Chicago Daily Tribune Newspaper, March 2, 1879, Page 7

THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE: SUNDAY. MARCH 2, I879~SIXTEEN PAGE LABOR. poings of the Special Legislative Committee. yisit to a Number of Manufac- tories, Etc. fistening to the Complaints of the Representatives of Many Trades. The Evils of Convict Labor and of the Employment of Children. fiow to Remedy the Troubles Complained of—Schilling’s" Xdea. Some of the Committesmen Are Dubious About It INSPECTION. A TRIP AROUND TOWX. ) Yesterday morning at 9 o'clock “the Spect: Committee of the State Legislature appointed to inquireinto the condition and needs of tlje” Jahoring classes hustled themselves into three carriszes at the Palmer House and started upon {heir tour of iuvestigation. There are six members fo the Committee: Ebrhardr, of Chicsgos Truesdell, of Amboy; Taylor, of Chi- cago; McFie, of Randolph County; Savage, of YVirginis; and Foy, of Rock Island. Accom- nying the Committee were a number of rominent Socialists of this city, among whom were Morgan, Goldwater, Streator, Eb- msnn, snd List. They, with the representative of TaE TRIGUSE, filled the carriages. The So- cislists volonteered to peint out the objects of interest in the daily life of & wage-worker, and Tesded the procession for the establishment of “Norton Bros., tin-box and japanned-ware man- facturers, 4f and 46 River street. The Socialist guioes evidently expected that the ‘*‘bloated capitalists,” the *‘bosses,” would refuse to al- 1ow the Committee to go tbrough the establish- mebts destined to be visited. Tne proprietors of the several factorics visited not only cheer- folly sdmitted the visitors, but delegated men 10 show them around and tell all they koew. ¢ AT NORTON BROS., factory the legislators saw about 125 hands, sbout half of them Women, engaged in the mak- jog of alt kinds of tin boxes, large aud small, teaand coffea cans, plain and ornamental, ete. The employes were questioned as to how much they were able to earn, and one of the wowmen gaid that the females averaged abont $6 per week, The presence of a mood many small boys cansed the inquiries 25 to how long those boys had been to school. The youths said that they knew how to read and write, though some of them ackoowledged that they had enjoyed educational advantazes only three montbs in the courseot theirlives. The grirls were question- ed as to how much they knew and how much they could earn in 2 week. There were no com- plaints. The members of the Committee were ‘prudent enough to refrain from expressing any opinions upon what they saw and heard, but the Socialist_delezation took occasion to remark that the building was a fire-trap, and unsafe for oecupancy by 50 many persons. There was but one stairway. by which. jncress and egress was ‘possibic, and that stairway was narrow and the building three stories bigh. The advantages of machinery in _the work was asked about, with' the result that might -be expected—that the machinery facilitated the work and increasea Ihe usefulness of a man. The rules of theshop were read with a great deal of interest by the Socfalists, but even they could find no Tault with them. The next place visited was the tobscco fac- Jory of SPAULDING & MERRICE. The establishment was gone through from basement to attic, and 250 hands were seen. Most of them were women, ranging in age from 121020, judsing from zppearasces. They said they got 2 cents per pound for stripping leaf lobasco off - the stems. A girl 12 years old said whe earned 26 cents a day, or 31. When the house was runniog on full time of sen hours (it was now running eight hours rer day), she could earn correspondingly more. e oldest woman in the stripoing-room earned bout W eents per day sbe eaid. The nimble roanger women earned aboat twice as much. A woman's earnings depended upon her exer- tions. The usual questions about schooling were asked, and the youne girls, of whom there rere not many. said that they had been to ichool but & short time. The women said that sheir board cost them about 33 per week. The wersge earning of the woman was 38 or §7 per seek. The Committee looked into the matter M escave fu ase of fire, and appeared satisfied shat 21l conld escape either oy the stairs or out spon the roof and thence to adjoin- og boildings. The ventilation of the place ¥as not rood in the opinion of the Socialists, 1nd the very strong smell of tobacco maae some M themembers of the party retreat to the open ¥r. When thegentlemen took their departure ihe firm presented each one with a package -of smoking-tobacco s a reminiscence of the visit. THE BOOT AND SHOE FACTOBY of George L. Congdon, Nos. 195 and 197 Lake street, was next visited. There the usual inter- rogations were put und answered. The men omplajved that they could ot carn enough to sopport their families. Onc man and his son tarned together §15a week. The women en- zaged in machine-sewing earned from $4.50 1 $6 per week now. In brisker : times ther'earned sometimes as much as $15 per week, The proprictors complained that honest [abor conld not compete with convict labor. shoe which the convicts turned out for §1 the bonest Iaborer could not make for less than $L.75. 1t had been said that there were 1o fac- tories 1n Chicago. Such a statement had been mzdo_‘ £0 one of the Committee said, before the Legislature in the interest of M. Selz & Co., the tentraclors for the work of the Joliet convicts. i B. DEIMEL & BRO.'S Ipholstery establishment was next called upon, 8t No. 235 Lake street. There fifty hands were scen enraced in the very mice work of coveriug sofas, chairs, cte. The boys, the pprentices, made from $2 to §6 Eer week,— eccording to the length of time they had worked & the trage. The skilled worker was paid $15 per week. The faults which the Socialists - Dointed ont at Deimel Bros.” place werejthejbad vengilation and heating, the dust and the dan- Ber in casc of fire. They of course remarked that it was shameful that boys 12 years old were oblized to work for a living. The Committee then had its attention called 0 a buiiding at the corner of Jeflerson and West Lake streets. ‘There were, the Socialists sald, filty-two differcnt frms fn the building. That anpouncement was regurded as sufficient, and the Committee went Lo he Wilson Packing Company’s house only to find that- establishment closed for repairs. Thence the horses were turned toward the Stock- Yerds. On the way there the Socialists poiuted out the tencment houses along the route, ‘the Rembers of supposzdly educationlesa children (seeterday was Saturday), and commented theré- 0. At the Stock-Yards, Fowler’s packing-honse ¥asgone through and the bloody and Interesting oberations watched with much interest and dis f}l&v. combined. No attempt was made to ques- tion the employes as to their condition and mrings. When the Committee haq sccn koongh to eatisfy their curiosity abd deprive them of apoetite for bog In any form, the car- tlages were arain entercd, and in the midst of a - Yery general discussion of the Socialist ques- 93, the Palmer House was reached, the Com- m;:';:! ‘{l:ured for dinner, and the delegation TOE COMMITTEE’S SESSION. MR, MORGAN’S REMARKS. - The Committee’s session in Parlor O, at the almer House, opened at 3:30 o'clock, Mr. Erhardt calling the Committee to order, aud fccupying the chair. Several of the important trades were represented. . It was decided to hear these representatives ope at atime; and Mr. Morgan started ont by Yelcoming the Committee in bebalf of the ‘Yorkingmen of Chicago. He hailed their com- 95283 good omen, und intimated that, how- *¥er mtelligent they mizht be, they couldn’t Yoy well pe ¢ up ™ on this labor questiou, hav- DI given it no particular study. He then read tlong statement concerning the changes made 1O time to time in the mode of production. =, ‘t.sickle has been replaced by the modern O%Ing machine. Instead of dropping the Inin into the earth, a machine mow sccom- dlisned 4l that. Tie hoe had given place to e cultivator, which id the work of ‘twenty Zen.” Then there were the corn-shellers, the TEe-Takes, and other dispensers with humsn T. Machinery dug potatocs, milked cows, * pairs... -hand’ per year. made . butter and cheese, and, in short, there was nothing nowadays in ‘the department of food production withoutits labor-saving process. In the department of manafactures the changes on the old way of doing. things were quite as marked. “In the Frankfort Yarn -Mills, at Phllflde\pmn, 151 nersons, of both sexes und all ages, made '55,000 miles of varn per day, to do which fifty years ago would ~bave required 61,803 women with the old machines. The work now done in this mill by 151 persons was done five vears aro by 302. Inreaving cotton fabrics, a girl with an improved machine loom did the work of 100 women in former days. In the de- partment of woolen fabrics, machines had dis- placed 70 per cent of all hand labor.2 . 