New-York tribune., 1919-10-02

number Of compositors out is about
five hundred.
lishers Association, 200 Fifth Avenue,
it was stated yesterday the printing
of 100 trade publications and from fifty
to seventy-fve magazines has been
stopped as the result Of the situation.
The latter include "Colliers." Chris
tian Herald "Cosmopolitan," Current
Opinion" Good Housekeeping" "Har-
pers' Bazaar" "Hearst's," blouse and
Garden" Independent" McCall's,"
"..M1cClure's,'' :. Metropolitan" Outlook
4" Peoples Home Journal" Pictorial
wife" "Vanity FAIR" Vogue" "Wom
ans World.' the Munscy magazines and
others.
John Adams Thayer, executive secre
tary of the Periodical Publishers As
sociation, said the publishers we're be-
hind the Printers League to a man
and the issues involved are not merely
those of hours and wages, and the con-
seG.cnt ability of many of the publica
tions to stay in business, but whether
or not what he called the Bolshevik
and radical elements in the printing
trades are to be permitted to grow to
n
supreme dictators of the printing busi-
ness.
Publishers Expect Radicals to Lose
He expressed the belief that the
radicals will be beaten. 1t was this
belief on the part of the publishers, he
said, which holds them back from ac-
cepting invitations from cities all over
the country to move their plants from
tot;
Thayer said, continued to pour in all
day yesterday. They came from De-
troit, Cincinnati, Pasadena. Cal, SYRIA
cuse. Toledo, Nowata, Okla, Hemp
stead, N. Y, Groton, Conn, Lockland,
Ohio, Sandusky, Baltimore, Richmond,
indianapolis, Topeka, Grand Rapids,
Rochester, Dayton, San Diego and Au.
burn, N. Y. The publishers, Mr.. Thayer
said, have been asked to move their
plants to any of these places and run
their plants at SO per cent less cost.
Commenting on these invitations, Mr..
Thayer said:
"a number of publishers are serious
ly considering moving their plants, but
they believe it would be unwse to do
so at the present moment, because if
radicalsm and Bolshevism in the print
ing trades unions are not stamped out
now they will raise their heads all
over the country, and the printers Will
have to face a situation similar TO the
one now prevailing in New York wher-
ever they may 60. 1t is impossible for
the radical element to win in the pres
ent situation.
Employers Seek Stability
con previous occasions employing
printers have passed rule protecting
the publishers by covering the in
creased cost Of manufacturing, but the
forty-four-h hour week and the large in
crease in wages demanded by the radi
Gals would make it impossible for the
publishers, who in the long run would
bear the increase, to continue in busi
ness. Of course, it can readily be un-
derstood that the advertising rates
could be increased, and will be in
creased as time goes on, for no other
reason than the increased cost of manu-
featuring. But advertising rates are
seldom increased overnight. What Is
desired by publishers and employing
printers alike is that stability which
comes from contracts made with local
unions and guaranteed by the interna
tional unions.
"Inasmuch as labor in the printing
business is at least 80 per cent below
requirement, the 44hour week does
not mean that the pressmen or COM
positors will have much more time
to spend with their families. for the
printing houses will pay overtime for
ihe four hours cut off from the pres
remain at work the four extra hours.
This will increase the wages to S57
per week. instead of $50, which the
men demand"
Mr.. Thayer added that the adver-
tisers ppreciate the situation and
have promised the publishers their full
support He said the advertisers real
ze the abnormal situation, the high
cost of paper and other materials and
that the publications would have to in
crease their advertising rates Is per
cent The present rate, Mr.. Thayer
said is q cent line per thousand cir
culation.
Book Publishers Back Printers
A number Of leading publishers, men
who publish rs per cent of the books
that come from the printing presses of
/ America, issued a statement yesterday,
! through Frederick G.. Melcher, 81 West
/ Forthwith Street, in which they placed
themselves squarely behind the print
ers. Among the larger publishers who
took this stand were Harper Brothers,
D. Appleton & Co., Grosset e. Dunlap,
Charles Scribner's Sons. George II
DOran & Co., McGraW- fllll doom oOIn-
pany, the Macmillan Company, G. II
Putnam e. Sons, the Oxford University
Press, Frederick A. Stokes & Co., Dodd
Mead & Co., the Century Company, and
others.
Mr.. Melcher said the tie-up Of the
printing industry in New York will
/ have a serious effect upon the schools
of the country, as the demand for
textbooks and other educational publ
cations is greater than ever. He con-
trasted the wages paid to printers in
this country with those in England
saying the highest demands Of the Eng
lish printers were for S2l a week and
forty-eight hours. He asked how it
would be possible for American pub
fishers to continue in competition with
British publishers their principal bust
ness opponents, if the conditions de-
manded by the radical printers in New
York are to prevail
International Union Active
The settlement Of the situation de-
pends & great deal on how soon the
International Pressmen's Union will
succeed in reorganizing the outlawec
organizations This reorganization is
proceeding under the direction OF
William WcHugh, vice president Of the