The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1920-01-06
fJSTAL employees
MAKE PLEAS FOR
LIVING SALARIES
Joint Commission Hears That
Men in Most Efficient De-
partment Can't Live On
Present Wage.

Present Wage.
Readjustment Of salaries upward and
general betternent of service COM
prised the pleas Tuesday morning Of
more than 15O postal employees OF Ten
nessee, Arkansas, Mississippi and Ala
bama before the joint congressional in
Eesugatlng commission at the Hotel
Gayoso. .r.H
The commission arrived from New
Orleans at $3.50 o'clock. Opening ses-
sions were held at 8 O'Clock. Senator
Edward j. Gay of Louisiana presided.
II was expected that Senator Kenneth
ID. Mcclellan Of Tennessee, who is a
member of the commission, would be
here to officiate, but telegram Mon
day to his brother, H. Clint Mcclellan,
assistant postmaster, brought word that
e would be unable to leave the capital.
Other members of the commission
who sat with Senator Gay were; Sem
ator George II. Moses ot New Hamp-
shire, Congressman Haller Steenerson
of Minnesota and Thomas III. Bell Of
Georgia Cecil A. Beasley is acting as
secretary Of the commission.
Pleas and claims from six branches of
the service were presented to
the various branches offered sugges-
tions as to betterment of conditions
with regards to handling and delivery
Of mail Stress was laid on present sal
aries. 1t was pointed out by the
speakers that the present cost OF liv-
ing was such that postal employees had
no end Of a hard time In making both
1t was the theme Of several petition
ers who cited figures to back up their
claims, that In no few instances postal
employees In the territory covered by
Tuesdays meeting were forced to seek
outside employment In order that they
might successfully keep on good terms
with tn butcher. grocer and landlord.
Clerks in their petition are asking
for an Increase in salaries from 81, 800
to $2,400, figure also petitioned by
the city carriers. The supervisors pray
advances which would make stipends
range between $4,000 and $6.00O SAL
aries would be governed by size of the
city and Importance of the officials
duties. Chicago men request an adj
vance to $4,000, which Is the highest.
Postmasters of the second, third and
fourth class seek raises anywhere from
rs to 7b per cent. Railway NAH clerks
| desire higher pay to a point between
$1,000 and $1,000 per annum, Rural
mail carriers, who pointed out through
r. F. %. man ana the Increased cost
| OF maintenance Of vehicle and horse or
| auto such as the case might be, as
we'll as higher cost of living, pray an
advance to between 40 and go per cent
over their present remuneration.
George Rule, OF Lonoke, Ark, was
the first man to appear before the
board. He spoke for the postmasters.
His subject was conditions in the CEN
tral accounting offices. 7. Fl, Mitts of
| Tupelo. Miss. represented the second
class postmasters; j. L. Donald, Tut
wiler, Miss, the third class postmas-
ters and Charles Ewell Rubicon, Ark,
| the fourth class.
e. H.. Kline, superintendent of mails
In the local postofflce, opened pleas for
the supervisory employees. Following
Mr.. Kline came w, ]. O'Callaghan,
Nashville; W. r. Smith, Little Rock
Harry o.. Vincent Union City, Tenn,
Mr.. Moss, Birmingham. and n Y. Ben
| nett. Cookeville, Tenn.
-Four Tennesseans spoke for the rural
carriers. They were: r, r. Randell,
Hohenwald; A. N. Powell Stanton; r.
e. Baker and ]. H. Flugham, McKen-
zie.
For the postal clerks Mr.. McKinstry,
of Nashville, was the opening speaker
followed by j, J. WEIGH, of Memphis:
w. C. Mcdaniel, Of Little Rock; r. M.
Robertson, of Sheffield, Ala, and Logan
Reese Porter, of Memphis; Rono
Keefe, of Little Rock; Edgar Roberts.
of Jackson, Tenn; J. NJ. Foster, of
Little Rock, and N o. Catterton, Tex
arkana, Ark, addressed the commits
sion.
Laying unusual stress on the ad-
vanced cost Of living In the larger COM
munities, city carriers through A. R.
Wilson. of Knoxville; V, Il. Gregory, of
Nashville; R. L. Jones, of Fort Smith.
Ark, and John White, Jr., of Memphis,
pleaded for their claims to higher sal
aries
The commission heard addresses until
o clock and adjourned for lunch. De-
tail work and further talks were heard
in the afternoon. There was an opti-
mistic expression which prevailed
| among all employees present as to the
outcome of these pleadings. The COM
| mission on its return to Washington
will take additional data from various
| parts of the country, according to Mr..
Beasley.
Briefs of these claims Will be filed.
The committee which concludes it's
present tour at st. Louis Friday will
consider conditions on return to Wash
ington and subsequently take such ae-
tion as they deem wise. The commits
sion will depart Tuesday night for Kan
sas City, where two days will be con-
sumed.
James Reid, Jr., of New Orleans. ar
| rived with the party He is represent
| ing G. P. Franciscas president Of the
| National Association OF Postal Clerks.
Mr.. Franciscas was unable to come to
Memphis on account of an accident in
| New Orleans Monday.
"In order that we may get and keep
| higher class men in the service" de-
clared Mr.. Reid, "it is absolutely nee
essary that salaries be readjusted up
ward. Our petitions are for this and
! for general betterment 1t is impossible
| to obtain best service and maintain the
| high class of the department under such
| conditions as now exist
! The sessions were held in the ball
room at the Gayoso.