The San Francisco call., 1906-08-28

certainly hostile preparations were
daily being made in and about the car
barns. Ii you wished your employees
to be at ease about delay. why did you
not at least put stop to hostile
preparations here while you wore ask
ing for delay? And, if you were very
much concerned that we should not
cease work. why did you not send us a
frank, manly word or two by wire
promising definite improvement of con-
ditions?
MAIN ISSUES REMAIN.
Whether we were prudent or i'm
prudent in quitting work on Sunday,
however. 1t is not now genuinely i'm
portant to talk about. The living ques-
tion is what your corporation and this
union and the public are to do as
thing stand at present. The merits of
our proposals remain quiteu nchanged.
Your workmen earn SO day or they
do not. Their workday should be
eight hours or it should not. The pro-
blems are the same now as they were
on Saturday, without regard to
whether the cars should have run on
Sunday and Monday or should not. Let
us pass on to the real merits of our
proposals and not spend time consid-
ering the wisdom or fairness of a de-
cision reached by our union on point
not vital to the case, and now beyond
recall.
You say great deal about viola
tion of our contract with your corpor-
alton. Now, of course, we are not
violating any contract. Cannot we be
truthful with each other, you and this
union. The contract, you mean, was
made In the spring of 1905, and we
then promised to serve your company
at so much per hour or day, as the case
happened to be, performing the work
we were then doing. Consider that we
did not promise 10 do whatever your
company might at some future day
make up it's covetous mind to have us
do in order to increase it's dividends
but. rather, we agreed to do the work
we were then doing-then, mind you,
that is/to say. in the spring of 1905.
DOUBLE WORK REQUIRED.
But you know very well that for
four months your corporation has
been obliging US to do double work,
and this. too, under altogether new
eonditions-conditions OF great Difficult
ty TO US; and you also know that
living in San Francisco since the 18th
of April has been more expensive than
il was before that date. The plain
truth is that we are worn out by ex-
cessive toll and driven well nigh TO
desperation by the scantiness of our
income with prices as they are Try
to our side OF the case, anu 90 not
be so unjust as TO say again that we
have violated our contract.
You tell much of the generous in
clination with which you started west
ward. You indicate that you intended
to do good things for us. Do them
now. Instead of proposing discus
sions in the future. instead of telling
of plans in days that are gone, do them
now.
In this regard there comes to US
as we are writing this page the in
formation that your corporation has
tonight sent TO the Mayor of this city
and to the press letter proposing that
your employees return to work and have
their claims considered afterward.
This. If So is somewhat different from
giving us SO day and an eight-hour
time and does not bear out your sug-
restions of definite concessions How
ever, we cannot, without the text of
your company's statement before u.s.
speak more about them.
we hope to find, however, that the
Information referred TO is misleading
and that you have defined what con-
cessions you are disposed to make IL
the men return to your service You
know tonight what you intend to do
for them. We hope you have said to
us Just what that is Respectfully,
"Amalgamated Association of Street
and Electric Railway Employees of
America, Division No. 205.
"By RICHARD CORNELIUS. Pres.
JAMES H BOWLING. Sec Treas"