The sun., 1907-08-15
A NON.UNION NAN Ar TIE KEY.
Frank statement Of His Experiencrs. M,
HleMa and IlLa lsleAa.

Views emd hNhs tdeas.
To TEE EDIroR or THs, SuN-Sir: In ".
mass Of newspaper literature OF recent month,
relating to tho unrest among the telegra ,ihpr.
this writer does not recall n single rcfrren,s
TO the position OF the non-union OPERATOR
He assured that there are many operator.
who for reasons Sufficient for Themselves and
while denying the right OF anybody TO 1up,-
,lon their reasons will remain without "a.
union. Incident. perhaps. better than arg,.
ment. will Indicate why the number of nom
uDionlsts Of both sexss ls not greater
For long time before and since the agiia.
tlon became acute q thoroughly competent
New York operator. nearly Ia middle M.
married, and not O union man. worked ons
of the important Western Union circuits which
has for lts other terminus one OF the minor
dlsfributing centres OF the company. No
question ever arose regarding his work un,ii
the San Francisco strike threatened. Then
two OF the operators at the distant point
began to nag the New York man. They de.
manded that he ask his chief for a second
wire, 90 that there would be less work per
man, said he worked them too hard, and
finally threatened to run him or the wire
Soon q complaint was received at the New
York offce that the New York man was In
competent. that he wilfully delayed business
and that his language over the wire was
offensive. The charge Of incompetency was
dismissed without consideration. A brief
statement Of the facts from the accused man
was sufBctent TO dispose Of the others, and
the chief at the distant ofncs was informed
that whatever change was made would be 10
his force.
Also since the San Francisco outbr.st
another nop- Union man one day undertook
TO clear up . long familiar circuit. Al the
end OF the first message sent. the distant
man came back with -Ruam" (ths union
hail-phonetio for Are you Q manf1. No
reply was given. but another message vas
started. Again oams -Ruam." No answer.
Then came 70 the New Yorker: BE clean:
Why don't you get cieanf On that you would
be clesn. us. hs, ha. hai- Tho man AZ tina
distant point complained that he couidnt
reed New York The attempt 70 transmit
the business was abandoned for the time.
Still another incident: A New York opera.
tor sporting union button was asked what
led him to Join the union. His answer ran
thus: well, what can you dor You're up
against IL. Unionists ut outside points put
up Jobs on you. bull and delay business and
accuse you Of fault. shield each other. per.
haps they won't Wofk with you at all, or sct
90 badly that you must -ssk 10 be relieved
Now. where are you atf" This man is Of the
best personal character and habits. married.
has children. carries life insurance and has
made O start toward the purchase OF his
home. His salary ls satisfactory and he has
These Incidents are typical. No single
Issue Of TIE SUN would AFFORD space suficient
to record even the enumeration Of similar
cases that have occurred since the unionists
became aggressive. They provoke resent.
ment. Not In years will the i'll feeling grow.
ing out Of the present state Of affairs subside,
whatever the outcome. VIII Commissioner
Neill as the representative Of the Govern
ment In the pending negotiations. look after
the interests Of the non-union men7 IL not,
who will?
The non-unlon men are convinced. abso-
lutely. that the success Of the present strike
means the complete domination Of the work
OF both Of the commercial telegraph com.
psnies by the unions. the substitution Of the
discipline Of the unions for that Of the oom-
psnies. q harassing tyranny over the non.
union men and women many. times worse
than anything the companies managers
would dare to venture upon II they desired.
and-but that 10 another story dollar OF the
many invested in the business will ever sgsil
return to the investor cent Of income.
Isit not plain. also. TO every thinking reader
that the success Of the present strike means
q later campaign against the telephone COM
panies and q more aggressive attack upon
the railroads. through their telegraph sys
tems2
DO you oars for suggestion OF possible
check TO the existing unrest7 A Federal en-
actment requiring that all organized bodies
Of men and women having the character Of
labor Unions shall incorporate under Federal
laws. and without such incorporation they
shall have no status in the courts. The unions
frequently resort to the courts for their own
ends. Make them responsible to the rest Of
the community. The labor union has come
to stay. Make it respectable by putting IL
Upon q footing Of responsibility TO the law
like the rest Of M. At present 10 holds itself
above the law IL invokss when it sees ad-
vantage. A NoN-UHIoN MAN.
NEW YoRK. August Il. =