3 iu the department of building trades, one man could now do more in the matter of wood- work with the circular-saw than teo men with the old -hand-saw. ‘The result was the same with the molding-machine, and with the plan- ing-machine, one man could now do the work formerly doue b twenty. With mortising and teroning machinery, one man now did the work of ten, with a gig-saw that of eight, with a band-saw that of twelve, so that now ten men could- do the work that 100 could fifty vears ago. The department of boots and ghoes was next considered. Fifty vears ago the most that a shoemaker could ao was to make 200 pairs of boots and shoes a year, working fifteen hours a day. At that time ooly men worked. Thirty years ago mep, women, and .children were making shoes by machinery, working twelve hours a day, and the number of boots and shoes per hand per year bad increased from 200 to 455 Twenty years ago the number had in- creased to 579 pairs, thirteen years ago to 603 - pairs, and three years ago to 2,593 pairs ‘iwr And still- there appeared a California inventor with & machine that would | save 70 per cent in buttoning boots and shoes, h—tummg out from thirty to forty pairs per our. DY WAY OF ENFORCING THE LESSON to be drawn from these facts,—that machinery: had practically displaced manual labor,—Mr. Morgan quoted lberally from Fairbairn, Hux- ley, Gladstone, Aill, Tyndall, Louis Blanc, God~ win Moodsy, and the first and second [175] re- ports of the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics of Ohiv. = The statistics showed that the average wages of skilled labor in Ohio for 1878, ver week, were $10.06; unskilled, $7.32; bovs, $3.23; and girls, $3.54. The earn- ings per worker ner year were $318.50, and the average yearly earnings, divided by the number of living days in the year, 305, gave 87 cents per day to cacb worker. .3Ir. Morgan also qémted from the report for 1875 of the Illinois State Board of Charities, showing the cxpenditures per capita in the varigus State charitable irstitutions. The cx- penditure in the Asylum for Feeble-Minded Children was_$6.50 per week, or $842.12 per year; in the Elgin Insane Asylum, $4.50 per week, or $238 per year; in_the Central Tnsane Asvium, $5 per week, or $266 per year; in the Southern Inssne_Asylum, 81 per week: or $205 ver year; in the Soldiers’ Orphans’ Home, §3.25 per week, or $1065 per year. There fizures, moreover, were for board only, and included nothing tor expenses for grounds, buildings, furniture, live-stock, Implements, ete. From the report of the Massachusetts Bureau of Labor Statistics for 1878, Mlr. Morgan quoted the following statistics: In 1875 the females in the cotton trade by 238 davs’ labur earned per year §199, while the males by 252 days! 1abor earned §443. In 1877 wages had decreased 9 per cent, and the working time had increased five days, the average working hours being ten ond one-half per day. The average earnings of females in that year were $183, of males $412, znd of both, $273. The average yearly earnings divided by the number of Ifving days gave 75 cents a aay to each worker. In conclusion, Mr. Morgan boped the Com- mittee would give the subject the consideration which its importance demanded, aud that they would urge upon the Legislature the necessity of prompt action in this matter before it was too late. Should theyso act, there would be no need of an increase in the army or the militia: but should they refuse to properly consider this question and allow the present condition of affairs to develop, and endeavor only to sup- press the manifestatious of discontent, then the inevitable revolution would soon come though the capitalistic class placed an armed hireling-at every worker’s side. G 3(R. TRUESDELL asked Mr. Morgan what body he represented. Mr. Morgan said be represented the Trade and Labor Council at present, but when it came to the matter of applying s remedy for all these things he shonld act as amember of the Social- istic Labor partr. Mr. Truesdell asked if he based his hopes on the action of the Legislature? Mr. Morgan said it was possible, thongh bard- 1y probabie, that the reform conld be accom- plished peaceably. There were bills in the Legislature expressing their desires, 2nd, as the Legislature acted, the hopes of the workers would be raised or lowered. There was a State law for the reduction of the hours of labor, but it was so worded as to mean nothing. -« Mr. Troesdell asked what benelits would arise from the adoption of an cizht-hour Jaw. Mr. Morean explained that it would lessen produetion, of which there was now too muen. If the hours were reduced, more men would have to be employed to supply the wants of so- clety. a MMr. Tavlor asked why it was, if the eight-hour law would salve all this, the workingmen didn’s come together and usge its passaze. Mr. Morgan said that wages were soloy. that it was diflicult to obtain even the necessaries of life, and they accordingiy forced their wives and children to work to cet a bare_subsistence. He was sorry to say that the majority of laboring- men tbought of nnlhin%b\_n self, but necessity compelled them to it. United. action was not, therelore, practicable. The Chairman asked Mr. Morgan what he thought of THE CHINESE QUESTION, and Mr. Morgan, speaking as an individual, sald he belicved the Chinese should have the same right to come here as any other pationality, but titat their habits of living should not act to the detriment of the white workers. Mr. Barry wanted to know if it wonld be con- stitutiona! to pass a law bringing a white man down to living on six cents’ worth of rice a day. Mr. Morzan safd he didn’t prapose to bring a white man down tothe level of a Chinaman, but to do the leveling in the opposite wn;. Mr. Truesdell suggested thut Mr. Morgan write out the reforms he wanted enacted, end Mr. Morean said _they were expressed fn the resolutions introduced into the House, and which were published a week ago. He proceeded to read some of them, and got down to the con- viet labor eystem, when Mr. Truesdell asked him some further questions, and Mr. Morgan stated his objections to the system, admitting freely, however, that be was not” In favor o keeping convicts jdlci(uo more than was any other laborer that he kocw of. At the request of Mr. Truesdell, Mr. Morgan procecded to read ¢ the demands,” commenting on them as he went along. Mr. Truesdell asked how he would regulate inspection of houses owned by the occupants, und Mr. Morgan said they ought to be bought up and wiped coff the faceof the earth when they were _as 8lthy o5 some that the Committee bad visited in the morning. He was obliged to spend a large portion of his wages to keep hig children away {rom such surroundings and to prevent them frorn becoming erimioals before the agre of maturity. Mr. Taylor asked Mr. Morgsa if people wouldn’t be apt to call him high-toned for en- tertaining such notions. 