The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-05-07


Fricad of the Men Who Handle
the MaiIs-LeEisIation Needed for
the Retirement OF the Employees.
A strong plea for organization is TO be
found in 4 letter from the Chicago Post
office Clerks Association received at the
headquarters Of the United National As
sociation Of POstofice Clerks in this city
The letter contains important suggestions
as TO the legislation needed for the bet
terment of the organization and the gen
eral Improvement Of the postal service
The writer says:
1T has been said, and truly said, that
happiness comes from doing good 1t
seems to me then that all pOstofnce clerks
should be happy for there is at the
present time abundant opportunity for do
ing good And if we would be happy one
year hence we must commence to do good
now. Chicago is pleased to announce to
the clerks Of the country that they have
a tried and proven friend in the person Of
Senator William E Mason In a very
lengthy interview. kindly granted by Sen
ator Mason, to a large committee of this
association, he gave ample evidence of his
friendship for our cause He went into de-
tail in discussing. our many grievances,
and dweIt at some length upon the sec
ton Of the Codifcation bin that sought 10
Iegalize the fine system He has asked
that we select a committee Of able men to
go over this Codifcati0n Dill, and make
further recommendations as to changes in
its provisions
He knows our condition better than
you may imagine. and is quite familiar
with all our past struggles to obtain jus
tice. He has given Us MS promise to be
our friend. Now then, consider what this
means to every postoffice clerk in the
country. Consider he important post
that Senator Mason viii fill in the next
Congress and the power that viii be his
as Chairman Of the Senate Committee on
Postoff1ces and Postroads- And now what
viii we do to convince Congress that we
are in earnest2 Do you want to continue
knocking at the Congressional door in a
half-hearted way as we have been doing
for years past2 l believe our opportunity
has come, and if we fail 10 grasp it, we
must blame none but ourselves. I realize
as we'll as anyone that organization OF
postofhce clerks presents a problem that
Is perhaps deeper than that confronting
any other craft, because of the widely diff
fering conditions that surround the indi-
viduaI. SeIfshness too, plays a promi-
ncnt part in keeping us where we are to-
day There IS too great a disposition to
sacrifice the cause to win personal promo
ton. But such promotion so gained is
without security You must stop knock
ing, If l may employ the term and de-
vote more time to the general welfare of
the clerks as a body, and IN this way not
only improve yourself. but elevate the
service that you have chosen to enter
Let cur motive be not purely selfish, but
let US demonstrate to Congress and to the
people that we have a true interest in the
development of the greatest of all AmerI-
can institutions, the PostofHce Depart
ment Now while I believe q great prob
lem presents itself in the rav of organ
ization, / also have confidence il. the in
telligence of the postofFice clerks to solve
TINS problem We have been pupils in the
sad school Of experience for SO MANY
years that 1t is nearly. time 10 expect a
graduation therefron
We must have discipline in our or
ganization as wei as in our daily work.
We must be broad enough to consider the
IDEAS and views Of every clerk who NAV
choose to advance them II is the idea
and not the source, we must look to.
Let us be toierent with each other and
weigh well in our own minds al suggest
cd reforms Let US become conversant
with every side Of the issue so that. when
whereof We speak
Let Milwaukee be the keynote from
now until September and let Us go there
strong in numbers and strong in the de
termination to treat fairly and honestly
every proposition laid before the conven-
! ton
I notice several interesting letters from
Boston relative TO the advisabiIity OF
/ amalgamatins the clerks, carriers and
railway postofice clerks. This is a very
live question and will stand any amount
of discussion This issue has been raised
in the past and our last convention, at
Atlantic City named q committee Of FIVE
. TO treat like committees from the carriers
/ and railway mail clerks 1t has been sUg-
gested 10 me that this Is an age OF con
SUlidatiOn and that we cannot ignore pres
ent tendencies in that direction. But let
use meet the issue ana satisfy ourselves
If il IS rigES or wrong When YOU con
slider that il the past four years, in this
office some JnU clerks out OF q total Of
some 1900 clerks have been separated
from the service for different causes YOU
VIII more fully realize the absolute ne
ceSsity Of obtaining legislation that VIII
give justice to the clerks and save TO the
/ service the experienced men behind the
guns
The pOstOffice should not be n mere
training schools in which to linger for a