Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-08-31
DISAGREES WITH STILLINGS
Official Lightning Strikes Member of
Inner Circle.
S FILE COMPLAINT
PRINTERS
Civil Service Commission Hears of Al
legged Irregularity in Discharge of
Employees at Print Shop.


office building and chief electrician, has
been accepted by Public Printer Stillings
This information was not given out Of
ffcialy at the printery, but was issued to a
cret verbal general order. But the order
leaked and the news is out. Mr. Collin.
is no longer a member of the exclusive-and-
select er-of-experimentalsts at go yern-
cause of his undoing was that he disagreed
with the public printer as to certain pro-
posed innovations of an alleged freak ma
ture in the department under Mi Collins
ming descended from the fateful front of
fec and the superintendent was knocked
down and out.
Certain things are known to be fatal at
the government printing office One of
the most fatal is to obstruct by word or
deed any projected experiment or innova-
ton by the public printer. Who will sue
coed Superintendent Collins is as yet con-
nounced in general orders when Mr.. Sill
ings returns to Washington next Tuesday.
it is said
Sweatshop Methods Condemned.
Inc story Of the "sweatshop" methods re-
Gently adopted in the bindery and folding
room at the printing office, which APP
peared in The Star yesterday, has caused
IVA Of jr,li
was the receipt by The Star OF number
of communications from government Off
erals and citizens severely arraigning the
public printer and his ASS ants because of
the reduction Of the wage scale of the union
folders.
In the face of recent announcements by
Mr.. Stillings of promotions in the prntery
and the increase of Sa aries of those h gb
up on the official scale in the front office"
and its anneXes, his action in cutting down
the stipend of the woman workers was
characterized as cruel and uncaled for.
One of the correspondents wrote:
You are doing a charitable act to hun
dreds of poor suffering beings by the man
ner in which you have begun to show up
the abuses in the government printing Of
flee.
Another writer said: You deserve the
commentator of the people for your ex-
pose of the cruel treatment accorded the
partment and the reduction of their snail
wages that some of the gilt-edge otfic ais
may receive more princelY salaries. These
WON N in nearly every instance have many
dependents to provide for, and to reduce
their paltry earnings at this time, when the
price of food is going up and rents are at
their highest, is cruelty of the most cold
blood d character.
A statement was made today in connec-
ton with the reduction of the price of
piecework in the folding room and bindery
that the expensive audit system the public
printer has installed in the Office will re-
quire the services of go woman clerks at
the ratio of one clerk to keep tab on every
twenty compositOrs or other workers. 1t
was added that at the proposed increase
of the clerical end of the establishment
there will soon be more clerks employ ed
there than mechanics. folders, etc.
Printers File Protest.
A number of protests have been filed at
the United States civil service commission
it is said, to the effect that the civil service
laws regarding the employment of ''eligi-
bles" have been violated by Public Printer
Stillings at the government printing office
These protests have been made by men
who passed the civil service examination
and were employed on the temporary roll
a the printery for short time when they
were laid off, unjustly and unnecessarily
they claim, and in violation of the civil
service laws.
Among those who have protested are Fred
c. Chase and j. F. Moulden According
to them 100 printers We're employed by the
printing office several months ago. all of
whom had passed the civil service examina-
ton. A short time afterWard Mr. Stilings
discharged forty-five OF them with no ex-
PLANTATION, and to the surprise of every one
those who were thus relieved We're the first
forty-tive on the civil service list That is,
they were the ones who had passed the
civil service eXaminat ton with the highe st
averages, and those vino were retained were
lower on the list. This discrimna ton
Messrs. Chase and Moulden declare, is not
in accordance with the civil service laws
This fact was called to the attention of
the civil service commission and it is al
legged that an explanation was called for
from officials of the printery, but although
several weeks have elapsed no answer has
been received 1t is also claimed that these
men who were dropped are needed at
the printing office and they cannot see why
MIR. Stilings refuses to take them on again.
Junkets Now in Order.
Before the advent of Public Printer
Stillings," said an official today, "junket-
ing trips by employees of the office were prac-
tica!iy unheard of. Under former public
printers they were the exception; now they
appear to be the rule. While Mr. Stillings
or one of his high-priced supervisors of
sections of the works busy retrench-
ing at the expense of the overworked and
lily paid folder women under what Is termed
the pound of flesh order there is Frank
Kidd making a tour of the country pre- sum-
ably gathering data at the expense of Uncle
Sam for the exploitation, no doubt of more
innovations and experiments upon his re-
turn to this city.
His itinerary embraces PhiiadelDhia
New York, Buffalo, Chicago. Detroit Mon
treal and many other places. This govern
ment Traveller left here July f. and is
scheduled to return September 10. | don't
blame Mr. Kidd, but just look Mt the airy
mission he is on, and the expense, and then
look at the poor, emaciated folding wom-
en- toiling their lives out to make u pit
lance to keep body and soul together, and
then to have that p.ttance still further re-
duced to sweat-shop rate"