thumb, and sometimes without the whole hand.

"So frequent are these accidents that in some mills applicants for employment have to sign a contract that in case of injury in the mill the company will not be held responsible, and parents or guardians sign for minors.

"No mill children look healthy. Any one that does by chance you are sure to find has but recently begun work. They are characterized by extreme pallor and an aged, worn expression infinitely pitiful and incongruous in a child's face. The dull eyes raised by the little ones inured to toil before they ever learned to play, shut out by this damnable system of child slavery from liberty and the pursuit of happiness, often to be robbed of life itself, are not those of a child, but of an imprisoned soul, and are filled, it seems to me, with speechless reproach. There is, unfortunately, no question as to the physical debasement of the mill child.

"The wages paid these children bear out what I have said in regard to child labor keeping wages low. Many toil for ten cents a day. I know of babies working for five or six cents a day. Two boys who walked three miles to their work received twelve and fifteen cents a night.

"These wages and the condition of helplessness they indicate can only be perpetuated among very ignorant operatives, dependent upon their work in the mills for the barest livelihood, incapable of organization and terrorized into silence. This explains the carelessness of the mill owners in regard to the most serious result of child labor-illiteracy.

"The mill owners blame 'the idle parent' for child labor and complain that they are helpless against the determination of these people to work their children. With the wages they are paid it is difficult for them to live without employing their children, but apart from this they are often practically obliged to by the management."

We are not inclined to believe that with the coming of the cotton industry in the south the environments under which these operatives live is the inev

itable result. No industry whose output is a staple product on the market can lay claim to any reason why it should demand human sacrifices in order to succeed. A few years ago automatic devices for the protection of life and limb to the army of men in train service was considered quite beyond the ability of railroads to meet, yet the human sacrifices made in carrying on the great interstate traffic proved unwarranted, as subsequent developments have shown. From a social point of view, the influences that surround child labor are far more disastrous than the accidents or fatalities that arise out of employing children. It has already been shown how disease finds its victims in the factories of the south. It may be readily conceived that associations amid various evils follow with a brood which is to be feared and abhorred. Child labor in the south cannot help but degrade its operatives and injure southern industry and citizenship, ultimately robbing the south of the full enjoyment of those virtues which bring to any community its richest blessings. And all this at the expense of declaring big dividends!

We are inclined to look at the employment of children as wholly within the province of mill owners to decide. Had they been unsuccessful in securing this class of labor is it to be presumed that they would have closed down their mills? Let us admit for sake of argument that in building these mills these men did so with a full appreciation of the advantages to be gained which come from cheap labor. Other things being equal, they would have probably built them in the same places they now stand, so we cannot assume that this was their primary object. We are inclined to look below the surface in this case, as in all others that drive a hard bargain with labor. The perpetuation of child labor in the south is not all contained in making big dividends; those who employ and retain a poor, ignorant and helpless class of people know as well as we to what extent it will influence wages throughout the country. A competitive influence which works for the undermining of higher standards of living,

wherever established, is a matter of universal concern, and that is why it is not interference for American citizens not of the south to have a concern about this matter, from the broad standpoint of national welfare. The thinking people of the south, the citizen who is farsighted enough to see what the opposition to child labor means in the end, is not the one who is opposing legislation tending toward its abolishment. It is the ignorant parent, whom the mill owners are trying to keep in ignorance, and thus perpetuate a condition of helplessness among their operatives.

We assume in the north that the white man is superior to the negro in intellect, judgment and morality, and as a general proposition we believe this will work out; but when such men as Senator Tillman says that "Throughout the south the illiterate negro sends his child to school, the illiterate white man sends his into the mill," we cannot help but believe there is something wrong somewhere. Naturally, we would define a proposition of this nature giving the negro the credit for being the wiser of the two; but whether possessed of higher order of reasoning or not, he is certainly pursuing a course which is bound to land him above the white man who persists in making mental dwarfs and physical wrecks of his children. The people of the south can lend no surer aid to the supereminency of the negro than they are now doing. However despised, his energies are bound to be rewarded if he gives to his children edu

cational advantages. Ex-Governor Tillman said before the South Carolina legislature that in that state there were 30,000 more negro children than white in the schools. It ought not to require a very vivid imagination to conceive what results must follow out of this difference in numbers, to say nothing of the influence which education is bound to wield in the affairs of statehood. Hays Robbins hits the nail on the head exactly when he says that "The real test point of permanent progress and prosperity, affecting the nation as well as the south, is not the size of profits in southern mills in the next five years, large as we hope they may be through all proper means, but it is the quality of southern citizenship in the next five generations. That citizenship is now in its development. Such action will be good economics, good morals, good humanity. For the south it is an inspiring opportunity."