2 Mr. Morgan said he thought his dress, his , and his Biabits would prevent anybody's iny such an assertion against him: Continuing, Mr. Morzan said tbat all these demands could be grauted by the city, If it only would, and that, if it didn’t, be.thought the Legisiature ought to see to it th: éfli: did. Mr. Truesdell wasn't d with the soundness of Mr. Morgan’s, position with re- gard to the proposed condemnation by jury proceedings of TOTUSES TNFIT FOR OCCUPANCY, and intimated that unless the condemnation was {?r u;e public bencfit it would be unconstitu- ional. Mr. Morman said it had ‘been donme in En- gland under the Dwelling laws. Mr. Troesdell asked if such a law wonldnt be desnotic and tyrannical. Mr. Morgan didn’t think so. The State pro- vided for the comfort of its convicts, amd yet ueglected to provide for even the health of its honest citizens. Mr. Foy asked if such a law, depriving peonle of their homes, would not increase the number of tramps. Mr. Morgan held that it would not. “The deg- radation of labor had caused ‘the vast army of tramps, but this proposed reform meant the clevation of labor, Lester homes, and better sur- roundings. Ar. McFie come back to the question of wages, overproduction, ete., and Mr. Morzan said 1t wasn’t overproduction that was respon- sible for the bard times. - The trouble was that there was no saflicient demand for articles pro- duced, and, while the poor wished to buy, they hadn’t the money to do it. The next tovic on the list, which Mr. Morgan continued to read, was tne PROPOSED AEOLITION OF CHILD-LABOR. Mr. Foy askea if such a law wouldn’t work injustice. . Mr. Morgan admitted that it wonld in gpecial cases, but_they must look at the princiole fn- voived. Was it pecessary or reasonable that the children of indolent aquits should be put to work almost before they were able to walk? He himself had' passed through just such a | youthful experfence, and was mentally and physically stunted by incarceration in that mod- | ern jail—a factory. Mr. Truesdelt remarked that, if Mr. Morgan 'wae a specimen of factory production, he thonght the argument Wwas against him. [Laughter.) Mr. McFie doubted whether the State could nterfere fo this matter unless that fnterference was in the [nterest of children’s health. Mr. Morgau thought iv was the State's duty to interfere, both on account of the children as well as the masses of laboring men, justas it yinterferred with the criminal cfasses to protect the general public. The discontent of the la- Loring classes was cvidenced in 1877 It still existed, and was likely to break out at a mo- m)‘_:xx.’s notice,—whenever the match was ap- plied. Mr. Truesdell asked him if he rested his claims on justice, or whother he relied on threats. . Mr. Morgan said he rested his claims on the justice of the measares demanded, but hie deem- ed it his duty to point out the dangers of pro- crastivation. Mr. Truesdell asked if a refusal of the Legis- lature to pass these measures would probably be followed in the near future by an . UPRISING OF THE LABORING CLASSES. Mr. Mar%an replied that there was nothing to {fear from the organized socleties here, because there was sufficient intelligence in them toknow that by throwing the whole thing into aparchy the proper reform measures could not be ef- fected. But there was discontent on the part of those who were not. intelligent, and who did not understand the necessity of these menasures, but who would, when the proper time came, beready to do what had been done in the past. In this connection he unoticed a reccnt slander to the effecs that he had one to Braidwood to organ- ize n military company, nnd stated that he de- longed to no such organization, and had never - seen Braidwood. There was an armed organization here, but it wasn’t a part of the worki en’s organization., He con- sidered a Mflitia an ingult to him and every other workiugman, for what was the militia for but to stand over them and suppress_discontent by armed force? Instead of such a Militia law, what was nceded was the passage of laws to remedy the existing eyils, which would do more good than all the militia in the world. Mr. McFie ssked Mr. Morgan if be considered the ballot-box the only tribunal. Alr. Morpan said he did not, any more than Mr. McFie’s ancestors did in the time of King George. Mr. Truesdellasked if be proposed to compare the situation now with that. in 17767 Mr, Morgan said the conditions were different. The forefathers fought for a share in the dis- tribution of taxes, but with the workingmen now It was a quostion of life and death, sud when the slternative was *fizht or die he be- licved in fighting. ; Mr. Taylor asked several questions in rela- tion to COMPULSORY EDUCATION, and Mr. Morgen expressed bimself in favor of that reform. He met the question very clev- erly, holding that the fact that strikes oceurred and that riots had happened was due to the lack of education. With strikes the Lubor party had no sympathy, belicving them barbarous, but there were trades who still believed in them, and were likely to bring on more of them. Some little 1un was created when Mr. Mor- gan replied, in answer to a question of Mr. Truesdell, that the only striking done here in 1877 was by the policemen—and they struck hard, too. ‘The next topic was the proposed creation of & BUREAU OF STATISTICS, and Mr. Morgan wanted the Commissioner ap- pofiited by the Governor, and then give his en- tire time To the subject. Mr. Barey remarked that such scheme on tuot. % “For God’s sake,” replied Morgan, “don’t let McGilyra touch ansthing. I especiaily repu- diate McGilvray and all his works. [Laughter.] There are bogus labor reformers a8 well as bo- gus preachiera. © [Renewed ;:rlnsi] - ‘The proposed law making employers responsi- ble for accidents occasioned from their careless- ness was next discussed. Mr. Truesdell said that that matter was pro- vided for already in many cases according to the priuciples of common larw. Mr. Morgan admitted that to be a fact, but fo McGilvray bad some | practice it "was found that accidentg oiten oc- curred through the carelessness of émployers, and yet nobody ever hoard of the employer ever doing anything for them. ¥ Mr. Streeter zave an fostance where o man in the old St. Louis Demacrat was iujured throush the carelessness of his employers,—the oreseut vproprietors of the @.-D.,—uand had to be taken 1o his home in a hack. When be recovered, and returned to the office, bis employers charged him-for the hack ride._ e e % Mr. Morean called upon Mr. 8. Goldwater to speak of the ‘‘truck” system under which cloar-makers had to work, “Mr. Goldwater did so, exclaining how certain “bosses,” whose names be promised togive to the Committee, aid their emoloyes in_cizars, which - the Iatter gfld to peddle around town and sell for what they could. Asa rule they got very litle, be- came desperate, resorted to drink, cowmmitted erime themsclves, and their poyerty often drove their wives, sisters, and dauchters to lives of hame. ~ There were -about 800 clear-makers ere, and his statements could be easily corrob- orated. The evils of such a practice must be appareat, ke thouzht, and muss appeal to the Committee’s feelings of humanity to right them. In this connection the prison-labor system was also wone into, and Mr. Goldwater com- plained of the burdens which it threw on certain trades. Several sugeestions were made as to a possible remedy for this allered evil, none of them very novel, until one fellow in the rear of the room; with a blue-flannel shirt and no col- lar, sung out, *Don’t make thim cooviets all shoemakers, Make some of them lawgers and preachers.” |Lauchrer. Tt whs alrcady nearly half-past 8 o'clock, and, after a little more talk of a very geocral and unnltlh;'sy character, the Committee adjourned antil 8. IN THE EVENING. THE PRINTERS, On renssembling arter supper, Mr. Streeter was seleeted to present the case of the printers, He stated that the wages paid that class of workers were 60 per cent less than they were three years ago, while large numbers couldn’t et work even at that, Mr. A. B, Adair followed on the same subject, giving the Committee some general information which they had not previously possessed. He did not think the Legislatnroe ouzht to busy itself in passing laws to legistate printers oat of work, and had something to say about the employers picking up apprentices, and educating and keep- ing them to the prejudice of the journeyman. As to Asst.