National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1875-04-30

consider 20 Al services Of more yAlue to rs than
tnose OF Say similar humber Of men could be,
lIhe PR eeding sentence is not In SPIRIT creation
been 'AoFe than once expressed by the manager
and one other, at least, Of the company But
VIC ean get work done fer these prcesi In fact
have an ample force now ready and waiting to
lake your places, which We have imported here
at great expense especially for this occasion.
geDtiemeo; consider we'll; the times are hard
and your bread and butter Is at stake.
Of IGss ' n smpIoymept the force emeIoysd would
yield 70 any demands that might be made upon
them. That, had they done 90, they could have
that event. the same Punie faith that had been
kept with them would probably have been also
Kept with those under contract 70 work for six
mOAths on the ChroRieIe, with Whitford as fore
But all this was not coercion. oh, no The
means by one party to contract toward the other
party to the same contract are, IN Its opinion,
morally wrong. Hear It. In an article Publishtd
manner in which its hands left, It says:
This was legal, but it was not courteous treat
should control the relations Of employers and en-
plOyed. 1t smacked strongly OF q disposition to
use eoerciVe means to compel us to comply with
ployed have no better right to eoerce the en-
ployer than he has TO c0erce them. The relation
should be that Of mutual agreement. To compel
the employed would convert him into q menial."
The measures taken by the Chronicle 70 seeare
its ends were not, therefore, eoercive. Certainly
not. They were only intended TO secure q condi-
tion Of 'EnutuAl agreement" Further comment
is unnecessary.
In conclusion, q few words as to the Justice OF
any demand for a reduction Of the wages Of print
ers in this city In connection with this point the
following paragraph from an article published in
that Journal last June in relation to the compen-
sation Of Government clerks Is applicable:
"a man is appointed to a clerkship, and comes
to Washington under the vain delusion that the
twelve, eighteen, or twenty hundred dollars
salary will not only furnish q competence to live
on, but enable him, With economy, to lay up some
money for future use. How soon this vision van
ishes the experience Of every clerk illustrates.
owing to the unexpected expenses Of living here,
they are hardly able TO make both ends meet.
The sbility to discharge prevents them making
such permanent arrangements as might enable
them TO reduce their expenses"
Further on in the same article the Chronicle
characterized the reduction In the salaries Of
these clerks then about to take place under re-
cent act Of Congress. as an "oEtrage,n and con-
eluded ss follows: such treatment Of faithful,
competent employees is neither just nor honor
able"
The average pay of Government clerks, ac-
cording to the above paragraph, is $1,000 per
annum. The average yearly earnings of printers
will fall far short Of 400. The former work six
hours per day. The latter Chose employed on
morning papers, like the ChT0RicIe,l from twelve
TO fourteen hours Are not the needs OF the latter
many and their deserts as great as are those OF
the formeTT Are not their families as large, and
must they not ind it quite as hard to make "both
its OWE mouth, convicted Of an attempt TO tout
rage" those whom It has confessed to be faithful,
competent employees" J. LORD,
On behalf OF the late employees.