The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, April 12, 1917, Page 5

The picture shows wheels, rails and equipment for the government-owned railroad under construction in Alaska being handled from freight cars into vessels at Seattle, Wash,, over the publicly owned and operated Smith’s Cove wharf on Elliot bay. This wharf is one of the best equipped and most efficiently and economic- ally operated on the Pacific coast for handling heavy freight. When the people decided to drive out the combine that controlled Seattle’'s water front and levied toll at the terminals, it put in public utilities far better than any private enterprise had provided, and this more than trebled Seattle’s commerce in five years. Seattle is now the leading port on the Pacific coast, due to the fact that shippin second to none in the United States, which the people have provided. MAN leading a boy by the hand appeared at the en- trance of a coal mine in Ayr- shire, Scotland, early one morning before the hour to start work. They came to interview the boss about putting the boy to work. The man was John Bridges, who had spent his life in the mines, and the boy was his son Bobbie, nine years old. Bobbie was dressed in brand new work clothes, for his time had come to take up the profession of his father. This was 46 years ago. The boy Bobbie is now Robert Bridges of Seat- tle, chairman of Seattle’'s Port com- mission, the man whose loyalty to the people and fighting spirit obtained for Seattle the publicly owned terminal system that has opened a great port to the commerce of the world on equal terms to all shippers. The 46 years that have passed since Bobbie was in- troduced by his father to the mine boss back in Ayrshire have been event- ful and strenuous ones in the life of this man. EFROM A BOY HE LED IN FIGHTS ON TYRANTS Two incidents of the youth of Robert Bridges in the mines of Ayrshire stamped him, before he was out of his “teens” as a leader of men. ~ At 14 he was a. “drawer boy.” His duty was to push loaded coal cars from the mine workings, far under ground, to the bottom of the shaft, whence they were hoisted to the surface. The 30 or so boys engaged in this kind of work in the particular part of the mine where young Bridges was employed were the prey of a big bully, who kick- ed and cuffed them about unchallenged. One day when he purposely knocked one of the boys down under a car of ore, young Bridges suddenly up and ) ! “It’s Socialism i Here’s the story of a man of the people, who is fit to lead because he knows poverty, hard- ship and suffering. He is not one of those “patriots” who can only praise things as they are; but one who tries to make them better. smote the bully with a “snibble,” which was a short iron bar used by the boys in checking the speed of the cars on down grades. The bully rushed Bobbie, but Bobbie called on his com- panions and the 30 boys pitched in. The bully was badly mauled and never appeared at the mines again for work. The other incident occurred during a strike of the miners for better pay and working conditions. Fifteen thou- sand of them had laid down their tools and come to the surface to protest. They were gathered in a great meadow near the mine, but no man dared to . stand up and talk to them. The crowd was full of the hired strong arm men of the mine owners, and the constableg had been given orders to arrest anyone who made an “inflammatory” speech— and that covered anything that one might say on behalf of the miners. A “SOAP-BOX” ORATOR PLEADING FOR JUSTICE Robert Bridges was not much older than when he had driven the bully from the mines. He was one of the great crowd gathered sullenly in the meadow and he was expressing himself strongly to those about him in regard to the working conditions. “Lad, are ye afeared to tell the crowd that?” asked an old miner who was listening to the boy’s hot words. “I am not afraid,” said Young Bridges. “Then stand on yon box and talk to the boys,” said the old miner. The boy mounted the box. . The shifting, murmuring crowd stood still and silent. It was only a boy who faced them. They were surprised to see a boy stand up to speak when strong men were afraid—afraid of the mine guards and the constables, who had orders to prevent any speech- making. There was a movement in the crowd, as constables and mine guards edged toward the box on which Young Bridges stood. “Stand back there,” said the boy. “I've a mind to speak here, and I'm" a’goin’ to.” The lad did not make a flowery speech, nor even a grammatical’ one. But it was a great oration neverthe- less. He simply told them of his own life and that of his family; of his brother at man’s work in the mines at the age of seven; of his own introduc- tion into the mine at nine; of his .father, a bent, old man at 40, who had slaved since youth; of the other boys Seattle has proved how public ownership of central marketing facilities will benefit both workers and consumers and will introduce economy and efficiency into a system full of rob- bery and waste. You can’t scare the people of Seattle away from a public project by shouting They have found out it does the business and they don’t care what you call it. FOUR g-has been attracted by a free port, under control of the people, and by facilities coming on to the age when the mine would call them—call them away from school and the playtime of youth that was the lot of the more fortunate sons of the mine owners; of the little gray haired mother at home, so tired and worn; of the shilling a day that the mines paid and how it didn't go around, even with them all working. It was what the miners had needed to give them the backbone to stand by their demands. The strike was settled that same day, favorably for the work- ers. THE LAND OF FREEDOM CALLS YOUNG SCOT A few years later American called Robert Bridges. America, the land of freedom and opportunity! The thought thrilled the young Scot. He landed in this country at the age of 20, with a wife and child. He had married a lass of Ayr back home a year or two before. He was unable to read or write and the only way to earn a living he knew of was in the mines. He got employ- ment at Braceville, 111. Alas for those dreams about better conditions in America! Mr. Bridges tells about it himself as follows: “After the mine at Braceville had been opened up, water poured from the roof at the working places in enormous quantities. In their winter season, when leaving the mine after our day's labor, although having less than a half a mile to travel to our homes, our clothes were frozen stiff and it ‘re- quired considerable time around a red hot stove to thaw our clothes before we could remove them. I rebelled 2gainst such conditions and decided to locate elsewhere.” Bridges went to What Cheer, Iowa, where he was employed for some years at general labor. He says now-that it