Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1883-07-25

| Tribune.
Last week the greater part Of the
commercial operators employed by
the Western Union Telegraph Com
pany struck. They demanded eight
hours work during the day, seven
hours for night work, extra pay for
Sunday work, and general advance
on their salaries of fifteen per cent.
Several thousand operators quit work,
and the result was great Interrupt
ton in telegraphic business. The tel
egraph company refused to grant the
demands of the strikers, and have
been doing the best they could under
the circumstances to send messages.
Small offices were closed; every OPP
orator, not in the brotherhood, that
could be procured, was engaged, and
the company has been able to send
the most important messages, al
though they have not been able to
do half their usual business since the
strike begun. The strike extends all
over the country, but does not effect
the press dispatches or the railroad
operators.
The average wages paid to CONNER
cial operators is s54.49 per month.
In 1882 the Western Union Tele-
graph Company had in use 374, 1868
miles of wire, and 131 900 miles of
line. They had 12,06S Offices; sent
3S,S42,247 messages; receipts were
s17,114,166; expenses were $685.
096, and the profits s7,11S,070. The
average cost of sending message
was over Is cents, and the average
profit on each message was over 1S
cents. The value of the property is
rated by the company at some
$50, 000,0 900, but it is estimated that
the property is only worth about
s25, 200, 000-the rest being what is
termed "watered stock" Out of this
large profit the company has paid on
both its real and watered stock about
8 per cent. per annum, and it is esti-
mated that "the profits cannot fall
much short of 33 per cent. year
upon the actual value of the plant"
"This enormous revenue says the
Chicago News "is wrested from the
public for the benefit of small cir
Gle of stock jobbers, whose existence
is continual menace to the coun-
try"
Whatever may be the public opin-
ion about strikers, there certainly can
be no very friendly opinion entertained
towards grasping monopoly like the
Western Union. 1t has wrung inn
mense sums from the public in order
to pay dividends on fictitious or "wat-
cred stock" and having a monopoly
of the business it bids defiance to the
public and continues to bleed them
financially for the benefit of a few
stock holders. In this fight with their
employees, the company can not ex-
pect popular sympathy, and there are
multitudes of people who would glad
ly sec the company deprived Of its
autocratic power, and forced to do
business on a business basis. The
public who arc forced to pay the de-
mands of the Western Union Telc-
graph Company, are not at all pleased
at being forced to pay dividends on
watercd stock, so that monopolist
stock holders can get rich. The pub
lie does not object to paying a fair
price, and they are willing that the
company should receive fair divi-
dend OH the real value of their prop
erty, and not cent more.
The executive committee of the
Telegraphic Brotherhood, in their
manifesto, have the following to say
in regard to Sunday work and the
eight hour system:
at is almost unnecessary to call at
tention to the well known fact that
all branches of labor, skilled and un-
skilled, when required to perform
Sunday work, receive extra, and in
some cases double, pay for such work,
which is not the case with telegraphic
employees, who are ut present required
10 perform such service without extra
compensation.
Telegraph operators are required
TO possess skill of high order; their
occupation Is combining and contipu-
Gus, and upon them Is concentrated
the gravest responsibility, and this
responsibility is constant and oppres-
sive. It-wears alike upon mind and
body, and impares the elasticity of
both, while it always demands the