The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1909-05-06
THE PRINTERS
MAKE PROTEST
Unfair Competition From
the Government.

Printing and publishing companies
and the allied printing trades, who are
dependent upon the prosperity of the
| former for their own livlihood-are com
planning bitterly over the competition
which they are meeting from the L. S.
government through the postal depart
ment. 1t will be remembered that a
short time ago the whole country was
| flooded with announcements that the
| government was in the business of print
ing stationery and price lists on various
kinds of work were quoted 1t was
claimed that growing deficit in the
postal department of the government
must be met in some way and this was
one of the schemes devised to stop the
leaks in Uncle Sans strong box. This
! proposition doubtless looks good to
many people who look at the question
from only one point of view. The print
crs are not in that category, however, and
claim it is working havoc with their bus
mess. They point out that Uncle Sam
doesn't even own the plant which is
their worst competitor.
The Buckeye Informer" published in
Ohio thus tersely describes the situa-
| tion:
"The printing plant through which the
! government becomes our worst competi-
tor, is not situated in Washington and
doesn't belong to the government; and
| yet the government maintains in even
the smallest village, yes, at many a coun-
try cross road, an agency, part of the
duties of which is, to solicit work for
this plant, to the detriment of the print
er, Aside from this, the government
spends thousands of dollars for circular
and other advertising to help get these
Jobs of printing; and it delivers the fin
ished work to the customer by register
ed mail, free of charge. So hard does
it work to satisfy the customer that it
even employees experts in the Agriculture
al Department to test the paper, and
so anxious is the government to get
this printing for the office it represents
that it does the work at what some of
the employees of the government esti-
mate, that is guess, to be its cost
"The printing office for which the gov
ernment acts as general agent and sales
manager; and for which it also conducts
the accounting, delivering and collection
departments, secured through the gov
ernment's agency during the fiscul year
ending June lst, 1908, work amounting
to Sl,672, 1886, taking the same away
from printers from every state and ter
ritory in the Union. This printing office
is situated at Dayton, Ohio, and the work
it turns out is stamped envelopes. Dur
ing the last fiscal year it ground out
every working day nearly four millions
of these envelopes, of which about two
and one-half millions had the return
card of a merchant, manufacturer, bank
er or other private individual or cor
poration printed thereon"
1t would seem that there is reason in
this lament of the printers. Nearly
every newspaper office in the smaller
cities, and in the towns and country
villages, have their job departments
which they look to to exc out a liv-
| inn Thara - No olaSa of ,;t;,,,,- ,,,o,,
| optimistic nor who contribute more to
the prosperity of the community in which
they live, than the printers They al.
ways boost for their home town. II
does seem rather unfair for the gov
ernment to take away the work which
should be rightfully theirs and from the
strictly job shops as well.
But that postal deficit! It might
be suggested that the government could
plug up some of the holes by eurtail
ing to some extent the franking privil
eyes enjoyed so greatly by members OF
congress. When anything from pack
age of garden seeds to a typwriter ear
be franked from one end of the eoun
try to the other and transportation paid
in "fat mail contracts to the railroads
it would seem as if there might be room
for Improvement in the franking sys
tenn.
Anyhow, the printers don't like il
and are up in arms about it. The 10
cal Typographical Union in line Will
their sister locals throughout the coun
try are memorializing congress abou
it, a copy of the resolutions passed b,
them being printed in the Journal a fe,
weeks ago. What stand will be finall
taken in the matter by congress is pure
ly eoniecturaL Congress is notorious fo
"never doing today what can be put OF
until tomorrow"