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Sewall At His Home

Sewall At His Home image
Parent Issue
Day
7
Month
October
Year
1896
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

"European wages are good enough for American workingmen." This declaration according to a prominent citizen of this place, was made by Arthur Sewall, Vice Piesidential candidate on the Democratie national ticket, to trim personally soon after Mr. Sewall began to take active interest in his father's business affairs. "Thia declaration," said the citizen quoted, "has been the ruling principie of Mr. Sewall in his relations to workingmen froin the time he gave utterance to it until now. After he assumed control of the Sewall shipyard Mr. Sewall began his active campaign of wage reduction, which he has never relinquished, and which has made him the most unpopular employer of labor in this city. His record is known, and he will get few votes of laboring men in the whole state of Maine." PLENTY OF EVIDEXCE. Thus spoke an employer of labor who had risen from his ranks by hard work and attention to business, and with his permission. The Press's special correspondent went among his employés in in search of men who had worked for Mr. Sewall, whose own yard is now ídle - in fact, was almost closed with a strike tlie last sliip built was launched. The Press's special correspondent found men by scores who had worked for Mr. Sewall, and each and every one substantiated the statements before quoted. "Mr. Sewall," said a calker who was seen is only doing now what he has always been doing. In advocating free silver Ke is tiying to cut down our wages. We understand the whole question, and are going to do all we can to prevent liim carrying out his plan, just as we have done before. We can't strike now, but we can vote against him, and we are going to do so." CAN'T CARRY HIS OWN FAMtLY. A man engaged fitting some iron on the bow of a vessel stopped work a moment and declared that he and all others who kuow from experience or report of Mr. Sewall's antagonism to labor would certainly do all they could to defeat him. "Whv," said he. "Mr. Sewall can't carry lus owu family, his own precinct, ward, county or state, and I don't believe he can carry this Nation, with or without Mr. Bryan at the head of the ticket. If Mr. Sewall's labor record were shown up as it should be, Mr. Bryan 's eloquence conld not explain it away to the satisfaction of the laboring men of this country." Mr. Sewall during the last twenty years has had frequent troubles with his employés, cause d in the majority of cases by unsatisfactory treatment oirthe wage question. Of all these disturbances the most serious was the strike of 1887-1888, wheri operations in his shipyard were entirely suspended because of a reduction in wages which the men though not only unfair and unjust, but unreasouable and dishonest. LABOR DETESTS HIM. In short, laboring men throughout Maine are against Arthur Sewall because he has been and is now against them, and because they believe that he further is advocating free silver from selfish motives, there being a report current that he owns $97,000 of silver mine stock. Be this as it inay - for it does not cut much of a figure compared to more tangible reasons foropposing him - the fact remains that Arthur Sewall is the most disliked of any capitalist in Maine, and will have the labor vote solidly against him.

Article

Subjects
Old News
Ann Arbor Courier