Rensselaer Republican, Volume 18, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 February 1886 — LABOR’S ADVOCATES. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

LABOR’S ADVOCATES.

Hon* John J. O’Neill, Chairman of tlao House Committee on Labor. , Hon. J. J. O’Neill, of Missouri, has been made Chairman of the Honse Committee on Labor. The importance of this com-* mittee is not to be underrated, and the . appointment of Mr. O’Neill as Chairman

thereof cannot be but flattering to himself 'and friends. John J. O’Neill, of St. Louis, 'was born June 25, 1846, of Irish parents. !He received a common-school education, '’and during the war was in the employ of the Government. After the close of the war he engaged in manufacturing pursuits, 'and in 1872 was elected to the State Legislature,'being re-elected in 1874 and 1876. jin 1878 he was nominated for Congress on ithe Workingman's ticket, but withdrew from ;the contest. He was elected to the Municijpal Assembly of St. Louis in 1879 and 'again in 1881. He was sent to the Forty--1 eighth Congress ns a Democrat, and was 're-elected to the Forty-ninth Congress. 1 «S X'rank Lawler, Member of the Committee on Labor. ■ Hen. Frank Lawler, of the Second Illinois District, is one of the most active members of the committee Of which Mr. O’Neill is Chairman. He was born at Bochester, N. Y., June 25, 1842; attended a public school until 13 years of age, when, owing to a serious accident which befell his father, he was compelled to leave school and seek employment in a brick yard,

where he continued to labor for two years; was a news agent on railroads for three years; learned the trade of ship-builder, was elected'President of the Ship-e&rpen-ters and Ship-caulkers’ Association, and took an active part in organizing trade and labor unions; was appointed upon the request of the trade and labor organizations to a position in the Chicago Postoflßce,which he held from 1869 to 1877; was elected a member of the Chicago City Council in 1876, was re-elected in 1878, 1880, 1882,. and 1884; and was elected to the Fortyninth Congress as a Democrat. The Denver Tribune says of Mr. Lawler: ) “It Is the fashion of several Chicago papers, (mostly Democratic, to sneer and poke fun at Frank Lawler, the Democratic Congressman iwho beat Mr. Finerty. Frank Lawler is by -no .means a bad fellow. He was a newspaper boy, learned and worked at the trade of a ship carpenter, was a letter-carrier in Chicago, «fhd finally drifted into the Aldermanic Board. He is an American, bom in New York State, of Irish -parentage, a natural orator, and a pretty I‘square’ man. He is particularly clover to correspondents, tells them what ha knows, and neither lies about nor exaggerates the facts. In these rogards many of his colleagues might emulate him to their advantage. Mr. Lawler is not a coarse, uneducated man. iHewrites a dashing good hand, and one can ;read his signature and his ehirographv. He makes no mistakes in spelling, either. “Mr. Lawler does not get drunk, play poker, or ‘buck the tiger,’ and, although plainly dressed, wears clean shirts and collars, minus the diamond headlight studs, like the average city Alderman. The only ornament hs carries Iconsists of a gold watch, and he has a fancy for ( square-toed boots, always neatly polished. •Like all natural orators, he talks a littlo too ‘freely, but there is a world of good sense, and, indeed, modesty in what he says. He is goodhearted and generous, and, sizing him up one side and down the other, barring the slightest [suspicion of the ‘brogue,’ he'is vastly the suSerior of many men who, either through accient or design, get into Congress and go gilping to the devil thereafter, forever and forever, with no amenl"

Cennocticut Trades Unions Put Some Questions to Their Congressmen. [Now Haven special.] 1 The Amalgamated Trades and Labor Unions of this State recently forwarded to the Senators and Representatives from Connecticut at Washington the following measures, requesting their influence in support of the same: First—That the public lands be reserved for actual settlers, not for railroads and speculators. i Second—The abolition of the Government contract system and non-competition of convict with free ‘American labor. Third—Graduated tax on lands and incomes. Fourth—The establishment of postal savings banks and safe deposits for small ■ amounts. , j Fifth—That importation of foreign labor under contract be prohibited. Sixth—lncorporation! of trades-unions. 1 Seventh —Direct Government issuance of money without the intervention of banks. Eighth—That the Government shall control all telegraphs, telephones, and railroads, and that hereafter no charter shall be granted’ to any corporation for the construction or operation of any means of transporting intelligence, passengers, or freight. A request for an expression of opinion on the above was made: Feeling Against the Chinese Revived, [gtun Francisco dispatch.] •. The recent murder of Mr. and Mrs. Jesse C. Wickersham near Cloverdale, Sonoma County, by their Chinese cook has again thoroughly aroused the anti-Chinese sentiment throughout the Pacific coast. As soon as the facts of the rnurder were confirmed anti- Chinese organizations were effected in many of the most important towns in the State. Resolutions to boycott the Chinese were adopted, and other measures devised, for getting rid of them. At Cloverdale the Chinese were notified to leave.