The Evening critic., 1883-02-27

nv "oIe SENATORS VINO made so much
russ saturday about the Typographical
UNIONS preventing the Public Printer from
employing whom he pleased in the Gov
efnment Printing Office showed wonderful
amount of ignorance in their statements
AS matter of fact it is not the Union that
prevents the Public Printer from employ
ing whom he plesses, but Senators aud
members OF Congress. 1t requires an i'm
mense amount of nerve and will for the
fubllc Printer to appoint whom he chooses
even to the most responsible positions in the
oihce-positions which require ability of a
peculiar kind, and thorough knowledge of
inc Art Preservative in all its branches. The
present Public Printer, to his credit be il
said, has done this in some instances, but
at much discomfort to himself. The men
who have the political influence of Senators
and members of Congress are the ones whom
he must appoint, if he values his peace of
mind, whether the applicant knows n
shooting stick" from n shotgun, or n
"quoin" from trade dollar. One of these
very Senators who was so Mortified to know
that the Government Printing Office was
"hopelessly and helplessy in the hands of
q private association that dominates and
controls the choice of the employees" was
not many years ago one of the instruments
that forced upon the then Public Printer
man as foreman who scarcely knew
font of type from kec
of nails. This is not the only case by thou
sands that might be enumerated where in
competent men have been forced upon the
Public Printer by political influence, where
none but the most skillful should be en-
ployed. The man whom another Senator
speaks of as being forced out of a proof
readers position by the Union was so in
competent that other men had to be paid
to do his work over. The Union never de-
manded that the Public Printer should en-
ploy an incompetent man Tor any man at
all, or that he should discharge a com
potent one.
The Government Printing Office has
been running under the rules of the Union
for twenty-eight years, and no Senator can
point to single minutes delay in all that
time, in getting out the work caused by the
Union. Its members have always been on
hand at any hour, night or day, in those
twenty-eight years to get out the important
work without clash OF friction. No Seua.
tor can point to an office of any magnitude,
run outside the rules of the Union, for this
length of time, where there has been no
trouble. And, bear in mind, in all those
twenty-eight years there has not been a
single case of "dictation" to the Public
Printer by the Union as to whom he should
or should not employ.
The Union does ash every printer work.
ing in the Office to join their association.
They say to him, in effect: "We have
formed ourselves into an association to
protect ourselves, to advance our trade to
bury our dead, to take care of the sick, to
see that each of us gets what belongs to us.
to see that each does his duty without
Sinking, that one of us shall not have all
the lean and others all the 'phat,' and
while we thus insure equity to ourselves
we also enforce rules for the protection of
our employer. We sec that the material
with which we work is cared for as if it
were our own, we enforce honesty in meas
urement, we settle all disputes among our
selves without trouble or loss to our en-
ployer. We want you to join u.s." This is
the sum total of the harm in the Union. No
Senator can show where the interests of the
Government have suffered because of the
rules of the Union or where the Public
Printer has been dictated to by it.
We say this, not SO much in the interest
of the Typographical Union as in the inter-
est of all trades unions. We believe in the
right of labor to organize. We believe it is
as much for the good of the employer as of
the employe. And we think Senator of
the United States has little to do, and be-
Titles his position when he indulges in
such exhibitions as that of Saturday. As
we said before, we believe in the Typo
graphical Union, and we know what we are
talking about. Its members perform the
work on THE CRITIC and we abide by its
rules, and do not find them burdensome or
unjust.