" is the merest "monkey-moon shine." ERNEST M'GAFFET. (Copyright, IMS, by Joseph B. Bowles.) ■' What is Castoria. is a harmless substitute for Castor Oil, Paregoric, Drops and Soothing Syrups. It is pleasant. It contains neither Opium, Morphine nor other Narcotic substance. Its age is its guarantee. It destroys Worms and allays Peverishness. It cures Diarrhosa and Wind Colic. It relieves Teething Troubles, cures Constipation and Flatulency. It assimilates the Food, regulates the Stomach and Bowels, giving healthy and natural sleep. The children's Panacea—The Mother's Friend. The Kind You Have Always Bought, and which has been in use for over 30 years, has borne the signature of Chas. H. Fletcher, and has been made under his personal supervision since its infancy. Allow no one to deceive you in this. All Counterfeits, Imitations and " Just-as-good " are but Experiments that trifle with and endanger the health of Infants and Children —Experience against Experiment. Letters"from Prominent Physicians S|b -1 addressed to Chas. H. Fletcher. SjJ • Dr. T. Gerald Elattner, of Buffalo, N. Y., says: "Your Castoria is good lor children and I frequently prescribe it, always obtaining the desired lili >r " Gustavo A. Elsengraeber, of St. Paul, Minn., says:"l have used p your Castoria repeatedly in my practice with good results, and can recom §ls| kttliS E Berlin meU( l as an excellent, mild and harmless remedy for children." —~— : Dr. E. J. Dennis, of St. Louis, Mo., says:"l have used and prescribed lirwTi I - your Castoria in my sanitarium and outside practice for a number of yeara fflCHjj j ALCOHOL 3 PER CENT. | and find it to be an excellent remedy for children." Q Av^fjelableP/rparalionforAs- Dr. S. A. Buchanan, of Philadelphia, Pa., says:"l have used your Caa -111*11?1 Similaling the FoorfantfßeiJula toria In the case of my own baby and find it pleasant to take, and hava 111 g; ,m t> UK Stomachs andßowels Of obtained excellent results from its uge." STtTRTTFBTffIrTTTiI Dr. J. E. Simpson, of Chicago, 111., says:"l have used your Castoria in cases of colic in children and have found it the best medicine of its kind ■finift - TV. tv~*~ on the market." |Si>';V romotCsDlgestton.Chcerful- Dr. R. E. Esklldson, of Omaha, Neb., Bays: "I find your Castoria to be a SoR A C ? S and Rest.Containsneito, Standard family remedy. It is the best thing for infanta and children I Opium norMtatfaL have ever known and I recommend it" fSOT NARCOTIC. Dr. L. R. Robinson, of Kansas City, Mo., says: "Your Castoria certainly m I s not its age, its continued use by mothers through all these ». HmJciaSad" years, and the many attempts to imitate it, sufficient recommendation! Iff;« jESma* I I can a physician add? Leave it to the mothers." Hi jtvuM*' I r " Edwln of New York City, says:"For several years I hava ftppmpuit- V j recommended your Castoria and shall always continue to do so a as it haa | Invariably produced beneficial results." ! ! Dr " N * B - s,zer » of Br ocklyn, N. Y., says:"l object to what are called KHjlli : : patent medicines, where maker alone knows what ingredients are put in. ■Kip 1 Aperfpct Remedy forCtmsflp«- them, but I know the formula of your Castoria and adviso Its use.'* EM GENUINE CASTORIA ALWAYS Ijp mSB^ t os . sol ' Sl f R The Kind You Have Always Bought Exact Copy of Wrapper. In Use For Over 30 Years. TMI CINTAUR OOMHUIT, TT MURRAY ITKtT, NEW YORK OfP*. LOOKED FOR OTHER TWO. Little One Had But One Idea of Term "Fore-Handed." Little Catherine has been boarding on a farm this summer, and many of the rural expressions are wholly un familiar to her. One day she chanced to hear her country hostess praising the good qualities of a certain thrifty neighbor. "He really ain't got much, com pared to some folks," said the farm er's wife, "but he makes out wonder ful wall; he's so fore handed." That evening the man thus lauded happened to drop in, and Katherine immediately sidled up to him. with cu rious eyes. Slowly she revolved about the chair in which he sat, and so per sistently did she gaze at him that the farmer's wife finally noticed it. "Well, Katherine," she said, "you seem to find a good deal to look at in Mr. n ; don't you?' "Why," replied the child, her little forehead wrinkled in perplexity. "I did want to see his two uvver hands, but I can't. Is he sittin' on 