If the people of the south will lay aside any prejudiced views they may have as regards the prestige to be gained through the accumulation of wealth and the advancement of its industries at the expense of keeping the illiterate class down, it will be the first step in good economics. A hearty co-operation in securing a compulsory educational law and prohibiting the employment of children up to fourteen years, in the mills, will do the rest, and with such laws in effect we may reasonably hopeto see every flattering prophesy of the south fulfilled.

The statements made before the committees to whom was referred the Safety Appliance bill brings out a wide diversity of opinion as to the number of air braked cars that should be operated in a train. It is generally conceded that a sufficient number of air-braked cars should be switched ahead and next to the engine to hold the train, but even on

this point all are not inclined to agree, for with the varying topography of the country, it has been found that the number required varies on different roads. It is just as true that the number required to hold any train will vary with conditions of the weather and the efficiency of the brake to do its duty under varying conditions of tonnage..

The number of accidents arising out of brakes failing to operate properly or as the enginemen intended they should operate have been reduced to a minimum as compared to the number which happened before men became accustomed to their operation. Still there are any number of failures that are not recorded in which the service expected by the engineman does not meet his expectations. It is true that if the same were investigated that such failures might result in tracing the responsibility to the man, or the mind if you please, in which it failed to take into consideration the weight of the train, its speed, the condition of the track and the grade, all of which are to be considered in overcoming the resistance of a moving train. For this reason such failures are very seldom made subject of investigation, and these happen as a general rule when only a limited number of air-braked cars are at the command of the engineman. We are taught as a golden rule in railroad service "in case of doubt or uncertainty take the safe course and run no risks." If we would extend this rule to apply to the safe handling of trains the safety of such trains could not be considered complete until every car in that train was under the control of the engineman. But this, like other rules, are often violated to suit the convenience of some situation. Chances are taken to expedite the movement of traffic and perhaps all goes well until the wheel of fortune stops on the symbol of death and then follows coroner's inquests, litigation and a literal enforcement of rules and regulations for awhile. We have in mind an example which illustrates this point. It was once the custom on a certain road to attach extra coaches to the rear end of its passenger trains which were destined to some point short of the terminus. To facilitate handling at the point of delivery the hose was not connected, and one day the wheel of fortune stopped on the symbol of the cross bones and in some manner the coach became detached with no person capable of taking charge of it. collision with

The result was a fearful loss of life and all the

garnishments that usually follow events of this nature.

It is claimed that the extra time consumed in switching air-braked cars ahead in yards or in switching out a car from behind a considerable number in any train while on the road has objectionable features which will not be tolerated if the companies can avoid it. The delay to trains at stations while doing work of this nature amounts in the aggregate to a considerable delay, which is lost money to the company both in overtime to the men and in loss of freight on account of slow delivery. It is also true that switching endangers the lading of the cars as well as the draft gear attachments, to say nothing of the inconvenience at certain times when the yards are full and it is desired to make room for outstanding freight, but who will say that after all this is not a safeguard against disaster on the line which without the precaution of placing all air-braked cars ahead might and is bound to result in disaster some time. The question is shall we observe the rule of eternal vigilance at all times or shall we merely adhere to the rule for a given length of time after each disaster?

There is no one who will deny that the use of every operative air braked car in a train obviates so far as is possible accident arising out of insufficient braking power, and if the statistics be examined it will be found that nearly every disaster is the result directly or indirectly of having an insufficient number of cars in working order. It is the unexpected that always happens, so it is that any specified number of cars which for ninety-nine times out of a hundred proves adequate to stop a train, will, on that hundredth chance, result in accident.

While so much is being said on the subject of rough handling of cars during the switching process in yards and in setting out cars which may be located far back in the train which are left at way stations, let us not lose sight of the fact that cars so situated receive far more rough handling than those placed in any other position, and it is a safe

proposition which has come to us through experience that more damage occurs to the lading from being so placed than all the handling that such cars receive in the yards. Every conductor who has had charge of trains with part of the equipment supplied with air brakes and a part without it, will bear testimony to the sometimes fearful concussions arising out of trains parting, sudden reductions through broken tripple valves which act similar to the emergency application and lack of proper judgment on the part of the engineman who does not properly allow the slack of the train to be "bunched" before making a stop. Frequent and sometimes fatal accidents arise out of any of these occurrences and constitute a constant source of fear to those on the rear end of a train so made up. With a train composed of all air braked cars all this danger is eliminated as well as the shocks, which are the chief source of damage to freight in the cars.

