The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1890-03-08
POSTOFFICB COMMITTEE
Hears Arguments for Postal
Clerks and Postal Telegraph.
EIGHT HOURS A DAYS LABOR

!,
A Knight OF Labor Appears In Bc.
half OF tho Wadc Postal Teie.
graph BILL Capitol News.
| WASHINGTON, D. o., March 7.--E,
Representative 7. J. Campbell, Of Ne,
York, to-day appeared before the Hous
postollice Committee to advocate til
passage OF pending bills to limit III
work Of postal clerks to eight hour
daily at full salary, and to grant them tel
days leave annually. Mr.. Campbell
said that he appeared as q voluntar;
friend Of the postal clerks.
Mr.. Wilson, former employe in til,
New York postotlice. next addressed tn,
committee. He said he had resigned ltil
place because OF oyerwork. In answer
to further questions by the chairman
Mr.. Wilson said that tho civil service
law had made the service much mort
desirable in his estimation; 1t had 30,
cured their tenure Of Office and had re-
lieved them from political taxation upon
their salaries.
Representative Quinn, of New York
himself mechanic, Us he stated, said
that he had always held that eight hours
was long enough for any man working
as the postal clerks do, to labor in one
day.
The committee next resumed the con.
sideration OF the subject Of postal tele.
graph, aud was addressed by Ralp Beau.
mont, chairman Of the Legislative Com.
nlittee OF tho Knights OF Labor. lie said
that the eighteenth plank OF tho plat.
form Of his organization declared for a
government telegraph system; and Rep
resentative Wade had introduced bill
embodying their views. This bill had
been reported to the last Congresses and
placed on the calendar; but the House
calendar had been sort OF potters' field
for all bills, and the Knights had no
special lot in that field.
These keen. shrewd business men had
built up and maintained great corpora
rations that overshadowed the country
and made the country lop.sided; it was
not wise thing to enter into any fur.
ther combination with them. Lincoln
would say to-day that this was Gov.
ernment OF corporations, bycorporatious
and for corporations. Or. Green had
been solicitous about the interests of
people who had gone into the telegraph
business and who would be ruined by
Government competition. Yet, he was
the President OF that great corpora.
ton, that, with its enormous
power, had crushed out opposi.
lion companies and other. people
who had invested their money in
the telegraph business. DR.. Green had
said that the Western Unions busi.
ness was mostly speculative. Then, if
the Butterworth bill to suppress stock
gambling became q law, the. Western
Union must go to to the wall; it could
not help it. DR.. Green had said that it
took years to make expert operators,
and that his company must have
skilled labor. Why, in the great tele.
graphers' strike, when all the ticks in
the New York office stopped, did DR..
Green get skilled help? Not he; he
secured tic telegraph, schools
and filled the offices with the
students. Perhaps the Postmaster Gen
eral had better remember that device,
Turning to the detail of the Wade
bill the witness said that the lines pro.
posed could be erected for S5,5S0,57O,
and the bill carried total appropriation
Of sS,0O0,000. The Government should,
own, operate and control its own sys.
TEN. He admitted that ii the Wanama-
ker bill resulted in cheap telegraph rates
for the people generally, he would be
better pleased than under the present
system. He did not credit DR.. Green's
statement that but one million people
used the telegraph.
Chairman Bingham asked il under his
plan the rate could be reduced mater
tally. The witness replied that taking
into consideration the fact that the
Western Union was doing free II large
business for railroad companies, and
that it also had large ranking busi-
ness, he believed the rates would stand
considerable shrinkage on a fair basis.
The chairman replied that the Western
Union gotta good deal OF service from
the railroads; it got q full return for its
service. It asked whether it would be
wise to tax the people generally to main
tain telegraph system that would be
used by small proportion OF tho popu-
lation. =
The witness replied that it would be
Just. 1t would be in the line of what
the Government had done with the mail
service, when it cost twenty-five cents
to send letter and few people propor.
tionately INDUCED in letter writing. The
same result would follow with the teIe.
graph. Rates would be gradually re-
duced and the use Of the Telegraph would
become more and moro general.
Mr.. Grain said that the Wade bill nro.
posed telegraph system that would be
purely experimental, and deficit q
matter OF conjecture to be determined
by experience. The Wanamaker bill,
however, secured the people the same
advantages, but protected the govern.
ment against deficit, because it would
be underno expense. Would it not be
better to avoid the realms OF conjecture,
take up the propositions OF the Wana.
maker bill, try them and il the witness
was shown to be right, would it not be
time to try his plan. ~
The witness wanted to know what
assurance had been given that there
would not be deficit under the terms
Of the Wanamaker bill. 2W 4
Mr.. Grain replied that there could be
none, because the sender OF kilograms
would be required to pay the cost.
The witness quoted DR.. GREEN'S state.
ment to the effect that deficit would be
unavoidable, and endorsed that view.
Mr.. Grain called attention to Mr., Bates
offer to contract for the service and nav
rent ior the Government buildings oc.
cupied,
Tho wltness-Ifthe rates suit him,
Mr.. Crain-But will they be less than
the Western Union rates and we run no
risk Of q deficit? h 4
Witness insisted that the Government
should own and operate the lines, and
that il the sentiment Of the people were
known to Congress, 1t would probably
pass the Wade bill, to which end $50, ,OOC
people had petitioned the House.
Tho Worlds Fair Committee.
WASHINGTON, D. G., March THE
I