The Labor Movement's Hard-Won Victory Over the Buck's Stove Co.

The traveling salesman for the northwest territory of the Buck's Stove and Range company, of St. Louis, paid a friendly call at this office the fore part of the week. The gentleman complained that members of organized labor generally seemed very loathe to patronize the product of his firm, despite the fact that the dispute so long existing between the late Van Cleave and the unions had been wiped out by the death of the former. We pointed out to the gentleman that no labor difficulty in many years had so aroused the bitter feeling of the labor people toward a manufacturing concern as had the Buck Stove case. So relentless was the war waged by Mr. Van Cleave that the name of Buck stove mentioned any time within the past five years was like spark to powder. When Mr. Van Cleave died the control of the plant passed into the hands of Mr. Gardner, who was friendly to the unions, and negotiations were at once opened with the officials of the A. F. of L. looking toward a settlement. The negotiations were successful and the plant was again unionized in every department. Whatever the company did while Van Cleave was alive and in control, it is unquestionably fair now, and we ought to appreciate that fact.