The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1874-02-12

tice BY adopting scale OF prices sometimes even
man en9 sane on
One employer, cigar manuiacturer, claims 70
be entirely independent OF the cigar Makers Union,
simply because he IL and has been for some time
paving his men higher wages than the union itself
demands for them.
also assured the writer that his employer mas
always paid him and several OF his fellows higher
wages than the union schedule.
B0tn OF these men state that any good workman
In any branch of trade can always get work ut
higher, or as high, wages as the union scale, so
that the unions only help the mediocre and inferior
class OF workmen TO the great detriment OF the
better or the more industrious class.
Again. 1t Is claimed BY the independent work
men that the taxes or dues levied by the trade
societies work unfairly, the single man being
generally taxed as much as the married man.
although during q strike the married man receives
much larger allowance than the bachelor.
In the thi-d place, 1t Is claimed by non-society
nOtoriously miSmanaged. The moneys raised are
oitentlmes misappiied or squandereo; unnecessary
salaries are paid to unnecessary officers; money Is
given to favored workmen to travel to and ir0 at
the expense OF the union; committees appointed
to decide on some mOoted case charge i0r their
time, DC. some times they even initiate our CITY
Fathers so closely as to charge for car fare and.
lunches, and all this money unnecessarily wasted
comes out OF the pockets OF tho hard working
Still further it is alleged by antunion men that
the whole system Of societies by reducing an
20 deaden personal ambition and to relax lndl-
yidual effort.
~,
legitmately intended TO regulate 'strike9" tney
have no right and no power TO ameliOrate destitu-
ton arising from special or general causes uhcon-
nected with strikes.
And all the n0n-sOciety men with whom the
HERALD representative has had an opportunity 70
converse agree on two very important points ID
the present aspect OF the question OF laoor ana
destltuton-
Fvst-That any good n0n-society man, or 'rat,"
can earn and can save more money III the same
time than the average society man, being able TO
get higher wages and having less outside demands
upon him.
years and one month has saved 81, 252, and has
with this money bought house In Greenville, n.
Another nOn-sOcety man In the same place has
saved $500; third has Sy2o TO his credit In the
savings bank.
A jOurne5mau tailor in Broome street has saved
over $4,000 In seven years. and laughs at the idea
OF trades unions. and it seems to be agreed gen.
orally that any good workman can earn enough in
''0rdlnary" times to save enough to carry him
through 'extraordinary" times Ike the present.
destitutiOn it il held by all non-uniOn men
that tine mutual benefit societies" TO
which many OF the non.sociely men be-
long and to which they hold that every non
society man ought to belong can carry man
more safely through than the trades unions. These
mutual benefit societies are social rather than
trade organizations, have nothing to do with regu-
latng the price Of work, but provide by small
very small-assessments for certain considerable
sums OF money to be paid to man in sickness or
mere matter OF fact 1t is claimed that there are in
proportion more society men, at the present time,
out OF work than non-soclety men, and
aid doing more for the latter than the former.
In conclusion 1t may be stase2 that movement
has been talked about among Aon-society men to
carry out practically an idea proposed by Horace
Greeley nearly thirty years ago.. e., to erect
labor exchange, TO be to wOrkingmen what the
Stock Excnange is to brokers or tho Produce Ex-
change to the hour magnates. This idea has been
lately revived among the better class OF working
men and may yet produce some decisive result.