Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1900-04-11
WATERS NAY Strike:
Des Moines Public Threatened With
the Dire Possibilities Of a
Walters Strike
Union Of the !" Hash SINGERS Formed
and Better Wages Will Be
Demanded.
Serious Side Of Such q Strike and.
the inconvenience it Would
Cause.

special to ,TimeS-Republican.
Des Moines, April ll.--Des Moines
restaurant Keepers are struggling with /,
the problems of unionisn. sixty of the
best table walters of the city havel *
banded together to form the .Des
Moines Walters Alliance Local 223,'
and the trials of the bosses have be-.
gun. Just Where these trials will end is
something that even the most far-see-
ing of the interested men are unable to
predict with anything like a reasonable
degree of certainty. 1t may prove to
be a farce the walters may fail, and
end by Withdrawing from the union
and going back to their places at the;
old rates, and with the owners of the
business still in absolute control. The
bosses hope that it will all end this |
way. But the walters predict that 1t |
l3will be different. They have openly
| declared that unless the scale is |
adopted by the 18th of April they will
| walk out of all shops where the scale |
/ is not paid and bring on a general
strike. After this declaration was
.made several of the officers Of the |
|union came out in a communication toll
la local paper in which they disclaimedI
lany intentionaof ordering strike and
expressed the hope that the whole af-
fair would clear up without further
(unpleasantness. All the same the
|prepara tions for general strike have
4 been going quietly on. The Walters
4 have sent out notices to all the big
i cities of the West warning walters out
of work TO stay away from Des Moines.
.|,They state that there is trouble ahead,
4 and that the friends of unionism will
4 help the cause by staying away, while
i non-union men can best serve their
sIsown interests by keeping out of the
s|town. No threats are made: no intima-f
ltions of what will happen to non- union.
"A men who may disregard the warming
I and come here for work. The men
Iclaim that their organizations all over
; 1.-the country are so strong that they
can absolutely prevent the proprietors
from securing enough help from out
( side the city TO keep up their business:
B From their point of view. there car. be
4 but one outcome: the proprietors must
leone to time. pay the scale and employ
;toniyaunion help or quit the business.
"A The effect of a strike among the wait
6 ers IN a city like Des AIoines would be
,Bii1nor. far reaching than the public gen-
:. orally supposes. Des Moines is strong
&l5union town. Its Trades and Labor AS
.sembly has large anc paying member
lship. Its unions in dozens of trades and
lamong hundreds of unskilled la5orers
!. are .fiourshing, and never We're more
prosperous. strike among the wait
I Iers can not end with the withdrawal of
s{the sixty striking men and women from
J, the business in Dess Moines. (For women
. as we'll as men are members of the new
Iunion. and are among the most active
workers for the success of the agitation
: lfor higher wages. Women are on the
soliciting committees. and women. by
e 1.-THE scale of wages submitted for the sls-
Y natures of the proprietors are to be
. benefited as much, If not more, than any
!, of the men.) After these sixty Walters
: had gone out of the business system
. attic boycotIirg of the non-union5 eating
Ihouses would begin. The unionists
6 would not call IT boycotting. They use
!; lthat term among themselves, but wher
! talking for the pubic ear they promise
: merely to work against the nom -unior
places, They will use lawful means. al;
I Itogether laying themselves liable to nc
L
!, crime or misdemeanor. They have
: their plans of operation we'll cons truet
! led. in outline. already. In Kansas City
!, Itlsy say, where there was a big strik,
a among the walters not long ago, tn
= union men stood on the sidewalks a lev
!. feet from the restaurant doors an,
= harded out little cards. These card
7 ltold the public that the owners of th
], places did not hire union men; tha
was another, place. just as goo
sf and just as cheap. Just around the cor
,.,5ls,,el, where union labor was recognize
ard union men We're employed n
proprietors held out a long time agains
i.his boycott but in the end a numbe
Of of them succunibed, and a few Of thef
id never got established in the restaurar
Sc business in that city again. And
IS prominent Judge. who tried cas-
n against some ofstle strikers for ccnspi'
lg acy to lUina d mans business. instructe
lliis jury to. bring in verdict OF NJ
e. guilty. Men have the right this jude
'tlruled. to work up the trade of any pa
ed Iticular eating house in Just this way. ii
same as, wholesale houses have the riel
!, to send their travelling men all over Il
let country With that decision in view. II
n. Des Moines Walters feel that they WI
be perfectly safe in using any reason;
BILE means to knock out the men who T.
fuse 10 come to terms.
n In its boycot.ing tactics the waiter
OF allionce would be backed ny the ID
ns, Aloines Trades and Labor Assembl
% The members of the other unions VOL.
u spot" the non-union houses and refu
IN to eat there. They would advertise t
ck shops that paid the scale and ur
their friends to eat at the union cou
~ ters. and encourage the men. Some
" the restaurants would not miss t
IN, IN, union trade. if it We're taken away fro
~ ~ them. But others would be severe
affected by the change. A few ch
~ houses depend upon laboring men, a
largely union laboring men. for
least half their patronage. In certa
Instances the owners Of these hous
MS are now paying wages in excess Of 7
ear union scale. To- sign the agreeme
vas would net cost the proprietors ce
era lin, cash But they object to the prin
ubt Piles Of trade unionism, as they und'
lstand those principles. and are holdi