The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1878-02-20
letter from MIR. a. +. Heath.
Rock Is1ANn Fab % 1879

1aOOh ISLAND, Feb, ~, 1873, :
7 notice a communication in the Union.
this morning. from One of the Plow BOYS"
,tat;nc certain things as being facts, which
T will name, mildly, as being absolutely
folsa He intlmates that B. d. Buford &
10 do not pay twice month, regularly,
az has been their custom for the past wear
and q half-this I know to be absolutely
false. from the situation / bold with the
comnany. As to any coercion of their EN-.
nIoves to trade with Butord & Taylor, [
will simply say this is false in every par
ticular. Nothing OF the kind is required
by the company. 1t is left optional with
the employee to trade where his interests
shall suggest. AS to extortionary prices,
would merely say. that there are many
who do not trade there and still they are
not discharged nor are they thought any
the less of by their employers. | imagine
this letter of one of the Pillow Boys" was
written by some outsider for political pur-
poses, still it is none the less false. lam
one of the Plow Boys also.
A. T. HEATS
AS this is a subject of considerable in
terest to a large number of citizens of this
city and Moline, and intimately connected
with the large enterprises of both cities,
THE ARGUS publishes the above letter
from Mr.. Heath, on whom the duty Of
paying the employees OF the shop devolves.
for the above reason and in order to set
forth the facts in the case, as we find
them on investigation, The article pub
lished in the Union does not, we believe,
emanate from any employe of Buford's
factory, as none of the boys in the shop
!! would be guilty Of such false statements.
1t is more likely that it is written in the
Union Office, as is their habit, and published
by that paper because the proprietors of
the shop do not patronize that paper to
any great extent, or it may be that it was
written by some dealer who wishes to get
Mr.. Taylor's trade away from him; or it
may be that it is written by some of the
leaders of the dark lantern society" in
order to work up state of feeling that
will enable them to control the votes of the
workingmen at the coming election. 1t
being understood that some Of the en-
ployes of that shop expect to be nominated
for Office. Possibly it may have been
written by some employe who has traded
more than his wages amount to and wants
to strike at the friends who are carrying
him and extending him credit, but we
think not.
Our reasons fol- not believing that it was
written by any employee of the shop are
from the facts stated in Mr.. Heath's letter
and from the additional fact that the mel
in Buford's shops are better paid and MAKE
more money per day than men in an!
other shop or those engaged in any othe
kind of work Suppose the Union, or an!
Plow Boy who may have written the article
stop and consider for a moment wha
} would be the effect il Buford & Co. shoul'
: think they had money enough and clos
their factory for twelve months. VIVA
would be the effect at such time as this
when relief committees are patrolling tn
: city, feeding those who canuot get work a
: any price. Let the poor fool who wrot
5 the article, and the Union who publishe
: it, remember that Buford & Co. could dis
i charge every one of their men and hir
e them over again tomorrow for Is pc
/ cent less than they are paying them to-da!
e Let the poor idiot who thus attempts
t strike at concern that is to-day giviD
n 400 men an opportunity to earn bread f
f themselves and families hide his head III
= der an anonymous signature. No wondt
d he is ashamed Of his tname. While Il
IS Bufords pay no attention to it, Mr.. Heat
who is an employe of the company, branC
the author, in his mild way, as liar; y
even liar can find those willing to publ:
'e their lies without investigation. What a
d the facts regarding the wag
'r men in this factory receive? We ha'
n taken the trouble to enquire and find ths
% outside of boys and apprentices, roust
n bouts receive $l.40 per day; more intel
sr gent laborers receive So so; the painte
o. average 81 IS; the woodworkers on pie
d work earn 1866; the grinders, So 9
y best blacksmiths, $4,S5 per pay. Do the
Re men believe that their place cannot be fill
e for less money?