The Cordova daily times., 1922-05-08
CANAL WORKERS DEMAND THAT
 BONUS STAY

WASHINGTON, May S.-The Pana- ma Canal is to be wrecked because the United States workers on the Canal Zone have been denied their perquis- ties by an order of President Harding, according to William c. Rushing, member of the Panama Canal Wage Board and the Panama Canal Con- plaint Board, who represents the Canal employees and is asking relief from Congress.
 The canal workers do not intend to blow up the canal; but intend to leave the Canal Zone and return to the Unit ed States unless their perquisites are restored to them, Flushing said. They will tell other workers in the United States how unsatisfactory climatic and working conditions in the Canal Zone really are and they do not believe any one will go there to take up the work without perquisites, he asserted
 hopGeS6utdllNS oOopOl, IeCpobiSe'a' of Ohio, labor member of Congress, has taken up the cudgels in behalf of the Canal Zone employees. He has in troduced in Congress a bill restoring conditions of employment on the Ca nal Zone as they existed up to January 1 last, at which time the perquisites were cut out by the President on the recommendation of special Panama Canal Commission, which spent a month Investigating the Canal in the summer of 1921.
 MUST PASS TESTS
 The American employees on the Canal, according to Representative Cooper, have been selected after rig orous physical and mental tests from the finest craftsmen and clerical work CTS in the United States. They were induced to enter tropical service by the customary 25 per cent differen- tial in wages, and free quarters, light, fuel and sanitation. Service in the tropics entails from twenty to thirty days cumulative leave each year and twenty four days annual leave, with seven days travel time to enable an employe to return to the United States periodically to recuperate his health. These perquisites are gone because of the order of the President, Cooper de 1 clared.
 Representative of the canal em- poyes assert that in the order revok- | ing the perquisites there has been dis crimination against the skilled Amer ican workman in favor of the execu- tives and the alien negro workmen The latter, mostly British, continue to receive free heat, light and sanitation they say, while American Workmen are required to pay a rental 50 per cent greater than that of the negro work men for similar quarters, and are charged for heat, light and sanitation | OFFICERS GOl lNCREASE l The supervising officers of the Pa mama Canal Zone formerly received l the same perquisites as the skilled workmen, but when these perquisites were revoked the officers had their pay increased $50 to $1OO a month The pay of workmen has been reduced in many instances, and further reduc tions are scheduled. The average pay of skilled workmen and the cleri cal staff of the Panama Canal is $l8z a month, which includes the differen tial of 25 per cent over compensation for similar work in the United States
 Governor Morrow, of the Panama Canal Zone, has aided with the em ployes in their protest. He has told Secretary of War Weeks that "adop tion of these recommendations al once and in toto would ruin the canal
 Continuing, Governor Morrow says "We would soon have a halting limping service, damage bills to ar incalculable extent, very consider able traffic loss, wholesale deser tion of highly-expert employees, result ing in disorganized service thai could never be restored to even small fraction of its present efficiency also, valuable strategic asset Woulc be almost totally destroyed. The ne' result would be an actual flnancla loss as well as a great loss in na