-Supt. Dixon’s statemeat, that the militia was absolutely needed to keep down the armed organizations here, he kuew it to be false, a8 did Mr. Dixon himsel( when he made if, and he would even go further, and state that he believed Dixon was for a larze appropriation for the police force, and at the same time mak- ing, or trying to make, a ittle political capital to elevate him to the position of Chief of Police under the incoming administration. As to the reduction of wages to printers, Mr. Adair thonght iv due to the hard times, which had their effect upon the commercial and other classes and, in turn, upon the proorictors of the newspapers themselves. AIr. Streeter arose to contradict the last state- ment, and seiled into the newspapers'indiserim- inately, charging the allezed falling-off in cire lation, and, as a consequence, the reduction’ in wages, to the slleged misrepresentations by those papers of the Worklu§ classes. [Mr. Streeter *‘sticks type,” it is understood, on the News.] He bad something to say also about police attacks on peaceable meetinizs of work- ingmen, with varticalar reference to the West Tweltth Street Turner-Hall meeting in the sum- mer of 1877, s did aiso Mr. Stahl, who was See- retary of that meeting, and who was enabled to give more facts in regard to it, Mr. Truesdell remarked that the workingmen oucht to have goue to the Grand Jury with their complaints. Mr. Stahl, Mr. Morgan, and Mr. Streeter ex- Pplained that this was considered impracticable. The identity of -the policemen was something difficult to get at, the apparent object of the city being to change the men around so as to prevent their subsequent identification. Ac- cording to Mr. Morgan, the attempt 1o take the thing before the Grand Jury wouldn't have done any food, as no_onc but peity offenders were ever indicted and punished. Mr. Ehmann, an intellizent young man be- longing to THE SILVER GILDERS’ USION, spoke of the ill-veutilated rooms in which the members of his craft were compelled to labor, and of the child-larbor in the business. Children of 10 years of age were employed—children so small that the em- ployers bad to use raised benches for their ac- commodation st the tables, where, instead of looking down at their work, they looked up. The tainted air of the shops gave the men a craving for drink, and it was “imoracticable to open the windows and letin the air because that would ‘blow the silyer all over the shop. The silver-gilders were also opposed to the system of convict labor, not because it affects their own trade "in this éu;e, but the trades generally. Wages were commonly §$1.50 a day, or 37 uvreef—:, for men,but the cinployment of the boys cat them out of work four monibsin thevear. These boys were started at 50 cents 2 week, and in time 20t $1.50. While learning the trade, they had to bring money from home to pay for all the moldings they spoiled. AMr. Gilmore, of Lodge 39, ENIGOTS OF ST. CRISPIY, as the pest gentlemen Who was invited to. epeak. He referred to the Zencral evils of the conviet system Jn the bout and shoe business, and the reductton of wages to the workingman which it _entailed. Work coula be donc so much mofe cheaply in the Penitentiary, und ita cxtent was so great, that the employers were compelled to cut down the Men’s wascs, They had been forced to resort to strikes, but the re- sults were generally not desirable. ‘fhe trado was emphatically in favor of abolishing the con- vict system. ] Mr. C. J. Safford, another shoemaker, said Chicazo was the market for five Penitentiarjes, and, in view of the competjtion between free and conviet Iabor, it Was not surprising that wages were cat down. Add to thls, 2 machine koown as the pricking-machine had just beeo fufroduced oo Which boys were set to work. These boys In time “would of course take the place of the men. Mr, Safford understood that C. M. Honderson had applied for acontract in the Columbus (O.) Peniten- tlary, and, on being waited upon by a commit- tee of strikers, said ihat il the wages he offered weren't enoush, they could 2o down and work for M. Selz & Co. [Laughter.] 'The manufac. tarers not only threatencd the shoemalcers with the convict system, but aleo with new wa- chinery, neither of which would strike. An at- tempt was made to introduce Chinese labor last summer, but it was given up. Whether it wns because the militia oflicers refused to protect manufacturers who employed Coolie labor he aid aot know. =% Mr. Schilling asked if this: Henderson was the same Hendereon that gavo $10,000 to the Moody ‘Iaberoacle and then cut down. the wazes of his men the next day. [Laughter.] Mr. Safford said he was, but the amount was 81,000, nnd not $10,000. 'The very next day af- ter making the donation he cut his workmen down 10 er cent. . Mr, Secry, a horse-collar maker, also had something to say about ihe . obnoxions convict- labor guestion. i Mr. Schilling said 3 THE COOPERS, felt the cffeqts of this $stem of prison-labor uite os much as any other trade. The Peniten- tiary contractor, Mr. Winterbotham, always had plenty of barrels on havd with which he could supply the Chicaggo market n case of a strike here. ” The Stuudard Oil Company, of Cleve- land, was_also similarly prepared to head off strikers. But it wasn’t the quantity of work produced by the convicts which caused the trouble so much as it was the manner in which the work was thrown upon the market, namely, under the competitive system. The reduced rates paid by these orison contractars estab- lished o standard of prices. The cutting of prices eutered into the question, wages were lowered here to conform with Penitentiary rates, und thesc lowered wages became the standard wages throushout the whoie North- west. The thivg to be .done was to dis- pose of the Penitentiary product without' allowing it to come into competition with honest labor. Some modified form of this prison system should be introduced. Crime was, as he believed, a soclal digeasc, and unlcss the legislators also became Souialists he didn’s see how they could cure it. [Laughter]. Mr. McFie—1Would you consider a man who committed amurder afiicted with social disease? [Luuemer.{ £ Mr. Schitling said he would. A convict could Dot injure society when fucarcerated, and ought not tu be made to work more than three or four hours o day. To work him lopger than that was to inerense the product and bring him in compe- tition with honest labor.. The workingmen would prefer to foot the bill for keeping bim in idleness part of the time rather than to bayve bis work brought into competition with theirs; aud if the -workingmen were generous enough to foot the bill, surely the legisiators 'could not refuse to grant them this relief. As to applying the rem- edy—abolishing the system altosecher—he did not think public sentiment in [iinois hud as yet been sufliclently educated to accomplish that. Mr. H. A. Stahl, of ; THE UPHOLSTERERS' UNION, stated the the Penitentiary.did not interfere, as yet, direetly with his tradc, but the employment of boys at the lowest possible wages, tiie bad ventilation snd bad light of the shops, were matters of general complaint. The reduction of the hours of Inbor would Leln the trade to some extent, bus the princival,. reform to be accom- plished lay in the abolition of children’s labor. AMessra, Dile, of the Furniture-Makers' Union, Gramo, -of the .Wood-Garyers' . Union, aud Beyser, of the Teilors'’ Udion, made generally similar statements regarding their respective trades. 2 r. Sibley delivered a long-winded argument, —an claborate reproduction of the sawme old specch, roiled off his tongue, times without number, at No. 7 Clark® street and at other places too numerous to mention,—stowing the fundamental causes of the labor depression. When he got throngh he was asked severai questions by the Chairman of thej Committee. Bpeaking of the LEAR AND WEHR VERELN, he safd he supposed the object of that organiza- tion was fustruction ond’ amusement. He did ppt kuow the size of this orgauization—had read statements on that point in the news- papers, but wouldn’t for a ifoment think of be- lieving them. [Lauchter.] Mr. Streeter intertupted the speaker to re- marl that Toe TRIBUNE 2ad put the number at 300 (which was about the proper fizure) and the Zimes at 10,000, [Renewed langher.] In answer to further questions, Mr. Sibley de- nied that the Socialists meant to rob, burn, and pillage, as its slanderers atleged, or that they wanted to bring about a division of property. Mr. McFie asked Mr. Sibley what be consid- cred the cause of Lhe Dresent iow prices. or. Sibley said he attributed the low prices to competition. Mr. Schilling suggested that the invention of machinery also contributed to this result, aud Mr. Sibley agreed with him. Mr. Bizchof gave an instance, occurring within the past week, of the illegal arrest of a young workingman as a vagrant, and his jllegal deten- tion Ia jail | for three or four days, uotil a Chicago Justicc and a lot_ of heartless, blundering officers saw fit tosend for is employers, whose testimony as to his good character at last procured his liberation. 