The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-03-22
A QUESTION OF WAGES.
It Is Raised Between the Rapid Tran
sit Company and the Work.
ingmen's Assembly.
Men Put to Work Yesterday at
Fifty Cents Less Than
the Scale.
pst They win Receive the Ruling Ratio
An Arbitration Committee to De-
eide On u Scale.

SA~
J.. Fl. Lawrence. president and genera
maparsr of the Helena Rapid Transit com
pany. Saturday evening last notified tn
men employed in construction that til
pressing work had been completed, but II
they wanted to keep on they could do so q
81 q day, instead of $3.50. He has had
big force at work on the road for thre'
months or more, to whom he has paid S2.3l
a day, the scale in Helena for common
laborers. He has received from nifty &c
seventy-fvs applications q day recently toi
work, many of the applicants saying they
would work for So a day. Mr.. Lawrence
had about completed all the pressing work
on his line, but he concludedif he could get
labor at So a day now it would pay him to
do a lot of grading. rather than wait until
late in the summer, when there Womb Do "
demand for laborars and the scale would be
at least $3.50. 5s -
Yesterday mornings small force was put
TO work putting in 4 switch on the corner
of Park and Sixth avenues, the men work
ing for a. q day. sunday the news OF the
contemplated reduction became pretty gem
erally known among the laboring men, ana
Yesterday morning a committee waited on
the msn at work, fer the purpose 81 per
SHADING them not to work for the reduced
wages, The foremen, however. allowed no
communication between the parties. me
man continued all day as we'll rs al nlght.
4 call was issued for q general mass meet
snc at Assembly hall in the evening. and
1,nc before eight o'clock several hundred
men had coneregated on Main street at the
FOOT Of Broadway discussing the situation,
During the day a committee Of the knights
OF Labor called on Mr.. Lawrence ana
talked the matter over with him.
The meeting in the evening was one OF
the largest gatherings OF worklngmen ever
gotten together here. The filled tho hall,
tho passageway and part of the stairway.
Michael Corbett presided. Manager }. II:
Lawrence, OF the Rapid Transit company,
came into the hall in company with D. Il.
Boucher. As they moved toward the chair
mans table there we're some manifestations
Of %disapproyal that were promptly checked
by Mr.. Boucher and Mr.. Corbett. The re-
mort of the committee-Frank Sweeney,
Michael Corbett and j. Y. Bennett-who
intaryieyed Manager Lawrence. was read.
They stated that Mr.. Lawrence had said
the reduction Of wages was brought about
by the desire of the people for q pay roll,
and also owing to the lnnnmeraDle amount
of annlications for work at any price"
Manager Lawrence was called on to ad-
arass the meeting. He explained how he
had induced some capitalists to bay the
motor line and the one running TO Lenox.
He had been employed to convert these
into a railroad system: Ihe cosn z
m- - ,--L TIL taI nyrAnTaH from XEAJ tn
70 nd ar AZ. 900 a week. From the time he
took hold up to now the conpany had run
at a dead loss. It had put up money re-
neatedlv to pay its men their just wages.
Mr.. Lawrence then came down 10 the
nnestion at issue and which had caused the
mpaatino. II was he said, just as the COM
mittee reported. He was besicged by men
who wanted work. The road was prac-
ticallv done, In talking with the foreman,
hs lMr. Lawrence) had said that it the
men desired to keep on at 81 they conld do
so. ~ told your omrnlttee. SAID Mr.
J,awrence. that the men had the right to
say they would work for 81 q day; that
each was his own master, and had the
rioht to sell his labor ut whatever figure he
n!easoa. When he could not get work at
one price be owes it to his family to take it
at an other, even if as low as 5o cents a
day, until he can do better" Continuing
M. Lawrence said he had not asked the
men to work for 81 a day. He had told
them shat if they wanted to work for that
price thew could. But he did not say that
in thirty DAYS or sixty days. when there
was lots of work, ne would ask them to
work for that. If all the entsrprlses talked
of for this GUNNER should naterialize, in
stead of there being a surplus of labor,
there would be a scarcity. In order to give
them time to think the matter over he had
issued orders to pay the naen at the rate of
a.. 50 a day until the needed work was done.
Then the company would stop work for the
present.
]. w, Rose thought Mr.. Lawrence a very
fair minded gentleman. lie had made q
yery fair statement. Mr.. Lawrence could
not afford long to make a losing game with
his enterprise. Mr.. Rose reasoned that the
trouble was there was not enough money IN
circulation, and a hundred people were try
ing to got at the same dollar.
J. FL. Boucher also inferred from Mr..
Lawrencc's remarks that he was a fair
minded man. He only wanted to ask Mr..
Lawrence one or two questions. Had he
said it. or had he authorized any of his as
sistants to say that hls company content
plated extensive works of m Improvement this
summer if the laboring people made no
kick against II 30 a day propositlon!
"Wha l said was this" replied MIR. Law
renee. 81 said I knew of a number of en-
terprises that we're likely to be entered into
provided it could be done on q basis that
tlS SdPtbhIA1bS vi 'oNANA BhJ ihk
investment. l did not refer to Il 81 basis,
or a $3.50 basis, or Il ST basis.
"Ig it true again asked Mr.. Boucher,
''that you had a telegram from St. Paul.
saying you could have 500 men here IN
seventy hours if you needed them"
No emphatlcally anhwered MIR. Lawr-
ence.
Mr.. Boucher said he had been misin-
formed. He moved the appointment of a
committee of three, to select one arbitrator,
Mr.. Lawrence to select one and the
two TO select a third; tho three
to arbitrate ON the question of wages in
connection with any improvements Of the
Kapid Transit company or any other enter
prise with which Mr.. Lawrence was con
nected.
Mir. Lawrence thought this a very fair
proposition, and so far rs he could he wonld
co operate with the committee. He
thought, however, the committee should
include other corporations. He did not
represent all the capital in Helena. Mean
time. while this matter was being arranged.
he promised to do nothing to add fuel to
the flame,
One gentleman in the body of the hail
favored Mr.. Iawreuce's suUoestion .tt,ot