Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-04-29

buoulu nave an lncucement TO become eT-
pert and not feel that portion OF their
experience is TO be given to hers indis-
criminateiy, including those who are here
to-day and away tomorrow, as well as
| those who work permanently in the Office
would have no right to make the ex-
actions now make of the market cases if
did not give them some equivalent. As
to your specific statement relative to what
the present market men can make as COM
pared with the average, leave you to con-
slider whether they do not happen to be
faster compositors on straight matter than
the average, and if they are
| whether you would think composition
who could set 10000 ems straight matter,
| while another was setting 5000, should, as
a matter of equity, divide his labor with
his less rapid companion. 1 am express
| Tag no opinion relative to the respective
qualifications of the men in the office, for
that is a matter with which you are far
| more familiar than am, but give you
! the pointer as food for thought.
1 now come to the second branch of your
Communication, namely, the ad cases.
You are well aware the city advertising
forms very large part of the work on the
sd cases. To city advertising very large
portion of my arguments on the market
| cases apply. Accuracy in names, figures,
and descriptions is matter of vital i'm
portsnce, and can only be acquired by ex-
perience. There are also numerous changes
from copy by city officers which the ad
men correct without charge. They aid in
| the proof-reading, in the makeup of long
ads and in other ways do great deal be-
yond compensation for which no charge is
made, but as they have the profits of their
| labor they can we'll afford to do it, though
| if they were giving away their work they
could not be expected to do so. I have
| felt that it WIS important to make it an in
! ducement for men who had become fanil-
| lar with names of citizens, streets, addi-
tions, sud the general style, to do the city
| ad work carefully and rapidly. If you
could have heard some of the comm ents
made to me by city officers upon proof
sent them when ads have been set promis-
cuously, and felt as I did that the
proof merited the comment, think you
would have been sufficiently morti-
fed TO admit that it ought to be made an
| object for some one to become expert in
! that line.
| Without arguing the question further,
however, will state that I now propose
to inaugurate plan during the current
week, q plan which have for some time
had in contemplation but have been de-
layed for want of adequate quarters. l
propose to remove the city ad. department
entirely from the composing room. This
| will remove all questions of distribution,
sorts, ETC., from the news room. AS soon
as get this plan inaugurated there will be
no city ads. set in the news room except in
cases where the city officers rush in lengthy
| ads on short notice, and in that case they
will have to take their chances on the
proof and the composition the same, as
they will be put on the hook like any other
copy. In other words, there will be no
city ad cases in the news room.
| Az there will still remain two business
ad cases you will readily see that those
ads, divided between two men, will only
give such advantage to them as their skill
and familiarity with the cases will Justly
entitle them to. Your request for bonus
/ of so per cent. above 10000 ems would
leave each ad man an average of about
5000 ems per day, without giving away
i one-half of all in excess of that amount,
| while a competent ad man certainly ought
to be able to set 5000 straight matter. l
can see no reason for asking the ad men to
give the Office the benefit Of their skill
which enables them to rush up copy, and
not give them at the same time as fair
play as IS accorded TO the other men in TIE
| Office.
One more point and I am through. The
pay roll shows by actual count that since
| the lst day of last October there have been
| 115 different men at work in the news
room. This time embraces winter when
men are more permanent than in the sum-
mer, and it is reasonable to say that at
lie asst 225 or $50 different men work in the
Office during the year. As there are, be-
ieve, but twenty-iv cases, this shows the
| moving character of the force. l want to
make it an object for men to retain posi-
tions and work steadily and permanently
if competent to do the work. To this end
1 believe in allowing men the pay for what
they honestly earn, and not compel men
who work in the Office the year around ia
pay premium for the permanency to a
couple of hundred other men in the course
of year, who for various causes do not
care to entitle themselves to permanent
situations.
have written thus lengthy that there
might be full, frank and fair understan
ing between US, and that you might be dis
abused of the idea that 1 desire to be I'm.
fair to some and partial to others. I be.
lieve in fair play, and shall always accord
it to the men in my employ.
Respectfully yours, Il. P. Hall.
1t is due the compositors to state that
upon receiving the answer they verbally
explained that they intended to allow each
of the two advertising men 10000 ems be.
fore exacting bonus.
1t would be so manifestly unjust for the
GLOBE to dictate to its employees what they