The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1883-08-29
The Strike from Mr.. GOuld's
Standpoint.

~NN OAASo
That astuGe and far .seeiug ventle-
man named Jay Gould has probably
oeen deprived OF very little sleep by the
strike OF she telegraph operators. II
the dear public hes suffered inconve.
nience By being thrown back fifty
years Ia it's methods of inter.commu.
nicstion. Mr.. Gould isdoubsless sorry.
but then how could he help it if the
operators would insist on not work.
Ing, because they wrongly imagined
that they we're un1er-paid and over
worked. No amount of argument
on his part would convince these
WroDg-heAded fellows that their
grievance we're purely imaginary.
Besides, Mr.. Gould is not an orsto
ard be really has not the time to take
each one of separately and tell him
how much mistaken mere employees
are apt to be when dealing with the
ve1ed questions OF capital and labor.
We can picture the dear man signing
over the perveFsity of the operators
and adjusting himself to q more COM
Portable position in his steamer chair,
prepared to take q more general view
OF the situation. The dear public
would doubtless become dissatisfied
With the idea of their electric COM
munlCstion being hampered and at
times out OF whenever q dispute
arose between the companies and the
operators. To some newspaper tei-
low or other would occur the bright
ides that the only way to prevent
such occurrences in the future would
be for the government to take the tel
egraph lines into it's own hands.
The Western Union company would
gladly do all it could to facilitate
business over it's lines, but of course
it could not be expected TO yield to |
the outrageous demands of the
strikers. And poor Mr.. Gould sighed
again as he thought of the poor pub
lie growing more and more impatient
as the strike continued and the ne
cessity for The governm eut's owning
the telegraph became more and more
apparent to the people. Against the
time that Congress convened their
might arise public howl in favor
OF taking Mr.. Goud's telegraph lines
away from him. We are afraid Mr.. |
Gould didn't start up with horror
when this thought occurred to him.
He doubtless sighed again more
deeply than before, and let his mind
dwell on all the nice fresh water there
was in that eighty millions of West
ern Union stock. It wasn't pleas
ant prospect to give up all that water
for the bulky surplus OF gold eagles
and standard dollars with which the
United States Treasury is said to be
OVERLOOKING, but Mr.. Gould doubtless
knows how to manufacture some
more water. And then, perhaps,
Mr.. Gouid's guileless mind turned
towards calculation of how many
congressman. ct how much apiece,
be would have to buy to keep the
government from going ahead and
building its Own lines instead of buy
ing the Westeru Union plant. Con.
gressmen might come high but he
must have them. Ten per cent. on
eighty millions would buy quite a
number OF congressman. Win fifty
per cent. OF water in the eighty mill
lions and ten per cent. (ontside fig
ures) for congressman at market
rates, poor Mr.. Gould would have
only tbirty.two millions OF water to
exchange for gold and silver dollars
ORce more the little man sighed and
glanced along the deck of his yacht
as be thought what a mercensry
world this is, and how much trouble
striking operators and al unfeeling
public combined to place on the
shoulders OF a coniding millionaire.
- The Modern Age for September.