Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1875-04-29

were but two journeymen employed In that
room at the time, and that the foreman had
want of sufficient work To justify the pay
ment of his salary, as the following letter
proves:
To Fireman JOB O9ce. CHRONICLE p,.bsissi,.,
Company: Dear Sir:-Owing to the fact that
there is not sufficient work In the job Office 10
require the services OF the present force, I
have been directed by the trustees of the
company to temporarily dispense with por-
ton OF the force employed therein. In ac-
corfance with that direction have to notify
you that your services will be temporarily
dispensed withf rom and after the receipt 6f
this note. Your pay will be allowed up And
until this evening. The notice is not sc rrpGi
on account of any dissatisfactiOn wit. von
or your services, but for the want OF w,vsrS in
h ma 70 Justify paying your salary. IL is to
will be increased sufficient to jus i N youT
return to your present position.
T Tsey t Esspsotfnl Es,. 70 L. ALE sn
ployed in the job room, to be fol- eyed 6y ten
others, or as many as might y considered
sufficient for the purpose, and ken all things
mine sprung. The proper Il Fss To a sk for n
reduction of the price of con rsosition,' wonId
have then arrived. The ~ts,le and time,y
no1inSi %o9 f, nave oeeh sennething to the
Gentlemen, we have CO kae to the conclus-
ion that we will hereaf - pay you only SO
much, whatever il m xf,t hey We do moi
desire to part with yo' A. and we esteem ven
all personally and we consider your services
OF more value to us ID sn thoseo any similar
number of men eou' q be- CThe preceding
sentence is not in Fpirit a creation of the
writer's fancy. TIL sse sentiments had been
more than once 1zsressed by the manager
ana one Otner, AT feast, of the company }
But we can get our work done for these
prices; In fact ave an ample force now
ready and wait az to take your places. which
we have 1mpC Fsed here at great expense
especially for this occasion. YOu can TAI Q
ii, or leave it; But don't hurry, gentlemen;
CONSIDER e Wen the times are hard and your
n .nl 10
All THIS IN The hope that, compelled by the
rear OF loss. OF employment, the force en-
PIoye Toys, VIC mid yield 10 any demands that
mlgnt De made upon them. That, had they
done So they could have retained their
places cannot be doubted and in that
event, DE same Punic faith that had been
kept with them would probably have been
also Kspt with those ''under contract to
Work for six months on the Chronicle, with
Whl ford as foreman"
Bu all this was not coercion. oh, MOI
Inc Ch9Uncie does not believe in coercion.
=" 1rcive means by one party TO a coatract
10 ward the other party to the same contract
aite, In Its opinion, morally wrong. Hear it..
In an article published two days after the
strike" abiding TO the abrupt manner in
which it's hands left. it says
'ThlS was legal, but IL was not courteous
treatment. II violated the principles of fair
ness which should control the relations of
employers and employed. 1t smacked
strongly OF a disposition to use cOcrcive
means to compel us to comply with their
| views. This was morally wrong. The en-
! ployed have no better right to coerce the en-
| plCyer than nc has TO cOeTce them. The relati, u
| should be that of mutual agreement. To
! compel an employer to agree u the terms
| escribed by the employed would convert
Thu measures taken by the Chronicle to Sc
cure its ends were not. therefore, cCercive.
| Certainly not: They were only intended To
secure q condition of mutual agreement"
Further comment is unnecessary.
In conclusion, a few words as to the Justice
or any demand Tor a reduction of the wages
fins ri
this point the following paragraph from an
article published in that journal last June
in relation to the compensation of govern
ment clerks is applicable:
"a man is appointed 10 a cleTkship. and
comes TO Washington under The vain delu-
sion that the twelve, eighteen, or twenty
hundred dollars salary will not only furn-
iSh competence To live on, bat enable him,
with economy, to lay up some money for flu
ture use. How soon this vision vanisheS the
experience of every clerk illustrates. They
IND in time that with The closest economy.
owing To the unexpected expenses of living
/ here, they are hardly able To make both ends
| meet. The liability 10 discharge prevents
them making such permanent arran gements
as might enable them TO reduce their ex-
/ penses"
Further on in the same article the Chronicle
| characterized the reduction in the salaries of
I these clerks then about to take place under
recent act OF Congress. as an Outrage" and
concluded as follows: "Such treatment of
faithful, competent employees is neither just
nor honorable"
The average pay of government clerks, ac-
corting TO the above paragraph, is < 600 per
anDun. The average earnings of printers
here viii fall far short OF S1.4OO. The former
work six hours per day. The latter chose
employed on morning papers, like the C2trOn-
| lcte) from twelve TO fourteen hours. Are not
the needs OF the latter as many and their
deserts AS great as are those of the former
Are not their families large, and must
they not rad ii quite as hard 10 make "both
ends meer' If so, then is the Chronicle, out
or its own mouth, convicted Of an attempt 10
frgE rnfaun -lax,
faithful, competent employees"
J. LORD.
On behalf OF the late employees.
We INVITE the attention of thnSe who do