New-York tribune., 1911-11-10
TRAVELLING MEMS BATTLE
Advice OH Conduct of Their Campaign
Against Tipping in Hotels.

| To the Editor Of The Tribune
| Sir: read with considerable interest
the letter of =. f.. Dove. president OF the
! Commercial Travellers National League.
announcing the opening Of hostilties by
! travelling men against the tipping system
at hotels. Also the circular sent to all
members OF the state association or hotei
J prOprietors. in which it is stated that un-
| less the said proprietors abatc the tips ana
pay their help living wages they. the trav-
Cling men. VIII find accommodations IN
boarding houses and establish sample
room or rooms for general use under their
! own control. This sounds like threat
and may scare the hotel men, but doubt ~.
Having for several years edited paper in
the interests of travelling men, I know a
! little about them, and I am prepared to
state that while they might for brief
season take 10 the boarding houses, they
would very soon come back to the hotels,
| for travelling men do not want TO add TO
| the discomforts OF their business by looking
| for comfort in houses not prepared TO sup
ply it.
The travelling men have the power TO re-
| FORM If not 10 eradicate, the tip If they
| try on the road at least half a million
travelling statesmen, and they are worth to
hotel men not less than s1000.000 day.
Having seen the carelessness Of travelling
men and being willing to get as much adj
ditional above the $1,000 900 a day as they
can, the hotel proprietOrs are permitting
their help to squeeze their patrons for some
thing. and the amount Of that something
comes off of what the propretors would
otherwise pay their help.
Travelling men are now organized for
general purposes 10 their advantage, and
they must organize for specific purposes
| against the tiF, for example. Let every
man OF them say face to face to every
| hotel proprietor that they will pay no tips
| and do what they say If the help decline
to render service without extra pay half
dozen good strong complaints over the
counter will do some good, and these re-
peated half dozen times In the course of
| the week will do whole lot Of good. II
the help do not like the pay the proprietors
| give them they can quit or they can or
ganize and demand fair reward for their
services from their employers. This per-
sonal method OF correcting abuses Is not
pleasant. but IL is the only way that can
! be successful. General organizations and
circulars and threats and all that sort of
| fighting amounts 10 nothing. If the best
| hotel i'm town can afford TO ignore the
travelling men, then the travelling men
can combine on another hotel. and by their
patronage and roofing for ii on the road
build It up into what they want. This
has been done frequently for other causes
| than tipping. and the best hotel" has
learned in serious loss that there is a limit
to hotel abuses Of patrons.
If travelling men will refuse to pay tips
others will follow. and it will not be long
until hotel proDrietOrs pay their help out
OF their own pockets. instead of the pock-
cts Of their patrons. In the mean time
will wager that President Doves circulars
are being read with smiles by the hotel pro-
prietors. w. J. LAMPTON
New York Nov. :, 1911.