'em?" Absorbing. Silas —Ha! Ha! Reuben got bunkoed again. Cyrus—L)o tell! What was it this time? Silas—Why, Reuben saw an ad that stated that, for one dollar they i would send him some of the most ab sorbing literature he ever read. Cyrus—And what did they send him? Silas —Why, they sent him a pam phlet entitled "How Blotters Are ' Made" and another entitled "Points I on Turkish Towels." None for Him. "Well, what does the hat bill come to this summer?" inquired Mr. Jug- I gins. "Let me see," said Mrs. Juggins, pro- ] ducing the long paper. "My Merry j Widow, Lottie's pink Merry Widow, : Ella's green and Mamie's mauve Merry Widow—total $99.00." "Gee!" said Mr. Juggins. "Nearly a hundred! Well, with the ten cents remaining, I guess I'd better have my | old st iaw done up again." Cure for Earache. Take the heart of an onion and ; heat and insert in the ear and it will cure earache. H TI .V! <O TI ,A« lil«B Feet <if Yours I need Allrn s hi nt-l'.usc. V.V m vonr Writo A.f. Olmsted. !„• Ituy. N. V . fur samp)*. Habit has more force in forming our \ characters than opinions have.—R. , Hall. Mr*. W Inflow's Soothing Syrup. I'or children teething, softens the puni», reduces to nomination, allayb pain, curea wind colli;. V!f»cubotUo. Goodness thinks no ill where no ill seems.—Milton. OF COURSE HE WOULDN'T. "You certainly wouldn't marry a girl for her money, would you, Tom?" "Of course not; neither would I have the heart to let her become an old maid because she happened to be well off." __ In Your Youth. And then there was the time you took Her to the county fair. You wore that new $9.98 suit; had Dewey Mun ger's best roadster and rubber-tired rig and a new whip with a red ribbon ! tied around it. She wore a white dress with a blue sash, and a string or blue glass beads about her neck. Mind those entries in your "daily ex pense" book —candy, 10 cents; pea nuts, 5 cents; merry-go-round tickets, 25 cents; side show, 20 cents; weiner i wurst sandwiches, 20 cents; lemonade, 10 cents; ice cream, 20 cents; shoot j ing gallery, 10 cents; tintypes—you've got 'em yet., you sitting and she stand | ing with her hand on your shoulder— -150 cents. Gee, but you thought you ! "blew yourself" that day, didn't you? j Los Angeles Express. "Ladies First." In this age of leveling up and level ing down, and of attempting to place women on the same plane as men in everything, chivalry is nearly a dead letter. Many wish it were altogether | so, regarding it as a bar to the full emancipation of women. There can jbe no traffic here with such wrong-headed and wmng heart | notions. In the healthy at mosphere of sport such notions wither | and fade like exotics in an alien soil, j "Ladies first!" is an abiding principle with all who are sportsmen.—Frye's Magazine. A Play on Words. Scott—They dramatize everything nowadays. I'll bet they'll soon be dramatizing the ad. columns. Mott—Well, why not; aren't the ad. columns just the place for striking , situations? Why He Felt Sad. "Young man," said the stern old broker, "I find that you slipped off ! yesterday afternoon and went to the ball game. Don't you feel bad about It?" "Indeed I do, boss," confessed I Tommy. "Ah! That's one consolation." "Yes, I felt bad 'cause the horn* team lost." SICK HEADACHE _ 7 _•»_"] Positively cured by CARTERS T'?"":™:; They also relieve Dis mmm ITTTI F tress from Dyspepsia, In digestion and Too Hearty Bjj I\f R Eating. A perfect rem- En nil | for Dizziness, Nan* r ILLSe sea, Drowsiness, Bad Taste in the Mouth, Coat : _>■ v -.' : ed Tongue, Tain in the 55555555 I side, TORPID LIVER. They regulate the Bowels. Purely Vegetable- SMALL PILL, SMALL DOSE. SMALL PRICE. PADTCDcI Genuine Must Bear uArlltno Fac-Simile Signature •ITTIE * TPILLS. REFUSE SUBSTITUTES. PARKER'S HAIR BALSAM ffi 'ihilTii JH and beautMlei the hair. DprSafcy ***■«■ I'roinotcß ft luxuriant growth. KSy?®* JS4 Never F*ilo to Boatoro Gray HKffMp Hair to its Youthful Color. Cures ocalp riiwaarg At hair lalling. Sf* ZV I or rnR . cuts, lacerated wounu.s, swoHcn or pain ful joints, scald head, Kilt rheum; hew, old or seroftilouh sores all cured l»y th» wonderful remedy, Hoyil's Ointment. Your druggist or 60c by mail. BOYD OIKTMIfiNT COMPANY, Klttannlng, l'a. ; Thompson's Eye Water A. N. K.—C (1908—34) 2244. 7
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