1t was onee that poverty was no crime, but all that was changed. Mr. Hirt gave his impressions ot Bocialism, considering it in all its various phases and argu- ing in behalf of its tenets. MR, SCHTLLING came next, by general invitation, and, referrin to the bad name given the Soclalists, remarke that the Spencers of Chicazo were doing more to-day to destroy socicty than the Schillings, the McAuliffes, and the Parsons. [Laugbter.] He a)so referred to competition, to the increas- ing invention of machinery, and showed their results as aifecting the condition of the work- ingmen, whom -they reduced to the level of starvation. A revolution must come, peace- fully if possible, but come it must. It was useless to attemot & remedy until the causes were properly understood, and if the Legislature of Illinois desired to do any good in tms matter it was absolutely neceseary that it should et to the bottom causes. Mr. McFie asked Mr. Schilling if his reform did not coptemplate the destruction of all titles to real aud personal property. Mr. ling said it aid. Mr. McFie then wanted to know how it conld be done. My. Schilling answered the question by asking another: ow was the title to the negro slaves expunged? 2 Mr. McFie said it\wes a question whether there was any title in the slaves to be expunged. Mr. Schilling contended that the workingmen were no more thau slaves now., Mr, Morgan remsrked.that Mr, McFie’s ques- tion hadn’t heen apswered, and undertook to answer it himself by trying to explain that he would have the Siate buy up .these titles as Eungland bad managed the tclegraph system. In brief, his scheme was to merge the compantes into the people. Mr. McRie listencd intently, but entire satis- faction didu’t appear to perch on his gold-bowed spectacles, and he alterwards said he'd like to study up the matter a little further before he -:iwe his adherence to any of these new-fangled cas. Happily, Grottkau had his ideas on paper, and they went to the Committec in that form. Several geotlemen undertook to tell the Com- mittee that, after what they bad heard, they ought to be convinced that the workingmen’s condition was pitesus and his demands were only right and just, and_that the Committee ought to so report to the Legislature. Mr. Stahl modestly said he hoped—for he Kkoows better than to sttempt to fostruct a Com- mittee—that they would.sce the justice of the rincipal reform measures advocated,—the re- Su:flon of the hours of labor, the entire aboll- tion of the prison contréct and “truck?” sys- tems, the ereation of o Burean of Statistics, the prohibition of children’s }abor, and the adoption of compulsory education,—and report in favor of them. At11:30 o’clock the Committee, though there were several of the Socialists who would have been glad to talk until way into the morning had they been given half a chance, considerately adjourned over Sunday, the intention being to leave for Braidwood to-morrow morning, and in- quire into the conditivn of labor at the coal mines. " California. Now the politicians had been pushed 1o oue side, and thepeople themselves liquor to chil 1 T o hoari themaclves hud taked | e Bablie, hordhy 1o sch & Seanition th i ba sons sidered with regard to the character df the affront which shall be put npon nim oy any cffort to pre- * vent bim from carrying ont a practice so dangerons and 60 nefarions. THE COOLIES. The\ Chicago Workingmen® De= mand Their Departure. Large Meoting at Maskell Hall--- Speeches and Resolutions. movement end parposes - of the League, precisely #hat in the past they have been secking to accom- plish, and, to a certatn Poses are in the foture. As the Execntive Committee of that League, we desire to set before the public the facts with refer- extent, whst theirpur- ence to. the ordinance recently vetoed by the Mayor, aothorizinz the ap) ‘policemen in the interests orpum Leagne. Before the ordinance which wa3 passed in the Common Coancll had been presented to that bod the Leazue called upon his Honor .\!n\%r Te: ath, and represenred 2 A large and thoroughiy-representative body | necessiuy of anch an smiincelroniel e e of workingmen met last evening at Maskell | why, in the enforcement of the statute, —for the Hall for the purpose of taking action in regard | Shferccment of which mainly the Leagut was or- to the Anti-Coolie bill now awaiting the signa- ture of President Hayes. All varties and creeds were represented, and the meeting was very en- thusigstic and unanimous throughont. On mo- tion, Judge Telch was chosen Chairman and Mr. Thomas Randall Secretary. THE CHAIRMAN stated the object of the meeting Ina speezh, In which he declarcd that the troubles which had overiaken the industries of the country arose 1Irom the attempt which had been continuously made to overtax and oppress labor. The Chi- nese question was an outgrowth of this system of oppression. White men could not work and sustain themselves and families on the prices paid to Chinamen. The American soll would not bear a serf; but the introduction of Coolie puTDoses at the expense of the city. gested to the Mayor that the city could be relieved of this additional cxpense by the paying for the services of special policemen. and that such speciul with daoe work in which £anized, —the creation of special policemen seemed. necessary and _proper. Up to that time it is but due to his Hoor the Mayorto_say that he had been In full sympathy with the Leagne, its purpotes and its movements, and it is bat justice to tae police force to say that o{ ;hcm the League had found no reason to com- - plain. i} 1IN A FULL AND FREE CONVERSATION WITH THE MAYOR, he said what was obvious to almost any one, that the regularly organized police force was as 'sm: as the safety of the city could justify, and that the a1l fnenclal condition of the city bad. rendered, 1t fn- expedient to employ any additional police for any It beiag sug- League {tself licemen shonld be selected to their fitness for:the they were to be em- wloyed, the Mayor expressed his full acquiescence rega Iabor meant slavery for American gitizens. The | in the proposition, and an ordinance was prepared speaker deplored the lack of statesmanship in the politicians of the present day, and declared-| that they all represented some ring or corpora- tion,—anything, in short, but the people. If such a line of demarcation was to be drawn, t.rnuhlg must inevitably follow. DR. DUFF said that this meeting was fn no sense a political meeting, but had been called simply to consider the Coolie question and the bill passed for the restriction of Chinese immigration. it had been said that the backbone of Mr. Hayes required some stiffening, and they were there to give ex- presefon to the views of the workingmen of Chicago on this important question. He then offered the foflowing series of resolutfons: and the snbstance of it snbmitted to the Mayor, and it received hisindorsement. - At tho sg2gestion of the Mayor the propriety of euch anordinsnce wassnomitted tothe Law Depart-- ment, and, by the Law Department was this ordi- mance prepared. ‘The ‘fact that the Humane Soclety employed special policemen for the fartherance of the inter- ests of that Society. and that special policemen were also appointed in the interosts of the Health Oflicers, was discussed by and with the Mayor. and it was agreed npon all hands that it was quite as fit and proper be appointed interests of the voys and girls in this clty, as for the Intercst of the brute _creatfon, or for wnlcnlug the character and quality of meats which were sol o and purchased by onr citizens. shoutd policemen the that special protection of for the Withont desizning -to reflect upon his Homor Mayor Heath, it'{s DUE TO TOE TRUTH OF HISTORY Resolved, That this mesting of citizens of Chi- | to state tnat none