Farmers vs. Wage Earners: Organized Labor in Kansas, 1860-1960

357 Pages·2006·2.46 MB·English

by  R. Alton Lee

1
2
3 Farmersvs.WageEarners
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11 [FirstPage]
12 [-1], (1)
13
14
15 Lines:0to11
16 ———
17 * 483.6pt PgV
18 ———
NormalPage
19
20 * PgEnds:PageBr
21
22 [-1], (1)
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12 [-2], (2)
13
14
15 Lines:11
16 ———
17 0.0pt P
18 ———
NormalP
19
20 PgEnds:T
21
22 [-2], (2)
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
1
2
3 Farmers vs.
4
5
6
7
8 Wage Earners
9
10
11
12 [-3], (3)
13
14 Organized Labor in Kansas,1860–1960
15 Lines:12to36
16 ———
17 0.0pt PgVar
18 ———
NormalPage
19
20 * PgEnds:PageBr
21
22 [-3], (3)
23
R. ALTON LEE
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39 university of nebraska press lincoln & london
1
2
3 ©2005bytheBoardofRegents
4 oftheUniversityofNebraska
Allrightsreserved
5
Manufacturedinthe
6
UnitedStatesofAmerica
7
(cid:1)(cid:1)
8
9 LibraryofCongress
Cataloging-in-PublicationData
10
Lee,R.Alton.
11
Farmersvs.wageearners:
12 organizedlaborinKansas, [-4], (4)
13 1860–1960/R.AltonLee.
14 p. cm.
Includesbibliographical
15 Lines:36
referencesandindex.
16 isbn-13:978-0-8032-2964-8 ———
17 (cloth:alk.paper) * 208.44
18 isbn-10:0-8032-2964-x ———
(cloth:alk.paper) NormalP
19
1.Labormovement—Kansas—
20 * PgEnds:P
History. I.Title:Farmersversus
21 wageearners. II.Title.
22 hd8083.k25l44 2005 [-4], (4)
331.8'09781'09034—dc22
23
2005014003
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
1
2
3 Contents
4
5
6
7
8
9 ListofIllustrations vii
10 Preface ix
11
1.TheLaborProblemEmerges 1
12 2.AnUncommonGovernor 37 [-5], (5)
13
3.TheApogeeofLiberalLaborLegislation 72
14
15 4.TheWobbliesArrive 105 Lines:95to130
16 5.AKansasD’Artagnan 138 ———
17 6.NewDealLaborPolicy 176 * 194.963pt
18 ———
7.TheGreatestWar 212
NormalPage
19
20 8.FarmeragainstLaborer 249 * PgEnds:PageBr
21 9.Conclusions 283
22 Notes 289 [-5], (5)
23 Bibliography 313
24
Index 329
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12 [-6], (6)
13
14
15 Lines:130
16 ———
17 0.0pt P
18 ———
NormalP
19
20 PgEnds:T
21
22 [-6], (6)
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
1
2
3 Illustrations
4
5
6
7
8
9 map
10 Kansasstatecounties 2
11
12 photos [-7], (7)
13 1.JohnMartin 6
14
2.Coalmineexplosion 13
15 Lines:131to17
3.RuinsofMinersvilleKnightsofLaborHall 21
16 ———
17 4.AuthorwithBigBrutus 78 * 154.65851p
18 5.BigBrutus’sninety-tonscoop 78 ———
NormalPage
19 6.CrawfordCountycourthouse 83
20 7.AlexanderHowat 141 * PgEnds:PageBr
21
8.Coalstrikevolunteers 147
22 [-7], (7)
9.NationalGuardatcoalstrikeof1919 148
23
24 10.HotelStilwellinPittsburg 150
25 11.Galenamines 185
26 12.LandingcraftwithKansasCityskyline 244
27
13.H.JamesYount 259
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12 [-8], (8)
13
14
15 Lines:175
16 ———
17 0.0pt P
18 ———
NormalP
19
20 PgEnds:T
21
22 [-8], (8)
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
1
2
3 Preface
4
5
6
7
8
9 The labor wars, which lasted over six decades from the Great Upheaval in
10 1877tothesit-downstrikesduringtheNewDeal,“securedfortheworking-
11 manarightwhichhehadbeenpreviouslydenied,totallyorpartially,theright [FirstPage]
12 tocollectiveaction.”Oncethisobviouslyreasonablemilestonewasachieved, [-9], (1)
13 workersgainedthepowertosecuregreatimprovementsintheprotectionof
14 womenandchildrenintheworkplace,workmen’scompensationinsurance,
15 unemploymentcompensation,alivingwage,SocialSecurity,Medicare,anda Lines:0to18
16 hostofsimilarreforms.Kansaslaborersparticipateddirectlyinthesewarsand ———
17 madecontributionstothecauseoflabor,althoughtheyfoughtalosingbattle 0.0pt PgVar
18 for decades thereafter. Current and future generations owe much to these ———
NormalPage
19 hardycommonfolkwhowereimbuedwiththeAmericanspirittofightandto
20 sacrificetoobtaintheirrights.AllwhonowenjoySocialSecurity,Medicare, PgEnds:TEX
21 adecentwage,aforty-hourweek,andovertimepaymustcelebratethebattles
22 organizedlaborfoughtforallAmericans,andwealsomustalwaysguardthese [-9], (1)
23 preciousprivileges.1
24 OnLaborDay1999,Ibegantheformidabletaskofstudyingthehistoryof
25 organizedlaborinKansas.Severalmotivespromptedme:First,Iamanative
26 Kansan, born and reared on a farm and in a small agricultural community
27 whereIspenttheweekendsandsummersofmyyouthemployedbymyfather
28 andotherfarmers.HereIfirstlearnedoftheevilsofchildlaborand,topara-
29 phraseHarryTruman,encounteredtheproblemofminimumwages.Inaddi-
30 tion,duringmyundergraduatecollegiatecareer,Iwasexposedtoanumberof
31 differentjobexperiences,includinghelpingtorebuildtheKatyRailroadfol-
32 lowingthedisastrousfloodof1951,workinginasupermarketinKansasCity,
33 andworkingasanassembly-lineinspectorforBeechAircraftinitsHerington
34 AirBaseplantduringtheKoreanWar.Consequently,Ihavebelongedtosev-
35 eral national labor unions, including the Brotherhood of Railway Workers,
36 theHodcarriers,theRetailClerks,andtheNationalEducationAssociation
37 duringmystintasapublic-schoolteacher.IbelieveIcandiscussworkersand
38 theirproblemswithsomeunderstandingandcertainlywithempathy.
39 One personal experience with unions should be noted. While working