Waterbury Democrat., 1903-01-17
Manager SeweIrs Latest Story Is Denied Very
 Emphatcally.
STATEMENT MADE BY THE STRIKERS TO-DAY
That Story of Bridgeport Standard Fake-The Attorney fo the Trolley Co. Lives Down in the Park tCty-He Would
 Never Inspire a Story Like That

The following statement was issued by the striking trolleymen to-day:
 i Seventh day of the strike. Every
 man at his post at roll call this morn i ing. Enthusiasm unabated and de-
 termination more strong. The forego- ing statements cover each days pro
 ceedings so thoroughly that their repe- tition almost seems unnecessary.
 1 Since the giving out of our state
 ment of yesterday Manager Sewell has come out with scare-head eommun1-
 cation purporting to briefly put the facts concerning the company's posi- i tion in the strike before the public 1 We thought that the clear and conclse
 statements which we have heretofore
 made to the public thoroughly contra
 dicted all of the points raised in Man i ager sewell's letter. It must be that
 he has not read them and thinks the l public has not either. We doubt the
 latter suggestion, however, being con-
 vinced by the way the public is patron
 izing the day line" at present that
 they have read, pondered on and di-
 gested both sides carefully, and nave
 decided to believe us. So they walk
 ''Now, once more we deny the truth
 of the statements published to-day by
 Manager .Sewell. We assert and can
 prove thataMr Barrett left his car at
 5:37 p. m. that Saturday night, arrived
 home about-6 o'clock, took off his uni
 form and has not worn it since. MT
 Sewell says, however. th"t he fire
 quented" saloons with his uniform on.
 MT Barrett called at Dr Munger's of fee about 8 o'clock that Saturday night and paid his rent to pr Nun
 gers boy, who can prove that he had
 not his uniform on then, as he has not since. We deny that MT Barrett
 absented himself between the days given by MT Sewell, but. even if it were so that he was absent as Mir
 Sewell claims, according to the com pany's rules he would only be subject 1 to a fine of three days off.
 r'sWe also deny that MT Maloney l was absent from Saturday to Wednes- 1 day. Did he not call at the office on ! Sunday morning and make his cash returns for the previous day? Does not the superintendent know also | that he saw MT Maloney examining the lists in the central office on the
 following Monday? We also deny that MT Kelly was suspended twice i for intoxication. He was suspended
 something like two years ago. but not for that. Why it seems necessary to "ring in" offenses of two years ago,
 which by the act of taking back the
 man showed the company's forgive ness of, is not apparent It simply
 shows once more the inconsistency of
 Manager Sewell's statement, made re-
 gently, that he has felt to the men as
 father. Fatherly love, according to this interpretation, consists of taking
 away the reputation of men who have
 served his company anywhere from i four to nine years.
 ] We can also prove that some of our
 men last year worked hours enough at ten hours a day to make up 386 days.
 Two of the discharged men can prove
 that they have also come pretty close to that record. This record we ask
 hoboes to try and equal.'
 1 "One thing that pleases us immense
 ly is this quotation, taken from MT SeweM's letter: we leave it to the public to judge.'' That is what we have been clamoring for the past week | So are we willing to leave it to the public. We doubt. however, if Mana | ger Sewell is really sincere on this. All that is necessary is for him to 1 make this statement good. The situ- ation is just this: Manager Sewell ev- idently feels that the position he has taken is all right from his company's standpoint. We claim and are willing to leave to arbitration that we are in the right We are willing to leave it to the public to judge. Manager Sewell this morning is quoted as say ing: "We leave it to the public to judge" Now, all that is necessary is the selection of reputable representa- tives of the public to settle the diff culty. We are ready for such a move at any time. We may be wrong in some things. We know the company lis wrong in some things. Therefore let the strained points be adjusted by arbitration. We leave it to the pub lie if this is not the proposition of i men. Right here we will suggest that according to law a man is considered i innocent until proven guilty. Our accused men must therefore be consid- cred innocent until the accusations made against them, which are vigor- ous1y denied. are proven. So much for MT SewelPs letter.
 "As far as the report from the Bridgeport Standard, as copied in this mornings paper, is concerned. we will briefly state that we wish it to be un-