Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-04-02
OBLIVION YEARNS FOR
"SWEATSHOPPER" BURLESON
Injustice and Oppression in the Postofiices
Are in Strange Contrast With the
Wjlsonian Theories


Are in Strange Contrast With the
Wlsonan Theories
THERN are times when 1T seems ac-
L tual,y de- Ntful whether the mail sys-
tenn Of the country can survive the pres
cnt Postmaster Gcnclsl for another year
Obliviua ycarus for Mr.. Burlcson as it
lcar- fur no other man in public lte
anywhere. He i, iucXplicabic. The pe"-
! p,c Of the United States, whose interest
f. is still concentrated on the towering IS
/ sues Of the war. ave as yet unaware OF
/ the bizarre ruin that he IS making OF
what was once the most efficient and
the most popular branch of the federal
service.
Mr.. Burleson has shrewd and per
verse habit of attributing all criticism
of his methods to resentment felt by
uewspapcrs because of his zone postage
system. But in the final analysis no one
attempts to blame the Postmaster Cen
! eral wholly for an arrangement that IS
| due very largely to the kitChin influence
! in Congress. 1t is not as an admlnistra-
tor that Mr.. Burlcson is diScredited, but
| as an employer Of labor. In this latter
! role he has revealed all the neptitude of
| an unrcgcncratc Democracy and all the
| sordid dclusions Of a provincial tory.
| The postal service is filed with emblt-
| tered haffled, underpaid and overworked
| men. It would have hecn in disastrous
! conflict with state laws and labor unions
/ and an enlightened public opinion long
! ago we're it not sheltered by the unap-
proachable authority of the federal gov
ernment.
The best of M Burleson's critics has
very properly called him a sweat
| shopper" The Postmaster General has
| clashed with labor unions He has made
| his service hated by thousands of those
who serve in it because the postal de-
| partment has been administered since he
went into office under a rule of tyranny
| and an economic creed so harsh as to
! bring disintegratior as a natural conse-
ouence. Yet Mr.. Burleson remains the
| staggering reactonary, safe in the cabi-
net, a living. breathing denial and con-
| tradiction of all that is generous and wise
! and farsighted in NJ. Wilson's policies.
Those who have been CriticiZing the
efficiency of the postal service probably
do not know that many Of the men in
| the Philadelphia office and elsewhere are
| compelled to work long extra hours at
| outside employment in order to make a
| living. A first class letter carrier is
paid less than $3.50 a year by the gov
| ernment, though he must be man able
to pass severe civil service examinations.
| Other federal departments have made it
| plain that this is about half enough to
support family decently as things are
at present. But Mr.. Burleson is not
committed to any scheme of wage ad
vancement. He has consistently OBJ
structed every effort made by his men
for better working conditions and bet
ter pay and has, moreover relentlessly
| advocated a system designed, as he puts
it, to scale down wages"
Is@it too much to suppose that were
the fragrant defects of the postal sys-
TEN to be investigated in detail it might
be found that the cause lies in dspir-
tied and haassed personnel kept con-
! stantly under grinding pressure from
which there can be no appeal?
It has remained for Mr.. William Hard,
writing in the New Republic, to reveal
drift of the Burleson mind that would be
incredible if it were not reflected in Off
cial documents. Old and tried men in
the. service are not to be considered.
Their wages are to be "scaled down
with their declining efficiency" The
Postmaster General waged long cam
paign for an actual reduction in wages
and those who ventured to oppose him
were damned out at congressional hear
ings as mere agtators."
If anything can bridge the gap that
has widened so tragically between work
ers and those who employ them it must
be a more human approach from both
sides, recognition of the human equa-
ton everywhere and decent respect for
the normal requirements of existence
according to civilized standard.
These are contentious advanced by
Mr. Wilson himself and implied in his
state papers, and urged upon the gov
ernments of the world as major impli-
cations of the American policies at
Paris.
Yet the American Government
through it's postal service and in its i'm
mediate relations with about 100000
men and women in its own service, has
rejected these principles with a stub
bornness so fragrant that in the end it
must inevitably involve some question
of Mr.. Wilson's own sincerity.
Mr.. Wilson has habit of protecting
and defending his assistants. His own
courage and his devotion to the principle
of fair play doubtless actuate in him in
such instances. But Burleson has finally
become a challenge to the country. He
has revealed in his highly important
Office only the mind and the viewpoint of