“War is hell!” exclaimed Gen. Sherman, one of
the greatest commanders that ever led an army into battle. Edgar Wilde, a
Hamilton boy, born and bred, and who is descended from one of the oldest
families in this city, is now realizing, to the full, the truth of Gen.
Sherman’s saying. Young Wilde is only (illegible) years old. All of his life
until was spent in this city. Years ago, when he was but a lad, he entered the
service of the Hamilton Bridge Company and was employed in some clerical
capacity. He developed a talent as an amateur sketch artist and finally went
into the Templar newspaper office, when W. W. Buchanan was editor of that
paper, as an illustrator, and he occasionally furnished sketches for other newspapers.
In the year 1899, being out of employment, he drifted down to St. Louis, hoping
to find something that he could turn his talents to, but the war fever was at
its height about that time, and young Wilde enlisted in the regular United
States army and was sent to the Philippine Islands to get his fill of such
glory as comes from shooting down the poor devils who happen to be on the other
side of the question. Not long after reaching the lands of the Filipinos, Wilde
was reported absent without leave from his company, and not showing up within
the prescribed time, he was entered on the rolls as a deserter. For desertion
in the face of the enemy, the penalty is death, according to the rules of war.
Wilde was absent from his regiment for 34 days, and he returned and
surrendered. He was found guilty of desertion by a court martial and the
extreme penalty for his crime was the sentence of death. Owing to his youth,
for he was not then 21 years of age, and his exceptionally good habits till he
disappeared from his regiment, the death sentence was commuted to twenty years
in the military prison on Alcatraz Island, near San Francisco. Fancy the
thoughts of a man of some culture who is doomed to spending twenty years of his
young and maturing manhood on an island, shut off from the world and with no
hope of being pardoned! On the voyage from the Philippine Islands, while the
vessel was lying in a port in Japan, young Wilde succeeded in making his escape
and working his way back to the United States. Last May, or about two years
after making his escape at the port of Japan, Wilde was arrested in the city of
St. Louis, and from there sent under close guard to Alcatraz Island. Some of
his associates in St. Louis must have reported him to the military authorities
for the sake of the reward that is paid. Had Wilde returned to Canada, he would
have been a free man today, for desertion is not an extraditable offense.
Wilde’s mother and sister live in Hamilton, and though he may be dead to the
world, yet to that affectionate sister, he is a dear brother. Miss Wilde is now
devising plans to secure the pardon and release of her brother, and if her
woman’s prayers and entreaties will prevail with President Roosevelt, she hopes
in the course of time to effect her purpose. The best she hopes for is to have
the terms of imprisonment shortened. Her means are limited, as she has only the
earnings of her own hands to support her , and as women’s wages in nearly all
the working departments are down to the verge of starvation, she can only hope
and pray and save a little cash each week till the necessary amount to pay her
expenses to Washington is secured. This loving sister is willing to sacrifice
comfort and even life is she can only secure a pardon for her brother. Old and
influential friends of the Wilde family will do all in their power to help Miss
Wilde in preparing for the presentation of her appeal to President Roosevelt.
Let us hope that her efforts may prove successful. The punishment seems to be a
misfit for the crime. But such are the inexorable rules of war.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The irrepressible conflict between
capital and labor is now at its height. From every corner of prosperous America
– the United States and the Dominion of Canada – there is uneasiness in labor
centres. In the coal regions of the United States labor is suspended and
anarchy reigns. Thousands of families are suffering for the bread that is in abundance
but beyond their reach, for they have not the money to buy it. The miners are
idle because of disagreement with the mine owners, not altogether on the matter
of pay; they are for some modification of the rules laid down by the mine
owners which might possibly be agreed upon if the worker is willing to give or
take and starvation and misery goes on. Business everywhere is suffering
because of the scarcity of coal and the consumers are already paying the
penalty, in higher prices for coal, because labor and capital will not
arbitrate their differences.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
It is only within the past seven or
eight years that a sheet of tin was made in the United States. Prior to that
time Wales was the tin-producing country of the world. What is known as the
McKinley tariff placed a duty of 2 cents a pound on tin and the result was the
building up of manufactories till now the United States produces more tin than
it consumes and is reaching out for the markets of the world. The United States
has the iron and all the improved machinery for making the sheets ready for tinning,
but it has to import the tin from Wales. The workmen engaged in the sheet tin
factories and in the mills where the steel billets are made and rolled ready
for the final coating of tin, have been making very big wages – larger than in
almost any other industry. The supply just now exceeds the demand for home
consumption, and the owners of the mills are reaching out for other markets.
They have been offered a market for one million and a half tons of sheet tin,
but at a price lower than they can afford to sell at the wages they are paying
for labor, and the mill owners have asked the men to reduce the scale a trifle
in order that the contract can be closed. The labour union has refused, and as
a result, a number of mills are closed down, and over 2,000 men are out of
employment. The men prefer no bread to half loaf.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Here in Hamilton the electrical
workers are having troubles of their own. Some time ago, they made some very
reasonable demands on the Cataract Company, which were not granted. After a
time, the company tardily agreed to submit the differences to arbitrators. The
workmen selected Father Whitcombe to represent them, the company put up a
shrewd lawyer to checkmate the parson, and then came the tug of war as to who
should be the third arbitrator. In the Good Old Book, we read of gambling for
the garments of our Saviour after he had been crucified, and the parson had
this memorable circumstance in mind when the wily lawyer suggested his plan for
settling on the third man. It was equal to opening a jackpot with the company
having the deal. The men declined to submit their case to a game of chance, and
there it stands. Let us hope that the company and its workers will be rational
toward each other, and settle their differences without the terrible
arbitrament of a long, drawn-out strike. Both will suffer in the end if the
strike is continued.
No comments:
Post a Comment