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."
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•ITTIE *
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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