South Branch intelligencer. [volume] (Romney, Va. [W. Va.]) 1830-1896, 1883-08-10
Letter from Washington.
From Our Regular Correspoadsnt.
WAsHINsrev, d. G.. Aug. 6.

news and political certre. Public
sympathy here has been from the first
unanimously with the Brotherhood.
but the odds seem 10 be on the side
OF tue great monopoly whose greed
and arrogance have made it so oiien-
siye. Puck's cartoon of the tourua.
ment between capital aud labor por.
trays the situatian, 10 the shame Of the
American people DC it said. The DO
liticat significance OF tue strike il two
fold. First it may serve to forcibly
direct the attention OF Congress to the
necessity OF government control OF
the telegraph. When Jay Gould with
his millions OF i'll gotten wealth can
substitute the press--or n portion OF it
and sit ut the head of n concern
whose profits have swcllcd its capital
to more than ten times the original
investment. and there grind down to
starvation wages the army of men
from whose la6o: this profit is earned;
and when this arrogant monopoly
gobbies upevcry competitor and open,
- boasts that II can starve out all op
position to it's sway, tits time for Con.
gross 10 realize that the people have
some rights.
The state of aff.irs directs attention
to the approaching triumph OF the
democratic partys 1t is the natural
foe OF monopoly and the s;eadlast
friend Of he nottingham. No such
state of things rs now exist could
have grown up under democratic adj
ministration of the government, be
cause the defiant corporations would
be held TO accountability & compelled
20 obey the laws. The statements
given out By the Western Union
company that II IS handling its bust.
ness readily and promptly and that
the service is improving day by day
are absolutely false It's service is in
n state of chaos. Dispatches are delay
ed abominably ana transmitted in
such bad shape aSto be often misslcad.
ing or useless. Its alacrity in spread
ing reports of interference with lis
wires is malicious, the fact being that
there is not single authenticated
case Of Interference by the strikers,
who are under strict injunction from
the power that guides them to avoid
all such mischief, which would only
harm their cause These misrepre.
sensations are merely part Of the tac.
ties OF the company in Its desperate
game of hlu.I, which - too truuspar-
cnt to win.
There are bureaus il the various
executive departments here that
would not be crippled by Il reduction
OF the number ot clerks employed IN
them. With all the clamor ~ nearly
every department for more clerks and
larger appropriations, Ills c1plblc OF
easy demonstration that tHllycuo halt
the employees now enrolled perform
very night duties. While 10 some Of
ices the CLERKS have enough to 10
a"u DO 1t faithfully, IN many others
there IS systematic loahng aud almost
continuous ldlcuess. By Il possible
REIMBURSEMENT OF DIVISIONS and the en-
iorcemcnt OF u iiljIc better discipline,
or closer application, the present force
OF employees III every department
would be found more lhan ample
But tins would give come OF the
clerks less time to read newspapers
and run about the malls OF the build
lngs, AMI would involve taking feet
down from the desks to some extent
ana Oraclng MP 10 work rs people IA
other ClliNI5 work. These rCtiectIOI,S