Life of Albert Parsons

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eating a hearty meal for which he paid. I was apprenticed according to the rules of the trade, and I remember the years of my apprenticeship with gratitude, for my master was a just and good man. After learning my trade I went abroad-"traveled," for so the custom of young mechanics is described. In the year of 1863 I came to Bremen, after having worked in Mayence, Cologne and Dusseldorf. I read a great deal, but nothing of Socialistic literature. Up to this time I had been easy going and careless; by and by I began to think of the difference between the rich and poor.

The newspapers in Bremen had much to say about the oppression of the inhabitants of Schleswig-Holstein by Denmark. A movement was going on to free these German brothers from the yoke of the Danish king, as it was put. I considered the struggle of my countrymen something great and joined a regiment of volunteers. We were drilled and marched to Altona in Schleswig Holstein. But when the regular militia of Prussia and Austria came then: our regiment dissolved. The war between the German federation and Denmark then broke out. The German brothers were freed from the Danish, only to come under the Prussian yoke.

I worked in many different cities. The years 1868 found me in Rehna Mecklenburg Schwerin, where I married. There I started a business for myself. The development of the factory system in Germany swept most of the small manufacturers out of existence. The struggle for life increased and it became harder to make a decent living. My intention to emigrate to America which I had when a boy, came back to me. To make it short, the 8th day of January, 1873, found me ill Philadelphia. I took work in a sugar refinery. And in May worked again as a painter. In this city, for the first time in my life. I heard something about serious labor troubles. The militia marched along the streets, coming from the coal mines, where they had "subjugated" some troublesome, starving miners. I watched them, when a bystander says: "These scoundrels ought to be hung on the spot." The remark surprised me, for at that time, being an "ignorant foreigner," I sang the praises of this "free and glorious country." Scornfully looking at the man, I asked the reason of his unpatriotic remark. He gave me his reasons; having been a manufacturer myself, though on a small scale, and knowing nothing of the labor question. I could not comprehend him; in answer I reiterated the well-known trash of the capitalist newspaper. It is true. I earned what was called good wages by ten hours' daily work and laid by a little money for a rainy day. Well the rainy day came soon enough; I became sick and my eyes suffered. Doctors and medicine were dear; my family had to be supported and my saving, were soon gone. For a year we had a very hard time and then I began to get well and able to work again. As soon as I earned money enough I came to Chicago, and here I learned something of Socialism for the first time in my life. In the year 1874 I worked in Tembumth's wagon factory. There I got acquainted with a Socialist. One day he showed me a paper, Der Vorbote,