The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1919-06-27
Is This the Answer?

Firemen and policemen perform vital civic functions
No city could exist without them No city can exist IN
comfort and security unless both fire and police depart
ments efficient.
1t is to any cys interest to employ high class ntel-
gent firemen and policemen. And high class intel
hgen must be paid good and work under decent
conditions Otherwise they will later be forced
by their duty both to their families and themselves to look
for better Jobs
These the propositions start with If you want
to know where they lead. read on in this column.
Cincinnati. Ohio is only one OF the cities that have
suffered recently from strikes for higher pay shorter hours
There have been stories of several such strikes press dis
patches from widely scattered parts of the country within
the last 90 days.
Also there WILL for good reasons be more. This is
sad fact but true Admitted that in each locality the stu
alton is different. still it is rreutabe that general
thing all over the country firemen and policemen oonsd-
erng the work they do less pay and work longer hours
than other laboers 1t state of affairs bound to breed
discomfort and demands for improvement in one form
another.
In the event of strike of firemen policemen the cry
is always raised that it strike against community
Even those who sympahze with the strikers and feel they
entitled to what they ask feel also that they shouldn't
the safety of their own homes and families is the
ton of the ordinary citizen.
There is justification for this attitude on the part of
the community There is great difference between strike
against private employer and against local
men of which, citizen the striker himself member
Also there is in many instances justification for the
statement that the city authorities not empowered
legally by the city charter to grant increases put
In the extra shifts that shorter hours would entail
But that doesn't do the firemen and policemen. and
their families any good. What then, is the answer?
security from fire and crime and at the time under
constitution that prohibits slavery, that can't draft
to protect and force them to continue protect
whether they want to not Here is story about Den
yer, Col. that may furnish clue
Out in Denver firemen and policemen about three
jumps behind the rest of labor in the matter of pay The
cost OF living had become very real problem TO OF
course they were disconnected
AT the same time the city dads either wouldn't, or
coudnt-they said they coudnt-do anything for them.
The firemen and policemen didn't want TO strike They
had heard of other strikes They knew in striking they
would carry with them mighty little of the good will Of
their fellow citizens And they felt their fellow citi-
zens would appreciate their difficulties and by them
even to the point of paying little in taxes II they
could present their properly
The firemen and policemen of Denver drew ND
charter amendment substantially and specifically
increasing wage scales and effecting certain
changes in working conditions. Then, under the
initiative law, they circulated petition and got
that amendment onto the ballot
And they found they had guessed right The
people Of Denver stood by them. The amendment
passed by an overwhelming majority,
All of this happened a month ago. The rfrcmen
and policemen satisfied The people of Denver
are satisfied There strike No homes were en-
dangered No bitterness was brewed.
Is this the answer? We don't know. But at the very
least ought to be worth serious consideration bv notice
men and fremen and the public at large
Heinies greatest loss not his colonies or his
feet but the American market for per cent of his
dyes. ~