of the objections embodied In his cago fally express themsclves in sympathy ‘with the people of California in their endeavor to rid themsclves of the incubns of Chinese Coolie im- portation, and promise tv aid them by every means in their power to accomplish the object so much to he desired for the prosperity of the Paclfic Const and the happiness of its people. Itesalved, That we consider the bill passed by Congress to restrict Coolie tmmigration right and just, and such as meets “with the approval of the Deople, and regret that the President of the United States in the exercise of his high prerogative nas thought proper to veto the same. Kesolved, "I'nat we now look to_Congresa for a two-thirds vote to overside the President’s veto and pass the bill into a law. Hesolved, That we extend the thanks of this mecting to the Senate of Iilinois for passing a res- olution requesting the President to sign the Anti- regord to this ‘ordinance upon its merite, bave already stated, the Humane Society have £pecial policemen acting in their interests for the vrotection of dumb brates, ond over all those pet- 8ons whose ideas of liberty carry them to the ex- tent that they deem it their privilege to beat and braise their 0wn property as much os they see fit, and to the exient which they deem proper, these soectal policemen esercise 8 very decided system of surseo; messags vetoing the ordinance were ever sugzested or hinted by bim in the various conferences which our Commiltee had with tae Mayor, and_tbat up to the very time of the passage of the ordinan expresscd himself to that Committee s in fall and complete sympathy and accora with it. i be A few words, perhaps, will not be improper with As we nce. Up to this time it has never been considered that the appointment of these special policemen was a. Coollie bill, and to Senator Artiey, of Chicago, for | redection upon the general manage- introducing ana advocating the same. ment of the owners of horses, or of 1o At this point, the Chalr called up Seustor Art- G DoL e, baye. not, o8 yen beard 5 ¥ 3 . nave pen- ey, who took a seat on the platform smid much erally complained that finy of thelr rights have apolause. The resolutions were then adopted without a dissenting voice. MR. WILLIAM HALLEY, a former resident of the Pacific coast, was intro- auced, and was receiyed with much cheering. He said that the flooding of the United States by this luter form of slavery meant the extinc- tion of freedom on American sofl. It had cost thousands of millions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of lives to sweep the curse of negro slavery from the land; but_mow it is threatened with a worse Invasion. The original Coustitntion of the State of California adopted by the people before they could hear from Washington probibited slavery or in- |1 voluntary servitude in the State forever. That was the keystone of the Constitution of the State, and was designed to protect labor acainst the importation of netro labor from the South. | At that time the Chinese were not thought of. 11 the United States 95 a nation was to be per- petuated in the future it must be by dignifying labor, end not by flooding the land "with a new system of slava-labor, incomparably worse than negro slavery. B Mr. Halley quoted J. Ross Broywne and the Jate EBayard ‘Taylor to prove that the Burlingame Treaty was a gignntic humbug, and had benefited no one_ except a few capitalists, while it had operated most unfavorably for the laboring classes. So far back a5 185{ the Chinecse ques- tion hdd agitated the minds of the people of hold- of the question, determined to scttle it once for all. The speaker referred to.the re- ort of the Committee of the Senate of Cali- ornin appointed three years ago to inquire into the Coolic question, und said that tue report was convineing beyond all cavil of the evil re- sults which Chinese importation had wrought on the Pacific Const. The people of California set up a claim for sympathy and help, and, unless - supported by the East, the West, ‘and -the South, they must continue to groan under ‘the wrongs of Coolie labor, They bad rcjected both the great political par- tics, and had chosén & common draymau for their leader and mouthpiece, and if Deonis Kearney was the leaderof California to-day the people of the East, who had refused to listen to the just complsints of the Californians, were only to blame for it. ‘The States of the Pacific slope would decide who should be the next President of the United States, und if Mr. Hayes ‘would not listen to the ery, * The Chinese must 20,” he must at Jesst pay atteation to the de- mand that no more Chinese should come. [Loud applause.} ‘The speaker referred to Mr. Blaine’s letter, and showed that the Chinese knew no law but the ' will of the. Six Com- panies, and were entirclv antagonistic to Amcrican ipstitotions. To flood Califorpia with Chinese would drag down the whites of that State and reduce them to the levelof the |1 ‘*poor whites” of the Sonth before the War., Asiatic customs and morals, or rather want of morals, were being introduced into California. Thousands of white American citizens, men with wives and children depending upon them, thronged the labor offices of San Francisco in i search of any work, however poor or poorly- paid, that would furnish them bread. 7The “hoodlum of the California cities was an un- hanpy fact, but hoodlumism had been forced upon the younger men by the ruinous competi- tion of heathen labor. The Chinaman was not bonest in any respect, he had no will of his own, was simply & serf by palure and tems of centuries of teachine. & The speaker declared that the comparisons drawn between negro and Coolie labor did not fit; the neero was brought here against his will, and had a right to stay, but the Chinaman had never been invited, and was pot wanted. The men who were so fond of the Chinese might as well fondle the fever and, take the plague to their bosoms. Already there i8 on the Pucific Coast a Chinese laborer for every white man who has a vote. Such being the case now, what, might be expected fn twenty or a hundred know how it was bersclf, and would join fn the | ery, *“The Chinese must £o.” The Pacific Mail | 1 Steamship Company, the Central Pacific Railrosd (the worst gang of robbers that ever existed), were straining every nerve to defeat the anti- Chinese bill. ~The railroad company, which had robbed the workin_zznen of Amcrica of $400,000,- 000, employed the Chinese to build their roads, and they did not want them expelled or pre- vented from coming. Every European {mmi- erant who came to this country was worth from $1,000 to $1,500 to the country,~the Chinaman was worth nothing. "The speaker disclaimed any idea of the employment of physical force for the settlement of this question, and held that the true remedy lay in the ballot, an_fosti- tution which they had not got in China. Work- ingmen must unite, cast aside all considerations ; of nationality and creed, drop all petty jeal ousfes, and march in solid pbalaox to the polis 10 cast thelr votes in the interest of 1sbor. SENATOR ARTLEY gaid this, althongh a comparatively new question for Chicago men to consider, was one of the most important matters ever brought before them. It was a question of vital interest to the working classes. For himself, be felt proud to think that be had been able to bring it before the Senate of the State of Illinois, and was glad that the resolutions bad been adopted. He had accurs to us, Mauyor imagines will be put ugon the liquor-dealers and the ealoon-kzepers in_the City of Chicago by the appointment of a special polic: force whose only daty 1t shall be to see that the Jaw against the sale of liquors to minors shall not be violated by them. L Without desiring 10 enter1ntoany extendedaren- | ment upon this point, we respectfully eabmit that the appointment of suc: & force, whose fole daty it shall be to see that liqmor i3 not sold to the ‘boys and girls of the City of Chicago, can be no atfront to the saloon-kecper who does not intend to sell liquor to minors; and any ealoon-keeper who docs intend 1o violate that statate and sow the secds of crime and demoralization by tne sals. of be extreme or not, the; law, and we appréhend