The times., 1899-08-07
THE STRIKE ON THE Sun"
In nm Editorial the Paper Explains
Its Trouble With the Union.

New York. Aug. 6.-The strike OF the
compositors and stereotypers on the New
York Sun continued today. No overtures
for settlement came from either side. and
the Sun" went about getting out paper
with the force of men obtainable. There
will be no compromise on the part of the
Sun" The strikers held meeting in the
afternoon. but most OF them stood about
on the sidewalks in Park Row in front Of
the Sun building discussing the. situa-
tton. Police guarded the several entrances
TO the building, and inside on the stair
ways and landings watchmen We're sta
toned to see that none of the strikers got
into the building to interfere with the
men at work in the composing room or in
terfere with the work of getting out the
paper The Sun" will tomorrow print
the following statement at the head OF the
editorial page under the caption. no Fet-
ters Forged to Fit the Sum"
"a number of machinists were employed
in one of the mechanical departments of
the Sum- and 1t was their duty to attend
to certain machines which cast type au-
tomatically. Their work was purely that
Of mechanics and could be performed prop
erly by mechanics only. A representative
of the Typographical Union came to the
Sun Office and served notice that the
uulOA MOQiQ uOL peIlulL Tie cilpicy HictiL
of mechanics upon the machines Com
positors, he said. must take their places
and the machinists must be discharged
The Office manager expostulated and point
ed out the fact that the printers could
not attend to the casting machines, which
only trained mechanics could operate; the
mechanics. he suggested, might be taken
into the Typographical Union. That idea
the walking delegate secuted. and he made
his demand peremptory and final. There
was nothing for it but compliance. and the
Sun Office afforded the spectacle thence
forward of number of machines each
with compositor looking at 1T. while It
automatically performed its work
so long as the Typographical Union
confined its energies to the mere extor-
tion of money we thought we could afford
to be Indifferent, and we never betrayed
any open resentment We continued TO pay
weekly considerable sums that had not
been earned. and we should have cheerfully
maintained the practice; but when We were
confronted with cynical and brutal in
timation that we must obey the orders Of
the Typographical Union in wholly new
and arbitrary direction or have the publica-
tion of the Sun suspended by force, it
became at once apparent that we could no
longer so conduct our business and main
tain our self-respect.
I'VE are in favor of the best wages.
and we have always paid the highest wages
that prevailed. We shall, we trust, always
be able TO do so. What we also propose
is that our employees, in addition to being
the best-paid men in their calling. shall
be honest and self-respecting men, selling
their labor as they see fit to sell it, and
holding themselves as men deserving to be
free. AS to cur old employees. the men
who have worked here for years, and whom
we have known so long we are sincerely
sorry that they have left US, and we de-
plCre the delusions that have made them
the victims of the unscrupulous. corrupted,
and malignant element that sways and con-
trolls the Typographical Union. AS for the
Sum- there must be neither let nor hin
drance in its path. neither any shadow
upon its perfect independence"