Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-17
THEY SEND AN ULTIMATUM
Give the Post Office Department I'm
til March /.
CRISIS IN THE BUTTE OFFICE
Postmaster Irwin Requests That the
Matter Be Taken Up
at Once.

A situation has developed in Butte, Mont,
which is causing serious concern to the Of
ficials of the Post Office Department. The
letter carrier force, numbering twenty-nine.
has rendered to the department its resigna-
ton to take effect on March 1, unless. be-
fore that time, better salaries are offered
by the government for the carrier service
at Butte.
In the present circumstances the Post
Office Department Is powerless to remedy
the difficulty which is presented because,
under existing law, the highest salary
which can be paid letter carriers at Butte
is $3.50 per annum. The carriers declare
in formal statement to the department
that they cannot live on the salaries now
paid carriers or on the salaries which are
promised in the pending post Office appro-
priation bill and therefore tender their res
ignations. They say that every class of
labor has advanced from to % per cent
and that prices on living commodities have
advanced.
Advices From Postmaster Irwin.
In letter to Postmaster General Cortel-
you George w. Irwin, postmaster at Butte,
on January 81, says:
II have repeatedly informed the depart-
ment that Butte is the highest-priced city
in the United States, as we'll as the strong
est labor union town. The scale here for
common labor is So per day, and the cost of
living is so high that the salary now paid
the carriers will not afford them more than
decent living"
A telegram received by the Postmaster
General yesterday from Postmaster Irwin
respecting the petition of the carriers said:
please take the matter up and dispose
of it. If we are to do without carriers we
must have ten extra clerks when this thing
occurs"
Under the provisions of the bill now pend
ing before the House, the salaries Of the
carriers in the Butte Office will not exceed
800 a year. 1t was recommended by Mr..
Hitchcock, first assistant postmaster gen.
eral. that the Post Office Department be
afforded some discretionary authority in
the adjustment of salaries in first-class and
second-class offices in order that emergen-
cies such as have arisen at Butte could be
met.
Provisions Of the Bill.
The post office appropriation bill now
pending provides for an increase in the
salaries of CLERKS and carriers to be based
on the receipts of the Office. Under the
pending measure the highest salary that
can be paid to carriers in an office of which
the receipts are less than $4,000 year is
800. 1t has been pointed out to the de-
partment by poStmasters in various places
in the country that the salaries provided
for carriers and clerks in their offices by
the pending bill are inadequate to meet
local conditions.
What may be done regarding the Butte
case is yet problematical. The depart
ment- has not accepted the designations of
the carriers and will not accept them for
the present The situation Is realized by
officials of the department to be serious.
because, in view of local conditions at
Butte, the men easily may be able to earn
more money in other lines of work than in
the government service. 1t the entire car
rer force should resign, it will be neces-
sarY to provide additional clerks at the
Butte Office to distribute the mail at the
post office until new force of carriers
can be obtained.