The daily silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1903-1907, 1903-09-24
THE MILLER CASE

Inc Central LABOR union OF wan
ington, D. C., has made an appeal 70
organized labor over the country to
petition President Roosevelt to order
the dismissal Of ". A. Miller. book
binder, from the government print
ing Office. The main question at issue
seems to be whether the government
printing Office shall be an open shop"
this is whether any n%on-union man
shall be allowed to work in it. Miller
formerly belonged to the union, but be-
cause Of some disagreement was ex-
PEELED. The union secured his dis
missal. but he appealed I the civil
service commission for protection IN
der its rules, and the president order
er his reinstatement and an investi-
cation. The case is in the hands OF the
public printer to determine whether
Miller has done anything that justiies
dismissal The union that is fighting
him is not satisfied to abide by Mr..
Palmer's decision, but is appealing to
organized labor the country over to
force the presidents hand.
Of course. the various organizations
which receive this appeal are not ex-
pected to make a judicial inquiry int
the merits Of the case. They canno:
do that. They are supposed to accept
the action Of the Washington union
as conclusive and support It. The
president, who has ordered an investi-
cation into Miller's conduct. is asked t.
have him dismissed, regardless Of the
results Of the inquiry. because organ
lied labor asks it.
Is it right for organized labor to
make such a request as this? peril
nently asks an eastern exchange. The
president Of the United States is elect
ed to enforce the laws impartially.
and IS not expected TO waive any of
their provisions on the strength OF
petitions, The civil service act and
regulations are intended TO give secur-
ity to government employees who prop
erly discharge their duties, and to ak
no cognizance Of their relations to
churches. political parties or fraterna'
organizations. 1t is a new idea that a
man shall be excluded from the gov
eminent service because he does mo-
belong to a labor union. The govern
ment is an open" service. to which
all its citizens may aspire. When the
pI esident orders an Investigation CT
the charges against Miller 1t is TO b.
presumed that he will abide the result
Of an honest inquiry. and to petition
him to ignore that result is like pc
titioning a judge to ignore the evil
dence in a case before him.
President Roosevelt has given
abundant proof of his friendly attitude
toward organized labor. All the world
knows that he is not an enemy Of or
ganized labor. and it is very incon-
siderate for the Central Labor union of
Washington to put him under stress
in a matter OF official duty. We do
believe its action will be approx
ed by the calmer heads, and the sug-
gestion that If he does not yield. or
ganized labor will oppose his re-
is preposterous. The working
people of the United States are not
going to determine their choice for
president. with all OF the issues and In
terests Involved in the election. upon
the outcome of this dispute over Mil
ler's job in the bindery. II they do.
our institutions are in a shaky condI-
Commenting on the same subject the
San Francisco Call remarks:
II must be admitted that Mr.. Com