San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1895-01-04

aim to give the oldest and most compe-
tent men the best runs, which are con-
sidered the run from 6 a. m. toe p. M,
and this, generally, works satiSfa ctorily
TO ourselves as we'll as to the men, but
there are cases where men who have
been with us longer time are less COM
petent than men not so long in our SER
vice, aud in view of the fact that we are
entirely responsible to the public for in
juries or damages that may be caused by
our cars, we deem II our duty to place
such men as are most competent, and,
therefore, most carefully handle the
lives of the hundreds who ride, wherever,
in our Judgment, ii Is for the best inter-
eStS OF our patrons as well as for our
selves. aud the decrease inl the number
of accid AntS since this rule has cobtain-
ed, juSJltieS our continuing this course.
II any of our employees, who have been
in the service of the company a long
time, feels himself entitled to better
run, he should earn it by rendering the
most efficient service to the Company
and to the public.
To Sec. 2, of Art. .. Is answered by the
preceding, but in addition thereto we may
say that we pay our employees the price
agreed upon, and for such time as we pay
them, we feel ourselves entitled to their
time to be used on such lines we see fit.
" To Sec. l, OF Art. 3. Requiring that on
each and every car operated by thisl COM
pany two men shall be employed"
we have to say that the reduction In the
expense of operating the cars on the
lines where only one man to car is now
run became necessary, due TO the gener-
ally hard times, which have affected the
earnings of street railway lines perhaps
more than any other interests here, and
is entirely In line with the reductions in
expenses that have been, and are being
made in every line of business. If we op-
Grated only lines that pay profit we
would speedily discontinue all the lines on
which we are now running with one man
to the car. These lines do not now pay
and are not likely to pay in the immedi
ate future, but we hope to keep them go
ing by adopting the best basis possible,
and in doing this, as stated, we are only
following the majority OF the street rail-
roads in this country doing business in
cities OF this size. 1t is a matter of
record that Augusta, Ga, Dayton, o.,
Dallas, Texas, Savannah, Ga, Birning
ham, Ala Louisville, KY, Fort Worth,
Iowa, Chattanooga, Tenn, Great Falls,
Mon, and so on. 1--WE could enumerate
fifty more cities in this country, whose
earnings are equally as great, and greater
than Ours,) who are operating wholly
with one man TO the car, and doing it
successfully and satisfactorily to the
public and to themselves, and until the
earnings of our road increase to an extent
that will justify the additional expense of
the extra man to the car, who, it has
been shown, contributes nothing whatso.
ever to the safety Of the public, we shall
feel obliged to operate as we are now do
ng, or give up entirely the operation of
such lines.
1t is hoped that, when the winter is
hyyF. 81.
these lines, thus rendering better service
to the public, thereby employing addi-
tional men, one man to the car, we may
gradually succeed in building up the
business on uthese lines, which Is d
result very much to be wished for.
TO SECTION l. OF ARTICLES. \
We have to say that, according to our
rules, the men named by you, and all
others who have been discharged from
the service OF this company, were so dis
charged for cause. No discharge has
been made without thorough inVeStiga.
ton of the violation of the rules with
which they were charged, and such being
the case, we decline to reinState them.
Believing that the majority of our men
are satisfied with their pay and the treat
ment they are receiving, and in order that
| might make them thoroughly familiar
with the demands that have been made
upon us in the communication above re-
ferred to,and also tOhear our answer there.
to, have called you together, and | wish
10 say that the agreement made by US
with our men when the settlement of the
strike was made last August, and which
please bear in mind, involved a question
of wages only, we have carried out to the
letter Under inst uctiOnS from my
superior officers | have dealt fairly
by all the men and, | challenge
nFNV 70 hat IL, -.
have applied the penalty for the violation
OF the rules, 1t was without cause, and
that | have not endeavOred, by thorough
ly investigating the violations with which
any man was charged before applying the
penalty, nor have failed in any case, to
give audience to any complaining en-
pIOyee. You have received the pay for
which you agreedtO work, and have re-
ceived 1t regularly; you have been treat
ed like men and with every consideration
that is due TO man from men.
There are always among a lot OF men
some few who are not satisfied in any
position, and we have noticed with re-
greet that we have not been free from such,
but 1t has, also, been pleasing to
us TO believe that the great ajority of
our employees were entirely satisfied, and
we have further recognized their right
when not satisfied, to leave our employ,
and we have recognized our right TO dis
pose Of their services whenever we felt
dissatisfied.
So it is that, on TWO different occasions
a committee from the Brotherhood OF
Electric Car men has waited on us, and
presented list of grievances i'm which
were incorporated demands now under
discussion, and, also, the unheard of and
unreasonable request that our conductors
be empowered to pass, according to their
DleaSure-any employe OF any other
Street Railway company in this city-asO
that we issue passes to the officers OF said
brotherhood, together with other equal
ly unreasonable demands. The last of
these grievances was presented by com.
mttee of the Trades Council, on behalf Of
the Brotherhood of Street Car men about