The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1917-02-02
AN UNMERITED AND
UNWARRANTED ACT

Sir:-The writer wishes, through
the agency of your excellent. paper
the exponent of the rights OF labor,
to say a few things and state some OF
the facts that will make good the cap
ton of this communication.
One day last week the chief man
of the M. R, & B. T. and st. Francois
County Railway Company made visit
TO the county seat and much to the
surprise and chagrin of us Farming
tonians his visit was not for the pur-,
nose as we had wished, to improve and
respectablize transportation facilities
SO very badly needed. Oh no, not that!
His mission turned out to be very diff
ferent from that. He called upon the
CARPET four of his company's en-
Moves, conductors, or in the parlance
of the public, ticket punchers, ana
very uncerimoniously and summary
discharged them from the future SER
vices in that and perchance, in any
other capacity, alleging as reason Tor
his action their failure to render salts
factory service, which if fact would
be sufficient cause for dismassal. 10
deny them this privilege would seem
to be a sufficient cause for said COM
pany to discharge all conductors in
their employ on their main line. The
presumption that the st. Francois
County R. R. is not railroad in fact,
was dispersed by the argument OF
their attorney before the Public Util-
ity Board, which held a sitting in
Pennington quite recently. The gist
of his argument emphasized the fact
of its being a real railroad, in every
essential, as it performed every tunc-
ton incident to railroad.
The writer has no personal grew
ance that he wishes to have redressed
but a suspecting public is always ca
ger to know things, especially when
their personal friends and neighbors
are involved.
From long personal acquaintance
with at least three of these deposed
men, extending from their boyhood
up to the present time, we unquallti-
edly assert that their characters for
integrity, honesty, sobriety and ODE
dicnce to duty has never before been
assailed, hence this communications
Two of the deposed conductors, l.. M
Overall and E. L. Mosteller, have been
serving said company in the above
named capacity for quite period OF
time. while Messrs. Clarence Lott and
Grover Smiths terms Of service has
not been nearly so long. This SNAP
Judgment on the part of the railroad
company was great surprise to these
deposed employees as neither of them
ever had any reason to even suspect
that their services were not entirely
pleasing and satisfactory. We sus.
pect from the information at hanC
that the "meat in the cocoanut" or the
real "nigger in the woodpile" was
something else, and that something
was that these conductors were about
to affiliate themselves with the Order
of Trainmen. 1t is understood that
their application for mebership in that
Order had been accepted and that they
were soon to be admitted into its
membership.
As all fair minded men will admit
that these gentlemen, if they measured
up to the requirements of that order
had a perfect and absolute right tt
join it. The fact most potential ii
this case is, as we see it, does ar
American citizen, when he engages
in the service of a rich corporation
surrender to said corporation all OF
his inherent rights? Does he become
a chattcl in the hands of his employer
to be used as they see fit? Has he no
rights? Mr.. Editor, what think ye?
Yours for Justice,
A LABORER.