Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-12-30
A PRINCIPLE.
I 1t is Involved in q Strike by Fort
Worth Printers
EEorkmsn Ont OF Employment.
Statement by the Manager Of
the Establishment.

When "time'' was called at the
Texas printing and lithographing estab-
lishment in Fort Worth yesterday morn
ing, the printers failed to appear at
their cases, and the beginning OF what
may be long strike was made.
The printers claim Il is lock out.
The circumstances are these: The
men employed BY the Texas Printing and
LithographinR company are members of
the typographical union. Some three
months ago the mon requested that their
hours of labor be shortened from
ten tn nine hours per day, and
the company acceeded, not perma-
nently but as an experiment. The
company did not find the experiment
success and OF last Saturday SO in
formed the men, telling them that
they would, beginning on Monday
yesterday morning have to work ten
hours per day. On sunday special
meeting of the local typographical union
was called and IL vas decided not to
work ten hours day.
twenty-five printers are involved now,
and members of the craft allege the men
employed in other job offices in the city
may be drawn into the trouble.
Last evening q GAZETTE man talked
with Mr.. w. \. Garner, the manager OF
the Printing and Lithographing COM
pany's business, and as his views are
moderate and reasonable they probably
embody tho whole facts. They are as
follows:
"The Evening Mail OF to-day gives
rather a fiippart account of the disagree
and tina
printers who have been in our employ
iince the organization of the company
that ia calculated to do an injustice to
The typographical union OF this city and
,ur company also.
at Is matter of principle with
the union more than the Immediate
dollars and cents involved, and It is
question of the existence here in Fort
Worth of a manufacturing plant In our
line on a large scale.
''The Mails statement that the man
ager of the company referred to the
trouble as "just q little strike; that's
ALL is not quite correct, for the said
manager was not interviewed at all.
"Again am afraid the reporter mis-
understood our foreman, Mr..
J. l.. Duff; at least I am quite
sure he did not voice the views person.
ny MI buu VIM
tion of $40 week, that he knew he
could hold as long as he desired, to fol-
low his associates insa conscientious de-
sire to uphold the movement that was
put on foot in September last to shorten
the hours OF the laborIng class.
The management of our company do
not desire to pose as the opponents of or
ganized labor, for, on the contrary, we
are heartily in favor of cooperation of
employees, and to them we refer as 20 our
universal kind treatment, and our doors
will always remain open to the MEM
beers of the typographical union of Fort
Worth.
Until September last we were work.
ing our force ten hours a day and paving
our printers Sl5 per week. Then, hsv-
Ing been solicited by the printers union
to adopt the niue hours u day scale
without reducing their wages, on the
theory advanced that Us much work
could be done by such change by rea-
son of the increased energy OF the
employees, etc. after mature deiibera-
ton we agreed TO try the nine hour sys-
TEN, and have worked that way for the
past four months. About week ago
we consulted with our foreman about re-
turning 10 our former ten hour system,
stating as our reason that we were losing
money on our manufacturing depart
ment. Tie matter was discussed among
our employees thoroughly and il was
agreed between the management and our
foreman on Saturday last that TO get an
expression on the matter the manage
ment should instruct the employees that
beginning its week the company would
return to the ,eu hour svstem and that the
typographical union should meet on
Sunday afternoon and decide whether
they would permit their members to work !
ten hours u day ut the same scale OF
wages, viz: SIS per week. The union
was informed that We would pay ell |
skilled job printers capable of earn !
ing more than SIS per week $50 or even
SIS per week if they could earn that |
amount. This settles the question down |
to!the point of principle with the typo !
graphical union, which involves the |
question of shortening the hours OF labor; |
and 10 the company the point is involved |
of whether they shall be permitted 10 |
run their machinery ten hours !
n day rs our competitors do or |
shall we lie idle one-teuth CT the time. |
Whenever the nine-hour system shall !
become universal in the manufacturing |
ceuters of the North it will be quite time |
enough for the movement to become |
general in the South, and we hope to be |
the pioneers here TO adopt the measures, |
and we are sincere when we say that it is
not policy for the printers to attempt to |
'kill the hen that lays the golden egg.'
Il VETERAN IN CHANGE.