The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1894-01-16
TEE LoNasaomEMEN.s LOCKOUT.
Coal Ships to Enforce the Reduction
The Lonxshorem ems Side Of the Case.

Coal ships TO Enforce the ReGuctiO0-
The Longshoreme.'s Side efthe Case.
The new feature of the lockout of the
longshoremen by the Pacific Coast Steam
ship Company is that the cut in wages and
other conditions announced by this COM
pany are also to be enforced in the loading
of coal ships az the Oregon improvement
Company's bunkers. The ships Ivanhoe
and Spartan and bark Germania are carry
ing coal for the Black Diamond Company.
and in addition TO these the only ones
running here are the ships Ksnnebec.
Columbia and Commodore. The Black
Diamond ships will pay but 10 cents an
hour hereafter. Capt. Hanson. of the
Columbia, now loading at the hunkers.
said yesterday that he should use his own
crew and in case he wanted more men could
pay but 40 cents an hour. They could not
afford to pay more and carry coal to San
Francisco at sl.s0 per ton. 1t is known
that Capt. Sawyer. of the Kennebec, will
pay but 40 cents, and as this ship and the
Commodore are owned by the same men
there is no doubt but that the ships will
all fall in line. Whether the reduction
will be enforced by other firms along the
water front Ii not yet known, rs they are
non-commit,al.
The Longshoremen's Union has sub
mitted the following statement of their
side of the case:
SEATTLE, Jan. Is, 1904
"7o the Public: In answer to the num-
erous articles that have appeared in the
press of this city in regard to the strike Of
iongshoremen We wish TO state our side
of the trouble. The principal articles in
the communication that was sent by the
company for the union to accept were as
follows: That the men stop. smoking on
the companys property; that we do away
with our president and the rotary list and
allow the officers OF the steamship COM
pany to pick whomsoever they pleased at
40 cents an hour, thus at one blow whip
ping the union out of existence. OF course
80 cents an hour seems quite . sum for
iaborers in these hard times, but when il
Is taken into consideration that the MEM
bers have not averaged $50 per week and
must attend to the work night or day, the
sum of so cents dwindles down To a mere
pittance. In regard to doing away with
the president, If the ships officer puts on
the men he naturally would not know a
union man from any other. and he would
neither have the time nor the inclination
to find out, so you see by this We might as
well disband At once.
'.In regard to Tacoma. they get a great
deal more work there than we do here az
they do most of their work in the day
tine. In San Francisco they pay 30 cents
in the day and 90 cents at night. In Port
land it is 40 cents day time and 80 cents at
night. So you can see that our condition
is anything but an envlable one. Half OF
the members OF this union have wives aud
families to support and have been in this
city for q number of years, and they are
trying To fill our places with charity peo-
pie. However. We cannot so much further
down the scale than we are.
whichever way IL goes We have no
hard feelings toward Mr.. Johnson.
He has got his duty to do, as
Pacific Coast Steamship Company. for up
to the present time we have been treated
right and We have tried to do right By
them, realizing the fact that the interests
of the company were our own, and done
our work from business standpoint,
keeping discipline among as. For violation
of rules in working hours, We have i'm
posed fines from 81 10 SD expulsion.
Mr.. Johnson says himself that he has no
fault TO find with the several members or
our work. We recognize the fact that
times are hard. There is none knows
it better than we do, and II the freight of
the steamers Is light so Is the amount OF
money paid out. for il does not cost any
more to put ont a heavy freight than a
light one when you are working. The
statement that they we're paying IS cents
st Port Townsend is wrong. They paid so
cents the last boat that called there. Any
fair-mInded man will readily see that it il
n hard existence at the best OF times, and
the freight that has been handled in Seat
tie for the last few months Is less than
have seen il for the last six years Thank
ing the press for the fair stand IL has taken
in the matter, remain.
"GEogsE MOORE.
'.P;s ident s. L. & r. u, Seattle (org ,nizei
1850