that every good citizen de- sires to sce that Jaw enforced. once should be taken for the immediate reduction of that proortion. refers as those honestly endeavoring to obey the 1aws, certainly wili noi be reached by the statute which it i4 the pnrpose of the Cilizens’ enforce, nor nt all annoyed by the gppointment of any namber of special policemen, whose duty it shall be {0 see to its enforcement: nor can tuc Ls- serred fact that this large proportion of people hou- clt(]ly believe In theiz Hight to_ pursue thelr calling under the law have an; whatever to do with years? Long before that time Boston would | the question. Pem-de to and good will in this community. that the prompt arrest of any and every man en- gaged in the violation of the law will tend to pro- mote the observance of the law. the epforcement of a law to prevent drunkenness among minors will tend to promote peace and been invaded, or that the crestion af this special nolice hody has been any reflection npon their gen- eral hamanity. WITH REFEEENCE TO THE' SPRCIAL POLICE PORCE appointed for the inspection of meats and vese- tables. a svstem of esplonage, if 1t is decmed wisos0 to call it, is adopted, gaite ns offonsive, and re- flecting quite as injurloualy and serionsly npon all the dealers in those commodities, upon commis- sion merchants and others on Sonth Water street and elsewhere, as can possibly be ex crcised by & special police’ force created In the interests of tho Citizens® League, see that the law for the prevention of the sale of whose duty it shall pe to iguors to minors is not violated n thia clty. ¢ affront put upon commission merchants and deaters in meats and vezotables, by the anpoint- ment of & apecial police force to sce that they deal in no decayed commouities, is quite as serions, it as_the affront which his Honor the 0, is, We ,respectfully submit -to We bez to submit, ‘also, that there is no real dieznise in the parpose of the ordinance which passed the Common Council. ° ITIS A MISREPEBSENTATION of the purposes of that ordinance to declare that it called for the appointment of twenty policemen. It is not the intention of the Citizens' Leswue to call for the appointment of any such number. number was imited to twenty, but_the number actually appointed would have half that number. we apprehend as an objection to this ordinance, that the policemen appointed by this Association Jould bo thewselves membess of tho Leaue, sud The en less than one- It is suggested by tho Mayor, rictly temperate in everything cxceot, perhaps, in respect to toe suppressidn of dram-selling and drinking. the probably have been avdointed ander this ordinance. Their duties vould nos_cxtend, and were not fn- tended to extcnd, to the suppression of dram- selling and drinking, but were to have been limited tothe suppression of dramn-seiling to mmors, on which they hold siews strict) the statates of this State; g We regard this as no objéction to character of the policemen ko would in accordance with whetier thore views have been emiodied in the ‘That these special policemen, strictly temperate n toeir habits, wonld have tne right to krrest aup- posed offenders on sizht without warrant, if It is to Ue considered 0s_an objection to them, should be considercd s an objeciion equaily to all other policemen. IP THE OFYENSEOF SELLING LIQUOR TO MI- NORS s to be punished, and it the law against that offcnse s to be enforced, it must nocessarily be by an the oftense is discovered. mediate arrest whenever the commission of ‘The fact asserted by the Mayor, thata lflrznlrnli- n portion of our population is directly engage the sale of malt and spiritnous liguors, has nothing whatever to do with the question. e think that a lurze proportion of our population is not cngaged in the sale of liguor, malt or spirituous, to minors: that proportion saonld be at f there are, and very stringent measures rednced, ‘The class to whom the Mayor Leagme to With dram-eelling and dealini: in iquor under thelaw the Citizens® Leagne bave noth- ng whatever to do. ‘Their territory is a narrow oue, Theyare not engaged in a general temper- ance reform movement, and never have undertaken aay Associution they are simply engaged in the sup- pieasion of the aale of liquor to minors, and any such movement. As an incorporated dy of men who honestly think tbat they can honestly engage in the sale of liguor to minors should at a very early date be tanght their miatake, and auy apprehensions of that character should without furiner delay be corrected. WE CANNOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE for what liquor-dealers believe to e the covert de- sign of this League, i no single instance in whica any arrest has been made ur any arrest attempted for any other offense than for the violation of the statute against the sale of liguor to minors. must be judged gives us an’ cxistence, and from Which we bave pursued, and not from sugzestions which liguor-dealers and dram-sellers make as_to our desiZns and purposes. During its existence there ia Our designy law which the coaree from the e raink, in auswer to a question put by the t of spe- Mayor as to the effect of the sppointmen clal policemen for this Leagme, that it will be romote the observance of the laws and peace We believe We belleve that made some very radical remarks on_that occa- sion, and, although they might have been some- E‘:gx . t:nll o ¢ m-wcomzwuy.m{l: ma;y 1;:: what out of place, he took nothing back. The a5 the pindin'flml sAloon-Leepéia o ballot was the oroper weapon to use, but ballot- bulléts did not alwsys ‘shoot true, und when workingmen cast their ballots into the box they must give the capitalistic class. to wa- derstand that if the ‘ballots did notv: hit the mark the bullet would. At Bpringfield he found plenty of laws making for the benefit of corporatious, but none for workiogmen. If they wanted anyuhing, they must ask for it as if they meant to take it. If the workingmen of California shonld sccede, be was one " of 10,000 who were ready to belp them. In conclusion, he counseled unity and self-reliance, and the sapport of men of their own class, who knew their wants and would advocate them. ——— THE CITIZENS' LEAGUE—THEY DEFINE THEIR POSITION, Cricaco, March 1, 1870.—70 the Public: The Citizens’ League for the suppression of the sale of liguor to minors deem it advisable, atthis junc- tore, to state aushoritatively, that there may beno filsspprenension in the public mind as to the to the ststute, been few or mo convictions for thi ed in the violation of that law are concerned, ut et the anle of liquors t0 minurs be upiversally stopped to-day aud now, and the general wmtcrests of peace and good will and the observanca of tho laws wonld be immeasurably promoted in this city. THE STATUTE FORBIDDING THE SALE OF LIQUOR TO MINOHS 'was passed in 1874. This League was organized and commenced its work in Jannary, 1878. Between the passage of that statote and the organization of this League, we are within tue bounds of truth fn eaying that ot of all, or nearty all, the saloons in this city engased in the sale of liguor to minor, indiscniminately and without the slightest regard to that time, or that offenso} and since the organization of thia League, betw, 200 and 300 snloon-kecpers have been presecuted offense. Abont 150 have been conricteds and.although the cffort made to extend the field of there had, ) aperations of this Leaguc has been very gemeral, it has steadily and persistently refusedto go one single step ontside the bonndaries s nor has it in any single instance departed from the spirit and purposes of its incorporation. of its cl ‘The suggéstions which have be¢n made thitcases 1 ointment of apecial have been mannfactared by the Citizens’ Lesgae we' denonnce as utterly and anqualifioly faloes and all caseg which have been presented to us to which nuacked the slightest suspition of that charscter have been rejecied by ns. The resultof ; OUR WORK IS MADE CLEAR ‘from the statistics of crime in this city. The num- berof arrests of minors since we have been engazed in the enforcement of this statute has decreased from one-quarter to one-tiurd; and we are conti- dent in the belief, and we have suflicient experi- ence behind us to jostify usin that confidence, that, ‘had we been clothed with the power to em. ploy alimited number of special policemen, we could have decreascd those arrests at least one- half. From two-thirds to three-fourths of the in- mates of our State Penitentiary are under i) years of age,and wo are informed by oficers of those Institntions that about seven-eighths of the inmates of our Penitentiary go from the saloons in the country. . His Honor ‘the Mayor sugrests’ the réspectabil- ity of certain saloons, and claims that they have never been condacted in a more orderly mannar. +We insist that whatever therais of respectaoility Isduein s creat measure to the exertionsof this League, and the orderly manner in which they ara ‘at prosent conducted is traceable largely to the same cause. While much good has been accomplished, it is needless, perhaps, to state thas muth more re- _maius to'be done.’ In one ealovn in thiscity over * 100 girls have been scen at one time. . Over 300 young men have been seen drinking in one even- ing; dnd the existence of such saluond. open to boys and girls every night. as may be found on State atreot, Van Buren, ° Clark, and other streets, is a disg; v ciyilization; and mo pre- tense of their respectadility, or 1s to the orderly manner in which they are conducted, can efface * this disgrace. And the dangerous chamacter of many of these salaons is manifest when the fact, is known that the present Mayor has revoked over 300 licenses. IT 13 TO BE OBSERVED ALSO fu this connection that special policemen are de- tailed ' for the preservation of order in these 8a- loons, or 1n many of them. They are there tn the interests of the saloon-keeper, and to protect him in the prosecution of his business. e do not thiok we are making any extraordinary demand when we ask that the public have police protection as well as the saloon-keeper. ‘We dianotask for general powers for these anecial police: we ask elmply for specidc powers within the line of our speciflc dutics. The Humane So- ciel{awud. and stated truly, that they could not do their_work withont special policemen to aid therp. How then can we bo expected adequately to perform our doties, which we conceive to be ‘much more difficult of execution,and quits 23 im- portant in character? - We desire no controversy with his Honor the Mayor: for all that he has done to ald us we feel, in common with all_other good citizens, indebted to him. and are anxious to recogmize it all, We think pe has made a serious mistake—a mistake which {s againet the best intercsts of oar people— in taking the position which he has assamed. ‘We think that THAT MISTAKE SHOULD BE CORRECTED, and that the Citizens’ League should be atded to the fullest possible extent in its honest endeavors to enforce this statate. We desize furtherto say, in the most explicit manner possible, that this League has 1o political schemes to promote; that it nnqualifiedly repudiates any cffortupon the purt of any membors of the Leagne tomix_up or {denti- {y the Leazue with anz political projects whatso- ever. Very early in the history of the League we dlsglaimed all political parposes. * We repeat. with adled emphasis, that disclaymer. This League has no candidate for Mayor, and will have nons. This asks for - the suppression of of lignor to minors, the A&id good citizens of all political par- ties, and of all creeds and religious, beliefs and opinions. It bas nothing to do with caucnses, conventions, or party candidates, and will have nothing to do with them, and repudiates any effort, l?' ‘whomsoever made or wheresoever made, to identify this League with any political movement of whatsoever kind.. Sympgihizing with every movement calcalated to sccuRhe peace ana good order of the city as individuals, yet as an Associa- tion it has but one purpose,—the suppreasion of the sale of liguor to minors by the enforcement of the statate pgainst sach sales. . Thus asserting our purposes, disclaiming all connection or identification with any movements of a political charicter whatsoever, we re- - pest our appesl tw the good people of Chicago to assist us in the crest movement which we have undertaken, and assuze them that any aid which {s given us will be applisd atrictly to the purposes which we have declared. F. F. ELuzxponr, Pres. Marsoy Hiiy, Rec. Sec. L.,C. TALLMADGE, Cor. Seg. israxL P, Russsy, WiLiiax P. BLack, Jaxzs Woop, W. F. Crarrs, ! Hexny W. Dopuy, PaxToN, F. P. Fsuzs, ‘TioxAs MouLDING, Joux Wape, Executive Committee, Exznr A. Stonns, ‘WrLLiax P. ELack, Connsel for tne League, v b THE WEATHER, Orrrcx or TmE Cnizr SiGNAL OFFICER, Wasnweros, D. C,, March 2—1 a. m.—Indi- catfons: For Tennessee srd the Ohio Valley arcas of lizht rain and snow, lollowed by partly cloudy, colder weather, winds mostly. from north to east, and rising, followed by falling barometer. For the Lower Lake recion, partly clondy and slightly colder weather, with rising barom- eter avd variable winds, mostly northcast to northwest, fullowed during the nignt by falling: barometer. ¢ For the Upper Lake region slightly cola- er and partly cloudy weather, rigivg fol- lowed by Jalling barometer, and mnorth- erly winds shifting to easterly and southerly. For the Upper Mississippl and Lower Mis- sourt Valleys, cold northerly wiads, shifting to warmer easterly and sontherly, slight rise, fol- lTowed by falling. barometer, and partly clondy weather, with If’ghl. raios and snow in Missoari and Jowa, followeda by clearing weather. ‘The Lower Mississippi River will fall slowly. ————— MARINE ITEMS. Bpecial Dispatch to The Trizune. MiLwAUKEE, March L—The achooner Nabob has been sold by her owners in Racine—W. J. Higzgie, Edward Gilien, and H. Raymond—to a party or partics fn Chicago for §2,500. The Hamilton-Merryman Lumbering Company of Marinefte have about concluded negotiations for the purchase of the schooner Lone Star, of Sheboygan, with the view of converting her into a barge for the lumber trade. Transfers of one-half intcrests fri the scow Alaska bave been made by Nels A, Peterson to Christ ML Christenson, and by Christ M. Chris- tenson ‘to Cornelius 8. Jacobson. for $450 in each case. F. C. Maxon has sold two-thirds of the echooner Rob Roy to parties here, who will put the craft in commission on the opening of pavi- gatlon. FIGHT WITH MEXICANS. . GALVESTON, March 1.—A special from Gaunse says Deputy-Seriff Carleton, with a posse, went after a party of Mexicans who fired on a citizen, and overtook them near Milano. The leader re- fused to surrender, and was killed. The Mexi- cans then opeoed fire, and the posse deserted Carlton fought until rescued unhurt by a party from Milund. The Mexicans bavo been ar- rested. ARCHBISHOP PURCELL. CixcrxmaTi, March L—The affairs of Arch- bishop Purcell were farther complicated to-day bya suit being entered against him by the creditors. It is thought he will make an assign- ment next Tuesday, when a meeting of all the pricsts of the Diocese will be heid. WINTERE RESORYS. THE SEA ISLANDS OF FLORIDA. The Egmont Hotel, Fernandiaa, Fiorida, olfers to [a- vallds and tourlsts seeking the beacdia of & semi- ical cllmate, the comfuris and convenlencesof a acw Rotel. luxurtautly furnished, haviog il Godera i~ provements, ita rooms alry ‘and weil lighted. and fta table elsgant and teoroughiy served. ity bowling, dilliards, ctc., superd fishing and yacutinz oa fhe Hiver, soung, or otean. and drivini oa the beach or 3 distance of Aty miles, A dry climate and perfect freedom frum malaria. Terms reasonabic. Apply to B. H. SKINNER, Manager. SCALES: FATBANKS' STANDAED SCALES OF ALL KIuDS. FAIRBAHKS.MORSE & 0D, 111&113 Lake St,, Chicage. Becarcfultobuyonly the Genuina. LEGAL. “ASSIGNEE'S NOTICE. The creditors of Marcas Kronberz. of Chicago, Cook Contity, Hlinoit, are bereby AntnEl thst heo o the 11t day of January, 157 awlmed 10 ige all his prop- erty, real and personal. {a trust for the beceftof Bty Crediiors, and thau they are required to prosent thelr s(ms under osth or afirmat{on to me wit matha from this date. e cage, Jan. L BRADFY R B roe 5 Salle-st., N Teaney & Mower, Attoraeys. B S e Arcanan STEPHENS, 7IIE . odist. 134 Deirbort ot siyas [nstancrellel. ~ Stephenst A tighs Salve tor buras, botls, orak, ru § drug- &zt have 1t; '_‘5?:‘:‘5'&