Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1890-02-15
PAVEMENT AGITATION.
The Actual Situation Fully Ex-
planned.

Mistaken Ideas as 60 the Effect o
Eight Hours work on the f'ropert,
Heide rs---Woe 60 Rock Leland if OuI
Improvements are Checked.
II the property holders who hsv,
signed circumstances to the council
ainst the proposed paving improve
ments OF Second avenue and below Four
teenth aud on Twentieth street, as spok
en- OF yesterday. would stop to consoles
what they are doing aud the effect o.
what they are doing II they should bs
successful, il is a safe assertion to make
that nins-tenths of them would retrsct
their steps quickly How the councils
eight hour ordinance il to act in a mans
ner seriously burdensome to the prop.
erty holders. the ARGUS fails to conceive
IL has been asserted by citizens, who are
foremost IN securing signatures to the
remonstrinces, that under the eighth hour
day the proportionate cost of the pave,
ment is tn be increased twenty per cent
Such statement is certainly not based
either upon fact or an understanding of
the situa ion as it actually exists.
Take the bid of Atkinson & Oloff on
the Second avenue exten ZION for instance
Ii calls for $1.67 per square yard with
any kind of material the council may
stipulste and under any and all con III
tons tina the council may order. That
bid is two cents below the terms of the
same firm for Eighteenth street over
which no kick" was made aud con
tract for which has been closed and
sealed. But included in that 81 81 is
I'VE cents interest money. That is. the
Contractors agree to o the work on long
time. but as Mr.. Atkinson said this morn
ing. for any property holder that will pay
for his pavement as soon as il is put
down and approved by the council. it
will cost but 81 SO; there, in fact, Is n re-
ductien of two cents below what the Sec
ond aveu lie paving improvement between
Twentieth and Fourteenth streets cost
So that the residents who are willing To
pay cash for their improvement when il
is made save two cents per square yard
on the property holders in the business
psrt of town
Now as to how much of a figure the
eight hour law cuts. MIR. Atkinson
WAS asked to express himself on this pro
vision this morning and he said:
81 cant see what the property holders
have got to do with that. did not make
nv bid with reference to eight hours or
ten hours. made it with full ex-
pectation Of abiding by any conditions
that the council may see fit TO impose
That is u matter between the council and
myself and then between myself and
my men l pay my men so much
an hour II the council SAYS
shall work but eight hours, that is
all / will work my men. Why, l
worked ght hour men last summer and
paid then accordingly and l don't see
that the property holders suffered. As
matter of fact, during the hot days of sum-
mer l expect to work my men only eight
hours. / cant see that it makes any diff
ference to the property holders how many
hours work my men, emily that il will
take longer to do the work In putting in
less hours day than ten as a matter of
course. propose to pay my men by the
hour, and if the council says shall work
but eight no irs a day. well and good;
will pay them for eight eight hours work.
that is all there is to it,"
Mr.. AtEinson's statement seems to be
explicit enough and il overthrows COM
pletelS any statement that under the
eight hou- system lsborers would have to
be paid for ten hours work. The friends
of the eight hour movement have volun-
tarily and emphsticslly declared that the
wage question does not enter into the
matter ut all. They are willing 10 accept
pay for the time they put in-no more.
Whether IT not Mr.. Atkinson shares the
views with the other contractors is not
known, but it is to be supposed he does,
for all the contractors knew the condi-
tions under which they bid. At any rate,
the property holders know how he stands
and what they may expect should he get
the contract.
With this understanding of the case
how out of place q remonstrance does
seem before the council. II the property
holders think the work can be done
cheaper than under the present bids, they
can all be thrown out and new proposals
secured, but it is not the proper thing to
ask the council to abandon the paving
project entirely. As the ARGUS said yes
terday, the council has rightly shown its
aversion to remonstrances. With all
due respect to the trainers and signers
of the present documents in circulation.
they dom generally come from sources
from VIII CHI can be expected to spring q
public spirit or Il consideration of the best
interests Of the city. The council cannot
afford to set precedent of recognizing
remonstr ances If it does, it may as well
turn the town over to the oOstructionist,
al ID the Citizens Improvement associa-
ton can do nothing but move out to the
cemetery. Property holders have their
rights, and it is the duty of the council
to protect them, but petitions of the sort
alluded 20, should be well considered
before they are acted upon. The ARGUS