The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1920-10-29
Bum Company
and the Hungry
Musician

In the July number OF TIE Musical
ENTERPRISE the Hagerstown, Nd. CORE
spondent auimadverts in unfayorable
terms upon some remarks n late issues
OF this great band and orchestra jour
nal by the Lincoln and ST. Louis core
/ sPondents upon unionism a. exempli-
/ fed by the American Federation OF Mu-
I sicians. l was the Lincoln correspond
Confined on Page Eight
ent at the time in question. and must
put ny Hagerstovn contemporary right
on few points on which he seems TO BE-
badly astray. His diction Is rather
obscure. but I gather from the tenor Of
his remarks that he Is badly dissatis-
fed with the A F. Of N. in general
mostly On account Of the hunger Of its
members for jobs.
In the first place, he compares the
price offered in his city for series Of
fifteen hand concerts by band OF thirty
men with the wages paid standard shop
trades in the railroad industry, the price
paid the musicians being much the lower
when figured on an hourly basis. This
comparison Is an unfortunate one, TO say
the least. Il was their national labor
organizations, their unions, that secured
these wages for the shopmen. More
than that, only few days ago the Rail
way Labor Board handed down a wage
award that further increased the pay
OF the shopmen by about % per cent. As
a member of one OF the shop crafts I
an glad TO say that I spent nv time
and good money, much more than M
monthly dues, by the way, in doing what
little I could in helping to get the
increase. The duties OF a trade union
ist do not end with the paying Of dues
or even in attending all meetings Of his
craft
Out here in Cheyenne We get SIS for
dances OF three hours, which Is eonsid-
erably better than even the overtime
scale paid railroad shopmen under the
late award We got it by organization.
Were we still unorganized we would
probably Be playing for 81 an hour. the
rate mentioned by ny contemporary as
prevailing in Hagerstown.
He says 1 naively confessed TO getting
one joe in year. and that therefore
paying dues was for me an expensive
luxury. The fact that I played only
one engagement was due 70 circum-
stances over which neither the union
nor myself had any control II may
surprise him to learn that turned down
several engagements in the same time
for the simple reason that l thought I
could be better occupied elsewhere, and
II was not in making money. either. Il
may surprise him even more when I
say that 1 would pay dues into the i.
F. OF II. for the next ten years, even
though I never played another engage
ment in that time for the honor Of car
rying e card in that organization and
for the sake OF the protection il has
afforded and viii afford the musicians
OF the United States and Canada. II
you wish to be miserable all you need
do Is to think OF yourself, OF what you
want, what you are getting and how
much more the other fellow j. getting
than yourself. Think OF nothing else.
and you can BE as wretehed as you
please.
was made acquainted with a hand
manager. in the not very distant past.
who, when he learned I was q band
musician, said TO me in the most patron
izing manner in the world: We'll. stick
around and come TO see me occasionally
, Perhaps I may be able TO use you"
said nothing. but I thought 10 myself
for that piece OF insolent eondescension
you'll come to NE when you want me
old top, and you viii not get me. either
In due time he did want me, and with
the same air OF condescension he in.
formed me 1 might play with him, and
viii never forget the dazed look with
which he walked away when I told him
III could get along fine without the
engagement and did not want it His
boneheaded presumption was properly
rebuked, and may add that never in
my whole experience have I known &
non union musician 70 refuse an engage
ment, if he were able TO play il, on
account OF the low wages offered
We have job hogs in the 4 F. OF NJ.
but there are far more OF them outside
Of IL for the reason that unorganized
musicians suffer from all the evils that
aftlict the organized. with many more as
well thrown in for good measure. There
are more jealousy, haek-biting and
throat-cutting among non-union mus
clans than among the members OF the
A z. OF NJ. and there always viii be
II Is & severe reflection upon the intel
hgenee Of any workingman who is una
bic 10 recognize the benefits OF craft
organization, and bear in mind that ths
hand and orchestra musician Is only &
workingman, and that his instrument
Is only his tool The members OF the
old National League OF Musicians, IL
greater part at least, cherished the fond
delusion that they were in q class By
themselves, that they were artists and
had nothing in common with manual
workers. but under the admonition and
guidance Of their wiser leaders, such
men as the late and now more than ever
lamented Owen Miller. a man Whose
memory viii be cherished by generations
OF musicians vet TO be. they learned tC
forget that stuff and 10 throw in their
lot with their brother wage-earners on
this continent enlisted under the banner
OF the American Federation Of Labor
The job hog on the outside sees the ben
efits that accrue from the organization
he also sees lot OF work he viii not be
able TO touch unless he joins il. So he
becomes what the president OF the A F
OF NJ. has aptly termed a must-be'
unionist; that is, he joins because he
must be a member before he can secure
the engagements he eovets. But he soon
: finds that he cannot pursue the same
dirty tactics on the inside as he did on
the outside and remain a member. II
he persists in them the stern hand OF
discipline is laid on his shoulder, and
in many cases it plasters a fne upon
his back that perforee he must pay, or
ind. like OtheIlo, that his occupation
i gone. Such men are found in every
profession, in every walk in life. When
they curse the union they are paying il
an unconscious tribute. Wisdom is jus
! -if7a1 Of 5-s ehil1r1r The nrnrreSS and