The daily gazette., 1882-05-24
EDITION.
from YEsTEHpAY
REaARDfSG THE STRIKE.
Something . be read and Considered BY

somsthing to be Read and Considered by
LIN BricklAyers and Others.
THE boss bricklayers have announced
their intention TO hereafter abstain from
making any statements In regard TO the
present strike to newspaper reporters, mas
much as one or two papers, they complain,
have been publishing every idle rumor and
wild statement in regard to the matter, and
thereby preludicing the public against the
emnloyers II is their intention to adhere
etrietly 10 their original determination and
when 4 settlement comes It will be proved
that they were In the right. Many persons
have declared emphatieally that "$3 day
was enough for any man" but the first
boss is yet to be heard 20 say he thought
$3.50 day was any too much. They
know Il is not, as they were journeymen
themselves at one time, and were they
able the advance would be made, and
might have been had the strike been inaugu-
rated in a proper manner. But as one of
them recently remarked, "the men grabbed
us by the throat without warning and de-
manded So So" The contracts for building
had been made at the rate of $500, and an
increase of so cents day would be serious
matter when accounts were being
balanced. It is contended that even were
the demands of the men granted 1t would
of buildings would thereby be increased in
propottiO6, making investors hoid off, and
work consequently would be less.
II Is fact, and one that should be borne
ii mind, that the class of buildings going
upih this city are mostly dwellings, not for
manufacturing purposes, thus showing that
business is not Increasing sufficiently to war
rant high, wages. In Philadelphia nearly all
the brick work going on this season is either
speculative or dwellings. The stagnation in
the textile fabric trade has virtually put an
end to the erection of factories and work
shops, and the threatened strikes Of the
iron workers will still further tend to impede
all branches of our industrial system.
Some of the strikers In this city speak OF
going to Philadelphia, West Chester and
other places in search of work. 1t would
beiwell for them to know that in Philadel-
phia alone hundreds Of good bricklayers are
walking the streets with nothing to do be-
cause the work is not to be had. The men
there fancy they are "holding out" against
the bosses, when the painful truth is thai
there is nothing for them to do.
Builders are all holding off, the price OF
material and the mems demands deterring
them from advancing new projects. The
spur m business last fall relieved the market
of its stock, and of course the price of neces-
sary material went up in proportion as 1t be-
came scarce. The old rates are still main
tanned, but it Is rumored that prices will
soon stake tumble" which may in a mea-
sure start building anew, but it is not prob
able that wages can be advanced, as all con-
tracts will have to be based on the rates now
paid the men.
.ilAA6ther thing for the strikers to bear in
mind is the fact that rents have not been
advanced in the same ratio as the cost in
building has increased. And it is not prob
able that they will be successful in their
demands, even though it is asserted that b
Frank Perkins, boss, has offered to COM
promise with the men for 1925 day. Ever
should they be successful it would not pro
long the working season one day, as tha
matter is regulated purely by the weather
Besides, the time they have already lost IL
voluntary idleness will require long timt
to make their finances even at this season
should they go to work at once. All strikei
come to an end, and in the long run tn,
men get the worst of it.
The GAZETTE's sympathies are witt
neither the bosses nor the strikers, but with
both. 1t is an unpleasant duty to be Obliged
to record disputes between labor and capi
tai, as harmony between bosses and work
men is essential to the success of each. Gu
idea is to give plain statement Of tn
trouble now existing in a Straightforward
and impartial manner.
The most perfect fitting pattern is tn
Universal, sold at Wheeler d Wilson
Office, S07 Market street.