The herald., 1897-01-26
AMENDMENTs WE WANT

| To the Editor of the Los Angeles Her.
aid: While the city council is wrestling
with the question Of providing work for
our unemployed citizens, would 1t not
be better to seek a permanent rather
than a temporary remedy for this un-
fortunate condition of affairs? 1 think
the facts Will bear me out in the state
ment that at no period, winter or sum-
mer. for several years has there been a
time when there were not hundreds of
our citizens, good men and true, voters
and taxpayers, walking the streets in
idleness because they could not get work,
while thousands of dollars are paid out
by the city each month for public work,
most of which money goes to tramps,
dagos and other non-residents, through
the contract system.
Go among the contractors who are do
ing the city's work and you will find very
few actual citizens of Los Angeles on
their works. With the contractor a
bum or dago just landed is generally
given work in preference to our own
citizens. because, as one candid con-
tractor admitted to me. those non-resi-
dents Will stand driving. and don't kick
at being worked over time while citi-
zen who knows his rights contends for
them.
The condition of enforced idleness and
destitution in which the council finds
80 many of the laboring class of our
citizens at the present time is not a tenn
porary affair, but a permanent thing
which is brought to the front with more
than usual prominence just after city
election. If the city officials really want
TO DO something to ameliorate the con-
dition of these people. let them get up an
amendment to the city charter abolish
ing the contract system, and give the
public work to those who are justly en-
titled to it-our own citizens That Is
the kind of amendments we want This
would settle the question of work for our
own unemployed, and would not be an
inducement to idle buns from all parts
of the country to come to Los Angeles
and get a job on our public works.
Speaking of contra ctors working their
men overtime. l noticed that certain
one who was doing job of street grad
ing near my house recently worked his
men from 6 o'clock in the morning till
6 at night, with scant hour OF for
noon. Probably many OF these contract
ors are thus working their men ten or
eleven hours a day. while the city aU-
thorities suppose they are complying
with the municipal regula tions. which
prescribe eight hours as a days work,
and the poor devils who work for them
are ignorant of their rights, or afraid
to kick lest they lose their jobs.
AS an argument in favor of the con-
tract system il is said that the city
gets its public work done much cheaper
than If done by the city itself. But is
this strictly true? Does not our past
expensive experience as a city show that
contract work is frequently very poorly
done, and in the long run more expen-
sive than If the city had done the work
itself?
1t may be said that contractors will
hereafter be required to give preference
in employment to cctual citizens of the
city. Can this be relied on? Won't they
evade this rule as they now do the
eight-hour regulation? The average
contractor can be trusted to do two
things thoroughly-to beat the city and
to beat his hands: and he usually does
both Systematically.
After mature deliberation l have con-
cluGed that the only permanent settle
ment of this problem of work for our
idle citizens is for the city to give its
public work to its own voters and tax
payers But it is doubtful if We can ever
get together a set of city officials with
backbone enough to carry out such re-
form. ROBERT MORRIS.
Los Angeles, Jan. "a.