Delegates to a turn-of-the-century UBC convention. Jim Ogletree standing left.

More Dates May/Jun 1899 Mar/Apr 1899 Jan/Feb 1899 Nov/Dec 1898 Sep/Oct 1898 >Jul/Aug 1898 May/Jun 1898 Mar/Apr 1898

'Bring Every Man of Your Trade In'

Often issues were filled with short items, some of them by McGuire, some by other authors. These from mid-1898 include one by Lincoln, which McGuire clearly was aiming at the American conquest and annexation of Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Philippines, then under way.

"Every trade unionist should reflect upon the possibilities of his condition in the absence of organization. How would he like to be hustling from shop to shop and be forced to accept any sum that an employer would be willing to pay? It should need no exhortation to convince a man of the benefits of organization. Bring every man of your trade in and teach him the blessings of union, self-protection, and defense."

"A great deal of stress is put upon 'public opinion.' The workingmen are frequently expostulated with by someone standing in the way in the march of enlightenment which is now going on to beware of 'public opinion.'

"What constitutes 'public opinion'? Is it an expression of a majority, or is it confined to a subsidized newspaper, or to the idle and wealthy only?

"The people who work are very largely in the majority, and if they cling togetherÑstand by each other, in unity and harmony, in a struggle against unjust exaction and oppressionÑthey will have little use to regard the effect of 'public opinion' outside their own ranks."

"No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent. When a man governs himself, that is self-government; but when he governs himself and also governs another man, then that is more than self- governmentÑthat is despotism.

"Our reliance is in the love of liberty, which God has planted in us; our defense is in the spirit which prizes liberty as the heritage of all men in all lands, everywhere. Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves, and under a just God cannot long retain it." -Abraham Lincoln

"A New York paper shows that 90 trusts [monopolies] now organized could buy the ten states of Arkansas, Mississippi, West Virginia, South Carolina, Florida, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Delaware combined, and then pertinently asks: 'If they can only buy ten states now, how long will it be before they own the whole Union?' The sooner the better, for only then will the people take the matter in hand and own the trusts."

"The deputy factory inspectors of the districts embracing Pittsburgh and vicinity have started a crusade against violators of the factory laws. Proceedings will be instituted against laundry companies and owners of large establishments where women, girls, and minors are employed more than 60 hours a week or more than 12 hours in one day."

• P.J. McGuire
  Founder of Labor Day and the UBC
• Leadership & Vision
  The struggle for the eight hour day
• A Century Ago
  100 years ago in Union History