Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1917-01-05
New England Tel. and Tel. Com
pany Distributes Emergency
Payment.

Practically all of the employees OF
the Passumpsic Telephone Company,
which is subsidiary company of the
New England Tel. & Tel. Company,
and more than $4,000 employees of
that Company, each participated
December 81 in the distribution
of an emergency payment to assist
them in meeting unusual present
expenses.
Employees who have been in the
service one year or more received
three weeks pay. Employees who
have been in the service less than
one year but not less than three
months received two weeks pay.
No employee received more than
SITS, and no employee of less than
three months service and no general
official in any way shared in the pay
ments.
While in no sense holiday pres
ent, the fact that it came most I'M
expectedly at this time of the year
makes it a most timely evidence of
the continued concern of the Com
pany's officers for the welfare of it's
employees. This distribution to the
employees of ithe Passumpsic Tele-
phone Company, which represents a
substantial sum of money, is in &C
cord with the distribution made to
the employees of the New England
Tel. & Tel. Company amounting to
over 100000.
In connection with the announce
ment of the payment to be made to
the employees of the New England
Company, President Spalding of that
Company is quoted as saying:
"The revenues of the Company de-
pend on the rates for service allowed
by the commissions, and should pro-
vide for all expenses, a fair return
to the owners of the property, and
surplus to care for emergencies.
Their sufficiency is judged by the re-
suits of period of years, for it is
not feasible to be constantly modify
ing rates on the one hand, and ex-
penses on the other, to meet changes
occurring in general business condi-
lions. In this respect the Telephone
Company is entirely different from
the manufacturer, who from time to
time increases or decreases his
forces as the demand for his product
increases or decreases, and changes
his wage schedule to conform to
changes in the selling price of his
goods and changing profits of his
business.
Employment in the Telephone
Company is practically continuous,
and, furthermore, a special benefit
fund has been created to insure
reasonable security of the income of
lite employees against the emergen-
cies of sickness, accident or death,
and to provide pension for those
who have served the Company faith
fully and grown old in its service.
Nevertheless, without trying to pry
into the private affairs of our people,
we have been impressed with knowl-
edge, gained from many sources,
that the present increase liz the cost
of the necessities of life was serious
| ly discommoding some of our en-
ployees.
eve found that this affected no
particular employees, or even class
of employees, but that the burden
of increased expenses was being felt
generally by employees receiving
SO, 900 and less, and especially by
such as were heads of families or
had others dependent upon them.
| We desire a high quality service
from all, and we desire also the feel
ing that we are all one big business
family and that the welfare of each
is the concern of all, and especially
is it the concern of those having ad-
ministrative duties. After gather
ing such facts as seemed necessary
for definite opinion on the subject,
| recommended to our directors the
plan which they unanimously adop-
ted.
1.-The payments made on Deem
Der 9th represented, not charity, on
the one hand nor a raise of wages,
on the other, but rather, if | can
reduce the idea to a phrase, mes
sages of goodwill, understanding and
appreciation on the part of the Of
ficers of the Company for efficient
and loyal employees in temporary
time of stress"