“A very large number of the Hungarians employed in the mills are American citizens, and some consideration should be given them on that account, if not on the score of humanity. It is proposed to organize the Hungarians and other foreigners who are voters and see if some action cannot be secured in the legislature to compel the mill owners to give better protection to the workmen.”
“The number of fatalities which occur in the steel mills, the blast furnaces and the coal mines in the Pittsburg district are never fully reported,” said an attaché of the consulate. “Scarcely a month goes by that we are not called upon to investigate the case of some workman who is reported to us as having ‘disappeared.’ At present we are working on two such cases. Both are identical as regards details.
“The men were stationed at the top of blast furnaces owned by the United States Steel Corporation to receive the cars of ore as they came up and dump them. There is only a small bridge for them to stand on. One misstep or awkward movement, and the man will follow the ore into the furnace. The men are not missed until it is noticed that the cars are not being dumped. No one knows what has become of them. Their coats and dinner pails await them at the bottom of the elevator, but the men never come to claim them. Then they are reported to have ‘disappeared.’ It is not known positively that they have fallen into the furnace, but there can be no other conclusion.”
The officials of the steel mills say they will do anything in their power to conduce to the safety of the men, and that the foremen in charge are mainly responsible for any dereliction.—New York World.
If a man should loan money at one-half of 1 per cent., and borrow it back at 8 per cent., and keep this up year after year, his family would have no trouble in getting him put under guardianship. The people through their Government are acting just as foolishly when they issue money to national banks....
A billion and a half of taxes. Another billion and a half of railroad charges. And a billion of interest, not counting the interest on public and railroad debts. A total of four billion dollars. This is the sum the people of the United States must pay each year whether money be scarce or plentiful. Is it any wonder times get harder when money gets scarcer?...
If the people could realize that their hard struggle to keep body and soul together and at the same time lay by a little for old age—making life a mere battle for existence—if they could realize that this struggle is made necessary by the present systems, that prosperity is the natural right of everyone who does his share of labor, they would be more easily induced to vote against monopoly rule. Populists should endeavor to dissatisfy the people with their present condition and show them that they should be getting so much more out of life.—Missouri World.