Rensselaer Republican, Volume 18, Number 39, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 June 1886 — INDUSTRIAL NOTES [ARTICLE]

INDUSTRIAL NOTES

Tee Chicago Packing and Provision Company refuses to join other packers in going back to the ten-hour system. Its employes will work eight hours for nine hours’ pay.... The strike of the New York furni-ture-makers appears to be a failure. Workmen. excepting upholsterers, are daily returning to their places on the old terms. Nine more shops that granted eight hours have refused to continue ex"Wpt on the ten-hour basis, and the men have struck.... A Philadelphia dispatch says about 1.200 ironworkers in the employ of the Kensington Mills have demanded an advance of wages averaging 7 per cent. The mills involved are Stephen .Jiobbins-A' Sons',—Gaulbert, McEadden ,t Caskey’s. Hughes &. Patterson’s, Marshall .Uros- jc._Co.is. anAJamesJßo-Wlandji — The Genertfl Assembly of the Knights of Labor met at “Cleveland on the 26th ult. There was considerable talk on the question of i working-for-the consolidation of all labor unions with the Knights. Mr. Powderly delivered liif extemporaneous address. Taking up the subjects of strikes, boycotts, labor troubles-, difficulties with trades unions, and the increasing inembershiprOne byone, he advised most eyeful thought and full all questions. Ht? asked thaf-’.4mhHO»y,-q>r-mlei*'e,—end discretion ■ should predominate in all matters, and that the affairs of the convention should be acted upon with consideration and’ dispatch. Of strikes lie said: - “The multiplicity of strikes, that have Occurred in the last six months have greatly lowered our order in the public estimation.. Of course a great many strikes are attributed to us with-which we should not be credited, but on the other hand many are charged to us -we-are responsible for." In closing he said: “I vs ill go nowhere. I will see no one, I will attend to no other business until this convention is over—l propose-to stay here and finish this business if it takes all summer, and I want you to be prepared tosstay with me? Mr. Powderly's remarks were greatly applauded. It is reported that a syndicate is being formed at New York to buy all the coal pitsvu .Southern lHinois. so iis- 4o- obtain- ; control of the entire output. Jay Gould ■ and Russell Sage are said to be interested ■ in the project.

Of the prevailing trade conditions and the outlook for general prosperity of the couiitiy, Bradstreet’s Journal, in‘its last issue, says: , The further .developments as. regards industrial conditions in the United States are, on the whole, favorable. Beyond this there are signs that production is on the increase in some of the leading industries of the country. As a rule, the railroads of the country show a considerable’ improvement in their gross earniiigs for April and for the four months to m January 1 to April 30 over those of the cra+vspending periods of 1885. The number of business failures shows a marked decline in comparison with the total in the first quarter of 1885. and is slightly below that for the corresponding portion of 1881. This decline began in the letter half ot 1885. The domestic wheat markets continue the timeworn record of heaviness and depression in prices. Wheat buying countries have of let ' preferred to permit the Wheat-grower to "carrv" the stuff instead of loading themselves down with it at his price. The. hotne visible supply is still large, although now declining moire rapidly with freer exports to the continent. Cotton manufacturing in New England is somewhat more prosperous than a year ago. The domestic iron and steel trades, with some exceptions, have proved disappointing to those expecting high prices. The anthracite coal trade has suffered from industrial and commercial depression during six months past relatively less than almost any other line. The Knights of Labor Convention at Cleveland decided to increase the Executive Committee from five to eleven mem-

ber». Permanent headquarters will be opened in Philadelphia, and, if "necessary, the board Will nt throughout theyear. Mr. Powderly was authorized to recsfll the commissions of all organizers.. The business failures in the United States And Canada during the week wei* 181, I against 107 the previous week, and 176 the week preceding that. The Wester* and Pacific States furnish more than one-half of the whole number. . .; The Northwestern Fertilizing Company, of Chicago, gave the eight-hour plan at full wages a trial of two weeks, and in attempting to return to the old basis was met by a general strike. It filed in the Circuit Court, at Chicago, a bill against one hundred of its former employes, and secured an injunctionrestraining them from intimidation and acts of violence. . The third day’s session of the General Assembly of the Knights of Labor, at Cleveland, was devoted to discussion of the motion to refer the report of the Executive Board on the relations of the order to tradds unions to tl»e Committee on the State of the Order. The whole matter was finally ho referred. Mrs, Surah M. Perkins, on tiehnlf of the Ohio Woman’s Suffrage Association, read an address to the convention. The proposition of the Committee on Laws, that, where practicable, unattached local assemblies should become part of district assemblies, and transact business with the general’ assembly through them, waft adopted. The Secretary nnd a letter from Galveston, Texas, relating■ to the hardships of strikers who are confined in the jail of that city for “constructive contempt,” and asking the General Assembly to do something to obtain for them privileges given jrersons similarly charged in other courts of the United States. The following resolution was presented'and unanimously adopted: Whereas, The jails at Galveston. Dallas, and elsewhere in Texas are tilled with brother Knights suffering for “contempt of eourt," as issued by Judge Pardee; be it Jiesoiced. by this General Assembly, That we petition Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, to exercise clemency in their behalf, as the United States Judges have ordered a release of all prisoners sentenced during the strikes on the Southwest system, and thus be the means of causing better feelings between employers and employes. A committee of two was appointed to draft suitable documents to be forwarded to the President, asking him to. exercise clemency toward the imprisoned members of the order.