Morning journal and courier., 1883-07-18
THE TELEGRAPHERS.

1fs-O6VeE&I
 have appeared in Palma, the capital of the
 Balearie Islands, Spanish possession in the Mediterranean.
 THE TELEGRAPHERS. No Strike Yet-The Operators Retlcent but Seemingly F1rm-A Probable Re-
 fusaI by the Company to Treat with the eCOmmittee-GeneraI Eckert States the Companv's Case.
 NEW YORK, July 1.-The executive com
 mittee of the Telegraphers' Brotherhood did nothing to-day at their meeting except to
 decide to refuse to give the names of the men
 whom they represented to General Eckert, who had requested them. Their reason is
 that the company might in case of contest
 feel disposed to discriminate against the men
 who were willing to stand out. The execu-
 tive committee of the Western Union met to-
 day, but took no action beyond discussion. One of the members said the matter would be taken up formally to tomorrow, when the
 brotherhood would have an opportunity
 to produce list of operators whom they
 represented. Should they refuse to do 50 the
 company would be in position to decline to
 treat with the committee at all on the ground
 
 represent the operators. Another represen- l tatiye of the Western Union company said
 fully one-third of the operators would refuse
 to leave their instruments. Superintendent Humiston, of the same company, says that
 whatever may be done the demands as pre- sented will not be granted as they really mean an increase of 30, 50 and 75 per cent. 1 and not alone of 15 per cent. as they seem to 1 do.
 | PH11ADE1PH1A, July. IT, Although the l officers of the Western Union company have given no instructions to their representative | in this city as to the impending strike of 1 operators, the superintendent of this district 1 IS making all the Arrangements necessary to prevent a general stoppage of the work. The superintendent claims that they will be able l to handle the business of Philadelphia and in fact the whole district, and handle 1t well, if | strike does occur. The operators and the public, however, are not so sanguine of this, | and it is generally feared that business will suffer greatly if the operators quit work in a ! body as it is now feared they will do unless l their demands are complied with.
 WASHINGTON, July 17.-Little, if any, in- formation can be obtained from men here l who are known to be members of the Tele- graphers' Brotherhood concerning the Proba- ble result of thesnegotiations now in prog | ress in New York between the Western | Union officials and the Brotherhood commit l tee, since the members are generally very reticent and profess to be waiting patiently | for the decision of the Western Union com pany. In the event of general strike on the Western Union lines there is no doubt | but that the business of this important tele- | graphic news centre would be badly crippled.
 CHICAGO, July 17.-The following tele graphic letter from President Eckert to Colonel | CIowry, Chicago superintendent, presents l more fully than has yet been done the com pany's side of the case.
 NEW YORK, July IT. | To R. c. Clowry, general superintendent l Western Union Telegraph company, Chlca- | go, Ills:
 1 A committee of six persons called upon me yesterday and presented a memorial address | ed to the Western Union Telegraph company | and signed by themselves as members Of the executive committee of the Brotherhood of | Photographers of the United States and Cana | da The memorial calls upon the company for certain concessions in regard to hours and
 rates of pay substantially in accordance with
 the programme with which you have been | familiar since their March meeting in Chica- l go The parties were asked If they repre-
 sented the employees of the company and
 upon replying af6rmatively they were re-
 ouested to furnish list of such employees. 1 This they were not able to do, stating that it
 would require long time to prepare list | and that they were here on expense They
 were told that the company did not
 know the committee or whether it's members l had authority from the Western Union em- ploves to present any demands, and we could not deal with outside parties. Aside from | the questionable manner of presenting such l memorial, one demand is that both sexes
 have equal pay for equal work, and another 8 l 15 per cent. increase on all salaries An operator now receiving salary of $50 month
 would by this plan get a s%sLler eaa increase ss
 thus widening the difference now existing
 An $8O operator at present works nine hours | daily twenty six days @ month, equal to
 thirty-four and eighteen-one. .hundredths GA | 1S-1OO) cents per hour. Under the schedule
 in the memorial the same operator will re- ceiye 1892 per month for eight hours daily, | equal to about 30 per cent. in addition to 1 the Sunday allowance just granted under the new rule. This is the smallest | increase demanded. In case Wheatstone ! operator receives $50per month for twenty six working days, equal to 21 36100 cents per
 hour, the proposed scneoule Wonlo give hlm
 per hour. an increase of over 94 per cent. | Another demand is that inemen shall be al- | lowed two days pay for Sunday work and
 that SC5 shall be the lowest rate of pay re-
 gardless of location OF importance of
 Service and that the duties of
 Iinemen shall be confined to legitimate work. | Nothing is said about the duties of other classes beiuc restricted to their particular | line of employment. but if such concession | were allowed one class there is no reason for
 withholding it from others, and why inemen should have helpers is not understood. Again double pay for Sunday work offers 1 temptations to the men to slight their Satur l day duty to create necessity for the Sun- day work. The demand that both sexes 1 shall be paid the same for like service looks | to the driving of women labor from the | ranks, as. were the company to concede 1t, | it would be to its interests to prefer men operators, who can be availed of for great | CT variety of service than women operators who may be equally capable of general duty. | In a published interview with member of the commission the latter stated that
 since the organization of it's league
 petty wire troubles and mistakes in
 messages have practically ceased and that | business has been greatly facilitated, these results being attributed directly to the fact 1 of the orcanization. The reverse is the case. | Operators declining to join the league have 1 been interfered with in their duties, wires have been thrown out of working condition and in numerous cases the official business of the officers of the com 1 pany has been mutilated and seriously de ! layed. A strike of the American District 1 Telegraph line, members of the league, took place in this city recently, since which time the strikers have been engaged in cutting | wires daily, one man now being under arrest 1 and indictment for such lawless work. With 1 thousands of able bodied men out of employment all over the country applying to | us for work such Q demand is remarkable. | It is known that large proportion of the | operators have been led to join the league | under compilation and others under the be- lief that the organization was cooperative