In early days, before air braked cars were known on freight trains, men did not have to guard against emergencies of this nature. It is danger which has come with the adoption of new appliances and is no more to be guarded against than a bolt of lightning, for both come without warning, swift and noiseless, until the bolt has struck, then we are in the midst of a thundering crash and it is all over. No one who has never experienced a terrific shock of this nature can fully comprehend what it means to have two bodies like a parted train come into contact and suddenly stop while moving at a high rate of speed.

It was shown by those who testified before the Commission, that owing to the weakness in construction of certain cars which were not air braked and those which were inoperative through some minor defect, that these were

All

placed at the rear part of trains to lessen the strain upon their draft timbers and thus make them safer to handle. this is true so far as the safety to certain parts of the equipment is concerned, and we agree that there is a vast difference in the strength of the draw rigging of the modern equipped car and the old patterns, but while they are so placed in the rear end it does not by any means lessen the safety of those who are required to handle these cars, for in nearly every instance where severe shocks are experienced out of trains parting, these cars are first to give way and pile themselves in a mass of wreckage. To the uninitiated, the use of these cars in interstate traffic seems like a foolish piece of business, but it is not our province to say what our managements shall do with them, except to ask that they be equipped with air brakes which will, as we have said before, eliminate every possibility for "piling up" when any accident occurs to the train line. With the improved facilities in air brake apparatus any number of cars may be successfully handled. The evidence of the Westinghouse representatives before the Commission was conclusive to this end, and the only objection that could be placed before the Commission lay in the fact that all cars had not been air braked, notwithstanding the fact that ample time had been allowed. We trust the Interstate Commission, to whom the matter has been referred, will see the wisdom of enforcing the measure bearing upon safety appliances which has been placed in their hands. It is not intended as an aggressive measure, by any means, nor one which has for its intent a hardship which men in train service wish to place upon the railroads. It is simply an appeal for protection against accident which cannot be foreseen nor avoided. Justice is all we ask.

Con

A labor organization and its work as such is fast becoming a business proposition. This is as it should be. tracting for labor or personal services is as much a business proposition as contracting for fuel or other supplies or commodities. A contract for furnishing labor should be held as inviolate as a contract can be held. True, it has no legal liability behind it; the individual cannot be forced to render unwilling personal service; but on part of a labor organization, contracting for the services of its members, there is a moral obligation to preserve the validity and observe the terms of the contract which should be as binding and effective as legal liability can ever be; aye, more

so.

There was a time when all that one who aspired to leadership in labor circles needed was a fluent tongue and a little natural ability as an orator. Then all kinds of theories could be exploited because the plausible orator could make them appear to be feasible. Experience is a good teacher and many have learned in her school. The labor leader of this age must have a faculty for accomplishing something. He must have some business ability and be able to make a business proposition of the work of his organization if he is to last or succeed.

There are still some who are ready to follow the lead of the would-be Napoleon and to listen to his seductive voice as he tells them how they are oppressed and how he can emancipate them at so much per emancipate. Such men secure followers in larger or smaller numbers for a time. These followers, however, soon begin to look for some of the promised reward, for the performance of some of the miracles or acts of legerdemain which were to be performed by the new dispensation and its apostle. When this time comes, the hypnotic leader casts about him for some opportunity to "make good" in some degree and generally makes a fatal blunder in his eagerness to make a showing,

The old organizations of railway employes, commonly termed "The Broth

erhoods," are living examples of the effectiveness of adopting a straight, outand-out business policy and following it in a straightforward and consistent way. Many of the unions in the industrial trådes have followed this line and in every instance such ones are found among the most effective, best organized, best equipped and most successful organizations. It is a cheering sign to note that each year more and more of the labor organizations are getting upon that basis, and that among those organizations which are ranging up on that line are to be found some of the younger organizations, who thus show a disposition to profit by the experience of others rather than to insist upon having that experience themselves.

One of the latest enterprises in the line of organizations gathered around a corps of self-constituted officers and leaders is the U. B. of R. E., which, while claiming much in general or in generalities, has never suggested a new idea. The old songs have been sung. The old orations have been orated. The old stock phrases about other people and other organizations having outlived their usefulness have been worked overtime, and now those who promised so much are casting about for some means of appearing to redeem some of the promises made. If the jobs of good, but misled men can be laid as a sacrifice on the altar and some breathing space be thus gained, they are perfectly willing to make the sacrifice; as witness their effort on the Canadian Northern, so neatly written up by Brother Cease, of the Railroad Trainmen's Journal.

Their last effort was to secure affiliation with the A. F. of L. Such affiliation would, of course, have given them a prestige not otherwise within their grasp. The executive council of the A. F. of L. is composed of business men, who represent organizations which are conducted upon business principles. The request for a charter from the A. F. of L. was denied. President Gompers is quoted in a San Francisco paper as having given out this statement of the