New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-09-09
pporroTJNG THE MAIL doNS'

Ito ~ rho embarrassment causeu y! 49,
,nl ,rogon drivers strike, foStlna''o. o,d
eoarns IN have the situation wen " - o,,v
=; ais+ribrtino the mail promptly. ,ars
- ,n+arference with the pos'ai ~
"et'o , ~ Thursday, owing dlrectiy " NV
faiIura of the police to give uue aarost
+ha fodaraI authorities, notWllis'"io - ,,Iy
,.oouasts that they should 90 d. on +o
,,har the Postmaster read me itol loot
sneak to Commissioner McAuoo -,r,ap+ n
80 20 onneaI to the national goVeinnl
eheu ~ - carry on its business despite locai
interference that the ponce n"0'
nrount running of the wagons o.o do
On "wednesday evening policemen We.
+oi,o, 20 ride ON the mail wagons, ana INC U.s.
sar-ice was conducted without oosti ~ 49,
ON Thursday morning they We're suuuey rrha
ff ora the .scabs'' were left unprole''1u.
nartisans of the strikers .asselhoieu .,a os-
P"- 49, ~, roofs in the neighborhood anu aS-
e,,I+od tho drivers and forced many Oh 'neiii ~
Give I'm their work. Consequently .t
mails were much delayed and some inlp'- 49,
DISPATCHES out of town missed tne u"i-S 80
on tha+ evening All day the Postmaster was
andeavorinp to secure protectioh "Ao
refused by Inspector Cortright, VINO 'ooA -.
,o1 nosition fiat he had no right 10 anticipate
ai,ordar ond send men with the drivers aA''
,o+oc+ them from assaults which might happeh
anywhere. but could only detail MS Ioice "
noints where there was actual trouple' !" NC
or not the approaching election ana d uesn. "
conciliate the disorderly elements gave III - =.
suob a doctrine we are unable to say, pul, IL
view of the police details in the Deel suiNe an.
the subway strike and almost every ollei SUM
for wears the application OF II 10 ci4ppo o
United States postal service was H - 49,,
So ia INSPECTOR Cortright's excuse that IL was
hppf which WAS pIOp-
artv and if dumped out in the streets, "oulu
he iniured. Just what the mails We're ana why
side Of beef was more sacred than letter
bag he did not explain, but stubbornly reiuSeu
to detail policemen to ride on the wagons ui'i'
Postmaster Wilcox had to make vigorous
protest TO the Police Commissioner
What are the merits Of the controversy lead
ing to the strike we do not attempt 10 Juuse'
The drivers received 50 10 day for driving
two horses and 81 60 for driving single morse.
Those wages are lower, it is said, than drivers
Of trucks and delivery wagons get On tne
other hand. the reply is made that the mali
drivers have nothing to do but hold pair OF
reins and that they do not have to get out anu
handle goods Consequently the contractor
hires the lame and the halt II not the olho'
and pays more on the average than the same
men could make in any other occupation All
this may or may not be true. The simple lacI
so far as the postoffice authorizes anu the po-
lice are concerned, is that the contractor IS
under obligations to carry the mails; that he
must get men to drive his wagons and that so
long as he has these men-whether he pays
them 80 cents or so. whether they are labor
unionists or "scabs"-on hand to drive the
wagons the business of the Postmaster is 10
send the mails by them, and the business OF the
police is to see that they are allowed to WORK
without moestation. The striking drivers them
selves have in general, we believe, refrained
from obstruction. well knowing the privileges
Of the United States mail and the national gov
ernment's readiness to maintain them. The
trouble has been chiefly with sympathizers and
disorderly boys eager for any excuse to make
disturbance, and these are just the mischief
makers who can be guarded against only by that
police protection which Inspector Cortright was
so unaccountably reluctant to give.